The Gamble and the Grave (Veronica Barry Book 4)

by Sophia Martin

  “What’s the message?” Veronica asked the ghost.

  Tell him I’m sorry. I wanted one last thrill before I started basic training.

  Veronica repeated the message word for word.

  Justin covered his mouth with his hands. “What the hell is this?” he said again, his voice muffled.

  “Veronica, here, is a psychic,” Daniel said calmly. “The real deal.”

  Justin’s eyes, as wide as saucers, moved from Veronica, to Daniel, and back again. “What the hell?”

  Tell him I was stupid. It wasn’t anyone’s fault but mine. I should have left all that shit in the past where it belonged. I thought I could do it just one more time—it was supposed to be my very last time. Well, I guess it was, at that.

  Veronica gazed at Justin with sympathy. “Was it some sort of drug overdose?” she asked. “Jessica says she shouldn’t have done it again, that she should have left it in the past?”

  Justin’s hands fell slowly from his mouth. “She got into drugs in high school. She got hooked on heroin—she smoked it first, but she just kept doing it and then she was shooting up—” His voice broke. “She got so hooked. She almost died. But then she went to rehab. And she was clean. Oh my god.”

  He pressed his hands to his mouth again, his gaze drifting from Veronica out into nothing. He pushed his fingers into his cheeks and up along his temples. “She was clean for years. It had been five years.”

  Tell him I’m sorry.

  The voice was anguished.

  “She’s very sorry,” Veronica relayed.

  “She was getting her life back together. She had to go back to school because she missed so much she didn’t graduate, but then she went back and she graduated, and everyone was so proud,” Justin said, still staring at nothing. “And she enlisted in the Army. And it was like, the night before she was going to basic training. We had a party for her, in a bar.” His hands jumped out and struck his temples so fast it made Veronica flinch.

  It wasn’t his fault.

  “She says it wasn’t your fault,” Veronica said.

  Justin had dug his fingers into his hair, and was pulling and twisting it. At her words, he stopped, and for the first time since he started talking, he looked at her. “You’re talking to her… now?”

  Veronica nodded. She was regretting this course of action—she’d wanted to give him a message for Wyatt Williams but when she’d started to, she thought he wasn’t going to cooperate. Trying for a vision or getting a spirit to give him a message seemed like a good way to butter him up—a kind of quid pro quo. “I gave you this message, now please deliver mine.” She hadn’t counted on how emotionally raw the experience would be. Which was stupid, if you thought about it. She only ever got messages to deliver from the dead, after all. How could she not have realized it would open up such a wound for him?

  “You… you mean she’s here?” he whispered.

  Veronica nodded again. It was meeting with Dietrich that had done it. He’d been fine with the revelations—surprised, but not overwhelmed with grief. Somehow that experience had made her assume it would be that way with Justin. How stupid. But she didn’t know what to do now. She couldn’t apologize and leave—”Oh, I’m sorry I just ripped open a grief you clearly haven’t recovered from. Let me just slip out this side door now.”

  “Can—can she hear me?” he asked.

  “Yes,” Veronica said.

  He blinked several times, his eyes roving as if he’d somehow see the ghost. “You were my best friend,” he murmured. “Jessica, you were my best friend. I—I know we grew apart and—I wished—I wished we could go back to the friendship we had—and—and then you were gone.”

  I’m so sorry. He was the best friend I ever had, too. We used to talk on the phone all night long. I loved him. I’m so sorry.

  “She says she’s so sorry,” Veronica said. “She says you were her best friend, too, and she loved you. She remembers talking on the phone all night long.”

  His face broke into a grimace—a smile that twisted at the ends with pain. “I used to ask her all my questions about girls.”

  And I’d ask him about boys.

  Veronica repeated this.

  “One time, she played this awful joke on me…”

  Oh no, not the pad story.

  “…she put a pad with red ink on it in my locker.”

  He had a problem with periods! He said they were nasty.

  Veronica repeated her words again.

  Justin gave a bark of a laugh. “Yeah. It’s true. And after that if the subject came up I would always say—”

  “I have a good attitude about menstruation.”

  “‘I have a good attitude about menstruation.’”

  “She remembers,” Veronica said.

  Tell him it’s not his fault I found the dealer. Tell him I was planning to do it before I even knew he wanted to go to a bar.

  Veronica took a deep breath and relayed the message.

  “But why?”

  I thought I could do it, just one last time. One time wouldn’t be enough to get me hooked again. I was leaving for the Army. I just wanted to party one last time. I didn’t think it would really be the end—I thought I’d be fine.

  Veronica repeated what Jessica said.

  Justin’s eyes filled with tears. “I just—I thought I’d get a chance, you know—to mend things with you, Jessica. I thought someday we’d get a bunch of the guys together and we’d rent a cabin somewhere like we used to talk about doing. I never laughed with anyone the way I laughed with you. You were my best friend.”

  The tears rolled from his lids, down his cheeks.

  I love you, Justin. I will always be your friend, and I will never forget you.

  Veronica spoke Jessica’s words again.

  Hearing them, Justin gasped and clutched his hands to his chest.

  I’m going now.

  “I’m sorry,” Veronica said to Justin, whose body shook with shuddering sobs. “She has to go. They never can stay very long.”

  He looked around wildly, as if he could catch sight of her before she left. “Jessica!” he said. “Jessica, I love you too. I’ll never forget you either.” He paused, his breath coming quickly, as though he’d just done a sprint. “Good-bye.”

  Good-bye. Tell him I’ll be around, though.

  “She says ‘good-bye’ too,” Veronica said. “But she’s not leaving for good. She says she’ll be around.”

  A smile broke over Justin’s face, and he wiped at the tears on his cheeks.

  “God,” he said. “God, you come to work and you go through your day, and you just don’t expect this kind of thing to happen.” He gave Miguel and Daniel a weak grin.

  “Tell me about it,” said Miguel.

  “Before I met Ronnie, I was a total skeptic,” Daniel said, nodding.

  Miguel sighed. “I don’t know what I believed—I mean, my mom, she’s into this stuff, but me? Not so much. Then one day, Veronica walked into my studio…”

  “She did the same thing to you?” Justin said, still struggling to maintain a smile.

  Miguel nodded. “My sister had been missing for over two years.”

  “With me, it was fish,” Daniel said, straight-faced.

  Justin and Miguel gave him confused looks. Veronica crossed her arms and tried to decide if it was okay to smirk at him. She settled for a small smile.

  “I was investigating a homicide,” Daniel said. “Ronnie was a witness—but not your typical, ‘saw it in real life’ witness, you know. She told me she was psychic and I thought she was nuts.”

  Justin gave a short laugh and started rummaging in the drawers behind his desk. After a moment he produced a small stack of napkins, and he proceeded to wipe his tear-stained face.

  “So she had to convince me somehow, right?” Daniel said.

  “It wasn’t me, it was Sylvia,” Veronica said.

  “Right. Right. You know, the murder victim: Sylvia,” Daniel said. Miguel chuckled. �
�Sylvia told Veronica that my fish were getting sick. I have clownfish. They were fine—or so I thought. I had someone take a look at them, and sure enough…”

  Daniel’s story had lightened the mood, which Veronica suspected was his goal.

  “I’m sorry I sprang that on you, Justin,” she said.

  Justin shook his head. “That was the most intense thing I’ve ever experienced,” he said. “Thank god I only have an hour and half left on my shift.” He sighed. “I guess I need to thank you for letting Jessica—for being her, like, interpreter, or whatever. I mean—I never thought I’d get another chance to talk to her. …But I still can’t show you stuff from the safe deposit box without a warrant.”

  “Oh no,” Veronica said hastily. “I know that. I was just hoping you could give someone a message from us.”

  Justin paused. “A message for a message, huh?”

  Veronica cringed a bit and nodded. “That was the idea.”

  “Okay,” Justin agreed.

  “There’s a custodian who works here, named Wyatt Williams. Can I write him a note?”

  “I’ll make sure he gets it,” Justin said.

  ~~~

  Miguel, Daniel and Veronica agreed that since they had to wait for Williams to get the message, and they couldn’t be sure how long that would be, they’d better get rooms in the casino.

  “What if he doesn’t work at all today?” Veronica asked as they approached the check-in counter.

  “We’ll just have to risk it,” Daniel said. “The note’s got your cell number, so if we have to go home before he calls, he can still get in touch with you.”

  “It’s better for me to meet him in person than over the phone—I don’t remember the last time I got a reading off someone over the phone,” Veronica pointed out.

  “Yeah,” Daniel said. “Look, I can stay two nights if we have to. But I have work on Saturday, so we have to get back by then. And that means leaving really early Saturday morning if we stay the second night.”

  Veronica nodded. She was going to have to schedule a substitute teacher for tomorrow either way—she didn’t see going in to teach after driving from four or five AM to get back in time for class the following morning. But she did have plans with Sunny on Saturday.

  “I never did figure out if Mellie wants to do the movie marathon with me and Sunny,” she said. “I’ll have to call them both later. Do you think Sunny would mind swinging by and feeding the animals?”

  “I doubt it’d be a problem. Let’s get checked in,” Daniel said. “Then let’s get an early dinner. You can call them both after that.”

  Veronica nodded. “You up for dinner soon?” she asked Miguel.

  “Sure,” he said. “It looks like there’s plenty of restaurants to choose from.” He gestured to the sign pointing to the restaurant area.

  “There’s also a seafood place called ‘The Bermuda Sloop’ down past the card rooms,” the clerk at the counter said as they approached. Her name tag said Antoinette. She had a caramel complexion and hundreds of dark, thin braids twisted into a bun on her head. “It’s that way.”

  “Do you recommend it?” Miguel asked.

  “If you like seafood,” Antoinette said with a smile. “Big portions. You all could order two entrees and share them, and probably have some left over.”

  Daniel raised his eyebrows at Veronica inquiringly, and she glanced at Miguel, who shrugged. “Sure,” she said. “Let’s try it.”

  “Well, that’s settled anyway,” Daniel said. They checked in and then made their way to the Bermuda Sloop.

  The restaurant opened into a large area with a high ceiling. Booths with cushioned benches lined the walls. Nautical d�cor, like fishing nets and white and blue life saver buoys, hung over most of the booths. A huge anchor separated the dining area from the bar. Several people sat at the bar, but the restaurant part was empty save for one booth, where a couple ate. It wasn’t yet six o’clock, though, so it was early for the dinner crowd. Veronica, Daniel and Miguel made their way into the restaurant, and a blonde wearing a blue and white sailor shirt greeted them and led them to a booth.

  As Veronica sat on the bench she would share with Daniel, she realized how tense the muscles in her back were. She sank into the cushion and closed her eyes.

  “Wow,” she said. “That scene with Justin the clerk was way more draining than I realized.”

  “Yeah,” Daniel said as he scooted in next to her.

  Miguel settled himself opposite. “I think you surprised everyone with that reading.”

  Veronica sighed and opened her eyes. “I need to think these things through more. I just invited any spirit out there to give him a message. I’m surprised it turned out as well as it did, in hindsight.”

  Miguel frowned. “How long have you been psychic?” he asked.

  “Why, do I seem inexperienced?” Veronica smiled tiredly.

  Miguel sucked on his upper lip.

  She laughed softly. “It’s okay. I kind of am inexperienced. I mean, I’ve been psychic for as long as I can remember, but for most of my life I put all my energy into shoving it aside. I’ve only let myself really experience it since last year.”

  “What changed?” Miguel asked, raising his eyebrows.

  Veronica shrugged one shoulder, picking up a colorful plastic folding menu from several stacked in a holder against the wall. “I just couldn’t keep denying it. It was like I’d built a dam, and eventually it burst.”

  “Pretty spectacularly,” Daniel agreed.

  “You got involved in a murder investigation, right?” Miguel asked.

  Veronica ran her finger along the edge of the menu. “Yeah, and also a friend of mine needed help. Her daughter went missing.”

  “Which actually ended up being related,” Daniel said.

  “That’s quite a coincidence,” Miguel said.

  Veronica shook her head, gazing at the menu without really seeing it. “No, not really. That’s just how the spirits work. They show me stuff that’s related. I may not see how, but in the end it always is.”

  She frowned.

  Miguel said something, but she didn’t hear him.

  “Ronnie?” Daniel said. “Are you okay?”

  “Uh, what?” she said. “Oh, yeah. It’s just that—it’s true. The stuff they show me is always related.”

  Daniel gazed at her. “Yeah…”

  “So the stuff with Simeon. It’s got to be related somehow.”

  It was Miguel’s turn to frown. “Simeon? Who’s that? What stuff?”

  “I’ve been getting visions about a boy named Simeon. You don’t know any boys named Simeon, do you?” Veronica asked him.

  Miguel slowly shook his head. “I’ve never met anyone by that name. Sounds kind of like a monkey.”

  Veronica rubbed her hands up her cheeks in frustration. “Yeah,” she said after a moment. “The name is problematic.”

  No one said anything, and Miguel took a menu and started to read it.

  Veronica let out a soft grown of annoyance. “I just wish I knew what the deal was. How am I supposed to help him if no one knows him? If he really hasn’t even been born yet?”

  Miguel gave her a startled look. “He hasn’t been born yet?”

  Veronica shook her head. “I can’t be sure. But that’s what it seems like based on what I’ve seen.”

  “If he hasn’t been born yet, why does he need your help?” Miguel asked.

  “What I’ve seen of his future is… bleak,” Veronica said. “He needs me to prevent that from happening, and I really want to do that. Having this gift—it’s almost as good as having a time machine, you know? If I can stop Simeon from going through what I’ve seen him go through—it would sure make me happy to be psychic. It would make dealing with all the downsides worth it.”

  “What are the downsides?” Miguel asked.

  At that moment a brunette wearing a blue and white sailor shirt like the hostess’s walked up to the booth. “Hi everyone. I’m Steph. I’l
l be your server. Can I start you off with some drinks?”

  “I’ll have whatever ale you’ve got on tap,” Miguel said.

  “Me, too,” said Daniel.

  As the server rattled off the options, Veronica considered ordering a lemonade, as she usually would, but the stiff muscles in her neck and back made her think twice. When Steph turned to her, she said, “A glass of white wine.”

  “Would you like to see our wine list?” Steph asked.

  “That’s not necessary,” Veronica said. “Just whatever your least expensive Sauvignon Blanc is.”

  Steph gave them all a smile. “Will do.”

  She turned and trotted off.

  Miguel watched her go and then peered at Veronica again. “So, you were going to say what the downsides are. It’s hard to imagine there are downsides. It seems like such a powerful gift.”

  Daniel grinned and put his arm around Veronica’s shoulders. She leaned into his side gratefully. Ordinarily she wouldn’t want to risk making Miguel uncomfortable with a display of affection like that, but she was feeling so exhausted, she couldn’t muster the will to care.

  “It’s not much fun, most of the time,” she said. “I don’t want to complain about it, because I do a lot of good, and that’s something that’s become really clear to me over the course of the last year. But it isn’t easy to live with.”

  “But why not?” Miguel pressed.

  “Hey, I don’t have the gift and it isn’t always easy to live with for me, either,” Daniel said with a chuckle.

  Veronica tensed and pulled away a bit. Daniel shot her a quick look of concern but said nothing.

  “Yeah, poor Daniel has to wake up in the middle of the night three or four times a week and help me process the latest nightmare they’ve sent me,” Veronica said, trying to keep her voice light. She’d guessed right, she realized. She really was way too high maintenance. Daniel was never going to want to marry her—she’d be lucky if he decided he wanted to keep living with her.

  “Oh,” said Miguel. “Nightmares.”

  “Yeah, and some of the waking visions they send me are no picnic either,” Veronica said. Then she shrugged. “But like I said, it’s worth it if I can help someone like Simeon.”