by Terri Reid
“Well, he’s dead,” Sam said.
Niki turned to him. “What? Brooke killed him?”
“No, I don’t think so,” Sam said. “He died on the way to the hospital, under slightly suspicious circumstances.”
“Reece,” Niki said.
Sam shrugged. “Sure sounds like his MO.”
The elevator door opened and they walked out into the lobby. Niki took a deep breath. “I’m good,” she said. “No more tears.”
“Good,” Sam replied. “I’m no good with a woman’s tears.”
She smiled at him. “Okay, what’s the next step?”
“I’m going to drive you over to Brooke’s place,” he said. “If that’s okay with you. Then we can order in some dinner, talk about what’s happened and make some plans for the future.”
Niki stopped and looked at him. “Plans for the future?” she asked him, her heart pounding in her chest.
Sam’s eyes widened and his heart plummeted to his feet. Had he really just said that?
“I mean, you know, plans to investigate the files,” he stammered. “You know, the Blackwood files.”
She studied him for a moment, one corner of her mouth raising, and then she nodded. “Well, of course, the files,” she said, continuing her walk through the lobby. “So, do we have a name for our group?”
“A name?” Sam asked, still trying to find his footing after the last question.
“Yeah, you know,” Niki said. “BFF, Blackwood Files Finders. BFI, Blackwood Files Investigators. DGF…”
“DGF?” Sam asked.
“Yeah, Dead Guy Files, duh,” Niki said with a smile.
“Okay, I think that medicine they gave you affected your mind,” Sam teased. “Let’s get you home and get some real food into you.”
“Sounds like a plan, Sam,” she replied. “Sounds like a plan.”
Chapter Sixty-nine
Art walked into the living room from the kitchen carrying a large mug of hot chocolate with whipped cream on top. “I’m sorry this took so long,” he said. “Someone obviously taught Moose what aerosol whipped cream is and he wasn’t letting me out of the room until he got his share.”
Brooke smiled. She was sitting on her old couch wrapped in a blanket. She hadn’t been able to get warm since her experience in the basement.
He handed her the chocolate and sat down beside her. “Careful, it’s still too hot to drink.”
“So, did Moose just hold his mouth open for you while you squirted it in?” she asked, picking up the spoon on her saucer, slipping it into the whipped cream and taking a big bite.
“No,” he said evenly. “I let him lick it off your spoon.”
She froze, the spoon dangling from her mouth, and turned to him. “Really?”
Laughing, he took the spoon from her mouth and put it on the coffee table next to them. “If I did, then you might get some strange disease, like paw and mouth,” he teased. Then he moved the cup to the table.
“I just might,” she replied. “And it would be all your fault.”
He moved closer and slid his arms around her, pulling her close. “I supposed the only way for me to make amends is to get the disease myself,” he said.
“You’re going to lick my spoon too?” she asked.
He moved even closer. “No, I thought I’d go directly to the source,” he whispered, meeting her eyes.
Her lips trembled and she kneaded softly on her lower one, as he came even closer. She finally swallowed, cocked her head slightly and looked up at him before he could make his move. “So, you’re going to kiss Moose?”
“Ouch,” he said, moving back on the couch. “That was cold.”
She grinned at him. “This from the man who let a dog lick my spoon,” she replied.
“I didn’t let him lick your spoon,” he countered. “What kind of a person do you think I am?”
She picked up her cup and took a sip.
“A spoon wouldn’t have given him enough,” Art continued. “So I filled up your mug and let him lick out of that.”
She put the cup down on the table and looked around the room.
“What are you looking for?” Art asked.
Brooke turned back to him. “I can’t seem to find what I did with my monkey wrench,” she replied, with an innocent shrug.
Suddenly all the lights went off in the room. Brooke jumped and Art was at her side in a moment, holding her close. Then the lights went back on and Bruce was standing on the other side of the room. “I’m getting real good at this light thing,” he teased.
Art smiled and looked down at Brooke in his arms. “Yes. Yes you are.”
Embarrassed she slipped out of his embrace. Art grinned and moved over on the couch, giving her a little space. “Okay, Bruce, what’s up?”
“I hate to throw a damper on this party,” he said drily. “But I thought you ought to know, Crandall’s dead.”
“Dead?” Art asked, his tone serious. “What happened?”
“It looked like it was a suicide,” he said, shaking his head. “But I’m not convinced.”
“Someone killed him?” Brooke asked.
“Because we were getting close,” Art replied. “We were bringing him in for questioning.”
Bruce shrugged. “Well, it’s not like he didn’t know what he signed up for,” he said. “I’m having a hard time working up any sympathy for the guy.”
“There is an upside,” Art said.
“An upside to someone being killed?” Brooke asked.
Art nodded. “Yeah, because now Reece thinks you have nothing to investigate,” he replied. “The guy you remembered killing your father is now dead. You don’t pose a threat to anyone.”
Bruce nodded. “Yeah, he’s got a point,” he said. “So you’re safe, Brookie, at least your safe for now.”
Chapter Seventy
“Safe for now?” Niki asked as they all sat around the conference table eating Chinese food. “What kind of dad says that and then fades away into thin air.”
“A ghost dad,” Brooke suggested with a small smile.
Sam nodded. “But Art is right on target. Whoever thought Brooke was a threat thinks they are in the clear now.”
Brooke tossed a piece of teriyaki beef to Moose who caught it midair. “But the clear’s not going to last very long,” she said with a sigh. “And I’ve been looking through those files. I don’t even know where to begin.”
“Well, one thing’s for sure, we need to start right away, before the trail gets cold,” Art added. “We need to all go through those files starting tomorrow.”
Moose leaned forward and helped himself to a crab Rangoon that had slipped off the plate and onto the table. “Moose, no,” Brooke said. “No eating unless we give it to you.”
Moose wagged his tail and sat down next to Brooke.
Niki picked up a piece of sweet and sour chicken with her chopsticks and popped it into her mouth, Moose watching her every move. “Oh, no,” she said to the dog. “I am not a pushover like she is. Besides, I’m a cat person.”
Moose moaned softly and they all laughed. “I think you just broke his heart,” Sam said.
“I don’t think he has a heart,” Niki replied. “He’s all stomach.”
“So, Niki has an idea for a name for all of us,” Sam said.
Art held his half-bitten eggroll midair and looked at Sam. “I already have a name.”
Sam rolled his eyes. “No, not like that,” he said. “The name of our group. The name of our organization.”
“Oh, that would be nice,” Brooke said, tossing another piece of beef to Moose. “Like a club.”
“Not a club,” Niki said, placing her chopsticks on her plate. “A name that we can refer to ourselves as without other people knowing what we’re talking about.”
She picked up an eggroll from the platter.
“Do we have secret handshakes?” Art asked, grinning.
Niki pointed the eggroll at him. “You are getting on my last n
erve,” she waved her hand in the air to emphasis her point, then she felt a slight tug and looked down to find a half-eaten eggroll in her possession.
Moose smiled at her, cabbage hanging out of his mouth. Niki looked at Moose, and then looked at the rest of the group as the realization hit her. “Well, damn,” she said.
“What?” Brooke asked.
“I had a name for us, but it won’t work because we’ve already got a name,” she said.
“Which name?” Sam asked, confused.
Niki turned to Moose with frustration in her eyes. “We’re Scooby-doo,” she said with a frustrated sigh. “And, dammit, I’m Velma.”
The End
About the author: Terri Reid lives near Freeport, the home of the Mary O’Reilly Mystery Series, and loves a good ghost story. She lives in a hundred year-old farmhouse complete with its own ghost. She loves hearing from her readers at [email protected]
Other Books by Terri Reid:
Mary O’Reilly Paranormal Mystery Series:
Loose Ends (Book One)
Good Tidings (Book Two)
Never Forgotten (Book Three)
Final Call (Book Four)
Darkness Exposed (Book Five)
Natural Reaction (Book Six)
Secret Hollows (Book Seven)
Broken Promises (Book Eight)
Twisted Paths (Book Nine)
Veiled Passages (Book Ten)
Bumpy Roads (Book Eleven)
Treasured Legacies (Book Twelve)
Buried Innocence (Book Thirteen)
Stolen Dreams (Book Fourteen)
Haunted Tales (Book Fifteen)
Mary O’Reilly Short Stories
The Three Wise Guides
Tales Around the Jack O’Lantern 1
Tales Around the Jack O’Lantern 2
The Order of Brigid’s Cross (Sean’s Story)
The Wild Hunt (Book 1)
PRCD Case Files:
The Ghosts Of New Orleans -A Paranormal Research and Containment Division Case File
Eochaidh:
Legend of the Horseman (Book One)
Bearly In Love