by Linda Palmer
“How will we ever explain this?”
*
Chapter Sixteen
“I don’t think we’ll have to.”
“What?” It took a moment, but my supernatural daze began to ebb even as reality returned. I saw flashing lights—red, blue. I heard sirens, the wind, the rain, and voices. Excited voices.
“What the frick! Did you see that?”
“Hell yeah. Was that what it looked like?”
“Damned if I know.”
Cops. At least three. And I didn’t have a clue when they’d gotten there.
“Mia? Is that you?”
Knowing that voice well, I experienced a rush of pure relief. “Detective Pence?”
“Step aside, Bates. Haven’t you ever seen a ghost before?” The man who’d first used me as a police psychic briefly illuminated Simms’s body with his flashlight, knelt to take a neck pulse, and then stood. “One of you jacklegs make sure there’s an ambulance on the way.” He sidestepped the body and walked straight to us, shaking his head. “Damn bunch of rookies.”
“Is he dead?” I asked.
“Yep.” He didn’t sound a bit upset as he shifted his attention to Cooper. “Detective Pence. You’re Cooper Marsh?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Are you two all right?”
“Yes.” Knowing that his arms had to be aching, I made Cooper put me down. I immediately hugged Detective Pence, who I’d always loved and not just because he believed in me. “Aren’t you on special assignment?”
“As we speak.” He winked and let me step away.
Dazed and confused, I could only wonder what that was all about.
“Did my stepdad call you?” asked Cooper.
“He called 9-1-1 and Mia’s folks. Tug called me.”
Cooper frowned.
I realized my boyfriend didn’t know my father’s nickname. “That’s Dad. He and Detective Pence went to high school together.” I focused on the cop in question. “We’ve got so much to tell you, and most of it is going to sound really crazy.”
“At this point, nothing could surprise me. I’ve been secretly investigating Simms for months now.”
My jaw dropped. “So you know he’s been killing women that look like his wife?”
“I do, and now I’ve got the evidence I need to prove it. Unfortunately he’ll never go before a judge. But some families may finally get closure.” Detective Pence raised his flashlight, directing the beam just a little to the left of my head so he could see my face. He sighed. “I think I saw enough tonight to say the two of you aren’t considered suspects in the mysterious demise of Simms.” He checked Cooper, too, flicking the light so he could watch his pupils react and get a better look at his nose. He also examined the backs of Cooper’s hands, especially the right, which was bloody and swollen. “You’d better go to the ER.”
I could only agree. “We’ll need a ride. Simms stole the battery out of his truck.”
“Cooper’s stepdad should be here any moment.” He motioned for us to follow him, walking past the cops now at work securing the scene as he made his way to the barbed wire fence. Cooper lifted me over it and then ducked between two strands to get through, himself. Detective Pence did the same.
We heard another siren in the distance and fast approaching, judging from the sound level. But before it got to us, a white SUV coasted to a stop. Natalie and Patrick Marsh got out of it. Cooper took a deep breath, clearly anticipating trouble. My hero had no idea I wasn’t going to let anyone else touch him tonight. Steeling myself, I waited.
But I didn’t need to prepare for battle. Natalie rushed to Cooper and threw her arms around him. He hugged her back, for the moment ignoring Patrick. “Are you all right?” She framed her son’s head with her hands and examined it. “Just look at your face. Is your nose broken?”
Cooper shrugged in reply, his eyes now on Patrick as if waiting for the yelling to start.
But Marsh had riveted his gaze to me. “When I called your parents earlier, they were a couple of hours away. I told them we’d make sure you were okay.”
I just nodded.
“I don’t have all the details yet,” said Detective Pence, “but I’m pretty sure it’s safe to say that your son and Mia have played major roles in bringing a serial killer to justice.” He smiled at me. “I promise I’ll fill you in, Mia, but you’re clearly dead on your feet and your boyfriend, here, needs medical attention. So why don’t we all meet at the station tomorrow at, say, ten.”
Everyone agreed to that. In moments, Cooper and I got into Marsh’s SUV. “Don’t take me home. I’m going to the hospital with you guys.”
Marsh’s gaze locked with mine in the rear view mirror. He nodded once.
Exhaustion set in during the drive to Martinsburg Regional. It was as if I’d finally slowed down enough for my mind to realize what it had been through. Determined to be there for Cooper, I hid my exhaustion.
Our ER wait lasted about thirty minutes, not bad for a Louisiana Friday night. Natalie went back with her son, leaving me with Patrick. Not in the mood for small talk, I grabbed a magazine and pretended to be engrossed in an article on soccer, a sport I ranked even higher than football on my games-I-just-don’t-get list.
“Should you call your parents to tell them you’re all right?” asked Marsh.
“Oh God, yes!” I patted my pockets for my cell. Though I located it easily enough, it wouldn’t come on, which meant it wasn’t just my energy the spirits had drained.
Marsh silently handed his over.
“Thanks.” I took it and went outside.
Mom answered first ring. “Finally! Has your phone been turned off? What is going on?”
“Question number one: battery is dead. Question number two: long story, which I promise to tell the minute I see you. Don’t worry. Everything is okay now.”
“But Patrick said—”
I stopped her. “Seven spirits plugged into me tonight so they could save us. If I don’t recharge soon, I’ll keel over.”
“Where are you?”
I told her where and why.
“Your dad’s been driving eighty, so we’ll be there in another twenty minutes. Stay put.”
“Okay.” I was pretty sure we’d all still be there.
And we were. By the time my parents rolled in, I’d fallen asleep with my head on Patrick Marsh’s shoulder. Don’t know how that happened. To say I was embarrassed when Mom woke me didn’t begin to go there. I quickly checked to be sure I hadn’t drooled on the guy.
Though my parents really wanted to get me home, I told them I wouldn’t leave until I knew Cooper was okay. So we all settled in, with me yawning every ten seconds. Each time I caught one of them at it, too, I had to smile. Yawns were so contagious.
Natalie and Cooper finally came through the double doors. I jumped up to run to him, panicking a little when I saw bandages on not only his nose, but both hands and Steri-Strips on one brow. He also had a black eye and was wearing some kind of boot thingy on his left foot.
I looked at it in surprise. “When did you hurt your foot?”
“Didn’t. It’s my ankle. Twisted it when I stepped in that stupid grave. According to the doc, I have a stress fracture.”
“But you were walking on it all night.”
“Yep.”
How had he hidden his pain? Not caring what anyone thought, I hugged him really hard. “Thanks for saving me. I love you so much.”
“Ditto, and I love you, too.”
We kissed, with me deliberately holding back a little. Even exhausted, wet, and brain dead, I still wanted to jump those gorgeous bones of his. I tried to avoid Natalie’s gaze as I released her son, but our eyes met anyway. I could only hope Cooper hadn’t inherited his psychic gifts from her. What was on my mind just then might’ve shocked the poor woman.
“Can we go home now?” asked Mom. “You need to clean up and get some rest.”
Hating to leave Cooper, I opened my mouth to resist.
>
He wouldn’t let me. “You’re white as one of your ghosts, soaked to the bone, and covered in my blood.”
I glanced down at my shirt, just visible under my unzipped jacket. Oh wow. I really was.
“And besides, I’m going home, too—”
“Home home?”
He flicked a glance at his mom and gave me a half smile. “Yeah. I’ll see you at MPD tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
Detective Pence had to pull an extra chair into the conference room the next day to accommodate us all. He began our debriefing by explaining his assignment to investigate Detective Simms on the sly. The reason? Simms’s unwillingness to follow standard procedure and his military track record, which involved a court martial for the possible murder of innocent Afghani civilians. Though he hadn’t been convicted, we all now knew he should’ve been.
I immediately remembered wondering why MPD hadn’t gone public about the so-called missing person’s cases, setting up a hotline in case anyone knew anything. I thought of other clues, too, with Simms’s resistance to our psychic help being the main one.
The detective explained that only two of the women had come from the area. They’d been murdered early on, their bodies dumped and then found. Simms had apparently gotten smarter after that. He began frequenting area bars to pick up females who reminded him of his Filipino wife. Taking them to Cooper’s barn, he acted out a revenge fantasy. “We have no idea how many victims we’re dealing with.”
“Seven,” I said.
Detective Pence gave me his full attention. “And the bodies?”
“We might know where they are,” I said, glancing at Cooper.
The detective drew in a long breath, thoughtfully nodding. “Maybe you’d better tell me everything.”
In turns and sometimes together, Cooper and I did just that, beginning with the appearance of that first specter and ending with the spiritual gathering in the cornfield the night before.
Detective Pence took over there, recounting what he and the other policemen had seen of the sandstorm and listening intently as we added our points of view to further clarify the violent scene.
Throughout the debriefing, I sensed Patrick Marsh’s doubt about the supernatural elements of our story. I also sensed Cooper’s growing irritation that even in the face of the facts and with witnesses to corroborate, Marsh resisted believing.
“Is that the watch your sister gave you Thanksgiving?” I asked when Detective Pence left us for a moment to take a call.
“Yes,” Marsh said, the next second frowning. “How’d you know?”
“Your dad just told me it used to be his, a wedding gift from your mom, Lucy. He said you’ve wanted it for a very long time, but your sister wouldn’t give it up.”
Marsh’s gaze nailed me to the chair for a second before he glanced at his wife. “Did you tell Cooper about that?”
“How could I,” she said, “when I didn’t know, myself?”
I continued. “Your dad also said it loses time, about five minutes a day.”
He checked. “It does, for a fact.”
“And those initials on the back? The ones that are driving you crazy? IWLYF was their secret code for I will love you forever.”
For a solid minute, Marsh sat in silence, his eyes on that watch. He took it off his wrist and pulled the stretchy band down, showing us all those initials.
Then he put it back on and cleared his throat. “I’m thinking I owe someone an apology. Three someones, actually. Natalie, I should’ve listened to you the very first time you told me it was real. Cooper, I’m sorry I’ve been such a hard nose. If you don’t want to move home, I’ll understand, but I sincerely hope you’ll forgive me and come back for good. Your mom misses you terribly.” He shifted his ruddy face to me. “Mia, how would you feel about speaking at an information assembly sometime before Christmas? I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one with a lot to learn.”
Since sheer terror struck me at the mere idea of officially coming out to an auditorium full of living peers, I couldn’t begin to answer. I’d prefer a roomful of happy dead ones any day.
Cooper and his stepdad put a battery in his truck that afternoon. He drove straight to Marty’s and got his stuff. I knew because I was with him.
That night, Cooper and I snuggled on my bed. Though the TV blared, neither of us were watching it. I preferred tracing my finger lightly over the bruises on his face, which already looked a little better since some of the swelling had gone down.
“That tickles,” he said.
“Not as much as this would.” I dug my fingers into his ribs through his T-shirt.
Yelping, he squirmed and captured my hand in his, pinning it to his belly. “Can you please show a little respect for the injured?”
I snorted. Sensing a familiar, yet tentative presence, I turned and looked over my shoulder. “Come in.”
Cooper didn’t take his eyes off me as he smiled. “Hey, Dad.”
Hey, TC.
“I miss you so much.”
I’m always with you.
“Not the same.”
We’ll be together again someday. I promise.
I broke in. “Not any time soon, okay?”
Brett Ray flooded us in his love and then faded away.
“Mmm,” I said. “That was nice.”
“Wasn’t it?” His gaze shifted to a spot just behind me. “You can come in, too.”
A little late, I realized Nick had joined us. “Oh good. I’ve been wanting to ask you something. Why did you let all those murdered women get to me? Couldn’t someone else have helped them?”
It had to be you. In time you’ll understand.
“Goodnight, Nick.” Cooper’s firm tone sent my spirit guide on his way.
I touched my guy’s scratchy chin and cheeks, probably tickling him again even though I didn’t mean to. “Your sidekicks seem to have come back with a vengeance.”
“Baby, you have no idea.”
“I think I’ll tell Principal Marsh that you’re going to help with that assembly.”
He groaned.
“If I have to, you have to. It’s only fair.”
“Fine, but can we wait until the end of school? I’m thinking the very last day, ten minutes before final bell.”
I smiled, liking that idea pretty well, myself.
“And yes, we can go get ice cream. Dairy Queen will still be open.”
It took a second. I gasped. “Did you just read my mind?”
He’d never looked so smug. “Yep.”
“That is so not cool.”
“Why? Because you’re worried I’ll find out you don’t love me nearly as much as you claim?”
“No, idiot. Because I might not want you to know when I go buy tampons.”
He winced. “Could we please not talk about tampons?”
Somehow I kept my composure. “I also wouldn’t like it if you could tell when I was at Victoria’s secret, trying on bras.”
“But that might be important for me to know.”
I gave him a look that nixed that idea. “How will I ever be able to throw surprise birthday parties?”
“Or buy me Christmas presents.”
“Or sneak up on you?” Loving how relaxed we were, I didn’t stop there. “And what if I think another guy is hot? Do you really want to know that?”
“Hell yeah. I want to know all your secrets.”
“Including the sex thing?”
He abruptly sat up and stared down at me. “There’s a sex thing?”
“Oh yeah.” I faked surprise. “You didn’t know?”
“Uh-uh.”
“Why not? I mean, if you’re reading my mind, you’d have to. It’s sort of consuming me at the moment.”
Cooper’s instant chagrin cracked me up. “Actually…I might’ve exaggerated the mind reading.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. When we were downstairs, I sort of heard you tell your Dad you wanted to go to DQ later.”<
br />
“Ah. So the sex thing is still my secret?”
“Unless you’d like to share it.” He settled back, propping his elbow on the bed and his chin in his hand as he gave me a hopeful smile. “Would you like to share it?”
I laughed. “Baby, you have no idea.”
*
Epilogue
It took lots of police, volunteers, and a couple of cadaver dogs to find the missing bodies. Locating and notifying families of the deceased took a while, too.
But Cooper and I waited until we had their names to return to the barn. After making a lot of phone calls and sending just as many emails, the two of us drove there on a sunny Sunday, hoping to give all Simms’s victims peace by clearing the air figuratively and literally.
To do that, we had to duck under bright yellow crime scene tape and enter the barn. I made a mini-altar inside it, lighting seven candles and arranging photos of the victims that I’d cut out of the newspaper when it finally ran the story about two local psychics who helped bring a killer to justice.
One-by-one each spirit came forward until all seven were with us.
One-by-one I addressed them by name, reading messages from the loved ones they’d tragically left behind.
And one-by-one, they moved on, leaving their earthly cares behind since justice had been served.
Cooper and I then lit the sage and walked every inch of that old barn and loft, clearing the air of any negativity that might be lingering there. Once we’d blown out the candles and gathered up the photos, we exited into the sun, blinking against its brilliance.
“How are you doing?” asked Cooper, tugging my ponytail.
“I’m fine. You?”
“Never better.”
“Everything is going to be all right,” I told him.
He smiled. “No. Everything is all right now.”
*
About the Author
Linda Palmer has been writing for many years, ranging in genre from Silhouette romances to YA paranormal romances. She was a Romance Writers of America (RWA) Rita finalist twice and won the 2011 and 2012 Electronic Publishing Industry Coalition (EPIC) awards in the YA category. She was also a finalist for a 2013 EPIC Award in the YA category as well as a 2013 Ariana award for YA cover art. Her website is www.lindavpalmer.com.