I Was Murdered Last Night (Olivia Brown Mysteries Book 1)

by A. J. Gallant

  If only I could grab that damn wheel, I bet that would change the time frame, especially if he totaled the car. I wouldn't want to be responsible for his death even though he was responsible for mine. This asshole does have lots of money, so maybe he would just buy another car. If I could just change whatever the hell brings him to Florida. If he's hired to kill someone there, it might be hard to change it, or maybe he goes to Disney World or Universal, and something happens?

  A sigh of stress released. Who knew a ghost could be tense? Anita moved through the passenger seat and sat beside him. A deer ran across in front of them, and Anita grabbed the steering wheel and jerked it toward her. The car went off the road and smashed into a tree. The air bags inflated, making both Anita and the kitten jump out to avoid the collision, not that it could harm either of them. The auto's front end was damaged and it wasn't going anywhere now, besides it was in a ditch.

  John was dazed and wasn't sure what happened; he must have avoided the animal, though a split second later he would have hit the brakes. He heard sirens in the distance and thought it a good thing he didn't have any weapons with him, though he didn't believe that they were coming to his aid that fast.

  Anita had mixed emotions. In a way she was glad he wasn't killed, but then again perhaps it would have been better if he had. The consequences shouldn't be too bad for killing a killer, should it? It would have been justice, and Eva and Courtney would be safe. No way to know for sure. This must have changed the timeline. Although John might have hit the deer with just about the same result and might have ended up with a busted car. I just don't know what to think. I should be alive is what. I wonder what would have happened if he hadn't killed me? Would that have changed it? Or would I have been out with them and we would have all died?

  Stephen appeared on the side of the road. “Damn it, I'm too late.” And then he disappeared. It wasn't easy tracking down Anita; she moved around too much.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  CUTHBERT WAS FACE-TO-FACE WITH STEPHEN near the lake. The beautiful scent of pine trees permeated the air, and a white wolf was watching from behind a tree as if stalking, sniffing the air. The exchange had become heated but now there was a break, and the wolf watched curiously. An animal could learn a lot more about people on this side than the other, definitely safer, the wolf's instincts not so strong here.

  “Have I made myself clear?” said Cuthbert.

  Stephen crossed his arms and presented a disapproving face. “I have free will, and I'll do whatever I damn well please. You act like you are important, but I see no proof of that. I see no halo over your head.”

  Cuthbert rubbed his chin as he considered what to say. There was no talking sense to some people, and lessons took longer here. Stephen's faults appeared chiseled into him like words on a gravestone. “Stephen, have you figured out the reason some people are here and not in heaven with God?”

  Stephen was already sufficiently irritated and didn't appreciate interference from anyone. “Do tell.”

  “Different reasons for different people, but in your case, it's to decide whether you will go up or down. I'm sure you know what I'm saying. You are close to going to hell. Does that not concern you?”

  “As a spirit, I can't feel physical pain, so I'm not too worried about burning in hell. Admit it–there is no hell. Only this place and heaven, I think.”

  “It's not physical pain that you'll experience.” Torment took many forms and just being away from God was one of them.

  Stephen smirked. Good luck trying to torture me with words. Why the hell doesn't this guy mind his own damn business? I don't stick my nose into his affairs. This idiot is just making this shit up, and you can't bullshit a bullshitter. “I'm dead, what are you gonna do, buddy?”

  Cuthbert walked away, having said what he wanted. Apparently, there was no warning this guy and it was unlikely to alter his course one iota. But he was concerned that Stephen might be able to interfere with Anita. She was an exceptional case and had all the right elements to help on the other side, though it could take a long time before she was good at it. If she failed where her sisters were concerned, it was likely to be a setback, perhaps a permanent one.

  Stephen went to Anita, discovered her by a pool not far from Detective Brown. It was exciting to him that he might be able to stop her from interfering with his brother John. Anita was attempting to get Olivia's attention but, for whatever reason, it wasn't working. It was night, and there were several other couples in the pool, including her sister Charlotte, who was kissing a beautiful redhead. She was peculiar in that she didn't consider making out with a woman to be cheating on her fiancé and, as an adult, it was none of her business. It was best not to judge if at all possible. Charlotte and her fiancé occasionally had threesomes with other women and, because of it, Olivia thought it wouldn't end up being a lifelong marriage, but things were different these days and time would ultimately tell.

  “Didn't I tell you to stay away from her?” Stephen, acting as if he had some right to be here, was dismissed.

  “Get away from me and mind your own business. I'm trying to save my sisters from a horrible fate.”

  He took in the situation around him, watching the women kiss. “What do you mean?”

  “The two who killed me will end up being the death of my sisters in a confrontation with the police. It'll be an accidental shooting, but that doesn't make it any less tragic.”

  She can't change anything on this side, can she? Now I can see why my meddling might be considered a serious offense. But why should I care about this bitch or her sisters? Stephen was abruptly pulled away by an unseen hand.

  Anita closed her eyes, repeatedly saying look at me, look at me to the detective, but had no success. She believed if Cuthbert could read her mind then maybe she could influence the detective, but it didn't seem to be working. Perhaps there were too many other souls around, but she could only guess. If she were now energy, maybe too many people caused interference? Anita wasn't privy to whatever rules governed the dead. She stared at the reflection of the pool lights in the water, not knowing the next step she should take. Even though she might be eternal, time was not her friend. What was a ghost to do?

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  IT WAS LATE WHEN Olivia and Charlotte returned to their presidential suite. They had lain in the sun for most of the day, or at least under umbrellas, and then went out for a cruise on the ocean to watch the dolphins swim. It would not be a day they would soon forget. Nature had a way of soothing the mind.

  Olivia dropped her purse on the bureau. “Did you get rid of your girlfriend?”

  Charlotte nodded. “I did actually. Well, she ran off with that Jamaican lady is what happened.”

  “Probably that God awful perfume you wear, Eaux de dead skunk.” She giggled and let herself fall on the bed.

  “Oh, stop it. It's not that bad. I don't use much.”

  “If you're a dead skunk it wouldn't be that bad, but a live one wouldn't appreciate that stink.”

  “Uh oh.” Charlotte staggered off to the washroom, where the sound of retching and vomiting soon escaped. The booze was fighting with the fish she had for dinner.

  The detective closed the door behind her and then got a drink of water. “That's good sister–add the smell of puke to that perfume. I better lay down before I fall.” She felt a chill, wondering briefly if the ghost was back, but closed her eyes and was soon asleep.

  Anita, facing steps made of rock that ascended a green hill, noticed that on some steps were what she thought might be either Chinese or Japanese characters, words perhaps, etched into some of the stones. She bent down and felt one, smooth to the touch, and as she did, it briefly glowed a gray-blue. Anita envisioned that someone's imagination had created this scene. As she understood it, things and places were mostly created by people.

  The scent of flowers filled the air, though she could not yet see any, sweet and not overly intense. A gentle melody was playing, though Anita was unawar
e of its source. As she climbed, two Japanese Macaque monkeys were hugging one another on the very top step, one of the cutest things Anita had ever seen. They made their way past her, stopping at the bottom to groom one another, reminding her of children.

  As Anita reached the top, she discovered a sea of cherry blossom trees on both sides of a stone path; soft, pink and beautiful, a celebration of spring in Japan perhaps? She saw that the trail led to a gold and brown Japanese temple, three stories tall, and admired its exquisiteness. And to her left an effigy of a man or woman with a flute to his or her mouth, made of hollow bamboo. The air blowing through the bamboo was producing the delightful music.

  And then she saw him, a short fat man near the temple, gesturing for her to approach even though Anita was still a distance away. A dozen Red-Crowned Cranes were in front of the building; some people considered them the most beautiful birds in the world. Bright white bodies with heads that were black, white and, of course, the red crowns. It was a lovely scene that she enjoyed, and Anita thought she would return and spend some time here later.

  Cuthbert told me to come and see this guy, and I guess I'll find out why soon enough. It's so wonderful here, and it makes me a little sad to think those magnificent birds are dead. I should probably stop thinking that way. Is this supposed to be Japan or China?

  A Japanese Bush Warbler was singing a welcoming song. If not pressed for time, under one of those trees would be a good place to sit and appreciate the beauty. Even though time was aberrant here, it was ticking away back on Earth. Her parents had just gone through the tragedy of her death and didn't need another funeral.

  The bronze-colored man entered the path to greet her, and as he approached he shook her hand. “You are Anita. A different kind of soul, yes?”

  She asked it almost without meaning to ask. “Why haven't you gone into the light?” It made her realize that she was asking the same question of everyone she met.

  He had a smile that could light any room. “We are not here for me. And my name doesn't matter.”

  That's a weird thing to say. “Okay.”

  He gestured for her to enter the temple and they sat on the floor facing one another. The kitten appeared on her left shoulder and batted at the air. He took the cat and placed Sun-Jade on the floor, giving her the head of a cherry blossom to play with, and off she went, chasing it around. No furniture inside, only space and shiny wooden floors. On the walls were various paintings of volcanoes erupting, and one looked as though a child had haphazardly painted it. “Close your eyes and leave your mind of scattered thoughts. Hold your right hand open, I will place a small stone in your hand, and then you may close it.”

  “Okay.” Anita closed her hand and could feel the jagged rock, almost painful.

  “Has the detective seen you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Does she believe in you?”

  Does she believe in me? How am I supposed to know that? She doesn't want to trust her own eyes, but I think she does. “I'm not sure, but I think so. She's a homicide detective, so she's pragmatic.”

  He was silent for a time, and if she could see his face she would realize that he was contemplating on Olivia, bringing up her face at different times in her life. “Olivia Brown does not want to believe but she must if this is going to work. I see a big problem. The time is such that your sisters will succumb while she will be flying back to New York. She's scheduled to spend a month in the Bahamas but has only been there for several days. You must get her to cut her vacation short.”

  “Can I open my eyes?”

  “Not yet.”

  “How am I supposed to do that? I wouldn't leave my vacation, ghost or no ghost. I don't think this is gonna work.”

  The brown man gazed at Anita. “You should know that if you can save your sisters, it will be the start of something new. Your strength will come with this challenge and the experience, and your ability will grow exponentially with each murder you help solve.”

  “And what if I don't want to help solve crimes. What if I just go to heaven?”

  Cuthbert nodded. “That would, of course, be your decision.”

  Going into heaven's light wasn't working too well so far. “Heaven won't let me inside.”

  “That is only a temporary thing to give you the opportunity to at least try to save Eva and Courtney. You would also have more visitations with your family back on Earth should you succeed, as your energy grows. It was attempted a few times before, but the pull of heaven always has been too great. You may open your eyes now.”

  Anita opened her eyes. “I believe that I feel heaven's pull even more now. Why are there so many here who won't go into the light?”

  “Everyone has their apprehensions and their fears. Look at your hand.”

  The jagged stone was now smooth and polished a Shamrock green, quite lovely. Anita thought that she could feel a slight vibration from it.

  “Shouldn't I be with the detective rather than sitting here?”

  “I'm sending you to see Olivia. You will be with her for the next nine hours as the stone will hold you there, and during that time your bond will become closer. Maybe you can even get her to cut her vacation short. Much more than you know depends on it.”

  Before she could even say another word Anita was back in the hotel suite, though at two in the morning, and Olivia was asleep. “Crap!” Should she attempt to wake her? How difficult was it going to be to return her to consciousness? If it was anything else she might just say it was more trouble than it was worth, but to save her little sisters she would do just about anything. Anita, aware of the stone in her hand, had to laugh when the kitten appeared on top of her head and could feel Sun-Jade again trying to balance up there. The cat jumped on the bed.

  The detective stirred when I laughed but was it just a coincidence? Is she tuned into my emotions? She made herself laugh, though this time it wasn't genuine. Wasn't easy to manipulate one's emotions. A person couldn't be happy just because they wanted to be in a good mood. Anita slapped the bed, but her hand went through it and then she jumped up and down on the mattress, and it did appear to move slightly. However, the movement went unnoticed.

  Several minutes were wasted clapping her hands and other attempts to make noise, but to no avail. The detective was in REM sleep, and her sister Charlotte was snoring loudly. They both reeked of alcohol. It didn't appear to be much of a vacation to Anita, but she hadn't been around when they were having great fun on the SeaDoo watercrafts that afternoon, flying across the ocean at seventy miles per hour as they fashioned even more memories.

  Sun-Jade walked on a pillow that was away from Olivia, batting at the corner of it, and then she went inside, and Anita saw the lump moving around in the pillowcase. The kitten ran out and onto the detective's chest, making her stir and then mumble. That gave Brown an idea. “Sun-Jade, come here.” She took the cat and got closer and then dropped the kitten on the detective's face.

  Olivia sat up instantly. “What? What's going on?” She looked around, and a headache was already manifesting. It wasn't too bad yet but it was going to be a doozy.

  “I'm right here! Can you see me?”

  Olivia's eyes were weighty, and it didn't appear as if she could see Anita. Sun-Jade walked on her chest as the detective tried to pet her; the cat stuck her bum in the air, telling Olivia to continue. “I'm dreaming.” And with that, she turned over and went back to sleep.

  Anita shook her head. “Oh no, you don't! Get her Sun-Jade!” She picked up the kitten and dropped her on Olivia's head, making her sit up with fright.

  “What the hell?” Olivia stared at Sun-Jade, who was now back on Anita's shoulder, trying to come to terms with what she was seeing. “You? I tried to catch your killer, but it was a dead end. So unless you can give me something I can use in court, you are wasting your time and, more important, wasting mine.”

  Charlotte snorted, snoring loudly, and they all looked in her direction, even the cat.

  “Are you able to re
ad my lips?” She spoke slowly and watched as the detective nodded. Finally, she was getting somewhere. “I need you to go to Florida. The killers will be there, and if we can stop them or at least change their timeline, we can prevent a tragedy from happening.” Only now, with the excitement, she was speaking much too fast, getting a shrug and a head shake out of the detective.

  “Talk slower as I'm not a lip reader. All I got out of that was Florida.”

  Anita took a deep breath to calm herself and would start over. But it was too late, Stephen had reached her from the other side and pulled her back.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  HENRY AND JOHN WERE AT THE LODGE ON LAKE OCONEE, spending the week for a change of scenery. John was often restless. They had free wireless Internet so even here they would be able to respond to a job offer. Tomorrow they would go out on the lake but for now, taking it easy with a couple of beers by the dock was sufficient.

  John liked to people watch, just take in how people reacted with one another, and always appreciated a good fight. Once, when he was in school, two individuals were always trying to one up another, turning over each other's desks and so on, and as things had gotten out of hand, they finally agreed to a truce. John turned over one of their desks and the battle started all over again, and he had had a good laugh about it. He always said that one could learn a lot about people when they argued, revealing more of their true selves than they wanted. Of course, not many people fought in public, but there were a few. It was an idiosyncrasy that Henry just went along with. Everyone had some weird shit about them.

  It wasn't noon yet but already almost ninety degrees outside. A beautiful yellow and black Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly landed on Henry's left arm, and his reaction was disgust, almost as if he couldn't endure something so beautiful, swatting it away.