Ghost Hunter gh-4

by Jayne Castle

  "Probably not," Bertha agreed. "Sure glad you two came along when you did."

  "It was a good thing that you gave Elly the frequency of both your sled and your personal amber." Cooper propped one shoulder against the doorjamb and folded his arms. "She probably told you that the sled's amber-rez locator got fried by the ghost."

  Bertha nodded. "Yep. Gonna be expensive to get it replaced, too. That sled is old. Parts are hard to get."

  "You're sure you don't want me to take you to a doctor his morning?" Elly asked with a concerned frown.

  "Hell, no," Bertha said fervently. "I'll be okay. Takes a lot more than a big, bad ghost to fry this old tangler. This jecial tea of yours is making me feel better by the minute, like Cooper, here, mostly I need a bath."

  "Are you sure you don't want to use my shower?" Elly asked.

  "Thanks, but I'd rather go back to my own place to get cleaned up." Bertha looked down at her rumpled shirt and trousers. "I want to put on some fresh clothes." She scowled. "Damn, these overalls were brand-new. Now look at 'em. Little bloodstains all over the place."

  "Scalp wounds tend to bleed a lot," Elly said.

  "Probably have to throw them out. Real shame, too. Had all these pockets organized just the way I like 'em." She patted one of the pockets in question. "Huh."

  "What?" Elly asked.

  "There's something crunchy in this pocket. I don't recall putting anything in there." Bertha undid the flap and reached inside. "Well, I'll be. Don't remember picking this up."

  Cooper watched her put a handful of plant residue on the table. "Looks like a bunch of dried weeds."

  "Now, where in green blazes did I find that stuff?" Bertha shook her head, baffled. "And why did I save it?"

  Elly put down the orange she had been about to slice. Cooper saw that her attention was riveted on the crumbly plant material.

  She walked to the table and picked up a pinch of the dried leaves. She studied them for a long, considering moment.

  "I'll have to check my collection of herbals to be certain, but I think these are dried psi-bright leaves."

  "Never heard of psi-bright," Bertha said.

  "It's a wild herb that is native to the tropical zones," Elly said. "It was discovered about a hundred years ago by botanists on the Second Tropical Expedition. It has some unusual pharmacological properties. For a while researchers thought it might prove useful in the treatment of certain types of parapsych disorders. But in the end the research was abandoned because it was extremely unpredictable as a drug."

  She stopped talking and looked at Cooper.

  "What's the matter?" he asked.

  "According to the newspapers, the new drug on the streets, the one they call enchantment dust, or chant, is derived from psi-bright," she said slowly. "In fact, there was another overdose reported in the papers this morning."

  She picked up the newspaper on the kitchen table and handed it to him without another word.

  Cooper removed a black case from his pocket, opened it, and unfolded his glasses.

  He studied the paper's masthead and saw that he was looking at a copy of the Cadence Star. The story of the overdose was front-page news.

  WOMAN FOUND DEAD IN OLD QUARTER

  The body of Bonnie May Stevens was discovered in her Old Quarter apartment at approximately two a.m. this morning. Her roommate, who declined to give her name, reported the death. Police records indicate that traces of a white powder were found near the deceased. A spokesman for the department said that an autopsy and an analysis of the powder would be done as soon as possible to determine the cause of death.

  The roommate suggested to journalists that Stevens had a long history of drug use and prostitution. She added that Stevens appeared to have been badly beaten, perhaps by one of her clients, shortly before her death. "She was roughed up real bad," the roommate said. "I think somebody killed her."

  Detective Grayson DeWitt, the head of the new Drug Task Force, will be in charge of the investigation into Stevens's death.

  "We've taken a few of the biggest dealers off the streets in recent weeks," DeWitt told reporters. "But we're not going to stop until we nail the drug lord who is manufacturing and distributing the chant."

  Anyone with information pertaining to the death of Stevens is urged to contact the Drug Task Force unit of the Cadence Police Department immediately.

  *****

  A picture accompanied the article. It showed a lean, square-jawed man in his early thirties standing on the steps of the Cadence Police Department building. He looked so resolute and photogenic in a flashy, hand-tailored silver gray, pin-striped suit that Cooper assumed he was an anchor for one of the local television stations.

  The caption informed him that the man in the picture was Detective Grayson DeWitt.

  He lowered the paper, took off his glasses, and looked at Bertha. "You're sure you can't remember where you got this?"

  Bertha shook her head. "Sorry. It's all a blank. I'll tell you one thing, though. Nothing I hate more than drug dealers."

  "I think we're going to have to go with the theory that you discovered that psi-bright around the time you got fried by the ghost," Cooper said.

  Elly watched him very intently. "You think Bertha stumbled into a drug ring, don't you? And someone tried to kill her."

  "I think it's a very real possibility, yes," Cooper said.

  Bertha's expression tightened in alarm. "If I take those herbs to the cops, they'll want to know where I found them. I can't tell them because I don't know. They might not even believe me without concrete proof. No one trusts ruin rats. That Detective DeWitt has made a lot of high-profile arrests lately. What if he decides to throw me in jail for the possession of psi-bright?"

  "It's worse than that, I'm afraid," Cooper said quietly. "Whoever tried to silence you the first time will probably try again if he discovers that you made it back out of the catacombs."

  "Ghost-shit." Bertha slumped in her chair. "What in green hell am I going to do?"

  Alarmed by the change in the mood of the room, Rose tumbled off the windowsill and bounced onto the table. She nuzzled Bertha's big hand in a comforting manner.

  "Don't worry, Bertha," Elly said. "It's going to be okay."

  Bertha raised her head. "How do you know?"

  "Because you're in good hands," Elly said calmly. "Cooper, here, will take care of everything."

  Bertha straightened slowly. She turned her shrewd, seen-it-all eyes toward Cooper. "And just who are you, Cooper Jones, that you can take care of everything?"

  "I hadn't planned on telling you, but under the circumstances, I think you should know," he said. "I'm the head of the Aurora Springs Guild. And I'd take it as a favor if you kept that information to yourself."

  "Well, damn," Bertha said, brightening. "You mean this is Guild business?"

  "Yes, ma'am," Cooper said.

  "Then there's some hope at the end of this damn tunnel, after all. What happens next?"

  "I'm going to make a call," Cooper said.

  Chapter 10

  WITHIN TEN MINUTES A DARK COASTER WITH HEAVILY tinted windows pulled into the alley behind St. Clair's Herbal Emporium.

  Cooper made another phone call to check the IDs of the two hunters inside and then bundled Bertha into the backseat.

  "You'll be okay at the Guild safe house, Bertha," he said. "I'll let you know as soon as we've got this thing under control."

  She nodded brusquely. "I appreciate this, Mr. Boone."

  "Trust me, you're doing the Guild a favor by cooperating," he said.

  "Yeah?" Bertha smiled slightly. "They say the Guild never forgets a favor."

  "That's true. I don't want you making any phone calls, but if you remember anything that might be useful, let one of these gentlemen know. They can get the message to me."

  "Sure, but I wouldn't be too hopeful, if I were you."

  Bertha heaved a sigh. "I'm not likely to ever remember what happened in the few minutes before the burn."


  "You never know." Cooper stepped back and motioned to the driver. 'Take good care of her," he said to the man. "Ms. Newell is a friend of the Guild."

  "Yes, sir, we'll make sure she doesn't come to any harm." The man behind the wheel inclined his head. "By the way, Mr. Wyatt said to tell you welcome to Cadence."

  "Thanks."

  He waited until the big car had turned the corner at the end of the alley and vanished into the fog. Then he went back upstairs to Elly's small apartment and stopped in the kitchen doorway.

  "Bertha's off to the safe house," he said. "She'll be fine."

  "That's a relief." Elly paused in the act of squeezing an orange. "It's obvious she stumbled into something very nasty last night."

  "I think so. By the way, I didn't see any other vehicles parked in the alley. Where's your car?"

  "In a private garage at the end of this block. Those of us who have shops and apartments on Ruin Lane rent space there."

  "I see. Think there's any room for the Spectrum?"

  "No. There's a waiting list."

  "Guess I'll just keep hanging ghosts on the license plate, in that case."

  She searched his face. "You must be half starved. Hurry up and shower. I'll have breakfast waiting when you get out."

  He nodded, started to turn, and then hesitated.

  "Everything okay with you?" he asked, feeling his way.

  "Certainly," she said, very brisk and matter-of-fact. "Why wouldn't it be?"

  "Well," he said, "neither one of us is a teenager, anymore. Car sex can be strenuous for adults."

  Her cheeks turned a hot shade of pink. She stopped squeezing the orange and faced him with both hands on her hips.

  "I think you'd better take that shower," she said. "Right now."

  "You thought I wouldn't remember, didn't you?" He studied her flushed cheeks. "No, you hoped I wouldn't remember."

  She cleared her throat, picked up another orange, and got very busy with it. "What occurred in your car last night was an aberration. A complete anomaly. An abnormal reaction to a highly unusual and extremely stressful situation. I think it would be best if we both pretend it didn't happen, don't you?"

  "Aberration? Anomaly? Abnormal?" He straightened out of the doorway and started toward her. "We're talking about the hottest sex I can recall having in years, probably in my whole life."

  The stain in her cheeks deepened. "Really, Cooper?"

  "Yes, really, Elly." He kept moving toward her. "You know, I promised myself I'd be a gentleman this morning. It occurred to me that you would probably be feeling a little shy after what happened between us. I wanted to demonstrate some respect for your delicate feelings. Didn't want you to think I was some kind of low-life hunter who got over-rezzed melting amber and used the most convenient female at hand to satisfy himself."

  "I never thought that," she said quickly, taking a step back.

  "You're sure?"

  "I'm positive." She fluttered her hands at him in a warding-off gesture. "Look, there's no need to get upset about this. What happened last night was just one of those things. No harm, no fou.l"

  "To you, maybe, but not to me." He closed the distance between them.

  She took another step back, but the small space offered little room for retreat. She came up hard against the wall. "We can talk about this after you come out of the shower."

  He leaned in close and flattened both hands on the wall on either side of her head, caging her.

  "We're going to talk about it now," he said.

  "There's nothing to discuss," she said, a little breathless. "I mean, car sex is all very nice, of course, but-"

  "Very nice? That's all you can say about what went on downstairs in my car last night?"

  Somehow, trapped as she was between him and the wall, she still managed to bristle. Her fine, lilting brows snapped together in a glowering frown.

  "Well, it doesn't exactly imply a deep, meaningful relationship, now does it?" she said very evenly. "Especially when we both know that the impulse was artificially generated because you melted amber."

  "Oh, no, you don't." He leaned closer. "You're not blaming this on me. What happened in that alley was not my fault. I tried to leave before things went too far. But you wouldn't let me go, remember? You wouldn't even let me have some privacy so that I could sleep off the afterburn in my own car."

  "I was worried you might get mugged down in that alley."

  "Guess what? I'm starting to think maybe I did get mugged. By an innocent-looking little herbalist who wanted to find out what it was like to have hot sex with a hunter after he'd melted amber."

  "That's not true." She stared at him, appalled. "You know it isn't."

  "You sure about that?"

  "Of course, I'm sure." She folded her arms and narrowed her eyes. "I was there, if you will recall."

  "Huh."

  "And just what is that supposed to mean?" she demanded.

  "If you didn't take advantage of me in my ghost-burned condition, are you, by any chance, implying that I took advantage of you?"

  Her mouth tightened. "I never said that."

  "Good. We've established that the encounter was consensual."

  She cleared her throat. "I never said otherwise."

  "Moving right along, let's go back to your earlier comment, the one about how our episode of hot car sex did not imply a meaningful relationship."

  "I think you've pushed this far enough."

  "Honey, I haven't even begun to push. What I want to know is, didn't last night mean anything at all to you?"

  She got a haunted look. "I'm warning you…"

  "Or is having car sex with ghost-burned hunters a casual, sophisticated form of entertainment for you now that you've moved to the big city?"

  "You know damn well that isn't true!"

  "So we can now state unequivocally that last night did have some meaning for you."

  He knew he'd gone too far an instant before the outrage flashed across her face.

  "Son of a bitch," she shrieked.

  She moved so fast that he didn't even realize her intention until she had ducked under his left arm. By then it was too late. She had the pitcher of freshly squeezed orange juice in one hand and was upending it over his head.

  He winced as the sticky juice drenched his face and chest and splashed onto the floor.

  A shocked silence descended.

  "Sorry," he said, wiping his face on the sleeve of his shirt. "You were right. I did push it a little too far."

  "Why did you do it?" she whispered.

  "Because last night meant something to me, and I didn't want to think that it had been completely meaningless to you. You hurt my feelings, if you want to know the truth." He shrugged. "Go figure."

  "I hurt your feelings?"

  "Guild bosses have feelings, too."

  She blinked. And then she started to giggle. The giggles turned into laughter. He watched, fascinated, as she wrapped her arms around herself and doubled over with the force of her mirth.

  It had been over six months since he'd heard her laugh, he thought. He knew he'd missed it. He just hadn't realized how much until now.

  "I don't believe it," she finally managed to get out.

  "What? About Guild bosses having feelings?" he asked.

  "No, that you managed to make me laugh about last night." She shook her head, smiling wryly as the laughter subsided. "Go take your shower, Guild Boss."

  He looked down at the orange juice that saturated front of his shirt. "That would probably be a good idea. Too bad I don't have a change of clothes in my kit bag. Most of the stuff I brought with me is back in my hotel room."

  He started toward the kitchen door.

  "One question," she said a little too smoothly.

  He paused and looked back at her. "Yeah?"

  "Where did you learn to argue like that? You sounded a lot like a lawyer cross-examining a witness."

  "I took some law classes when I attended Resonance City
University."

  She tilted her head slightly, letting him know he had surprised her.

  "You wanted to be a lawyer?" she asked.

  "No," he said, "I had other career plans. Figured some background in law would be good preparation."

  "Really?" Curiosity lit her face. "Did you want to go into business or one of the professions? So few dissonance-energy para-rezzes ever look beyond ghost-hunting as a career. It's such a narrow field. No intellectual stimulation at all, really, and most hunters have to retire early when they start losing their edge. A lot of middle-aged hunters end up just sitting around the Guild Hall all day, collecting their pensions and swapping ghost stories."

  "The profession has its moments."

  "Why the law classes?"

  "Like I said, figured it was good background for my future career."

  "But you were a Guild archivist before you became a Guild boss."

  "The history and information retrieval studies were part of the preparation, too."

  "For what?" she asked blankly.

  "From the time I was nine years old, the only thing I wanted to be when I grew up was boss of the Aurora Springs Guild."

  She stood, unmoving. The last of the laughter faded from her expressive face.

  "Good grief," she said, clearly stunned. "Most of the men who make it to the top of the Guilds rely on their natural para-rez talents, family connections, and a very wide streak of ruthless ambition. I've never heard of one actually studying to prepare himself for the job."

  He gripped the edge of the doorway. "Something you should understand about me, Elly. Almost every move I've made and almost every step I've taken in my life has been designed with two goals in mind: to become a Guild boss and to keep the job for as long as I wanted it."

  She tapped one crimson fingernail against the counter-top. "I always knew the position was important to you. I just didn't realize how important."

  "Something else you should know. I said almost every move and every step was designed to achieve those objectives. But there have been a couple of notable exceptions, one of which was what happened in the front seat of the Spectrum last night."