The Ghost of Second Chances

by Anna J. McIntyre

  Holding the cellphone to his ear, Chet met his sister’s glare yet continued talking to Franco. “Did I have a choice? You guys practically threw me out the door.”

  “Hey, sorry about that. But you know how Mac is,” Franco said.

  “Right. Mac is a peach. So what do you want?”

  “Remember that thing you said you could get for us?” Franco asked.

  “Yeah, what about it?”

  “We need it now. Do you have it?”

  Chet glanced to his car. “Yeah. And you have the money?”

  “Yes. But we need you to do something else.”

  “What?” Chet asked.

  “I don’t want to talk about it on the phone. Can you come here?”

  “You want me to drive back to Astoria? Now?”

  Upon hearing her brother say Astoria, Laverne frowned. “Who are you talking to? Mac who?”

  “Yeah. We need you as soon as you can get here.” Franco told him.

  “I’m busy. Trying to find a place to stay. My sister kicked me out.”

  “Who are you talking to?” Laverne asked again.

  “You can crash here for a few days. And if this works out, you won’t have a problem finding a place to stay. Hell, you can buy your own house,” Franco said.

  “Sounds interesting,” Chet muttered.

  “Just one thing,” Franco added.

  “What’s that?”

  “You can’t tell anyone about this,” Franco insisted.

  Chet laughed. “Seriously? You think I’m stupid enough to tell anyone what I’m getting for you?”

  “Just keep our business between us.”

  Chet studied his sister a moment and then said, “No problem.”

  “Good. When can you get here?”

  “I’m leaving now.” Chet closed the flip phone a few moments later and shoved it in his back pocket. He started to get in his car when his sister grabbed him by the forearm, trying to stop him.

  “Where are you going?” Laverne demanded.

  Shrugging off his sister’s hold, Chet climbed into his car and said, “What do you care? You told me to leave.”

  “Are you hanging out with those Bandoni brothers again?” she demanded.

  Chet looked up at his sister as he sat in his car. “Hanging out? You make it sound like I’m still in high school.” Before slipping his car key in the ignition, he removed his sister’s house key from the key ring and flipped it at her. Surprised by the key toss, she fumbled for a moment yet managed to catch the key.

  “I figured you would want that back.”

  “It doesn’t work anymore anyway,” she snapped, blocking him from closing the car door.

  “Move, Laverne. You wanted me gone, I’m going. Move.”

  “Answer me, Chet. Why are you going to Astoria?”

  Chet smiled up at Laverne. “Guess who’s in Astoria. Mac. I saw him last night. Same ugly mug. Never could understand what you saw in that short little puke.”

  “You need to stay away from his cousins. They’re bad news. You’re going to get yourself locked up again if you aren’t careful.”

  “You’re one to talk, Laverne, considering you and Mac.” The next moment he turned on his ignition and jerked the car in reverse. Laverne stepped away from the vehicle as he raced backwards out of her driveway and then jammed the car in drive and sped away.

  Watching her brother’s car disappear down the street, Laverne muttered, “You fool.”

  The Bandoni brothers sat with their cousin Macbeth at what used to be their grandmother’s kitchen table. Franco had just gotten off the phone with Chet.

  “Is he coming?” Mac asked.

  “Yeah. But you need to be nicer to him if we want this to work out,” Franco told him.

  Mac laughed. “So he really fancies himself a contender for Danielle Boatman’s affection?”

  “That’s what he told us,” Franco said.

  “What did he say when you warned him not to say anything to anyone?” Mac asked.

  “He said he hasn’t. Said he won’t,” Franco said.

  “What about his sister?” Arlo asked. He’s been staying with her.”

  Franco frowned and slumped back in the chair. “I can’t imagine he would tell anyone about his little side business. And I know his sister kicked him out; he told me. But I think she was there when I was talking to him. I kept hearing someone in the background asking him who he was talking to. It was a woman. I’m pretty sure it was his sister.”

  “I can handle her,” Mac told them.

  “You know she’s divorced now,” Arlo said.

  Mac chuckled. “Yeah, I heard that. When I was staying at Marlow House, I was tempted to stop by her place for old times’ sake. But I knew Chet was staying there, and he’s too dumb to keep a story straight. I didn’t need him screwing up things for us.”

  “It’s kind of a shame we didn’t know about the Bonnets back then,” Franco mused. “Back then no one was even living in Marlow House. How easy it would have been to break in and take them. I bet no one would have even noticed.”

  “For one thing, I wasn’t familiar with Bonnet’s work when you were in high school,” Mac reminded them. “But you have a point. We could have also snagged the Thorndike one. It was stored in some basement in one of the city buildings back then.”

  “Missed opportunities,” Arlo grumbled.

  Mac stood up. “We’re going to rectify that. I don’t want to be here when Chet shows up. You guys take care of him.”

  “Where are you going?” Arlo asked.

  “I’m going to head back to Frederickport and have a little chat with Clint.”

  “Clint? What for?” Franco asked.

  “Nothing for you to worry about. You boys just focus on what you need to do. I’ll call you this evening.”

  “Don’t we need to know what you’re planning to do?” Angelo asked.

  Mac glared at his youngest cousin. “No, you don’t. I don’t think your little brain can handle more than one task at a time. Focus on what you need to do and wait for me to tell you what to do next.”

  The brothers sat silently at the kitchen table as Mac left the house. They remained quiet and seated at the table until they could hear Mac’s car drive away.

  “I hate when he treats us like idiots,” Angelo grumbled.

  “You know Mac. He’s always been like that,” Arlo reminded him.

  Fourteen

  Adam Nichols stopped at the mini-mart down the street from his office to grab a soda on Thursday afternoon. What he really wanted was a beer, but he had an appointment with a new client in an hour, and he didn’t think that would be a smart thing to do with beer breath.

  By the line at the front register, Adam wondered if this were some sort of mini-mart rush hour. Holding his unopen can of soda in one hand, he stood behind an average-height woman with mousey brown hair. There were six people ahead of her in line.

  “I don’t remember ever seeing this place so crowded,” Adam grumbled under his breath. He considered putting the soda back and leaving, but he figured he was already here, and he was thirsty.

  The woman with the mousey brown hair heard his comment and turned to face him.

  “Laverne?” Adam said in surprise.

  Laverne Morrison looked a great deal like her younger brother. Not unattractive, but plain—the type of face that was easy to forget. However, Adam remembered another Laverne, back when he was in high school, and she was his friend’s much older sister. Back then she had bleached her hair blond and wore a good deal of makeup. Nothing like her freshly scrubbed face today, without even a hint of lipstick. She also wore her clothes tighter back then, and as he could recall, her figure played a prominent role in many of his teenage fantasies. But she had changed after her parents’ death. No longer bleaching her hair, she stopped wearing makeup, and even her clothing style became ultraconservative.

  “Hi, Adam. I thought that was you behind me.” She flashed him a smile.


  “How are you doing? I saw Chet yesterday. Said he might be moving out.”

  “He already has. I saw to that last night.”

  Adam chuckled. “You kicked him out, did you?”

  “You know what they say about houseguests. They start smelling like fish.”

  “He mentioned looking for a room to rent. Did he find something yet?”

  “He told me he was going to stay with the Bandoni brothers in Astoria.”

  “Seriously? He mentioned doing some work for them. But I didn’t realize he would consider staying with them.”

  “Those boys were nothing but trouble back when they were in high school. Coming to Frederickport for no other reason than to cause trouble. I don’t believe they’ve changed. And I can’t imagine what kind of work they have for Chet.”

  “Not sure I would call them boys. Have you seen how big they are?” Adam chuckled.

  “They were big boys back then,” Laverne reminded him.

  “Yeah, well, now they’re even larger. I’ve seen them a few times when I’ve been in Astoria. I sure wouldn’t want to run into any of them in a dark alley. At least, not when they’re in a bad mood.”

  Walt stood alone at the dresser in the downstairs bedroom. Reluctantly, he picked up Clint’s wallet and opened it.

  With a sigh he said, “I suppose it’s time I learn more about this life I’ve taken over.”

  “Who are you talking to?” Danielle asked from the open doorway.

  Walt shrugged. “To myself, I guess.” Wallet in hand, he hopped over to the bed and sat down on the edge of the mattress.

  “Interesting conversation?” Danielle asked as she walked all the way into the room.

  “I figured it was about time I go through Clint’s wallet.”

  Danielle scrunched up her nose. “Yeah, I guess you’ll need to use his driver’s license and other IDs, like his Social Security number.” She walked to the bed and sat down with Walt. She watched as he removed all the cards from the wallet and spread them on the bedspread between the two of them.

  Glancing over the cards, Walt reached down and picked up Clint’s Social Security card and looked at it a moment before handing it to Danielle. “I assume that’s Clint’s Social Security number?”

  She looked at the card a moment and then handed it back to Walt. “It’s yours now.”

  Walt shrugged and tossed the card back on the bed. “I remember when I first saw a commercial about Social Security on television, and I had no idea what it was talking about. You explained it all to me.”

  “I remember. I Googled it for you and learned the first Social Security numbers were issued about eleven years after you died.”

  Walt nodded and then picked up Clint’s driver’s license. “I suspect I’ll need to get a new one of these. Clint’s was issued in California. I’ll need an Oregon driver’s license.”

  “Yeah. But you should wait a while. After you make it common knowledge you intend to stay here.”

  With a snort Walt said, “That’s going to be interesting.”

  “Those closest to us already know the truth,” Danielle reminded him.

  Walt started to toss the license back on the bed when Danielle snatched it from him. “How about driver’s licenses? Did you have to get a license back when you were alive?”

  “Yes. About five years before I died, Oregon started requiring them. I remember it cost me twenty-five cents and was good for life. Since I died, I imagine that one is no longer valid, and I’ll have to get a new one,” he said with a chuckle.

  “Did you have to take a driver’s test?”

  “Driver’s test?” Walt frowned.

  Danielle nodded. “Yeah, to make sure you knew the rules.”

  Walt shrugged. “I don’t recall taking a test. From what I remember, you had to have something like five days’ driving experience.”

  “I’m afraid you’ll have to take a written test before you get an Oregon driver’s license this time. I know I did. But I’ll pick up the pamphlet on the driving laws for you to study, so you shouldn’t have a problem passing.”

  “I imagine a great deal has changed in the last ninety years,” Walt said with a sigh.

  “Hey, you are officially older than me!” Danielle blurted, her attention on the birthdate listed on Clint’s driver’s license.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You’re always saying you’re just twenty-six. But your cousin was thirty-six.”

  “I seem to recall knowing he was that age,” Walt told her. “In fact, I think you told me.”

  “Now it’s you. You’re officially thirty-six.”

  “You sound entirely too cheerful over the fact I’ve lost a decade.”

  “Considering it took about ninety years to lose a decade to become older than me, not such a bad deal.”

  “True.”

  Danielle dropped the driver’s license on the bed and then started gathering up the credit cards. “You’ll probably want to take care of these.”

  “What are they?” Walt asked.

  “Credit cards. This is definitely something that wasn’t around when you were alive.”

  “Two things. First, there were stores that offered credit cards, so to speak, not like what you have today. And second, you need to stop saying when you were alive. If you’ll notice, I’m alive now.”

  “Sorry. You know what I mean.”

  Walt pointed to the credit cards in Danielle’s hand. “What do you think I should do with those?”

  “We need to find out which ones have a balance. You need to get Clint’s debts paid off. If you ignore them, they’ll just keep racking up fees and interest.”

  “How do I go about that?” he asked.

  “We can start with these cards. But there might be some debts that aren’t associated with anything Clint had in his wallet. I know Ian found some financial information on Clint. I’ll check with him. Also, it might be a good idea to run a credit report on Clint, see what pops up.”

  “How do we do that?” Walt asked.

  Danielle considered the question a moment. Finally, she said, “Adam.”

  Walt frowned. “Adam? You mean Marie’s Adam?”

  Danielle nodded. “He runs credit reports on his renters. He must be signed up with some company that does that. I’ll see if he’ll do it for me. After all, we already have your license and Social Security numbers.” Danielle picked the license and Social Security card back up and put them in a neat stack with the credit cards.

  “Thank you, Danielle. I’d appreciate it. I need to get these loose ends tied up with Clint. But I’m not sure where to start.”

  “It’s not like there’s a handbook that lists what you need to do when you take over someone else’s body.” Danielle glanced over at the cellphone on the dresser. “And then there’s Clint’s cellphone.”

  “What about it?” Walt asked.

  “I know the battery is probably dead. The phone hasn’t been charged since before the car accident. But even if it was charged, I’ve no idea what the password is.”

  “It’s not like I need Clint’s phone. You bought me my own,” Walt reminded her.

  “True. But I imagine there’s some information on the phone—contacts—that might be useful. Plus, we should probably find out who he had his phone service with. There’s probably a phone bill out there for you to pay.” Danielle stood up and walked to the phone, still carrying the stack of cards.

  “What are you doing?” Walt asked.

  “No reason to put this off.” She picked up the cellphone. “I have a cord that’ll work on this. Let me charge the phone. Maybe we can figure out the password. Sometimes people use familiar numbers, like birthdates. And I’ll run over to Adam’s office before he closes up. See if he’ll run the credit report for me.”

  No one was sitting in the front office of Frederickport Vacation Properties when Danielle entered the building. But as soon as she stepped inside, she heard Adam shout from his back of
fice, “Come on in!”

  “Real professional,” Danielle said with a chuckle a few moments later when she entered Adam’s office. “Do you always yell out at your clients?”

  Adam leaned back in his desk chair and smiled. “I knew it was you. Saw you coming through the window.”

  “Where’s Leslie?” Danielle took a seat facing the desk.

  “She had to run to the post office. And I’m just sitting here debating if I should call her and have her pick me up some beer on her way back.”

  Danielle frowned. “Beer?”

  Adam shrugged and sat up straight at his desk, scooting closer to it. “A client just called, cancelled his appointment.”

  “So that means you need beer?”

  Adam waved his hand dismissively. “Never mind, you wouldn’t understand.”

  “I guess not,” Danielle muttered under her breath.

  Adam folded his hands together on his desk and asked, “So what can I do for you?”

  “I have a favor to ask.”

  His hands still folded together on his desk, Adam shook his head and made a tsk-tsk sound. “Sorry, you used up all your favors for this week.”

  Danielle smiled. “I did?”

  “Yeah, I gave you a heads-up about Chet. Did he show up asking for a room?”

  Danielle let out a groan and rolled her eyes. “He did.”

  Adam chuckled. “Apparently you didn’t cave to his irresistible charms. I ran into his sister this afternoon, and she told me he was going to be staying in Astoria with the Bandoni brothers. I wondered if he had stopped by Marlow House first.”

  Danielle bolted upright, her expression blank. “Did you say Bandoni brothers?”

  “Yeah. So what did Chet say when he stopped by?”

  “You know the Bandoni brothers?”

  Adam shrugged. “Yeah. Do you?”

  “Umm…in a way. How do you know them?”

  “From high school. We didn’t go to the same school, but we would see them at football games, and they would come to town to party. Chet used to hang out with them. I did a few times, but they were trouble. Aside from occasionally running into one of them when I go to Astoria, I haven’t really talked to them in years.”