You've Got Tail

by Renee George

  She’d been shot. She collapsed on top of me, and I was too exhausted to do anything about it. Someone pulled her off me. When I looked up, Tyler Thompson stood over us, one hand holding a pistol, the other he held out to me. I took it, and he pulled me up.

  Seeing Sheila’s dead body made a part of me feel sick and disgusted, but the bigger part of me wanted to dance on her grave. Tyler gave me a nod. I returned it. We wouldn’t be best friends, but in that moment, we’d come to an understanding. He’d saved my life, and I would be grateful enough to forgive him for being a jerk.

  Once again, the air became thick and heavy with energy. Judah began pacing. Soon he was joined by other ghosts, those of the other fallen therians. All of them, except the mountain lion. There was pressure in my chest and head. I felt surrounded. Suffocated.

  A soft breeze fluttered against my cheek. “Excuse me, do you know where I’m supposed to be?” a gentle voice breathed into my ear.

  Looking up through hot tears, I saw an apparition of grace. For a moment I thought she was an angel, until I recognized the pretty blonde ghost as Rose Ann Corman. “Rose Ann,” I said.

  “Who?” She dipped her hand against the black bear’s face when he stopped in front of her. “It’s okay,” she said to him.

  I reached out and touched Rose Ann’s arm. The woman’s eyes widened and there was an electric snap in my finger.

  “Oh, my. Oh, no.” The serene quality of the spirit disappeared. “My son, my husband.”

  “They’re safe,” I told her. Though they weren’t well. I left that part out.

  She looked around at the other ghosts. “You have to help them,” she said with a new kind of determination.

  “What can I do? It’s too late. I’m too late.” Like nine years too late.

  Judah rubbed against me. There was a slight pressure, not exactly solid, more like the sensation of a warm breath on my skin. How was that possible? Something had changed in me, something tangible. I didn’t understand it, but I knew it had purpose. “Tell me what to do.”

  Rose Ann beckoned me to my feet. All three deputies, the sheriff, and Babel were outside now, staring at me. “I have to help them,” I said, sounding absent even to myself.

  The ghost of Jo Jo’s mother led me out into the woods. We walked along, passing wild flowers like the ones I’d seen in my vision of Judah’s death. I don’t know how long it took us, but I didn’t even feel tired as we stepped into a small open patch of land.

  Before I could think about what I was doing, I was down on the ground digging at the dirt and grass with my bare hands. Babel dropped beside me and began tearing at the ground with partially formed claws. Then the sheriff and the deputies were there as well. All of us, even Tyler Thompson, dug at the hard dirt, pulling at clumps of weeds and grass, are hands sheering on sharp flint rock as we dug below the surface.

  “I found a bone,” Farraday called out.

  This place, this serene patch of land—it was a graveyard.

  The spirit coyotes began to howl, the bears roared, the deer even joined in with cries of anger. “What do they need?” I asked Rose Ann.

  Then in hit me—her body had been kept intact, it’s why she was appearing in human form.

  “Their heads,” I said to the men who were working even harder at unearthing their fallen from the ground. “They need to be with their bodies.”

  Chapter 24

  Millions of ants crawled along my skin, swarming my entire flesh. At least it felt that way. The pressure inside mounted and built, until I felt like the energy the spirits were passing to me would rip my body apart.

  It needed an outlet. It had to go somewhere—somewhere other than me. Connelly and Thompson had brought the heads from the house. Babel whispered soothing words and kept his hand on my back. His touch helped me stay calm and focused. The energy had weight. A burden I had to carry, but with Babel next to me, I didn’t have to carry it alone.

  I picked up the bear’s head first. His ghost directed me to the right bones. When I sat it on the ground where he’d indicated, his ghost transformed into that of a man.

  Kind eyes lit his face. He smoothed a hand up his arm. “Robert Nance,” he said before his spirit turned to light then faded. He was gone, finally at peace.

  My burden eased.

  Next, a coyote head. The spirit led me again. When he transformed, he was a redheaded, fair-skinned man. “Joshua Landon.” Again, the spirit faded.

  With each ghost crossing, my flesh felt better, like the force inside me eased out with every soul set to peace. I’d saved Judah for last. I wanted to give him peace, but I’d grown accustomed to him. I would miss him.

  When Babe picked up Judah’s head, my knees almost collapsed beneath me. I reached my shaking hand out to take it, but I couldn’t.

  The ghost coyote tilted his chin to meet my watery eyes. He trotted to a spot nearly twenty feet away and sat on his haunches, waiting.

  I took a deep breath and held it for a second. I didn’t have a right to act like such a baby. I nodded and held my hands out. “Okay,” I said. “Give him to me.”

  Babel shuffled his feet. “I’ll carry him. Just show me where.”

  When the coyote’s head was laid over his bones, Judah transformed. He was so handsome—so much like his brother.

  Judah leaned forward and touched his ghostly forehead to mine. “Now that we can speak, I need to tell you, Sheila was blackmailing Neville,” he said. “I found things at her house, and she confessed to having some sort of scheme going on with him. She even tried to get me in on it.” He scratched his chin. Could a ghost itch? “I turned her down. I guess that’s why I ended up here.”

  Judah took my hand then and kissed my cheek. “Thank you, Sunny. Thank you.” He sadly turned to his brother and sister. “Tell Babe…Tell him to live, really live. It doesn’t matter where he is, only that he’s happy.” He stared at me. “I think we both know where he’s happiest. Tell him to tell Mom and Dad that I forgive them for being angry with me, but I don’t regret leaving. It was the right thing to do, even considering the circumstances. Also, tell Chavvah that I love her. She’s really turned into a wonderful woman.” He looked back at me. “And she has great taste in friends.”

  I blushed. “I’ll tell her.”

  “Oh.” He grinned sheepishly. “Tell Tyler I’m sorry about kissing his mom. But, come on now, Ruth is hot. I’d have had to be blind and stupid not to try.”

  I stifled a laugh. Sooo not the occasion. But Judah really had been a man-whore. “I’ll tell him the sorry part.”

  “Fair enough.” He put his hand under my chin. “Take care of yourself, Sunny Haddock. Take care of Peculiar. And take care of Babe and Chavvie. I think you are exactly what they need, and vice versa.”

  He stepped back, his body turning to light. “Bye.” He flared brightly for a moment, then faded.

  All the ghosts were gone now. I wiped at a tear trickling down my cheek as Babel put his arms around me. He and Chavvah had both lost Judah two years ago, but now, he was really gone. I wept for both of them, for the loss I couldn’t share but understood. I loved them both, and their pain was mine. I wrapped my arms around Babe and squeezed him tight.

  He pursed his lips as tears spilled down his cheeks. “Thank you,” he mouthed.

  I nodded, and wiped my fingers across my face. The sheriff wanted my attention next, and for good reason. The men I’d crossed over needed their loved ones notified. As I gave the sheriff the names of the unknown men, I heard a low whistle.

  “Wow,” Deputy Connelly stammered. “That was freaky-deaky.”

  No doubt. But how did Connelly know? “Uh, did you see the ghosts?”

  “I saw a light each time you did the thingy with their body parts. There it was, then gone.”

  “Me too,” Babel said.

  “Same here.” Farraday.

  “Yep,” agreed Tyler.

  The sheriff simply nodded.
r />   We had a consensus. They’d all seen the light.

  “Sunny,” Rose Ann said.

  Her voice startled me, because she’d disappeared as soon as I’d started crossing the others over to wherever therians go in the great beyond. I thought she’d gone as well. “Why are you still here? You have your whole body in one piece.”

  “I have some unfinished business I’d like you to help me with.”

  What was I? The ghost whisperer? Well, more like the were-animal whisperer.

  “I’ll help you if I can,” I said.

  But first there was Neville to deal with. We would not let this man get away with what he’d done to all of the shifters he’d betrayed. He’d managed to fool an entire town of therianthropes for nearly a decade until a bad psychic from Southern California moved into town. Now he’d never fool anyone ever again if I had my way. I wanted his payment in full for what he’d done to the people I cared about.

  A few hours later, the sheriff and his deputies made a beeline for the mayor’s residence and pulled up with full sirens blaring. This was like being on an episode of Cops! Very exciting. I only hoped the bad guy was still home to get his due. I hummed the theme song Bad Boys as I watched them, along with Babel, efficiently break down the front door, guns drawn Barney Fife style as they entered.

  I was filled with anticipation as I waited to see if they would come out of the house with Neville in tow. As one of his victims, I had a right to face him. To accuse his ass of these heinous crimes and watch him squirm. With determination, I ran to the door, but Farraday stopped me. He shook his head. “Wait.”

  Neville was standing near the doorway of his bedroom (I assumed, because I could see a bed inside). Just standing there. Why weren’t they taking him down?

  “You.” I pointed an accusing finger.

  Neville blinked, but he didn’t say anything.

  “Sunny,” Babe said, coming out of the bedroom. “You should wait outside.”

  “Why aren’t you arresting him? Or beating him to a bloody pulp? Or something equally warranted?”

  “It’s too late,” Farraday told me. “He’s gone.”

  “But he’s not.” I looked at Neville.

  The mayor shrugged. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I never meant for any of this to happen. I just wanted to help my wife.”

  “Shut up!” He had taken a beautiful love and turned it into a horror show. “Your wife will hate what you’ve become. She’ll never forgive you.”

  The words were fiercer than a fist strike.

  “Sunny, who are you talking to?” Farraday asked.

  Babe come up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. I sank into his embrace. “Neville.” I pointed again. He was in a different place in the room.

  “He’s dead,” Farraday said. “A bullet to the head.”

  I snuggled deeper into Babel’s warm arms. “I know.” At least about the dead part.

  Billy Bob put Chav into a medically induced comma so he could reset all her injuries, and they were extensive and terrible. She’d been reluctant to tell me everything they’d done to her, and I worried it would be a while before the emotional and psychological scars would heal. In the meantime, I’d promised Rose Ann Corman I’d help her with one last thing, and that last thing pertained to her son and husband.

  While Babel wasn’t real happy about me spending more time with the good shaman-doc, though he had zero reason to lose sleep over the doc now, he agreed to play nice and keep his mouth shut while we were there. Jo Jo was still in the clinic bed. He’d had internal injuries from the accident, and they were taking their time healing. I felt bad. If it hadn’t been for me, he’d have never gotten hurt in the first place. After interrogating the “keepers”, we’d found out that Neville had arranged for that SUV to do more than scare us. It was one of the compound Suburbans, and Sheila had been the driver. Jo Jo and I were lucky to have survived.

  I’d called Billy Bob from Babel’s house, where I’d stayed the night before, and told him about Sheila, Neville, and Rose Ann. I wanted him to ease the way for me with her family.

  Billy Bob Smith was in full shaman mode. He wore his leather pants, his face and body painted like when I’d first seen him. And now that I knew he wasn’t some really old guy, it was kind of hot. Babel stayed with me when I went inside to Jo Jo’s room. I needed his support. I didn’t think I could make it through the next couple of minutes without him.

  Brady Corman looked sober and miserable; his hands were shaking as he sat next to his son’s bed. Since Brady didn’t verbally or physically attack me when I entered the room, I figured even if he didn’t believe, Billy Bob at least had calmed him enough to keep him civil.

  “He’s trying,” Billy Bob said. “It’s not been easy. I’ve given him some herbs to stave off his thirst for alcohol, but it doesn’t really help with the detoxification process much.”

  Jo Jo looked almost frightened, but the idea of your ghost mom coming to call would be enough to unnerve even the strongest kid.

  Rose Ann stood by me and looked on at her broken family, so much grief and love in her expression.

  Billy Bob lit a rolled-up thing that looked like a big marijuana joint. A contact high certainly couldn’t hurt at this point. When it started burning though, I realized it was sage, a whole different kind of weed.

  He took it around to the corners of the room, chanting quietly while he waved the smoke with his free hand. When he was finished, he told me to begin.

  I looked at Rose Ann. “Okay, you’re on.”

  She walked to Jo Jo’s bedside and touched the gold heart necklace he was wearing. The teenager’s eyes widened and his hand went to his chest.

  “Tell Jo Jo, I’m so proud of the man he’s turning into.”

  “You’re mom’s proud of you,” I said. “She thinks you’re turning into a fine man.”

  “Also, I like his haircut and the dyed spots. He really pulls it off.”

  I smiled. “She likes your hair,” I said when he raised a questioning brow.

  “I’ve missed you so much. If there had been any way I could have come back to you, to both of you,” she said to her boys, “I would have.”

  Tears welled in my eyes, and I didn’t know if I’d get through this whole process. I didn’t know how Melinda Gordon had managed it every week and into syndication. “Rose Ann’s sorry she’s missed so much of your lives. She wants you to know she’d have been here if it had been within her ability to do so.”

  Brady Corman choked back a sob, and damned if I wasn’t going to follow suit.

  “Tell Brady…” She touched his face with her fingers. “Tell him he’s the only man I ever loved, and the only man who could take my breath. I want him to be the man I fell for all those years ago. The man he needs to be for our son.”

  I didn’t even want to try paraphrasing her words on that one, so I repeated it back to Brady verbatim. His whole shell collapsed then as he wept openly.

  “It must have been terrible what you went through. I should have been there. I should have saved you.” I could see the shame of his years without her hitting him square between the eyes.

  “You couldn’t have done anything to save her, Brady. Rose Ann doesn’t want you to blame yourself. She wants you to be happy.”

  “I miss you, Rose Ann.” His voice cracked. “I miss you so bad.”

  I was turning into a big puddle of mush, and when Jo Jo took his father’s hand in comfort, Babel took mine, and I let the tears fall.

  She kissed them both and turned to me. “I’m ready now.”

  I nodded. “Rose Ann has to go.”

  Father and son grieved together as they released the anger they felt towards the world, themselves, and each other.

  Rose Ann turned to light. Then she was gone.

  Babel and I left Jo Jo and Brady to grieve their loss. At least this time, they had closure, but I wasn’t sure how much of a consolation it really
was. When we walked outside, the scent of pine and fresh cut grass in the air, Babel wrapped his arms around me from behind and nuzzled my ear. “What’s on your mind?”

  How could I tell him that now the mystery of Judah disappearance had been solved, and now that Chavvah was safe, I was scared about the future—a future without him. It seemed ridiculous and petty in the wake of what I’d witness with the Corman family. “Babe, what will you do next?”

  He turned me in his arms and stared down at me. “Next when?”

  “After Peculiar. I know this isn’t the life you want. You have things you want to do, dreams you want to pursue, that don’t include staying here.”

  His gaze grew increasingly intense. “You’re a fool of a woman, Sunny Haddock.” He dipped his head and pressed his lips to mine as he pulled my body into his chest. My feet dangled as he kissed me good and thoroughly. He cupped my face. “Dreams change. Happiness happens. And the only thing I want to be doing in the future is you.”

  I turned my head and kissed the palm of his hand. “You’re such a romantic.”

  He brushed my hair back from my face. “Damn it, woman. Don’t you know by now that I love you? If you don’t, then let me say it again. I love you.”

  My breath caught in my throat. My heart fluttered.

  “Are you going to pass out again?”

  “Not this time.”

  “Then what’s wrong. You look pale.”

  I took a deep breath and laughed. “You love me.”

  “Yes,” he said. A smile replaced his worry. “I surely do.”

  “Good.” I kissed him, enjoying the way his arms felt around me. “I love you too.”

  Chapter 25

  It had been a little over a month since Chav’s rescue, when we put out our “open for business” sign just in time for Labor Day Weekend. We’d turned the restaurant into a vegetarian deli with a side of palm reading. I wiped the counters and made sure the place looked perfect. Chavvah had healed physically thanks to Billy Bob, though she still woke at night screaming sometimes.