by Kay Maree
Gina waited for Lisa to clock out for the night before plucking her own timecard from its slot and following suit. “Are you working tomorrow?”
Lisa’s smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. “No. I have court at nine in the morning.”
Gina frowned. “Your divorce isn’t final yet?”
“It’s final. He just refuses to pay off the credit cards that he was ordered to take care of at the last hearing.”
Gina shook her head and opened the door to leave. “I’m sorry, love. I hope all goes well for you tomorrow. Have a good night.”
“You too,” Lisa replied, preceding her through the door. “You’re off for the next couple of days, right?”
With a theatrical sigh, Gina threw out her arms. “Yes, thank goodness.”
Lisa laughed. “See you when you return.”
With everything that had taken place tonight, Gina couldn’t wait to get home and curl up in bed with Peanut. Her mind needed a break from all the desperate cries for help, the sirens, and the radio traffic.
Her cell phone rang as she unlocked her car and slid behind the wheel. She snagged it from her pocket. “This is Gina.”
When no answer came, she tried again. “Hello? This is Gina.”
Silence.
Gina pulled the phone away from her ear to check the display. Blank. There was nothing there. A feeling of unease gripped her.
“I don’t know who you are or how you got my number, but please do not ever call me again.” She pressed the End key and laid the phone on the console before cranking the car and speeding toward home.
The cell rang again with nothing on the display window. She noticed her hand trembled as she snatched it up and hit the Speaker key. “Look, you son of a bitch, I’m calling the NSA and reporting you. If you think for one second that I—”
“Please don’t…”
Gina stilled, sure she’d imagined the voice on the other end. “Who is this?”
“My name is Colton.”
“How did you get my number?”
“I was at the hospital when you gave it to the receptionist.”
“Are you following me?” Panic quickly set in.
“No, I…”
At his hesitation, Gina piped in. “How are you calling me when nothing shows on the ID? No voice recorded on the 911 line, either.”
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“Try me.”
Another long pause. “I’m not alive.”
Gina’s stomach dropped. “You’re insane is what you are. I’m calling the NSA right now. They will get to the bottom of this.”
“And tell them what?”
“Stop calling me,” she demanded, pressing the End key.
Holding the phone in a death grip, Gina waited with bated breath for it to ring again, but it thankfully remained silent the rest of the trip home.
She pulled into the driveway, paying close attention to shadowy shrubs along the front of her house. They made perfect places for a person to hide as they laid in wait for an unsuspecting victim.
Unsure of how long she sat in her car, scanning the darkness, Gina decided to bite the proverbial bullet and make a dash for the porch.
She took a deep breath, threw the door open, and forced herself to walk to the screened-in porch.
Once inside the house, she slid the deadbolt home and flipped on the lights.
Peanut picked that moment to scurry out from behind the couch, nearly scaring the life from her.
Gina scooped up the tiny dog and hugged him close. “You little shit. You about gave me a heart attack.”
Scratching the back of his neck, she continued to talk to him in a playful voice as she made her way to her bedroom.
“How was your evening, boy?”
He wriggled in response, and she set him on her bed to remove her uniform.
“Nothing unusual? I wish I could say the same,” she answered herself before stripping out of her bra and panties and meandering to the bathroom.
Flipping on the light, she turned on the shower and stepped under the warm spray of the water.
Thoughts of her phantom caller played over and over through her mind as she lathered her hair and washed her body.
He’d said he wasn’t alive.
Of course he was alive, Gina told herself, stepping beneath the spray once more to rinse the shampoo from her hair. Ghosts didn’t run around with cell phones, randomly calling people. Did they?
Switching off the water, she stepped from the shower, dried off, and returned to her room.
She desperately wanted a glass of wine to take the edge off, but sleep took precedence over the alcohol.
Instead, she dropped her towel, pulled back the covers on her bed, and settled comfortably onto her back.
It wasn’t long before she slipped off to dream land with a jaw-popping yawn.
Chapter Five
Colton hovered over Gina’s bed, staring down at her sleeping form. The rise and fall of her chest fascinated him, as did the hideous plaid blanket she lay beneath.
Willing a small amount of energy into his hand, he reached up and brushed his fingertips across her cheek. Heat seeped into his ever-freezing skin, sending warmth up his arm and straight into his heart.
“What is it about you that makes you different from others?” he spoke aloud, not expecting a response.
She stirred, stretched an arm over her head, and mumbled something in her sleep before turning onto her side.
Her sweet scent drifted up to him, leaving him weak with the need to lean in and bury his face against her neck. He should leave right then, he told himself, even as he drifted around the bed and pulled the offensive plaid cover back.
The low growl of her dog could be heard over the thundering of Colton’s dead heart as he stared down at her now exposed breasts. Dear God, she sleeps in the nude.
Colton quickly averted his gaze, but it was too late. Her beautiful breasts would be forever burned into his mind in torturous detail.
“Hush, Peanut. It’s just the wind,” Gina murmured as Colton slid beneath the blankets, pulling them up higher on her chest out of respect for her nudity.
Willing the dog to quiet, Colton moved in close and breathed her in. She smelled of strawberries and cream with a hint of coconut…a scent he could easily get lost in.
“Gina...” He slowly extended a hand to her hair to rub the silky softness between his fingers. He’d found the source of the strawberries, he realized, lifting the dark strands and burying his face in them.
She suddenly threw an arm across his chest and burrowed up against him.
His heartbeat picked up its pace, and his stomach clenched with anxiety. How was she touching him without draining him of energy? Come to think of it, she wasn’t depleting his energy at all.
Her lips brushed his neck, followed by a soft moan.
It took everything he had to hold still as she snuggled closer, nuzzling his throat.
Colton would have never believed it possible to be physically touched in such a way until that moment.
He held completely still as she moved her way up and over his chin.
The feel of her mouth closing over his own shattered Colton’s thoughts. He closed his eyes, parted his lips, and kissed her back.
Nothing had ever felt as incredible as being in Gina’s arms. Her warmth, her sweet scent…her taste.
The palm of her hand brushed down his chest on its slow, sensual slide to his stomach.
“Mmmm,” she moaned, gliding her hand over his abdomen before coming into contact with his throbbing erection.
Colton’s entire body jerked at the feel of her fingers gripping his sex through his pants.
He had an erection. As amazing as that thought was, it paled in comparison to the fact that she physically touched him.
Her hand suddenly stilled. She slowly lifted her mouth from his and stared down into his
face.
The dazed look in her eyes quickly vanished, and in its place lay panic.
She scrambled back in terror, her mouth opening on a scream.
Colton sprang into action, following her across the bed and cupping his hand over her open mouth. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
Gina fought him like a cat, all nails and wildness.
Somewhere in the back of Colton’s mind, he marveled at the fact that he held Gina with little effort. That it took no energy to hold her. If anything, it seemed to fuel him.
He somehow managed to slip behind her while keeping his hand over her mouth. His other arm closed around her body to trap her flailing fists. “Gina!”
She froze, her breathing coming through her nose in short, quick bursts.
Colton spoke in a calming tone, still amazed that she could hear him. “I’m not going to hurt you. Do you understand? Nod if you understand.”
A hesitant nod came from her, but her body remained stiff and unyielding.
“I’m going to let you go now, so you can cover yourself. I swear to you that I’m not here to harm you.”
Another nod from her beautiful head.
Colton slowly removed his palm from her lips.
A scream rent the air, and Gina swung around, her fist catching him on the chin before he could subdue her.
Shoving her onto the bed, Colton followed her down and once again covered her mouth with his palm.
The little dog was going crazy, snarling and snapping at Colton’s face.
“Shhhhh,” he demanded to both Gina and Peanut. “I’m not here to harm either of you. Please. I only want to talk.”
Gina stared up at him in fear, tears sparkling in her pale blue eyes.
“If I’d wanted to hurt you, I would have by now,” Colton continued. “But you’re not injured. Calm down and think about it.”
She held his gaze for long moments more before giving him a stiff nod, telling him that she understood.
Colton eased his hand from her mouth once again but remained on top of her.
“Get off me,” she whispered through clenched teeth, pushing at his chest.
Colton rolled off her and retrieved a robe from the back of her bedroom door. He tossed it to her.
“Who are you?” she demanded, catching the robe in midair and holding it against herself.
Giving her his back, Colton answered, “My name is Colton Baines. I’m the voice you heard on the 911 call last night.”
“You’re the man who called about the little girl in the structure fire.”
It wasn’t a question, and Colton knew it.
He turned to face her, watching as she tied the sash of her robe around her waist with jerky movements. “Yes, that was me.”
“Why are you in my home?” Gina inched her way toward her dresser.
“Because you’re the only one who can see me.”
That stopped her in her tracks. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means that I’m not alive. And for three years—”
“What do you mean you’re not alive?” she interrupted, easing in the direction of her dresser once more.
Colton said the only thing he could say. “I died in a structure fire three years ago. Until recently, no one has been able to see or hear me, apart from you.”
She stopped next to the dresser, keeping her terrified gaze on him. “You’re crazy is what you are.”
Jerking open her top drawer, Gina pulled a pistol free and pointed it at him. “Get on your knees.”
Colton only stood there. “If you shoot me, you’ll have to explain to the police why you fired a gun at the wall. They won’t see me, Gina. I’m a spirit.”
She pulled the hammer back. “Prove it.”
Calling forth the energy it would take to fade, Colton backed up through the wall and into her bathroom.
“Oh my God,” she breathed, dropping the gun onto the nightstand and running toward the front of the house.
Quickly fading, Colton suddenly appeared in the living room in her path.
She skidded to a stop, her hands out in front of her. “What do you want with me?”
“Just to talk. Please don’t be frightened. I swear to you that I have no intention of harming you.”
Shaking her head in denial, Gina squeezed her eyes shut. “This can’t be happening. Not again. This is all a bad dream. I’ll wake up at any moment and realize it was just a nightmare.”
Colton stepped forward and laid a hand against her cheek. “You’re not dreaming.”
She stumbled back from his touch, her eyes flying open. “If this is really happening, how is it that no one else can see you but me?”
“I wish I knew. But you are the first person I have been able to interact with since my death.”
Her pale blue eyes searched his. “I don’t want you here. Please, just go away and leave me be.”
Colton’s heart squeezed. “I can’t, Gina. I need your help.”
“Help with what?” she cried desperately. “You’re dead!”
Unable to bear her horrified look a moment longer, Colton willed himself back to the shipyard, his one and only place of respite.
Chapter Six
Gina watched in more than a little anxiety as the ghost of Colton Baines faded from her sight.
It took her a moment to gather the strength to return to her bedroom.
Peanut stood on her bed, whining and sniffing the covers.
The pistol she’d gotten from her top drawer lay on the nightstand where she’d dropped it before running from the room.
She flipped on the light and dropped shakily on the bed next to Peanut.
The little dog jumped onto her lap, licking her hand in nervous, excited strokes.
“It’s okay, boy. He’s gone now.”
Gina’s entire body trembled in fear. She’d encountered another ghost.
And she knew Colton had been a ghost as surely as she knew the last entity she’d witnessed had been one.
After her encounter with the previous ghost, Gina had Googled the entity, only to find out the ghost had been one of the victims who’d disappeared from a neighboring county more than ten years before.
Gina had spoken with her mother about the ghost sighting the next morning after it happened.
After listening to Gina’s fears of what she’d seen the night before, Galilani had replied, “You carry the White Buffalo totem, my daughter. Which means keeper of souls, the bringer of the light, the builder of the bridge, the giving spirit. White Buffalo is the totem for one whose life path is to awaken the souls of others.”
Setting Peanut on the pillow next to her, Gina stood on unsteady legs, crossed the room, grabbed her laptop from the chair it rested on, and then returned to the bed.
She gathered her robe more tightly around her and crawled beneath the covers, placing the laptop on her thighs.
Once it finished booting up, she quickly typed in the search bar, “Colton Baines.”
An article from the Destin Chronicle appeared that read, Local Fire Fighter Dies in Structure Fire.
A picture of Colton Baines in uniform sat to the right of the article.
Gina’s breath caught as she stared into the face of the man who’d been in her bedroom not twenty minutes ago.
What did he want with her? she wondered, reading more of the article. Just because she was somehow able to see him didn’t mean she wanted to.
And then another part of the article caught her attention. “Colton’s sister, Leanne Baines, disappeared eight years ago and is presumed dead, leaving Colton’s mother to grieve the loss of both her children.”
The story went on to tell of Colton’s father who’d died a couple of years before Leanne’s disappearance, but Gina barely paid attention. Her mind continued to drift back to the gorgeous ghost who’d landed in her bed.
Heat flew up to her face as she recalled kissing him an
d stroking his erection in her dream. Only she hadn’t been dreaming, she mentally corrected. “Jesus, I felt up a dead man.”
Finishing the rest of the article, Gina continued to search for anything she could find on Colton and Leanne Baines.
According to the police reports, a homicide detective out of Bay County had found evidence linking Leanne’s disappearance to a Jane Doe that had washed up in the Choctawhatchee Bay some years back. DNA evidence had later confirmed her to be Cara Perez, Leanne’s childhood friend.
Gina grabbed a pen and pad from her nightstand drawer and wrote down the agent’s name, along with the identity of Jane Doe, Colton Baines, and his sister, Leanne.
Fighting back a yawn, Gina glanced at the clock. It was four in the morning. She’d been researching the ghost of Colton Baines for three hours.
She closed the laptop, set it on the nightstand along with the pen and paper, and rolled onto her side.
Hopefully she wouldn’t encounter any more company in the middle of the night.
Yeah, she’d go to sleep with the light on. Just in case…
* * * *
Gina woke the next day to the feel of a tiny tongue licking her on the face.
She opened her eyes to peer at an overly hyper Peanut. “You need to go outside, boy?”
The little dog spun in a circle, whined some more, and then trotted to the foot of the mattress.
Throwing her feet over the side of the bed, Gina sat up, pushed her hair back from her face, and glanced at the clock. It was five o’clock in the evening. She’d slept the entire day away.
“No wonder you’re so hyper, Peanut. You’ve probably been holding your bladder for hours. Let’s go.” She followed behind the little dog down the hall and through the kitchen.
For some reason, Peanut refused to use his puppy pad. He’d gone on it a handful of times when Gina had to work and wasn’t home to let him out. But he definitely preferred to do his business outside.
“Go on.” She yawned, opening the door and watching the dog bound out to the fenced-in backyard.
She left the door cracked open for him and trailed back to her room to grab the list of names she’d made the night before.
Her cell phone buzzed from the pocket of her khakis that lay on her bedroom floor. She bent and fished it out.