by Alexie Aaron
“I think you’re overthinking this. You don’t even know if he is there.”
Mia smiled and agreed with Ted. She opened the door and walked in with Ted following.
Bernard looked up from the paperwork he was reading and smiled as he saw Mia. She was being escorted by a tall, thin, handsome man, one of whom Bernard assumed was a PEEPs team member. The young man had a techie air about him. Bernard walked up and held out his hand. “I’m going to have a wild guess, Ted?”
“Yes, Dr. Wesley, it’s good to meet you.” Ted shook his hand firmly.
“Bernard, call me Bernard. After all, you’re part of Mia’s family and so am I.”
“I hear you’ve been up all night.” Mia said, waiting for the men to disengage their handshake before moving in to hug her godfather.
“I did get a few minutes sleep in my office. I’m hopped up on English breakfast tea. Soon I will be paying the café a visit for a pot of espresso.”
“Ralph isn’t taking good care of you. He should be here.”
Bernard raised his hands up. “Heavens no!” He looked at her and smiled. “You’re winding me up, you minx.”
“I am, but you deserve it. Couldn’t you talk him out of it?”
“You know, no one can talk Ralph out of anything he sets his mind to.”
Mia nodded. “Okay, before we both fall over from lack of sleep, direct me to your best geologist, and Ted to a computer with internet connection. In turn, I am all yours. Abuse me.”
“You, young lady, make it sound so sordid. Follow me.” Bernard walked over to a bespectacled, freckled-faced young woman wearing a security badge proclaiming her as Dr. Sanders.”
“Emma, this is Mia. Take good care of her.”
Emma fist bumped Mia and asked for the sample. Mia pulled out the bag from her purse and handed it to her explaining, “I need to know if you can separate the particulates that this mortar is made up from. The building was erected in the early twenties.”
“I will give it top priority. We are shorthanded because of Dr. Tan’s accident. He was working on fulgurite and one of us had to shift over to that project.”
“Fulgurite?”
Emma gave her a brief description before assuring her that her mortar would be analyzed within the next few hours.
Mia smiled and went in search of Bernard. He was over at a roped off area on his hands and knees comparing photos to the actual area.
“Is this where it happened?”
“Yes, he was standing… Well, take a look,” Bernard said as he handed her the photos.
Mia viewed the photos. She looked for what perhaps wasn’t noticeable to the average eye. They gave her nothing but a clinical look at the aftermath of a man’s death. “I don’t see anything in these. Mia walked around, keeping out of the crime scene, and reached out with her mind. She cocked her head at a faint pinging. The sound of fingernails on glass. She whirled around and caught a fleeting image of something as it moved from beaker to slide.
“Bernard, move away from the table.”
He got up and did as he was told. Mia watched as the moving shadow stopped before retreating away from him towards a wall of glassed-in offices. Mia moved along with it until she was face to face with her own reflection. The smoke formed around Mia’s image and fleshed out into a half-naked woman. She was taller than Mia and dressed in a bikini of some sort. The design wasn’t something Mia remembered seeing in the stores and catalogs. “Beach Blanket Bingo,” Mia said absently. The woman was affronted by the reference and glared at Mia.
Mia touched the glass and it felt warm. There also was the tingling of a current running through it. “Bernard, is this office wired for an alarm?”
“No, the outside doors and windows are but not the offices. Why?”
“Because there is a current running through this glass. The only things protecting me are my rubber-soled sandals.”
“You’re looking at something, aren’t you?”
“I see a young woman in a sixties-style bikini. She is beautiful, and her hairstyle seems expensive. “
“The sample of fulgurite Dr. Tan was working on was found in Palm Beach.”
“I think we can start looking there for a possible death by… You said Dr. Tan died of an electrical charge equal to a lightning strike?”
“Yes.”
“She died the same way. My theory is that the moment her life left her, this woman’s soul was sucked into the glass. A vacuum of some kind. I’m way over my head technically, but it trapped her, and she is still trapped.”
Mia watched the woman as she spoke. She wasn’t sure she understood exactly what Mia was talking about, but enough of it to anger her more.
“She’s not happy. I don’t think she’s going to settle down. I think you will see more of her antics.”
To punctuate Mia’s point the glass burst in front of her. Pebbled glass flew in both directions. Mia had turned her head and closed her eyes the moment the woman’s fist balled.
The beads of glass felt like small stones pelting Mia’s body. Bernard and Emma ran over to assist her.
Mia held her tongue. The words bitch, cunt, and cow were pushing at the wall of good manners Mia put there. She whipped around and searched the room. Looking for movement. She caught a brief smoky blur as it moved out the door and away from the lab.
Chapter Fourteen
“So you’re saying that you can’t get to your vehicle because it may be surrounded by invisible biker ghosts?” Sister Julie clasped her hands together and dropped her head.
Burt looked at her and was about to say something when Anne butted in, “She’s not praying, she’s thinking.”
“Oh,” Burt said and blushed.
Sister Julie raised her head. “This Mia said salt, water and iron slow ghosts down.”
“Yes.”
“I have an idea, bear with me. It’s still in its infancy.”
“Go ahead, I’m listening.”
“Salt truck.”
Margaret clapped her hands together. “It makes so much sense. How would he get a salt truck?”
“If we were home it would be easy,” Anne said thoughtfully.
Burt smiled and thought of Gerald. “I know a guy that probably knows a guy…”
“There you go. This solves your immediate problem,” Sister Julie pointed out, “but, you still have a long way to go.”
“Yes, I do. But I have a team of people that work with me that are quick on their feet. I’m sure even now one or two of them have found something to aid us in our investigation.”
“What happened to Amber?” Sister Julie asked. “She was with you and then not.”
“Fame, fortune, possession,” Burt listed.
“Possessed?” Sister Margaret shook her head. “Really?”
Burt hunched down. “Now this isn’t for common knowledge, can you keep a secret?”
The four women sat up, and one by one they pointed out their attire. Sister Julie smiled and said, “It’s what we do.”
Burt laughed at his ignorance. “Okay, remember the episode at the customer service operator’s house?”
“April. The farm,” Anne said nodding her head.
“Well, she started acting funny. Tried to kill Mia and…” Burt went on to give the women the background of what they didn’t see on the television show. He didn’t tell them all, but gave them enough to reward them for their gift of compassion and kindness when they pulled over to rescue him from the bikers.
His phone vibrated. He excused himself and checked the picture that Ted texted him with. He saw before him a picture of Mia suspended in the air fighting a six foot wall of angry leather-clad biker. He sat back and pushed the phone to the center of the table.
Margaret picked it up and gasped. Mary crowded in and did likewise. She passed the phone so that Sister Julie and Anne could see.
“That’s Mia?”
“Yes, but don’t ask me who or what is holding her.”
“Evil,”
two of the sisters said in chorus. “Evil is holding her.”
“Is this one of the bikers you were being chased by?” Sister Julie asked.
Burt held up his hands. “I can’t see them, I don’t know.”
“Well, my advice is to wait for the salt truck. Leave the truck there,” Sister Julie said.
“I hear you loud and clear.”
“I think you should also entertain another line of work,” the sister said sagely.
“It has occurred to me,” Burt assured the women. He shook off the shock and addressed the nuns, “Enough about me. What are you sisters doing on this stretch of the Mother Road?”
“Oh, we are on a pilgrimage.”
“Really, here?”
“Not far from here. Across the bridge and downstream there’s a shrine. It is all that is left of a monastery. I think it was destroyed in a hail storm, maybe a twister. Anyways, it is reputed that if you pray at the shrine, it makes the arthritis go away for a few years.”
“Imagine that,” Burt said. “Does it work?”
“I assure you, young man, it does,” Sister Julie said, flexing her gnarled fingers. “It’s about time for a top off.”
“Would it be presumptuous for me to ask to tag along? I have a problem with my knees.”
“Yes it would, but you are welcome. I wonder, how hard it would be for you to get an autographed photo of Mike?” Anne bartered.
“Easier than you think,” Burt started then thought, “Actually, I have a few of them, but they’re in the command post truck. How about I call Mike and have him send one to you.”
The nun blushed and the other sisters twittered.
“Better send four,” Anne said and added her giggle to the others.
~
Whit arrived at Mia’s house and parked his cruiser on the street beside two service trucks. The apron of the driveway was dominated by overnight express vehicles. Intrigued, he grabbed the grocery sack of food Ralph had begged him to purchase and walked over. He nodded at the brown-clad man returning to his truck with an empty dolly. The other driver was standing by a stack of white boxes waiting for Ralph to account for all before signing for them. Whit smiled as Ralph looked up.
“Take that to the kitchen if you can get past the boxes,” Ralph said before getting back to his tally.
Whit walked across the lawn, noticing for the first time the man on the ladder installing a long slender screen over the window the raccoon had recently used to enter the house. He smiled and marveled at how fast Ralph had got anyone to come out to Mia’s isolated place, let alone come prepared to actually work.
Inside he faced a maze of boxes. He spied a man on the deck cutting a long piece of shaped white marble. “Now, I have no idea what’s that about,” he said aloud to himself. He turned the corner and was greeted by a serious looking coffee contraption. He cleared a space next to it and placed his bag of groceries on the counter. Unpacking the perishables, he took in the noises and smells of activity.
The last time Whit stayed here, it was, with the exception of waves lapping against the rocky shore, dead quiet. Mia had taken care of him when he couldn’t face his place after Sherry left. He had intruded upon her privacy, and she nurtured him and got him on his feet. He knew she had liked him in high school, but crazy Mia was too much for him as an insecure teen. She was the tiny blonde that never smiled. Walking through the halls, giving furtive looks to him and the gang of people he hung around with as she passed. His anger about Sherry’s paintings had fizzled. Mia’s contriteness took the fight out of the situation. Her truthful explanation and regret of her actions was hard to rally against.
“Well, that’s that. I hope,” Ralph’s voice filtered over the boxes as he approached the kitchen.
“Sure is a lot of activity here.”
“I figured if Mia was going to divorce me from her life, I might as well get this place sorted completely.” Ralph rounded the last large box and entered the kitchen. “Before you ask, all the stuff is new, no antiques. I am having the place looked over when I am finished by Sabine. If I let anything in, it will be addressed pronto. I have bundles of sage to burn and Father Santos on call.”
“What’s that guy doing on the deck?” Whit asked.
“Well, you know how our Miss Mia is enamored with lining her sills with salt?”
“Yes, seems to work for her.”
“Well last time I was here it was a mess. So I sat and thought and thought and it wasn’t until Bernard and I decided to visit Maurice’s place to order our grave marker…”
“Wait, grave marker?”
“I’ll get to that later,” Ralph said dismissively. “Anyways, I had an epiphany! Come here, he has the master suite ones already installed.”
Whit followed Ralph out of the maze and into Mia’s bedroom. Ralph took him to the bathroom and the wide, beautiful window over the tub. “Look!”
Whit saw that instead of the builder’s grade wood sill, Ralph had installed a white marble one that had a raised channel carved into it.
“See how it fits so snug? Maurice does a wonderful job.”
“So?”
“Silly man. The salt is contained in this raised box. It’s open at both ends to make the necessary contact with the window frame. And, this was genius if I say so myself, the lip of the box is higher on this side, so if she wants the window open, the salt won’t blow away. She will save tons of money.”
Whit nodded in appreciation. “Ralph, how much money have you poured into this place?”
“Thousands. Don’t worry, I won’t go broke. I’ve been saving for a house in the south of France, but Bernard still wants to work a few more years so I’ve got time to rebuild the fund.”
“I’ve got to get back on duty. Tom says if you need help to give him a call,” Whit said, reaching in his pocket and extracting Tom’s business card.
Ralph took the card and smiled. “Who says the country has lost its friendliness. Not me, no siree! Can I make you a cup of strong coffee for the road, deputy?”
Whit smiled and accepted the offer. He listened to Ralph’s plans as he followed him back to the kitchen. He still worried about Mia’s reaction and wondered what she was up to at the moment. Knowing she was at the museum should have quieted Whit’s concern, but with Mia, a simple trip to the museum could turn volatile at any moment.
~
“Sit still,” cautioned the elderly taxidermist. He had a long tweezers and was trying to extract a small pebble of glass from Mia’s ear. Ted, who was alerted by Emma, had been in the man’s lab using one of his computers when she ran in to find him. The taxidermist had followed out of curiosity and, ever prepared, had his tools of trade in the pocket protector in his shirt pocket. “Last bit,” he said as he flipped the magnifying glasses up and stared at Mia through his wire rims.
Bernard was organizing the cleanup. The security men eyed Mia as if she had broken the window herself. She wanted to swear at them but didn’t want to embarrass Bernard. She was tired of being thought of as a nut case. Even old Amos had shown up. She narrowed her eyes and dared him to continue to look at her disapprovingly. She wasn’t going to take this condescending attitude from a bloody ghost.
Ted knelt down. “Are you in pain?”
“No just pissed.” She smiled at him and watched as the concern melted away and a smile formed.
“You know, I thought life was exciting with PEEPs, but you, lady, whoa.”
Mia laughed.
Bernard who was on the phone called over to her, “What size are you?”
“I don’t know. Ten, I guess. Why?”
He held up is finger and repeated the information into the phone. He thanked the person on the other end and placed another call.
Emma walked over and handed her a folded lab coat. “Here, take this over to the bathroom and put it on.
“Um why?”
Ted leaned in and spoke quietly, “Minnie Mouse, your t-shirt is in shreds, the tights have done a runner, and Apr
il’s grannie panties are showing.”
Mia whipped her hands around to feel her back and, yes, her backside was exposed. She gathered the material as she got up and headed for the unisex bathroom, labeled with a lab-coated person instead of the traditional male or female cutout. Stepping in, she fumbled for the light and let the door close behind her. She pulled off her damaged clothes and pulled the lab coat on and snapped it. It fell to her ankles. She shook out her hair over the sink until the sound of small pebbles of glass falling ceased. Only then did she look in the mirror.
“Oh, Mia-my, you’re a mess.” Small scratches dotted the left side of her face where the blasted glass found brief purchase before falling to the ground. She looked at the embroidered name on the coat, reading it backward in the mirror. “Oh great. Dr. Tan. I’m wearing your coat.” Mia felt a chill and behind her a mist swirled. She turned around to face it. “Dr. Tan, if this is you, you need to move on. I know you were killed. I will catch the bitch and send her on her way. You have been a vital, good person. Do not hang around this sterile lab. It’s not your reward.”
The mist formed a face that looked at her and then at something out of Mia’s sight. He smiled and dissipated.
“Phew!” Mia said, exhaling the breath she didn’t know she was holding. “One down, a million to go. Hey, I’m making progress.” She started the water in the sink and, once it was warm enough, she took a handful of the pink foamy soap and washed her face and neck. Her skin stung where the scratches were, but Mia knew it was this or infection so she bore the pain. “Effing bimbo, just wait until I figure out how the hell to get back at you.”
There was a light tap on the door, and Ted opened it a smidge. “Can I come in?”
“Um sure.” She turned, looking at the toilet to her left. “Have a seat.”
“Bernard wants me to check out your back and stuff. I think, he thinks, I’m your boyfriend.”
“I think he wishes you were my boyfriend. Well since you’ve seen the front, might as well see the back.”