Teresa nodded. “I know. He told me about her. He loved her very much.”
“Yes. He wrote her long letters every week.” Tears streaked down Isabel’s cheeks and she twisted the tissue in her hands. “How can I tell her that her husband is dead, that her children have no father?”
“I’m so sorry,” Teresa said.
Amanda found her own eyes moist even though she hadn’t known the man. Her heart broke for the woman in Mexico. How unfair that she’d lost a man she loved and Amanda couldn’t get rid of a man she didn’t love.
“Maybe he’ll come visit his wife like I do,” that man said, sensitive as always. “It’s not like he’s really gone.”
“I cannot believe you just said that.” Amanda gulped when she realized she’d spoken to Charley in front of a stranger.
Isabel blinked, astonished at Amanda’s comment.
“She’s not talking to me,” Teresa said. “She’s talking to the spirit of her dead husband.”
Isabel nodded. “How comforting that you can talk to him. I have never been able to see the spirits of my beloved family. You are very blessed.”
Amanda gave her a tight smile. This was no time to correct the woman, tell her that she was cursed, not blessed, with Charley’s presence.
“I like her,” Charley said.
“How did Eduardo die?” Isabel asked. “We must send his body back to his family so they can give him a proper burial.”
Teresa bit her lip and looked at Amanda then back to Isabel. “I don’t know how he died or where his body is, but I’ll do whatever I can to find out.”
The glance in Amanda’s direction told her Teresa had just committed them both to the project of tracking down Eduardo’s body. Not bad enough she had to retrieve items from the cops to make a ghost happy. Now she had to find a body. No wonder she’d never before had a best friend. The process could be exhausting.
Isabel’s lips thinned. “Someone did this to Eduardo. He was not sick.”
Charley leaned forward. “Anthony killed him.”
Teresa and Amanda turned to look at him. Amanda bit back a protest. Isabel was apparently okay with her talking to him, but she didn’t think the woman would want to know about this unfounded accusation.
Charley smiled as if pleased to be the center of attention. “He killed Eduardo and then committed suicide out of remorse.”
Amanda turned away from him. He was being so absurd, he didn’t even deserve a response.
“I’m so sorry for your loss.” The words sounded insipid as Amanda spoke them, but she felt she should say something.
Teresa stood, crossed the room and hugged the woman. “I’ll let you know when I find out what happened to him.”
Isabel nodded and again wiped the tears from her eyes. “He was family. He lived with us for almost a year until he took the job with your husband and had to live there. He was no trouble. He took out the trash and helped me with the dishes. My little girl calls him uncle. She will be very sad.”
A knock sounded at the front door.
“Excuse me.” Isabel walked over to answer it.
“Isabel Ramirez?” The deep voice was familiar. The cops had arrived.
“Si.”
“We’re with the Dallas Police Department. We’d like to ask you a few questions about Eduardo Vasquez.”
Isabel burst into tears and stepped back into the room.
Amanda marched up to confront them before they could question what she and Teresa were doing there. She lifted her chin and looked down her nose at them through the screen door. “Way to go. You made her cry.” The best defense, a good offense.
It worked. Ross blinked twice and took a step backward.
Jake wasn’t so easily deterred. He sighed and ran a hand through his already-messy hair. “What are you doing here?”
Teresa moved up beside Amanda. “Visiting my friend, Isabel. What are you doing here?”
Teresa also subscribed to the offense theory.
Jake gave her his most severe scowl. “We’re trying to find your husband’s killer. You gave us this address to talk to his gardener. Remember?”
She shrugged. “Oh, that. Well, you’re wasting your time here. Eduardo’s dead and Isabel doesn’t know anything.”
Ross’ gaze narrowed. “What? Dead?”
Even Jake seemed taken aback by that comment. He opened his mouth to speak then closed it. His eyes darted from Teresa to Amanda a couple of times before he found his voice. “What do you mean, dead?”
Charley floated through the door and stood behind Jake, holding his hands above the cop’s head as if mimicking large, floppy ears. “You sure picked a smart one this time, Amanda. A cop who doesn’t know what dead means.”
Amanda bristled. She didn’t blame Jake for his confusion. Her anger was only at Charley. Nevertheless, she snapped at Jake. “Departed. Gone to the other side. Probably murdered. It’s going around.”
“And you know this, how?” Jake asked.
“Teresa saw him and talked to him. Well, she saw his spirit and he talked to her.”
“His spirit,” Ross repeated. His dubious gaze focused on Teresa, and Amanda regretted blurting out the latest information about Teresa communing with spirits. Had they just crossed the line where strangeness overcame attraction?
“His spirit,” Teresa confirmed.
“And he told you he was murdered?”
“Not exactly. We deduced that.”
“I see.”
Jake looked over their heads, toward Isabel who stood behind them. “Mrs. Ramirez, can we talk to you?”
Drying her tears, Isabel stepped forward. “Teresa is correct. I can tell you nothing.”
“You may be able to tell us more than you realize. I’d really appreciate it if we could have a few minutes of your time.”
Isabel hesitated.
“You don’t have to talk to them if you don’t want to,” Teresa assured her. “But they’re okay. I’ll vouch for them.”
Ross looked at her. “Gee, thanks for your support.”
Teresa gave a mock curtsy. “You’re welcome.”
Isabel nodded and reached to push the screen door open. “If Teresa vouches for you, you can come in.”
Jake formed his lips into a tight smile. “We are so lucky to have Teresa on our side.”
Teresa hugged Isabel then slipped out the door and waved a negligent hand as she passed Jake and Ross. “Happy to help. Maybe you can repay the favor sometime by returning some things you have that belong to me.”
Subtlety was not high on the list of Teresa’s virtues. In fact, it probably didn’t even make the list.
Amanda turned to Isabel. “Thank you for your hospitality. I’m sorry we had to bring you bad news.”
Isabel gave her a quick, impulsive hug. “We must find Eduardo and return him to his family.”
Jake and Ross moved inside, and Amanda brushed past them on her way out.
Jake touched her shoulder. “I’ll call you tonight,” he said quietly.
“I saw that! Get your hands off my wife!” Charley doubled his fist and swung at Jake’s head. His fist passed straight through.
Jake blinked and shivered but appeared unaffected otherwise.
Amanda forced a smile to her lips and nodded.
The men went inside and she stomped down the sidewalk behind Teresa then slid into the car. “I…am…not…your…wife,” she said through clenched teeth.
Teresa got into the driver’s seat and closed the door. “Really, Charley, I’m afraid she’s right on this one. Till death do us part. That was the contract. I understand you’re still a very real person with feelings and needs and desires, but the fact is, you are dead.”
Charley perched astride the gear shift and looked hurt. “I thought you were my friend.”
“I am your friend, but you’ve undergone a pretty big change and you don’t seem to be handling it very well. Why don’t you all come over to my place tonight and I’ll try again to he
lp you advance to a higher plane?” She turned the key and started the car.
Amanda’s smile was genuine this time. “That would be great.”
“We can’t,” Charley said.
“What? Yes, we can.”
“I thought you wanted to look for Collins. What was all the fuss about this morning, pushing poor Dawson to get addresses you can check to see where he lives so you can have him served and call his bluff? Are you just giving up on that? Are you going to let him bully you? Are you going to wimp out?”
“Zip it! We can check out those addresses this afternoon then go to Teresa’s.”
“Are we talking about the man you threw rocks at last night?” Teresa asked.
“Yeah. My…” She hesitated, unsure how to explain her relationship with Sunny without going into a lot of detail. “A friend is filing a lawsuit to challenge that stupid piece of paper my stupid ex-husband signed, but I need to find this guy so we can serve the papers. Otherwise we’ll have to do service by publication, and that takes forever. I want this man out of my life now.”
“So you’re going out looking for this guy, going to places in bad parts of town, talking to his criminal friends and cohorts?”
Amanda nodded. “That pretty much sums it up.”
Teresa smiled. “Sounds like fun. I don’t have any appointments this afternoon. I’ll go with you.”
“No,” Amanda protested, “you don’t need to go. I don’t really think this is going to be fun.”
“What’s the first address?”
“I don’t remember,” Amanda lied. “The list is back at my shop.” Another lie. It was in her purse.
“I remember.” Charley happily supplied the addresses.
Amanda compressed her lips and shot him a lethal glare. He’d do anything to avoid being sent to another astral plane, a plane where he might not be able to spy on Amanda and go along on her date with Daggett.
“Let’s try the most recent one first.” Teresa input Janice Horne’s address into her GPS. “After we find Ronald Collins, we’ll head back to my place and I’ll work my magic with Charley.” She slammed the car into gear and screeched away from the curb.
Charley’s lips moved as if he were saying something…probably protesting Teresa’s proposal to work her magic with him…but the wind from the momentum of the car stole his words. Just as well. He had nothing to say that Amanda wanted to hear.
Even with Teresa’s driving skills, it took them almost half an hour to get across town to Collins’ last known address. The area made Isabel’s neighborhood seem upscale by comparison.
Cars and remnants of cars squatted everywhere on the street and in the yards. However, Amanda did not see the ancient vehicle Collins had driven the night before. Toys, dead potted plants, a couple of bicycles, lawn chairs and other objects littered the lawns. About the only thing missing was grass. The houses were frame as they had been in Isabel’s neighborhood, but these houses had flaking paint and sagging porches with rotting boards.
Amanda did not immediately get out of the car but sat for a moment taking in the house where Ronald Collins was living or had lived or had at least received mail. It was no better or worse than any of the others surrounding it, but she got a chill just looking at it. The peeling paint had once been some shade of green. Toys on the porch and in the yard suggested a small child lived there. Dawson had said the woman had three kids. The idea of Collins as a father sent a shudder down her spine.
She turned to Teresa. “Why don’t you wait here while I go see if anyone’s home?”
“No,” Teresa and Charley answered at the same time.
Amanda didn’t bother to tell Charley she hadn’t been talking to him. Of course he’d come along wherever she went, and she had as much control over Teresa’s actions as she had over Charley’s. They were both going with her.
Resigned, she opened the door and stepped out.
Remnants of an old sidewalk led from the curb to the front porch. Amanda shoved a yellow plastic tricycle aside and marched resolutely up to the torn, rusted screen door.
Teresa matched her every step. “No wonder that guy wants your shop. Nobody in their right mind would want to live here. Not that he’s in his right mind. I mean, who shoots a tree?”
The sound of a television game show indicated someone was home.
Amanda knocked on the door.
The television sounds stopped.
She waited.
“He probably ran out the back door,” Teresa said.
“Why would he do that?” Amanda asked though she had the same thought. “We’re not the cops. We’re just two women.”
“And one man. I’ll go see what’s going on.” Charley darted through the door.
Amanda looked at the place where he’d disappeared. “I have to admit, Charley’s handy for checking behind closed doors.”
“But the payout isn’t worth the cost.”
“Exactly.”
“Don’t worry. This is only temporary. You’ll both be happier when he progresses a little further along the path.”
Charley came back through the door. “A woman and three kids. No sign of Ronnie.”
As if following him, a thin woman wearing cutoffs and a stained T-shirt, balancing a crying baby on her hip, appeared at the door. “Yeah?” She spoke from behind the screen and around the cigarette that dangled from her lips. Smoke curled about her face, into her brittle blond hair and the child’s soft brown hair. Judging from the deep lines etching her angular face, she must be the grandmother, babysitting the kids.
“Uh, hi, my name is Amanda and this is Teresa.” Oh, good grief! Amanda couldn’t believe she was introducing herself as if this were a social visit.
“I don’t know what you’re selling, but I haven’t got any money.” The woman turned to leave.
“No, wait, we’re not selling anything! You must be Janice Horne’s mother.”
The woman turned back with a scowl. “No, I’m not my mother. I’m Janice Horne. What do you want?”
Ouch! They were off to a bad start. Nothing Amanda said was going to make that comment any better. Best to let it drop. “We’re looking for Ronald Collins.”
Janice’s eyes narrowed and she took a step backward. “Keep looking.” The child’s sniffling sobs became louder.
“We need to find him. We’re friends of his.” Amanda almost choked on that last statement.
Janice squinted through the cigarette smoke, looking them up and down. “No, you’re not.”
“No,” Teresa said, “we’re not. We work for a company that tracks down missing heirs, and we have some money for Ronald Collins.”
“Brilliant!” Charley declared. Amanda had to agree.
Janice snorted. “Ronnie hasn’t got any kinfolks with money.”
“It’s not a close relative,” Amanda said before Janice could turn away.
“Very distant relative,” Teresa confirmed.
“Wendell Collins who lived in Pennsylvania.” The fiction sprang to her mind and from there to her lips without hesitation. The lie was necessary in order to find Collins. It had nothing to do with Charley’s influence. “His branch of the family moved up there in 1934, long before Ronald was born, so he’d have no way of knowing them.”
Teresa nodded. “Wendell Collins never married and never had any children.”
“And he died intestate.” Throwing around a few legal terms couldn’t hurt. “No lineal descendants. The whole estate will be divided among any living blood relatives we can find on a per stirpes basis.”
The baby burped down the front of his stained shirt. It was a fitting comment on Amanda’s outrageous story.
“Holly, can you come take this kid?” Janice called over her shoulder.
A much younger version of the woman appeared and took the baby.
Janice wiped her arm on her T-shirt. “What about Ronnie’s brother? Does he get anything?”
“Yes, his brother too,” Teresa said. “But don’t worr
y. It’s a huge estate. Plenty to go around.”
Janice took the cigarette from her lips and blew out a long stream of smoke then burst into raucous laughter that ended in a coughing fit.
Amanda bit her tongue to keep from telling the woman she really should give up smoking.
When she stopped coughing, she shook her head and grinned wryly. “Ronnie hasn’t got a brother. What do you women really want? You don’t look like the trash he usually cheats with, so I’m guessing he’s in some kind of trouble.” She dropped the cigarette butt on the vinyl floor and crushed it with the toe of her sandal then looked up, her eyes hard. “Again.”
Damn. This wasn’t working out the way Amanda had planned. “We just need to verify that he lives here. We’re sort of like unofficial census takers.”
The woman’s eyes narrowed. “My landlord send you? You tell that asshole I don’t have anybody living here but me and my three kids. Yeah, I let Ronnie stay for a while, but I kicked his sorry butt out two weeks ago.”
“Good for you,” Teresa said. “I left my husband’s sorry butt.”
Smart move. Establish a connection with the woman.
“We’re not from your landlord,” Amanda assured her. “I need to talk to Collins. He’s been harassing me.” If Janice really was angry with him, she might be more likely to talk to someone who was also angry with him. “He and my deceased ex-husband had some dealings, and he’s coming after me to settle an old debt of my ex-husband.”
“Husband,” Charley corrected.
Janice shook her head, pulled a crumpled package of cigarettes from her pocket and thumped one out. “I still don’t know where he is.”
“You mentioned the trashy women he hangs out with,” Teresa said. “Do you think he’s shacking up with one of them?”
The woman shrugged. “Probably.”
“Any thoughts on where those women live? A part of town he goes back to? A bar where he hangs out?”
“Where does he work?” Amanda asked.
Janice laughed again and once more went into a coughing fit.
Amanda couldn’t keep her mouth shut any longer. “You need to give up those cigarettes. Don’t you know what they’re doing to your lungs? Don’t you want to be around to raise that baby?”
3 The Ex Who Conned a Psychic Page 14