Troubled Spirits

by Sandy Wolters

  Nathan had known J.D. for several years. He’d been his business partner for just over a year now. In all that time, he’d never socialized with him outside of the professional environment. The man was a secretive bastard who kept to himself. He’d be surprised if the number of people with whom J.D. had shared his given name could be counted on more than one hand. Hell, he saw the man every day and hadn’t even known what his given name was. J.D. didn’t like people and would never dream of granting anyone the intimacy of addressing him in such a manner.

  So what was up with all this warm and fuzzy stuff? How dare he make a move on Jody! Nathan had no doubt J.D. would bring her nothing but pain. He’d never seen his business partner show even a passing interest in a woman before. As far as he knew, the man had never before lowered himself to chase a woman. Grinding his teeth together resulted in a shooting pain in his jaw. Partnership be damned. He’d be the one to put J.D. in his place. Jody was much more important to him than any job.

  Nathan’s anxiety clearly presented itself to all in the room as he became bolder in his attempt to separate Jody and J.D. He needed to end whatever was happening between them immediately. Sparks of fear for the consequences Jody could face with a man like him in her life ran through his body, leaving him jumpy.

  “No. You and I, we need to talk.” He tried to keep the timbre of his voice resolute but, it sounded jittery even to his own ears. “We’ll go outside and—”

  “Nathan!” Jody cut him off. “What in the hell is wrong with you? Stop this. Please, stop being so rude. I don’t need this right now.”

  The pleading in her voice had gotten through to him, making him feel like a real shit until he saw J.D.’s face radiating with smugness at the small victory. That fucking smirk almost sent him over the edge of reason. If he couldn’t control his anger over this situation soon he might just punch his partner in the jaw. He had to restrain himself for Jody’s sake. She’d never forgive him if he crossed that line.

  Nathan almost boiled over when J.D. again took her hand in his and even added a goddamn caress.

  “As I said before we were interrupted, please, call me Jared.”

  “Jared it is.”

  Shit! Nathan watched in horror as his sweet, little Jody smiled innocently at a man whom he’d called a cold-hearted bastard no less than a dozen times a day over the last year. He just wished he knew what was in J.D.’s mind.

  J.D. hadn’t heard anyone call him by his given name since childhood visits with his grandmother. He had to admit it felt good when his name rolled off of Jody’s tongue and couldn’t wait for her to say it again.

  Enjoying the warmth of her hand in his, he continued to stroke her silky skin. “Why don’t you sit down and tell me…” He felt a quick jab on his back and realized the forgotten artist had hit him with his elbow. “Excuse me. Tell us what we can do to help.”

  Nathan, still standing in the middle of the room, got everyone’s attention as he groaned loudly. He swiped at his hair and, J.D. realized, accepted defeat if only for the moment as he crossed the room to join them.

  Chapter Twelve

  Ignoring all the angst of the last few minutes, Jody regrettably freed her hands from Jared’s firm grasp and turned back to face Nathan. “I need you to find someone for me.”

  The way he puckered his face reflected his surprise at her unusual request. “What do you mean? Find who?”

  “Excuse me,” Jared cut in. “I do this for a living. I can find anyone. It doesn’t matter where they are, or how deep into hiding they’ve put themselves. I can find them.”

  Jody restrained her giggle. You can’t get much deeper into hiding when it comes to little Fiona. She internally chastised herself for the inappropriate joke when the temperature in the room started to plummet.

  She’d hoped to be able to get her story out without too much interference from Fiona. After their whirlwind trip earlier in the day, she figured the little girl’s energy would be too depleted to have much of an impact tonight. After all, she’d found herself in the regrettable position of having little to no energy to keep going. Unfortunately, the tension between Nathan and Jared had taken too much time.

  She’d suspected the little girl would show up in some capacity sooner or later, and here she was much earlier than Jody had thought possible. She could feel her, but Fiona apparently lacked the needed strength for this meeting. Instead of a full-body apparition, Jody saw something akin to heat waves rolling off a hot surface. Wherever Fiona hovered in the room, the air around her became distorted. That is one determined little girl.

  Nervously biting her lip, she thought about Jared’s proposed help. “I don’t know, Jared. I don’t have much extra cash, and I know tracking people down can be expensive. Finding this person is critical. I’m only asking Nathan for help because I haven’t had any luck locating the person myself.”

  “No need to worry about the fee, Jody.” J.D. turned to the artist and offered him a devilish grin. “Terry and I have come to an agreement for payment in full. Haven’t we, Terry?”

  Jody felt like she was on a seesaw. Nathan had finally stepped back, but by the look of surprise on Terry’s face, the tension in the room had now shifted between these two men. Jared seemed to be having an ill effect on everyone except her. Hoping to move past this and get to the problem of Fiona, Jody piped in, “I don’t understand.”

  By the way Terry’s jaw clenched, she could tell he had to restrain himself from pummeling Jared. What on earth is going on between these men?

  After a few tense moments of glaring at one another, Terry’s attention started to ping-pong between her and Jared. That was a dead giveaway he was quite upset and trying desperately to figure out what to do. Suddenly, his gaze came to a rest on her.

  Terry made a show of relaxing his features. She wasn’t sure if that was for her benefit or his own. “The fee is taken care of.”

  Confused about what just happened, Jody stared at her friend. “I don’t understand. What’s the fee?”

  In a nonchalant manner, Terry’s shoulder rose as if it were no big deal. “Before you got here, we were discussing a price for one of my paintings. I just agreed to sell it to him. No big deal. It’s a win, win for everyone. Now, tell us who you’re looking for and why, and let the ass—man get to work.”

  Not liking anyone paying her way or even making deals on her behalf, she was unsure if J.D.’s help was worth the apparent upset it had caused her friend. As the silence continued, Terry squeezed her hands and emphatically stated, “It’s done. No worries. Nathan has told me how good J.D. is when it comes to finding people. You wouldn’t have asked if it weren’t important. So let’s get started.”

  “Okay. If you’re sure. Thank you. I really appreciate it.”

  Terry’s words seemed to have a calming effect on Jared because he finally relaxed a bit. She’d have to remember later to ask what canvas he wanted so badly.

  Momentarily distracted by a glimpse of red hair and a pink shirt behind Jared, Jody withheld her troubled sigh. Fiona was becoming more solid but still resembled a light mist floating aimlessly around the room. As she watched the little girl stumbling around, her eyelids suddenly felt very heavy, and her vision blurred as it does when a person fights off sleep. Trying to snap herself out of the haze, she purposely jerked her body. The reality was, the more visible Fiona’s form appeared, the more exhausted Jody would become. To make an appearance, the little girl stole her energy at an alarming rate. It wouldn’t be long before keeping her eyes open would be an impossible task.

  Jared scanned the room from where he sat. “Let me find a piece of paper and something to write with so I can take notes.” As he stood and sauntered to the desk in the corner of the room, he walked right through Fiona. Jody found it interesting that his step slowed, and his hands spread out to his side. He stopped as if he were trying to ascertain what he’d just felt and finally just shook it off. Regaining his momentum, he found what he was looking for and returned to the gr
oup.

  Finally feeling the time to address little Fiona had arrived, Jody turned to Terry. “I was hoping to convince you to sketch a picture of the person I need to find, so Nath—I mean Jared could have a visual of who I’m looking for.”

  “Of course, I’ll do that for you. Why don’t you start at the beginning and tell us why this is so important to you?”

  Answering him with a slight nod, she leaned back into the cushions. Her eyes closed to help her gather the strength needed to tell Fiona’s tragic story.

  “I find myself in an unusual position.” To calm herself, she reached out for the hands of her closest friends. Fiona’s story was a difficult one, but she knew Nathan and Terry would understand. Since they were aware of her history, they’d recognize how traumatic this problem had been for her. More than anything, she needed their strength right now. “I’m afraid a spirit has attached herself to me.”

  Terry’s eyes widened in surprise, and, as usual, Nathan wanted to get to the heart of the problem. “What? That’s something new, isn’t it? Are you in danger?”

  “Well…”

  Jared dropped the pen he’d found and quickly stood. With a deep frown creasing his face, he held a hand out in front of him to halt all conversation. “Excuse me. What did you say?”

  The familiar reaction had Jody’s heart sinking. She had to admit she did feel the tiniest bit bad for him. He’d had no clue the direction this discussion would take. Forcing a smile on her face, she knew it wouldn’t be long before he ran in the other direction. He’d end up bailing on her just like everyone else she’d been interested in had done.

  She could pinpoint the exact moment his mind turned suspicious. His gaze penetrated as he visually examined every inch of her. When his expression softened and the warmth returned to his demeanor, she knew he’d probably devised some logical explanation for what she’d just said. At least that had been the pattern in the past with the men she’d been interested in. Maybe he attributed her comment to exhaustion. Maybe he just thought he’d misunderstood her. She’d have to speak concisely so her words wouldn’t be misinterpreted.

  “I woke up last night to find a distraught four-year-old girl in bed with me.” No sugarcoating. She’d be straight up about her abilities, and he’d walk out. She hadn’t had time to get attached to him yet, so nothing gained. But for some reason, her heart sure felt like something had been lost.

  “I don’t know when she died, but she’s determined to find her parents and talk to them.”

  The color drained from Jared’s face.

  Everyone could read his reaction just as clearly as if he’d shouted it at the top of his lungs.

  “Are you telling me you’re a psychic?”

  Jody didn’t miss the venom dripping from his last word. Somewhere from deep within her, she found the strength needed to face off with him. Allowing her anger and, yes, disappointment to shine through her eyes just as he had done, she stated as clearly as she could, “No. Psychic is a pretty broad term. I converse with spirits. I guess you’d call me a medium.”

  Jared’s eyes narrowed to slits. She could see the wheels turning in his brain trying to figure out if she was a mental case or maybe just a charlatan. If she was reading his harsh expression correctly, she’d have to go with charlatan.

  Fury raged within her. Lack of sleep and utter exhaustion had her wanting to lash out for being judged once again. However, before she could challenge Jared, Fiona sparked her annoyance.

  Without giving Jared the opportunity to say anything, she jumped to her feet. Her mind registered that her quick movement had startled him when he took a step away from her. What seemed, to all in the room but her, to be a void space next to Jared, captured her full attention. Feeling as though she were about to lose her mind, her hands slid protectively over her cheeks as she bellowed at the top of her lungs, “Dammit, Fiona, stop that! Your interference is making it difficult to concentrate. I’m trying to help you. The least you could do is sit still for ten minutes!”

  She hated losing her temper, but her nerves were being stretched to the limits. The little girl had been dancing around Jared as if he were a Maypole. In her current exhausted state, Fiona’s shenanigans would make it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for her to focus on the importance of this meeting.

  Chastised, Fiona trudged over to the empty chair and sat down. “Sorry.”

  Jody pivoted back to Jared and pursed her lips. “I’m sorry about that interruption.” She peered back at the chair. Once satisfied, she returned her attention to Jared. “It shouldn’t happen again, but I can’t promise it won’t.”

  She would have laughed at his stunned reaction had it not hurt so badly. “Do you think I don’t get this same backlash from most everyone I meet? I know what you’re thinking, and frankly it’s your problem, not mine. I speak the truth as I see it. You’re just going to have to put your big boy pants on and listen to me. That is, of course, if you’re still interested in helping me.” The words snapped from her as if she were firing them from a fully-loaded machine gun. Based on Jared’s angry stature, they’d hit their mark. By the expression on his face, no one had ever dared speak to him like that before.

  After her tirade, Jody noticed that for the first time since the initial introductions, Nathan looked relaxed and smiled. Terry, on the other hand, was curious and obviously excited about the prospect of sketching a ghost. “What does the little girl look like? What did you call her? Fiona?”

  Trying to work through her anger at Jared’s reaction, Jody plopped herself back down on the couch before answering. She couldn’t worry about what Jared thought right now. For some reason, she felt as though time wasn’t on her side. From the time she climbed into her vehicle tonight, a sense of urgency to get Fiona home had been bombarding her. She needed to act as fast as possible. Jared would either help or not. He would either believe her or not. She couldn’t waste any more of her precious energy worrying about it.

  She glanced over at the chair the little girl was sitting in and couldn’t help but smile. The kid was a giant pain in the ass, but precious as hell. “Yes. Fiona is her name. Oh, Terry, she’s adorable.” Enjoying the attention, Fiona jumped out of the chair and starting posing like a superstar model.

  “Like I said, she’s four. She’s about this tall.” She held her hand up in the air to show the men her height. “She has beautiful red hair, cut in a little page boy and bangs which are a bit too long. She wears a little blue barrette in her hair on her left side, just above her ear. She’s got—”

  Not taking being dismissed calmly, Jared’s anger couldn’t be more evident when he butted in. “Wait just a damn minute. Are you claiming that you can actually see this little girl right now?”

  Jody jumped at the fierce tone of his voice and acknowledged him with a lone nod.

  “Well, then, I’ve got an idea,” the sneer of disbelief in his voice was clear as he strutted around the room like he owned the place.

  Jody regarded Jared, not understanding why the harsh tone of his voice made her feel as though she’d just been struck. She’d heard all of the accusations from others a thousand times before. The blame laid squarely at her feet because she’d been an idiot and forgotten herself when they’d first met. She’d allowed the fairytale of believing they could have something on a more intimate level, even if temporarily.

  Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! He may have been interested before her gifts were revealed, but now that he knew, he pulled no punches.

  His impression of her spoke volumes. His anger had him trying to disprove everything she stood for. It saddened her to think of how compelling his physical pull was for her. When they first met, she felt she could’ve walked into his arms and never been scared or alone again. She had no reason to be angry with him. Her feelings had betrayed her, not him. Why should he turn out to be any different than any other man I’ve met?

  She regretted the undeniable urge in which she’d liked to have gotten to know him better. In no
time at all, he’d somehow gotten through all of her defenses. And that pissed her off.

  No matter what her initial thoughts of him were, she’d finally had enough of his pompous ass strutting around the room trying to do nothing more than prove her wrong. His actions demonstrated him to be a bullheaded jerk, who obviously wanted to break her. No one deserves to be treated like this. Not even me.

  Having everyone’s full attention had Jared’s lips curling with a menacing smirk. “If you can see her, then why don’t you just take a picture of her? Wouldn’t that be a lot better than a drawing?” His words came out silky smooth and tinged with arrogance.

  Now, it was Terry’s turn to be offended. “Hey, asshole, I don’t draw pictures.” His finger shot out and started jabbing the air as he spoke. “I—”

  “What a minute,” Jody interrupted. She stood and glanced at the chair. “Fiona, is that possible? Would you let us take a picture of you?” Jody had no idea if the camera could capture what most people couldn’t see.

  Taken aback by what he’d just heard, Jared’s eyebrows rose so high they’d gotten lost in his hairline.

  Fiona shouted with glee. “Yes! I love having my picture taken!”

  Jody reached into her pocket and pulled her phone out. She engaged the camera, but before she could lift it, Jared interrupted her. “Wait a minute. I’ll take the photo with my phone.”

  Purposely rolling her eyes, she waved her hand through the air. “Be my guest.”

  He held his phone up but had no idea where to focus the camera. Instead of verbalizing that fact, he sent Jody a questioning look. She responded with an annoyed harrumph and positioned herself slightly behind him. Leaning into him, she moved his arm into the best position with Fiona centered on the screen. The close contact left an unwanted thrill of intimate pleasure passing between them, making them both squirm.