Sadie hopped in her car and drove quicker then she should have over to the Victorian two-story. She pulled into the driveway with her bumper kissing the metal of the Dumpster. Once out of her car, Sadie was relieved to find there were no angry ghosts peering at her from the upper bedroom windows. She met Paula on her way out of the house as Sadie was on her way in.
“I hate to leave like this but I’ve got to get to work,” Paula said apologetically. “I was just coming by to let Zack know the Dumpster company called and offered to remove the full bin and replace it with another.” She nodded inside. “He’s upstairs.”
“Upstairs?” Sadie parroted, and swallowed a lump in her throat. Great.
“Yeah, and his ankle’s not just swollen; it’s also purple,” she said, taking off down the sidewalk and calling to Sadie over her shoulder, “Make sure he gets an X-ray because I’m sure it’s fractured.”
Sadie hurried up the sidewalk and inside the house. She wound her way between the mountains of belongings.
“Zack?” Sadie called.
“I’m up here,” he shouted back.
Sadie climbed the stairs, her eyes shifting left and right over the upper hall, but no ghosts were waiting. Zack was at the top of the landing, his back up against a mound of boxes.
“How are you doing?” she asked.
“Never better.”
Sadie bent to look at his foot that was indeed very swollen and the color of grape Jell-O.
“Yeah, you’re ready to dance the tango,” she said drily. “Looks broken to me. How did it happen?”
“I heard a crash upstairs and Paula said she’d dropped a box filled with glass stuff. I went up to see if I could help while Paula went down to the kitchen to get a broom for the broken glass. I was on my knees picking up the bigger pieces of glass when a heavy crate behind me somehow just toppled over and landed on my foot.”
“That crate?” Sadie asked, pointing to a large heavy pine box on its side in the doorway of a spare bedroom. “Didn’t I specifically ask you not to go upstairs?” Sadie demanded.
“Yes, Mother,” Zack said sarcastically. “But for the record I wasn’t in any of the rooms; I was just here in the hall.”
Zack winced as he tried to get to his feet using Sadie’s shoulder as a crutch.
“If you were outside the door, how did that crate manage to fall from inside the room and onto your ankle?” Sadie demanded.
“I threw it at the asshole, that’s how,” bellowed the ghostly figure behind them. “Too bad about his foot. I was aiming for his head. If I’d aimed it right, the crate would’ve cracked his noggin like a mellon!”
Sadie whirled around and almost caused Zack to lose his balance.
“Back off,” Sadie growled at the man.
“What?” Zack demanded.
“Get outta this house!” the red-lipped ghost screamed. A spray of spittle hit Sadie, and she wiped it away, shuddering as it made her skin crawl.
Sadie didn’t like the crazed look in the ghost’s eyes or the menacing way he kicked the crate, managing to connect the way only a very few ghosts could.
“We need to go right now,” Sadie told Zack. “Can you get down the stairs?”
Zack hobbled over to the stairs and with the aid of the banister managed to begin half hopping down the stairs. Sadie was at his side, helping Zack along, while the crazed spirit spewed furious curses from the top of the stairs.
“This is my stuff! Mine! You hear me?” he shouted. “Get out and stay out!”
When they reached the bottom landing, Sadie looked up to see a large box hurtling down the stairs toward them. She yanked Zack out of the way just in time. The pine crate exploded into splintered bits when it landed against a stack of cardboard boxes, splitting some of them open and spilling their contents into their path.
“What the hell!” Zack glared in the direction from which the missile came. “You could’ve warned me we’re dealing with crazy ghosts.”
“I did warn you, remember?” Sadie said, tugging Zack by the elbow and helping him over the junk that was scattered across the tight path that led to the front door.
“Get out!” the specter hollered. “Leave now!” He was still angry but there was a difference in his tone. Sadie realized he sounded less angry and more panicked.
“Why is it that every time we take on a big job, it somehow has to involve your weird talent?” Zack demanded, sounding miffed.
“This is so not my fault,” Sadie barked.
Zack’s eyes grew wide as another box narrowly missed them.
“Can you move faster?” Sadie asked.
“I’m trying,” Zack said, and they hobbled forward. “Why aren’t you moving?”
Sadie’s feet wouldn’t budge. She was focused on a bundled heap of newspapers that had rolled from the remnants of the first pine crate. She looked up at the ghost, whose own eyes grew wide before he abruptly disappeared from view.
“Zack, I think you’d better take a look at this,” Sadie said, her voice wavering with apprehension. “Tell me it’s not what it looks like.”
Zack hopped over to Sadie, sliding his bad ankle with a grimace. He glanced down at Sadie’s feet, where she pointed to a rolled clump of old yellowed newspapers. Protruding from the end of the roll appeared to be a tiny, blackened foot.
Zack sucked in air through his teeth before the look of shock was replaced by his cop face. As if he’d never resigned from the Seattle Police Department, he took a pencil from his back pocket and used it to slowly unfold the paper to reveal what was wrapped inside the layers.
Sadie gasped in horror.
The mummified remains of a newborn infant lay curled in the fetal position.
4
Detective Petrovich looked at Sadie and frowned.
“How come every time I see you it’s bad news?” he asked.
“Maybe because you handle homicides, and pretty much anytime anyone calls you it’s bad news,” she replied, leaning her hip against the hood of his unmarked car.
He grunted out a reply.
“What’s different about you?” Sadie asked, narrowing her eyes as she looked at the detective. “Have you lost weight?”
“Ten pounds.” He patted his stomach and smiled sheepishly.
Sadie didn’t mention that she noticed he was also missing the usual food stains down the front of his shirt and she also didn’t bring up the fact that his light brown hair actually appeared somewhat styled. Instead, she smiled. Maybe Petrovich was finally dating after his brutal divorce a couple years ago.
“You look good,” Sadie remarked.
Petrovich had been the first Seattle officer Sadie ever met. He worked her brother’s suicide and had been gentle and kind. He’d taken time above and beyond the call of duty during those difficult days. Because of that, the two of them had a special rapport.
Petrovich nodded toward the house behind them. “Don’t know if I’ve ever seen such a helluva mess. How the hell am I supposed to find evidence about a baby’s death seventeen years ago with piles of crap like that around my scene?” he demanded, his eyes firing at Sadie.
“Look, it’s not my fault that—” She stopped herself short. “Wow, you’re good. How on earth did you already figure out that the baby died seventeen years ago?”
“It ain’t rocket science. The kid was wrapped in a newspaper dated March 17, 1992.”
“Oh.”
“So how well do you know the owner?” He glanced down at the notes in his hands. “This Mimi Wicks person.”
“Zack knows the family better than I do,” Sadie said drily, and when Petrovich raised his eyebrows, she added, “All I know is the woman has Alzheimer’s and she’s in an institution home. The daughter, Paula, hired us.”
“Yeah, that’s what Zack said. We already called her. She’s on her way from work and should be here any minute.” Petrovich looked at the house with derision before returning his gaze to Sadie. “I guess you’d better get Bowman over to the hospital an
d get his ankle looked at.” He nodded to Zack, who was sitting in the passenger seat of Sadie’s Honda while an officer leaned in through the window and talked to him about the house.
“We know where to find the two of you if we need more information,” the detective said dismissively.
Sadie nodded and walked back to her car. They’d agreed to leave Zack’s Mustang behind while she took him to the hospital for X-rays. Sadie knew pain must’ve overcome Zack’s ego since he no longer even argued that he needed to have the foot examined. Sadie glanced at the swollen appendage and was glad Paula had the foresight to make him take off his shoe and sock before she left for work.
At the hospital it took only a couple hours for the doctors to pronounce that Zack’s ankle had a bad break. They couldn’t do more than offer a temporary splint that would be replaced by a cast once the swelling went down. When the doctor gave Zack pain meds, Sadie looked at Zack questioningly.
“I’m sure some ibuprofen will work wonders,” Zack said, tossing the bottle to Sadie.
“Sure,” Sadie agreed, tucking the bottle of meds into her purse.
Grimacing in pain, Zack eased himself back into Sadie’s car and they drove home. By the time they were at the house, Zack was miserable and brooding.
“You’re the one who pisses off some ghost, and now I’ve got to sit on my ass for days,” he grumped, sliding onto the sofa and angrily snatching the remote off the side table.
“Actually, you were the one who pissed off the ghost. He threw the crate at you before I even got there, remember?” Sadie said. “And I did warn you.”
Zack just shot her an angry glare.
“Fine. How about an ice pack and a couple of nice Advil?”
“I don’t think Advil is going to cut it.” Zack scowled. “You got the Vicodin from the doc?”
“Wait a second. Am I the only one who remembers what happened last time you were on Vicodin?”
He responded by flipping on the television and ignoring her. Fighting her temper, Sadie stormed into the kitchen and angrily took a hammer to some ice cubes in a Ziploc bag. Once she’d gotten the fury out of her system and the cubes were near powder, she reasoned it out.
“Zack’s in pain. He’s a man. He’s grumpy.”
With a deep breath, she patted Hairy on the head for strength, but even the rabbit was ticked off. He hunkered down in his basket and snuggled with his faded stuffed toy bunny (mini-Hairy) and ignored Sadie, who made a mental note to play with him more later. She put together a thick ham and cheese sandwich for Zack and brought it to him along with the ice pack, Advil, and a bottle of beer. She set up everything at his elbow on the end table.
Zack grumbled something that resembled “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
She kissed the top of his head, then walked around and gently lifted Zack’s foot onto a toss cushion she strategically placed on the coffee table. She watched as he lowered the ice pack on the area of the swelling. He cringed, and the air sizzled from his colorful swearing.
“I know it hurts but the doctor said you should keep it iced and elevated as much as possible,” Sadie reminded him. “If you’re a good boy you’ll get a walking cast in a couple of days,” she joked. “I’m sure by then a lot of the pain will be gone.”
He replied by turning up the volume on the television. She snagged the remote from him and turned it off.
“I want to talk about the mummy,” she announced, sitting down next to him on the couch.
“Well, I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Whose baby do you think it was?” Sadie asked, ignoring his sulky reaction. “How did Paula sound when you called her up at work and told her there was a mummified baby in a box in her mother’s house? I guess Petrovich is going to go and interview Mimi Wicks in the home too, huh?”
“What part of my not wanting to talk about it don’t you get?”
He folded his arms across his chest and glared. She matched his stare with her own.
“Fine,” he said, relenting. “No, I don’t think Paula knew a damn thing about there being a baby corpse stuffed in a box at her mom’s house. If she did know, I’m pretty certain she would’ve mentioned it when she asked us to help her clean up and, yes, I’m sure Petrovich will go and interview Paula’s mom and I’m sure they’ll send the kid for DNA testing and—”
“Oh!” Sadie exclaimed. “DNA testing would be great. They can take some blood and find out for certain if the baby belongs to Paula’s mom and—”
He held up a hand to stop her from continuing. “Please don’t start speculating on this. Since the baby was mummified, there’s no blood for DNA and the skin is too dried out. They’ll have to use bone marrow. And remember, this isn’t an episode of CSI. We’re looking at weeks until we get DNA results. Did you happen to notice that over half the boxes in that house were labeled from HSN or eBay? The other half of the junk are boxes of trash Paula’s mom bought at garage sales, estate sales, and flea markets. Paula said she loved buying entire boxes of stuff sight unseen. She’d bring the boxes home and not even open them right away. Mimi claimed she liked to wait for just the right moment because one day when she opened them, she wanted to be surprised. Well, she would’ve sure been surprised today. There’s a chance she actually bought a box with the baby in it, and in that case, we may never know the baby’s identity.”
Sadie opened her mouth to respond but her office phone was ringing, so she took off down the hall. She spent a few minutes on the phone with the security manager for Bellevue Square shopping center and then returned to the living room with a Cheshire cat grin on her face.
“I have to go out,” Sadie told Zack. “Do you need anything before I leave?”
“Where are you going?” he asked, but didn’t look up from the television.
“Bellevue Square.”
“Don’t spend too much at the mall,” he replied. “We just lost Paula’s job too.”
“Actually, I’m off to do a job at the mall.”
He slowly turned to face her. “You’re kidding me.”
“Nope. Got a decomp scene inside one of the stores. Apparently someone died in a fitting room.”
His jaw dropped. “No way.”
“Way.”
“Damn, and I’m stuck here.”
“Be good and I’ll show you the pictures when I get back.”
It took Sadie fifteen minutes to properly stock her Scene- 2-Clean company van with all the supplies she’d need for a decomp scene. The majority of her supplies were stored at her warehouse location, but she kept a significant second set of everything in her garage for easy access.
Being a civilized Seattleite, Sadie stopped at Caffè Fiorè for a latte to go and then spent half an hour locked on the 520 bridge over Lake Washington because of a traffic incident. The gridlock gave her time to think. Her mind drifted mostly to the situation with her dad, and a frown creased her face. She picked up the phone to call her mom but it rang in her hand before she could dial out.
“Hello?”
“So how’d it go with your dad? Did you see him again? Did you help him over?” Maeva asked. “You didn’t call.”
“I didn’t call because nothing happened,” Sadie lied. “Dad didn’t revisit.”
“Oh. Sorry to hear that.”
“Thanks. Plus, I’ve got other stuff going on. There’s a little matter of an angry ghost in green boxer shorts and a mummified baby, and Zack’s got a broken ankle.”
“What?!”
Sadie explained about her day, and in the end, Maeva zoomed right in on what was really important.
“I’m thinking Zack shouldn’t have lied to you about Paula, and the ankle injury was definitely karmic payback.”
“I’ll be sure to let him know.”
“And keep an eye on Paula. Maybe she’s making a play for your man.”
“Yes. I’m sure she’s been stacking her mother’s house with hundreds of pounds of crap and the corpse of a mummified baby s
o that she’d have an excuse to call him up.”
“You never know,” Maeva said seriously. “The angry ghost, well, I’m thinking just avoid that place. Mummies. Pissed-off ghosts. Those are a couple things you should just avoid in general.”
“Sure.”
“So how are you going to handle things with your dad when he does appear?”
“Maybe he won’t show up again,” Sadie said, surprised at how much the thought stung. “So I’m not going to think about it. Right now, I’m off to do a job at Bellevue Square.”
“What’s the job? Retail therapy? Are you checking out the latest deals at Macy’s?”
“Mopping up a body decomposition in a boutique changing room,” Sadie replied.
“I had to ask.”
They disconnected and traffic finally began to inch along toward Bellevue. Sadie dialed her mom at home but there was no answer. So she tried her mom’s cell but, again, she didn’t pick up. No surprise since Mom carried a cell phone to reach others, not to be reached. Not to be outdone, Sadie dialed her aunt Lynn.
“I’ve been trying to reach my mom,” Sadie explained to her aunt.
“We’re at the senior center,” Aunt Lynn said. “Peggy just went back to my car to get the last of the flower arrangements.”
“How’s she doing?” Sadie asked.
“As good as can be expected,” Aunt Lynn said with a sigh. “I remember those days after I buried your uncle. They’re tough. It’s sweet that you’re staying with her.”
“She seemed anxious to get rid of me this morning,” Sadie said.
“Oh, that’s just her way. She doesn’t want to feel like a burden. She’s really quite touched that you’ve decided to move in for a while.”
Sadie had been ready to sip her latte and nearly spilled it in her lap instead.
“Move in?” Sadie gasped.
“Well, she didn’t say ‘move in,’ ” Aunt Lynn corrected herself. “But she did say she thought it was sweet you’d offered to stay with her as long as she wanted you to.”
Oh, no. What have I done?
“Oh, here’s your mother now,” Aunt Lynn said, and handed the phone over.
Dead and Kicking Page 5