Undercover Psychic

by Lisa Freed

  Angel was quiet but when I glanced over I could see her eyes tearing up.

  “Is that him?”

  “Yes, that's my Joey, other than the hair. Joey was so fastidious about his hair.”

  She didn't say. I tried not to snort. Joey was still attempting to tame his messed up do.

  “I would guess the messy hair is from his death and there's not much he can do to fix it,” I said that for his benefit not that it helped, Joey had licked a hand in an attempt to mash it down.

  “How old is Joey? Where did he go and why didn't he say goodbye?”

  Now that stopped his manic grooming, his already wide blue eyes just about popped.

  “I'm still seventeen! That goon Angelo he got me good, stole my girl, and messed my hair up for eternity, what a dirty trick.”

  “Angel, I need Joey to tell me the story before I can give you answers okay?”

  “Oh yes! Please, Joey, tell me why you left me and why you're so angry with Angelo, that man is a saint.”

  If Joey's head could spin around or steam come out of his ears it would have but being a simple spirit and not some movie-demon, he was forced to express his emotions same as us mortals. He started cursing.

  “Saint?! That no good, lousy, lying shit-for-brains, I'll get him! He better still be alive so I can kill him!”

  I let him have his little tantrum and slowed down to an even fifty on the highway though my normal habit was to go ten over the limit.

  “Joey's having a little fit,” I said to Angel to keep her in the loop.

  “No I'm not!” Joey yelled.

  “Okay, whatever, kid, just tell me the details.”

  “So there I was behind Angelo's fancy Thunderbird when he reversed and ran me over!”

  “He ran you over?!” Now it was my turn to yell.

  Angel flinched.

  “Sorry,” I murmured.

  “Yeah, that dirty no good Angelo ran me over! Then he stopped and threw me in his trunk and dumped me in the woods a few miles out of town.”

  Wow, I was wrong, that Angelo really was a dirty dog. But I still had a few questions.

  “Why did Angelo want you dead? And what were you doing behind his car?”

  Proving that teenagers everywhere were the same no matter what decade they came from, Joey rolled his eyes and gave me a rude 'boy you're dense' look.

  “What do you think? He wanted my girl and he knew she would never go for a loser like him when she had a stud like me.”

  Now it was my turn for some major eye rolling and outright laughter.

  “What's going on? Angelo killed my Joey? No! Never! And why are you laughing about it?” Angel whacked me with her left hand.

  “Hey! No hitting the driver! And sorry Joey's murder wasn't funny just he said something off that struck me wrong.”

  “Serves you right,” Joey snickered nastily. “And I was behind his car slicing his tires.”

  “You were slicing his tires?” What had I gotten myself into here?

  “Didn't I just say that? So, what happens after he dumps my body? He gets with my girl, and he doesn't even marry her.”

  Despite slowing down we were now at the hospital and I had no choice but to pull into the lot and park.

  “Angel, I'm sorry to leave you in the dark here, but we need to talk to Angelo to hear his side of things.”

  “What?!” Angel and Joey cried in unison.

  “Joey told me his view of what happened, but there is another side and it must be told.” Hmmmm...maybe I was taking this medium stuff a tad too much to heart, I was starting to sound like one. Next thing you know I would be hosting a show on cable. Ummm...No.

  Without giving them time to protest further, I exited the vehicle and began walking toward the hospital entrance, knowing the former couple would follow.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  After I heard my truck door slam, I pressed the lock button on my key fob, all without looking back.

  My smugness came back to bite me in the tail as Angel power walked right past me straight to the information desk. But no Joey.

  I turned to look back at the parking lot, no Joey. Damn! The punk had given me the slip again. At this rate, I was never going to be fully rid of this mess.

  Unless....it was so tempting to turn around, get back in my truck and drive away, leaving Angel to Angelo and Joey to silently stalk them for the rest of their lives. They could sort everything out themselves in the afterlife.

  But nothing is ever that simple, so I quickly jogged to catch up with Angel who was once again zooming at a pace that belied her years.

  “He's having an EKG, but the nice lady at the desk told me which room he would be brought back to.” She wasn't even out of breath, while I was slightly winded from the jog to the desk and now trying to keep pace with her.

  As we approached the emergency room area my skin prickled painfully. I slowed, taking in the surroundings that moments before had just been nondescript blurs. A few curtained room dividers glowed a sickly yellow, but the pulsating red was what held my attention. Or rather the man hovering in the doorway as an anxious parent might while waiting for their child to return from a late night out. He was dressed differently this time, but there was no denying it was the same man I had seen at the accident scene the other week. It was Death and he was decked out in full evening wear, tails, cummerbund and all.

  And even I had to admit he made a dashing figure, tall, broad, and handsome.

  With slow grace, he pivoted to impale me with his electric silver eyes. He tipped me a wink before turning to resume his vigil.

  “Are you alright?” Angel asked.

  “Yes, I'm fine. Just a little cold is all.” That was a lie, burning up was more like it.

  “Well then, come on,” she snapped. So much for any grandmotherly concern.

  We found Angelo looking much revived in a back area, propped up in a bed. His hairy arms were exposed in the thin hospital gown, as well as a great deal of skinny old man legs.

  Angel all but flew to him.

  “Angelo! Thank Heavens!” She pressed him to her chest briefly before pushing him back. “Don't you dare scare me like that again!”

  “Dearest, it was that dreadful girl- that one!” He pointed a finger, his eyes flashing a combination of fear and anger. “What is she doing here?”

  “Oh Angelo, I needed a ride and I wanted to find out more about Joey.”

  At the mention of Joey, Angelo started losing his healthy flush again.

  “No, no! Angelo, you stop that right now.”

  A nurse popped in at that moment. “Hi? Mr. Carlos? How nice that your family is here. My, your daughter looks just like you!”

  I don't know who protested more, me or Angelo.

  “Oh, she's not our daughter, she's just...” Angel stopped, unsure how to explain my connection to them.

  “Whoops! Well in that case you really should leave, miss, family only.” She draped a blanket over Angelo's legs, sparing me the sight of those hairy drumsticks.

  “I would prefer that she stay,” Angelo stated, surprisingly everyone.

  “Okay, Mr. Carlos, I'll be back in a few to get some more bloodwork.” With a cheery wave, she was gone.

  “Let's get this over with quickly before she turns me into a pincushion.” A quick flash of those oversized teeth and then his face was serious once again.

  Angel plopped down in the only available chair leaving me nowhere to go but to either lean against the sink, or to stand next to the bed. I chose the sink, trying to get comfortable.

  “Now...” Angelo's forehead wrinkled briefly, “I don't even know your name.”

  “Teresa, or Madam T,” I joked. It fell flat.

  I hated hospitals and the fact that Death was a mere two curtained enclosures away added to my anxiety. Plus, Joey, the rat, still had not made a reappearance.

  “Teresa, please ease an old man's heart and tell me how you know of Joey Burke. A great-uncle perhaps?” Another flash of
the dentures, the wolf, though old was still there, a wily one.

  “No, not an uncle. Before this afternoon I had never met him or heard of him and honestly my day would have been much improved if it would have stayed that way.

  Angel's heavily made up eyes flashed at that, but she kept her cool and remained quiet, though the pursed quivering lips betrayed what the effort was costing her.

  “Joey is dead. Angelo, you know that, and even Angel must have realized that.”

  Angel sniffed, pulling several handfuls of tissues out of the flat little hospital tissue box. “Yes, part of me knew Joey was dead. But never will I believe that Angelo hurt Joey.”

  Angelo's chest inflated and deflated rapidly as he puffed out a long drawn out breath.

  “Angel, my Angel.” He gazed at her with adoration so fierce, the romantic in me, that I didn't know existed, sighed in giddy ecstasy.

  Holding out his large hands, Angel rose to grasp them tenderly in her much smaller ones.

  “Sit, my dearest.” Angelo shuffled over to make a few inches of available space on the narrow bed.

  Angel sat, still holding his hands protectively.

  “I never meant to hurt him.” He hung his head. Drawing in a fortifying breath, when Angelo looked back up he was a man resolved. “He was behind my car and I never saw him.”

  “Behind your car?”

  “Yes, remember my Thunderbird?” Angelo asked eagerly, pride of ownership puffing out his scrawny chest.

  “That big yellow thing that was always breaking down?” Disdain dripped from every word.

  Guess old Angel didn't care for Angelo's pride and joy.

  “Well, yes, it suffered a few hiccups, but she was a beaut!”

  “Yes, you had that car forever, even when it needed a new engine you kept it hogging up our entire garage. I had to park my car out on the street.” Angel’s displeasure was pretty clear from the ugly scowl on her face.

  Despite the grim circumstances, I had to stifle a giggle.

  “A minor issue.” Angelo stated with a downward twist of his oversized lips.

  It looked like two liver colored worms fighting, thoroughly repulsive, I felt my own lips twist in disgust. I had to get things back on track and fast.

  “So, Joey was behind your Thunderbird and…” I prompted.

  “Yes, he was behind my car, crouched down low so I never saw him, I promise! I went into reverse by accident before pulling out of my parking space. I heard and felt a thump so stopped the car and when I got out I found Joey under the car, bleeding.”

  Angel gasped, her eyes wide. Angelo let out a small pained moan that I took for anguish at upsetting Angel, but then I noticed how white Angel’s knuckles were as she had a death grip on Angelo’s hands. Ouch.

  “Please, please believe me, my Angel, that I never would have hurt him! I saw him and I panicked. He was dead! I didn’t want to go to jail so I loaded his body in the trunk and drove out of town to the woods.”

  Now Angel was the one moaning. Her eyes looked shiny and unnaturally bright as she began to slowly sway back and forth.

  Joey, who had appeared out of nowhere, spoke loudly and sharply, “She’s about to faint! Do something!”

  Moving across the room I took hold of Angel’s arms to hold her still. “Angel, Angel, deep breaths!”

  The moaning continued and now Angelo looked alarmed and dazed as well. I couldn’t handle both of them dropping over, let alone another of Angelo’s death bomb farts.

  “Come on, old people, keep it together! This is all old news, sad terrible news but it’s about time the truth has come out. That’s what Joey wants, he wants Angel to know the truth, that he would never leave her.” I improvised a bit, but it sounded good.

  It must have sounded good to Angel as well because her eyes focused on me, then slightly beyond me. “Joey.” The word was barely a whisper, but we all heard it. I turned and was slightly shocked to see that Joey was about where Angel was staring. Could she really suddenly see her lost love?

  “Can you see him?” Angelo voiced the thought before I could.

  “Yes, yes I can! My sweet Joey!” She disengaged from Angelo and stood, reaching out a trembling hand toward the wall where Joey stood.

  Joey was grinning, the sulky punk gone, and I had a glimpse of the man he would have become if he had lived and had Angel by his side.

  I took this as my cue to leave. Angelo and Angel could sort through all the details of Joey’s accidental demise among themselves, I really had no desire to hear anymore. And now the burden of Joey’s disappearance was lifted from Angel’s heart, she could be secure in the knowledge that she wasn’t abandoned and that Joey’s love for her was everlasting.

  Okay, I was starting to feel all sappy so definitely time to get back to the carnival and see how upset John was with me. Even better, Death was gone when I went out into the hallway.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  I lay in bed, warm and safe, barely able to move an inch in either direction thanks to all three cats heaped on the queen-sized bed and me in various states of utter feline contentment. Funny how much room a small furry body could claim.

  My afternoon adventure with Joey had left me mentally drained. More so than I had realized. John had called me on my way out of the hospital and informed me in not so nice words that my services wouldn’t be required for the rest of the night or the next day. I had wanted to ask if he would still get Whisker Kisses that prime spot on Heritage Day but I was wise enough to realize now might not be the best time to press on that issue. Maybe in a few months when he had cooled down.

  Though honestly, I don’t see how any of this was really my fault. Angelo was bound to come across a scare big enough to set off his ticker at some point, he was old after all. Besides now he was freed from lying about Joey whenever the subject came up and Angel finally knew her first love hadn’t deserted her.

  Just when my mind began the hazy slip from partial consciousness to complete sleep, my phone began its chatter.

  I reluctantly uncurled an arm from my warm nest of blankets to grope for the phone on my nightstand. After knocking over a box of tissues, three paperbacks, and the tiny decorative dish I use to toss my earrings and necklaces into, I finally located my phone which I brought into my tangle of blankets.

  “Yes,” I rasped. When I’m woken out of sleep, forget formalities.

  All I heard was static and what could have been breathing. Either way I had zero patience. “Hello,” I barked and after receiving no reply disconnected the call and put the phone on vibrate before tossing it in the general direction of my nightstand.

  The next morning when I woke, I had zero memory of the late-night call. Though later in the day I did wonder why my phone was on vibrate when it began buzzing in my purse. When I answered it, a fuzzy memory of last night came to me, this time a voice was there. It was Gwennie from Whisker Kisses and her normally calm voice was high with tension.

  “Teresa, it’s Gwennie, someone dropped a carrier full of kittens off, they’re young, eyes aren’t even open yet.”

  My mind clicked over several plans of action and I glanced at the time on my phone. It was barely afternoon so there was time. “Get the kitten formula out, they’ll need to be fed every one to two hours. We have a bunch of washcloths in the laundry, do you know how to wipe them to get them to go pee and poop?”

  Gwennie gave a dusty sounding laugh, “No, that’s a new one to me. Hang on.”

  I could hear her conversing with someone else but couldn’t make out who the other person was. I would imagine Dana was there but it didn’t sound like her.

  “Jen says she’s handled newborn kitties before and knows the bladder and bowel situation.”

  “Excellent! You guys keep them warm and fed, I’ll make some phone calls see if anyone has a nursing momma cat that can take these babies on. How many do we have?”

  “There’s four of them,” a note of worry crept into Gwennie’s hearty voice, “they’re not mov
ing much.”

  “They need to be with their mom. Why couldn’t the dumper have put momma cat in the carrier too?” I muttered, not expecting a reply and not receiving one. “Okay, let me make those calls.”

  We disconnected and I immediately started scrolling through my contact list for all the local rescues and fosters. I got lucky five calls in. A young momma cat being fostered just over the Maryland line had recently had a small litter only producing two living babies. Being that this was an experienced foster, I had no issues with bringing the babies to her. The only concern was if the babies would survive long enough to make it to the momma cat.

  Grabbing my purse and stuffing my bare feet into a pair of sneakers, I was out the door heading toward Whisker Kisses. On the way, I called to update Gwennie on the situation. When I arrived, the kittens were in a small box with a towel-wrapped hot water bottle under them. Tiny furry stripped jelly beans are what they resembled, my heart ached for them. I said a little prayer to Saint Gertrude of Nivelles, the patron saint of cats, and asked for protection and strength for the little ones.

  The thirty-minute drive wasn’t long at all but I worried the entire drive. As I pulled into the driveway of a neat two-story beige house with loud red shutters, Shirley, an older lady with short, spiky black hair, practically flew out of the house. I had barely parked when she was opening the passenger door gently picking up the box.

  “Come along, Teresa, let’s get these babies to their new momma,” she fired over her shoulder as she zoomed back into the house, leaving the door open for me to follow.

  I closed the door behind me and, following the sound of her voice to a spare bedroom, I found Shirley crouched on the floor cooing to the baby kittens and to Misty, a small black cat with bright yellow eyes. Misty was in a box with her own two kittens but her ears were twitching. With a soft meow she hopped out of her box and walked cautiously toward the one containing the orphaned babies. A few had begun moving sluggishly at the sound of the momma cat.

  Her large eyes widened further and with no effort she jumped into the box to smell the babies. I watched in awed disbelief as she grabbed one by the scruff and transferred it to her box and her other babies. Her easy acceptance of them touched me and I felt heat gathering in my nose, a sure sign tears were coming.