Ghostly Business

by Lily Harper Hart

  “I wasn’t at Patty’s house,” Jack barked. “I was ... at home.”

  Jared could tell that he regretted the lie the second it escaped his mouth. “Do you have anyone who can confirm that?”

  Mel responded before Jack could. “His wife’s name is Claudia. She works at the bakery downtown. I’m sure we can just call her and confirm. When she hears why we’re trying to clear Jack, she’ll jump at the chance. Isn’t that right?”

  Jack swallowed hard and it was obvious he was trying to figure out a way to gain the upper hand in the conversation. “Claudia went to bed early last night. I stayed up and watched television. We were in the same house, but she probably didn’t even know I was there.”

  Jared wanted to laugh at the response. As far as weak alibis went, that was basically the cream of the crop. “Still, she would’ve known if you were in the house with her, right?”

  Jack held Jared’s gaze for a long beat and then shook his head before turning to Mel. “What is it you want?”

  “We want to know what you were doing at Patty’s place last night,” Mel replied simply. “And, before you come up with some elaborate lie, we already know what you were doing there. It would be best if you confirmed it so we could move on.”

  Jack managed to keep his expression blank, but Jared figured it was a pure test of will. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “And you still maintain you were home with Claudia?”

  Jack swallowed hard. “She went to bed early. I doubt she even knew I was in the house. I was in the basement.”

  Mel didn’t believe that for a second. “Well, we’ll still try to confirm it with her. By this point, I’m sure the whispers about what was happening at Patty’s place are making the rounds. I hope this isn’t too much of a shock to her.”

  That’s when Jack turned dangerous. “If you tell her anything I will sue you. You have no idea for how much because I will take everything you own. I wasn’t at Patty’s place ... and I wasn’t participating in the sick things she had going on there.”

  “And yet you know about these purportedly ‘sick’ things,” Jared noted, shaking his head. “That’s pretty interesting, huh?”

  “Get out.”

  Jared was already on his feet. “We’ll be back with a warrant.”

  “You can try. I guarantee it won’t happen.”

  BY THE TIME THEY MADE IT TO THE next person on the list Jared and Mel were both exhausted. They’d run out of ways to approach suspects and were expecting yet another threat of legal action. To their surprise, Brett Lane welcomed them into his office without batting an eyelash.

  “I figured you would come eventually.” He was a stockbroker, working out of a downtown building. There were only two other people in the office and he paid them no mind as he led the detectives into his office. “I knew once I calmed down and really started thinking about stuff last night that there was no way you wouldn’t figure it out.”

  Jared couldn’t hide his surprise. “So you readily admit you were at Patty’s place for ... .” He couldn’t finish the sentence.

  “Sex,” Brett confirmed. “The house was a brothel, although a relatively classy one, and I was there for sex. I’ve had a standing midweek appointment for the past six weeks.”

  Jared had no idea how he was supposed to respond. “I see.”

  “Last time I checked, you were married, Brett,” Mel pointed out. “I’m trying to remember her name. She’s not a local. I want to say Stella.”

  “Sheila,” Brett corrected. “She’s from the west side of the state, although she’s made quite a few friends since moving here with me.”

  “And you’re still married?” Jared queried.

  Brett nodded without hesitation. “Happily so. I know that sounds weird to say given what’s going on, but ... we are happy. Things are just tense.”

  “Do you want to expand on that?”

  “Sure. She’s pregnant. Eight months, to be exact. She’s on bed rest and has been for three months.”

  Jared felt sick to his stomach. “You’re about to become a father and you’re out cheating on your wife?”

  “It’s not personal, at least the way you think it is,” Brett countered. “I love my wife with my whole heart. She’s an emotional mess because of the hormones, though. Not being able to do anything has emotionally crippled her. I hired a nurse because I couldn’t take being alone in the house with her all the time. That turned out to be a good thing. I was still feeling stressed, though.”

  He turned to Mel, a pleading look on his face. He obviously wanted someone to understand his predicament. Unfortunately for him, his current audience was unlikely to give him what he needed on that front.

  “I’m not a bad man,” he offered when neither detective spoke. “I don’t want to hurt my wife. I don’t want to give up my marriage. I was just so tense. I needed a little relief. I thought if I could just get through the birth then things would be better.”

  “So, you’re saying that you were going to Patty’s place for tension relief,” Mel supplied. “Did you consider a massage might be better?”

  “Oh, I was getting three massages a week before this.” He waved his hand, exhaustion settling over him like a heavy blanket. “I don’t expect you to understand. What I’ve done is unforgivable.”

  “What happens if your wife finds out?” Jared queried. “You don’t think that will make things worse for her?”

  “Oh, it will be catastrophic for all of us,” Brett conceded. “I’m hoping you won’t tell her if I cooperate, though. I have nothing to hide ... other than the obvious. I’m not the firebug type so I promise I didn’t set that fire. There’s a chance Sheila won’t find out if I help you, so that’s what I want to do. I’ll do whatever it takes to protect my family.”

  Mel and Jared exchanged a weighted look and then the older detective nodded. “Well, let’s get a few things out of the way. First off, you said you had a weekly standing appointment. Were you always with the same woman?”

  Brett shook his head. “No. I thought that was risky in case she got attached to me. I felt it was impossible on my part, but I’m sure other people have felt the same way. I wanted someone different every week ... or at least as much as possible. I only had one overlap. Natalie.”

  Jared shifted in his chair. “Natalie Dyer?”

  Brett hesitated. “I’m not sure. Last names were never used. I didn’t meet more than one Natalie, though.”

  “We’ll just assume there was only one Natalie for now,” Mel said. “Tell us about what happened last night. We’re trying to iron out a timeline.”

  “It was a normal night. Patty was in the parlor when I entered — that’s at the back of the house for obvious reasons — and I paid my money. She sent me upstairs with a new girl I had never met before. Frankie was her name. We were in a second-floor room and things were ... normal.”

  “You had sex with her,” Jared prodded.

  Brett nodded stiffly. “I did have sex with her. We were finished and getting dressed when the smoke alarm started going off. At first I thought it was a mistake — you know how those things can be sensitive — but when I saw all the smoke I knew it wasn’t an error.

  “All I could think about was getting out of the house,” he continued. “I panicked. I wanted to be far away before the firefighters showed up. I tried to go out the front but saw all the people on the sidewalk and turned back. That’s when I remembered the tunnel.”

  “We’ve seen the tunnel,” Jared encouraged. “It leads to the lot. You were obviously blocked off from leaving by the approaching fire trucks. Did you walk home?”

  Brett nodded. “I showered, looked in on my wife who was sleeping, and then crashed out. I didn’t know that Patty had died in the fire until I woke up this morning. I retrieved my car because nobody was there — and saw a lot of the other vehicles were already gone — and came to work like nothing happened. I didn’t know what else to do.”

  “That�
�s just it,” Mel volunteered. “Patty didn’t die as a result of the fire. She was stabbed and the fire was set trying to cover it up.”

  “Oh.” Realization dawned on Brett’s face. “I guess it makes sense why you guys are tracking everybody down. Well, I want to help however I can. What do you need from me?”

  “I want a breakdown of how things went there and if anyone you ever saw might’ve wanted to hurt Patty. That’s basically all we need ... at least for now.”

  “I’ll offer what I can, but we didn’t interact with each other. Patty purposely staggered arrivals by fifteen minutes to protect everyone. Still, I’ll tell you what I can.”

  “We really appreciate it.”

  9

  Nine

  Once Natalie was gone, Harper turned her attention to getting information out of Patty. It proved surprisingly fruitless.

  “I don’t know what to tell you.” Patty’s agitation was on full display. “It’s not as if I got social security numbers for them and issued W-9s for crying out loud. That’s not how the business works.”

  Harper held up her hand in a placating manner even though she was clearly as irritated as Patty. “Okay, then tell me how it works.”

  “Why does that matter?”

  “Because someone killed you. You ticked off someone badly enough that it was nothing to them to stab you, leave you for dead, and ignite the house. This person obviously knew other people were there so he or she was clearly fine killing them, too. We could be dealing with a sociopath who will kill again.”

  “Or a simple robber.” Patty folded her arms over her chest and the way the sun hit her transparent form made her look as if she were fading, which was something Harper was distinctly worried about. New ghosts couldn’t always control the ability to remain in human form for long stretches of time.

  “A robber?” Harper let loose a sigh. “How much money did you have in the house?”

  Zander perked up. “Now we’re getting somewhere.” He couldn’t hear Patty’s end of the conversation but was determined to stick it out as long as Harper insisted on talking to the ghost. There was no way he would leave her now.

  “I had a decent chunk,” Patty replied evasively.

  Harper tugged on her limited patience and reminded herself that Patty had spent the bulk of her life protecting her secrets for a very good reason. “Patty, I’m not going to be able to tell Jared what to look for if you don’t help me. Don’t you want to know who killed you?”

  “Does it matter?”

  The question genuinely baffled Harper. “I don’t know. You tell me. Are you okay with this individual going after your girls? You seem to be even though you’ve been telling me for the past hour that you cared about them. What if someone goes after Natalie?”

  “Why would they go after her? She has nothing to do with any of this.”

  “That’s not entirely true since you were setting her up on special dates and letting her live under your roof. I’m still confused why you even allowed that since you’ve already told me that you preferred keeping things strictly business.”

  “That’s true.” The obstinate tilt of Patty’s chin told Harper the woman wasn’t going to back down.

  “Your reputation is already ruined,” Zander offered. The only reason he knew which direction to look was because he could latch onto the spot where Harper’s attention was focused. “There’s no putting that genie back in the bottle. People know. They’re whispering.

  “The good news for you is that you’re going to be infamous rather than a pariah,” he continued. “You’re going to be a legend around these parts for a long time because your crime wasn’t of a violent nature. What happened to you is worse than anything you did. You need to help us help you.”

  Harper was impressed at the way he laid it out. Patty, however, thought otherwise.

  “Oh, geez. You guys are pains in the keister. I can’t believe I’m even talking to you,” she lamented.

  “Well, I don’t see where you have a lot of options.” Harper turned stern. “I’m the only one around here who can see and talk to ghosts. There are other ghosts if you want to hang with them, but I’m your only tie to the living world.”

  She hesitated before continuing. The next part would be more difficult for Patty to understand but she was game to try. “Most people don’t remain behind.” Her voice was soft. “They move on.”

  Intrigue lit Patty’s features. “I just assumed I stayed behind because of the way I died.”

  “You probably did. This isn’t it, though. There’s more. I’ve seen it.”

  “You’ve seen what?”

  “The other side.”

  “You mean ... Heaven?”

  “No, I don’t know what to call it. I just know it’s a beautiful place. Part of my job is to help displaced souls, those trapped here, move on to the other side. Most of the time it happens naturally but there are other times when the souls need a little push. I can help you get to that wonderful place. You have to finish what you started here first, though.”

  “Finish what I started?” Patty’s eyebrows knit together and Harper recognized it as an expression she made often in life. “I don’t know what you mean.”

  “You stayed behind because you were taken out of this world before your time. You have to stick with us until we can figure out who did it. That’s the only way to make sure other innocents aren’t hurt in the same manner you were.”

  The sigh Patty let loose was long and drawn out. “Ugh. You’re a pain.”

  “I am.”

  “You’re also convincing.” She shifted so she was facing Harper head-on. “What do you want to know?”

  “Well, for starters, how did you even happen upon this idea?”

  “It started ten years ago.”

  Harper was taken aback. “Ten years?”

  Zander stirred. “Is she saying her house was a brothel for ten years? I think we would’ve heard if that were the case.”

  Patty made an exaggerated face. “I don’t know that I like the term ‘brothel,’ but I have been facilitating meet-ups between consenting adults for almost a decade.”

  “No one is accusing you of procuring underage girls,” Harper reassured her. “We know the girls were legal ... if just barely.”

  “Oh, don’t take that judgmental tone with me.” Patty wagged her finger. “I helped these girls.”

  “I think you had the ability to read these girls,” Harper countered. “I think you had a gift for picking out the girls who were at risk.” Briefly, she thought about Rain. The girl was troubled and she was just the sort Patty was likely to approach. Hopefully, since Rain had only been in town a few weeks, Patty hadn’t gotten around to it yet. That didn’t help the other girls who were enlisted, though. “You might’ve convinced yourself that you were helping them, but I don’t know that we’re ever going to see eye to eye on that front. I just need you to tell me how the operation ran.”

  “Fine.” Patty turned positively petulant. “Ten years ago I made contact with the son of one of my father’s old business associates. I was desperate because the DDA was on me to replace the front porch. It shouldn’t have been such a huge issue, but I had to keep it authentic to the original and it was going to cost me eight grand.”

  “That’s a lot for a front porch,” Harper acquiesced.

  “I needed money. I thought he might be able to help me. He wasn’t keen on the idea, but then he came up with something that he figured I was uniquely qualified for.”

  “He basically decided you were going to be a pimp,” Harper surmised.

  “He did.” She bobbed her head. “I set up meetings at local hotels — not in Whisper Cove because it was too small, but in other cities like Sterling Heights and Mount Clemens — and I got to keep a cut of the money. I worked for him for years before I realized I could do the same thing for myself if I set it up right ... and keep the lion’s share of the profits rather than handing them over.

  “Three years a
go I started renovations on the house,” she continued. “I had help from construction contacts whom I’m not going to tell you about. They came in and worked overnight. Nobody ever knew they were there. It took about six months because they couldn’t work during the day. By the time they were finished, though, the house was essentially a small hotel.”

  “And you had room for the liaisons,” Harper said. “How did you find the girls?”

  “That was easier than you might think. Two of them I found turning tricks on Gratiot in Mount Clemens. I talked to them for a few days, ingratiated myself, and then told them what I had planned. I said they could move in for a bit, get off the street, and work with me doing the same thing they were already doing but without the risk of getting in a stranger’s car. They jumped at the chance.”

  “So ... all the girls lived with you?” Harper was understandably confused. “I assumed it was just Natalie for some reason.”

  “She was the only one living with me at the end. I allowed in those who needed places to stay, but I had rules, including a curfew. Only those truly hard up wanted to stay with me. I understand it. Natalie was in dire straits when I found her. She had issues with a stepfather and even though he hadn’t touched her yet ... well ... it seemed inevitable.”

  “How did the operation work? I mean ... how did you find the men?”

  “Online. It wasn’t difficult. I had a website and they essentially found me.”

  “But ... how?”

  “You would be surprised at how diligent someone will be when they want a tryst on the down low. I had more men than I had women to book them with. I always gave my regulars preferential treatment. They appreciated discretion.”

  “Yeah, but how discreet was it? We heard about it from local kids.”

  “Who only talked about it because the house was on fire. I bet it would’ve stayed a secret if it hadn’t been for that.”

  Since she couldn’t argue the point, Harper opted to move on. “What about people you had issues with? There must have been individuals who caused problems. The nature of what you were doing would insist on that.”