Ghostly Business

by Lily Harper Hart

  “Maybe she’s pregnant.”

  “I asked. She didn’t take it well. I think that was a relationship no-no.”

  “It’s only a no-no if you ask because you think she’s putting on weight. It’s allowed if the woman is being crazy.”

  “I don’t know that I believe that, but thank you for your opinion.”

  “Fine.” Mel wasn’t in the mood to argue so he turned away, prepared to shelve the conversation.

  “I think she’s like breaking down or something,” Jared volunteered out of nowhere. “She’s been all over the place for days. What if ... what if she’s changed her mind about us and doesn’t know how to tell me or something?”

  Mel rolled his eyes. “That is such a ... chick ... thing to worry about.”

  “I may be messed up, but I’m still together enough to know you’re not supposed to say things like that,” Jared challenged.

  “It’s fine. When you’re a certain age, you can get away with it. You can’t get away with it, of course, but I can because it’s considered cute when older men are sexist.”

  “Yeah, I think somebody has been selling you a bill of goods there,” Jared countered. “I ... .” He trailed off when the sun glinted off something golden in the woods and hunkered down so he could get a better look. “Did you see that?”

  “What?” Mel was instantly alert, their potential argument forgotten. In truth, he’d simply been looking for a way to distract Jared. Since it looked to have worked, he was ready to talk about something else. Honestly, anything else would do. “Do you see someone out there?”

  “I ... .” Jared frowned when he finally found what he was looking for. “Son of a ... !” He viciously swore under his breath and straightened.

  It took Mel a moment longer to find what had distracted his partner. “Is that Harper?” he asked finally.

  Jared nodded and reached into his pocket for his phone. “Yes.”

  “What is she doing here?”

  “Making sure I don’t die. At least that’s what I assume she’s doing here. I told you she was acting nuts.”

  Mel’s eyebrows hopped as Jared searched through his contacts. “Are you going to order her home?”

  “No. That will make things worse.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “Call Zander to come join her.”

  “And that won’t make things worse?”

  “At least she won’t be alone.”

  “I guess you have a point.”

  AN HOUR LATER, JARED AND MEL WERE FINISHED searching the house. As far as they could tell, nothing was missing. That didn’t necessarily mean anything, though.

  “We should take the photos we just snapped back and compare them to the photos we took that first day,” Mel suggested as they moved to the parking lot.

  “Yeah.” Jared flicked his eyes to the spot in the woods where he knew Harper was sitting with Zander. He couldn’t see her from this vantage point, but he knew she was still there ... mostly because Zander kept texting him. “That’s a good idea.”

  “Why don’t you go and talk to her instead of obsessing about her?” Mel suggested.

  “Because I don’t know what to say so I’m going to let her sit out there and stew until I figure things out. If I confront her now, things will get ugly ... and I’m in no mood for ugly.”

  “Fair enough. I ... .” Mel broke off when a hint of movement caught his attention on the sidewalk. There, under the shade of a maple tree, stood three familiar faces. “Our friends are back.”

  Jared followed his gaze and frowned when he caught sight of Barry, Brian, and Jack. They looked to be focused on each other rather than the house, but the fact that they chose to have their discussion directly in front of Patty’s house was circumspect.

  “What do you think they’re doing?” Mel asked after a beat.

  “I don’t know. Should we approach them?”

  “Sounds like fun to me.” Mel started in that direction but pulled up short when another figure emerged from the bushes. It was Brett, and the older detective hadn’t seen him until the man was almost on top of him. “What’s going on?”

  “I’m sorry to approach this way,” Brett offered, rueful. “I’m not even sure why I’m here except ... they’ve decided they want to talk to you. They came to me to smooth over the initial transition period.”

  That sounded odd to Jared. “I’m not sure I understand.”

  “I’m not sure I do either,” Brett admitted. “They found me at the hotel this morning and woke me up.” He rubbed his cheek, the bags under his eyes pronounced. “I only got a few hours of sleep because I was trying to figure out what to do with Sheila. Then they showed up — I don’t even know how they figured out where I was staying — and demanded I get involved so they could talk to you guys.”

  “So ... they need a facilitator?” Mel queried. “Why is that?”

  “I don’t know. They said they heard that you guys weren’t giving me a hard time and they want the same sort of relationship. I pointed out the reason you guys were at least trying to work with me is because I didn’t threaten to sue you from the start, but they’ve opted to pretend that’s not a thing.”

  “I see.” Jared was amused despite himself. “So, what do they want?”

  “They want to sit down with you. They claim they’re ready to answer questions. They want some assurances, though.”

  Mel was instantly suspicious. “And what assurances are those?”

  “They want you to swear you won’t tell their wives.”

  “We don’t want to tattle on them. That’s not our goal here. We can’t promise that other people aren’t going to talk, though.”

  “They seem to be mostly worried about you.”

  “Well ... they don’t have to worry about us opening our mouths.” Mel offered up a placating smile. “We’re looking for a murderer, not wasting our time worrying about cheaters.”

  “Fair enough. I’ll tell them.” Brett started to head back in the direction he’d come from and then stilled. “By the way ... are you aware that your girlfriend and that guy she works with are in the trees over there?” He pointed as he directed the question to Jared.

  “I am.” Jared kept his face placid. “They’re just ... feeling out the environment.”

  “Feeling out the environment?”

  Jared bobbed his head. “Yeah. They’re looking for Patty’s ghost.” Since Harper had no problem volunteering that information, he didn’t see why he should care. Besides, the truth was too difficult to explain. A lie was simply easier at this point. “That’s what they do ... and they’re determined to get answers from Patty.”

  “I see.” Brett’s expression was hard to read. “Do you believe she can talk to ghosts? I mean ... she’s very pretty and you’re an adorable couple but there are a lot of whispers about her in this town.”

  Jared’s expression darkened. “I believe she can work miracles.”

  “And she thinks Patty’s ghost is still hanging around?”

  “Oh, she’s already talked to Patty’s ghost. Getting specific information out of her is difficult, though. Harper is still working on it.”

  Brett momentarily looked thoughtful and then nodded. “Okay, I’ll tell the guys you promise not to tattle on them to their wives. Hopefully, if they just sit down with you, they’ll be able to put this behind them.”

  “That would be a step up from where we were the last time we sat down with them.”

  16

  Sixteen

  In the end, the men agreed to talk to Jared and Mel ... but only if it was out of the public eye. They consented to meet at the police station, where the detectives would allow them entrance through the back door and nobody would risk seeing them. To Jared, it was a ridiculous compromise, but he was willing to swallow his dislike for the men if it meant getting more information.

  “I have to talk to Harper before we go,” Jared said as Mel started toward the cruiser. “She can’t follow us
to the police station. She might scare off the guys.”

  Mel smirked. “I didn’t think of that but ... I get your point. Would you like me to wait here or help you roust her?”

  Jared scowled. “I’m not going to roust her. She’s ... going through something.” More than he was capable of figuring out, quite frankly. “I just need a few minutes.”

  “Go ahead.” Mel airily waved his hand. “I’ll wait here.”

  “Thank you.” Jared pasted a bright smile on his face as he cut through the woods, not stopping until he was directly in front of Harper and Zander.

  For her part, Harper didn’t look embarrassed about being caught. “We’re well within our rights,” she started before he could even utter a word. “I checked. This is public land. It’s not private or anything.”

  Jared cocked an eyebrow. “Did I say anything?”

  “No, but you were thinking it.”

  “How do you know what I was thinking?”

  “I just know.” She folded her arms over her chest. “We’re here to talk to Patty, not spy on you, by the way.”

  “I didn’t insinuate otherwise.”

  “You have the look.” She made a face that closely mimicked his serious expression and made him smile.

  “You do have the look,” Zander agreed, shifting on his chair. He didn’t appear thrilled about being stuck in the middle of the woods again, but he hadn’t put up a fight when Jared called to demand he join Harper. Instead, he’d been surprisingly amenable, which ultimately served as a tremendous relief.

  “I’m sorry I have the look.” Jared licked his lips and glanced over his shoulder. “It’s probably good that you’re here for Patty and not me because I’m leaving in a few minutes and you can’t follow me.”

  Harper straightened in her chair, surprised. “What do you mean I can’t follow you? Not that I would want to or anything. I’m not that type of girlfriend.”

  He had to swallow his laughter and force himself to keep a straight face. “I mean you can’t follow me because it might cause issues. Three of the men who were at Patty’s house the night of the fire have agreed to talk to us. We’re heading back to the station to conduct the interviews right now in fact.”

  Harper’s lips curved down. “When did this happen? I didn’t see you on your phone.”

  “Not that you were watching me or anything, right?”

  “Right.” She bobbed her head. “You were just talking to Mel and he wasn’t on his phone either.”

  “You saw Brett visit us, right?”

  Harper scowled. “You mean the guy cheating on his pregnant wife? Yeah, I saw him.”

  “Well, he was here to serve as a facilitator of sorts. The others approached him because they knew he was cooperating. They’re willing to talk to us, but they want certain assurances.”

  Zander made a snorting sound. “Let me guess. They want you to promise their wives won’t find out. What a bunch of cockroaches.”

  “That is what they want us to promise,” Jared confirmed. “We’ve explained that we can’t stop the rest of the town from talking, but they appear to be more worried about us. I can’t explain it.”

  “Well ... I guess you have to do what you have to do,” Harper hedged. “The thing is ... what if they’re only coming in now because one of them is guilty? What if they’re the ones who tried to throw you out the window last night? Maybe they’re all working together.”

  “Except I was attacked by one person. If three of them were present ... well ... I think the outcome would’ve been a little different.” And the possibility made him sick to his stomach.

  “Unless the other two were out somewhere concocting an alibi for the third.”

  “I ... will definitely find out what they were doing last night,” Jared promised, instinctively reaching out and brushing her hair away from her face. “I just don’t want you to come looking for Patty’s ghost at the station because I’m afraid they’ll balk if they think you’re spying on them or something.”

  “Fine. We’ll stay here ... unless you want to meet for lunch or something when you’re done.”

  The offer made him smile. “Lunch with my favorite girl sounds like a great way to spend an afternoon.”

  “Oh, I love you, too,” Zander oozed, staring at his phone. “We’re going to have to put a rain check on lunch, though, because we have a job.”

  The news took both Harper and Jared by surprise.

  “We do?” Harper’s eyebrows migrated up her forehead. “Since when?”

  “Since Molly just messaged and said there’s a ghost at the petting zoo, in the stable at the back of the property, and it’s spooking the horses.”

  Harper was taken aback. “Since when is there a ghost at the petting zoo?”

  “Um ... you know what I know,” Zander shot back, rolling his eyes. “I don’t know how long the ghost has been there. They’re adamant there is one, though, and there’s no way to ride the horses until we get rid of it.”

  The idea of Harper going on a normal takedown actually made Jared feel better, especially since the barn in question was located on the lake less than two miles from the station. She would be close but not so close she could cause issues.

  “I think it’s a good thing,” he volunteered.

  “You’re only saying that because you want me to keep from making the philandering men uncomfortable,” Harper grumbled as she got to her feet and started folding her chair. “Like I would stand out there and call them filthy cheaters or something.”

  Jared grinned. “I would actually enjoy watching you do that ... just as soon as I get all the information I need from these guys. Until then, have fun with your ghost ... and let me know what you’re doing for lunch.” He leaned in and gave her a quick kiss. “I love you.”

  “I love you, too.” She cuddled against him for a hug. “Punch those guys in the nuts for me, okay?”

  He barked out a laugh as he turned to rejoin Mel. “I’ll do my best. Let me know if Patty stops by or anything. I still have a few questions for her.”

  “I haven’t seen her since last night.” Harper’s forehead wrinkled as she shook her head. “I don’t know where she’s hiding out.”

  Jared slowed his pace. “Last night? When did you see her last night? We were at the house hoping to find her. You didn’t mention seeing her.”

  That’s when Harper remembered she hadn’t told Jared the full story of what happened. “Oh, well ... .” She shifted from one foot to the other, clearly uncomfortable.

  “You might as well spill it out,” Jared argued, folding his arms across his chest. “I’m not leaving until you at least give me the abbreviated version.”

  “You should’ve seen that coming,” Zander muttered.

  “I really should have,” Harper agreed, collecting herself. “Okay, well, I kind of forgot I saw her. It’s not a big deal. It’s not as if we had a conversation. When you left me in the hallway to check out the noise, she appeared and warned me to get out of the house. She was acting ... strange. I mean, it’s weird to say a ghost is acting odd, but she was all over the place. Basically she yelled at me to leave and that was it.”

  Jared was incredulous. “So ... the murdered ghost warned you to leave and you chased me into the office?”

  “You were in trouble.”

  “Yes, but ... you could’ve been killed.”

  “You were the one who was almost killed.” Harper jabbed a finger in his direction, refusing to back down. “I’m not sorry for going in there. You yourself said that you couldn’t have pulled yourself up without my help. I refuse to apologize for helping save my future husband.”

  Jared wanted to push the matter further, but she had a point. “Fine.” He threw his hands up in the air. “I just wish you would’ve told me that part of the story before.”

  “Why? What good would it have done?”

  “I ... don’t know.” Jared dragged a hand through his hair and shook his head. “It’s just weird to think abou
t. After you deal with the ghost at the stable, you need to find Patty. She’s got answers and we have to figure out a way to get them out of her.”

  “Aye, aye, Captain.” Harper clicked her heels together and saluted, causing Jared to grin.

  “That’s very cute. I promise we’ll play hours of that game once this is behind us.”

  “Fair enough.” Harper nodded as she handed her chair to Zander, who took it without complaint. “As for Patty, we’ll do our best. We can’t promise anything, though.”

  “I know the drill. Just be careful.”

  “Right back at you.”

  JARED AND MEL WELCOMED THEIR GUESTS INTO the conference room not long after returning to the department. Three dour faces trudged into the building, and the sight was almost enough to make Jared laugh. In fact he would have if the situation wasn’t so sad.

  “Have a seat,” Mel instructed, gesturing toward various chairs around the rectangular table in the interview room. “We’ll get started in a second, as soon as Brett gets here.”

  Brian lifted his head and made a face as he grabbed the chair at the far end of the table. It was a power move, essentially allowing him to take the position opposite of Mel, and it wasn’t lost on either detective that he was trying to take control of the situation. “Brett isn’t coming.”

  Jared carried multiple bottles of water to the table and doled them out to the men. “He’s not? I assumed he was.”

  “I thought you already talked to him,” Jack challenged. “That’s what he said.”

  “You ruled him out because he talked to you,” Barry added.

  Mel frowned. “He hasn’t technically been ruled out.”

  Brian balked. “That’s not what he said. Why do you think we came in here?”

  “I’m not exactly sure why you came in here,” Mel replied, opting for honesty. “Last time we talked, you were threatening a lawsuit. Actually, all three of you were doing that.”

  Jared watched with mild fascination as the men exchanged looks. That’s when things slipped into place for him. “I think they talked to their lawyers and found out that wasn’t a feasible threat,” he offered, forcing himself to remain grave even though he wanted to crow. “Before, it made more sense for them to distance themselves from this. Now, though, they realize that’s not entirely possible.”