“And that is not much of a threat when it means I’ll just hang around you longer and torment you.”
He glares at me, dropping his utensils loudly on his plate. Then he stares at it for a while before he sighs and finally reaches across the table to grab his cell phone.
Yes! He didn’t call my bluff!
He taps his phone angrily, possibly hoping simply from the force he will crack the screen and be able to avoid the call.
His phone remains unbroken, though, and he shows me the screen, proving he is calling his mom.
I hear a faint hello when he puts his phone up to his ear. I only get to hear a one-sided conversation, though.
“Hey, Mom … Yeah, I know, but—Well, not ex—I know. I’m sorry. I—I’m not sure if—I’m busy on—Mom, pleas—but—Mom—”
And then he turns and glares at me, finally deciding to remain quiet while listening to whatever his mother has to say.
I feel awkward as I watch his expression grow fiercer, briefly wondering if a ghost can be hurt. I can’t be killed twice, right? No one is that unlucky, surely?
I lean over and pick up his plate, deciding I should probably move away, just in case.
“Actually, I have been eating fine. I even had steak for dinner.” Aiden sounds smug, his focus leaving me as the distance between us grows. Maybe being as far away from him as I can get is the way to proceed for this conversation.
“I’m not dating anyone … What do you mean I can’t cook? I know how—Just because I eat a decent meal, it doesn’t mean I’m seeing—Mom…”
Aiden’s glare turns back on me, and I quickly turn my back, rinsing the dishes from dinner and breakfast and placing them into the dishwasher. It feels strange when I do things like this, almost like I’m real, like I’m normal.
How can I do such standard things? Can I do these things in front of others? Maybe if Aiden visits Flynn, I could move something, and then he will be more likely to believe Aiden.
“Bye, Mom … Yes, I love you, too,” Aiden growls at her before pulling the phone away from his face and forcefully tapping the screen. Then he stalks over to me and doesn’t stop until he’s standing directly over me, practically touching me.
“You just forced me into a Sunday dinner with my mother. She also wants me to bring my girlfriend since she’s now convinced I’m seeing someone.”
“I’m not sure how that is my fault. You were the one who brought up the steak—”
“I wouldn’t have brought anything up if I hadn’t been talking to her!”
“Sunday dinner doesn’t sound so bad.”
“She is expecting me to bring you along!”
“Well, I probably will be there…”
“Yes, but no one can see you! I don’t have time to catch up with family, Thea. I’m a fucking busy detective with people whose lives depend on me. What if this asshole strikes again while I’m eating and too busy being interrogated by my mother?”
I stare down at my hands, unsure what exactly I’m supposed to say to that. I’m being nosy—I know that—but I sort of want to meet Aiden’s family.
Am I trying to delay him solving the case? Am I afraid of what happens to me when I do eventually leave here for good?
Will the next victim, if there is one, be partly my fault, too?
“You’re right. I’m sorry.”
“Well, there is no way I can get out of this now. Just stay out of my business. My family is mine, and it has nothing to do with you.”
“Okay, I’m—”
“I’m stretched thin, Thea. I just finished a case the day I got put on your murder. I got five fucking hours to breathe. Now I’ve got a murderer who beat you and possibly raped you, too, not to mention a missing woman who is also probably dead,” he rants at me.
I feel ill at the reminder, which I did not need, of what happened to me prior to my death. However, since I’m still having trouble understanding and processing that, I skim over it and land straight on what Aiden said afterwards.
“What missing woman? You’re working another case along with mine?”
Aiden’s hands rest on his hips for a mount, and after a heavy sigh, his anger is replaced with a wince.
“Listen, I’m really tired. I’ll fill you in tomorrow, okay?”
“No, I want to know now.” I don’t look away. I don’t step back. I hold my ground until he finally caves.
“The security footage turned up nothing. I only got through half of it, so I’ll finish it off tomorrow.”
“Is that all?” I wonder why he would be hesitant to tell me that now and rather wait for tomorrow.
“Well…” He sighs, his voice sounding a little quieter. “Hargrove’s girlfriend Audrey Hines is missing. I found a missing person’s report filed on her from three months ago.”
“What?” I gasp, feeling faint all of a sudden. Can a ghost faint?
“I’m sorry. I know that sucks to hear. I’m going to call her parents who were the ones who reported her missing tomorrow, and I’m going to need to talk to Hargrove again.”
“He … he killed someone else? I … I should have…” I really do feel faint.
Aiden grabs my arm and drags me over to the dining table and sits me down in the chair he vacated earlier. “You couldn’t have known what was going to happen. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“But I … I knew what he was like, and…” I close my mouth, feeling ill now. Is it possible for me to throw up when I don’t know if I even have food in my stomach?
“Did you know he was a murderer? You said he never laid a finger on you. Are you telling me now that he did physically abuse you?”
“He never hit me.” I shake my head, the fog slowly allowing Aiden’s words to come through.
“So, then what were you going to warn her of, that he was a controlling jerk? She wouldn’t have listened to his ex-girlfriend telling her that. There is nothing you could have done. You need to let this go. I’m tired. I’m going to crash now, okay?”
I nod, still feeling dazed. Even though I heard Aiden’s words, guilt swells up inside me.
Could I have helped her? Could I have made her realize what a calculating and scary guy Nate can be? Could I have even been someone she could have called upon if she needed help? She would have known I knew what she was going through. She would have had someone to talk to.
I think Aiden says something else to me, but I don’t hear him. His words fade as my mind focuses inward. I wallow in my guilt and anger for what feels like only minutes, but when I eventually become aware again, I see the sun shining through the kitchen window and find it is already early morning.
Remaining unsure of myself, I slowly move about to prepare Aiden his breakfast. I get him what I now consider his usual—eggs, bacon, toast, and coffee—and then make him a ham sandwich for later. I’m not sure if he bothered to eat lunch yesterday, since I disappeared for most of the day.
I take the plate and coffee upstairs, walking into Aiden’s room and finding the blinds are already up, but Aiden is still soundly asleep on his bed. He must have forgotten to pull them down yesterday.
His bed sheets are in a messy pile on the ground, and he’s facing downwards on his mattress, spread out diagonally so he takes up as much room as possible. Given his lack of a T-shirt, his back is naked, and his sweatpants have been pulled low, so I have a view of the top part of his ass.
I hate that I do this, but I pause midstride to notice how nice of an ass Aiden has. And his back isn’t bad, either. His skin looks smooth and toned, his color a delicious tan. I can only assume it is natural given the fact that Aiden doesn’t appear to do anything social that would maintain such a tan, and there is no tan line along his butt.
I can’t help feeling bombarded by Aiden’s scent being in here. I haven’t noticed it before, but in here, the smell of soap, coffee, and man feels more present, more intense, and not in a good way. It can never be considered good that I feel attracted to Aiden or, as I need to rememb
er him, Detective Douchebag! What is wrong with me?
“Are you still in here?” Aiden’s voice rumbles through the pillow. He turns slightly, his one visible eye squinting my way.
“Yes…” I sound meek as I look away from him to try to get my wits about me.
“Well, can you leave?”
“Sorry. I just brought up your breakfast,” I explain quickly, hoping he doesn’t think I came up here just to stare at him. That would be a disaster. The last thing I need him to think is that I’m some love-sick weirdo who is haunting him!
“I appreciate that, but unless you want to see me sporting some morning wood, you’d better leave.”
I redden at his blunt honesty, quickly turn around, and leave. I can maybe forgive myself for ogling his back, since he couldn’t possibly see that mishap, but I would be forever embarrassed if I was caught staring at his morning erection!
I make it just out the doorway when I realize I’m still holding his plate of food and coffee. I quickly backtrack, refusing to even look his way as I leave them on his bedside table, almost running back out again.
I need to focus.
I move into the living room and spot Aiden’s laptop on his desk, with files spread out to overrun half the space.
I take a look over the scattered papers, hoping to get mind away from where my thoughts were attempting to take me. I do not want to be thinking about Aiden that way. He’s the detective working my murder case, nothing more. Besides, I’m a ghost. Not only can nothing ever happen between us, it wouldn’t matter, anyway. I’m merely an annoying, impossible ghost who is terrorizing his life and making him question his own sanity. As soon as we find proof and arrest Nate, I will disappear forever; as a result, there is no point letting my mind wander anywhere else.
“Do you mind? Some of that stuff is confidential.” Aiden’s voice makes me jump in surprise.
I glance over at him, thankful he is fully dressed with his usual frown in full force. It’s easier to be annoyed with him when he looks at me like I’m a nuisance.
“Who exactly am I going to tell? You’re the only person who can see me,” I point out.
He grunts, taking his now empty plate and coffee to the sink where he spots the already wrapped sandwich I made for him. “What’s this?”
“It’s your lunch. So, what exactly are we doing today?”
His eyes remain narrowed on the sandwich for a few seconds, slowly moving to the empty plate sitting in the sink.
“What?”
He shakes his head, grabbing the sandwich and keys from the bench.
“I need to phone Audrey Hines’s parents to find out from them exactly what happened and what they know about Hargrove. Then I’ll need to talk to him to find out exactly what hotel she was supposedly staying at. I’ll probably bring him into the station for a formal interview, and with any luck, he’ll cave and admit to not only what happened to Audrey, but also to your murder. Case solved.”
“Will it really be that easy?” My mouth drops open in shock.
Could this really be solved today? Was this my last breakfast? I need to see Flynn one last time before I disappear.
Aiden snorts as he locks his house behind me and moves towards his car. “No, it’s never that easy. Besides, do you really believe Hargrove is going to admit to anything without some serious evidence against him? But maybe I can get him to slip up. Maybe I can find something that leads to more evidence against him.”
I nod, understanding what he is hoping for. If only it could be that simple.
I might have mixed feelings about disappearing and returning to where I saw Santa, but there is definitely something I don’t want.
I don’t want Nate to kill more women. If we can stop him, we have to.
No matter what.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Aiden
I’m sitting at my desk, which is overflowing with files, trying to ignore Thea, who is standing in front of my desk and eyeing the mess with a critical eye. I know she’s only a second away from nagging me to tidy up. In fact, I’m rather impressed she’s been able to keep her mouth shut this long. Four times, I have seen her open her mouth, ready to talk, but then she closes it without saying a word. If she hasn’t been staring at the mess, she’s been watching everything surrounding us like she’s looking for the meaning of life to be hidden somewhere. She’s avoiding my eyes, and I have felt uneasiness pouring from her since this morning.
I heard her enter my room with my breakfast. Although, if her feet hadn’t made the floorboards squeak, my stomach would have woken me up. I’m almost positive she’s trying to fatten me up. Breakfast used to be a luxury for me, one that never tasted so good. Add in the full plate of dinner I’m having every night, and I’m not sure I have eaten so well since before I moved out of my mom’s home.
It’s almost nice to have someone cooking for me, someone who is concerned about how much I’m eating. I mean, she freaking packed me a lunch!
It makes me feel like more of an ass for being hard on her.
Since our arrival at Headquarters, I have made a bunch of phone calls that have gone mostly unanswered. I called Audrey’s parents twice, but they didn’t answer. I called the precinct in Phoenix where her missing person’s report came out of, trying to find the officer who filed the report. I got zip out of that, too.
So far, it has been a frustrating day.
I grab the remaining DVDs on my desk, shoving some more folders to the side as I do, and pile them into a box. I don’t want to talk to Hargrove again until I have spoken to Audrey’s parents. So, while I wait, I might as well finish going over the surveillance footage from the area.
“Can’t you just…?” Thea’s voice drifts off. She appears annoyed, although this time, it seems inwardly annoyed, which is a nice change from her being frustrated with me.
“Can’t I just what?” I ask quietly, aware that there are a few guys at the desks near me.
“It’s just…” Her eyes shift downwards until she’s only staring at the table. “You’re just going to leave it like that?”
“Like what?”
“In this state? How can you even get any work done in this? I’ve had some messy kids in my class, but I think you might be the worst I’ve seen.”
“Me? Have you looked around this place?” I indicate to the desk next to me. Saloy’s desk is just a mountain of rubbish and paperwork. I think I have only seen him sitting at his desk twice this year. Not that it’s completely his fault. The guy works too damn hard to worry about cleaning up his desk.
I watch her hand twitch as her eyes land on his desk. “Do you think I could…?”
“Don’t even think about it. There are cameras here, and the last thing I need is for people to start seeing an invisible cleaning crew. We all have our organized messes, so leave it.”
She sighs, as if I’m asking a lot from her to keep her hands to herself, but before she either agrees with me or begins to protest, my phone rings.
It’s from an area code I don’t immediately recognize, so I quickly assume this will be regarding Audrey.
“Detective Mercer,” I greet, setting the box of surveillance down and grabbing a pen and scrap paper.
“Hi, Detective Mercer. This is Jane Hines, Audrey’s mother.”
“Hi, Mrs. Hines. Thank you for getting back to me.”
“I must say, I was surprised to hear your call. I have prayed every day that we would hear news about our baby girl, but months have passed, and we’ve had no news.”
I hear the desperation in her voice, and I know she’s praying for good news.
“I understand. I just had a few questions regarding the missing person’s report you filed.”
“Have you found her? Is she okay? Can I speak to her?”
“I’m sorry, ma’am. I haven’t found your daughter. I’m working on a case at the moment, and I came across a man I believe was connected to her. Have you heard the name Nate Hargrove?”
“Nate Har
grove? Of course, my daughter was working for him before she disappeared.”
“Were you aware they were dating?”
“Dating? Oh, no, that isn’t true. My daughter was very much single. In fact, just before her disappearance, we were speaking about setting her up with a lovely man at our church. She sounded excited.”
I carefully take in her words, recalling the photos of Audrey and Nate together at his house. They were definitely in a relationship, one that exceeded the boss-employee association. So, why was it kept from her parents?
“Did Audrey have any close friends back home I could maybe talk with to see if she called anyone before her disappearance?”
“No, she didn’t have any friends. We homeschooled her, and then she was able to do online courses for the university. We never wanted her to leave home, but she insisted. We tried to talk her out of it, tried to convince her that her home was with us. I mean, a woman moving out on her own without a husband is very unfamiliar to us. I never liked it, and I insisted she call me twice a day. She did without fail until she disappeared.
“When we travelled to her apartment, the manager said she had moved out three weeks earlier. I know my baby girl, detective, and there is no way she would have left there and not come home. I was getting through to her; I know it. She was beginning to doubt her choices. She was realizing she needed to be home. She was going to come home, and something happened to prevent that.”
I ask Audrey’s mother a few more questions, but ultimately, the phone call doesn’t give me much to go on. When I hang up, I realize I have Thea’s undivided attention. For the first time today, she’s not avoiding my eyes.
“Well? What did she say?”
“She believes her daughter was on her way home when she disappeared. She had no idea she was dating Hargrove. Perhaps, when she threatened to leave him, he killed her?” I suggest, feeling more frustrated. She’s been missing for months. Why would he kill her yet wait months to kill Thea? Why didn’t he hurt Thea when she left him?
“Then why wait so long to kill me? I haven’t had any contact with Nate for ages. There was no reason for him to suddenly come after me, was there?”
Haunted Love Page 9