Down and Dirty (Bennett Dynasty Book 3)

by Kate Allenton

  The spirits make me crazy, especially when they catch on that I can see them. Getting rid of them isn’t easy.

  Brandon was a nice guy. Cute, attentive, and local, which was more than I could say for Keaton, but what Keaton offered, which couldn’t be reproduced, was the electricity between us.

  It took hours to complete all of the tests that Brandon ran on me. Blood, MRI, CT scans, you name it, and he ran the tests in an attempt to pinpoint what could be causing my blackouts. I knew the answer, but I didn’t think he’d believe me. Six o’clock came, and I was going nuts, debating on making a run for it, when I heard Brandon’s voice outside, along with another person’s.

  “Dad, I’ve never even met her. Why are you making me eat with her?”

  “Because I offered, and you need to check yourself, Reggie. Your mom would be disappointed you’re acting like this.”

  “If Mom were here, you wouldn’t be eating with a stranger.”

  I slid off of the bed and walked to the door, pulling it open. “Reggie, your dad and I are just friends, and I don’t know about you two, but eating hospital food isn’t on my bucket list.” I shivered. “If you make me, I might have to come back and haunt everyone in the hospital.”

  “You’re weird,” the teen said, stepping inside the room.

  “I get even weirder the longer you know me,” I said, shrugging at Brandon, who was trying to hide his grin.

  “So…” The teen glanced around the room. “What are you in for?”

  “Reggie, you don’t ask questions like that. It’s personal.”

  “Okay, so how long have you been seeing my dad?” he asked.

  Brandon had opened his mouth to say something when I patted his arm. “I’ve got this.”

  I took the bag from the kid and climbed up on my bed, pulling out containers. All three containers had burgers and fries. Thank God he hadn’t gone back to the fancy swanky restaurant he’d taken me to on our date.

  “I met your dad a few days ago when I almost broke my neck falling down a trash pile at the landfill when I found four dead bodies.”

  The teen’s mouth parted, and then he snapped it shut. “What are you? A cop?”

  I chuckled. “I’m a psychic.”

  The kid’s shoulders deflated, and he rolled his eyes while he sat with me on the bed and doctored up his burger.

  “Dad doesn’t believe in psychics,” Reggie said.

  “Reggie,” Brandon growled.

  “It’s true.” Reggie shrugged. “Every time I try to get him to go to one, he tells me no and not to waste my money.”

  “Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion,” I said as I stared at the female spirit standing in the room. She pointed at the hot sauce, and I picked it up. She pointed to Brandon, and I grinned.

  Always a wife and mother. Even in death, that bond doesn’t leave us.

  “Heads up, Doc,” I said and tossed him the hot sauce.

  He caught it, and his eyes widened. “How did you know I use hot sauce?”

  The easy answer would have been to tell him his dead wife told me, but I didn’t think he was ready to hear that…yet.

  “It was in the bag.” I shrugged. “I figured you had to have asked for it since it’s not a typical condiment they would have thrown in.”

  “Right,” he said. “Is there any other way to eat a burger?” He grinned and started doctoring up his dinner.

  “I’ve got to leave in ten minutes,” Reggie announced.

  “You got a hot date, or are you meeting friends?” I asked.

  “I’m going to the movies,” the kid said as his cheeks reddened.

  “We haven’t lived here long, and since it’s summer, Reggie hasn’t made any school friends yet.”

  “I’ve made friends,” Reggie growled. “And as a matter of fact, I’m meeting her at the movies.”

  “A her?” his dad asked.

  “Don’t embarrass the kid, Doc.” We bantered easily after that until Reggie left. I picked up the dinner trash.

  “Thanks for dinner.”

  “Anytime,” Brandon said.

  “So, you promised to let me go.”

  “We just met,” he said.

  I turned and smiled at him. “You promised to let me go home, but since you brought it up, Doc…”

  “You don’t feel a spark either, do you?” he asked.

  I shook my head. “Not a romantic spark, but you’re easy to talk to, and I like your kid. I was hoping we could be friends if you’re okay with that.”

  “Of course,” Brandon said.

  I plopped down on my bed and patted the spot in front of me. “So, give it to me straight, Doc. Am I dying?”

  He chuckled. “You aren’t dying,” he said. “I haven’t found a reason for your fainting spell other than the obvious previous concussion.”

  “Sweet, so then you’ll process me out and I can sleep in my own bed tonight.”

  “Of course. I’ll even give you a ride home,” he said as he rose from the bed. He’d leaned over to kiss my cheek just as the hospital door opened.

  Brandon turned toward the newcomers. Jimbo and Keaton stood in the doorway, both of their determined gazes pegged on me.

  “I’m fine, guys. Brandon was just about to process me out. You two can keep me company,” I said, trying to cut through some of the tension in the room.

  “Brandon?” Jimbo asked with a raised brow.

  “Dr. Myers,” I corrected.

  “Doctor Myers. I’m Detective Jimbo Jones, and this is Detective Keaton Daniels. We’re investigating Erin Adams’ murder, and we’d like to ask you some questions.”

  “Karlee’s sister?” I asked, meeting Keaton’s gaze.

  He nodded.

  I slowly slid off the bed. “Why?”

  “This doesn’t concern you, Faith,” Keaton said.

  “I’m his friend. Of course, it concerns me,” I growled.

  “Friends? You two looked cozier than friends,” Keaton said with a tilt of his head.

  I crossed my arms over my chest and narrowed my eyes.

  “Faith, he’s a person of interest in our investigation,” Jimbo said as if trying to defuse the situation.

  “Person of interest?” I asked, not buying it.

  “I’m sure I’ve never met Ms. Adam’s before,” Dr. Myers said.

  “Your fingerprints were found on some of Erin’s belongings,” Keaton said. “Do you really want to do this here, Doc?”

  Chapter 14

  “I have nothing to hide,” he said, sliding his hands into his pockets.

  Jimbo pulled out his phone and pulled up the driver’s license picture of Erin Adams, the woman we’d discovered in the cave. He turned it to show Brandon. “How do you know this woman?”

  Brandon took the phone, and his brows dipped. “I don’t know. She looks vaguely familiar. It’s possible I’ve treated her in the ER.” Brandon cleared his throat. “Maybe we should do this in my office.”

  I started to follow when Jimbo blocked my path in the hallway. “This is official police business, Faith, and you’re friendly with our suspect, so maybe you should sit this one out.”

  “He’s not a killer,” I said, resting my palm on Jimbo’s arm.

  “Then he has nothing to worry about,” Jimbo said, leading me back to my hospital room.

  “He promised to process me out and give me a lift home,” I said. “How long is this going to take?”

  “As long as it needs to,” Jimbo said. “I’ll have him make a call to process you out before we hit him with all of our questions. Then we’ll give you a lift home.”

  I nodded, only now wishing I’d gotten Reggie’s number in the event things turned worse. I might be one of only two friends that kid had in this town.

  I turned into my room and was about to shut the door when I heard two nurses talking in loud whispers.

  “That woman is dead. I saw it on the news.”

  “Do you think he killed her?”

  “
I don’t know, but they spent an awful lot of time in his office. He even canceled one of his appointments with the chief of staff. Whatever they were doing must have been important.”

  He did know her?

  I slowly closed the door to my room and picked up my clothes, changing in the bathroom. By the time I was cleared and ready to go home, I didn’t wait for them to take me. I called a cab and was waiting when an ambulance rolled in. Patricia smiled and nodded in passing while pushing a man inside who had an oxygen mask attached to his face.

  I was still waiting on the cab when Patricia came out. “You need a lift?”

  “I called a cab, but thanks.”

  Patricia grabbed a water bottle from her ambulance.

  “Is your shift over?”

  “No, my second shift is just starting. I’m waiting on Ben. He’s flirting with one of the nurses, Jill. She’s a nice girl, kind of quiet. They’d be good together if she ever gave him the time of day.”

  “Has he been trying long?”

  Patricia took a sip of her water. “They never stick. Most the time, the nurses get transferred to other departments and he doesn’t see them again unless he goes looking.”

  “What about you? Your spirit guides think your boyfriend pick isn’t the right one.”

  She shrugged. “They don’t know him like I do.”

  A cab pulled up and stopped. “I guess that’s me.” I stood. “Thanks for keeping me company and tell Ben I’m rooting for him.”

  She chuckled and waved as I slipped inside the cab and gave the driver my address.

  What had started out as a decent morning had turned into a tiring evening. Nina had called the rest of my clients to reschedule. I asked the cabbie to wait while running inside to grab my wallet and returning to pay him. He drove off before I headed back inside.

  “Honey, I’m home,” I called out as I leaned back against the doorframe. Veronica and Jared normally greeted me within minutes of hearing me walk in the door, and yet my house was eerily quiet.

  “Fine.” I sighed and shoved off the door. I’d made it to the second step before knocks sounded on my door.

  I pulled it open, expecting to find Keaton or Jimbo on my stoop, but nope. Elenore Bell from across the street was staring at me.

  “Hi,” I said.

  “Hi,” she said, holding out a covered dish. “I saw the ambulance earlier. I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

  “Thanks,” I said, inviting her in. I stared out the door and looked both ways as if looking to see if I was being pranked before I shut the door.

  “I got a concussion the other day, and I had another mishap today. I fainted again.”

  “The concussion was from the landfill, right?” Elenore asked as she walked farther into the house, peeking into my living room. She turned and gestured to the dish she’d shoved in my hands. “That’s a cheesecake with caramel drizzles. You like those, right?”

  I’d just thrown an empty container away. How had she known that unless she was snooping through my trash? “Sure, I do. Would you like a piece?”

  “Oh, no. I never touch the stuff.”

  I walked into the kitchen and put the plate on the counter. One more knife was added to the countertop, making me pause. “How about some coffee then?”

  “Oh no, I can’t impose,” she answered as her gaze touched everything in the kitchen.

  She was starting to freak me out a bit. “Is there something wrong, Elenore?”

  She sighed. “When you were gone, I thought I saw someone in your house.”

  My brows rose. “Did you notice any cars in the driveway?”

  “None but yours. It’s kind of my thing. I notice every small detail of everything. I can’t help it. My brother calls me Sherlock.”

  I should have asked what she was doing staring at my house, but I bit my tongue at that question and asked another, “What exactly did you see?”

  “A shadow in your living room and then a shadow in whatever room that is upstairs that faces the street. I’m not sure you should go up there alone.”

  Well, I wasn’t going to go check with my creepy neighbor. I wasn’t that girl from a horror flick.

  “How long ago did you see the shadow?” I asked.

  “An hour ago,” she answered.

  “You should have skipped the small talk and probably led with that,” I said, ushering her out onto my porch and onto my lawn. I stared up at the second-story window as if expecting someone to go waltzing by, but nothing happened. “I’m going to go check it out. If I’m not back in five minutes, call the police.”

  Turns out I was that stupid coed from a horror flick.

  Elenore nodded furiously and pulled a phone out of her pocket.

  Chapter 15

  Stepping inside the door, I grabbed my baseball bat from the umbrella holder and clutched it like I was going to swing for the fences. I eased around the bottom story of my home, checking each and every cranny before slowly climbing up the stairs. I put one foot in front of the other, straining my neck and opening my ears.

  Nothing.

  There were no sounds, no shadows that shouldn’t be there. I eased down the hall, checking the empty bedroom first before moving on to the one where Keaton had slept.

  The bed was made. The corners, tucked in military-style, made my lips twitch. I checked the bathroom and then moved to my partially shut door. I used the end of the bat to push it open further.

  Nothing was out of place.

  I jogged down the stairs and out the front door. “There’s no one inside.”

  “Did you check the creepy basement too?” she asked.

  My brows dipped. I hadn’t. But I wasn’t afraid of things that go bump in the dark. It was living people that scared the bejesus out of me.

  “Right.” I sighed and walked back inside, dragging the bat behind me. I tossed open my basement door. The smell of death and decay smacked me in the face and had me covering my nose as I slammed the door and slowly backed away. I almost tripped as I hurried outside, back onto my lawn.

  “You saw a ghost, didn’t you?” she asked. “That’s what my brother tells me that you do. You can see ghosts and talk to them.”

  I struggled to dial Jimbo’s number, my fat thumbs screwing up until the phone was ringing.

  “Jones,” he answered.

  “It’s Faith.” My words were a whisper.

  “Where are you, Faith? We went looking for you, and you’re not here.”

  “There’s something dead in my basement,” I said. “You need to come over here.”

  “What’s dead?” I could hear the hesitation in Jimbo’s voice.

  “Are you safe?” Keaton asked as though he’d taken Jimbo’s phone.

  “I’m on my lawn with a baseball bat,” I said. “And my neighbor.”

  “Stay put. You hear me?”

  I nodded as though he could hear me. “Yes.”

  I was met with a dial tone as I moved both Elenore and I out to the sidewalk, farther away. If we had to run, we could take off in any direction. “You might want to go inside, Elenore.”

  “Christopher would be mad if I left you out here and you got hurt.”

  Why did this woman even care? Was it morbid curiosity?

  “My best friend is a cop, and he’s on his way.”

  “I’ll tell them what I saw. I’m just sorry I didn’t see a face.”

  I clutched the baseball bat to my chest, unwilling to take my eyes off the house, scanning the windows, looking for any type of movement.

  Headlights blinded us as a car skidded around the corner. Blue and red flashes bounced off the brick homes. I wasn’t going to win neighbor of the year.

  Jimbo and Keaton hopped out of the car. Keaton held out his palm as if stopping us from following him. “Where?”

  “The basement,” I called out. “You can smell it when you open the door.”

  Christopher pulled into his driveway and got out without getting his books and papers lik
e he normally did. He walked over to where we stood. “El, is everything all right?”

  “You wanted me to make friends and venture out into the real world. This is me venturing.”

  “I’m sorry, Faith. My sister spends her life online. El, when I said make friends, it didn’t mean by getting them to call the cops.”

  “Don’t be hard on her. She probably saved my life.”

  “What?” he asked.

  “I saw someone in her house while she was at the hospital.”

  He raised a brow.

  “I passed out and fell again,” I said, asking his unanswered question.

  “And while she was gone, someone was inside. I saw them.”

  Christopher took her by the arm and moved her a couple steps away. “What did I tell you about spying on the neighbors?”

  “Be glad I did,” El said.

  “I’m sorry. Faith. Elenore watches all of those cop and forensic shows on TV. So, she’s like the unofficial neighborhood watch, but she’s the only participant. She believes everyone is a serial killer or thief.”

  Couldn’t knock the girl for that. “Why were you spying on me?”

  “She thought you were a druggie house the way strange people are coming and going from your home. She didn’t realize they were clients or relatives until I explained what you do.”

  Jimbo stepped out onto my porch and met my gaze. “Faith, can I see you a minute?”

  “Excuse me,” I said before jogging up onto the porch. I met Jimbo’s gaze. “Was it a dead body?”

  His face hardened. “Who has a key to your place?”

  “My family,” I said with a shrug. “And I keep one under the pot,” I said, holding my hand to my chest. “It’s a dead body, isn’t it?”

  Jimbo pulled his forensic gloves out of his pocket and used the tip to pick up the flower pot. “It’s missing.”

  “Sorry, I used it to get inside. I have it in my pocket.” Heat claimed my cheeks as I slipped it out and handed it to Jimbo.