Ghost On Duty (Destiny Bay Cozy Mysteries Book 2) (11 page)

And now, here I was, stuck in the car. I might not be able to find Roy at all, even if I tried. What was I going to do if he didn’t come back? He took the keys. I couldn’t hot-wire a car—did they still do things like that to cars? I didn’t know.
 

I looked at my cell.
No service
. Great. I couldn’t even call for help. I might end up here for the entire night. The best I could hope for was that Ginny Genera might come running through. Then we could run to town together, a regular marathon of our own.
 

The later it got, the more ominous the woods sounded. The owl was one thing. Now I was starting to think about vampires. Or mountain lions. Or men with rifles….

There. A loud bang. What was that? Was that a gunshot? I listened hard but I couldn’t hear anything else. By now, I was pretty sure it was a gunshot. I’d heard one earlier that day and this sure sounded like the same thing. My heart was pounding madly. What now? What if Roy had been hit? I had to go help him.

I wasn’t thinking about how in the world I was going to find him in the dark. That sort of thought was over now. I was in a cold panic. If Roy had been hit….

I got out of the car and started going in the direction he’d gone in. In no time at all, I couldn’t see the car any longer. I stopped, thinking I should mark my way somehow so that I could come back to it. But how was I going to do that in the dark?

I went a little further, pushing my way through branches that caught at my face, and then I began to see something looming through the night ahead. Whatever it was, I could use if for a marker. As I got closer, I realized it was Ned’s house. There were no lights on, but the white paint of the outer walls seemed to glow in the dark.
 

I stopped and listened hard. Nothing. I stood there for a moment, not sure what to do, and then the sound of a twig being snapped shot my heart practically out of my chest. I jumped behind a nearby tree and clung to the side away from where I’d heard the sound, and a few seconds later, a man came walking through.
 

I don’t know how I knew it wasn’t Roy, but I was sure of it. I stuck like glue to the side of the tree, holding my breath as he passed. I could just make out the fact that he was tall and broad-shouldered, and I could see the outline of the gun he was carrying, but I couldn’t have identified the man at all.

I waited, heart in my throat, grateful for the noise the man made walking through the underbrush, because if it weren’t for that, he would surely hear me gasping for breath. I stayed where I was until I couldn’t hear the man any longer. And then I turned toward where he’d come from and went in that direction, trying to step lightly, yet quickly, praying that I would find Roy safe and sound—somewhere.

I thought I heard something and I froze, looking around for someplace to hide. I was in a clearing. Should I make a run for it? Wouldn’t that make too much noise and draw whoever it was right to me? But what if it was Roy?

It was coming closer. No time for mulling this over—I headed for a stand of trees to the side of the clearing, slipping on leaves as I went. I reached the edge of the forest and ducked in among the trees, then stood very still, listening. Could it be Roy? Or someone else? There were definitely steps coming toward me, and I didn’t want to stick around to find out who it was. I turned and started deeper into the trees, but before I’d gone very far, I stumbled onto something long and thick and human that was in my way. I lost my balance and went sailing into the bushes. A body. It had to be.

“Oh!” I tried to stifle it, but the gasp came out, and the person I’d heard moving was still coming toward me. I scrambled, trying to get to my feet, as much to run from the body I’d found as the pursuer.
 

“Mele,” Roy called out, and the beam from a flashlight came right nearby. “Is that you?”

“Roy!” I nearly fainted from relief. “Oh Roy! Are you okay?”

And then he was there and I threw myself at him.
 

“Hey,” he said, pulling back to avoid me as though in pain. “No hugging. I got shot.”

“What?” I gasped and backed away. “Where? Who did it?”

He shook his head. “I didn’t see him. But he saw me. Luckily, not well enough to aim for the heart. He just grazed my arm. But it hurts like hell. And it’s bleeding like a son of a gun.” He leaned against a tree with his good arm. His left one was hanging a bit limply. He was trying to pull his shirtsleeve around the wound. “So, you okay?”

“Yes. I heard the shot. I…I couldn’t stick to the car after that. I had to come look for you.”

He smiled crookedly. “Yeah. Well, good thing you came along. I’m going to need some help.” He swayed and I jumped forward.
 

“Are you going to pass out?”

“I’m trying not to. But I will lean on you going back to the car.”

“No problem.” I stepped closer, ready to help him. “But…uh…”

I looked over at where the man was lying in the pile of leaves.
 

“What are we going to do about him?”

“Who?” He turned and looked and that was when he realized we had a body lying there. “What the hell?”

He went over and tried to go down on one knee, letting out a muffled curse of pain. I jumped in.
 

“Stop,” I said. “I’ll do that. You just tell me how to do it.”

I felt for a pulse, but I knew it was useless. From what I could see in the dim light from Roy’s flashlight, it looked like the same man who’d taken a shot at me earlier—wild dark hair, and a bloody hole in his forehead.

“I think he’s dead,” I said, looking up at Roy, feeling helpless. I mean—I hated the man for shooting at me, but I didn’t want him dead. For just a moment, I felt like being sick.
 

Roy was looking down at me strangely. “That’s number three,” he said softly, his eyes full of question.
 

I sighed and looked away. Something cold and hopeless was beginning to take root in my chest. “Yes, I guess it is.”

“Unless you have other dead bodies littering your past life that we don’t know about,” he added.
 

“No,” I said, loud and clear. “I never saw a dead person until I came to this town. I swear I didn’t bring this unique talent with me. It seems to have been assigned to me once I got here.”

Roy shook his head. “We’ll have to leave him here for now.” He took a deep, long breath. “I guess we’ll have to call in. The Captain isn’t going to like this.”

I glared at him. “He’s not the only one,” I muttered, but I went up and offered to help him to the car. I was tired. It had turned out to be an event packed day after all.

Chapter Twelve

Bebe was asleep when I got home and I decided telling her all about my adventures could wait until morning. Dante was sitting in the living room, looking sulky. I wondered if he was jealous of Roy, but that was just wacky thinking. I knew Roy was being taken care of with his gunshot wound and all. The police had their own medical resources. One of the other detectives had given me a ride home. We left the scene of the crime before Captain Stone got there, but I knew I would be in for it in the morning. Still, I could hardly wait to get into bed. My head hit the pillow and I was out like a light.
 

I stumbled out of bed at about eight and found Bebe sitting in the kitchen, drinking her first cup of coffee, looking tragic. When I started in on my tales from the night before, she glared at me.
 

“I already know all about it,” she said. “I’ve had three emails, four texts and two phone calls. News travels fast.” She shook her head, looking at me in something between horror and amazement. “You crazy kid,” she said, distressed. “You could have been killed.”

I nodded. “Yes, I wasn’t really expecting to get quite so completely involved in another murder,” I told her. “And I’m sorry. Really. I know this is embarrassing for you.”

She jumped out of her seat and came around to hug me tight. “That is not the point,” she said, her voice choked. “I can’t lose you. You’re all I’ve got these days. Don’t do anything like that again!”

“Okay,” I said meekly. “Now do you want to hear my side of what actually happened?”

She did. We talked for about half an hour and then I remembered I had something else to tell her.
 

“I saw your friend Gary at the Excelsior Hotel when I went to get the ballots,” I told her. “It looked to me like he was staying there. I thought he was supposedly camping in the wild.”

She gave me a look and shook her head. “Nope. He’s a big phony. I swear, every man I start to like turns out to be a phony. I think that must say something about my ability to judge character.”

I picked up the crumpled brochure on the counter and tried to flatten it. “Do you know anything about these?” I asked Bebe. “Do you know who’s handing them out?”

She gave it a look and her eyes widened. “I don’t know that, but I know I did see a stack of these in Gary’s backpack. Do you think he’s the one?”

I thought of him walking into the hotel lounge with Lance the night before. “Hmmm,” I said. “What if Gary was the developer or his agent? From what you know of him, would that be possible?”

Bebe thought for a minute, then nodded slowly. “Sure,” she said. “I wouldn’t be at all surprised.”

I frowned. “So why would he have been trying to fool us?”

She shook her head. “Maybe to get in with local people and find out what they were really thinking. Who knows?”

“So it’s over with you two?”

“Oh yeah.” She rolled her eyes. “I found his wedding ring in his glove compartment. That was my first big clue.”

“Oh Bebe.”

Poor Bebe. Everything seemed to go wrong for her lately. I felt for her, but we didn’t have time to talk any longer. She had to go out to the warehouse to check on some flower orders.
 

I watched her walk across the road to where the warehouses stood. I knew she was going to have to deal with Sherry, the gorgeous gal who seemed to have stolen Michael from her, and I felt a pang of sympathy.
 

And then I saw Roy’s car coming up the drive, only Roy wasn’t driving. There was a woman in the driver’s seat. I turned away and whispered, “Oh no.” But when he rang the front door bell, I answered as though I hadn’t noticed.

He stood there, his arm in a sling, the parrot in his huge cage in his other hand. He grinned at me.
 

“Meet Barnaby. Here he is. He’s ready to go. You’re sure now? You really want him?”

If you’d have asked me ten minutes before, I probably would have said, “You know, there’s just too much going on right now, I’m not sure I can handle a parrot in my life,” but now, looking at the magnificent bird, I was so excited I could hardly stand it.
 

“Yes. Yes!
 
I’m sure.”

I’d forgotten all about his lady friend. I was so delighted to have the bird, I was smiling at Roy, really happy. And then something moved in my outer peripheral vision, and I knew in a flash that it was her.

“Uh, I needed a ride,” he said, noticing my face.
 

I nodded. “Sure,” I said. “Well…” I reached out to take the cage, ready for Roy to go. He stopped me.

“I guess I’d better fill you in. Captain Stone has taken me off the case. He thinks I’m too close to you to be objective.”
 

I blinked at him. “How would he know anything about that?”

He shrugged. “People talk.”

I glanced out at the woman in his car. “Don’t worry about it. I don’t think we’re close at all.”

Something flashed in his gaze. “You may be right,” he said softly.
 

She was getting out of the car. I didn’t want to look at her, I didn’t want to meet her. I wanted to pretend she didn’t exist. So I just kept smiling and staring at Roy as he gave me instructions about the bird while I prayed that she’d get the hint.
 

No such luck. She came up and said, “Hi, I’m Janice Main. I’ve been hoping to get to meet you Mele.”

I had to look at her, but I squinted, as if she was too bright for my eyes, like the sun. And the way she was dressed, in a green sweatshirt covered with rhinestones forming a huge Christmas tree, made that practically plausible.

Roy looked at her sideways and muttered, “Another woman who can’t stay in a car when she’s told to.”

She ignored him, sticking out her hand. “I’m an old friend of Roy’s. I’ll be staying with him for awhile.”

I managed a smile at her and shook her hand. Her vibes were right out there in the open—she wanted him. And I wanted no part of this.
 

I’d just gone through something very much like this. A man I thought I loved—a guy who seemed to be marriage material and promised to love and cherish me forever suddenly told me he had to take his ex-wife in. There was also a kid involved. Of course, with the child and all, I could understand that he had ties he needed to keep whole, relationships he needed to maintain.
 

But the ex-wife staying overnight all the time was a forecast of trouble. Big Trouble. Things between us hadn’t gone far enough for me to think I needed to stick around and try to manage that trouble in any way. I didn’t need the hassle-or the heartbreak that was sure to be coming down the pike. I packed my things and headed north to my aunt’s place.
 

All this had just happened a few weeks before. And now Roy was playing the same tune? Ouch.

“Where shall I put this guy?” Roy asked, looking like he wanted to get this over with quickly.
 

I hesitated. I’d talked to Bebe about this and she wanted him out in back where she had an empty aviary. She’d kept birds in the past and she figured that would be the best place for him most of the time. That meant a walk around the house and into the back, and I just didn’t want that woman to come with us.
 

I explained, trying to be pleasant, and added, “Listen, would you like to go into the kitchen to wait?” I said. “Or look at a magazine in the living room? I do have a few things I need to discuss with Roy.” I smiled very wide.