14 Christmas Spirit (4 page)

There was nothing in the report from Megan's parents.  Just their names and address in Cider Hill.  Darcy had to wonder what that might mean…

"Ready?" Jon asked her, back from his private meeting.  Joe wasn't with him.

Darcy hadn't heard him coming.  Looking up at him now, she saw tension around the corners of his eyes, saw the slight downturn of his mouth.  He was thinking hard about something, and it didn't look very pleasant, whatever it was.

"Jon?  What's the matter?" she asked, standing up with him.

He drew in a breath, then let it sigh out slowly through his nose as he shook his head.  "I'll tell you later, okay?  Not here."

"Um, sure," she said, wondering what in the world the Chief could have told him to get him like this.  "Sure.  Neilson Daye first?"

That brought at least a little bit of a smile back to his face.  "Yes.  Mystery first.  Then I promise I'll tell you all about it."

He went over to where Shane and Blake were still working at the computer and Darcy listened as he laid out for the two uniformed officers what they were going to do.  They both nodded, asking a few questions as Jon gave them the details they needed.

Beside her on Jon's desk, the phone rang.

The black plastic phone had several buttons, each with a specific designation written next to them.  The line that was ringing was an outside line.

Jon looked over absently and she could see him deciding whether or not to answer it.  This was his day off, after all, and he was about to go interview a possible suspect in a missing person case.  Even so, there was a very good reason to answer the call.

"It could be Blair Clinton," Darcy pointed out.  "Or Megan's parents."

He nodded, although he didn't look happy about it, and came back over to pick up the phone on its sixth ring, just before it would have switched through to his voicemail.  "Detective Jon Tinker," he said into the receiver.

He never spoke a word.  He just held the phone to his ear for maybe half a minute, then handed the phone to Darcy.  "She wants to talk to you."

Darcy blinked at him, confused.  Who would call Jon at the police station and then ask for her?  Who would even think to do something like that, let alone have any reason to talk to her here?  Well, Grace, sure, but from the look on Jon's face it was easy to tell it wasn't Darcy's sister on the phone.

His look told her it was someone else.

She took the handset at Jon's insistence and held it up to her ear.  There had been a few ghosts who had contacted her by way of telephone.  It was why she never carried a cell phone with her anymore.  The spirits always seemed to get her new number no matter how many times she changed it out…

"Hey there, Darcy.  Long time.  Miss me?"

Not a ghost.  She sort of wished it had been.  That might have been less complicated than a phonecall from JoEllen Meyers, killer for hire.

***

"I can not believe that woman is back in town," was Jon's immediate comment.

Outside in his car with the doors closed and no one to hear them he was a lot more colorful about it.  Waiting for Shane and Blake to load up their car, Darcy got to hear exactly what Jon thought about JoEllen and just how happy he wasn't to hear she had come to Misty Hollow.

After a minute or two, gripping the steering wheel tightly, Jon stared straight ahead down Main Street.  Darcy could tell he was waiting for her to say something.  "She isn't going to be a problem, Jon."

"Of course she's going to be a problem," he muttered.  "The woman is nothing but trouble."

"She's not our enemy, Jon."

"She's a wanted fugitive."

"Well, besides that."

He looked at her from the corner of his eye.

"You know what I mean," Darcy told him.  "She helped us out before, if you remember.  And we helped her.  I thought we kind of left on friendly terms."

He sighed heavily.  "It's just bad timing, is all."

"Well, sure.  We've got this investigation going on now."

"It's more than that."

The black and white patrol car that Shane and Blake were driving came around the corner from the back of the police station before Darcy could ask what Jon meant by that.  He put their car in gear to take the lead as they headed to Neilson Daye's address.  He didn't say anything else for a while.

Darcy let him stew, hoping whatever knot he was working through would work loose on its own.  Neither of them could have foreseen JoEllen showing back up now, here in Misty Hollow.  Darcy had figured they might never see the woman again after the events at Bear Ridge.  Now she was here, with her son, and she wanted to meet with Darcy.  There was something she needed Darcy's help with.  Oh, and Jon's too, she had added, the twist in her words letting Darcy know she was smiling as she said it.

She hadn't told Jon that part yet.  She wasn't looking forward to his reaction.  Police officers and hired killers didn't exactly run in the same circles.

"You do remember how JoEllen told us she was getting out of the business, right?" Darcy asked Jon.  "That she wasn't going to be a hired killer anymore?"

"Well, good for her," Jon said, sarcastically.  "I'm so happy that she's had the chance to walk away from all the lives she's ended and all the crimes she's committed."

"She's trying to make up for all that.  She's not a bad person, Jon.  You know that as well as I do.  She saved our lives."

"I know, I know," he said, more gently.  "But she is still wanted and there are warrants attached to her name.  Some are from agencies close enough that I'd have to honor them if anyone knew she was around.  She's not going to just be able to walk away from what she's done with her life.  I don't want her bringing that to Misty Hollow.  Not now.  Maybe after the start of the year."

"What?"  Darcy was confused.  "What does that mean?"

Jon took one final turn, the patrol car following them closely behind.  The green street sign read Birch Lane.  Neilson's street.  "Look.  I know JoEllen's not evil or anything, Darcy, and I know she's tried to turn her life around.  I'm all for that and I'll be happy to help her.  Just not now.  That's Neilson's building.  We're here."

Darcy knew there was a lot more that he wasn't telling her but she also knew things were unfolding fast now with the mystery of Megan Bortchowski.  One thing at a time.  Smiling at Jon and leaning over to give him a quick kiss on his cheek, she nodded.  "Okay.  Let's focus on this for now.  We can talk about everything else later."

He managed to look honestly relieved.  "Thanks.  Remember, stay behind me, and don't trust this guy."

They went up the crumbling cement steps of the building and through the front door into a hallway that smelled of stale beer.  Most of the lights in the ceiling weren't working and everything was dark.  To their right, a stairway led up, cluttered with crumpled newspaper pages and discarded pieces of clothing.

"Nice place," Shane remarked.

"It's not the Waldorf Astoria, that's for sure," Jon said.  "We want apartment 2F.  Second floor.  Shane, Blake, I'll do the knocking.  As soon as he answers, we're going in.  Got it?"

"We got a search warrant, Detective?" Blake asked, with that slurred accent of his.

"Nope," Jon said.  "We're winging it."

"What if he says no?"

Jon stopped at the bottom of the stairway.  Blake was a young officer, only a year or so into his career, and Darcy didn't know all that much about him.  He wasn't from Misty Hollow originally, she knew that.  He was stocky and his arms and chest stretched his uniform shirt tight.  Blonde hair that was trimmed down short to his head gave him the look of a military drill sergeant, but Darcy could read the uncertainty in his eyes.  He was looking for direction every step of the way.

"Look, Officer Cipes," Jon said to Blake in a polite but strained way.  "I don't have time to give you an explanation for every little thing I ask you to do.  We're going to go up to the apartment and knock.  We're going to go into the apartment.  There are exigent circumstances here that will allow our entry.  After that, just follow my lead, okay?"

Blake still looked uncertain, and his jaw tightened, but he nodded and didn't make any further comment.

Jon had always been a leader at the police department.  In the short time that he'd been there the other officers had learned to look up to him and ask him for advice.  He actually had experience from other police departments, a long career where he'd seen a lot.  Most of his worst cases had been right here in Misty Hollow, but still.  Darcy had always admired the way he could take charge and encourage the other men and women police officers to do their jobs better.

He turned to her now, and winked, and then they were headed up the stairs to the second floor and apartment 2F.

The second floor wasn't any nicer than the first.  A window at the far end let in the daylight from outside, highlighting a faded brown carpet stained in several spots and wallpaper that was peeling at the seams.  The apartments all had black and white stick-on decals to show their numbers.  2A, 2B, all the way up to 2F at the far end away from the stairs.

"Are there elevators?" Shane asked.  His last name suddenly popped into Darcy's mind.  Shane Wagner.  He was a cousin to one of the members of Darcy's book club.  He was slimmer than Blake and he cut an attractive figure in that uniform.  Kind of a young Christian Slater.

"No elevators," Jon answered him.  "The stairs are the only way up or down unless our guy wants to drop out of a two-story window.  I doubt he'll try for that.  Once we've got him in the apartment there's nowhere for him to go."

"Got it," Shane said, positioning himself to one side of apartment 2F's door and reaching out to knock.  Jon and Blake stood on this side, and Darcy stood behind them a little further.

This was cop stuff.  She knew to stay out of the way until the boys were done with their fun.

Shane had to knock a second time, harder, before a man's voice called out from inside the apartment.  "Hold on!  Just hold on!"

Jon nodded to Shane, and Darcy saw all three men tense.  As soon as the knob turned Shane pushed hard against the door with his shoulder and forced it open wide.  A small metallic sound might have been a cheap security chain breaking.  Then Jon and Blake were through the door too, and Darcy could hear the commotion from out in the hallway.

"What do you think you're doing?" the same man said, his voice now strained and angry.

"Are you Neilson Daye?"  Jon's voice.

"Of course I am!  Who else would be in my apartment!"

"That's what we're here to find out.  My name is Detective Jon Tinker.  We need to ask you some questions about your ex-girlfriend Megan Bortchowski."

Since there wasn't any sounds of furniture crashing or people being thrown into walls, Darcy figured it was safe to go in now.  She stepped into the dinky apartment's cramped living room to find Shane, Blake, and Jon standing in a semi-circle around Neilson Daye.

He was tall and too thin, his flesh sunken in at his cheeks and around his eyes.  His greasy black hair stuck out from his scalp at odd angles.  Three earrings pierced his right ear, four in his left, and one small silver ring was stuck into the corner of his lower lip.  The gray jogging pants and white t-shirt he wore were both dirty and Darcy got the impression that Neilson had been wearing them for days on end.

This man certainly didn't look like a threat, but could he have been Megan's kidnapper?

Maybe even her killer?

She could see from Jon's expression that he had made the same conclusion.  "Mister Daye," he said, "we're looking for Megan, as you know.  My Chief tried to have a conversation with you about this and you hung up on him."

"So?" Neilson protested, folding his arms across his chest.  "No law says I have to talk to you pigs."

Shane shifted his weight subtly, his expression tightening.  Jon didn't show any reaction to the insult.  He waited a beat, and then went on talking as if Neilson hadn't said anything.  "Have you seen her?"

"Seen who?" Neilson barked.

"Have you seen Megan," Jon clarified.

"No.  I haven't."  The answer was a little too quick, in Darcy's judgment, and he looked down at the floor as he said it.

"Are you sure?" Jon asked, looking around the room now.

"I already told your Chief that I haven't seen her," Neilson said in a huff.  "I don't want to, either.  That witch left me.  You know who she left me for?"

"A woman," Jon said calmly, his eyes on an open door at the far corner of the room.  "That must have stung.  Your girlfriend leaves you for someone, and it's not even another guy?"

"Well, how would you feel, man?" Neilson demanded.  "Far as I'm concerned Megan can stay buried under whatever rock she crawled under."

That brought Jon's gaze back to him.  Darcy suppressed a gasp.  Had Neilson just confessed?

"That's an interesting way of putting it," Jon told him.  "Do you think that's what happened to her?"

Neilson shifted his weight to his other foot.  "I…don't know what you mean.  Megan just took a vacation or something.  She'll be back.  Maybe next Spring.  Why don't you guys come back and ask me your questions then?"

Blake took a step closer to Neilson, his hand on the grip of his gun.  "Don't be a smart guy!  The Detective asked you a question."

"Blake," Jon said, his voice warning the younger officer to keep quiet.  "I'm sure Mister Daye here is just confused.  It's a scary thing, having the police swarm into your apartment like this, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Neilson said weakly.  Then he cleared his throat and stood up straighter and glared at Jon.  "Yes, it is!  I want you guys out.  You hear me?  I want you out of my apartment!"

"Then show us around," Jon told him.

That stopped Neilson cold.  "What?"

"Show us around," Jon repeated.  "If you don't want us to keep coming here and asking you questions, then show us your apartment and prove that Megan wasn't here.  That way we don't have to come back here again.  We won't have to go to your neighbors and ask them a lot of questions.  I won't even have to go to your landlord and let them know that you're being investigated as part of a missing person case."

"But I didn't do anything!" Neilson protested, his hands flying wildly, making Shane and Blake step back defensively.  "I don't have any idea where Megan is!"

"Good."  Instead of stepping back, Jon took the last step in and stood face to face with Neilson.  "Then show us around your apartment."

That stopped Neilson cold.  Blinking, wide-eyed, he opened and closed his mouth a few times before he could speak.  "What?"

"Are you saying we can't look around the place?"

"I…no, uh, I mean…"

It wasn't exactly a yes, but Jon didn't wait for Neilson to say more.  "Blake, search the bedroom back there.  Shane, go through the kitchen and the bathroom.  Neilson, we're going to stay right where we are.  Right here."

There was a command in his voice that Neilson didn't dare contradict.  Once again Darcy marveled at the way he could take control of a situation with just his presence and his voice.  She smiled, as Blake and Shane began going through the few places in the apartment that could hide a person.  She loved Jon more every day.  In ways that continued to surprise her, he showed her what a good man he was.

Darcy and Jon knew that Megan was dead, but they couldn't very well tell Blake and Shane to look for a dead body because Megan's ghost had dropped in on them during movie night.  For now, Shane and Blake would have to treat this as just a missing person case.

Besides, it was still more than possible that Neilson had something to do with Megan's death.  He certainly had something to hide.  That much was obvious from the way his eyes kept flicking back and forth apprehensively while Shane and Blake made short work of their search.

So what didn't he want the police to find?

"Got it," Shane called out from the bathroom.

Jon looked over at Darcy quickly, nodding his head in that way that told her he wanted her to stay put.  Then he caught Neilson by his elbow and practically dragged the man to the tiny bathroom off the kitchen, through a green door beside the refrigerator.

"No, man," Neilson protested.  "It's not what you think, it's not what you think!"

In spite of Jon motioning for her to stay in the grimy livingroom, Darcy followed close on his heels, anxious to know if they had found Megan like her spirit had asked her to.  She wanted Megan to be able to find peace and not be tied to the world of the living anymore.  She steeled herself to see one more dead body.  She was prepared for that.

She wasn't prepared for what she saw.

Misty Hollow was a small town, full of small town problems and people who knew each other and knew everyone's secrets and their problems and all of their comings and goings.  Not much happened here.  Or at least, that was how the town looked.  If you weren't looking too closely.

In spite of the lazy appearance of her hometown, Darcy knew there were bad things that happened here.  Murder.  Kidnapping.

Drugs.

In the bathroom, laid out around the sink, were scales and plastic baggies with white powder in them, and thin glass tubes a few inches long with scorch marks around their tips.

Shane picked up one of the baggies of drugs.  "Looks like this is what our friend Nielson here didn't want us to find.  I guess he isn't our guy after all."

"I told you I don't know what you're talking about," Nielson protested.  "I don't know where Megan is!"

"Doesn't mean he's not involved," Blake whispered in Jon's ear so only Jon and Darcy could hear him.  "He's a drug dealer.  He could be Megan's killer.  Maybe she found out what Nielson here was into."

It made sense, Darcy supposed.  Nielson had been hiding this from everyone.  If Megan had found out, it definitely could have gone the way Blake was suggesting.  Nielson could be their killer.

There was something about all this that was nagging at her.  She twisted her aunt's ring on her finger, around and around, like she did whenever something worried her.  In the back of her mind, a thought was forming.  Something here was off.  What was it?  Did Nielson have something to do with Megan's death?

There was one way to find out.  Something only she could do.

Shane had pinned Nielson's arms behind his back as he protested that the drugs weren't his and he didn't know anything about Megan and they had no right to arrest him and on and on.  From his duty belt, Shane produced black metal handcuffs and fit them around both of the scrawny man's wrists.

Darcy stepped in closer and made sure Shane and Blake's attention was on the drugs, not her, as she let her hand brush against Nielson's, making it look like an accident.

Sometimes, when she touched someone, her abilities flooded her with images and memories that the person carried close to the surface of their mind.  Not always.  Sometimes it didn't work at all.  Sometimes it just happened.  Other times, like now, she had to concentrate and insert a little of her own life force to make it work.

But work it did.

Time stopped as a vision came to her.  This apartment.  Two days ago.  Maybe three.  Through Nielson's eyes she saw Megan sitting on the ratty green couch in the living room, sobbing uncontrollably, her shoulders shaking and her cheeks wet with tears.

"I'm sorry,"
Megan said, her long blonde hair falling forward to cover her striking brown eyes. 
"I shouldn't put this on you, Niel.  I just didn't know who else to turn to.  I couldn't trust Blair with this—"

The world around Darcy lurched forward again as Nielson pulled away from her with a start.  "Hey!  Don’t touch me.  Get off me!"

Shane and Blake both snapped their heads up, the close space of the bathroom making for a moment of uneasy tension until Jon pulled Nielson out, pretending to be the one the drug dealer had been talking to.  "Don't tell me what to do, Mister Daye.  You're under arrest.  Get used to being touched.  Shane, Blake, log all that stuff before we start collecting it."

"Jon," Darcy whispered to him as they stepped back into the living room, "Megan was here.  A few days ago."

Nielson overheard her.  "What?  How do you know that!"

"Well, for one thing," Jon told him, pushing him down on the couch, "you just told us."

Looking sheepish, Nielson slumped back against the torn cushions, his hands trapped behind him.  He was being arrested for a pretty serious drug crime, and he'd just let slip that a missing girl who just happened to be his ex-girlfriend had been in his apartment just days ago.  Not to mention his earlier comments about how he hated Megan for leaving him.

Nielson knew he was in serious trouble.  It was written all over his face.  Jon shifted his weight in a subtle way, and Darcy knew he was ready to pounce.

"Okay, Mister Daye.  Here's the way I see it.  You're already looking at prison.  The question is whether you want to go up for a long time, or a short time.  If you have information I need then I can talk to the District Attorney's office and tell them how helpful you were."

He bent closer from his waist, his smile predatory.  "And we both know you have information I need.  How about you save us some time and just give it to me?"

Nielson's face flushed a harsh red that made his complexion look even worse.  "Fine, Mister Super Cop.  You got me.  Megan was here.  On Wednesday.  Imagine my surprise when my ex knocks on my door crying hysterically and saying I'm the only one she can trust.  Like nothing had ever happened.  Ha!  That crazy little mixed up, no good—"

Jon snapped his fingers in front of Nielson's face.  "Focus for me, Mister Daye.  Why was Megan so upset?"

"She said she was in trouble.  Said someone was trying to ruin her life."

"Did she say who?"

Nielson shook his head, slumping down more.  "No, she didn't.  And I didn't ask, because I just didn't care.  I thought she'd come back to me.  I thought maybe she realized she'd made a mistake by taking up with a woman.  Nope.  Wrong again.  She flat out told me she was still in love with that Blair chick and she'd never come back to me.  That was when I kicked her out.  She can't just come in here and mess with my mind, man.  No chick's going to do that to me."