Corpse Whisperer (3 page)

“Tell me about Ridge Oaks,” he said when they reached the apartment above the garage.

“What specifically?”

So he had done his homework. Her name appeared in the database since she’d initially been charged with murder. A shiver moved her spine when she thought about those days.

“Tell me about the murder of your boyfriend’s mother.”

Chapter Three

Zach dropped the box on the floor and leaned on the wall, his arms crossed. He waited as she collected herself. This could be a Pulitzer Prize winner. Or an Oscar-worthy performance. Either way he braced himself for a lie.

They all lied.

Grace placed one box on top of another then wiped her hands on her jeans. “I don’t really know anything about the murder.” Her voice came out scratchy and smooth all at once, like whiskey pouring over sandpaper.

His ears tingled with the vibrations of it.

She glanced at him then back down at her sneakered feet. Her pink tongue came out to lick her lips.

“I talked to the lead detective. He said you knew too much, but had an alibi. Sounds suspicious to me.”

Her gaze met his. She didn’t flinch when he hardened his. Her stress-tinged eyes didn’t blink. She had something to hide, every fiber of his being knew it. He disliked liars. They deserved their own circle of Hell in his book.

“I guess it would.”

“You’re not going to elaborate?”

She ran a hand through her white blond hair. His gaze traveled with it. He’d felt some weird static electricity when he’d shaken that hand. She’d even flirted with him. He couldn’t trust her.

It took balls to do that in front of his ex-wife.

Blowing out a breath, she sat on the couch, her one leg curled underneath her. “No, I don’t see that I have to. Dolores is satisfied with me.”

“Well, Dolores is not always a good judge of character.”

A chuckle erupted from Grace. “Guess that’s why you’re an ex and not a current husband.”

Her jab bounced off of him. “That’s not any of your business.”

“True.”

She stood, shook herself, and then strode towards him. “I have work to do and don’t have time for macho posturing. You know, ‘cave man protect woman’ kind of thing.”

He stopped her with his hand on her shoulder. She recoiled, her face scrunching at him, but her eyes met his. Her gaze steadier than her body. She tried to move out of reach.

“I’m watching you. Carefully. If you bring trouble to Dolores, you’ll have to answer to me.”

He let go and flexed his fingers which hummed as if he had touched a live wire.

She didn’t answer, but brushed past him and down the outside steps.

***

Grace’s anger hadn’t dissipated with all the physical labor of moving boxes into her apartment. Five trips up and down the steps.

Her leg muscles screamed at her, but she didn’t notice them.

She only remembered Zach’s touch. Her arm still burned from his fingertips. When she looked, she expected to see an impression of his hand.

“I’m just horny.”

She had gone longer than this without sex, but her thirtieth birthday hovered on the horizon. That age brought on greater sexual needs, didn’t it? She also knew her powers would change. Or she’d lose them, which appealed to her. “That must be it. My brain isn’t right.”

Shaking her head, she attempted to brush off whatever he’d left behind on her. A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts.

Dolores stood on the landing outside, with a plant and some takeout. She’d changed out of her work clothes and now sported stretchy pants and an oversized T-shirt, both the color of her blue eyes.

“You are a vision,” Grace said, her stomach rumbling.

Dolores cackled. “And I didn’t even freshen up my make up.”

“Come in,” Grace said taking the plant from her hands. “Is that food for me?”

“Us. I figured you’d be too busy to cook.”

“Thanks. I’m too busy to cook most days. I make reservations better than anyone. That, and microwave popcorn.”

Her landlady set the bag of food on the kitchen counter. Grace watched her for a moment. Like most people she did look better in life than in death. A vision of Dolores’ lifeless body flashed into Grace’s mind.

She couldn’t forget why she was here.

“Did Zach interrogate you?”

Grace shook off the macabre hallucination and smiled. “He tried. No light shining in my face, though.”

“That’ll be next time. I apologize for him. He’s a little overzealous.”

Dolores removed items from a bag while Grace searched for plates. “He’s a cop. He’s just that way, I’m sure.”

Her landlady stilled. “He isn’t a cop anymore.”

She said it as if there were more to the story, but her own sense of decorum held her back.

“No?”

“A PI, now. Still I wish he’d trust me more.”

“Is that why he’s the ex?”

Dolores laughed. “Guess you’re pretty straightforward about what you want. There’s more than one reason we aren’t married anymore.”

Grace bit her lip. “That was forward of me.” Why did she want to know? Not usually a gossip, her own question struck Grace as odd. She mulled over the idea that Zach had something to hide. That’s why he thought Grace also had a secret.

Well, she did, but not nearly as menacing a one as he thought.

Dolores waved her off, then set about putting Chinese food on the plates Grace had found. “That’s okay. I’m pretty much an open book. Unlike Zach who plays things close to the vest.”

“That can get tough.”

“True.”

Grace sat at her kitchen table and let herself be served. Dolores opened the bottle of diet soda and poured them each some.

“I probably should have made you something. Maybe on the weekend.”

“Dolores, I appreciate you thinking of me. I’d lost track of time.”

“I’ve lived in this town all my life. Can’t imagine living anywhere else. Zach was even my high school sweetheart. How’s that for clichéd?”

Grace laughed with Dolores. She found the woman easy to talk to. Even more reason she didn’t want her to die. She needed to live and raise this child growing inside of her.

Grace sighed and decided to ask more about Zach. He remained her only suspect at this point.

***

Zach pulled into Dolores’ driveway wondering why there were no lights on in the house. “Well, I can have another go at Miss Harmony.” Strangely, he looked forward to seeing her again.

As he ascended the steps, the ring of women’s laughter caught him by surprise. Grace’s door stood wide open to the warm, spring air. When he reached the top of the steps, Dolores and Grace were sitting on the couch.

He paused, eavesdropping on their conversation. About him. Dolores recounted how they met.

“I’m sure Miss Harmony has no interest in our personal life,” he said before she could go further.

The two women looked at him as if he were an alien. Grace sported a ponytail. Wisps of her light hair framed her face, bringing out her emerald green eyes.

Zach moved into the one room apartment, navigating around boxes. “I was looking for you.”

He sounded possessive and wanted to kick himself. The last thing he needed was to give Dolores the impression she had a shot with him.

had dinner together. If you want something, I can heat up some stew.”

“Just heat up the Chinese,” Grace suggested.

Her gaze hadn’t stayed on him long as if it pained her to see him. She hid something, some huge secret, and he hoped to God it wouldn’t blow up in his face.

“No, Grace, that’s for you.” Dolores stood. “I’ll get something for Zach. Won’t take a moment.”

“Lors, don’t get up. I didn’t come by for you to feed me. I’m not hungry anyway.” He raked a hand through his hair.
This was not working out
. “I just wanted to talk to Miss Harmony.”

Dolores looked at him then back to Grace. “I think you’ve interrogated her enough.”

“I didn’t interrogate her.”

“I know you Zachary Holten. You have no soft touch when it comes to your job. Let her be. In fact, I’m going to leave her to her unpacking now that I’ve fed her.”

She leaned against the cracked counter that desperately need replacing. Now that he knew a child would grow up in this place, he looked at it with new eyes. The house remained shabby. He’d have to do some renovation before the baby came.

“Right. Not since I walked out. I’ve heard this before. And I’m supposed to argue that you forced me out by sleeping with my partner. Yada, yada. I’m not being baited into an argument. Dolores.”

He folded his frame to sit on the old chair in her old kitchen. Some of the appliances were still in Harvest Gold. Once they were flush with cash and could have bought new ones, but his pride hadn’t let her spend her money.

She stiffened for a moment. “Yes, I am, but you don’t get a say. Not on this issue. She’s all alone and I’m not getting rid of her.”

“She isn’t a stray kitten.”

“I think she is.”

Frustration ate at the edges of his sanity. Something about Grace Harmony exuded danger. She held herself as if she had no idea the depth of her beauty. That alone could make him wary, but his ex-cop instincts told him he’d have to look deeper.

Grace lay in her new bed in her new apartment and couldn’t sleep. Her curt conversation with Zach still had her blood boiling. Dolores had turned her queries about him into a trip down memory lane.

She hadn’t found out their relationship. He was key somehow. She didn’t feel it in her bones, but, as a suspect, he made the most sense.

Shrugging off the sheet, she climbed out of bed. The moon shone in making the room seem to be lit by some surreal daytime. One of her windows looked down on the neighbor’s property. No one stirred.

She crossed to the window facing her landlord’s house. No lights. A movement caught her eye. A man stood at the end of the driveway. She stepped back since she didn’t have on a stitch of clothing.

When she looked again, he’d moved down the driveway as if he owned the place. He didn’t look like Zach, but she didn’t really know him well enough to say.

With a speed she didn’t know she possessed, Grace jumped into her discarded clothing. She flew out the door before she could change her mind. Halfway down the steps, she realized she had no weapon. Instead of turning around, her anger at Zach moved her faster.

The man disappeared before she reached the driveway. Tiptoeing, she circled the house. A dog three doors down barked. Then she heard a car start then drive away.

Her heart pounded in her chest as she caught her breath. “I left my door open,” she said to the nighttime.

No place to hide in her apartment, so she went back in confident that the intruder disappeared. At least adrenaline had exhausted her enough to sleep.

She fell into slumber, fully clothed.

***

Too early in the morning for his tastes, Zach walked around, coffee cup in hand, and surveyed the remains of an apartment. The appliances were black. The acrid smell of smoke wrinkled his nose. He should be used to it by now, but the scent meant death to him. Not in this case.

“Madame Zola was right.”

The firefighters ignored him. He usually talked to himself during an arson investigation. Despite not being here in an official capacity, the detectives from the Centre County Prosecutor’s office let him on scene. Most knew that he’d been the best.