Dead People (31 page)

“I will.”

Luke looked around for his shirt. There it was, on the chair. He took three steps and grabbed it, but it was wrinkled. He tossed it back onto the chair, hurried to the closet and grabbed another shirt.

“What about Erin?”

His shirt half on, Luke stopped. “She’s a kid.”

“A kid who’s been through a lot. C’mon, we both know quacks nowadays give out pills like candy. Her mom’s a junkie. What’s Erin on?”

“She’s not on a damn thing.” Luke balled his hands.

Joe gave him a scornful look. “What? You gonna hit me? I’m a ghost.”

“Shit.” Luke glared at the ghost, uncurled his fingers, then shoved his other arm into a sleeve and buttoned up. His hands didn’t shake but they weren’t as steady as they should be. And inside his chest, his heart thumped in triple time. “You sure Cassie was given something? How do you know?”

“The doctors took a sample from her stomach. I heard the nurses talking. Some hotshot lab intern was on duty and analyzed it already, trying to make points. It’s a common heart medicine.”

Luke pulled on his socks and put on his shoes. He grabbed his keys and wallet, ready to go, when he remembered one thing. Erin.

He sank onto the chair, sitting on his discarded shirt. He had to go to Cassie, but he couldn’t leave Erin. He glanced at the clock. It would be a good hour before the bus came for her.

Joe lounged just above the end of Luke’s bed, as if suspended in an invisible La-Z-boy chair. He grinned, looking too solid to be a ghost. “If you’re worried about Erin, I can take care of her.”

“Forget it.”

“She likes me. Better than she likes the blonde.”

“The blonde has one advantage over you.”

“Just one? I counted a few, but she’s more than a half century too young for me.”

“What about Cassie?”

“Cassie’s got an old soul.”

Luke ignored the “old soul” bullshit, sticking to what mattered. Cassie in the hospital. She mattered.

“How’d the overdose happen?”

“She was at a bar, with the motel owner.” Joe scowled and sat up. “I told her to stay away from him. I listened to the nurses gossip this morning. They said the game had just started when Cassie ran to the bathroom. One of the nurses wanted to bet that the overdose was put in her beer, but none of the others took her on.”

“What the hell was she doing with that phony?”

“That’s what I want to know.”

“You’re sure she’s okay? Are they going to let her out soon?”

“I was a cop in my previous life, not a quack. They said she’ll be all right. I suppose they’ll let her out soon.” He frowned and shook his head. “I’ve heard doctors don’t like to keep people in the hospitals anymore. I wonder what they want to keep instead. Orangutans?”

Luke lifted his head. There was something he could do for Cassie. “Do you know how to reach her parents? I want their phone number.”

Joe stared at him. “Man, you don’t want to do that. She won’t like it.”

“The number.” Luke wasn’t going to back down. Not from a ghost.

With a shrug, Joe rattled off numbers. “Don’t tell her where you got it,” he said as Luke jotted down the phone number on the notepad he kept by the bed in case he woke with song lyrics looping through his mind.

Ignoring Joe, Luke picked up his cell phone and punched in the numbers. It rang about six times before a man answered, his irritated voice too young to belong to Cassie’s father.

“This is Luke Rivers. Cassie Taylor is working for me. Is her father there?”

“Cassie? Now what did she do?”

Tension built in Luke’s head. He felt a flurry of motion. Glancing to the side, he saw Joe had vanished. “She’s in the hospital. Who is this?”

“Emerson Taylor. Cassie’s my half-sister. My parents aren’t home. You can tell me what’s going on, and I’ll pass it on to them.”

Luke hesitated. He didn’t like the way the half-brother’s voice had hardened when he said Cassie’s name or the way he said,
“Now what did she do?”
That wasn’t the way a concerned family member reacted to news of a hospitalized sister.

“I’d prefer to talk to your father. Is there another number where I can reach him?”

“Don’t play games with me. Is Cassie hurt?”

Was that concern in his voice? “Someone slipped her an overdose. She was kept overnight at the hospital. That’s Mercy Hospital in Bliss, Wisconsin. I’m not sure how she is. Supposedly, she’s all right.”

“Let me get this straight.” Emerson’s voice rose. “Someone
poisoned
her? What the hell did she do this time?”

“This time? Has this happened before?” Luke clasped the phone so tight his knuckles hurt.

“No one’s poisoned her that I know of, but she has a habit of rubbing people the wrong way. My half sister insists on living an alternative life style, and she has to expect things like this.”

“Your father—”

“Would’ve hung up on you already. My father warned her not to come to us if any problems occurred. My mother concurs. Cassie’s profession is a joke.”

Anger roared inside Luke’s head, red lights exploding. “Your sister needs help and one of you should get your selfish ass down here to help her.”

There was a silence on the other end. Luke wondered whether the rat had clicked off. He opened his mouth to shout out Emerson’s name, when the brother spoke with a clipped voice.

“You may as well know my mother dislikes Cassie. My father’s on a business trip, and I’m busy. Since you’re so concerned about Cassie getting help, you give it.” He hung up.

Luke slapped the cell phone on his nightstand. Someday soon he was going to write a song about Cassie’s family. He strode to the window and gazed at the dreary lake view.

He didn’t know a damn thing about taking care of another person. Look at the lousy job he was doing with Erin. She hated him. But Cassie... Someone had tried to kill her and except for Joe the ghost, he didn’t see anyone lining up to watch over her.

She was as alone as he was.

He leaned his forehead against the cool window and closed his eyes. The poisoning had to have something to do with the house or the ghost. First someone broke into her motel room. Now this.

The violence against her was escalating. Another attempt on her life might succeed.

Despite the chill of the window, sweat beaded his forehead. He lifted his head and stepped back. She’d been harmed because of the job he’d hired her to do. He needed to make sure the harm didn’t happen again. And there was only one way to do it.

She had to move in with him and Erin.

Chapter Forty

“You have a visitor,” the nurse said, her voice excited.

Lying in the hospital bed, Cassie raised her eyelids and looked at Erin’s worried face peering down at her. She smiled, even as she was aware of Luke standing behind Erin.

“Hey, Erin.” This time she sounded like a frog with a hangover. Her gaze flickered up and she dropped the smile. “Luke.”

“The nurse says you’re doing well,” Luke said.

The nurse was either a liar or a sadist. Cassie felt like a cartoon character flattened by a steamroller. “I’m fine.” She blinked at Erin. “Shouldn’t you be in school?”

Luke reached for Erin’s shoulder, but his hand stopped an inch away and pulled back. “I told her what happened to you.”

“You shouldn’t—”

“Erin would’ve heard about it on the bus.”

She gave a sliver of a nod—the slightest movement set off stabs of pain. Of course he’d told Erin before someone else did. Probably Erin had heard about most of her mother’s activities through tabloids, gossip shows and other kids at school.

“She insisted on coming. She wanted to make sure you were all right.”

Tears prickled Cassie’s eyes but she forced a smile. She hated being weak and pathetic. “I’m sleepy now but I’ll be back at your house talking to Isabel in no time.”

“You see, Erin.” Luke’s hand came down again, this time brushing her blonde wisps of hair before retreating. “She’ll be fine.”

Erin gazed up at him, her face not showing any expression, a duplicate of his.

“What did the Sheriff say?” Luke asked.

Cassie made a face. “The deputy in charge thinks someone played a joke on me.”

“A
joke
?” Luke’s shoulders seemed to broaden, his legs bracing, his neck shortening like a fighter. “Is the deputy a nut job?” He looked like he wanted to march over to the sheriff’s, grab someone by his badge, and toss him into the nearest toilet.

A wave of tiredness swept over Cassie. “The nurse told me there was a six-car accident with one semi hauling hazardous material on the highway this morning. Most of the deputies went there. I got the one who was left.”

“They sent you a leftover deputy?” A muscle in his cheek twitched.

She couldn’t handle anger now. The only thing she could handle was ten hours of nothingness. “I’m tired. Go away and let me sleep.”

A small cry caught Cassie’s attention.
Erin.
When she ordered Erin’s father to go away, in extension she’d ordered Erin to get out too.

“I wish
you
could stay all day, Erin” she said quickly, “but I’ll be sleeping. It would be boring.”

“That’s okay. I like being bored.”

Luke made a choking sound. Cassie’s heart twisted for him, but she kept her gaze on Erin’s tense face.

“I’d feel obligated to stay awake and entertain you. I’ll sleep better if you’re in school. All right?”

“Okay.” Erin gave Cassie a wobbly smile.

“How is school now that you’ve made friends with Diana?”

Erin looked down at her hands. “It’s...good.”
 

“Why the hesitation?”

Erin bit her lip and backed up. Cassie closed her eyes. She was pushing too hard. Right now she was too tired to analyze her own emotions much less Erin’s.

“We’ll let you sleep,” Luke said. “And don’t worry about taking care of yourself when you leave. You’re coming to our place.”

Cassie snapped her eyelids up, ignoring the avalanche of pain the small movement set off, like tiny buzz saws cutting at her nerve endings. “
What?
”

Luke pressed his hand on her shoulder, and only then did she realize she’d pushed up on her elbow.
 

“You need someone to take care of you. You shouldn’t be alone.”

“Are you nuts? There’s no way I’m staying at your house.”

“You damn well are, and I’ll tell you why.” He leaned over her, his eyebrows slashed together, his mouth scowling. “First, someone broke into your motel room. Second, someone poisoned you. Do you want to see if the third time’s lucky?”

“Just go away.”

“I think that’s quite enough.” The nurse stood in the doorway, her tone acid. “You’ll have to leave now.”

Luke straightened and nodded at Erin. “We better go.”

Erin remained staring down at Cassie. “I know you don’t want to stay because of my dad, but please come. I’ll take care of you. If you come, I promise I’ll be good.”

“The patient needs her rest. Do I need to ask you to leave again?”

“Erin, we have to go.”

Erin’s lower lip trembled. As she started to turn, Cassie saw the sparkle of tears in her eyes.

“I’ll come.” The words forced their way out of Cassie’s throat, out of her gut.

Erin’s lip stopped trembling, her eyes glowed. “Tonight? Will you come tonight?”

“I don’t...” Cassie looked at the nurse.

The nurse smiled like a pro. “It’s possible she’ll be released sometime today. The doctor will be doing his rounds this afternoon and he makes that decision.”

“Daddy, we need a bed for Cassie’s room.” Erin squeaked with pleasure, sounding like a normal ten-year-old talking to a father she cared for and trusted.

When Luke didn’t answer immediately, Cassie glanced at him. From his expression, it looked as if someone had kicked him in the stomach. Or maybe in the heart.

“We’ll go shopping,” he said, his voice husky.

“I won’t have to go to school?”

“I’ll drop you off
after
we go shopping. What do I know about picking out furniture for a lady’s bedroom?”

The smile Erin sent him could’ve lit up a blacked out auditorium.
 

Cassie closed her eyes to hide the tears welling up. Their footsteps headed toward the door.

“You don’t know much,” Erin said. “The stuff in my bedroom is awful.”

Their voices receded. As Cassie slipped off to sleep, her last conscious thought was wondering what she’d gotten herself into.

Trouble, she was sure. Trouble with a capital L.

Chapter Forty-one

Luke stalked into the corner office with the slatted widows and oak half paneling that belonged to the mid-twentieth century. Sheriff Uffingham glanced up from the papers on his desk, reminding Luke of a bassett hound with his sagging jowls and the dark circles under his eyes. A computer monitor to the sheriff’s left on his l-shaped desk glowed solid blue. By his scowl, it was evident he didn’t like interrupting his day to talk to a guitar player with a notorious past.