Nearly Departed (Spring Cleaning Mysteries) (18 page)

"
No more attacks on Miss Spring?"

"
Nope. Everything's fine."

"
You okay? You seem tense."

"
I'm fine." Smoke's response was so cold it raised goose bumps on my arm.

At least that
's what I thought until I realized Martin had joined me and was pointing in the direction of the foyer.

"
What?" I whispered.

He kept pointing. Then he started holding up his fingers to indicate numbers again.

"I don't understand," I whispered.

He kept flashing numbers.

"What don't you understand?" Smoke asked from behind me.

I closed my eyes and barely suppressed a groan. He
'd caught me talking to a ghost, which meant to him it appeared that I was talking to myself. I had no choice but to go on the offensive. "I don't understand why you won't help me."

"
I told you—"

"
You told me that you don't want to do anything that could endanger you getting your job back, but here's the thing I don't understand: I looked up your using excessive force case, and you know what I found."

His mouth compressed into a hard line.

"According to what I read, you took a plea deal and left the department. If you were so damn determined to keep your job, why did you do that?"

"
I was framed."

"
Then why not go to trial and prove your innocence? Prove your innocence, save your job. It seems pretty straightforward to me."

"
I couldn't." The strain in his voice revealed just how hard he was fighting to keep his anger in check.

"
Why not?"

"
I couldn't risk a trial."

"
Because you did it? Because you know you caused that man's death?" In hindsight I realized that badgering a guy who supposedly had a deadly temper wasn't the brightest of ideas.

"
Because I had more to lose than just the job!" he shouted.

I took a step back in case he decided to lash out physically too.

Something in his eyes dimmed as he watched my movement, and he hung his head as though he were ashamed of his reaction. He sucked in a deep breath, closed his eyes, and dragged his hand down his face. "Forget it," he said so quietly it scared me. "You're right. I'm just a selfish bastard with a bad temper."

He spun on his heel and left the room. A moment later the front door clicked closed.

"That went well," I said to Martin who'd watched the whole exchange.

The murderous look he gave me sent a chill down my spine.

"Hey, Crazy Lady, are you here?"

I didn
't answer at first. I'd been alone in the house for hours, ever since Smoke had stormed out, and Martin had thrown up his hands in disgust before disappearing. I'd liked being alone. It had made me much more efficient at getting the work I was getting paid to do, done.

Now Buck, stumbling around like a blind zombie, was trying to find me. I considered not answering him and staying really, really quiet since I really, really wasn
't pleased with having the Crazy Lady moniker bestowed on me.

"
Crazy Lady, come out, come out wherever you are?" Buck cajoled like I was a cat stuck in a tree.

"
What?"

Buck jumped, but to his credit, he didn
't fall through any walls this time. "Donny says you're trying to help us. Is that true?"

I sighed.
"I'm trying. I'm just not really good at it."

"
Could you do something for me?"

"
I can try. Can I ask you something first?"

"
Sure." He took tiny faltering steps in the direction of my voice as we spoke.

"
Did Martin kill you?"

That stopped him in his tracks.
"Of course not. Why would you think that?"

"
It's what the police think. Do you know who killed you?"

He shook his head slowly.
"I've been trying to remember, but I can't."

"
What's the last thing you remember doing?"

"
I was watching
The Princess Bride
."

I nodded to encourage him, forgetting that he couldn
't see me. "Did anything unusual happen? Was there someone else in the house?"

"
No. It was just the two of us."

"
Two of you?"

"
Me and Donny."

"
Okay, go on," Maybe Martin had come home and killed his two roommates after all.

"
Donny made popcorn."

I
'd found some of that, soaked with blood, in one of the bedrooms.

"
We had popcorn and Lucky Beer and watched the movie. That's it. That's all I remember."

"
Were you watching upstairs or down?"

"
In Donny's room. He has a bigger screen than me."

"
And that's all you remember?"

He nodded.

"Okay, what's the thing you wanted me to do for you?"

He bowed his head and shuffled his feet.
"It's kind of embarrassing."

I bit my tongue to keep from telling him I
'd already sifted through the porn collection he had hidden under his dresser when I'd cleaned his bedroom.

"
I need this girl…Lily Adams…"

"
I really don't think I can bring you a girl, Buck," I said gently.

"
No, no. I need Lily, this girl from school, to know that she…that she should get tested. For herpes. My test came back positive."

I
'd never seen a ghost blush before, but Buck's shimmering aura turned a subtle shade of pink as he spoke.

"
Now
that
I can handle."

"Cool."

There was a knock at the front door that distracted me
, and I looked away from Buck for a moment. When I looked back at the spot where he'd stood, he was gone. I wondered if he'd just fallen through the floor when the knocking startled him or if he'd passed on.

I answered the door with a feeling of trepidation, unsure who I
'd face.

"
You haven't taken a lunch break," Smoke admonished. He stood on the stoop, ears red, eyes guarded.

"
How do you know that?"

"
Because I've been sitting out here waiting for you for the whole time."

So he hadn
't left me here all alone after all. "Why?"

"
I didn't think I should come back inside to apologize to you for losing my cool earlier."

I tilted my head to the side to get a different view of him.
"Because apologies delivered outdoors are more meaningful?"

"
Because I scared you. I didn't want to come back in here and have you feel trapped."

"
And that's why we're having this conversation now? In a doorway?"

He shrugged.
"I got worried when you didn't come out for hours."

"
Come inside." I stepped back and waved him in.

"
You're sure?"

"
I wasn't afraid earlier, I was exercising caution. There's a difference."

He stepped inside
, and I closed the door firmly behind him.

"
I—" we started simultaneously.

We stopped talking at the same time too.

"Normally I'd say 'ladies first,' but I've got to get this off my chest," Smoke said in an uncharacteristic rush. "You don't have to be afraid of me. I—"

"
I already told you I wasn't," I interrupted.

He offered me a weak half smile.
"Yeah, but I've been rehearsing this in my head for a couple of hours now, and you're messing with my rhythm."

"
Sorry." I pantomimed zipping my lips closed.

"
I shouldn't have blown my top like that. I was out of line, and I hope you'll accept my apology."

I waited to make sure he was done talking.
"I'll accept it on one condition."

"
What's that?" he asked cautiously.

"
That you accept mine. I should have never pushed you to do something you're uncomfortable with, and I shouldn't have poked around in your private business the way I did. See? You're not the only one who's been waiting to say they're sorry. Please accept my apology."

"
Done." He extended his hand.

I shook it.
"You're freezing."

"
'Cold hands, warm heart,' my grandmother used to say."

"
No, seriously. You shouldn't have let yourself get chilled like this." I felt a twinge of guilt. If I'd gone outside and looked for him, or even just called him to apologize, he wouldn't be as cold as a marble statue. I grabbed his hand between both of mine and rubbed to warm it.

"
You don't have to—"

"
Shut up."

"
Yes, boss."

I tilted my head back to tell him to stop calling me that, but my words froze on my tongue. He was looking down at where our hands met with concentration. As though he sensed me watching him, he raised his eyes to meet mine. He shuttered his gaze almost immediately, but not before I glimpsed
an intensity I couldn't name. Whatever it was, it made my heartbeat speed up and my stomach flip-flop nervously. I hadn't been scared of him earlier, but I was frightened by my reaction to him now.

"
You're a constant surprise, Ms. Spring."

"
Ha!" I said, dropping his hand and stepping away. I needed to put some space between us because in the moment he'd gotten closer to me than anyone in a long time. "Come on. We'll go to Soup for Nuts. That'll get you warmed up.

"
Soup for Nuts?"

"
It's a great place. All they serve is soup and crackers…or soup in bread bowls, but their soup is incredible."

"
Okay, but how 'bout we take my Jeep. It's a little less conspicuous to park than the van."

Our time at Soup For Nuts passed quickly. Somehow we managed to talk about Halley, who worked as a bagger at a supermarket and lived in an independent living residence home
, and our mutual dislike of all things Elvis Presley.

Sure enough, the soup warmed Smoke right up. He was mopping up the remains of his navy bean and actually laughing at my story about the first job I did at a
no-tell motel when I'd been scared half to death by a giant blow-up doll. However, just as I finished my story, he suddenly froze. Any vestige of amusement was wiped from Smoke's face as he followed the progress of someone on the opposite side of the café.

I turned in my seat to see who he was tracking with such intensity. The only people in his line of vision was a family. The parents were trailed by a sullen teenage son as they followed the hostess to a table at the far side of the room. A shoeless young woman, wearing a torn gold dress, drifted after them.

I gasped.

"
What?" Smoke asked distractedly.

"
That's the guy from the diner," I whispered.

As though he sensed we were watching him
, the greasy-haired jerk tore his gaze away from the hips of the hostess who was seating him and looked over in our direction.

My chest tightened
as he regarded us with undisguised hostility. The man said something to his wife, turned on his heel, and swaggered toward us. The ghost followed.

Instinctively, I curled my fingers around my soup spoon, arming myself for the battle I sensed brewing.

Smoke covered my hand with his. "Easy. I'm not going to let anything happen to you. You have good instincts about people, but lousy sense about weapons," he murmured, never taking his eyes off the approaching man. "Let me handle this."

"
Haven't seen you around, Barclay." The man loomed over our table, hands on his hips. He'd have looked more menacing if his hair didn't shine from the amount of product he'd glopped into it. "Thought you'd left town."

Smoke didn
't reply. His gaze was steady on the man before him.

Hair Products for Men looked away and focused on me.
"You should be careful who you spend time with. The world's a dangerous place."