Pennies for the Ferryman - 01 (11 page)

Jenny knocked on my door the next morning. I resisted the urge to bury my head under the pillows in the hope that she’d go away.

Things had been a bit strained between the two of us, since that kiss on the cheek. She thrust her research in my hand the other day and ran off to one of her other classes without much comment and when I checked the parking lot after my class had let out, her car was already gone. She’d been on my mind more than I’d like to admit. I hadn’t had a serious girlfriend since Fort Hood. Thankfully, that relationship petered out when I’d received notice that I was headed for Iraq – it seems that Heather was just looking to get on someone’s benefit plan!

I threw on a shirt and a pair of shorts. In the past few weeks, with the distinct possibility of fighting with dead people looming over my head, I made an effort to start seriously working out and getting more muscle and less fat on the frame. After my leg healed and I didn’t need the cane anymore, I really didn’t give a rat’s ass about regaining my Army physique. As a result there was far more ‘pudge’ on my body than I would have liked; the mostly pizza diet wasn’t helping much either!

“You realize it’s not even seven yet?”

“Elsbeth killed herself.”

“Huh?” That was definitely news to me.

She looked hesitant, which always worried me before replying, “Well, I’m trying to convince Uncle Brian to speak with you, so I gave him some of the background. He looked at the police report of her car accident and said that there were no skid marks at the scene or any indication that she had tried to brake at all!”

“I haven’t asked her about it, but it makes sense. I’m pretty sure old Charlie there was beating her. Either way, the rest of her story checks out. Megan lost her husband to heart problems, and when I mentioned my mom having problems she told me to convince her to go see someone. That doesn’t sound like a person that would ignore their own chest pains.”

“Mike! Your mother isn’t having problems, is she?”

“No…”

“You shouldn’t say things like that!”

“I had to work it into the conversation somehow! I couldn’t just start asking her about her medical problems.”

Jenny sighed, “It’s the principle. You shouldn’t tempt fate like that.”

I smacked my forehead with the palm of my hand and ran it through the unkempt mess that was my head of hair. Jenny possessed an exasperating quality to her. “It was the best I could come up with. So, did your uncle agree to see me?”

“Not exactly…”

“And that means?”

“He may have said the words, ‘I don’t want you to ever see that boy again outside of class’ and he may have sent an email to my father.”

Ignoring the fact that I had been called a ‘boy’, I shrugged, “Well, that’s some cheerful news. So, is this the part where you tell me that it’s been nice, but don’t ever talk to me again?”

She looked hurt and wounded, “Mike! That’s not how it is. I’m trying to help. I just don’t want to piss them off either…”

“Fine, I’ll talk to him. Just tell me what precinct he works at.”

She did and I walked her out to her car. I watched her Civic head down the street, as a Dodge Ram full sized truck pulled up into my driveway. Out stepped Charles Snowden. Elsbeth sat at the wheel looking upset, but useless. Well, at least the action decided to start early on this day, instead of waiting for a respectable hour – or breakfast.

He jabbed a single finger into my chest. “What did I tell you, boy?”

Smacking his finger away, I went right back at him, “I ain’t your boy. If you want to start something right here, I can make sure the police get called. Bet the school where you teach would love to see a pair of uniforms show up to question you about an assault. They might even poke around and start asking some questions. A big guy like you must get his rocks off throwing his weight around. Anyone there got an ax to grind with you,
Charlie
?”

Oh he looked angry, with good reason. Elsbeth provided some dirt. A few of wrestlers made complaints over the years that never amounted to anything more than a written caution in his employment record, but certainly wouldn’t help if the boys in blue showed up. Even teacher’s unions had their limits. I already knew that he was skating on thin ice.

“Since you’re a slow little shit, I’ll repeat myself. Stay away from Grandma Meg. If I even hear that you’re over there again, I’ll turn your slimy little grifter ass over to the cops. Do you get me?”

“Haven’t charged her for the last two visits and I don’t intend to charge her for any more. Far as I can tell, she’s an old lady who misses her granddaughter. Answer this question for me, Mr. Snowden, how does a bright guy like you leave his truck in neutral?” I gestured towards the Ram that was slowly rolling backwards.

Well what do you know, Elsbeth grew a pair! Actually, she probably only borrowed them, but I’d take what I could get and it was enough to send him sprinting for his vehicle. He stopped it before it got into the street and glared at me. She should have locked the doors on him! Either way, he drove off after giving me yet another threatening look.

“Jenny’s a sweetheart. The kind of girl that always brings home strays and jumps on lost causes. How does it feel to be the flavor of the month there Mike?” Brian Wycheck tried to bore his eyes through me.

I quipped back, “So much for ‘protect and serve’. Jenny also seemed to believe that you were a ‘good’ guy and interested in helping people.”

“You might want to watch that smart mouth of yours, boy. You’re already on my last nerve – coming down to where I work and peddling this bullshit about ghosts telling you about murder plots. My niece, I’ll humor, but I don’t have to put up with walking garbage like you.”

Pondering whether there was a conspiracy around today to insult me by calling me ‘boy.’ I concluded that this just wasn’t going to be my day. Maybe the stars were aligned against me or some such crap. Brian Wycheck was the kind of police detective that wore his badge and suit like a suit of armor. It allowed him to take pot shots at me, but the moment I dish out a little, he’s shows he can’t take it.

“I figured coming here and talking to you wouldn’t do any good. Well next week, when she does die, make sure to test for metal poisoning. Tell me, if I overheard a conversation between two people about a murder plot, would you be taking me more seriously? I’ve told you when he bought the bluing solution, where he’s hiding it, and when he plans to do it! What more do you need?”

His sneer was mildly disturbing, “Oh I don’t know something other than a cock and bull story. Maybe that would help.”

Jenny put way too much faith in him, “So, you’ll take a tip from a strung out junkie, hooker, or some homeless bum on the streets, but not me. As for wasting your time, did you have something else planned already for that day?”

He leaned forward and hissed at me, “Well, if you’ve got all the answers, why don’t you fill out an official report and go on the record instead of coming down here to talk to me ‘off the record’? I’ll even help you fill out the forms. The reason is that when this doesn’t happen, I’ll drag your ass in here for filing a false report and then we’ll put you in front of a judge who’ll order you into a psychiatric care facility.”

I stood to leave and he grabbed my arm, “Stay away from Jenny! If I catch you filling her head with all this stupid ‘new age’ shit, you’ll wish you were back in Iraq – psychic boy.”

After ‘withdrawing’ another forty-seven dollars from the Maryland lottery system with three well-informed ticket purchases, I sat on the bench and looked at the fuming ghost of Elsbeth Snowden.

“What are you angry at me for? He didn’t want to believe me! Tell me the truth, Elsbeth, if you were still alive and I came to you with a story like this, would you? Some people don’t think ghosts exist, which means that the only people that are likely to stop Charlie are you and me. You need to do more of that crap like putting his truck into neutral! You’re a ghost! Haunt his ass! Get him back for treating you like shit all these years!”

My pep talk wasn’t doing that much good. She finally owned up to the abuse. Elsbeth obviously wouldn’t stand up for herself in life. Apparently, death doesn’t really change a person’s character - nice to know that I’d be a sarcastic smart-ass in the next life. I started wondering if I could ‘recruit’ some other ghosts, some who might be more willing to help bring a bit of chaos into Mr. Snowden’s life.

The problem is that I still didn’t really know how ghosts operated. The few I’d talked to were pretty tight-lipped about what they could and couldn’t do. Jenny’s mom was angry enough to flat out try and kill the two of us, but trying to talk Elsbeth into tripping her husband and sending him down the stairs wasn’t going anywhere. Most ghosts seemed capable of doing some of the standard poltergeist stuff, but it made me wonder if they could do other things.

Too bad I hadn’t yet found any more homicidal ghosts. Of course, that could make a whole different problem, so maybe that was a good thing. I’d been too scared at what I might find if I went to Arlington National Cemetery. My intuition told me that I really should avoid that place at all costs.

“But what if he finds out and when he dies, it’ll start all over again?”

“Well, you’re latched on to your wedding ring that he wears on a chain around his necklace, right? We stop him and I’ll destroy the ring and you move on to whatever is after all this. Does that sound like a plan?”

She looked terrified,
“I have to go!”
Breaking contact she fled. Things weren’t looking all that good.

Things looked even worse the next day when Jenny wasn’t in class. Paul, the guy who sat on the other side of her desk, was using one of those Digital Voice recorders to take notes for her. He said she called him out of the blue and told him she couldn’t make it. He said he was surprised that Jenny hadn’t called me to do it.

I wasn’t.

I could have though. I’d just picked up a decent unit, thinking that it would be handy in class, but even though it was like some cliché from every single cop show, some part of me hoped I could trick some kind of confession from Snowden. Trying the thing out and waiting for my next class to start was interrupted by when Elsbeth ran through the door and a pair of students who immediately shivered.

“He’s going to do it tomorrow! He did a ‘practice’ run today and scheduled her next cardiologist appointment.”

“That’s sudden, what changed his mind?” I whispered into my new voice recorder so I could at least look like I was sane.

“His ‘new’ girlfriend told him that she didn’t like the fact that he spends so much time with his dead wife’s grandmother. She thinks it’s creepy. He told her that she’s pretty ill and having heart problems.”

I shooed her way as class started, angry at myself for touching her with my writing hand, but then again, I had a shiny new voice recorder…

On the way to the bus stop, I spotted Jenny’s car leaving the parking lot. Yeah, I was angry the whole ride home.

I was surprised to find myself staring through the door chain at Megan Rosemont. “May I come in?”

“No, I’m afraid not, young man. Charles told me that he looked into your past and you are nothing but a con artist posing as a nice young man.” I hadn’t expected such a subtle move out of the big ox, but then again, I was still ‘new’ at all of this.

I said the first thing that came to my mind, “Elsbeth says that he’s trying to poison you.”

“Why on Earth would he do that? You leave right now or I am calling the police.”

It was tempting to tell her to speak directly to Detective Wycheck. “Wait, hear me out. Elsbeth’s told me things that only you and she would know. How about her rag doll named Mrs. Biscuits? Her favorite book was Charlotte’s Web! She used to make you read a chapter to her every night. She did move the furniture around, but she stopped after she contacted me. “