The Ex Who Glowed in the Dark (Charley's Ghost) (15 page)

“Would that be red wine or white wine?”

“Amanda, who are you talking to?”

She gasped and whirled around to see Jake and Ross watching her from a few feet away. “How did you get here?”

Ross arched a dark brow and indicated the faded blue sedan parked at one end of the lot. “We drove in that. Just like yesterday.”

Jake studied her, his forehead creasing as he squinted against the overhead sun. “We were getting out of the car when we saw you pull up.
Everything okay? You sounded a little upset just now.”

“Everything’s fine.” Yeah, everything was just fine if you didn’t consider the fact that she couldn’t go anywhere without her psycho ex-husband’s psycho ghost. “I bought chicken.” She turned and began removing the straps that held the food to
her sissy bar. Perhaps fried chicken could distract them from trying to figure out what she meant when she’d asked the apparently empty air about stopping the fermentation of wine.

“Smells great,” Jake said.

“It really does,” Ross agreed. “I just ate, but I think I could still manage a piece of chicken.”

“See?” Charley darted past her. “Either of them would have done the same thing I did. The smell of fried chicken is irresistible.”

“Let me carry that for you.” Jake took the sack from her as she struggled with balancing the food and her helmet.

“And I’ll take your helmet,” Ross offered.

“You two are such gentlemen.” And, fortunately, easily distracted from the subject of her conversation with a ghost.

Charley snorted.

“So how’s Dawson doing?” Jake asked as they headed toward the front of the building.

“Oh, yeah, I probably should warn you. Brendan came over while I was following Nick, and by the time I got back, he and Dawson had bonded and put aluminum foil on all the windows.”

Jake and Ross both came to an abrupt halt.

“Aluminum foil on the windows?” Ross repeated.

“You were following Nick?” Jake asked.

“You’re in trouble,” Charley taunted.

“I’ll explain on the way upstairs.” Amanda continued to the front door of the building.

As they climbed the steps, she told them about following Nick to work and about Brendan.

“He shouldn’t be looking at Dawson’s computer,” Jake said. “We don’t want him possibly messing up whatever’s on there. I wish you hadn’t left them alone.”

“See how it feels when you make one little mistake and get chewed out about it?” Charley’s words were a cold breeze in her right ear.

“At least I didn’t freeze the chicken.”

“What?” Jake asked.

“I said, I had to go get the chicken.” She stepped onto the third landing and over to Dawson’s door then knocked loudly.

Dawson opened the door. His eyes were still bloodshot, and he was still twitching from the Red Bull. However, he looked marginally better than she’d seen him look over the past two days. Maybe Brendan was having a positive effect on
him. “I’m glad you’re back. Brendan’s helping me search for the program.”

Amanda cringed. “You told him?”

“I didn’t know what else to do. We need all the help we can get.” Dawson bit his lip. “We’re running out of time. Brendan’s brilliant with a computer.” He stepped back to allow them to enter. “Brendan, this is Amanda’s cousin Jake and his friend Ross.”

At least he hadn’t told Brendan that Jake and Ross were cops. 

“Hi, Brendan,” Amanda said. “What’s up?”

From his seat at the table in front of one of the laptops, Brendan regarded her solemnly. “Dawson’s in grave danger. The aliens murdered his parents and stole his brother. Dawson’s the only surviving heir to the throne of the entire Alpha Centauri star system.”

Dawson shrugged and looked a little abashed, but the corners of his mouth tilted upward in a small, tentative smile. That smile cinched it for Amanda. If the tin man could help Dawson get through this, then she was all for him.

“I brought some fried chicken. Would you like to join us for lunch?”

“Are you crazy, Amanda?” Charley demanded. “I can’t believe you invited that nut to eat with us! We need to get him out of here, not feed him!”

Jake said nothing, but as he plopped the boxes of food in the middle of the table, he gave her a look that echoed Charley’s words.

Amanda found paper plates in the kitchen and passed them around while Dawson returned his attention to one of the computers on the table. She put a drumstick and fries on the plate beside his laptop. “Eat.”

“I’m not hungry.” He picked up his Red Bull can and tilted it to his lips, tipped it all the way, then frowned and slid his chair back.

“If you want another Red Bull, you have to eat.”

Again it worked. Without protest Dawson picked up the drumstick.

While everyone except Charley ate, Brendan talked, telling a convoluted, rambling tale of evil aliens who forced Dawson’s parents to flee to earth where they killed them and now had kidnapped Dawson’s brother. Amanda made no effort to pay attention to the bad science fiction story. Apparently psychoses did not make for coherent plot lines.

In the silence that followed, only crunching could be heard. Even Charley had no response to the incredible tale.

“You and your brother are the last of the line, aren’t you, Dawson?” Brendan asked. “You don’t have any descendants, do you?”

Dawson gulped and set down his empty plate.
“Descendants? No, no descendants. Grant was my only family.” The color drained from his face as he seemed to realize what he’d said. “I mean,
is
. Grant
is
my family.”

“Of course he is.” Amanda stood and picked up her plate then Dawson’s.
“Grant’s your family, and he’s going to be home with you soon.” She tried to make her tone firm, ordering him to believe just as she’d successfully ordered him to eat.

Jake rose also and picked up his and Ross’ plates. Amanda added Brendan’s to her stack and started for the kitchen. Jake followed.

He opened the pantry door, lifted the lid of the trash can and dumped his plates inside then held it for Amanda. As she approached, he moved closer, so close she could feel the heat from his body. Was her heart beating faster? Of course not!

He moved his lips so close to her ear she could feel his warm breath. She was pretty sure then that her heart was beating faster. “If you don’t get rid of that nut job, I will, and I won’t be nice about it,” he whispered then turned away and went back to the living room.

“You thought he was going to whisper sweet nothings in your ear, didn’t you?” Charley taunted.

She glared at him, making a mental note to say something mean to him later.

“All right, folks,” she said, walking into the living room and bringing her hands together with a loud clap, “time for a little after-lunch nap.”

“Nap?”
Dawson repeated. “We don’t have time for a nap.”

Amanda walked over to him and took away his latest can of Red Bull. “Yes, the prince of Alpha Centauri is going to lie down and rest for a while. He’s been up all night. I don’t care if you sleep or not, Dawson, but you need to rest.” How many times during her youth had she heard that speech from her mother? “Brendan, you can come back over after the prince has his nap.”

Brendan rose uncertainly. Amanda put her hand on Dawson’s shoulder to keep him from rising too.

“Thanks for the chicken, Mrs., uh, Amanda.”

Yeah, she was obviously sounding like a bossy mother.

Brendan looked at Jake and Ross who made no effort to stand or to explain why they were staying when he had to go.

“My cousin and his friend are going to watch over Dawson while he takes a nap so the bad men from Alpha Centauri can’t hurt him.”

Brendan shrugged and looked at Dawson. “I’ll come over later and bring some shielding material for your walls. Hang tight, buddy.”

Dawson gave him a thumbs-up. “Thanks.”

Jake opened the door for Brendan to leave, closed the door behind him then held a finger to his lips until they heard the soft sound of Brendan’s door closing.

“Why did you do that?” Dawson demanded. “Why did you make him leave? He was helping!”

“We have some things to talk about that he doesn’t need to hear.” Jake turned one of the deadbolts on the door and moved over to sit in a chair at the table.

Amanda took the chair next to Dawson and laid her hand over his. “You do realize that guy’s talking crazy.”

Dawson scowled. “Of course I know that. But he’s very knowledgeable about computers. He knows as much as I do. That means we can search twice as fast.”

Jake ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. “You’ve been running and hiding from people for two years, and suddenly you trust a nut job?”

Dawson looked at Amanda. “I trusted her and that worked out. Then she forced me to trust you and Ross.”

Amanda grinned. “So what’s one more nut job, huh?”

“I didn’t mean it like that.”

Amanda patted his hand. “It’s okay. I get it. You need all the help you can get right now.”

“Yes, I do. I think Brendan’s okay. I mean, he can’t be involved with the kidnappers because he’s too, um, unstable.”

Jake nodded. “I guess that’s one way to look at it, but I’m not sure you want to let someone so unstable have access to your computer right now.”

Dawson bit his bottom lip and drew in a deep breath.
“Noted. But we only have five hours until they start—” he swallowed— “until they start taking off Grant’s fingers.”

“We’re working some leads,” Jake said. “I’m going to Dallas Regional State Prison to meet with Steven Lowell, the real grandson, at two o’clock and see what I can find out about Nick
Farner.”

“I’ll go with you,” Amanda said.

Jake’s square jaw became more square. “No, you won’t.”

She didn’t bother to argue. There was nothing to argue about. He couldn’t go in as a strong-arm cop because Steven Lowell might tell Nick
Farner. He needed her as part of his cover whether he realized it yet or not.

Ross leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. “And I have some information. I spent some time with Hannah from next door.”

“He took her to lunch,” Jake said.

Amanda raised an eyebrow. “You’re dating her?”

“No.” Ross gave a short laugh as if at the absurdity of the question. “I’m investigating her.”

Jake snorted.

“I thought we decided she and her roommate weren’t involved,” Amanda said.

“Remember those long blond hairs I found in Grant’s room? I needed to get a sample of Hannah’s hair so I could do a DNA match to rule her out.”

Jake rolled his eyes. “Not even going to ask how you managed to get a sample of her hair at lunch.”

Ross grinned. “And I’m not going to tell you. Get your own techniques, buddy.”

“The hair,” Amanda reminded them impatiently. “What were the results of the DNA test?”

“It’s a match.”

Chapter Fourteen

Amanda looked from Ross to Jake, trying to discern their thoughts. “So Hannah’s a suspect after all?”

Ross’ expression remained neutral. “There’s some evidence to suggest that
,  but my gut tells me she’s not.”

Jake grinned. “I don’t think that’s your gut doing the talking. How does your gut explain the license plate, the hair and the fact that she’s a member of the Fitness 4 You Club?”

“That’s a lot of evidence against her.” Dawson’s voice was normally quiet, but now he sounded as if it was difficult to speak.

“She was not the woman Sunny and I saw in the van,” Amanda said, “and she doesn’t fit the description Brendan gave us of the woman involved in the kidnapping.”

“We don’t know there’s only one woman.” Jake frowned and shook his head. “Seems like everything we learn makes this case more complicated instead of less.”

“Hannah admitted she knows Grant,” Dawson said. “She admitted she talked to him. He trusted her. He might have even gone with her willingly.” He lifted his can of Red Bull and drank, but Amanda suspected he’d reached a depth of physical and emotional exhaustion that caffeine and sugar couldn’t reach.

“Yes, she knew him,” Jake agreed, “which means she could have hugged him and transferred a couple of hairs. Women with long hair shed a lot.”

“I can vouch for that,” Charley said. “I used to find long red hairs in the shower, the floor, the car,
my shirts, everywhere.” He heaved a deep sigh. “I kinda miss that.”

Amanda turned her back on him and faced Jake. “So next we grill Steven Lowell and see what he knows about Nick and Hannah?”

“
I’m
going to interview Lowell, Ross is going to check Hannah’s class and work schedules and find out where she is right now, Dawson’s going to keep looking for the program, and you are going to drop by Fitness 4 You and see what our friend Nick is up to. Don’t talk to him. Don’t harass him. Don’t try to take him down. Just look in and let me know what’s going on.”