Josh, where did you feel the pain?
My chest. Why?
That made sense, given the red energy spreading across his heart area. I turned back to the officers. “His name is Josh Fine. He doesn’t remember what happened to him. He doesn’t even know he’s…”
“Dead?” The male officer blurted out the word so loud that Josh jumped and turned to me, a panicked look on his face.
I’m dead? What’s he talking about? I’m standing right here!
“Idiot,” I said to the cop, then turned back to Josh. It’s all right—you’re still here. But…yes…he’s correct. That’s your body. You led me to it because your subconscious knew that you needed for us to find it. Did you have any heart trouble that you know of?
He began to blink in and out, which could happen when a spirit was startled. But he seemed to gain some control after a moment. My doctor said that I was asking for trouble. I smoke. And he keeps badgering me to stop. My blood pressure’s too high and I forget to take my meds most of the time.
I sighed. Poor man. There was no reason to chastise him for not taking better care of himself—that was a moot point. Well, you’re all right now. Do you have information for your family in your wallet, so we can get hold of them?
Looking more morose than I had seen anyone look in a long time, Josh ducked his head. Yeah, I do. My wife lives a couple blocks over. Damn it, today was our anniversary. This is going to kill her. Would you tell her I love her? That I’m so sorry? That I’m okay?
I promise. What’s her name?
Suzette. Suzette Fine. I hope she’s okay. He paused, then added, Tell her to ask Morty about my hidden stash. When we got married, I was worried, so I created a secret account. My buddy Morty knows about it. He’ll be able to help her get situated. She may have to pay taxes on it—I haven’t yet—but there will be enough to keep her comfortable for a while.
Josh began to fade at that point. Now that he knew about his condition, he seemed to be making the transition toward the Veil well.
I raised my hand. Have a good journey, Josh. I promise to tell your wife you love her and about the money.
He started to say something, but the next moment, he vanished.
I turned back to the cops. “He’s gone. Once he realized he was dead, he started fading out. His wife’s name is Suzette Fine, and today’s their anniversary. He asked me to talk to her—to tell her that he said he loved her. But I can’t do that until you notify her.”
“We can’t notify her till the coroner examines the body and we find some evidence of what killed him.” Officer Larens pulled out her notebook. “If you’ll give me your contact info, I’ll call you and tell you after we’ve talked to her.”
“Raven BoneTalker.” I gave her my number and address, and then, seeing Josh was truly gone, I headed back to my car. I was getting cold and the clouds were socking in for a good blow. The fine mist of snow had turned into a snow shower, and the flakes were bigger, and I wanted hot chocolate and cookies and the cheer of the Yule tree.
As I eased out of the parking lot, back onto the street, it occurred to me that all over the world, the dead were wandering. Some might not know they were dead, but others were going about their days and nights as usual. The world was a crowded place.
Chapter Nine
By the time I got home, my spirits had dipped again. Everything seemed topsy-turvy, and I wasn’t sure why I was depressed—whether because of my father’s betrayal, getting kicked out of the Ante-Fae world, seeing the malignant force that had taken over Lenny, or the incident with Josh. At least Josh had managed to transition once he learned he was dead and I promised to talk to his wife. The other three, I had no clear answer for.
“Hey love,” Kipa said, swinging me into his arms for a kiss after I’d taken off my coat. “What’s going on? How was Vixen?”
“Their friend is possessed by a very nasty spirit. I was able to ascertain that for a fact. Then, on the way home, I met a ghost who didn’t know he was dead and I had to break the news. I promised to tell his wife he loves her and he’s sorry about their anniversary, which was today, and that there’s a stash of money he hid from her. Oh, did I mention that I found his body? Or rather, he led me to his body but he didn’t know it was his until some damned fool cop blurted out that he was dead in front of him?”
Kipa arched his eyebrows. “Sounds like you’ve had more than enough to fill one day.”
I sighed, leaning my head on his shoulder. “It is, and it’s not over yet. I’m trying to remember if we had anything on the calendar for tonight.” The holiday season was usually jam-packed with parties, and I prayed that I hadn’t agreed to anything tonight because I was exhausted. “I feel like I’ve been body slammed. I don’t know why. Maybe I’m coming down with something?”
“Last night’s activities are catching up to you,” Phasmoria said, peeking around the kitchen corner.
I was about to answer when my phone rang. I answered. It was the officer from the park, telling me they had located Suzette Fine. I took down the information and made a note in my calendar to talk to her as soon as possible.
My mother waited till I was off the phone and then said, “Sit down. I made your favorite from when you were young.”
I cocked my head, confused. “What favorite? I don’t ever remember you cooking.”
“This, your father made. But I remember how much you used to love this, so I looked up a recipe for it.”
The moment she said that, my heart sank. My mother was one hell of a fighter, and she could Bean Sidhe with the best them, but a cook she was not. She would make a great sous chef, as long as you told her what to do, but she had no patience for cooking.
“And what was that? I honestly don’t remember.” I settled in at the table, bracing myself for some gods-awful combination of cabbage and fish or some such food. But when she carried in what looked like a perfect lemon meringue pie, my salivary glands set to work in overtime.
“You made me a lemon meringue pie? That looks delicious.”
My mother placed it in front of me, then started to laugh. “I give up, I can’t keep up the charade. You know perfectly well that if I made a lemon meringue pie it would be soupy and have a soggy crust. I bought it, though, and I hope that counts.”
“You remembered,” I said with a smile, staring at the pie. “That’s all that matters.”
She was right. When I was a little, I always asked for “lemmy ming pie” and my father would make the best lemon meringue pie in the world for me. And Phasmoria had remembered.
I teared up, thinking about how things were so askew. My father had always been my rock, and now the positions had reversed. Phasmoria was cushioning the blows and my father had abandoned me. But in all the time I was young, I never felt like Phasmoria didn’t care.
“Why did he do it? Why did he let Dougal bully him? I’m his daughter.” The words burst out before I could stop them and I started to cry.
Phasmoria pulled up the chair next to me. “I’m sorry—I didn’t want you to cry. I didn’t mean to make you cry.”
“You didn’t,” I said. “My father’s the one who made me cry.” I looked over at her. “Why did he do it? Is he that weak-willed? Does he not care? Was my entire life a lie?”