Great. What the hell was she supposed to do? Sit here and hope a dead loved one popped into her head?
Beth.
The name popped into her head, and Riley tensed. The last thing she needed was the spirit of Kellen’s little sister to make her presence known in front of both her big brother and Nick.
“No Beth,” Riley instructed her spirit guides. The dripping clouds pulsed once, and Riley realized it wasn’t a spirit trying to get through. It was Nick and Kellen standing side-by-side and thinking about the same woman. There was a kind of intensity pumping out of them. A controlled desperation for answers.
Of course she was curious about what had happened to the girl. But neither Nick nor Kellen had ever asked her tolook. And if she were being honest with herself, she didn’t want to carry that kind of psychic baggage on her own.
She was overheating. The clouds were getting bigger and brighter, sucking her in and suffocating her. She could feel the heavy dampness on her skin. Fighting off the panic, she tried to close the spiritual garage door on her boyfriend’s brain, but she was so disoriented. So hot.
And there was something else in the clouds with her now.
Someone else.
With a queasy drop and a hard jolt, Riley found herself back in Bianca Hornberger’s closet, staring at a glittery ghost.
“Bianca,” Vision Riley gasped.
“Yes, I’d like to speak to your manager,” Vision Bianca announced, studying her fingernails for any flaws. She was dressed as she had been in the crime scene photos. There was a plastic bag next to her.
“Excuse me?”
Bianca coughed delicately into her hand. Then, with a barely discernible frown thanks to the fillers, she reached into her mouth. Like a magician yanking flags out of his throat, Bianca produced a very expensive-looking thong. “Ew! This is not okay!” she snapped. “I have a complaint, and I’m not going anywhere until I speak to the manager.”
“I don’t know if I have a manager,” Riley admitted. “Maybe you should talk to my grandmother. She’s the scary lady next to me talking about body hair and lawn fertilizer.”
“I want a refund,” Bianca announced, fluttering her inch-long lashes in what Riley could only assume was a sign of an impending hissy fit.
“A refund for what?”
“For life.Duh.It was just starting to get good. I was building my brand. I was expanding my following. I had tickets to the Start Leveling Up Today conference. And now I’m just supposed to accept that it’s all over?” she scoffed. “I was this close to getting everything I deserve, and some weird creeper in my closet is going to end it all? I don’t THINK SO.”
“Weird creeper. Can you describe him?”
“Ew. No. Not until I get a refund or a do-over or whatever it is you people do around here.” Bianca glanced around them at the clouds encircling the closet. “God. Who is your decorator? A glue-sniffing preschooler?”
“How about I get my grandmother, and you can tell her how disappointed you are with your experience?” Riley suggested. She didn’t know if that was something she could actually do. And inviting Elanora into her head seemed like it could present its own host of problems. But Riley wasn’t equipped to interview a murder victim as a witness.
“Deal with it yourself.” Elanora’s voice came through like it was on a high school intercom.
Okay. Fine. Thanks, Grandma.
“Uh. Okay. So you’re unhappy your life got cut short,” Riley said, scrambling for a topic that could lead back to the murder.
“I already said that. Now do something about it.”
“I don’t think I can unmurder someone.” She sensed something or someone else in the closet and got up to paw through the hanging clothes.
“Stop touching my clubwear and figure out a way to bring me back. Now!” Bianca demanded.
The presence didn’t feel murdery. In fact, it felt just the opposite. Calm, cool, strong.Familiar.
“Gabe?” Riley whispered.
Vision Bianca kicked her heels against the carpet and let out a blood-curdling shriek.
“Ah! God! What the hell?” Riley stuffed her fingers in her ears. “Who’s the preschooler now.”
