“My boss needs me on the case since no one else has been able to finish the assignment. We both knew I couldn’t ignore my job forever, and this time I’mtrulyneeded.”
I swallowed. “Will you be safe? Will your partner be with you?”
“I, um. I have to do this alone. My partner is in the hospital.”
Hospital?!“Pete….” I rarely called him by his name, and from the slight wince, he’d caught up on my feelings regarding this mission. “Was she hurt because of this assignment?” Just what wasn’t he telling me?
He sighed, looking down at his feet and nodded. “I have to help before others get hurt too.”
“You could get hurt!” I snapped, then instantly regretted it when he jumped back.
He shook his head at me and left the room. I knew he was in a hurry so I was battling with myself on what to do. Did I chase him and demand we make things right between us, or did I let him go? My heart ached with fear and regret as I heard the front door slam behind him. I let out a shaky breath, hoping he would return safely. If my last conversation with him would be this one, it would be my greatest regret.
Chapter 25
Pete
I wiped my tears away as I drove towards my newest assignment. Daisy had been hurt, and that was all it took for me to agree to this. Rino had called me sounding frantic and annoyed as hell. Daisy hadn’t been the only one who’d ended up hurt. Kyle was in the hospital with her, and from what I’d gathered from Rino’s ranting, so was he. Not that Rino had been hurt, but it seemed he was the one they’d called.
A ghost was haunting up a storm and terrorizing the new owners. The only ghost on the property, meaning it was dangerous. Normally, when people sought out mediums, we knew they were exaggerating, but not this time. The new owner had things thrown at her and refused to enter the home until we’d dealt with whateverhorror was inside. Daisy and Kyle had, according to Rino, entered and been hit with a candelabra and a picture frame. They hadn’t gotten further in than the foyer before being attacked.
I willed my nerves to settle before I entered the house I was now parked in front of. It looked like a Victorian era house. Pretty with wooden panels outside, a light blue paint job that needed touching up, and a darker blue front door. The front yard was filled with flowers and the energy outside was homey and welcoming. It was a lie, of course, but I couldn’t help but wonder why the ghost would be so worked up. The calmness of the property and the beauty didn’t match what I’d heard.
I sent Rino a text to let him know I’d arrived, then got out of the car. I couldn’t see the ghost, and neither had Kyle or Daisy before they’d been hit. I felt so drained already having Jackson snap at me like that. I knew he didn’t like that I’d be in danger, and I hated myself for lying to him. I doubted his fear of ghosts would lessen if he knew just how dangerous they could be. Not that Mitch and Nic were. They’d been the perfect ghost roommates so far, and after talking with Jackson about his fear of ghosts while they were in the room,they’d been even better at masking their presence. Not unlike this ghost who opened the door for me as I approached.
Not creepy at all.
“Hello?” I called out, not daring to step inside until I’d seen the ghost. “I’ve come to help you out.” That was what I was here for, so it wasn’t a lie, but saying it out loud would hopefully make the ghost think twice before hitting me with something.
In a flash a young woman stood before me with wide hopeful eyes. “You can help?” I had to stifle a scream before nodding. She sighed. “Thank goodness! Come with me!” She waved me inside and I followed timidly behind her. She was not as frightening as I’d expected, but also a bit…twitchy.
“So…” I began as I followed her deeper inside the home. “What can I help you with?”
“Pearls,” she replied, not looking back at me as we stepped into what appeared to be the living room.
“Pearls?” I questioned, looking around the room before sitting down on the couch. It was the only furniture in the room besides a small table.
She leaned against one of the windows before answering with an angry sneer. “My sister stole my pearls! Those were given to me. Not her!”
Taking one look at her clothing, I knew she’d been dead a long time. Finding those pearls would be next to impossible. “Were they a necklace or earrings?” I asked, hoping to calm her down a bit as I gathered more information.
“Necklace,” she sighed, then floated over to where I sat and joined me. “Our mom left them to me when she died.”
“Ah,” I replied, nodding along as I tried to come up with more questions. It wasn’t always easy speaking with ghosts. Many didn’t know they were dead, and others really didn’t like to be reminded either. “When did your sister take them?” That seemed like a question she wouldn’t betoohurt by.
I hoped.
“I don’t know!” she snapped. “I died and when I went to find them they were gone!”
“She took them after you died?” It made sense, why leave them in an empty house? I would’ve done the same thing had I been the sister, but it appeared this ghost wasn’t okay with it.
“Yes. That gump! She’d always wanted them. She just couldn’t wait to pry them from my neck. Did you know that’s how she got them? She took them off my bloody neck as I laid there, having only been dead for less than thirty minutes!”
“Wait… She was with you when you died?”
She just stared at me. “Of course she was!”
Fuck. Had the sister killed her? Was this a murder case? She did mention her neck being bloody, or was that a phrase? Like instead of fucking, she said bloody?
