by Jane Hinchey
You got that right, lady. My eyes darted around the room looking for something, anything, that I could use as a weapon. Slim pickings. The numbness was slowly leaving my body, and in its wake, the worst case of pins and needles known to mankind. I wanted to twitch and rub at my skin so badly but didn't want to give away the fact I could move. Well, parts of me could, pretty sure my legs were still numb. Then Mrs. Hill began some sort of chant about earth, wind, and fire. I wasn't paying too much attention until she was standing over me, straddling me with a foot either side of my hips. She could move fast for a senior citizen. What had me really concerned though was the carving knife clutched in her hands and the crazed expression on her face. She was going to do this, she was going to plunge that knife into my chest. I vaguely wondered what the rest of her plan was. Chop me up and use me as compost in her garden? Actually that wouldn't be a bad way to get rid of a body, I supposed.
Thankfully Mrs. Hill had one weakness. Arthritic knees. It took her a bit to lower herself so she was sitting on my abdomen, and when she did, it was her full weight. I made a small woof as she squashed the air out of me. I'm not sure, I may have peed a little too, with her weight right on my bladder and my body still battling the numbing agent she'd slipped me it was hard to say.
Her chanting continued, something about the moon goddess—I wasn't sure if whatever spell she was trying to cast was kosher since we were actually indoors beneath a ceiling of fake stars and not a moon in sight. She held the knife in both hands above her head, then it was swinging down, aiming for my heart. My hands shot up and grabbed her wrists, holding her off. Her face registered her surprise. Oh yeah, Crazy Pants, weren't expecting that, were you? Ordinarily, it wouldn't have been a fair fight. I'm young, fit, healthy and strong. She's an old lady with arthritis—although it didn't seem to slow her down much and I wondered if she was using her magical herbs to help with that. Regardless, currently, I wasn't in top form having been poisoned by the crazy one, so we were at a Mexican standoff, with her perched on top of me and the knife between us. My arms were trembling and the pins and needles had my teeth on edge, stinging my nerve endings until I wanted to scream. Sweat beaded on my forehead. If I could manage a hip thrust I could probably buck her off me, but my lower body was still suffering the effects of her poison and all I could manage was a pathetic leg flop, which did exactly nothing.
We were both grunting and the knife was making slow progress toward my chest when there was a crash and booted feet thundered into the hallway. I almost sagged in relief, only that would have been a mistake—then the knife would have found its target. Wouldn't that be ironic? Distracted by the cavalry and end up dying just as I'm being rescued!
"Drop the weapon! Hands on your head!" Galloway shouted from the doorway. Out the corner of my eye, I saw him there, feet planted, gun drawn and aimed at Mrs. Hill's chest. He'd never looked so goddamn sexy. My heart did a little flutter.
Mrs. Hill released the knife, which of course fell straight toward me. Releasing her wrists, my fingers managed to wrap around the blade before the tip embedded itself in my heart, although it was doubtful it would have met its target without her thrusting it into me. My arms dropped to my side, the knife slipped out of my grasp and skidded a few inches away.
Galloway holstered his weapon and approached, cuffing Mrs. Hill before lifting her off me. I closed my eyes in relief, and also said a little prayer that I hadn't peed. That would be mortifying with Captain Cowboy Hot Pants standing over me.
"You okay?" he glanced down at me.
"Sure." I grinned. It was a total lie of course. My entire body was zinging and zapping like I'd been electrified, but I put on a brave face. "How did you know I was here?"
"Weirdest thing. I got a call from your number, but all I could hear was a cat meowing. I thought you'd butt-dialed me so I hung up. Only it rang again and it was the same thing. Now, I don't speak cat, but this one was really insistent so I figured I'd drop by and check in on you, make sure everything was okay."
Thor, bless his heart, had called for help. I was going to buy that cat a lobster dinner. Galloway continued, "Your garage was open, but there was no sign of you. Then the cat streaked past me and over to here, scratching at the front door. I took a calculated risk that you were inside and in trouble."
"Good guess." I nodded.
"Gut instinct." He had Mrs. Hill pushed face-first against the wall. His eyes ran over me, lingered on my hand, before moving to my face. I glanced at my hand too, saw the blood, realized I'd sliced my fingers open when I'd grabbed the blade when Mrs. Hill had dropped it.
"It's fine," I told him. "Just a nick."
"Can you get up?"
"Ummm. Possibly?" Although my legs were on fire with pins and needles I wasn't positive they could hold my weight yet. I nodded toward Mrs. Hill, who, for once in her life, was mercifully silent. "She poisoned me. Something in the tea. I couldn't move at all initially, some sort of paralysis, but now it's wearing off and I've got the worst case of pins and needles. Stings like a bitch."
Galloway tugged on the cuffs holding Mrs. Hills’s wrists behind her back. "What did you give her?"
"Relax. It was just Crimson Bark. Like she said, it's wearing off. The effects are only temporary." She shot me a look I couldn't read. I swear she had a gleam in her eye. Was there something else in the tea she wasn't telling me about?
23
I heard the sound of approaching sirens, screeching tires and car doors slamming, then the place exploded with activity. Galloway handed Mrs. Hill over to Officer Jacobs, watched and listened as Jacobs read her rights, then led her away. Sergeant Young accompanied her, then Sergeant Clements and Officer Mills turned up and I bit my lip to keep from groaning out loud.
"Are the medics here yet?" Galloway asked.
"Just pulling up." Clements nodded, standing in the doorway with his thumbs hooked in his belt loops, eyeballing me where I still lay on the floor.
"Gloves on," Galloway told them. "I want everything in this room photographed, bagged, and taken in."
Mills snorted. "That's a lot of work, Detective. Surely you just need the knife?" He nodded toward the knife by my side.
"Everything. I'll be checking. Make sure you're thorough," Galloway ground out. "I'll make it easier for you though, since it's oh so hard." His sarcasm was unmistakable and I wanted to clap my hands in approval. Opening the forensics case Sergeant Young had brought in, Galloway snapped on a glove and shook out a plastic evidence bag. Then he stepped over me with a gruff apology and bagged the knife. He handed it to Young. "Take this back to the station with you. I want it expedited. Find out if it was the murder weapon used to kill Benjamin Delaney."
"On it." She nodded, accepting the bag. "We're taking Hill in now. Or did you want us to hang around longer, assist with the scene?"
Galloway inclined his head. "You can go."
Two EMTs appeared in the doorway. "This our patient?"
Pretty good guess since I was the only one on the floor, but again, I kept my observations to myself.
"We can't let you in there," Mills told them. "It's a crime scene."
Galloway rolled his eyes, but before he could say anything one of the EMTs eyeballed Mills and snapped, "She's our patient. She trumps any crime scene." And pushed past him, coming to kneel by my side. I could have kissed him.
"How you feeling, ma’am?" he asked. He whipped out a blood pressure cuff and began taking my vitals. He was nice, mid-forties, with a friendly smile and take no shit attitude. I decided we should be friends.
"Mrs. Crazy Pants poisoned me," I told him, "With something called Crimson Bark. Heard of it?"
The younger EMT snorted. "Mrs. Crazy Pants. I like it." This one looked about twelve, but I figured he had to be in his twenties somewhere. "I'm Ned, this is Jayce," he said.
"Audrey." I smiled, taking a liking to the two paramedics.
"Take a look at that hand will you, Ned?" Jayce instructed. Putting his stethoscope in his ears he hel
d up the other end and said, "I'm just going to listen to your heart, okay?"
"Sure." I lay there while Jayce moved the stethoscope around my chest and Ned prodded at my hand. "I think we can get away with dressing these. The cuts aren't deep so we won't need sutures," he commented.
I wasn't sure if he was talking to me or Jayce, but I answered anyway. "Suits me. Just patch me up. I don't want to go to the hospital."
"You probably should. Just to get checked out by a doctor," he replied, bandaging my hand.
Jayce finished listening to my internal organs and put the stethoscope away. "All good." He grinned. "So tell me about this poison. What were the symptoms?"
I told him what happened, how my body had gone completely numb but now I almost had full feeling back and even the pins and needles were starting to abate. Jayce nodded. "Fast-acting but leaves the system quickly too. Ned is right, you should get checked out at the hospital just to be sure whatever you ingested doesn't have any lasting effects on your liver or kidneys."
"Do I have to go in the ambulance?"
"Not if you don't want to. I think you're okay to come in under your own steam. Just make sure you get checked out, okay?" They helped me to my feet, made sure I was steady and that the feeling had returned to my legs. Ned had been doing something on his phone when he glanced at me, face unsure. "Errrr," he said.
"What?"
"You said Crimson Bark, right? That the old lady laced your drink with?"
I nodded. "That's right. Why? Is Jayce right, has it eaten away my liver and I don't even know it yet?" Panic laced my words.
He chuckled, "No, no. Reading this, it does no lasting damage. But..." He held out the screen for me to read.
"Oh." I gulped.
"What?" Galloway demanded. He'd been so silent, watching proceedings this entire time that I'd actually forgotten he was there. "What does it say? What's wrong?"
I was shaking my head and snapped a warning glance at Ned who held up his hands. "Nothing. It's not important," I told Galloway.
"Gentlemen?" Galloway addressed Jayce and Ned who both shrugged their shoulders, picked up their bags and saluted farewell to me. "Take care, Audrey. Try and stay away from crazy pants old ladies, huh?"
"No promises." I grinned, giving them a wave, then I turned my attention to Galloway. "Okay, I know you're going to want me to come into the station and give a statement, and you're going to want a DNA sample because it's my blood on the knife, and my fingerprints and all of that stuff," I began, "but can I just pop home for a minute first? I could really use the bathroom and to freshen up."
He frowned. "Everything okay?"
"Yup." I nodded. Then I felt it. The first gurgling’s. Placing my hand over my belly I smiled sweetly. "All good." I had to get home. Fast. Pushing past Galloway I called out over my shoulder, "I'm fine, I promise. I'll just freshen up and then come down to the station. I'll see you there." With a wave, I was gone. Out the front door that hung off its hinges, across the lawn, up Ben's driveway where Ben and Thor were waiting for me.
"God, Audrey, are you okay? You're hurt! What happened?" Ben floated along beside me as I made a beeline for the front door. My focus entirely on getting myself to the sanctuary of Ben’s house before the storm that was about to come was unleashed.
"Audrey?" Ben pressed when I didn't answer him. Truth was, I couldn't. I was wildly recalculating my options, for the rolling in my abdomen was clear. Armageddon was coming, I was out of time. Moving as fast as my clenched ass would take me, I made it inside and into the bathroom, slamming the door in Ben's face. Which made zero difference because he simply floated right on through. Fingers frantically undoing my jeans, I totally ignored him, which should have been an indication to him that shit was about to go down. To give him credit, when I started doing a mad bunny hop and pulling my jeans down at the same time, he did squeak "oh" and hurried out of the bathroom. From the other side of the door, he called, "Fitz? You okay in there?"
I made it to the toilet with seconds to spare and there I spent the worst twenty minutes of my life. Oh. My. God. The noises. The smell. The burning! When the storm had passed I sat there, gathering myself. One thing I'd learned about Crimson Bark—its effects were fast. Fast to hit and fast to leave. But just in case, I remained seated and told Ben what had happened through the door.
"Do you think that's why I couldn't get into her house?" he asked. "She used some sort of spell to keep me out?"
I recalled Ben had said he couldn't enter Mrs. Hill's place, but I hadn't paid it any attention. "She doesn't know you're a ghost though. Well, at least I don't think she does. She never mentioned it, and at the end there, well, she wasn't hiding anything."
"So maybe some sort of ward or sigil or something that protects her house from spirits?"
"You could be onto something. There's a sigil burned into the wood on the gate between your place and hers. I've never thought anything of it until now. Enough about me, what about you?" I yelled at the door.
"What about me?" He sounded puzzled.
"You phoned Galloway! How did you do that?"
"Ahhh. It wasn't me. Not exactly. I instructed Thor on what to do. He dragged your phone out of your bag, held his paw on the last dialed number and told Kade that you needed help. Of course, Kade didn't understand any of it and hung up. So we rang back."
"Genius," I muttered. With no action for at least ten minutes, I figured I was safe, and weakly peeled myself off the toilet, kicked my jeans off because I didn't think I could stand the pressure of denim against my butt, and washed my hands. Well, one hand, since the other was out of commission thanks to Mrs. Crazy Pants. Dressed in T-shirt and panties I opened the door, gasping in the sweet fresh air. "I think the bathroom is going to need a fresh coat of paint."
"Everything okay?" Galloway drawled.
"Argh!" Shit. Poo. Bum. How long had he been standing there? Did he hear... I closed my eyes, not wanting to think about what had just transpired in the bathroom. Then another thought. Did he hear me talking to Ben? About ghosts? But I figured Ben would have warned me if that were the case. Wouldn't he? The dirty rat had disappeared, leaving me dressed in my underwear to face Captain Cowboy Hot Pants alone.
"Audrey Fitzgerald," Galloway said, grinning, dimple flashing, "working with you is going to be interesting, to say the least."
Oh sugar, you don't know the half of it.
Book two, Give up the Ghost is available here: http://mybook.to/GUTG
Afterword
Thank you for reading, if you enjoyed Ghost Mortem, please consider leaving a review.
If you’d like to find a complete list of my books, including series and reading order, please visit my website at:
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Thank you so much for taking a chance and reading my book - I do this for you.
xoxo
Jane
Read more by Jane
Find them all RIGHT HERE
The Ghost Detective Paranormal Cozy Mystery Series
#1 Ghost Mortem
#2 Give up the Ghost
#3 The Ghost is Clear
#4 A Ghost of a Chance
Witch Way Paranormal Cozy Mystery Series
#1 Witch Way to Magic & Mayhem
#2 Witch Way to Romance & Ruin
#3 Witch Way Down Under
#4 Witch Way to Beauty & the Beach
#5 Witch Way to Death & Destruction
#6 Witch Way to Secrets & Sorcery
Paranormal Romance & Urban Fantasy
The Awakening Series
#1 First Blade
#2 First Witch
#3 First
Blood
The Hell’s Gate Series
#1 Straight to Hell
#2 The Devil Inside
#3 Hotter than Hell
The SIA Series
#1 Born in Fire
#2 Thirst for Fire
#3 Blood and Fire
#4 Marked in Fire
Stand alones
Returned
Heart of Darkness
Blood Cursed
Destiny’s Touch
About Jane
Find all my stories RIGHT HERE!
Hi there! I’m Jane Hinchey, bestselling author of the Ghost Detective Cozy Mystery Series. I totally admit that I can be a snarky, sarcastic, and on the odd occasion, hilarious storyteller. I love writing anything paranormal, from murder mysteries to steamy romance, but I’ve discovered everything I write has an element of suspense in it. Just like life, right? You never know how your story is going to end up!
I’m an Aussie – British born, Australian raised, which makes for an interesting vocabulary on occasion, especially as I write using US English. Let’s not get started on hood versus bonnet, torch versus flashlight, thong versus flip flop… believe me, that last one can get a girl into a lot of trouble if used incorrectly.
My life is pretty simple. I love reading, cats, and my family. My hero is my dad. I’m short in height but big on imagination. While I can’t technically speak feline, I often have animated conversations with my ginger ninja, Maxx, and my derpy cat, Morgan.
I live by three simple rules – (1) smile every day. (2) Be kind to each other. (3) Follow your dreams. And bonus rule, always, always, have coffee on hand!
