Ghostly Despair (A Harper Harlow Mystery Book 10)

by Lily Harper Hart

  They found her in a rundown apartment in Sterling Heights, and she wasn’t happy to find police officers on the other side of her door when she answered.

  “Oh, geez.” Marley’s hair was straw-like and streaked with gray. She had a cigarette clutched in her hand and wore an unflattering pair of yoga pants. “I didn’t do anything. If the landlord is complaining about that chair that went missing when those people were moving, they left it by the dumpster. Everyone knows that you’re allowed to take furniture if it’s left by the dumpster.”

  Jared and Mel exchanged a dubious look.

  “We’re not here about the chair, ma’am,” Mel said carefully. “We’re here on another matter.”

  “Well, I didn’t steal gas from the BP station last week either. That was a car that looked like mine. I’ve already explained that.”

  “We’re not with the Sterling Heights Police Department,” Jared offered. “We’re from Whisper Cove.”

  The news clearly took Marley by surprise. “Whisper Cove? I haven’t been to Whisper Cove in years. Whoever says I did something there ... well ... they’re full of it. Why would I possibly go to that raggedy town? There’s nothing of interest there.”

  Jared figured she meant there was nothing worth stealing in Whisper Cove, but he kept the observation to himself. “Ma’am, we’re not here to accuse you of anything.”

  “That’s true,” Mel confirmed. “We’re here to ask questions about a former associate of yours. Judy Lange. We’re not interested in how you’ve been spending your time over the past few years.”

  “Oh.” Puzzlement, deep and fierce, wound its way across Marley’s deeply-lined face. “Judy? What has she done?”

  “She’s dead.”

  Marley didn’t look particularly shocked, but she pushed open her door and ushered the two men inside. “Well, come on. You’re letting out all the heat. I don’t want to pay for heating the outside.”

  “Thank you.”

  Jared did his best not to cringe at the filthy interior of the apartment. It was clear that Marley had been living in the hovel for a number of years. The walls were shiny and coated with a yellow film thanks to the cigarette smoke, and the floor was littered with garbage, including takeout bags and the remnants of forgotten shopping trips. There were so many items on the kitchen table that Jared was torn between the notion that Marley was a serial shoplifter or perhaps a hoarder. Neither option could be ruled out.

  “I would offer you something to drink, but I don’t want to,” Marley said as she settled on the chair in the middle of the living room, leaving the dilapidated couch for Mel and Jared. “What do you want to know about Judy?”

  “We understand you were arrested with her twice about fifteen years ago,” Mel started.

  “I was framed both times,” Marley argued. “In fact, I know it’s wrong to speak ill of the dead, but Judy was the one who framed me. I should’ve learned after the first time, but she was apologetic so I let it slide when I shouldn’t have. That’s on me.”

  “Yes, well, we don’t really want to talk about the logistics of that case other than to understand how Judy operated,” Jared supplied. “We’re trying to figure out who hated her enough to kill her.”

  Marley barked out a guttural laugh that was devoid of humor. “Everyone who ever met Judy wanted to kill her.”

  “Why?” Mel queried. “What can you tell us about her personality?”

  “She had a horrible one.”

  “We would like more information if you have it.”

  Marley let loose a huge sigh, as if the questions she was being peppered with were so taxing she would soon need a nap. “I don’t know what you want me to tell you. Judy was a user. That’s not surprising given the crowd we ran with. I haven’t seen her in years, though. Like ... a long time. I assumed she had left the area.”

  “She did,” Mel confirmed. “She moved to a variety of different states and had numerous warrants out for her arrest in several states. She returned here at some point, though, and hit her mother up for cash.”

  “I’m sure her mother didn’t jump on that nibble,” Marley snorted. “From what I remember, Judy and her mother didn’t get along. Judy must’ve been desperate to come back begging after the way she ran out on her mother without even saying goodbye.”

  “How do you know she didn’t say goodbye?” Jared asked.

  “Because the mother came looking for Judy several weeks later and was surprised that her daughter left town without so much as a ‘see you, wouldn’t want to be you.’ She seemed a little sad, but you could tell she was sick, too.

  “If you want to know the truth, I think the mother was happy to be rid of her,” she continued. “No one wants to admit their kid is a loser and cut ties, but Judy was no prize. It must have been a relief when she ran.”

  “Was Judy fleeing for a specific purpose?” Mel asked. “I mean ... did she think she would be facing charges anytime soon?”

  “That was always the fear in Judy’s world. And mine, for that matter. You have to understand, everyone we hung with had some sort of racket going.”

  “From looking over her record, it seemed Judy was big on investment schemes. How did she pull that off?”

  Marley shrugged, seemingly unbothered by the question. “It wasn’t hard. She pulled me into a few of those schemes, too. For the record, I did nothing illegal. I made a few calls, did a little research, and I wasn’t paid for my time and effort.”

  “We really aren’t here to give you grief,” Jared stressed. “Judy Lange was murdered, though, and someone went out of his or her way to make sure she wouldn’t have a chance to save herself. If whoever wanted her gone would’ve waited, there were much less risky avenues that would’ve been at their disposal.”

  “I don’t think I’m getting the full picture,” Marley hedged. “How did she die?”

  “Someone poisoned her. In the hospital.”

  “Oh.” Marley made a squinched face. “That seems like a lot of work. As for someone wanting Judy dead, like I told you before, Judy had a lot of enemies. That’s what happens when you’re in the game. Eventually you screw so many people over that you have no choice but to move on to greener pastures.”

  “And that’s what you think Judy did?”

  “I think she was out of ideas for this particular spot of pavement,” Marley corrected. “She didn’t have the means to run a big scam. That meant she had to stick to smaller scams, like real estate deals.”

  “And how did those work?”

  “Basically we paid a guy to print up fake deeds for us and we sold parcels of land we didn’t own to people who thought they would be able to build houses on them,” Marley replied. “The key was to find people who were stupid but still had ten grand to pay for the land. They thought they were getting a deal but didn’t realize that there was something wrong with the deeds.”

  Jared was dumbfounded. “But ... what about the title company? What about having a notary around to sign off on documents?”

  “That’s easier to fake than you realize,” Marley answered. “Seriously, though, we only managed to carry off that con a few times. We tried other real estate scams, but they weren’t easy and eventually Judy and I parted ways.”

  “What about the other people you hung with? Did Judy owe any of them money?”

  “We all owed each other money. It was not enough to kill over, though. A hundred bucks here or there. Nothing more.”

  “Some people consider ten dollars worth killing over,” Mel noted.

  “Not the people I hang with,” Marley countered. “We all know we’re going to get screwed by each other at some point. That’s what you get when you hang around with criminals. It is what it is.”

  “But ... .”

  “No.” Marley shook her head, firm. “Listen, I’m not going to pretend to be sorry that Judy’s dead. I haven’t seen her in a long time and she wasn’t a favorite even when we were hanging. I don’t know what to tell you. I don’t think
I have any information you would be interested in.”

  Jared couldn’t help but agree. “Thank you for your time.”

  AFTER RETURNING TO Whisper Cove, Jared left Mel at the office to check on the search and pointed himself toward the hotel where he knew Quinn was staying.

  It was probably a mistake — he told himself that over and over again as he drove — but he had to talk to the man. The more he thought about Quinn’s surprise visit so early in the morning, the more his agitation grew.

  Quinn was in the downstairs coffee shop flipping through a newspaper when Jared strolled into the lobby. He didn’t look surprised to see the police officer, instead exhaling heavily and pointing toward the seat across from him as he folded his newspaper.

  “I figured you would stop by.”

  “Oh, yeah?” Jared smiled as the waitress approached the table. “I’ll take a regular coffee, no cream or sweetener. Thank you.”

  The woman cast him a flirty grin as she turned on her heel and practically bounced to the counter. Her reaction to Jared wasn’t lost on Quinn.

  “Do you get that a lot?”

  “What?”

  “Women throwing themselves at you.”

  Jared cocked his head and held his hands palms out. “I don’t really consider that ‘throwing herself at me,’ but women like to flirt. It comes with the badge.”

  “How does Harper feel about that?”

  The slow fire building in Jared’s stomach all day when it came to Quinn’s interest in Harper sparked to bonfire size. “Harper and I have a solid relationship. It’s built on trust and respect. She knows I would never cheat on her.”

  “I wasn’t suggesting otherwise. It’s just ... I’ve never been one of those guys who walks into a room and finds every set of female eyes on him. That must be entertaining.”

  “I don’t think of myself that way,” Jared countered.

  “And how do you think of yourself?”

  “As a man who wants to balance his personal and professional lives.”

  Quinn’s eyes gleamed with understanding. “Ah. You think I’m getting in the way of that. Come on, you can admit it.”

  “I think you’re starting to make me uncomfortable,” Jared said, taking them both by surprise. “I don’t know what you’re trying to do here, but I feel caught. I love and trust my girlfriend. We’re building a life together, and it’s not something that’s going to fade into the background. Your presence, though, makes me turn bossy and controlling ... and I don’t like it.”

  “I’m not trying to invade your world,” Quinn countered. “I know you think that, but I’m not. This isn’t easy for me.”

  “See, the difference between you and me is that I recognize that. I know this isn’t easy for you. I get it. Even when I’m angry, I put myself in your position and I can’t help but feel a twinge of sympathy, which I don’t want to feel because I don’t like you.”

  “Well, at least you can admit it.”

  “I have no problem admitting it.” Jared leaned back in his chair and accepted the coffee the waitress brought without moving his eyes from Quinn’s face. He waited until she was gone to continue speaking. “What do you want?”

  “What makes you think I want anything?”

  “Don’t play coy with me,” Jared ordered, extending a finger. “What do you want?”

  “I don’t know.” Quinn held his hands out and shrugged, helplessness coursing over his features. “I feel as if I’m caught between two worlds, and I have no idea what I’m supposed to do about that.”

  “Has it ever occurred to you that you no longer belong in this world?”

  “Yes. I’m not trying to force myself on this town, or the people in it. If that’s what you’re worried about, you can stop. I don’t think I belong here.”

  “Okay, that’s a start.” Jared licked his lips and debated how to proceed. “What do you want from Harper?”

  “I don’t want to hurt her.”

  “You’ve said that before, and even though I don’t like you, I believe it. You want something from her, though. You went out of your way to visit her at work yesterday. You showed up at the house today.”

  “I don’t believe either of those things is illegal.”

  “No, but they are worrisome,” Jared said. “Even if I could get past how weird I find it that you wanted to take my girlfriend for a walk on the beach, why would you possibly want to hang out at GHI for the day?”

  Quinn opened his mouth, his eyes furtive, but no sound came out.

  “You said you weren’t interested in picking up where you left off, but your actions say otherwise,” Jared pressed. “That’s not fair to Harper. You might not believe this, but I’ve got her best interests at heart. I don’t want her hurt, and I’m afraid the pushing you insist on doing is going to hurt her. Can’t you just back off?”

  Quinn found his voice. “I don’t want to pressure her. That’s not my intention. It’s just ... I came back to see her. I feel as if I should spend some time with her before ... .”

  “Before what?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Before you leave?” Jared prayed he didn’t sound too hopeful when he asked the question.

  “I already told you I don’t intend on staying,” Quinn explained. “As for Harper, I don’t know what you want me to say. I get she’s part of my past, but it feels current to me. It’s not about romance, though, no matter what you believe. It’s not that.”

  “I want to help you here, believe you, but I can’t help but worry. Harper is the thing I love most in this world, and I feel as if you’re putting me in a corner and my only choice is to come out swinging.”

  “And you don’t want that,” Quinn surmised. “You don’t want to be the guy who attacks the poor soul who lost his memory for five years. You know that will paint you as the villain, and you don’t want to be the villain.”

  “I’m not the villain.”

  “That’s what I said.”

  “I’m not the villain,” Jared repeated. “I want to believe you’re not a villain either. No one would blame us for hating one another. This is an awkward position that very few people have ever experienced, and the natural inclination is to embrace the hate. I want to believe I’m more enlightened than that, though.”

  “But?”

  “But I don’t know that I am.” Jared dug into his pocket and retrieved his phone. “Do you know this man?”

  The abrupt change in Jared’s demeanor clearly threw Quinn for a loop. “I ... um ... .” He shook his head as he stared at the screen grab the police officer showed him. “Am I supposed to know who that is?”

  “I don’t know. He was seen entering the hospital the same night as you. We’re trying to figure out who he is.”

  “I’m not local. Wouldn’t it be better to ask a local?”

  “Harper and Zander don’t know who he is.”

  “Well ... I can’t help you.” Quinn held up his hands and shrugged. “Is that what you came here to ask me?”

  “Amongst other things.” Jared downed his coffee in four large gulps and pretended that he wasn’t bothered by the taste. “I’m not going to warn you to stay away from Harper. If that’s what you’re expecting, you’re going to have to look elsewhere.”

  “I hate to break it to you, but Harper is her own person,” Quinn pointed out. “She wouldn’t like it if you tried to take over her life and warned me away.”

  “That’s the reason I’m not warning you away,” Jared admitted. “Everything inside says I should go all alpha and stake my claim on my woman. I’m not going to do that, though.”

  “I think that’s healthy.”

  “Mostly I’m not going to do that because I don’t need to.” Jared turned smug. “Zander hates you. He’ll put a claim on Harper and you’ll be forced to contend with him.”

  Quinn’s lips turned down into a pronounced scowl. “That guy has never liked me. I think he has it in for me.”

  “He definitel
y does.” Jared tossed a dollar bill on the table to leave as a tip. “I think you want me to draw a line in the sand. That’s why you showed up before I left the house this morning. You want Harper and me to fight.

  “That’s not going to happen,” he continued. “I won’t let it. Harper is in control of her life. I’m in control of mine. Our lives overlap, and I’m not going to let you screw this up, so whatever you have planned, it’s not going to work.”

  Quinn turned contrite. “I’m not trying to screw up your relationship. She’s a touchstone for me, though. She was the most important thing in my life when I left. I can’t pretend that’s not true now even though it makes you uncomfortable.”

  “Then don’t.” Jared was matter-of-fact. “Just remember, things aren’t like they were when you left. Relationships change, people move forward and mature. Harper may be your touchstone, but we’re together and that’s not going to change.”

  “Fair enough. I respect your relationship boundaries. No matter what you think of me, I’m not the sort of guy to move in on someone else’s girl.”

  “Make sure you don’t.” With those words, Jared turned on his heel and departed the hotel. He didn’t necessarily feel better, but he didn’t feel worse either.

  That, at least, was something.

  Fifteen

  Harper left Zander to fuss over his gourds at the house. She wanted some time alone — at least she thought she did — so the office was out of the question. She considered heading to the beach. By November’s standards, the weather was an unseasonably warm afternoon (high forties with a lot of sun), so a walk wasn’t out of the question. Since Harper worried she might run into Quinn there, and that was the last thing she wanted, she did the unthinkable instead ... and headed to her father’s house.

  Ever since filing for divorce, Phil Harlow had been going through a mid-life crisis of sorts. That was what Harper figured anyway. He’d regressed to the point where he acted as if he was in his twenties. Actually, since Harper was in her twenties, she offended herself with the comparison. Phil had been acting much more immature than her. He simply didn’t seem to care what other people thought.