Proxy (The Dreams of Reality Book 1)

by Gareth Otton

  It wasn’t right that someone could look that good so late at night. It was worse when she stared at Tad with that predatory gaze she always wore when she saw him.

  “Yes! It’s D.I. Slut. Please don’t screw it up this time, Tad. Tell her that as she’s a detective inspector, you’ve got something for her to inspect... Ow! Don’t hit me.”

  Typical. Tony couldn’t wait one second before breaking Tad’s long-standing rule about not distracting him around people… especially those with the power to get him committed. Thankfully Miriam was there to smack him while Tad tried to ignore Tony’s outburst. He forced a smile.

  “D.I. Martin. You’re here late.”

  To say she sat in the chair wouldn’t do the motion justice. It was more like she slid into place and the chair was just happy to be of service. She offered Tad a quirky half smile and shook a manicured finger at him, drawing his attention to her black, painted nails.

  “Now, now. We’re long past titles and last names. Or would you rather be called Mr Holcroft?” Tad’s wince transformed her half smile into an earth shattering grin filled with straight, pearly-white teeth. “Or maybe Thaddeus?”

  “Dear God no. Just Tad will do fine.”

  Her throaty chuckle came from somewhere deep in her chest and stirred up awkward feelings in Tad. Not used to beautiful women at the best of times, ones who flirted with him made him decidedly uncomfortable.

  “Alright then… Tad.” She stretched the name and gave him a look that made him forget how tired he was. Thank God for Miriam’s snort of disgust or he might have started drooling. “Why don’t you call me Stella? We’re friends now, right?”

  Of course her name was Stella. She couldn’t exactly have a normal name, could she?

  If Stella wasn’t distraction enough, his ghosts were at it again. He was forced to ignore Miriam’s disgust and Tony’s attempts to break free of Miriam’s grip so he could look down Stella’s top. At least Charles was a gentleman… almost. The chubby ghost was doing his utmost to not look directly at Stella. However, what he thought were sly glances were not at all subtle.

  “Well?” Stella asked again and Tad realised he hadn’t responded.

  “What? Friends… Right… Of course… Yes… No problem.”

  Tony laughed. “Smooth.”

  Refraining from shooting Tony a hateful glare was the hardest thing he’d ever done. He managed it, just, but his eyes twitched and his frustration slipped through enough for Stella to notice.

  Tad had access to the talents and knowledge of his ghosts. As he considered Stella’s insistence that they were friends, Miriam’s police background and talent as a detective told him that Stella was trying to build a connection to put him off guard.

  That knowledge was slow coming. It had been over eighteen hours since he last slept with his ghosts, so their link was fading. He couldn't rely on Miriam’s skills much longer.

  Tad wasn’t actually friends with Stella. He’d met her through Kate, Miriam’s life partner. Kate was also a detective and wasn’t exactly friendly with Stella, but whenever their paths crossed when Tad was present, Stella made a point of saying hello.

  Tad never really liked her, though he knew he should. You didn’t need Tony’s perversions to recognise she belonged in every man’s fantasies. But she’d made one crucial mistake when she met him.

  She’d hit on him.

  Women did not hit on Tad. They never had, and never would. A woman as beautiful as Stella making a genuine pass at him would signal the apocalypse.

  Tad had always had the tall and dark part down, he was just missing the handsome. His was a face that he needed personality to pull off, and he’d spent too much time with ghosts to develop one amongst the living. Stella wasn’t after him because of attraction, she wanted something else. But what?

  “So, why don’t you tell me what you were doing in the castle tonight?” Stella leaned closer and whispered in an excited tone, “Maybe start with how you got in. We’re all baffled at that.”

  Tad didn’t think she’d buy the truth, so ignored her amendment. “I was looking for a friend.”

  Stella leaned back, a touch of her smile fading as she made a motion for him to continue.

  “I’ve been trying to get hold of him for a few days, but no luck. I feared the worst, so I tried the castle… uh… he hangs out there sometimes. He’s a history buff.”

  “Ah. No wonder you get on so well. You teach history at the University, right? People tell me they’re surprised you’re still in Cardiff. I hear you’ve had offers from Cambridge and Oxford.”

  It was Charles who had the interest in history. Channeling his interest and extensive knowledge had built Tad’s career. Charles’ one stipulation was that they stay in Cardiff, a place to which he had a strong attachment, so Tad had to turn down even the most lucrative offers.

  “I suppose Tommy and I had that in common.”

  She arched a perfect eyebrow and sat forward again. “Tommy? That wouldn’t be Thomas Butcher, would it?”

  Tad blinked. She knew Tommy? Suddenly on uncomfortable ground, he hesitated before nodding.

  “I thought so. We’ll get back to that shortly. Tell me, did he often go to the castle at night after the doors were locked and there should be no one inside? Or did something else draw you there tonight? Maybe the same thing that took you to Brighton two months back. You were looking for Carys Brett then, right? Maybe it the same thing that had you asking after Michael Crocker in Newport last month? I’ve got a few other names here you might have heard of.”

  She drew a sheet of paper from a bag he hadn’t noticed her carrying and she started reading off a list. “Nancy Fisher. Dan Brooks. Marian Salvatore. Cheryl James. Any of those ring a bell? You’ve been looking for all of them over the last two years.”

  Tad was speechless.

  He hadn’t met all of them, but knew the names. They were Proxies. How did Stella know them? Worse, how did she know where he’d been and what he’d been doing? Was this why she had been so friendly?

  The smile was gone from her pretty face. She wasn’t scary or hostile yet, but she wasn’t flirting either.

  “You need to say something, Tad,” Miriam hissed, keeping her voice low as though somehow Stella might hear. “You don’t want her looking into you more than she already has.”

  He wanted to ask her what to say because he was drawing a blank, but couldn’t without looking crazy. It didn’t stop him shooting Miriam a pleading look. It was just a glance, but it was enough for Stella to follow his gaze and frown.

  Stella waited only a few more seconds before speaking again. “Let me level with you. I don’t care that you broke into the castle. I also don’t work the late shift. I came here just for you.”

  She leaned close enough that he was overcome with the smell of her perfume. It was sweet, flowery and intoxicating. Yet another tool at her disposal.

  “I don’t want you to worry, I’m not accusing you of anything. I just want answers.” She tapped a black nail against the sheet in front of her. “I think you know that all of these people are missing. There are more names, a lot more. The thing is, I can’t see what they have in common.

  “We have a group of people that include all ages, sizes, genders and races. There’s no commonality. Not religion. Not even a Facebook group. Other than living in the UK, they couldn’t be more different. But I know their disappearances are connected, and I think you know why.

  “You need to tell me. If I can find a connection, then I have a place to start. I can find these people and stop anyone else being taken. But I need help.”

  This time she waited for him to speak. Still struggling for words, he finally found his voice.

  “I knew a few of these people, but I don’t know what they had in common.” Other than all being Proxies. He doubted she would buy that.

  Stella sighed and sat back.

  “Here’s the thing. It’s strange that a group of people as random as this would have you in comm
on. This puts you in one of two camps. Either you’re a potential victim in which case you need to tell me what you know so I can protect you. Or—”

  “I didn’t fucking do this,” he blurted. “You have to believe me. I don’t know what’s going on, but it wasn’t me. I knew a few of these people. They were acquaintances, nothing more. I just wanted to find them. I haven’t been doing anything to them. I promise.”

  Miriam hissed at him to be quiet and he listened, though maybe a little too late. Tony whistled in a way that told him he had just messed up. Again Tad tried to ignore them, but was only partially successful.

  “I believe you” Stella said. “The trouble is, you’re not giving me anything to work with. That doesn’t look good—”

  “Ask Kate,” Tad interrupted. “I spoke to her about these. I told her I was worried and asked where I should start—”

  His words cut off when Miriam hit the back of his head and told him to leave Kate out of it.

  Too late. Stella’s eyes lit up.

  She ignored his wince and how he couldn’t resist rubbing the spot where Miriam hit him, instead focusing on his words.

  “Have you now? Funny, I haven’t heard anything from her about it.”

  “It was only in passing,” Tad backtracked. “I mentioned that someone I knew had disappeared and asked if she had any advice.”

  Stella didn’t look convinced.

  “Alright. Say I believe you. That puts you in the first category… a potential victim. You need to tell me what connects these people. You clearly knew them, so what did you have in common?”

  “I don’t know. We weren’t that close.”

  “That’s not going to cut it. You were close enough to look for them. You must know something.”

  “But I don’t.”

  Stella said no more. She leaned back and tapped her nails against the paper again, waiting him out. It shouldn’t have scared him as much as it did. He had just faced down three angry ghosts, what was one annoyed police woman against that?

  But he had been dealing with ghosts since he was nine. Being in trouble with the law was new.

  “We need to get you out of here,” Miriam said.

  “No shit,” Tad answered before he could stop himself.

  “What was that?” Stella asked.

  “Nothing.”

  She didn’t look convinced.

  “Say you want to leave” Miriam advised. “I don’t think she’s supposed to be working this case. Like she said earlier, there’s no solid connection and I know how the system works. Without a clear connection there's no way this is a single case. She has a hunch, and she’s grasping at straws, but she’s not got official backing. The only way to make it official is to follow her one lead, and that’s you. She can’t do that if you're stuck in jail. Just ask to leave. She’ll let you go.”

  He wasn’t so sure, but he wanted to leave so he did as she said.

  “It’s getting late. If you’re not charging me for the castle thing, can I go?”

  “I have more questions.”

  “But I don’t have answers. Like I said. It’s late, my daughter’s babysitter is probably pissed off with me by now. I need to go.”

  It was the daughter comment that swayed her, he could see that. He wasn’t sure how the fact that he had a daughter had escaped her notice.

  “Are you charging me?” he asked, playing a line he’d seen on every police procedural show ever made. She shook her head and he stood. “Then I’m leaving.”

  It worked.

  Stella sat motionless, staring at him with an unreadable expression as he walked by. Just as he got to the door she asked the most shocking question of the night.

  “Does this have something to do with ghosts?”

  He froze, not daring to look back less she read his face.

  “What?”

  She laughed. “I know. It sounds stupid, but here’s the thing. Over the last few years we’ve seen a rise in nine-nine-nine calls that have been related to ghost sightings. It was a joke at first, a few stories here and there. But then we got video evidence. Since then they’ve become more common and… I know this sounds crazy… but it’ll soon be official policy to acknowledge the existence of ghosts and treat calls about them seriously.”

  Tad was stunned.

  He knew the number of sightings had gone up, it was one reason he’d been so busy of late. It wasn’t officially his job to deal with hauntings, but he was uniquely qualified. With no other Proxies around, he couldn’t live with himself if someone got hurt because he didn’t act. This side job had been non stop recently and the supernatural issue was becoming a media darling again.

  But for police policy to change, that really surprised him.

  “The reason I’m bringing this up is that it’s the only link I know of with these disappearances. Not all, but a few, have had friends or family that we’ve questioned who’ve mentioned ghosts. We haven’t got much more than that and normally we would just put it aside as crazy talk, but…”

  She paused as she stood from her chair, her heeled boots clicking on the linoleum as she covered the distance to stand by Tad’s side.

  “As I said, it’s the only possible connection.” She took his hand and he turned in surprise, finding himself face to face with her and staring into her beautiful eyes. “If it is something like that, you can trust me. I promise. Say what you want and I’ll take it seriously.”

  He blinked like an idiot before losing the battle to keep from looking at his ghosts. It wasn’t often he found himself in this situation, and even Miriam who had been in a room like this countless times, was stunned.

  Stella looked triumphant, alternating her gaze from him to the empty spaces he had been looking at. That more than anything snapped Tad from his stunned state and he said, “I need to go.”

  Stella sighed again and nodded. She kept hold of his hand and lifted it to chest height before turning it palm up. Her other hand was suddenly holding a pen, and she wrote on his palm.

  “This is my personal number. If you change your mind, give me a call.” Her smile and that predatory look returned. “Hey, even if you just want to chat.” She leaned in close so she could whisper directly into his ear. “Call me.”

  Then she was gone, stepping away so suddenly that he stepped back in surprise. Stella walked from the room and it was only when he couldn’t hear her clicking heels anymore when he came back to himself.

  “Holy shit that woman’s hot,” Tony said, breaking the silence. “Don’t get me wrong. She’s scary as hell, but… well, that’s kind of hot, right?”

  Miriam snorted yet again. “You’re sick,” she said almost absently, then looked at Tad’s hand in disgust. “The slut could just have given you her card.”

  Tad looked at his palm, noting the neat handwriting and the message below the number. Call me. This was followed by a little heart.

  Tad shook his head and curled his hand into a fist. It was too flirty. He couldn’t trust that woman. She already knew too much.

  “Come on,” he said. “Let’s go home.”

  He got no complaints.

  They got a taxi to his car and it was more than an hour before he pulled up outside his house. The entire time he couldn’t help thinking over Stella’s words. Were the police really going to take ghosts seriously? Was that what the world was coming to?

  In theory it should be good news. Maybe he could now talk about his life without people wanting to lock him in a padded cell. But he couldn’t help but feel it was further evidence that things were not right with the world.

  He was so lost in thought that he wasn’t paying attention to the atmosphere of his end-terrace house as he opened the door. He apologised to Letty, his neighbour, who had been watching his daughter. She was angry, but when he described his night she calmed.

  He had dealt with a haunting for her in the past and she was always happy to return the favour. The seventy-year-old widow was ever eager to watch Jen, and Tad enjoyed
not having to hide his activities around her.

  Still, he was glad to see the back of her. He watched her cross the street before he closed the door. He was ready for bed, but when he stepped into the living room he realised his night wasn’t over.

  His three ghosts stared at a fourth with varying expressions. Charles looked scandalised and Miriam was frowning. Tony however, stood with a huge grin on his face. When Tad walked in, Tony turned his attention to him briefly enough to say, “This has to be the best night ever.”

  At his words the fourth and newest ghost in the room turned. She was in her late twenties, pretty and naked. Her blonde hair was cut to her jawline, so it was no use for strategic modesty. Not that she seemed to even notice her nudity.

  She was completely unashamed as she turned around and met Tad’s eyes. Of all his shocks of the night, this was the biggest.

  “Maggie?” he asked in a stunned whisper.

  She smiled a smile he had not seen in five years and said, “Hello Tad. It’s been a while.”

  3

  Monday, 16th November 2015

  01:39

  Tad struggled to get his over-taxed brain working.

  Maggie was here.

  In his house.

  Naked.

  And she was a ghost.

  He got caught up with the naked part. Tad always thought Maggie had the girl-next-door look perfected. Blonde hair framed her round face complete with green eyes, button nose and cute dimples. She wasn’t overweight, but was curvy in what Tad had always considered to be the right places.

  He caught himself staring, blushed and looked away. It didn’t help that he’d wanted to see this woman naked since he was a teenager. He’d loved Maggie since he was old enough to know what love was.

  “Shit, sorry Maggie.”

  She giggled nervously and the sound closed a five-year gap. Memories he thought long buried flooded his mind, reawakening the pain and bitterness of their parting. From said bitterness he drew the strength to collect his thoughts.

  “Do you think maybe you should get the young lady some clothes, Thaddeus?” Charles asked. Tad nodded and silently walked into the hall, still trying to recover from the shock. That was Maggie… his Maggie. She was dead.