by Gareth Otton
“Of course. Sorry. Thanks again. You’re a lifesaver. I’ll see you later.”
She said goodbye and hung up. The car went silent.
Tad closed his eyes and banged his head against the headrest. His anger returned. He had been frustrated with Jen a lot over the past year, but this was the first time he really felt like strangling her.
Then there was Maggie. He couldn’t believe she wouldn’t help him.
It was all too much. The disappearance of his friends, his increasing power, and his growing certainty that there was something wrong with the world. Now this.
He fumed as he tried to get a grip on himself and finally he pushed it aside He knew dwelling on it would get him nowhere. He just had to be happy that at least he had one crisis solved.
He started the car and pulled into traffic, intending to leave his negative thoughts behind.
Sadly, life doesn’t work that way.
Tad opened the door and was greeted with apple pie.
It was a supermarket bakery model, in a plastic box but no less delicious looking for it. Attached to that box was a big red sticker that said one pound, along with two hands that were attached to a smiling Stella.
“I hope this is okay?”
Tad was a little too stunned to speak. He had never seen Stella dressed down before. She seemed to fit those blouses and business suits so well that he presumed she always wore them. He was not prepared for this version of Stella.
Rather than trousers and boots, she had skinny jeans that hugged her athletic legs and trainers. In place of her blouse and business jacket was an over sized hoodie. Even the way she tied back her hair was more casual and less considered than usual.
Everything about her had been dialled down a notch. Not that she didn’t look great. In fact, she looked better than ever. Before she always appeared like some picture perfect cutout from a magazine. It made her untouchable and therefore not real. This was no longer the case and the awkwardness Tad thought he had lost around her crept back in.
“You really didn’t have to,” he said. He stepped aside so she could enter and he finally caught sight of Jen.
She was dressed in the same getup as Stella. She even had her hair tied back the same way. Her head was down and she stared at the floor, only glancing up when she thought Tad wasn’t watching. He wondered where she got the outfit. By the size of the clothes he expected they might belong to Stella.
“It was no trouble. It was just staring at me on one of those stands as I waited at the checkout, and I thought, why the hell not?” Stella made a point of looking to the kitchen and said, “It smells amazing. Jen tells me your lasagne is the best.”
Tad had not taken his eyes off Jen so he caught the moment that the beige, almost brown aura he didn’t recognise, turned a shade of pink.
“Did she now?”
Stella give them a quick glance before turning back to the kitchen. “Shall I put this in here?”
“Thanks Stella. Miriam’s in there if you want to say hello. I’ll catch up in a second.”
Stella hesitated, catching Jen’s eye and giving her a look that Tad didn’t understand, before she walked into the kitchen.
“Well?” Tad asked, drawing Jen’s attention.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to cause this much trouble.”
He had been practicing what he would say all day. It was typical that when confronted with the tears building in her eyes, all of it went out of his head. Before he realised he had moved, he had her in his arms and she was hugging him just as tight as he hugged her.
“God Jen, I was so worried. Never do that again.”
“I won’t. I promise.”
“What were you thinking?” Jen hesitated and before she could speak Tad thought better of it. “Forget it. We’ll talk about it later.”
He stepped away, and he caught her look of surprise.
“We will? You’re not going to shout at me?”
He laughed. “Oh, there’ll probably be a few words. But right now dinner’s nearly ready. We’ll talk more tonight. Why don’t you go drop your things upstairs then come down for dinner?”
She didn’t move, she just looked at him with a puzzled expression.
“You don’t sound mad. It’s weird.”
He laughed again. He had been mad all day. He had raged to himself while he tidied the house, raged with the others when they had come back from their searches and continued to rage silently until he opened that door to Stella and Jen. Seeing her home and safe sapped that rage from him. Suddenly he was just glad to have her back.
“I’ve been mad. We’ll definitely be having words. But for now I’m just glad you’re okay. Now hurry up.” He turned to walk into the kitchen, then remembered something and turned back. “And don’t think you’ve got off lightly. Tony and Miriam will probably give you an ear full as soon as they see you. You know what they’re like. You’ve had them worried too.”
Jen winced. “And Charles?”
“Please. You know what he’s like. He’s a big softie. Wait to see him last. You’ll need one of his hugs after Miriam gets through with you.”
In spite of everything she smiled. Seeing that smile, Tad felt a lot of his worries slip away.
“I’ll never get used to seeing her,” Stella said as Miriam left the room. Stella was curled up in the right corner of the centre sofa, her bare feet tucked under her and a mug of coffee steaming in her hands. She stared at the door Miriam left through and shook her head.
“I saw her body. She was definitely gone. Now look at her. Walking around as though it’s the most normal thing in the world.”
“Give it time,” Tad answered. “It gets easier.”
He leaned back into his own corner, stifling a groan from a bloated feeling as he ran his fingers over the guitar. Between Stella, Jen and himself they had polished off a whole lasagne, two sticks of garlic bread and the apple pie. Now he struggled to move. Even his fingers felt fat as he plucked at the strings.
“Easy for you to say. You were born for this. It’s second nature to you.”
“You could say that. Of course, it took a bit of getting use to when I could suddenly see again. That was a shocker.”
“What?”
He told Stella of how he had been blinded as a child, how he was still blind if he didn’t have his ghosts with him. She listened with an excited smile and surrounded by an aura that was as blue as her eyes. She hung on his every word.
“You keep getting weirder and weirder,” she said when he finished. He laughed. Who was he to disagree?
She was about to say something else when she paused and stared at him. Her smile faded and he couldn’t read the expression that replaced it. The blue glow remained, but it was muted, so that was no help either.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“That’s beautiful,” Stella said in what sounded like awe.
As they had talked, Tad had worked out the tension in his hands and had moved onto a more complicated song. It was Tony’s talent at work, so it was no effort to play while he carried on a conversation with her.
“Thanks. I’ll pass your praise onto Tony. It’s his talent I’m channelling right now.”
“What?”
He continued to play the song as he reminded her of the benefits of being a Proxy. He also told her of how the longer his ghosts were with him, the more he became like them. It was why he was getting better at thinking like a detective, a talent he got from Miriam, and why he had a genuine interest in history, though he would swear otherwise to Charles.
“What did you get from Maggie?” Stella asked.
He fought back a frown as he thought of the one ghost who had not returned yet.
“She was an artist. She owned the Jensen Gallery and did well for herself. I haven’t tried it yet, but I’m sure I’ll have her artistic talents if I ever want to use them. If she was with me for a few more years, then I wouldn’t be able to stop myself. Like I said, the longer they�
�re with me the more I become like them. The things they want becomes the things I want. It’s how they continue to make their mark on the world.”
“By doing what they did in life through you by proxy,” Stella said. “I think I’m starting to get why you’re called that now.”
“It’s fitting,” Tad agreed.
A comfortable silence settled over them as he continued to play. After dinner, first Jen and then his ghosts had excused themselves one by one, until Tad sat alone with Stella in the living room. Eleven o’clock approached, but she was making no move to go home.
“I can’t thank you enough for looking after Jen.”
“You have to stop thanking me. Seriously. It was no bother.”
He sighed and shook his head. “It shouldn’t have happened. I can’t believe she did it. She’s been acting up recently, but to leave school like that… I don’t know where she got the idea.”
“She had her reasons,” Stella assured him. “You should talk with her.”
Tad tried to hide his wince, but failed. He’d been putting it off all evening and now she was in bed he wouldn’t bring it up until the morning. He wasn’t ready to confirm his suspicions, to hear she had left because she finally had enough of him.
“I’m serious, Tad. She has her reasons and they might not be what you think.”
The tone made Tad suspicious, and he looked at Stella who was patiently watching him and sipping her coffee.
“You know something?”
She nodded. “We talked in the car.
“And?”
“And you should talk with her. It’s not my place to get in the middle of this.”
“You’re right. Sorry. It’s just… Forget it. It doesn’t matter.”
She surprised him by leaning across the sofa and laying a hand on his arm.
“No. Tell me. What were you going to say?”
He hesitated, then gave in.
“It’s just getting to be too much for me. I didn’t know what I was agreeing too when I took her in. I love her, I just don’t think I’m good for her right now. She doesn’t seem happy here.”
Stella squeezed his arm and her smile never wavered.
“You’re too hard on yourself. You’re doing a better job than you think.”
“She wouldn’t be acting out the way she does if I was doing such a good job. I’m sure deep down she still blames me.”
“Blames you for what?”
“For making her parents move on.”
Stella shook her head. “No, she doesn’t. Trust me, that girl doesn’t blame you for anything. Quite the opposite.”
“What does that mean?”
“Just talk to her. And stop being so hard on yourself. Trust me, I wish I had a dad like you when I was Jen’s age.”
Her tone didn’t change when she spoke, but he saw the flicker of shadow pass over her aura. He was still not used to what the colours meant, but he doubted that shadow was anything good.
“You not close with your dad?” he asked.
This time the shadow spread through her aura like poison and she couldn’t keep the flicker of distaste from her face. A moment later her expression was neutral again even if her aura remained dark. She waved the question away.
“I’m not saying that.” For the first time he sensed the lie in her words. He felt the potential for an awkward silence so he changed the subject.
“So, Llanelli. Did your lead pan out? Is the case solved?”
Stella laughed and a flicker of blue and purple pushed back the shadow.
“Hardly. It was a waste of time. Yet another dead end.” Suddenly the blue sparked to life and pushed the other colours away as it turned paler and brighter. She turned back to Tad and her eyes were almost sparkling as she looked so excited. “I almost forgot, I was going to call you this evening anyway?”
Her excitement was infectious. “A break in the case?”
“No, but I have news. You know I said that the official word is to take ghost sightings seriously these days? Well, it turns out that there’s been a lot more going on than I thought. There’s been sightings and strange happenings all over the country. The powers that be aren’t just looking to take these stories seriously, they’re looking for help.
“They’ve been approaching mediums, psychics... anyone they can think of to get their head around this stuff. So far they’ve not found anyone who is anything more than a fake.”
She reached over again and poked him in the arm. “That’s where you come in. I told my bosses I might know someone who can help. Don’t worry, I didn’t give them your name. But I told them what I had seen you do. They said that if you’re interested and can prove yourself, they’d be happy to hire you as a consultant.”
Tad was about to tell her he didn’t think it was a good idea. He didn’t have a good track record of telling people what he could do, even if he could prove it. A lifetime of keeping his abilities secret was a hard habit to break. However, Stella spoke again before he could answer.
“If you come on board, you’d officially be part of the investigation. I can bring you to the station, show you everything we’ve got so far and work together from here on out. No more sneaking around and keeping secrets. We’d be in this together. What do you say?”
He didn’t know what to say. A few seconds earlier it would have been a guaranteed no, but now he wasn’t so sure. Stella had access to different resources than he did. It might give him the opportunity to get some answers for a change.
After thinking it over he said, “You know. That sounds like a good idea.”
Stella grinned. “I thought you’d say that. You’ve got an appointment for Monday at ten.”
He blinked. “I do?” She nodded. “What if I was busy?”
“You’re not. You haven’t got a lecture until one, and I’m sure you’ll be done by then.”
He blinked again. “Have you been stalking me?”
A hint of pink crept into her aura, but she just smiled. “You wish. No. I got your timetable from the university when I thought you might be a person of interest.”
Tad winced. “You really thought I might have something to do with this enough to get my schedule?”
Stella shook her head. “No. Of course not. But I had to cover my bases.”
She was too good at keeping her expression cool and he couldn’t tell if she was lying. Had she really been that interested in him for these disappearances? Was she still? Was that why she was here?
Just a few days earlier she had been doing everything she could to seduce him. He knew then that something wasn’t right. Was she trying a new angle?
He suddenly felt uncomfortable and Stella sensed it. Her smile slipped, and she stared at him with a serious expression.
“Tad. You saved my life. I’ll never forget that. I never liked you for these murders and now I know you, I don’t even remotely suspect anything. Please, you have to trust me.”
For once Miriam wasn’t in his ear to tell him what to think. Tony wasn’t there to say something inappropriate that would break him from whatever woman-voodoo-magic Stella cast whenever she spoke. He had to rely on his instincts. Those instincts were telling him that she was being serious. He could trust her.
“I think I do. Especially now I’ve seen the real Stella.”
She arched a perfect eyebrow. “The real Stella?”
He gestured to her sitting curled up at the other end of his sofa. “This relaxed version of you that’s not wearing the kind of clothes that make me sweat, or making me feel like a gazelle talking to a hungry lioness. That Stella scared me. I like this Stella more. I think I could be friends with this Stella.”
Pink flushed through her aura, and he wasn’t sure if it was the glow he was seeing or if she really was blushing. Her grin was impossible to miss though.
“I think I’d like that,” she said. “Did I really scare you?”
“I was more scared around you than I would be around a real lioness.”
“I know. That was the problem. Beautiful women don’t normally want my attention.”
“I wanted to know why Kate was so interested in you. When you got involved with this case and were holding things from me, I might have gone overboard.”
“Overboard? You’re the only thing Tony has talked about for weeks.”
Stella looked worried. “He hasn’t really watched me shower has he?”
“Probably not. You never know with Tony, but I don’t think so. I don’t think he’s half as bad as Miriam says. He spends most his time at strip clubs. He won’t really spy on people against their will.”
“That’s still weird for a boy his age.”
“His age? He’s older than either of us. Tony was fourteen when he died, but he’s been dead for over fifteen years.”
“And he still acts like that?”
“Ghosts don’t change. There might be a few personality shifts here or there, but they’re the same person they were when they died.”
She shook her head, her smile fading. “This is still so weird for me. A few days ago I thought it was a joke that I had to take ghost talk seriously. Now here I am sitting here with a Roxy talking about a thirty-year-old teenage ghost.”
“Proxy,” Tad corrected and got a cheeky grin in return.
“I know. Just teasing.” She glanced past him as caught sight of the clock. “Shit, is that the time? I need to go.”
Tad looked over his shoulder. Half eleven. He was surprised how quick the evening had gone considering how long his day had been.
Stella stood up and Tad stood with her, putting the guitar back in its corner and walking her to the door.
“Thanks for dinner. Jen was right. You do make the best lasagne.”
“It’s me that should thank you. I owe you after today.”
“Like I said, it was nothing.” She opened the door and hesitated. “So I’ll see you at work Monday, ten o’clock?”
He nodded. He was suddenly excited about it. He’d never been part of a police investigation before. He had seen a few through Miriam’s memories, but he suspected that it wasn’t the same.
