by Gareth Otton
“Combine that with negative character references and the dodgy cases he’s been working on, and we should have enough to put him away. It’s the others I’m worried about.”
“Can’t you get them with trying to cover up a murder?” Tad asked.
Kate waved her hand in a fifty-fifty gesture. “Maybe. It’s a coin toss. They’re all saying they thought they were helping a friend get rid of furniture and had no knowledge about a murder. Other than clothing they never saw, the rest had been cleaned down enough that they can claim they couldn’t see any blood.”
“So they'll get away with it?” Maggie asked, a little heat returning to her voice.
Kate shook her head. “Don’t worry about that. You forget the original plan. We never expected this to be enough to grab them, we only wanted Mark. He made it clear that if he goes down, he’s taking everyone with him. We’ll keep working on that until he gives us enough to go after them. The bottom line is Mark is going down for this. You don’t have to worry about him hurting anyone else.”
Maggie forced a smile, but Tad could tell by the lack of vibrancy in her aura that she was not thrilled. He guessed she hadn’t even thought of Mark hurting someone else. She just wanted revenge.
“Thanks for this, Kate,” Tad said. “You’ve really come through for us.”
Kate grinned. “I should be thanking you. This will do wonders for my career. Any other ghosts come knocking, don’t hesitate to send them my way.”
Tad agreed with a chuckle and a yawn.
“Right. Time for bed I think. Long day and all. Another one tomorrow I imagine.”
“Cleopatra?” Kate asked. Tad nodded. “If there’s anything I can do to help, just tell me. If this woman’s coming after the munchkin then I want in on stopping her. Keep me in the loop, okay?”
Tad told her he would and said his goodbyes. He gave Kate a hug and Maggie followed suit. Kate returned to the interrogation room as Tad and Maggie walked in silence to his car.
“So that’s pretty much it then,” Tad said as he pulled out of the car park and onto the main road heading home. “Mark’s got what’s coming to him. Can you be happy with this?”
When she didn’t answer straight away, he didn’t think she would. He almost crashed the car when she let out an explosive sigh and her head fell back against the headrest. Suddenly she was giggling.
“It is over, isn’t it?” she said as though she was only just realising that fact. “I know it’s only been about a week and a half, but it feels so much longer.” She turned toward him, wearing the most natural smile he had seen on her since she returned to his life. “I can’t thank you enough. I know it hasn’t been easy and we’ve been at each other’s throats most of the time. But I came to you needing help and you’ve come through for me. Now it’s over, it feels like this weight has been lifted and I can think clearly again. Everything that’s happened over the last week, all that’s come between us, it doesn’t feel important anymore.”
Tad opened his mouth to answer, but she talked over him.
“I know. Jen. That’s a big one. I’m sorry about that. I should never have gone against you. I had no right and no idea what I was talking about. I blame the stress. I was angry and desperate. On top of that… well… I’m dead. Surely that’s got to give me a little leeway. It’s a lot for a girl to get used to.”
Tad didn’t try to answer this time. He didn’t know what to say. It was good to get an apology from her, but he was not so quick to forgive and forget. Maggie crossed some major lines, and no matter the reason, it would haunt him.
If she recognised his mood she didn’t let on. She kept talking as though they had pressed a reset button on their friendship. He listened politely as he turned onto his street.
“I’m serious, Tad. I want to see this as a new beginning for us. We’ve had a rough patch, but now this is all over we can move past it. I think I’m ready to get on with my life… my death…” She laughed. “Whatever you want to call this.”
He pulled into his space outside his house and killed the engine.
“You’re a good person, you know that, right?” He had been about to get out of the car, but stopped at the seriousness in her tone. He turned back to face her and found her staring at him with her smile gone and a thoughtful look in her eye.
The shade of pink in her aura was one he had never seen before. It was too close to red for embarrassment but too close to pink for anger. It was some new, intense emotion that Tad couldn’t get a grip on.
“I’ve always known that. I might have taken advantage of it in the past, but I see it now for what it is. You’ve come through for me… again. You were right when you said you always look out for me. I should have listened when you warned me about Mark.”
She leaned forward, her gaze lowering to his lips.
“I should have realised a lot of things sooner. You’re the best person in my life and always have been.”
She punctuated the sentence with a kiss.
For the first time in his life she kissed him on the lips. It was not a chaste kiss, nor a simple thank you. It was something much firmer and with more passion.
The moment took him by surprise and he froze.
Maggie was kissing him.
How long had he been dreaming about such a thing? Since he was old enough to realise that girls were interesting. Most of his life.
And yet…
He gripped her shoulders and pushed her away. It wasn’t harsh, but it was decisive. The pink of Maggie’s aura shifted from that deep, intense colour to the paler pink he was more familiar with.
“I don’t understand,” she said. “I thought this was what you wanted.”
“It was.”
“Was?”
He nodded, then shook his head, then sighed. “I don’t know, Maggie. I wanted this for so long it feels like I never wanted anything else. But a lot has happened over the past few weeks… Hell, a lot has happened over the last five years. Neither of us are who we once were.”
“So, what? You don’t want this any more?”
“I…” He struggled to find the words. “Maggie, I don’t know. I mean… you’re dead. And… look I’m still a bit sore over what happened last week. It’s not that easy to forget. I just don’t know anymore.”
“Well find out fast. I may be dead, but I’m won’t wait forever. I deserve better than that.”
It was her anger talking. The fiery red consumed the pink, and it was burning bright enough to make Tad think he could feel heat from it. Before he could respond Maggie stepped out of the car and went into the house. It was only when she stepped around the person standing in the doorway when Tad noticed her.
Stella watched him with an odd expression on her face. He couldn’t get a read on it and her aura wasn’t helping. It was a sickly green colour he hadn’t encountered before. What good was being able to see people’s auras without a manual to tell him how it worked?
As he was trying to figure it out, he wondered just how long she had been standing there. Had she seen Maggie kiss him? He had a sudden sinking feeling that in his state of heightened emotion he might have used his powers subconsciously, showing Maggie to anyone close enough to be affected by his gift.
For some reason he didn’t like the idea of Stella catching them kissing, and he really didn’t want her getting the wrong idea about it. Before he had chance to ask himself why that was important, he climbed out of the car.
“Stella. That wasn’t what it looked like,” were his first words.
The strange expression left her face, and what replaced it was an expression he encountered a lot before he got to know her. She looked at him with schooled indifference and was struggling to keep her emotions off her face. It made her look cold and more than a little scary.
She couldn’t tame her aura though. A red colour mixed with the green, a touch of anger mixing with that unknown emotion.
Why was she angry?
“I really don’t care what it w
as, Tad. It’s your business.”
“Seriously, Stella. It was nothing. Maggie was just happy about Mark being arrested and—”
“I said I don’t care. What you do with whoever, even if they’re dead, is your business.”
The words hurt. He didn’t know why, but he was starting to have his suspicions. His mind was slow coming to the right conclusions, so he missed his window to rectify the situation.
“It’s good you’re home because I need to leave. I was just about to call you when I saw your car pull up.”
“Are you sure? Is anything wrong?”
“No. I just need to go. Now you’re back, I can head out.”
“Oh. Alright.” She turned and walked away. She stopped when Tad called her name, but he could tell she wouldn't hang around for long.
His feeble mind ran through a hundred things he could say, but he was still trying to make sense of everything. All he managed was, “Thanks for looking after Jen.”
Stella hesitated. She had been expecting him to say something else. Was she hoping for him to say something else?
He felt stupid, and he got the sinking feeling he was messing something up. An opportunity was passing him by and he was too slow to catch it.
“No problem,” Stella said sharply and then she was gone. Tad watched her walk straight to her car, climb in and then without a backwards glance, drive away leaving Tad standing in the street like an idiot.
He was still struggling to get his mind around what happened when he entered his house to find Jen waiting. She was dressed for bed but not looking at all sleepy.
“Tad? Where’s Stella?”
“She said she had to go.” He blinked. “Hang on a second. What are you doing up? It’s nearly half past one.”
“Didn’t Stella tell you? I thought that was why she went out to meet you. She’s been dying to tell you since Charles got back.”
“Charles got back? Where’s he been?” Slowly his mind was spinning up to full speed again, and he was back in the moment. “Something’s happened hasn’t it?”
“I’d say,” Jen said with excitement. “We know where she is.”
“Where who is?”
“Charles spotted her lurking outside earlier. He followed her back to her hotel. She’s in a Holiday Lodge near—”
“Hang on a second. Lurking around? Are we talking about Cleopatra?”
Jen nodded eagerly.
“Yep. We know where she is. Stella’s been making calls for the last two hours trying to get permission to go break down her door.” She frowned and looked at the closed door behind Tad. “I can’t believe she left like that. She was dying to tell you.”
Tad couldn’t believe it either. He looked back to the door and cursed his luck. Just when he thought he was starting to win for a change, something like this happened and knocked him right back on his arse.
He shook his head. His mind was working now, things were growing clearer, and he needed more information. He turned his attention back to Jen.
“Tell me everything.”
23
Friday, 28th November 2015
09:03
Stella had not slept well. To be honest, she hadn’t tried. From the moment Jen told her Charles had spotted Cleopatra and followed her back to her hotel, she had been pumped. She refused to miss this opportunity.
She woke up people who didn’t like to be woken up, pulled strings where she could, and smooth talked her way into a warrant for that hotel room. The bureaucracy of getting it sorted was a nightmare, but she was excited enough to stick with it.
There was another reason she couldn’t sleep, but she wasn’t letting herself think about that. Unfortunately, not thinking about it was getting harder the closer she got to his house.
Tad had been calling her since seven. She ignored every call until a text came through.
Charles is my ghost. Of course he told me where Cleopatra is. Either answer my call and let me know what’s happening or I’m going there on my own.
She called him right back and told him to do no such thing. He said she made him part of the case, and like it or not, he would be there. She could either let him know what was going on or he would take matters into his own hands.
For the first time she regretted getting him involved. She knew him well enough now to know his threat wasn’t idle. It was a miracle he hadn’t already acted. Above all else, Tad loved his daughter, and he wouldn't let this woman continue to threaten her.
So Stella made the wise decision and agreed to let him in on the bust. To limit his control, she decided to drive him there and keep him with her at all times. As she approached his house, she wondered how wise the decision was.
He was waiting outside, wearing his black raincoat and carrying two take-away coffee cups. She knew one was for her, a peace offering maybe. The thought made her irrationally angry.
He hadn’t done anything wrong, just kissed a woman in his car. It wasn’t like she had any reason not to be happy for him.
That thought only got her mad at herself as she finally recognised what she had been too stubborn to admit. She liked Tad. There was something about the skinny weirdo that slipped behind her carefully constructed walls and earned her interest.
It was probably nothing more than a crush. He saved her life, introduced her to the supernatural, and lived a fascinating life himself. On top of that, he saw more in her than just beauty. She knew he was attracted to her, but when she threw herself at him before the alley attack, he resisted every step of the way. He hadn’t been interested. She thought that might have changed over the last week.
Again her mind flashed to the image of Maggie kissing him. Maybe he hadn’t changed his mind after all.
He rushed to the car and climbed in, letting the cold in with him. Once seated, he smiled at her. It was that same smile she liked so much, but it had lost its magic. She didn’t want to smile back. She wanted to cry. She hated herself for that.
“Here, I thought you might want this,” he said, offering her the cup.
Stella wanted it. She was parched. She’d been busy all night, was exhausted and hadn’t had time to shower yet alone make coffee.
“I’ve already had one. You should have asked first.”
Her words were harsh. She turned away so she didn’t have to see his reaction. Instead, she put the car into first and pulled onto the road.
“Oh. Well, I guess I’ll just leave it here, in case you change your mind.”
He put the coffee in a cup holder and put his next to it so he could free his hands to strap himself in.
“Is anyone else in the car?” she asked, remembering he came with an entourage.
“No, they’re keeping an eye on Cleopatra. Save Maggie. She’s with Jen.”
Maggie. Just the name annoyed her. Before she could get hold of her emotions, her fingers tightened on the steering wheel causing the leather to creak.
Tad looked over and she knew he saw right through her mask. It only made her angrier.
“Stella. I tried to tell you last night. It wasn’t what it looked—”
“I said I don’t want to know. What part of that don’t you understand?”
“The part where since it happened you’ve been acting strange. You ran off last night when Jen said you had been dying to speak to me. You wouldn’t answer my calls this morning, and now you’re acting weird. Please. Just let me explain.”
She didn’t want him to explain, didn’t want to hear anything from him, but she didn’t protest in time.
“I used to love Maggie, a long time ago,” he began and her hand tightened on the wheel again. “She was my only friend growing up, and it was one of those one sided things. Maggie never liked me, so I never pushed for anything. When she came to be my ghost, there were no secrets anymore. I told you about the merging right? About—”
“Yes, you told me.” Again her words were sharp. He told her about the merging, of how intimate it was. The thought of Maggie being that int
imate with him annoyed her all the more.
“Yeah, well, there was no hiding anymore. She learned of my old feelings and it caused trouble between us. It’s one reason she took Jen as her Proxy. The thing is, over these past few weeks I’ve realised those feelings for Maggie are gone. They probably weren’t real in the first place. The Maggie I remember was a work of fiction. She was my only friend, so I overlooked her flaws and idolised the rest.
“Last night was emotional for Maggie and… well, I don’t know why she did it. The thing is Stella, I didn’t want it. I knew before last night that me and Maggie wouldn’t work. Those feelings are gone. But she kissed me. I didn’t kiss her. I pushed her away. Surely you saw that.”
She had seen that.
She had seen it and ignored it. All that mattered was the kiss itself. But now she thought about it, Tad’s words made sense. He had pushed her away. More than that, she had seen how he was around her over the past week. He’d been furious, ready to kill her for what she did to Jen.
She had no problems believing what he said. He was over Maggie. So why was she still so angry?
Because she let him behind the walls she spent a lifetime building. She allowed herself to think he was different. Hell, he might be different. But she couldn’t take that risk.
Last night was a reminder of what it would be like when he eventually hurt her, just like everyone she let in always did. It was inevitable. The only way to protect herself was to build the wall again and keep him… everyone at a distance.
“Tad, I don’t care who you kiss, and I don’t care about your history with Maggie, it’s none of my business.” She struggled to keep her face straight when she said, “We’re just colleagues, that’s all. Don’t go confusing that with anything else. I needed you to help me catch a criminal, now that’s done that’s it for us. There wasn’t anything more and I’m sorry if anything I did made you think otherwise.”
She couldn’t resist glancing over to see how the words landed. She wished she hadn’t.
