Outlaw Ghost - A Kat Martin Short Story

by Kat Martin

  “I’m glad to hear it,” he said firmly. Something in his voice. Impossible as it seemed, it sounded a lot like jealousy.

  “I know someone who...ahh...thinks she can help,” he said. “Any chance the two of us could come over tonight?”

  He wanted to see her. He wanted to help her. He wanted to come over to the house. The warm feelings expanded. “Tonight would work.”

  “Say eight o’clock?”

  “All right. I’ll see you then.” She ended the call but still held onto the phone. Brendan was coming over. She glanced at the clock. It was almost six. If nothing last-minute came up, she could go home and figure out what to wear. She wanted to look good for him.

  She just hoped all this talk about ghosts wasn’t going to send him running again.

  Chapter Ten

  Brendan stood on her doorstep at exactly eight p.m. “Miss Aggie, this is Callie Sutton. Callie, I’d like you to meet Agatha Hennessey. Everyone calls her Miss Aggie.”

  Callie smiled. “It’s nice to meet you, Miss Aggie.”

  “Miss Aggie’s from over in Jasper County.” His gaze went to the woman beside him. She was huge. Not tall, but square, built like a box. She must have weighed three hundred pounds. “Miss Aggie is a seer. My mom used to visit her for...ahh...advice.”

  Callie inwardly smiled. The sheriff must have had an interesting family.

  “I appreciate your trying to help, Miss Aggie. Please come in.” Callie stepped back to welcome her guests into the house. “Why don’t we sit in the parlor? There’s coffee and chocolate chip cookies. Not homemade, unfortunately, but the bakery in town is always good.”

  They all took seats, Brendan next to Callie on the sofa, Miss Aggie in an overstuffed chair. Callie filled her aunt’s pretty porcelain cups with coffee and passed them around, and Miss Aggie helped herself to cookies. At least five of them vanished in her direction.

  “I told Miss Aggie a little of what’s been going on,” Brendan said. “She knows the story. Hell, everyone in Sweet Springs County knows the story of Brendan and Priscilla. It’s kind of the old West version of Romeo and Juliet except with a happy ending.”

  “Or mostly happy,” Miss Aggie said. “They had a long, happy life, but the end wasn’t so good for Brendan. A problem came up at the ranch. While he was gone, Priscilla took a turn for the worst. She died while he was away. As the story goes, he never forgave himself. He died a few months after she did.”

  Callie set her cup and saucer down on the coffee table. “I know it sounds crazy, but I think he might still be here.”

  Miss Aggie smiled. “To someone like me, it doesn’t sound crazy at all.” She finished the last of her cookie and heaved her big bulk up from the chair. “I’m going to take a walk. I’ll be back.” She didn’t say more, just lumbered off down the hall.

  Callie’s gaze went to Brendan. “I didn’t think I’d hear from you again.”

  A faint smile touched his lips. “Because of the ghost?”

  “Most guys wouldn’t want anything to do with a woman who thinks she lives in a house with a ghost.”

  “You don’t seem like the kind of person who goes around making up stories. Plus there’s the dead man on the stairs and no prints, no DNA, nothing. In this day and age, that’s not easy to do.”

  “That’s sort of what I was thinking.”

  “Miss Aggie’s been a friend of the family for years. I went to see her to ask her opinion. She said she wanted to see for herself.”

  Callie hadn’t seen the woman go upstairs, but she watched her making her way carefully back down. She looked different somehow, calmer, an oddly vacant expression on her face.

  “Have you got any candles?” she asked.

  “Of course. In case the power goes off. I’ll get them.” Callie returned with an assortment of candles. She set two of them on the coffee table and one on the oak sideboard against the wall. Brendan pulled a box of wooden matches out of his jeans and lit them. It gave the living room a soft eerie glow.

  “Be patient,” Miss Aggie said. “He’s here. I could feel him.”

  Callie’s heart began to pound. Brendan flashed her a glance, but made no comment. He reached over and caught her hand, steadying her.

  They sat in silence for half an hour, by the antique mantel clock. It was strangely peaceful, until the candle flames started to flicker and Callie felt the sensation of a big hand sliding beneath her hair, settling possessively around the nape of her neck.

  It wasn’t Brendan, whose hand still held hers. Callie made a little sound in her throat that drew his attention. His expression changed as he watched the dark curls move though no one else was touching her.

  “I know you’re here, Brendan,” Miss Aggie said. “And I know why you came. But the lady in the house isn’t Priscilla. She looks like your Silla, but her name is Callie. Your Priscilla has gone on to the other side. She’s waiting for you there. She misses you terribly. She’s been waiting a very long time.”

  The candle on the sideboard flickered and went out.

  “It’s true,” Miss Aggie said. “She was gone when you came home, but you can find her again. You don’t have to live without her. You just have to look for the light. Do you see it, Brendan?”

  A loud whooshing sound filled the room, stirring the draperies.

  “Callie belongs to the Brendan of this time. He’ll take care of her. He’ll protect her.”

  In the candlelight, Brendan’s features looked hard. He glanced at Miss Aggie, who nodded. “Callie’s mine,” he said. “She belongs to me. She’s mine to protect. I give you my solemn pledge that I will.”

  Callie’s heart was beating. Brendan sounded like he meant every word.

  “Go on now,” Miss Aggie said. “Move toward the light. Go and find your Priscilla. She’s waiting. She loves you. Just the way you love her.”

  The house began to shake, rattling the windows, jiggling the antique stemware in the glass curio case. A sudden burst of light lit the room, so bright Callie had to close her eyes.

  Brendan’s hand tightened around hers. “Jesus,” he said.

  A roaring began, rising to a crescendo. The bright light flashed again and something whooshed past them. A fierce crack sounded, then a long heavy roll, like lightening followed by thunder.

  Silence fell. The old house slowly settled. Brendan drew Callie into his arms and she felt a tremor run through his hard body.

  “It’s over,” Miss Aggie said. “He won’t be back.” She smiled. “He’s found her again after all these years.”

  Callie turned her face into Brendan’s chest and started to cry.

  Epilogue

  It was the biggest social event in Sweet Springs that year. The wedding of Sheriff Brendan Trask to the town’s new resident, Callie Sutton. Those that couldn’t make it to the ceremony in the little white church showed up for the party out at the ranch. Bets were made how long it would take before the first little Trask was born.

  Not long, Callie figured, considered how much practice they got. She grinned.

  The ghost of the outlaw Trask had never reappeared. Callie firmly believed he was happy with his beloved Priscilla on the other side.

  The search for the man who had killed the Red Rose rapist eventually came to an end. Brendan let the case fade away on its own accord. Though he never mentioned it again, like Callie, he believed the outlaw Brendan had saved Callie that night.

  All was well in the little town of Sweet Springs.

  Callie believed, at last, all was well on the other side, too.

  Author’s Note

  I hope you enjoyed OUTLAW GHOST. I have no idea where the idea came from to write a ghost story about characters from one of my old books, but suddenly there it was inside my head.

  The outlaw, Brendan Trask, and his lady, Priscilla Wills, appear in NATCHEZ FLAME, a tale set in Texas in 1846. If you liked OUTLAW GHOST and you’re curious about the first Brendan Trask and his lady, I hope you’ll look for NATCHEZ FLAME and tha
t you enjoy the book!

  I also want to introduce you to my new Maximum Security series, starting with book 1 in the series, THE CONSPIRACY, which came out in hardcover January 2019, followed by THE DECEPTION in September 2019.

  The series, set in Dallas, revolves around Chase Garrett, the owner, his brothers, Reese and Brandon, and the men and women who work at The Max.

  In THE CONSPIRACY, Michael Winston has disappeared. Desperate to find him, his sister, Harper, turns to the wealthy owner of Maximum Security, Chase Garrett, once Michael’s best friend. Dealing with the Winston crime family goes against everything Chase stands for, but old loyalties die hard. With time running out, Chase must find a way to keep Harper safe—and both of them alive.

  In my latest Romantic Thriller, THE DECEPTION, Kate Gallagher is devastated when she learns her sister has been murdered. Determined to find Chrissy’s killer, Kate hires lethal bounty hunter, Hawk Maddox. Working together, they follow a trail of clues that lead them deep into the city’s underbelly. Though Hawk warns Kate of the danger, nothing he says can convince Kate to walk away.

  I hope you’ll watch for THE CONSPIRACY and THE DECEPTION, and that you enjoy. Keep reading for a sneak preview for both books.

  Till next time, all best wishes and happy reading, Kat.

  P.S. Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and join my mailing list!

  KAT'S LATEST RELEASE: THE DECEPTION (BOOK 2)

  Chapter One

  Dallas, Texas

  "I'm sorry, Ms. Gallagher. I know this is terribly painful, but unless there's someone else who can make a positive identification--"

  Kate shook her head. "No. There's no one else."

  "All right then, if you will please follow me." The medical examiner, Dr. Jerome Maxwell, a man in his fifties with thick black hair threaded with gray, started down the hall, but Kate stopped him with a hand on his arm.

  "Are you...are you completely sure it's my sister? The victim is definitely Christina Gallagher?"

  "There was a fingerprint match to your missing sister. I'm sorry. We'll still need your confirmation."

  Kate's stomach rolled. Her hand trembled as she followed the doctor down a narrow, endless hallway in the Dallas County morgue. The echo of her high heels on the stark gray linoleum sent a sweep of nausea through her.

  The doctor paused outside a half glass door. "I warn you, this is going to be difficult. Are you sure there isn't someone you can call, someone else who could make the identification?"

  Kate's throat tightened. "My father's remarried and living in New York. He hasn't seen Chrissy in years."

  "And your mother?" the doctor asked kindly.

  "She died of a heart attack a year after Chrissy ran away." For Madeleine Gallagher, losing both her husband and her daughter had simply been too much.

  The doctor straightened his square black glasses. "Are you ready?"

  "I'll never be ready to see my sister's murdered body, Dr. Maxwell. But I'm all Chrissy has, so let's get it over with."

  The doctor opened the door and they walked out of a hallway that seemed overly warm into a room that was icy cold. A shiver rushed over Kate's skin and her heart beat faster. As Dr. Maxwell moved toward a rollout table in front of a wall of cold-storage boxes, Kate could see the outline of a body beneath the stark white sheet.

  Emotion tightened her chest. This was her baby sister, only sixteen the last time Kate had seen her two years ago, before she had run away.

  The doctor nodded to a female assistant in a white lab coat standing next to the table, and the woman pulled back the sheet.

  "Dear God." The bile rose in Kate's throat. She swayed and the doctor caught her arm to steady her.

  "Is this your sister, Christina Gallagher?"

  Tears welled and slipped down her cheeks. "It's...it's her."

  "I'm sorry for your loss," the doctor said.

  "Thank...thank you." Tears blurred her vision and her head swam as she walked out of the building into the sunlight and crossed the parking lot to her car. She wouldn't be returning to her office today. She needed time to grieve.

  Kate slid in behind the wheel and shoved her key into the ignition. Fresh pain struck so hard she couldn't breathe. Instead of starting the engine, Kate put her head down on the steering wheel and started to weep.

  Jason Hawkins Maddox sat at the old fashioned long bar in the Sagebrush Saloon, a country western hangout with a juke box in the corner for dancing. Tonight he was there on business, meeting an informant he hoped would give him a lead on the fugitive he was hunting, Randall Darren Harding.

  Harding, a cement contractor, had been arrested for the brutal murder of his ex-girlfriend. He'd been out on bail when he'd decided to flee instead of standing trial, where most likely he would have been convicted.

  From what Jase could find out, Harding was a rotten, self-centered, mean-tempered bastard, the kind who could wind up killing again. He'd strangled his girlfriend in a fit of rage, but a fancy lawyer had gotten him out on bail.

  The reward for catching him was a fat fifteen percent of his million and a half dollar bond. Jase planned to collect.

  Thus his meeting with Tommy Dieter at the Sagebrush Saloon.

  It was relatively early, a little after nine p.m., but the place was already more than half full. The décor was rustic, with a sea of wooden tables. A big dance floor dominated the interior, the juke belting Willie Nelson for the couples that were

  In the mirror in the carved oak back bar across from him, he could see himself on a bar stool next to a little guy in a blue Texas Rangers baseball cap. The little guy made Jase look even bigger than his six-foot four-inch, two hundred twenty pound frame.

  So far Tommy hadn't showed, but he wasn't due for at least another hour. In the meantime, Jase was enjoying the local scenery, his attention fixed on the tall blonde with the pretty face, sexy curves, and amazing cleavage, but then half the guys in the bar were watching her.

  In a short jeans skirt, a pair of cowboy boots, and a bright pink tank top, she had danced five times in a row. If he weren't there on business, he might ask her for a turn around the floor himself. Jase watched the blonde dancing with a lanky biker too short for her, too skinny, and a few years too young.

  She wasn't meant for the boy biker, but she was just Jase's type, luscious, with legs that went on forever. And as she slid her arms around the boy biker's neck and he pulled her close, clearly uninhibited. It didn't take much to imagine the way she'd feel moving beneath him.

  He picked up his beer and took a drink. He'd been watching her all evening. The good news was, she'd been watching him, too.

  When the song came to an end, she left the boy biker and walked right up to him, the heels on her boots pushing her closer to his height.

  She smiled. "You like to dance, cowboy?"

  "Depends."

  "On what? The song?"

  "Who I'm dancing with."

  A dark blond eyebrow went up. "Is that right..."

  "That's right, darlin', and you'll do just fine." Without waiting for a reply, Jase swept her onto the dance floor. She felt good in his arms, fit him just right. She was a good dancer, but so was he. He was a Texan. He'd done all the usual things a Texas boy did. Played football, drank beer down on the river, rode horses, and two-stepped.

  "What's your name?" he asked as he whirled her around the floor

  "Kate." She smiled. "You're Hawk." Her smile widened into a grin that etched a dimple into her cheek and he felt a jolt of heat. "I like it," she said. "It's sexy."

  "You think so?" As the song came to an end, he drew her off the dance floor into the shadows, took a chance she wouldn't slap his face, and kissed her.

  She softened against him and kissed him back, and he took it a little deeper, felt the rush hit his system. Since they were standing in a bar full of people, he didn't let it go too far.

  Kate ran a finger along his jaw. "You looked like you'd be a good kisser and you are," she said.

 
"We can go outside and I'll show you just how good I can be, but it's gotta be up to you."

  Something flickered in her big brown eyes and for a moment her bright smile faded. "I need that tonight. Just this once, just to help me forget." Her bottom lip trembled an instant before her saucy grin returned. "Come on, cowboy, let's go."

  BUY LINK: THE DECEPTION

  Order from Amazon

  THE CONSPIRACY (BOOK 1)

  Chapter One

  Dallas, Texas

  She knew who he was. The only man at the gala in a black tuxedo and shiny black alligator cowboy boots. Chase Garrett. The man she intended to hire to help her find her missing brother.

  Harper Winston had known Chase since the day her father had thrown an obnoxiously extravagant party in honor of her sixteenth birthday.

  Chase had attended with her older brother, Michael. She had spotted Chase in a swimsuit standing next to the pool, tall, with a lean, hard-muscled body, whiskey-brown eyes and thick, dark blond hair. In the sun it had gleamed like pirate’s gold.

  Aside from the close-trimmed beard along a jaw that had hardened with maturity, Chase hadn’t changed. He still had the perfectly symmetrical features of a movie star combined with a toughness that appealed to a legion of women.

  Now that she was thirty, Chase thirty-five, Harper still found him ridiculously attractive, though he’d never given her more than a passing glance.

  He didn’t notice her tonight, though she wore an elegant strapless black gown that hugged her slender curves and set off the pale blond hair she wore long and slightly turned under. She glanced over to where he stood next to a stunning brunette, a successful lawyer in Dallas, the typical sort of woman Chase dated. Self-made career women, professors, bankers, stockbrokers. Not someone like her, the daughter of a wealthy Texas businessman, a woman who had attended Sarah Lawrence along with a bevy of other rich socialites from around the country.