by Jane Hinchey
“I’m sorry about Ben. He was a good man,” Galloway continued and my eyes overflowed, tears spilling onto my cheeks. Galloway’s eyes zoomed in on me. “What happened here?” he asked, raising a hand to my arm and softly stroking the skin just beneath the scrape with his thumb.
“Fainted,” I choked, trying to hold myself together.
He considered me for a moment. “Go wait in the house,” he said. “I’ll come talk to you when I’m done here.”
“You need to tell him that you think I was killed in the house,” Ben interrupted. “He needs to know there’s a secondary crime scene.”
I cleared my throat and wiped my nose on the back of my hand. “You might want to check out Ben’s kitchen,” I sniffed. “When I got here, it reeked of bleach. That may not seem like a big deal to you, but Ben doesn’t use bleach. In fact, I doubt he owns any. He’s kind of a greenie. Was,” I corrected. “I thought it was strange. And I figured that might have been why Thor wasn’t inside, because of the strong smell. So I came out looking for him, but I don’t know his hidey holes, but, you know, if I was a cat, the woods seem like a fun place to hang out. And then I saw the tracks…”
Galloway nodded. “I’ll check it out. Officers are in there now. You can go inside—just don’t touch anything, okay?”
“Sure.” I began to head out when I remembered what Mrs. Hill had told me. “You might want to talk to the neighbor too. She told me she heard shouting coming from Ben’s house last night.”
“You talked to the neighbor?” Galloway paused, looking at me in surprise.
“Believe me, I’d have avoided it if I could. She’s of the nosy variety. Was over knocking on Ben’s back door as soon as I’d arrived, saying she needed to see Ben. I’m surprised she’s not here now, sticking her nose in.”
“Okay. Thanks, Audrey. Go ahead, I’ll catch up with you soon.”
I nodded and walked away. I heard Galloway talking on his phone as I left. Ben walked with me, blissfully silent. As I approached the rear of the house the glass sliding door opened and Sarah Jacobs stepped outside. She was new to the bay, having transferred after her training in the city was complete to join the Firefly Bay Police Department. There was a big spread about her in the newspaper when she’d arrived.
“Audrey Fitzgerald?” she asked, hand resting on her belt with all her police goodies attached.
“Yes.”
“Detective Galloway just called, said you were coming back to the house.” Her smile was friendly, and I almost sagged with relief. I’d pretty much reached my limit with Dwight and Ian. I climbed the two steps to the deck and approached, not missing her big brown eyes zooming in on my arm. “You’re hurt.”
“Self-inflicted.” I shrugged. “I fainted when I found Ben.”
She nodded in understanding. Reaching out an arm, she placed a supporting hand on my back. “Let’s get that cleaned up then.” I was surprised when we stepped over the threshold that an officer was already in the kitchen, dusting for prints. Galloway had said they’d be here, but for some reason I hadn’t really thought they’d be doing anything. Well, anything useful. Sarah noticed me looking and paused.
“Did you touch anything in here?” she asked.
I shook my head. “I don’t think so. The door.” I didn’t tell her about the latex gloves shoved in my back pocket.
She nodded. “We’ll need to take your prints to exclude you.”
“That’s standard procedure,” Ben whispered near my ear, making me jump. I shot him a glare and he mimed zipping his lips. He drifted off to watch the officer in the kitchen and I relaxed a fraction. It was more difficult than I realized, not talking to him.
“There’s a bathroom up here.” Sarah drew my attention back to her. “We can use that.”
“The guest bathroom.” I nodded.
“That’s right. Ben was your friend.”
“Best friend,” I agreed.
“So you’ve been here many times.” She smiled, but I knew what she was doing. Pumping me for information. I was happy to play along. For now.
“Yep. Stayed over tons of times too.”
“Stayed over? Were you and he...?”
I chuckled. “No, not like that. As unfathomable as it may seem, Ben and I were friends. Nothing more. We were not, nor ever have been, romantically involved. I stayed in the guest room.” I nodded toward the closed door at the end of the hall. “Ben’s room is upstairs. The master suite. He has his own bathroom up there and I’d use this one.”
“Was Ben gay?” she asked, motioning for me to precede her into the bathroom.
I snorted. “No. Just because he has a female best friend does not make him gay.”
“Sorry.” She smiled again. Smiley Sarah. “Have to admit, it is unusual.”
“Sure.” I shrugged.
“Take a seat.” Sarah pointed to the tub, and I eased myself onto the edge, watching as she grabbed a washcloth and ran it under the faucet.
“This may sting,” she warned, then pressed the damp cloth to my elbow. I hissed in a breath and snapped my shoulders back.
“You should probably get this cleaned properly at the hospital,” she muttered, her face unnervingly close to mine as she peered at the scrape. “It looks like you’ve got a fair bit of dirt in this.”
“Probably.”
“Can you tell me what happened? Today?”
I went over all the events of the morning, leaving out the part about Ben appearing as a ghost and his cat now having the ability to talk. Or was it that I now had the ability to understand him? Either way, it didn’t sound good for my mental health, so I decided it was entirely okay to leave those details out.
We finished up in the bathroom, and my elbow was now throbbing. Sarah admitted she may have made the whole thing worse, rather than better. Awesome. Today was turning out to be top-notch. She led me to the sofa in the living area and I sank into its plush depths. From here I could see the kitchen, dining room, and the backyard. Sarah sat opposite and pulled out her phone, typing furiously into it. I watched her for a moment, then figured she was probably writing up my statement. I turned my attention to the officer in the kitchen, who was being very thorough. Ben hovered right beside him, critically evaluating every move he made.
Sarah’s phone beeped and she jumped up and disappeared, reappearing moments later carrying a mug of steaming…something. She held it out to me and I automatically accepted it.
“Thanks. What’s this?” I sniffed. It smelled herbal.
“The neighbor made it. Thought you could use it, for the shock.”
Mrs. Hill. Figured. She was probably out front, gathering up as much gossip fodder as possible. Thor jumped up onto the sofa next to me, startling me.
“Thor, there you are!” I’d lost track of him in the woods when they’d arrested me.
“I wouldn’t drink that if I were you,” he drawled in that thick British accent. It really was adorable.
“Oh?”
“She’s a witch.” He licked his paw, then rubbed it over his face.
“Mrs. Hill?” I asked for clarification.
“Indeed.” He continued grooming.
“Yes, Mrs. Hill,” Sarah answered, and I realized I’d been talking with Thor out loud. Oops.
Leaning forward, I set the mug on the coffee table. I’d take Thor’s word for it. Although witch wasn’t the word I’d use to describe Mrs. Hill. Mine started with a B.
The arrival of the coroner sent the place into a frenzy of activity. Sarah was called away and I sat on the sofa, watching it unfold until my eyes started to droop and eventually I dozed off, the warmth of Thor curled up against my thigh a reassuring presence.
“I’m surprised you can sleep at a time like this.”
I jolted awake to find Sergeant Dwight Clements glaring down at me.
“Now what?” I grumbled.
“Clements!” Galloway’s voice barked from across the room. “Have you finished canvassing the street?”
&nb
sp; A tide of red climbed up Dwight’s neck and into his face. I assumed that meant he had not.
“But, sir…” he moaned, his voice taking on a whiney pitch.
“You want to add witness harassment to the wrongful arrest report I’m writing up on you, Sergeant?” Galloway snapped, stalking towards us. He was pissed. It was evident in the way he held his shoulders, not to mention his hands clenched into fists.
“No, sir.”
“Then get to it.”
Dwight swiveled on his heel and stormed out of the house, the front door slamming behind him. I thought I heard Galloway mutter the word “moron” under his breath, but I couldn’t be entirely sure.
Then Galloway glanced at me and did a double-take. “Jesus!” he exclaimed. “Look at your arm!”
7
The scrubbing Sarah had given the scrape on my elbow had made it ooze blood, which had slowly crept down my arm and seeped into my T-shirt and jeans. I too looked like a murder victim.
Galloway hustled me out of the house with a face cloth wrapped around my elbow and into his car, muttering all the while about being surrounded by brainless idiots and why couldn’t anyone see I needed medical attention. He held the passenger door of his car open for me and made sure I was securely strapped in before sliding behind the wheel. He clamped his phone into the hands-free cradle and peeled away from the curb so fast I was flung back against the seat.
“I’m taking you to the hospital,” was all he said before hitting a button on the steering wheel and then barking out orders. I’m embarrassed to say it took me a couple of minutes to realize he’d connected the phone via Bluetooth and was actually talking to the officers he’d left back at Ben’s house, and not to me.
“This really isn’t necessary,” I told him in a lull between calls. “I’ll be fine. Ben wasn’t exaggerating when he said I’m accident prone.”
“That cut needs to be cleaned and dressed. When I told Officer Jacobs to take care of you, I hadn’t meant she should let you sit there and bleed all over the place.”
“She did clean it for me,” I felt compelled to tell him.
“Well, she did a crap job,” he growled.
We lapsed into silence for a bit before he glanced at me and offered a small grin, the dimple in his cheek appearing. “Ben tells me you two have been friends since you were kids?”
“When did he tell you that?” I asked, a hint of defensiveness in my tone. I’d met Galloway for the first time yesterday when Ben had left him to join me at the pub.
Galloway’s dimple disappeared. “We talked last night.”
“What about?”
He snorted. “You are a nosy one.”
“Did Ben tell you that too?”
“Didn’t have to. But I’ll give you a pass just this once. Today has been an ordeal for you.”
“Does that mean you’re going to tell me what you talked about with him yesterday?"
He glanced at me before turning his attention back to driving. “I'm working on something and could use Ben's expertise.”
“You were working a case together?” I was shocked. That Ben would work with anyone on the force surprised me. “What case?”
“Sorry. Classified.”
Crossing my arms over my chest, I frowned at the detective by my side. I had no idea if I could trust this man or not—for all I knew he could have killed Ben. And here I was, climbing willingly into a car with him. Oh my God! What if I was next? What if his concern was a ploy to get me alone and kill me?
“Audrey? You okay?”
“I’m fine,” I squeaked, doing my best to control my accelerated heartbeat that was thundering in my ears. “Why do you ask?”
“Because we’re here?” He rested one hand on the steering wheel and twisted in his seat to face me.
I glanced around in shock. He was right. We’d pulled into the parking lot of the hospital. The car was silent. I’d been so caught up in my own panic I hadn’t noticed. I hadn’t noticed because I was worried I’d just made a colossal mistake—but what I did notice was that Ben hadn’t joined us. Was he still at his house? Or had he…gone? Had he moved into the light before I had a chance to say goodbye? Tears welled in my eyes at the thought.
“Big day, huh?” Galloway said. I sniffed, nodding. He didn’t know the half of it. Without a word he opened his door and climbed out. Fumbling with my seatbelt, I attempted to do the same, only, of course, the darn catch wouldn’t release and the harder I pulled the more stuck it became.
“Here.” Reaching over me, Galloway clicked the release button and the belt slid free. I hadn’t even heard him open my door and gave a little squeak of surprise. I cleared my throat to mutter a quick “thanks” and slid out, smoothing my palms down the legs of my jeans.
Walking into emergency with a detective apparently gets you preferential treatment. We were ushered through to a treatment bay, totally bypassing the waiting room. I glanced at him with a raised brow. He shrugged and I couldn’t help the grin that slipped out. He knew what I meant with that raised brow. Just like Ben would have known. My face fell at the thought of my dear, dead, missing friend. Where was he? I glanced around, hoping to spy him lurking somewhere nearby, that he wouldn’t have abandoned me completely, but I came up empty.
Galloway stood back with arms crossed as a nurse cleaned and then dressed the wound on my elbow.
“It’s just a scrape,” she said reassuringly to me when she’d finished. “Nothing to worry about.”
“I wasn’t worried,” I countered. They were making me feel like I was being a big cry baby over it. If I’d been on my own I would have taken a shower to clean it and put my own dressing on. I wasn’t entirely useless.
She ignored me as if I hadn’t spoken. “Change the dressing every day. I’ll give you spares. Keep an eye out for signs of infection. Go see your doctor if that’s the case.” She handed me a half dozen big square patches from the trolley next to the gurney. “How did this happen anyway?”
“I fainted,” I mumbled, not liking to admit to such a thing.
“Fainted?” She paused and stared at me intently. “Do you normally faint?” She whipped the blood pressure cuff off its stand and wrapped it around my upper arm.
“I’d just found my best friend. Dead. It was a bit of a shock.”
The nurse glanced over at Galloway who was watching the proceedings with a blank face, giving nothing away.
“Oh.” She finished taking my blood pressure. “All good. You do look pale. How do you feel? Wobbly? Dizzy?”
“I’m actually hungover,” I admitted ruefully.
“Ohhhhh.” A whisper of a smile flitted across her face. “In that case, drink plenty of water, ibuprofen for the headache I’m pretty sure you have, and make sure you eat something. And soon.”
“Got it.”
We were free to leave. Galloway escorted me back to his car and I wondered why he bothered himself with me. Why not send one of the deputies? I was even more surprised when he stopped by the McDonald’s drive-through and ordered burgers and fries for both of us.
“Nurse’s orders.” He took a burger and box of fries for himself and handed the bag to me. I accepted gratefully, not knowing how to react to this man.
8
“Where have you been?” My voice came out high pitched and whiney and I cleared my throat, trying to bring it down an octave or two.
Detective Kade Galloway had dropped me at home, saying he’d arrange to have my car returned to me and that I should rest up. He’d be in touch regarding a formal statement. That had been twelve hours ago and right up until this very second, there had been no sign of Ben.
“Sorry.” It was one of those apologies where you knew the issuer wasn’t sorry in the slightest—the word nothing more than an automatic response to having one’s ear chewed off.
“So?” I prodded. Ben lowered himself onto the sofa next to me with a sigh.
“I was supervising the scene.”
“And? Did they fin
d anything else? They discovered the blood, right?”
He nodded. “They did. They’ve taken swabs. They’ve actually been very thorough.”
“You sound surprised.”
“Given the first responders were Clements and Mills, yeah. But Galloway knows what he’s doing and from what I saw he’s working hard to make changes in the force. I don’t envy him with that job.”
“You two are friends?” I couldn’t keep the surprise out of my voice, but Ben was already shaking his head.
“Nope. Only met recently.”
“Ahhh, the case.” I nodded. Galloway had mentioned he had something he wanted Ben's help with.
“He told you?” Ben’s head snapped around and pinned me with a stare.
I lifted my shoulders. “Not at all. He said it was classified, but that he wanted your input."
Flopping back on the sofa, Ben tipped his head back to stare at the ceiling. “Well, it’s your case now.”
“What do you mean, it’s my case now?” While he couldn’t possibly be any more relaxed, I was bean pole straight, my body taut with tension. After yesterday I’d already decided I was not cut out for the P.I. business. Finding dead bodies was exhausting.
“You need to find out what happened to me, Fitz.” The pleading look in Ben’s eyes was my undoing. I opened my mouth to respond only to be interrupted by a big grey cat.
“Where’s the litter tray?” Thor demanded from his position at the foot of my bed.
“Oh, you’re finally awake.” My car had been returned to me the evening before, along with one very loudly complaining cat.
“Hey,” Thor protested with a stretch, “I’m a cat. It’s what we do. Now about this litter tray? Or I can pee in one of your shoes, your choice.”
I looked at Ben in panic. I had no supplies to care for a cat. No litter box. No food. I’d put down a saucer of water upon his arrival, but he hadn’t touched it.
Ben looked from me to Thor and back again, his face lit up with a big grin. “This is perfect,” he said.
“Hardly!” Thor and I said in unison, then eyeballed each other.
