Dead and Breakfast

by Kimberly G. Giarratano

  Autumn charged toward him. She smacked the curling iron away, and cried out. The wretched thing clanged to the tile floor. Autumn shook out her hand and hissed.

  “Dammit, Inez.” Autumn cradled her injured hand for a moment before reaching in and helping Liam out of the water. “She nearly killed you. Again. We have to get rid of her.”

  A cry of frustration cut the air, followed by a baby’s wail. Liam shuddered.

  #

  “I’m serious, Liam.” Autumn helped him climb out of the tub. He slipped on the tile floor, but she caught him and they embraced awkwardly. “This is the third time. She’s tried to drown you, take off your head, and now electrocute you. When are you going to get it? This is serious.”

  “Your mother is going to think I’m crazy. This is the second time I’ve fallen into water while working.”

  “Forget my mom.” Autumn tilted Liam’s chin and forced him look at her. “What are we going to do about this?”

  “Did you see her?” he asked.

  Autumn dropped her hand. “Sorta, kinda. I saw a female form. She had dark hair, but unlike Katie, her features were blurry. Like bad television reception.”

  “Speak of the devil.” Katie appeared and glided over to Liam, who didn’t seem to register her apparition.

  “He can’t see you,” Autumn said. “You’re gonna have to adjust your reception.”

  Katie squeezed her eyes tightly together. Autumn watched her silhouette brighten. “How about now?”

  Liam gasped and fell against the pedestal sink.

  “It worked,” Autumn said dryly.

  Liam’s face paled. “I can’t believe what I’m seeing.”

  Katie pouted. “I’m not a what. I’m a who. God, it’s like you’ve never seen a woman before.”

  Liam sat on the edge of the tub, which had now drained, with his mouth agape. He stared at Katie as if she was a piece of art he was trying to decipher.

  Autumn snapped her fingers in Liam’s face. “Focus.”

  “I can’t.” He pointed at Katie’s apparition. “I’m seeing a ghost. A real ghost.”

  Katie put her hands on her hips. “Well, thank you for noticing.” She jutted out her chin. “I was just like you once. A living person. Try to pretend I’m still that girl. I’m just a little see-through now.”

  Liam’s voice trembled. “Okay. I’ll try.”

  The piece of cloth that had been the source of the clog lay on the floor like a giant spitball. “What is that?” Autumn asked.

  Autumn gently laid a hand on Liam’s shoulder and tried to steady him as he bent to pick up the rag. “It looks like some kind of handkerchief.”

  He opened up the soggy ball. There was the letter B embroidered on it in blue thread. It also had an old brown stain.

  Blood? “Is that yours?” Autumn asked Liam.

  “Do I look like the kind of guy who carries around old handkerchiefs?” He raised his brow.

  “No,” Autumn and Katie said at the same time.

  “It probably belonged to the former guest, Mrs. Benson,” Autumn said. “I mean, that makes the most sense.”

  Katie flickered slightly. “It sounds like Inez is trying to tell you something. And that B,” she pointed at Liam, “is a clue.”

  “She thinks Leo Breyer killed her,” Autumn said. “B for Breyer.”

  “Pops is a lot of things, but he’s no murderer. He’s harmless.”

  Autumn remembered Leo’s scowl in her vision. He didn’t look harmless then. But she wouldn’t mention that now.

  “If she thinks I’m my grandfather, then doesn’t it make sense that she would be confused as to who killed her?” Liam asked.

  Katie thought about that for a moment before saying, “Yes. She’s either missing her own memories or she’s linking separate events from her past. Either way, you don’t have the full picture.”

  Autumn said, “When I get inside her head. I’m at the mercy of what she shows me. I can’t make her see the truth.”

  “Sounds to me like she’s trying to make you see the truth,” said Katie.

  “Yeah, well, I know Liam didn’t kill her. Do you think if we called her to a séance, she’d understand that Liam isn’t Leo?”

  Katie scoffed. “You’ve got to be kidding. I’d never come just because some fools called me to a table draped with a maroon cloth.”

  “Well, would Inez?” Autumn asked.

  Katie shrugged and flitted around the bathroom. “She might. She likes messing with you guys.”

  Liam tilted up his head at Autumn. “How do we go about contacting her?”

  “Don’t ask her,” Katie said. “Just because she can see ghosts doesn’t mean she can control them. Two very different things. What you need is a medium.”

  “A medium?” Liam asked. “Where do we find one of those?”

  Katie smiled and waved her arms in a dramatic fashion. “Luckily for you, right under your nose.”

  “Timothy,” Autumn whispered.

  “Yes,” said Katie. “That beautiful Bahamian downstairs, who unfortunately wouldn’t be into me, is your medium. You want to talk to Inez. Talk to Timothy.”

  #

  Timothy stood at the reception desk, doodling on a thin pad of blue paper that had Cayo Hueso scrawled across the top.

  “What are you jackals looking at?” Timothy said without glancing up from the pad.

  “A medium,” Autumn and Liam said together.

  Timothy dropped his pen. “Aw, hell no. Who told you I was a medium?”

  “Katie,” Autumn said.

  Timothy rolled his eyes. “I told you to contact ghost girl through Katie, not through me.”

  “I need you to do it. Remember? ‘It’s too dangerous for you, Autumn,’” She mocked Timothy’s know-it-all voice.

  “Well, I thought ghost girl was visiting you in your sleep.”

  “I can’t wait to do things on her schedule because she keeps trying to kill Liam. We have to put an end to this.”

  Liam grabbed a white towel off the reception desk and wrapped it around his torso, hoping to dry his sopping wet clothes. Evelyn left stacks of towels around the Cayo, as if she expected guests to use the pool. Liam seemed to be the only one who actually used them. “I pawned the ring,” Liam said. “And she tried to kill me. Again.”

  “I’ve also had phantom morning sickness for the past week,” said Autumn, rubbing her stomach. “We need someone who knows what they’re doing.”

  “That’s clearly not you two.” Timothy straightened his turquoise bowtie. “Unfortunately, the problem remains. You’re still going to need something belonging to the spirit to force her to come to the table.”

  That stopped Autumn’s momentum, and Liam could see the disappointment in her face. It did sound like an impossible task. Find something belonging to a strange ghost from fifty years ago.

  Liam wanted to kiss her disappointment away. “Don’t worry. Maybe there’s a way around it.”

  “Uh-uh,” Timothy said. “No loopholes when it comes to the dead. Also, I’m not contacting any spirit until Evelyn and Miss Glenda are gone from here.”

  “We’re screwed,” said Liam.

  “Not necessarily.” Timothy jutted his thumb toward the wall calendar. “The ladies are going to Miami tomorrow. They have a meeting with a bank, hoping to get a small business loan.”

  “How long will they be gone?” Liam asked.

  “Overnight,” he replied. “You have one evening to do this thing. Better find something of the dead girl’s quickly.”

  Liam looked at Autumn’s expression. It was a mix of emotions he couldn’t quite figure out. Determination, maybe and . . . hope. It was at that moment that Liam had never felt more attracted to the Jersey girl.

  “What?” she asked.

  Liam just smiled, mostly to himself. “Nothin’.”

  #

  That night, Liam laid in bed in his boxer shorts and a holey Radiohead T-shirt that resembled Swiss cheese. It was after
eleven and sleep would not overtake him.

  His cell phone buzzed, and Liam grabbed it off the nightstand. It was a text

  from Autumn.

  I’ve searched the attic and turned up nothing.

  No object. No séance. No control.

  Frustrated, Liam threw his phone into the top drawer of his nightstand and heard a rattle. Liam fumbled around and pricked his finger on a sharp object. He sucked the blood droplet off his finger and picked up the St. Veronica’s pin he found in the Cayo’s backyard.

  Leo said his grandmother had a pin too. Liam quietly opened his bedroom door and padded down the hall to Pops’s room. He listened to his grandpa’s rhythmic breathing. The old man was sound asleep.

  Liam crept into the bedroom and slid his abuela’s jewelry box off the dresser and then snuck back out. He tiptoed to his bedroom and shut the door.

  Liam clicked on his lamp, sat cross-legged on his bed, and opened the carved wooden box. He dug through gold earrings, Abuela’s wedding band, a cross, and lastly a round pin with the St. Veronica’s insignia. Liam held up both pins to the light. They were identical. Except, the clean pin was his grandmother’s. The other one still had dirt caked in the crevices.

  Liam brushed off some flecks of dirt. So whose pin is this?

  He texted Autumn. I think I may have found something. He snapped a photo of the pin and hit send.

  Liam put his phone and the pin on the nightstand and laid down for sleep with a burgeoning smile. He liked being the hero.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  The next evening, Liam poked his head into the lobby. Mr. Fletcher stood at the reception desk, talking to Autumn, who was pointing at places on a map of Key West.

  “Are they gone?” Liam asked, before fully stepping inside.

  Mr. Fletcher raised a brow, and shook his head. “You kids.” He folded the map and slipped it into the pocket of his dinner jacket, the kind with suede patches on the elbows. Liam’s father used to have a jacket like that. He wondered for a moment if Mr. Fletcher had children and then shook the image from his head.

  “Enjoy your dinner,” Autumn called to Mr. Fletcher as he left the lobby. The man nodded once before closing the door.

  Timothy came around with candles. “Fletcher gone?”

  Autumn nodded. “And Mrs. Paulson checked out this morning.”

  “Good riddance,” he said. “We’ll go out by the pool since that’s where things, uh . . . began. Also, it seems to be a place of energy.”

  Autumn pulled open the patio door and ushered the boys outside like a doorman. “Right this way.”

  The anxiety that had settled in Liam’s stomach now radiated throughout his whole body. He shook his fingers, hoping to rid himself of the nervous energy. This nightmare couldn’t end fast enough.

  Timothy pointed to a spot near the pool. Autumn spread out a flannel plaid blanket, the kind you might bring on a fall hayride or Christmas carriage ride. The three of them sat down, and for a moment, Liam enjoyed the blanket’s softness on his skin, until he reminded himself of what they were there to do.

  Timothy set the candles around the blanket, careful not to get them too close to the flannel. “No need to be set on fire,” he joked, although his voice sounded strained.

  Liam dug around his pockets for a lighter. It had been a few years since Pops gave up cigarettes, but Liam kept the lighter. He never knew when he might need it. Like now. Liam clicked the lighter, the small flame sprung to life, and lit the candles. On a stifling Key West night, there was little risk of a breeze blowing out the flames.

  Once that was done, Timothy nodded as if to signal to everyone to buckle down. It was time to get serious. He sat cross-legged on the blanket and intertwined his fingers, which he positioned in his lap. Liam wasn’t sure what he was expecting. Yoga maybe. Liam decided to do the same and mimicked Timothy’s posture. Autumn sat on her knees. She looked at Liam briefly, but then turned her gaze on Timothy.

  Timothy closed his eyes and exhaled deeply. “I’m finding my center.” So, it was like yoga. Timothy held out his hand.

  Liam fished into the back pocket of his shorts and thrust the St. Veronica’s pin into it.

  Again, Timothy took several deep breaths and called for Inez in a low voice.

  The candlelight flickered. The cacophony of insects died down to a barely audible hum.

  “Inez,” Timothy said. “If you’re here, please make your presence known. We would like to speak with you.”

  Timothy’s voice grew deep and authoritative. Clearly, this séance was something he had done before. When and how often was he called upon to communicate with the dead?

  “Inez,” Timothy said sharply. “Can you communicate with us?”

  Liam heard a crackling sound. A pale silhouette emerged over the pool, startling him. Goosebumps erupted along his flesh, and he shuddered in the hot, humid air.

  “She’s not coming,” Katie said.

  Timothy opened his eyes. He slumped a bit at the sight of the blonde ghost.

  Autumn deflated. “What’s going on?”

  The skin around Katie’s eyes appeared dark and hollow. Usually, Katie’s colors were vibrant if only slightly transparent. But now her complexion seemed sallow and pale. “She’s angry.”

  “Why won’t she talk to us?” Timothy grasped the pin. “She has to—we have a connection.”

  Katie shook her head at the oval pin. “That’s not hers. It can’t be, or she’d be forced to come to the circle.”

  Autumn scrunched her nose. “Crap. She’s screwing with us. She knows what she’s doing.”

  “Don’t be so sure,” Katie said. “She’s unstable and confused.”

  “I don’t think she is. She knows what she wants.”

  Liam swallowed hard. “I’m afraid to ask what.”

  Autumn hugged her arms around herself. “Revenge.”

  “Lovely,” Liam said, standing up. He dusted off his shorts. His grandparents managed to piss off Inez, and now she wanted to seek revenge against him. It would be just like the adults in his life to do something stupid that he had to fix.

  Timothy crawled to the candles and blew them out one by one. He went to collect them, but the glass was too hot to touch. “I hate to be involved in this more than I have to be, but we need to stop her. She tried to kill lover boy three times, and she’s doing something weird to Miss Katie.”

  Katie nodded in agreement. “Her energy is dark and zapping mine.”

  “And how do we stop her?” Liam asked, the anger seeping into his voice. He didn’t mean to come across as anxious, but deep down, Liam was freaked. He couldn’t quit and leave Autumn and her mom in the lurch. No one he knew would agree to work here. Plus, he felt uneasy about leaving Autumn alone in this place with the ghost. How could he assure himself she was safe if he couldn’t see her every day?

  “We keep trying,” Autumn said, her voice firm. “We need to know more about what happened the night she disappeared. To do that, we need to start asking questions. I’ll talk to Aunt Glenda again and Mr. Blazevig.”

  “I’ll keep poking around the attic,” Katie offered. Liam thought it was a nice gesture, considering Katie didn’t have to help. But being dead had to be boring, and perhaps this was the most entertainment Katie had seen in years.

  “I’ll see what I can dig up in my mom’s old books,” Timothy said.

  “And I’ll . . .” Liam’s voice trailed. He wanted to say, harass my Pops, but he still wasn’t sure he could do it. Instead, he made a suggestion even less appealing. “Call my dad. He might know some things.”

  That seemed to satisfy Autumn and actually made Liam feel better. That is, until the candles exploded.

  #

  Glass shards exploded like shrapnel. Autumn ducked and covered her head with her hands. Luckily for all of them, the glass fragments sprayed the concrete patio, missing their legs.

  “What the hell was that?” Liam cried out.

  Timothy smoothed down his hair. “I
guess miss ghost thang is not pleased.”

  Autumn surveyed the damage. “Next time we do this, she’ll play nice. She won’t have a choice.”

  Timothy let out a long sigh. It sounded to Autumn like he had been holding his breath for quite a while. “Maybe there shouldn’t be a next time.”

  “What do you mean there shouldn’t be a next time?” Autumn asked as she headed over to the toolshed. She needed a broom to sweep up the mess. “We all agreed to get to the bottom of this. Don’t you want to know what happened to her?”

  Liam pushed a giant glass shard with his sneaker and chimed in. “Not if it means pissing her off and getting hurt.”

  Autumn reached into the shed. The floodlights illuminated the cluttered mess inside. She grabbed the broom and closed the door. “She’s already pissed off. But if we don’t . . . what’s the expression?” Autumn snapped her fingers.

  “Kick her to the curb?” Timothy finished.

  “Okay. If we don’t kick her to the curb, she’s likely to kill Liam and take down the Cayo with her.”

  “Maybe, I should just quit,” Liam said, his voice barely a whisper.

  “What? No.” Autumn knew her mother was going to fire Liam after Fantasy Fest, but she wasn’t willing to let go of him so soon. Besides, she had plans to convince her mother to let Liam work for the Cayo permanently. Autumn swept up the shards, until Timothy held out his hand. He nodded at the old clock on the patio wall. It was nearly seven. “I’ll do that. Don’t you have a ghost tour to lead?”

  Mr. Blazevig. Shit. Autumn blew the bangs off her forehead. “This isn’t over!” The last part she yelled into the evening air, hoping Inez would hear her warning. Then she turned to Liam. “Don’t make any rash decisions just yet.”

  Liam kissed Autumn’s forehead. “You neither. I’ll walk you to Duval.”

  Autumn smiled and led the way out through the gate and into the street.

  #

  Early Friday morning, Evelyn barged into Autumn’s room and shook her awake. Autumn draped her arm across her face and groaned. “Mom, it’s barely light out.”