by Drew Zachary
"Well, I appreciate the trust thing -- but honestly, I imagine that'll come with time, not by sprouting a bunch of crap at you about how my, um, gift does or doesn't work." DB leaned back against his desk, arms across his chest. "Besides, there's no way they're going to give you a warrant because 'the guy who talks to ghosts said so.'"
Jesse rolled his eyes and laughed when Joe did the same thing. "I think I like him, DB."
"No," Joe said patiently, "but if you tell me about something with enough notice, I can find other evidence for a warrant to go into a place. Maybe. Won't know until you start giving me information, which is why I came by. You haven't called, at all. Hey, is Madam Yanya able to see ghosts, too?"
"I can't speak for anyone but myself, Joe." DB ran his hand over his face. "Jesse helps me on my regular cases, which are mostly of the domestic variety. Cheaters, you know? Jesse can get into places that I can't, and he reports back to me. The non-paying cases... well, let's just say that I'm getting a reputation in the... the, ah... oh fuck it, the ghost world. I'm the go-to guy if you're a ghost and you want your death solved."
Jesse winced. He knew DB hated those cases, and he knew that DB wasn't able to turn them down; justice meant too much to the man.
"Does that happen a lot?" Joe asked casually. "A lot of ghosts wandering up and passing out messages, asking for help?"
"More often than I'd like."
"Can you find specific ghosts?" The casual tone was slipping away pretty fast, and Jesse sat up straighter.
"DB. Go easy."
DB pushed away from the desk and walked around it, sitting in his chair before answering. "Why would I do that?"
Joe picked up the glass and looked at it, then put it down again when he saw that it was empty. "I just... Ghosts. What if he's still around and I can't see him? What if he's waiting for something and I didn't know?" Joe looked up, his face weary. "What if I can say good bye?"
"Oh, man." Jesse sighed. "Tell him I'll check, if he tells me who and where it happened. But I'm not too sure his guy stuck around, DB. Not if he died on the job. No reason to hang around, right?"
DB shook his head. "No. No, I'm not in the business of playing messenger between the dead and the living." DB looked at Joe and sighed. "But if you give me his name and where he was killed, Jesse says he'll see if he can find him. A one-time exception." The last was aimed directly at Jesse. "But Jesse also said your guy probably didn't stick around."
Joe looked at the chair. "It's a chance I have to look at, though. You know that. You have to, right?" He tilted his head a little to the left and added, "It's really odd, talking to someone I can't see."
Jesse rolled his eyes. "At least he's looking at the right spot."
Joe pulled himself up and squared his shoulders. "His name was David Germaine. He was shot in the west corner of a warehouse on Water Street, by the shipping dock. He died at the scene."
"Got it." Jesse nodded and looked at DB. "Tell him I'll check, give it a couple of days so I can be sure it's not a time of day situation. There should be a fair number of ghosts down there to talk to about it, too."
"He'll check, Joe. It might take a couple of days for him to be sure if David's already moved on. And, Joe. This doesn't get out. You don't tell anyone I did this."
"Who would I tell?" Joe walked toward the door. "No one believed David had visions, I'm not about to start talking about ghosts, too. Call me."
"I will. And I'll call you if I catch a case with larger ramifications. Though I've got to tell you, Joe, I keep hoping I don't get more of those kinds of cases."
"And I keep hoping the bad guys will give it all up. Hasn't happened yet." He kept on walking and the outer door opened and closed.
"Well." Jesse stood up. "That was fun. Christ."
DB sighed and rolled his neck and shoulders. "God, Jesse. It's supposed to be easier if one of the good guys believe me, right?"
"Yeah." Jesse shrugged and went around the desk, wishing he could give DB a really good back rub that was substantial and tactile to the very end. "Actually, I think it will be. You won't be hauled in as much, anyway. I'll do this favor for him, he'll relax in a week or so, and we'll get things done. Like this cheater thing. Are you almost done with the background check?"
"Yeah, I am. We might be able to start some surveillance tonight. Check out where he goes, who he's with -- the usual." DB gave him a look. "Be discreet on this search for his partner thing. I mean it. I don't want ghosts showing up at random with messages for people. I'm a private investigator, not a medium."
"Maybe I should start carrying around Madam Yanya's business card. Or you should." Jesse could just picture it, DB walking up to strangers, slipping them a card, and telling them to call the number for an important message from a loved one.
Joe wouldn't be able to keep him out of jail.
DB shot him a glare. "You keep that up and you're not getting any tonight."
Jesse grinned. "If I don't get any, you don't get any. I've been really working on keeping it together, too, since you've been working so hard. A man deserves blow jobs while he watches TV once in a while." Not too often, but once in a while would be good. DB would appreciate it.
"Are you offering me a blow job tonight after work?" DB looked like that thought was cheering him up.
"If you hurry up and finish so we can actually get the work done, yes." Jesse grinned and put himself back in his chair. "I'll just wait here. Quietly."
DB snorted. "You couldn't be quiet if your life depended on it."
"I'm dead, so it's a non-issue." Jesse waved his hand. "Work."
DB rolled his eyes, but got back to work, picking his rhythm back up quickly. "Why don't you go check out the warehouse. I should be done by the time you're back, and we can go do that surveillance."
"Now?" Jesse blinked, but couldn't come up with a single reason not to. "Okay, sure. I'll go and poke around, see if there's anyone hanging around. You'll be, what, an hour or so?"
"At most. We'll grab burgers at the drive-through when we head out."
Oh, DB was doing that on purpose.
"You're too kind." Man, a burger would be good; too bad he couldn’t indulge, and the smell just made him miss it more. "I wouldn't want to miss that."
DB grinned and waved. "Have fun."
"If I have a lot of fun, you might wind up sucking me." Honestly, DB pushed his luck sometimes. Too bad he was so damn cute when he did it.
"You first." At least it looked like DB was in a better mood now.
Jesse rolled his eyes and waved. "Yes, DB. You first." He blew DB a kiss -- something sure to make DB snort -- and put himself outside the building, in the general vicinity of the sidewalk. He was only off by a foot or two, which wasn't that bad. He hated to think what would've happened if he'd tried to go all the way down to Water Street in one move.
Whistling to himself, thinking about blow jobs, burgers, and hanging out at home, Jesse headed downtown to look for something he was pretty sure wasn't there.
***
DB was in a good mood.
He had a cop who believed him. Someone he hadn't needed to use yet, which put him in an even better mood. No ghost cases. He and Jesse had closed out a few domestic cases, too. One woman had been cheating, the other woman and another man hadn't. All three clients had paid in full.
DB'd gotten a maid service in and now his office was clean. All he needed was another case or two this month and he'd be able to pay for a receptionist/secretary next month. He had a tall latte from the little coffee shop down the street, his newspaper was in his hand, and it was a beautiful day.
Whistling, he let himself into the office.
He hadn't even made it all the way to his desk before the phone was ringing, and by the look on Jesse's face -- sheer frustration -- it wasn't the first time.
"God, please answer that. Even if you just leave it off the hook!"
Chuckling, DB considered not answering, just to tease Jesse. But if he had real live clients
calling, he didn't want to blow them off -- ghosts didn't use the phone. He picked up the receiver. "Black Investigations."
"Child, you got to start keeping earlier hours. How's a body supposed to get any work done, waiting on you to pick up the phone?"
Madame Yanya. Great. He took back that ghosts didn't use the phone thing. "You could have left a message."
"And just have my business out there for the world to hear? I don't think so." She sounded indignant. "Now. I'm a working woman, and my customers need to find me where they know I be, so I need you to come here, Mr. Black. This morning?"
"You want to tell me what this is about?" He grabbed his date book, looking at it mournfully. He didn't have any appointments this morning. Damn it.
Jesse was giving him an odd look, but wasn't interrupting. A minor miracle, really.
"I need to hire you." She said it firmly. "There are things that you're better at than I am, and I need you to take care of something for me. You'll come?"
"Hire as in pay?"
Jesse perked up. Hell, he'd perked up himself, although there was still the matter of the client being Madam Yanya.
"That's what I said, isn't it? Child, are you awake yet?" She sounded suspicious. "You're not a drunk, are you?"
He snorted. "I'm not drunk. I'll be there in fifteen." Barring traffic.
"Good. Bring your boyfriend."
He rolled his eyes. "See you in fifteen." Hanging up, he grabbed a pad of paper and a pen and headed back out. "Come on, Jesse. We have a job."
"We do? That's great! What kind of job?" Jesse almost made it through the door without passing through part of the wall. Almost. "Where?"
"That's the only catch: Madame Yanya." He locked the door behind him and headed for the stairs.
"Are you serious?" Jesse laughed and stopped moving, which meant he then had to hurry to catch up again. "She actually called you? Man, she must be in a bad way." He looked more amused than worried for her.
"She's paying, too." DB grinned and climbed into the car, waiting for Jesse to get settled before he headed out.
"Paying is good." Jesse slipped through the car door and perched on the seat next to him. "Paying is real good. Wow, Madam Yanya. I didn't think she'd ever want to see us again, what with everything that happened last time."
"Tell me about it." He pulled out into traffic and headed off. "I'm curious what's got her calling me."
"Maybe she's being haunted."
"Wouldn't that be a hoot?"
"Sure, until she expects you to do something about it. I mean, if Yanya can't ditch a ghost, how are we supposed to do it?" Jesse made a face at him. "Still. A ghost case with money is something new."
"It is. I'm just hoping it's a ghost who needs help and not the ghost of a serial killer or something like that."
Jesse looked at him. "Gee. Thank you so much for that thought." Then Jesse turned and looked out the window.
"Hey, it's a concern. They're not all sweet little girls, you know."
"I know. Trust me, I know." Jesse wrinkled his nose. "Some of them are dead prostitutes, some of them are cop killers who got shot when they were finishing off their kill." David's death hadn't been pretty, apparently, but he'd moved on. The guy who'd done it hadn't. DB wasn't sure if Joe found comfort in that or not. "But some of them are people who need help, so let's just hope for that."
"Yeah, you know me -- expect the worst, hope for the best." He turned onto Yanya's street and found a parking spot near the front of the place.
Jesse waited until the car stopped before vanishing. He didn't reappear on the sidewalk, which meant he'd gone right inside -- or he'd decided he didn't want to go in at all, which would be bad. And annoying.
Grumbling, DB got out and headed for the front door. The bell rang as he went in.
"Well finally!" Madam Yanya bustled out from behind her counter, all her skirts and shawls flapping around her. It looked like she'd had a rough night, if the five o'clock shadow was anything to go by.
Jesse was in the corner, pretending to look at spell packets. DB ignored him and offered Yanya a smile. He couldn't see any other ghosts. "So, what's up?"
"I'm being haunted."
He looked around again. "By who?"
"By the ghost who won't leave my room!" Yanya's eyes were a bit scary. "Honestly! This ghost showed up last week, plunked hisself down on my bed, and said he was coming home! He hasn't left, and no amount of talking to him is making him budge. You need to get this guy to move on."
Jesse tittered a laugh over by the spells.
"Don't you laugh at me, boy!" Yanya tugged a shawl tighter around her broad shoulders. "He's got a long story, talk your ear off."
DB managed to keep his lips from twitching. Just barely. "So give me the brief version of his story."
Yanya went back to her counter and picked up a mug that DB could only assume was full of tea or coffee. He didn't smell any booze, but scents had a way of being masked in that shop, under all the incense and herbs. "He used to live here -- I bought the building from his estate. He says that's who he is, anyway. Ernest Lockhart, former junk shop owner. Which means he was a fence, if you get me."
"So why hasn't he moved on?"
"Says he doesn't want to! That he's spent the last ten years working and now he just wants to be home!" Madam Yanya pointed a finger at Jesse. "You tell me, what kind of work has the man been up to? He's a ghost!"
Jesse looked startled. "You got me. I spent twenty years just kickin' back and watchin' TV."
DB sighed. "Can you call him down here, or am I going to have to go up to him?" And couldn't Yanya just deal with having a ghost around? God knew, he had to.
"I haven't been able to budge him. I've been sleeping on the couch in the back room!" Yanya was not a small woman. Or man, even. No wonder she was grouchy. "Go on up; he's in the first room on the left."
"There aren't any unmentionables hanging out of drawers or anything, are there?"
Jesse started laughing, and Yanya looked like she was going to throw the mug. "No, Mr. Black. There are no unmentionables hanging out of drawers. Go!"
He rolled his eyes. "Come on, Jesse." He wasn't going in there without backup.
"Scared?" Jesse was still laughing, but he went along, even slipped past DB to go up the stairs first. "Hey, Mr. Lockhart? My name's Jesse. Me and my friend are coming up to talk to you, okay?"
No one answered, but Jesse kept going anyway.
DB followed. He wasn't scared. He just didn't believe in meeting with ghosts without a ghost partner. It was good practice.
Jesse led the way into Yanya's bedroom. "Oh, man. Check it out."
There were no unmentionables hanging around at all, and the room was as neat as a pin. It was also the most masculine room DB had seen in years. Big, wooden furniture, clean lines, not a thing to indicate that Madam Yanya wore a dress to work.
And on the bed was a sallow-looking man of about fifty, grinning at them.
"Ernest Lockhart, I presume." DB wanted to know what this guy had to grin about. He was dead, after all.
"That's me." Lockhart sounded like he'd smoked about three packs a day back when he was alive. "Nice room, huh? Wasn't this fine when I had it, I can tell you that for free."
Jesse was looking around like he was shopping.
"Yeah, but it's not your room anymore, Lockhart. And it's one thing to haunt a place when people don't know you're there, but to do it to someone who can see you? That's just wrong, man." He didn't imagine that argument was going to work, but he had to go for it.
Lockhart pointed at Jesse. "You got him."
Jesse shrugged. "That's different. I'm not haunting him; he wants me around."
Much as he hated to actually admit that out loud, DB nodded. "That's right. From what I understand, Madame Yanya has asked you to leave."
"He wears a dress, he's in my house, and I don't feel like it." Lockhart crossed his arms and legs and looked at DB. "Why you want your ghost around?"
&
nbsp; "Don't you get bored?" Jesse asked. "There isn't even a TV in here."
Lockhart shrugged. "It's restful."
"Wouldn't you have more rest if you, you know, moved on to the next plane, or whatever it is you guys do?" Why did everyone want to pry into his relationship with Jesse?
Jesse nodded encouragingly. "It's real nice over there. No reason to stay here, is there?"
