by Spear, Terry
The muscles in Michael’s neck tightened. She wished he’d relax, and then maybe she’d feel more comfortable telling the story.
“Yes?” he prompted when she hesitated.
“Well, I hadn’t known him, which in a way helped. I think if I did, I would’ve been pretty emotional. Anyway, I slipped into the pool area and turned on the lights. I sensed his presence at once. Instead of trying to frighten me off, he seemed to realize I wanted to help.
“He appeared in ghost form at the edge of the pool where he had struck his head and died. I stayed with him and talked for over an hour. I told him about the memorial and how much his parents and sister and brother missed him. He wanted me to speak to his friends…the ones he rough-housed with, ultimately causing his death. I had to tell his friends he didn’t hold a grudge against them.”
Up until now, Michael quietly listened, though his eyes darkened, and he seemed pretty intense. “Did they feel he had?”
“Each of the three sought psychological counseling after the incident. It didn’t help that the school had suspended them. They felt they really had caused their friend’s death. Anyway, I took his message to them. At first, they didn’t believe me, until I told them about a party the three were at and some of the things they’d done—movies they’d watched, games they’d played. Still skeptical, they wanted to speak to him through me, egging me on to prove it. I agreed, but I couldn’t let the school administration know. They would’ve sent me to see a psychiatrist.”
Michael shook his head.
What did he think about what she’d done? She couldn’t tell; his face was masked in darkness.
“We sneaked into the pool late one night, and I held a séance. Craig, the boy who’d died, spoke to me. He joked with his friends about things they’d done the previous year. I told them what he said. They knew then it was him because only he could have known all those things. He released his friends from their suffering and bid them farewell forever.”
Michael parked at the main library and turned to Emily, his brow wrinkled with concern. “And?”
“His spirit never haunted the pool again. Eventually the school administration opened the pool and erected a memorial plaque in the boy’s honor. After his friends’ suspension ended, they joined the swim team to become the high school’s best swimmers. And they kept my secret.”
“You told them you could read minds?”
Emily frowned. “Heaven’s no. They only knew I could speak with the dead.”
“But this is different, Emily. In this case the dead boy was murdered.” Michael’s voice conveyed unease.
“Yes, Michael, but I have to help him find solace.” And she would, if she could.
“But whoever did this could still be out there.”
“Most likely.” Which made it imperative she find the killer. What if he did it again because he got away with it the first time? Or what if this hadn’t even been the first?
“What if he’s still at our school?”
That possibility gave her a fresh chill. “Possibly, but maybe not. We don’t know when he was killed. He’s just a shadowy form. I can’t see the clothes he wears. It might have been twenty years ago, for all we know.”
“You can’t get involved.”
She let out a sigh, exasperated she wasn’t able to convince Michael she had no choice. “I am involved. Once a spirit asks for my help, I have to assist them.” She reached for Michael’s hand and squeezed. “But I want you to help me.”
“Granny never told me how difficult being your boyfriend was going to be.”
Hope renewed he would stand by her side, Emily smiled. “Then you’ll help?”
He handed her the class ring from his high school in California. “If you’ll wear my ring.”
Her heart picked up its pace, and Emily turned the gold ring over to read the inscription. Michael Shipley. “Is it magical?” she teased. She could use a protective talisman about now.
“Only if you wear it.” He slipped it onto her finger, making her giddy with delight, and she normally wasn’t the type.
He was asking her to go steady with him? Michael leaned over to kiss her lips. Emily closed her eyes, tilted her chin up, and readied her mind to feel his mouth against hers. Her whole body lifted to a higher plane as his lips warmed hers. His hands fingered her hair while she touched his waist, not sure what else to do with her hands.
When he leaned away from her, she smiled. “I should be jealous, Michael.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, to think you’ve plied so many other girls with your kisses.”
“Why do you think that?” Michael released the copper clip from her hair and ran his fingers through the curls drifting over her shoulder.
“You kiss with such...” She paused trying to think of the perfect word. “…finesse.”
He laughed. “I’m glad you think so. I took classes in it...French classes.”
Tickled by his humor, she shook her head.
“You do realize going steady with me has rules.”
“Oh?” She crossed her arms. This ought to be good. Didn’t he realize she had a mind of her own?
“Yeah.” He tugged at her arm. “Come on. Let’s check out ghosts at the main library.”
Walking up the granite steps, he wrapped his arm around her waist.
“You still haven’t told me the rules yet, Michael.”
“No more molesting naked boys in the locker room.”
She stifled a laugh when they entered the library, the only noise that of books being shelved, or pages being flipped by the numerous patrons, and an occasional cough. The smell of freshly oiled floors and dusty books assaulted her.
“I hadn’t intended to do that trick again anytime soon,” Emily whispered. “What else?”
“I like the sentiment on that shirt you’re wearing.” He pointed at the words. “I will not talk to boys. Of course, that goes for only the other guys.”
“That one will be hard to accomplish. That’s why the message fades off into oblivion. Anything else?” Emily asked.
“You don’t try to solve these mysteries on your own.”
When she took a deep breath, he tilted his head down and pulled her close. “I’m serious. We’re in this together.”
“I think the murdered boy only wanted me to get involved. That’s why he led us to the boys’ locker room. He must have assumed you wouldn’t let me go in there.”
“He didn’t know you very well.”
She cleared her throat and a flush of heat traveled across her skin. “Once you disappeared, he showed me the way to the lunchroom.”
“We do this together, Emily.”
“Okay.” It wasn’t that she didn’t want to include Michael in her investigation. She only worried the ghost wouldn’t allow it. “But if he doesn’t want you to—”
“Together, Emily. If he doesn’t like that I’m your steady guy, he can find someone else to expose his murderers.”
“All right, Michael. Agreed.” She took his hand and led him to the computers for patrons. “Now, for my conditions.”
He chuckled while he checked for library books on pirates.
“You have to promise not to kiss any other girls.”
“Only Granny.”
She poked his shoulder with an accusing finger. “You know what I mean.”
His mouth was cemented in a permanent smile. “I promise.”
“And you can’t talk to other girls.”
He laughed, then pointed to the screen. “Okay, several books on pirates.”
She released his hand and headed for the stairs. “I’m going to check out the obituaries for last year.”
He hopped up from his chair to join her.
“What, Michael? Don’t you trust me?” She teased in part, but another part of her was annoyed he might think she intended to go it alone. Though she had to remind herself he took his knighthood pretty seriously.
“I’ll help you. Two heads are better
than one. And remember, with my photographic memory we don’t have to take notes.”
They headed down the stairs to the periodical’s section located in the basement.
“Which means you’ll remember every detail, and I won’t. Then, if I need to know something, I’ll have to ask you.” She tilted her head to the side.
“Yep, just what I had in mind.”
Groaning, she shook her head. Not even her parents supervised her this much. “Did you know you’re a tad controlling?”
“Yeah, but with someone as slippery as you, it’s going to be a real challenge to keep you under control.”
“Slippery? Hmpf, sounds like I’m an eel.”
“Mermaid is more what I was thinking.”
She could live with that.
They pulled out a drawer of microfiche for the previous year’s newspapers and began the tedious search for daily obituaries.
For two hours, they looked through the fiche, only stopping long enough for each to call home to inform Emily’s parents and Michael’s grandmother where they were. When they resumed their search, Michael asked Emily, “Do you want to pick up something at the Burger Stop?”
“Won’t your grandmother miss you eating with her?” She imagined Michael’s grandmother enjoyed sharing meals with Michael, after having been widowed and alone for the last couple of years. Hating to think Granny would have to eat alone…
“She couldn’t wait and fixed herself a grilled cheese sandwich. She’s always hungry right after I get home from school and said for us to grab a bite while we’re out.”
“The Burger Stop it is, then.”
Emily ran her finger along the fiche reader, noticing Michael hadn’t changed to another fiche like he normally did. “Did you find it, Michael?” she asked, her enthusiasm sparked.
“Yeah.” He pushed in a coin and printed off the page. Fresh ink scented the air. “I’ve made a copy for you, so you won’t think I’m so controlling.”
“You’re pretty sweet, Michael, you know?”
She jumped up to get the copy from the machine, but a glint of a red shirt and black denims caught her eye. She turned to see a familiar and unwelcome sight saunter down the stairs into the library’s basement.
Dread colored her perception. She steeled her back, wore an imperious face, and made her stand.
Red, and his two thug companions, Daniel and Rocky, eyed them as if pure evil filled their thoughts.
Chapter 11
Despite fortifying her feelings, Emily’s blood chilled when Red and his companions headed in their direction. She knew they couldn’t do anything to Michael or her in the library, because there were several older patrons checking out the genealogy records or magazines and newspapers, except maybe to attempt to terrorize them. Still, she didn’t want them to know what she and Michael were researching. For that matter, she didn’t want anyone knowing what they were up to.
She grabbed the copy of the obituary and shoved it into her purse. “Red and his buddies are here, Michael,” she whispered.
He refiled the fiche. “We’re done here anyway.” As if he could read her mind, he hurried to hide what they researched. He draped his arm over her shoulder. “Let’s go upstairs and find some fun reading material.”
“Ghost stories?”
“Yep. And a pirate’s tale or two.”
Red drew close, then shoved into Michael’s shoulder.
Emily glared at Red, wrinkled her forehead, and quirked a brow. Red tripped over his feet and fell on his face. A slew of curses streamed from his mouth.
Michael pulled Emily toward the stairs. “You shouldn’t antagonize them, Emily.”
She glanced back at Red and his friends. All heads turned in her direction as Red hurriedly got to his feet. “Listen, Michael, it doesn’t make any difference. They’re bullies and no matter how nice you are to someone like them, they’re going to be nasty back. The only thing that will stop them is a bigger bully who beats the tar out of them. That’s all it would take to make them quit.”
“I don’t think I fit that job very well.”
She smiled. “No, you’re a sweet-hearted diplomat. Not lion-hearted in the least bit.”
He grabbed his chest as they approached the bookshelves. “You’ve wounded me deeply, fair maiden.”
“I like that you’re not an aggressive, overbearing lout.”
“Just a bit controlling.”
“Only in a protective sort of way. Let’s find some ghost stories.”
After searching for sometime, they found four books on Florida pirates and three on ghosts in the region. With books in hand, they walked to the checkout counter. Then she formulated a plan. While Michael handed his card to the clerk, Emily filled out a library card request form.
If Red and the others continued to stalk Michael and her, what if she led them to the lunchroom? Maybe she could transfer the dead boy’s feelings of frustration over to Red. Hmm, she’d never done anything like that before. Could she do it?
It was worth a try. Maybe the dead boy would frighten Red so he’d leave her alone. Could the spirit be her bully hero? The clerk handed her a new card.
“What are you thinking?” Michael asked, looping his arm through Emily’s. “I could tell by the way you were smiling in an evil way you contemplated something.”
“What I’d eat at the Burger Stop.”
“A burger.”
He walked her out to the car. The black car painted in flames sat next to his vehicle, and Emily shuddered. Red watched them from the entrance of the library, his face hard.
Michael opened Emily’s car door.
She gave Red an irritated look, but didn’t like the fact his gang now had an additional member. “I wonder who the kid is who’s driving those creeps everywhere.”
“Another bully, no doubt.”
“Or someone they’re bullying.” Which meant maybe they needed to rescue him, too.
“I’ll try to find out. So, what were you thinking about in the library?”
Afraid he’d object to her plan, she hated to mention it. “Michael, you’d think you could read my mind by the way you question me.”
“If I could read your mind, I wouldn’t have to ask you the question.”
Smart aleck.
“I had the notion I could get Red to follow me into the lunchroom after school tomorrow and transfer the ghost’s frustrations to Red’s subconscious. Maybe scare him, and he’ll leave us alone.”
“No.”
“See if I ever tell you my brilliant plans again.” Emily leaned back against the soft car seat and breathed in the fine aroma of new leather.
“Have you ever transferred a spirit’s thoughts to the living?”
“No.”
“Then what makes you think you can do it now?”
She shrugged. “I thought it was worth a try.”
“You know the old saying, fighting fire with fire.”
“You’re right. I need to douse him with water. Just like the wicked witch of the West, or was it the East, you know, Wizard of Oz?”
“Right.”
When they parked at the Burger Stop, Michael paused before he left the car. “I wonder if they’ll follow us here.”
“Maybe. I think they’re attempting to intimidate us.”
When they entered the restaurant, he stood taller. “Do you think I’m not lion-hearted enough?”
She wrapped her arm around his waist. “You’re perfect, Michael. Just the way I like my guys.”
“Guys?”
She chuckled. “Yeah. What makes you think I didn’t have lots of boyfriends back home?”
“You’d never been kissed.”
An elderly couple smiled at her, and Emily’s cheeks warmed. Enough of that topic for the moment.
He kissed her cheek. “Your blush tells me the truth.”
Hadn’t he embarrassed her enough for one day?
After they got their cheeseburgers, they took seats by one of the glass windo
ws. As soon as they scooted into the booth, Red and his gang drove into the parking lot.
Totally exasperated, Emily shook her head. “They don’t know when to quit.” She wasn’t going to sit back and let them annoy Michael and her anymore though.
She concentrated on Daniel. While the other boys tried to look really tough walking into the restaurant, their chests puffed full of air, strutting like a bunch of roosters, she made Daniel stay behind. Then she had him pull out his knife and let the air out of the black car’s tires. One, two, three, four. He repocketed his knife and joined his gang, never aware he’d even done the deed.
Michael concentrated on the gang inside, unaware of what Emily had been up to. “Do you have any homework tonight?”
“Not me. What about you?”
They finished their burgers, then walked out to his Neon. She glanced at the black car, the tires flat. Shifting her attention to Michael, she hoped he wouldn’t notice the thugs’ vehicle. She really didn’t want to explain how the tires got that way.
“No. I imagine they’ll pile it on for the weekend.”
That notion didn’t thrill her. “We can each take some of the library books, read them tonight, and share what we learned tomorrow. Or, we can swap them out with each other just in case we missed anything. On second thought, with your photographic memory you probably wouldn’t overlook anything.”
“About the obituary, Emily...”
She climbed into the car. “Yeah, I haven’t looked at it yet. While you drive, I’ll read.”
After fastening her seatbelt, she pulled out the obituary. Dreading the details, she unfolded the paper.
Michael remained silent as he drove. Emily took a ragged breath and read the announcement.
ARMANDO GOMEZ, seventeen, of 32 Landover Rd, Merritt Island, died March 3. Funeral 4 p.m., Thursday, March 6 at S.M. Sloan and Sons Funeral Home with Reverend D.K. Finch officiating. Interment will be in Sweethaven Cemetery.
Disappointed at the lack of details, Emily folded the paper back up. “I don’t understand. The news was dated last year. But how and where did he die? What makes you think he’s the one? We still don’t know a whole lot.”
“When Red arrived, I found a newspaper article concerning Armando’s death, but didn’t have time to print it out.”
