Ghostly Charms

by Lily Harper Hart

  “And you believe these kids killed my father?”

  “Well ... it’s more that we believe someone broke in when your father was still here and maybe caused a heart attack, or other medical malady. We’re curious why your father would be here so late at night, though.”

  “I don’t know.” Bill looked genuinely perplexed. “How late are we talking?”

  “We’re not sure.” Mel shifted his gaze to the medical examiner. “Do you have a tentative time of death yet?”

  Farber raised an eyebrow and pursed his lips. “I can give you a window. That’s the best I can do for now. We’re talking between eleven last night and two this morning. That’s all I’ve got until I can get him into the lab.”

  “And no signs of violence, right?” Jared queried.

  “None that I can see,” Farber replied. “I don’t see any bruising or anything. I’m going to guess it was his heart, but I honestly can’t say until I get in there.”

  “You mean ... cut him open?” Bill swallowed hard. “Is that absolutely necessary?”

  “If you want answers it is,” Mel replied. “We need to know how your father died. The broken window — which matches the other incidents — leads us to believe the same individuals who broke into those other places did so here.”

  “And why is that important if he had a heart attack?”

  “Because, when we catch these individuals, they’ll be facing charges. Even if Lionel died of natural causes, if it happened during a crime, then the guilty parties won’t get away with it. They will be responsible for hastening his death and they will be dealing with us.”

  “Right.” Bill rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. “It was probably kids. You said that already. Just because something happened to my father now, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t kids.”

  “We’re definitely not ruling out kids,” Jared promised. “Honestly, that supposition seems to make the most sense because very little has been stolen from any of the facilities. Jason Thurman’s restaurant was one of the locations hit and he had fifty bucks in cash in his desk and it wasn’t taken. In fact, as far as we can tell, nothing was taken.”

  Mel cleared his throat and shook his head. “That’s not entirely true. Jason contacted me last evening. He had his employees do a full inventory and they found two things missing.”

  Jared was caught off guard. “You didn’t tell me that.”

  “You were off yesterday and I thought it could wait,” Mel explained. “Honestly, the two items taken seem to reinforce our kids theory.”

  “And what were the two items?”

  “A bottle of expensive wine and a jar of maraschino cherries.”

  Whatever he was expecting, that wasn’t it. Jared’s eyebrows arched. “Well, I don’t know a lot of adult thieves who would risk breaking into a business for some wine and cherries.”

  “No, but I don’t know why they would break into this place at all,” Mel admitted. “I mean ... think about it. There’s nothing here that would tickle their fancy. Bill, are you familiar with the things your father kept in his shop? Would you know if anything is missing?”

  “I can look,” Bill replied. “I don’t know everything he kept in here but there weren’t many things. Should I take a look around?”

  Mel nodded, making sure to keep an eye on the man to make sure he didn’t attempt to disturb the body a second time. Bill had apparently regained his senses, though, because he looked anywhere but at his father.

  “It has to be kids,” Jared said to his partner in a low voice. “What adult would break into a restaurant and steal those items?”

  “I agree that it’s probably kids. The thing is ... there is one other possibility. An adult in dire enough straits, one who might have a substance abuse problem, might break into the restaurant to steal alcohol.”

  “Fair enough. What about the craft store, though? What about the ice cream shop?”

  “Those are harder to explain,” Mel admitted, rubbing his jaw. He looked tired, which suddenly struck Jared as out of place. “I honestly think it has to be kids, but tracking down the right kids is going to be an issue. We can’t very well go around and accuse every teenager in the community. The parents will be all over us.”

  “They’re kids, though,” Jared pointed out. “They won’t be able to keep their mouths shut over the long haul. It was probably difficult enough to keep a group of them quiet — and I do think we have to be dealing with more than one person here unless it’s a true sociopath — which means that someone is bound to freak out now that Lionel has died. Someone is going to blab.”

  “In general, I would agree with you.”

  “Except?”

  “Except if one of these kids admits what happened to a parent, I think there’s a real chance the parent will understand the true consequences for what might occur going forward. These kids won’t have futures. They’ll be going to prison. As bad as a parent might feel, there’s every chance that they’ll still cover for their child.”

  Jared was going to argue the point, but then he realized his partner was right. “What about other kids?” he asked finally. “They might be more likely to rat on their friends if someone confided in them.”

  “That may be our best bet,” Mel agreed. “Once word gets out about what’s happening here, though, then a lot of these kids are going to start pointing the finger at one another. It might not be true, but kids of a certain age are dramatic and one or more might be looking for payback against an enemy.”

  “You think we’re going to be inundated with tips.”

  “Oh, most definitely.” Mel was grim. “Parents who have a grudge against other parents will start accusing the little darlings they hate. Kids will turn on other kids. People like Lionel, who hated children, will tell us stories about two kids hiding behind the bank. Sure, those kids were probably smoking cigarettes or pot, but that will be left out of the story. We’re going to get buried.”

  Jared didn’t like the sound of that. “Well ... what do we do?”

  “I don’t see where there’s anything we can do. It would be helpful if Lionel’s ghost was hanging around because then Harper could help us — and there’s a sentence I never thought I would say — and point us in the right direction. As of right now, we’re flying blind.”

  Jared pressed the tip of his tongue against the back of his teeth and nodded, his attention shifting as Bill returned to them. “Anything?”

  “There’s just one thing,” Bill replied. He looked nervous, fidgety even. “My father had a special razor. It had a mother-of-pearl handle. My mother gave it to him before she died. He’s always cherished it ... and used it. It’s not on the tray with the other tools.”

  Jared straightened. “You’re talking about a straight-edge razor, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Would he have put it anywhere else?”

  “No. He always kept it on the tray. I honestly don’t know where else it could be. I think it’s gone.”

  Jared’s eyes drifted back to Mel. “Well, that’s not good.”

  “Nope,” Mel agreed. “Now someone has something that can be used as a weapon. That’s not good at all.”

  5

  Five

  Harper tried to wait out the ghost as long as possible. He refused to come out of the shadows, though. When she gave in to her baser urges and trotted over there to introduce herself, he disappeared. She barely got a full glimpse of him. All she could say with any degree of certainty was that he was young.

  Zander started texting shortly before the lunch hour. He was insisting they eat together because they had something to discuss. Harper had an idea what that “something” was and wanted to avoid a scene. When he showed up at the house to pick her up, though, she had no choice.

  “I don’t want to fight with you,” she said as they started walking downtown. The weather was warm enough that they could enjoy the half-mile trek. “If this is going to turn into a thing, I’m going to turn around right
now and eat Ramen noodles for lunch. I don’t even care.”

  Zander rolled his eyes. “Please. You know you want the minestrone soup. It’s your favorite.”

  He was talking about the minestrone soup at a local deli and it was indeed Harper’s favorite. That’s how he ultimately enticed her to lunch in the first place. On a sigh, she nodded. “Fine. I don’t want to hear any crap, though.”

  “Did I say anything?”

  “I can hear you thinking over there.” She cast him a sidelong look, frustration bubbling up. “It’s my wedding, Zander.”

  “I know it’s your wedding.” His eyes flashed with annoyance. “Did I say it wasn’t your wedding? No. It’s definitely your wedding.”

  “So why are you trying to control it?”

  “I’m not trying to control it. I’m just ... trying to make sure that it’s the absolute best day for you. Believe it or not, I happen to think you deserve some happiness ... even if it’s with Captain Overly Large Nipples.”

  Harper pressed her lips together to keep from laughing. It would only encourage him, something she didn’t want to do. Still, his reaction had her laughing. He only started picking on Jared’s nipples — which were perfectly normal nipples to everyone in the world but Zander — when he was at the end of his rope.

  In truth, when Jared moved to town and started squiring Harper about, Zander was initially happy. She hadn’t dated since the supposed death of her boyfriend Quinn, a man who disappeared after an accident and was believed to have succumbed to his injuries in the woods surrounding Whisper Cove.

  Initially, after his disappearance, she spent all her time in the country fields looking for his ghost. She was convinced if she could find him, give him a proper burial, she would be able to leave him behind. It was the not knowing that did her in. The constant wondering wore her down. She became obsessed with finding Quinn, which seemed like a total waste of time in hindsight.

  She stagnated for years, refusing to date and becoming stuck in a rut. During that same time, Zander did nothing but date ... but he always found something wrong with those people within a few days. He wasn’t ready to settle down either, although for completely different reasons.

  Harper had begun to wonder now that he’d so easily found peace with Shawn. Had he only been so difficult as a potential boyfriend because he didn’t want to leave her behind? As much of a pain as he was, he also had the best heart of anyone she’d ever met. It made sense that he remained close to her for a very important reason. He wanted her to feel safe.

  It was only after she started dating Jared that things loosened up enough in Zander’s world for him to start embracing the idea of a long-term relationship. Harper and Jared’s happiness came with a price, though. Over the years, Harper and Zander became so codependent they did very little apart. That meant, when it came time for independent couple stuff, they weren’t always good at it.

  Jared had been beyond patient when it came to dealing with Zander. He understood how important the man was to Harper and put up very little fight when it came to the time she spent with her best friend. He did lay down the law on mornings. Zander was only allowed to interrupt them once a week now, slide into bed with them, and gossip. Zander was still bitter about that, and Harper was almost certain that he was leading with the residual anger he had left over from having their time together curtailed.

  “We want a small wedding,” Harper insisted. “That’s something that’s important to both of us. I know you don’t understand it, that it’s the exact opposite of what you would want, but that’s not really the point. It’s what’s going to make both of us happy. Shouldn’t that be the most important thing?”

  Zander’s expression was hard to read and for a brief moment, Harper was convinced he was going to concede and agree with her.

  She was so, so wrong.

  “No. The most important thing is that you get a beautiful cake, and an amazing dress, and food that doesn’t make me want to gag. You need to have the right music ... and shoes ... and makeup that stands out and yet is still understated. Those are the most important things.”

  Harper hung her head and sighed. “Zander.”

  “Whatever you want is fine, though,” he offered, spinning on a dime. “I don’t really want to talk about your wedding. If you want to have a crappy reception at Jason’s stupid restaurant, that’s up to you. I want to talk about my wedding.”

  Harper was understandably taken aback. “You’re getting married?” She couldn’t contain her surprise. “That was fast. Did you and Shawn come to an agreement or something? I thought maybe there would be a big proposal scene. I guess not.”

  The look Zander shot her was withering. “Oh, don’t be a ninny. We’re not engaged ... yet. And there will definitely be a big proposal scene. It’s going to be much bigger than the one Jared had for you. I want mine to be in public.”

  Harper bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing at his response. “Oh, well ... .”

  “I already told Shawn I want a grand gesture and he seems fine with it.”

  Just because Zander believed that didn’t mean Harper could follow along. “Shawn doesn’t strike me as the sort of guy who wants to make a public spectacle out of things. Besides, why is he the one who has to propose? Maybe you should propose to him. That might be fun. Then you can make it as public as you want.”

  Zander’s mouth dropped open. “I can’t propose to him.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because ... because ... .”

  “Because you don’t want to.”

  “Because I don’t want to,” he agreed, annoyance obvious. “I want to be the one proposed to. I think that’s only fair since I’m the real catch in this relationship.”

  Harper gave him a dirty look. “Shawn is a magnificent catch. You’re lucky to have him. If you say otherwise, we’re going to have a huge fight.”

  “I would never pretend he’s not a catch. I just ... I want to be the one proposed to.” His voice turned whiny. “That’s my dream. You already took your wedding away from me. If you try to take my dream, too, then we’re going to have words.”

  Since that was the last thing she wanted, Harper acquiesced. “I think you’re going to make an absolutely beautiful groom. I can’t wait to stand up with you.”

  “Yes, you’re going to look lovely in the mint green dress I have picked out for you.”

  Harper’s eyebrows hopped. “Mint green? I don’t think I want to wear mint green.”

  “Did I ask?”

  “No, but ... um ... does that mean I get to pick out the color of your tux for my wedding?”

  Zander nodded without hesitation. “Absolutely. You’re going to go with black, though, because it will have to match Jared’s tux and he’s not the sort of guy who thinks outside the box when it comes to wedding tuxes.”

  Harper would’ve argued the point, but she knew he was right. “Okay. Just checking. Mint green it is.”

  On a whim, Zander slid his arm around her shoulders and pressed a kiss to her temple. “We’re going to make beautiful brides.”

  She laughed at his far-off expression. Honestly, she was thrilled he seemed focused on the idea of his own wedding rather than hers. “We are. What do you think about crab legs for my reception? You know how I love seafood.”

  Zander’s expression turned disdainful. “Crab legs are messy. You can’t eat them in a wedding dress.”

  “Who says?”

  “Anyone with half a brain.”

  “Well ... I still might get them.”

  “That will be a mistake.”

  “It will be my mistake ... not that I’m saying it will be a mistake.”

  “Fair enough.”

  She was silent for a beat. “What are you going to eat at your wedding?”

  “I’m not telling you. You’ll steal my thunder. I’m not even engaged yet, although it’s definitely coming.”

  Harper heaved out a sigh. “Fine. I’m getting stuffed mushrooms,
too.”

  “You would.”

  BY THE TIME THEY REACHED THE deli, they were back on solid footing as friends and were laughing and having a good time. They were late enough that the business lunch crowd had already left for the day and only one of the tables was taken.

  “Oh, hey, Ezra.” Harper waved at her new acquaintance, her smile slipping when she saw the scowl on his younger sister’s face. “Hello, Rain.”

  The girl craned her neck to look at the spot behind Harper, her lips curving even further down when she realized Zander and Harper were alone. “Where’s the hot cop?”

  Harper couldn’t stop herself from smirking. “Jared? He’s at work. There was an incident last night.”

  “He’s not all that hot anyway,” Zander offered. “He’s got freakishly large nipples.”

  Rain was so surprised by the comment she choked on her soda. “What?” she sputtered, choking.

  “Ignore him.” Harper haphazardly waved in Zander’s direction. “He has issues. Jared’s nipples are normal.”

  “They’re the size of saucers,” Zander countered, grinning when he saw the way Rain’s face lit up with mirth. “It’s true. I’ll take photos and show you one day.”

  Harper was convinced that Rain was excited at the prospect of photos because it meant that she would be able to see Jared shirtless. Since she was secure in her relationship, she thought it was cute the girl could develop a crush on her fiancé so fast.

  “Awesome.”

  Ezra glanced between faces for a moment and then gestured toward the open chairs at the table. “Why don’t you guys join us? This is the first time Rain has smiled since we hit town. I wouldn’t mind seeing it again.”

  “Are you sure we’re not intruding?” Harper queried. “I mean, if this is a private lunch ... .”

  “It’s fine,” Ezra reassured her.

  Rain was back to scowling after his comment.