"There are many people who profess to have that ability," Banner said. "But that doesn't mean they do."
Jake turned to him. "Look, with all due respect, officer—"
"It's detective."
"My apologies. With all due respect, Detective, I don't appreciate your tone. My wife isn't professing to anything. She's telling you the truth. Why are you here? Is my wife in some kind of trouble?"
I hadn't thought about that. I wondered if they could arrest me for something. I glance at my mother, who was laughing, so I figured I was going to be okay.
"No, sir. This case is closed. I'm just doing my due diligence, and following up for the Cloughs. They've been through a lot, and I don't want them being hurt further."
That softened both my husband and me. This man must have cared about the family.
"Were you the detective who helped them originally?" I asked.
Ma nodded in unison with Banner.
"Oh, well, I'm sorry if we're being rude, but I've kept my ability private—as much as possible at least—and I'd like to keep it that way. I had idea that what Matthew said would implicate the babysitter. I just wanted to help him speak with his parents."
"Did you charge them anything for the information?"
My face contorted. "Good God, no. I don't do it for money. I do it because otherwise the damn ghosts won't leave me alone." I paused, and then said, "And because it's the right thing to do."
He actually laughed, and his face softened a bit. Maybe he did have a sense of humor after all. "I don't believe people can communicate with the dead, ma'am. I'm sorry."
"Yeah, well, there was a time I would have said that same thing, but now I know better."
Jake laughed. "Me too, but she convinced me."
I rubbed his knee. "Get hit on by any granny hookers lately, babe?"
"Thankfully, no."
"I don't believe it's possible," Banner said. "And I'd like the Cloughs to be able to move forward, not wait and hope that we'll reopen the case, and arrest the babysitter. They don't need to have any more pain."
"Detective Banner," I said. "I have it on good authority that if you question the babysitter, she'll tell you the truth."
"The case is closed ma'am. It was ruled an accident. The boy fell, and that's all there is to it."
"But what if it's not? What if you were to talk to Maria again, and she confessed? What if I'm not lying, but you do nothing, and then later, she does confess? How will that make you feel? How will it make you look, knowing you could have done something, but didn't? I think that would cause the Cloughs more pain, Detective."
"Yah, Ang. That's good. Real good," Ma said.
From the expression on Banner's face, it seemed he was leaning toward questioning Maria, so I pushed harder. "Have you ever lost anyone close to you, Detective?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"I'm sorry for that, but do you think, if you had any question about how that person died, you'd be able to just let it go, and move on? Do you think the Cloughs can do that, knowing what they know? And Matt, he's a loose cannon. He came to the door with a shotgun. God only knows what he'll do if he decides to confront Maria."
Ma snorted.
Banner stewed on that for a bit, and then said, "He brought his shotgun to the door?"
I nodded. "Apparently I'm not the first medium to approach them, but I am the first real one."
He closed his notebook. "You're right. Matt's had a hard time with this, and I don't want him risking jail time by confronting the babysitter. I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'll talk to her again, tell her we've discovered some new information, and ask her to reiterate one more time, what happened. If you're right, and she confesses, I'll come back and apologize for not believing you. If she doesn't, then I'm going to be watching you like a hawk, Mrs. Panther."
I nodded. Jake bowed up, but I put my hand on his knee again and squeezed. "That works for me, Detective Banner."
We walked him out, and after closing the door, Jake lit up. "What a piece of crap," he said.
I walked over to the couch and sat. Shaking, I said, "He's not a piece of crap, Jake. He just doesn't believe."
"He's gonna believe, Ang. You just wait," Ma said. "Want I should go with him? You know, toss a few cups or somethin' if need be?"
"Ma, I think it's best we let this play out on its own. I don't want to make it any worse than it might get, okay?"
"Drats. You're no fun."
"So I hear."
Jake was staring at me. "It's always odd, watching you talk to yourself like that. I mean, I know you're talking to Fran, but it looks like you're talking to yourself."
"Thanks hon, that's exactly what I want to hear right now. Honey, you look crazy, can't wait for this to be public."
He sat next to me. "That's not what I meant. I'm sorry."
"'S okay. I'm just preparing for the worst. Do you have any connections to any witness protection people?"
He shook his head. "Not that I'm aware of."
"Pfft. Good for nothing but sex, huh?"
"I'm handy around the house, too."
"There is that. I guess I'll keep you. Too bad you're not younger."
"Thanks."
I laughed. "Let's go to bed. I'm tired."
"Me, too, but first you owe me for last night."
Ma said, "Ew, I'm outta here."
"That window, honey, closed hours ago. I'm exhausted."
"I need to figure out a way to lock that window in the open position."
***
The next morning, Josh and Emily both got up, ate breakfast and left. Emily graciously offered to take Josh and Turner to the water park. Jake thought it was sweet of her, but I suspected there was a cute lifeguard or someone there who Emily had her eye on. As they left, I caught Emily's eye and winked. She winked back.
I texted Mel and asked how things had gone the night before.
"Don't know. I went to bed, and when I got up, his stuff was gone."
"Probably best," I wrote back.
"Meeting with the attorney in an hour. Then looking online for a job.”
"One thing at a time."
"I'm in survival mode," she wrote.
"Get through the hard stuff and then aim toward the future, Mel. You don't need the added stress."
"I feel sick to my stomach."
"I'm sorry." I hadn't told Mel anything about what'd been happening with me, and I wasn't going to for the time being. She needed to focus on her own problems, not mine. "Text me when you can."
"Always do. Thanks for being my best friend."
"No one else wanted the job."
"Bite me."
"You're not my type. Love you."
"Ditto."
Jake offered to cancel his trip. He was heading back to New York for meetings, but I told him no. "If Banner comes back, I'll be okay. It's not like he can arrest me, or anything. I haven't done anything illegal. I don't think."
"I don't think he's going to arrest you. I'm just offering my support."
"I know, and thank you, but it's okay. I'm a big girl. I'll be fine. Besides, we don't even know if he went to Maria's already, or not."
"I have a feeling he went straight there."
I did too. Jake didn't need to miss work because of my stuff. "Go, please. Make me miss you. I'm tired of seeing your face. You're becoming old cow, so scoot." I pushed him toward the stairs. "Get in the shower. You've got man smell."
He sniffed himself. "I do not."
"Uh huh. Seriously honey, I'll be fine."
He went up and showered, and was out the door with a kiss and a hug thirty minutes later.
Relieved to be alone, I pulled open the fridge to grab another Diet Coke, only to find there were none left. "Crap. Who drank the last one?"
"It wasn't me," Ma said.
"Funny, Ma."
"Me and Buddy are going on a quick trip to Italy again. I wanted to let you know I'm gonna be gone for a bit."
"How long?"
"In your time? Maybe a day, two, tops."
My heart beat faster. "But what about Detective Banner, Ma?"
"What about him, Ang? I told you, it's all gonna be okay."
Buddy appeared, and smiled. "Hello, Angela."
"Hi buddy." I shook my head. "This is gonna take a lot of getting used to."
"Okay, well, we're outta here," Ma said.
"But Ma—"
It was too late. They'd both shimmered away.
"Dammit."
I sat at the kitchen table, sipping on a glass of ice water instead of Diet Coke, and prepared for the worst. I thought of where we could move, and how I'd survive without Mel. Maybe I could convince her to come, too?
I stilled myself, and focused my senses. I hoped to feel my father, but I didn't. "Dad? I don't know if you can hear me or not, but I know why you came to me, and I just wanted to say thank you."
I drank the rest of the water. "I might need you again though, so don't stop checking on me. I'll always be daddy's little girl." I rubbed the tears from my eyes.
My life had shifted. I realized the importance of my gift. It wasn't about me, and I didn't want it back for myself, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't glad to see my mother, and wished I could see my dad. It wasn't about them, or me, and helping Matthew and his parents made that clear. I just wish I knew what would happen next.
I sat on the couch, enjoying the peace and quiet. I enjoyed it so much, I'd fallen asleep. When the doorbell rang, I shot up, and squealed.
It was Detective Banner, and he wasn't smiling. I ran my fingers through my hair, smiled, and let him in. "Have a seat," I said. "Can I get you anything to drink?"
"No, ma'am, but thank you."
I stood for a second, and then sat, too. I stuffed my hands under my legs because I didn't want to fidget, and appear nervous. "So..."
He started to speak and then stopped, and looked at the TV. "Can you turn that on?" He nodded toward the TV.
"Uh, sure." I grabbed the remote, and flipped it on. "What channel?"
"Local news would be good. There's something I want you to see."
"News? What time is it?" I looked at the clock. It was after six in the evening. "Oh, wow. I slept through the whole day." I shook my head. "Sorry, I'm babbling." I changed the channel to an evening news program, and asked, "How's this?"
"That's fine," he said.
We watched the end of a commercial, and when the news came back on, Matthew's picture appeared on the screen. Next to it was the photo of a woman. I assumed it was Maria.
"Local authorities made an arrest today in the recently reopened case of Matthew Clough, the five-year-old who police thought hit his head at an Atlanta suburb park. The babysitter, Maria Alverez, who was with Matthew Clough the day he died, was arrested for first degree murder," the reporter said. "Sources say an anonymous tip led Detective Aaron Banner to question the babysitter again. Alverez confessed to pushing the boy, and leaving him there to die. She's currently being held without bond."
I clicked off the TV, and raised an eyebrow at the detective. "An anonymous tip?"
He smiled. "That comes with a price, Mrs. Panther."
"I'm not sure I understand."
He leaned forward. "I don't know if you can do what you say, but I do know you told me Alverez would confess, and she did. Now whether you knew that because of a dead person or not remains to be seen, but whatever the case, I'd like to use you to help me with current, future and maybe even cold, unsolved cases."
I was speechless, and as an Italian woman, that was rare.
"Did you hear me, Mrs. Panther?"
"Please, call me Angela, and yes, I heard you."
"Well?"
"Uh, I...I don't know what to say. To be honest, this was the last thing I expected. I'm not sure what to think."
"Believe me, I'm not sure what to think, either. All I know is you told me something that ended up being true, and I can't discount that. Do I think you can talk to the dead? No, but you can do something, and I believe that something would be beneficial to people in law enforcement."
"I really don't want people to know what I can do."
"Of course, and we'll do everything to maintain your anonymity," he said. "In fact, everything you do will be completely off the record, and unfortunately, without pay."
"I told you, I don't accept payment for helping people, Detective."
"Call me Aaron, and that's great because the department doesn't have a budget for psychics."
"I'm not a psychic. I'm a psychic medium. There's a difference."
"Well, you knew Alverez would confess."
"Yes, but only because my mother told me."
"Your dead mother."
I nodded. "Yup, that one."
He shook his head. "This is definitely going to take some getting used to. I don't think I'll ever be a believer, but we'll see."
Just then an older woman with silky white hair, wearing a beautiful red and gold dress appeared next to Banner. "My grandbaby boy," she said, and then she winked at me. "I have something to tell him."
I smiled, and said, "Aaron, there's someone here who wants to talk to you."
The End
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
There are far too many people to thank when it comes to this book. Had reviews for Unfinished Business not been so good, I don't know if I would have had the nerve to ever write again, so first and foremost, thank you to everyone who read Unfinished Business. You all made me feel like I could actually write and that's pretty darn awesome!
Of course I have to say a big thank you to my wonderful friend Karyn 'Cupcake' Clough, who read every chapter of this book repeatedly and offered wonderful ideas. She is the best unofficial editor ever!
For all of the advanced readers who took the chance to read this and didn't throw it in my face screaming about how horrible it was, ya'll rock!
And most importantly, to my 'hottie hubby' Jack, the biggest thank you of all. I do not deserve such a great guy. Okay, wait, maybe I do.
Keep in touch with Carolyn:
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[email protected]
KEEP IN TOUCH
Get updates about Carolyn's new releases and receive a free download of her holiday romance novella, Santa's Gift, A Cumming Christmas Novella, at http://carolynridderaspenson.com/?page_id=835
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ALSO BY CAROLYN RIDDER ASPENSON
Unfinished Business
(Book 1 in the Angela Panther Series)
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