by Alexie Aaron
Mia looked at the long cheerful obit and nodded. “At least he didn’t mourn the loss of Courtney. Can’t see her having a bunch of kids. Maybe… oh… oh… he married her sister. Cynthia Fairchild.”
“I thought the same thing. Maybe we could use this somehow. I bet they met at the funeral,” Mary speculated.
“Is she alive?”
“I don’t think so, but I’ll check. Why?”
“Just curious. At this point if I can gather as much information as possible, if we can communicate with Courtney, then she and I can have a chat.”
Ted looked puzzled. “Chat about what?”
“I expect if you’re going to use me as bait, then I will have to be able to enrage the bimbo enough to have her follow me…”
“Ah, bright woman. I think I shall call you Ted.”
Mia laughed, and Mary put her hands up confused and left the silly couple to their work.
~
Beth looked at her phone and saw that Burt was calling her. She let it go to voicemail. She didn’t want to deal with the fallout from her message to Mia. Mia hadn’t responded, but she really didn’t expect her to. Did that mean she was innocent or guilty?
Her phone beeped to let her know that Burt left a message. She accessed the phone and played it.
“Beth this is Burt. I’m wondering how you’re getting along on the research for the bar. Been talking to Ted, and I believe there’s a misunderstanding involving his and Mia’s accommodations in Chicago. They have two rooms. They are not sleeping together, and Mia is not of gypsy blood. I’m confused. I had no idea you and Ted were a couple. But I’m a bit thick that way. I’m heading to Chicago tomorrow to work on the investigation there. Mike should be there at any minute. Call me.”
Burt’s voice held disappointment. The last thing he wanted to do was deal with a personal problem that she caused. She picked up the phone and called Burt back.
“Hello,” Burt said loudly. There were people talking around him. “Hang on, I’m walking, don’t hang up. There. What’s going on Beth?”
“Major screw up. I’m a bit put out that Mia didn’t call me, but chose to let Ted hear the message. How unprofessional.”
“That may work with the lunch ladies, but this is me Burt.” He sighed. “She’s probably as puzzled as I am by this lash out of yours. I’m not making excuses. I’m just trying to keep the team together.”
Beth swallowed hard.
“The girl risked her life to save yours. She’s been your cheerleader all the time we have known her. She’s the reason I decided to put you in the lead position with the Hoffman case. It was her suggestion. What the fuck does flavor of the investigation mean?”
“You and she.”
“That’s private between her and me. She wasn’t a team member when I met her. We clicked and it was fun, but it’s over. Mutual. She didn’t drop me for Ted. Besides, have you ever dated Ted?”
“No, but she knows I like him.”
“Have you ever told her you like him?”
“No, but she knows. He knows. Damn it. I fucked up right,” Beth confessed.
“This is what I know. I know that Ted is embarrassed you put him in this position, regardless of being complimented by the attention. Mia wasn’t put out at all that you are doing the research. For the record, we all know you did do a tail end run around her when she was just trying to help you. Plus, my dear, Deputy Whitney Martin is in the picture.”
“No.”
“Yes, he is helping them in Chicago. Do you think that Mia’s thinking about Ted right now, considering Mister Wonderful is around?”
“I guess not, but Mia’s not happy with Whitney.”
“No, she is pissed. But Mia has known him since they were children. She only sees the football star, the boy that defended her from the bullies. She took care of him when his wife was killed. There are ties there that will never be broken no matter how much of an idiot the man is.”
“Is that what happened between you and she?”
“Beth, no, that was all me. I’m afraid I lost a friend in the process of building a fence around my giant ego. Don’t you do the same,” he advised.
“You and Mike are going to Chicago. Should I find my own way there?”
“Ted’s in charge of the investigation. He doesn’t want you there.”
Beth felt a chill. “Why?”
“Do you really have to ask why? He doesn’t want to be distracted by your little tantrum. Come on, what were you thinking launching a cat fight with Mia?”
“So what do I do?”
“Continue to work on the bar investigation. Find me experienced spelunkers to take me under the falls to the bar.”
“You think there’s an entrance?”
“The place was built during prohibition. Homely thinks they may have built an escape route under the bar. I’m thinking that the running water and the falls are too much of a coincidence.”
“Okay, I’m on it. I’m sorry, Burt, not my finest hour.”
“I’m thinking it was your worst fifteen seconds. You may also want to work on an apology.”
Beth heard someone approach Burt, and he said he would be with him soon. “I’ve got to go. Think about it, and be the Beth I remember.” He hung up.
Beth placed the phone down and stared at it. She wanted to cry, but she had things to do. She would put all her energy into her research and stop thinking about Ted and Mia.
~
It was Mia standing at the door to let him in. Mike was surprised. She and he were always a bit uncomfortable with each other. It wasn’t that he wasn’t attracted to her, and how could she not be enamored with his good looks and charming personality? They just didn’t gel.
“How was your drive?” Mia said as she took one of the camera cases from him.
“Not too bad. Some slow ups, but traffic is unpredictable, just like women…” he stopped as the sexist comment escaped his mouth.
Mia ignored it. “Come on, Ted is all excited. We found some excellent footage of the lady moving five feet from glass door to glass display case.”
Mike looked at Mia and said, “I’m going to have some catching up to do. What lady, and glass what? Where’s Ted?”
Mia filled Mike in on all he missed minus the Beth phone message debacle and her and Ted’s naked adventures. She described the hoods in the apartment building and their escape. And now she was telling him about Ted being in charge of the investigation.
“No.”
“Yes, he was first PEEP on the scene. He is in charge,” she said matter-of-factly.
“What about you?”
“I’m not a PEEP. I’m a basket case, and not good in a management role.”
“What do you mean you’re not a PEEP?” he said as he held the elevator door open for her.
Mia wrinkled her face. She was hoping that he would deny that she was a basket case, or maybe say she was a good manager. “I’m a consultant. A ringer. You’re one of the founding partners, you should know this. Just because I slept with the other partner doesn’t make me a PEEP.”
Mike was taken aback by her honesty. “You could sleep with me?”
“No.”
“Thought I’d try.”
“Sorry, but no offense.”
“None taken.”
They reached the office. Mia introduced Mike to Mary. He was charming, and she blushed. Mary told them Bernard and Ted were waiting for them in the inner office.
Mike opened the door and let Mia go in first. A handsome black gentleman rose from the desk, and Mia introduced the two of them.
“I’m glad you’ve come to help out. I’m sure Mia has filled you in on our little problem.”
“Yes, sir. I’m ready to get started.”
Ted, who was consumed by something at the computer console, waved him over. “What does this look like to you?”
Mike walked over and watched as a video clip taken from a security camera played. He saw a dark mist or smoke move through g
lass display after display. When there was a walkway in between, it arched but changed, looking almost electric.
“Sparks, electricity,” Mike commented and continued to watch.
The smoke reformed in the next case and moved on.
“It jumped five feet. Now watch this one.”
The smoke traveled to the end of a glass wall and jumped to the nearest glass wall about ten feet away. It arched over and fell twisting back to the pane of glass it came from.
“You see it can’t make the jump,” Ted pointed out. “This one is very telling too.”
Mike watched as the smoke moved fluidly along on interconnected glass panes. Suddenly the smoke pushed up against the next pane and stopped, tried again and finally turned around and headed in another direction.
“It was rejected. Was that glass too?”
“I don’t think so. I’m betting that it’s acrylic glass, you know Plexiglas.”
“Could be. We should go check,” Mike advised.
“We will. But what I’m thinking is that we can use this in our trap.”
“Let me see your plans,” Mike asked, inspired.
Ted took him over to the table, and he and Mike discussed the present plan, giving Mike an opportunity to offer another perspective. Mia and Bernard inched out of the office and let them work on the trap.
They caught Mary primping at her desk. Mia rolled her eyes. Mike’s charm was working on the frost queen. She whispered to Bernard, “Mike’s a ladies man.”
“I guess so.” Bernard looked at her and asked, “You and he?”
“Hell no!”
Bernard chuckled.
“And stop pushing Ted and I together. You’re causing a problem.”
“Me?” he feigned innocence.
“Yes, you.” Mia reached up and kissed him on the cheek. “Let me find my own way. You need to get home to Ralph. Sweet talk him for information. I hear he has turned my house into a Seven-Eleven.”
Bernard chuckled and asked if he could walk Mary to her car. She declined, saying she wanted to stick around for a while. Mia nodded her head and hid a smile.
“See you in the morning. I’ll be here early so the nightshift can get some sleep.”
Mia waited until he left the office before putting a bug in Mary’s ear. “You better buy protection. Mike’s a double bagger.”
Mary gasped, and Mia shrugged her shoulders and went back into the office.
Chapter Twenty-four
Mia sat in the security office with a few of the officers who were monitoring the cameras. She watched Ted and Mike walk through the museum. They were looking for the perfect place to place their trap. It was almost finished. Ted wanted to wait to mount the glass until morning when Clara would be there to advise him.
As it stood, the trap was an interesting gadget. It took up twenty feet of space. Ted and Mike found an old frame from a costume display. It already had wheels and the bottom was framed in wood. Ted and Mike would mount glass in the first panel on the right side. A gap of five feet and acrylic panels would be placed. They would pour the dolomite in the bottom of the rubber-lined case. The theory was that Courtney would make the jump to the case, possibly following Mia, and when she was repelled by the acrylic sheet, she would try to return to the glass panel, but the dolomite would hold her long enough for other acrylic panels to be slid in, boxing her between the sheets of acrylic.
They had no idea what to do with her then. Mia worried that they would have an electric bolt on their hands, but Ted said that was impossible. Mike backed Ted up.
“There’s something odd being picked up on the main store’s central camera,” the security man pointed out.
Mia looked at the feed and saw the smoky mist moving from door to display case. “What’s she doing in there?” Mia mused. She sent a text to Ted, informing him of her activities. She watched as he and Mike took off running. Ted had the small IR camera and Mike the mini video cam. They had hoped to video some walking spirits, spirits attached to the antiquities stored in the museum.
Ted and Mike were met at the entrance to the store by a security guy. He quickly unlocked the door and went in with them. The lights were off with the exception of the few necessary for the guards to make their rounds. Ted moved the IR slowly. He wished that Mia could direct him quicker than by text. The earpieces and walkie-talkies were in the command vehicle. They would have them tomorrow. The guard’s walkie sounded, and Mia’s voice came over the speaker. “She’s traveling the jewelry case. She’s looking for something.”
Ted aimed the IR. Mike shot video. They picked her up in the glass case, moving among the carved fetishes. The black smoke snaked around the case touching glass, touching mineral and shell, birds and animals, but always moving back to the glass. She moved on to the more precious jewelry. Mike’s cam picked up the swirling dark mist. Ted’s IR picked up concentrated heat.
“My advice, gentlemen, is to just follow her for as long as you can. Don’t engage her, she has killed one man, accidently or not. Collect information, over.”
“Tell her we understand,” Mike directed the guard.
The guard relayed the message. Mia sat back and watched as the men moved around the store. Soon they followed the mist to the entrance of the North American Indians. By the time the guard unlocked the door, she was gone.
“Miss,” the older of the two guards in the room got her attention. “What is that thing?”
“This information may not be correct so don’t go running to the tabloids.”
The guards laughed.
“We think it’s a spirit, an entity or ghost, if you will. It was trapped in an object brought into the museum. There are a lot of them here, but don’t worry. If they haven’t caused you trouble by now, they won’t. Anyway, this one carries an ability to draw electricity to gain power. It’s dangerous, may have killed Dr. Tan.”
“Why does it move in the glass? We’ve seen things in the cameras before, but they move freely in the museum.”
“The working theory is that it is trapped by glass. It needs to return to the glass. Some law of the paranormal world we’ve never seen before. It has broken glass before. But it didn’t escape.”
“Don’t most ghosts want to move on?”
“Yes. I’ve met a few that don’t. I hope we can help this one to move on. I hate the idea of anyone or anything being trapped.”
The younger of the two nodded. The elder guard yawned.
“Coffee? Can I treat you two to some of Dr. Wesley’s expensive stuff?”
Two mugs were produced, pronto. Mia asked what they wanted in their coffee and promised to be back soon with the brew.
~
Burt started off early, taking the route Ted and Mia took so he wouldn’t have to go by the bar. He worried about what would happen if any innocents encountered the invisible evil in the parking lot. Homely mentioned that the lot was too torn up to entice anyone, but he would mention to a few friends that it would be best if the bikers avoided the area.
He thought back to his call with Beth. He hoped he wasn’t too hard on her. But he would have given Mike or Ted the same dressing down. He didn’t pretend to understand her attraction to Ted. He never liked mixing business and pleasure like Mike did, although, he had done exactly that when he brought Mia into the group. He smiled, remembering the good times they shared. The sex was fabulous, the conversations amazing, and that was about it. The third element, bonding, wasn’t there. He could blame it on Mia’s unending crush on Whitney, but that wasn’t fair. He understood that kind of thing, having had a few crushes in his youth. Hell, he still admired Peggy what’s-her-name from afar.
His phone rang and he answered it, putting it on speaker. “Burt here.”
“Mike here.”
“How was your night in the museum?”
“Fantastic. I have film you’re not going to believe.”
“How’s Ted handling things?”
“Fine. I think he’s a bit out of his element but
holding the fort. He’s dropped a few dudes and cuss words in front of the customer, but they seem to like him. A diamond in the rough is our Ted. He’s working with one of the cleaners, looking for glass in the storerooms.”
“How’s Mia?”
“She’s a bit skittish. This place is full of stuff that gives her the willies. Ted’s concerned for her. Maybe she’ll calm down when the deputy arrives with Murphy in tow.”
“I’ll be there in a few hours.”
“Ted and I will be at the Renaissance. Mia’s camped out on Dr. Wesley’s couch. She’ll be here, when you get here.”
“Okay. Is there anything else I should know about?”
“Nothing that can’t wait until you get here.”
“Good. Talk to you later.”
“Bye.” Mike hung up.
Burt drove on thinking about the phone call. Mia skittish. Not sleeping at the hotel with the boys. Well, he knew who to blame for that. He dialed Beth’s number.
A very sleepy Beth answered, “Hello?”
“Burt here.”
“Um, what time is it?”
“Early. Just checking in.”
“Okay. I’ve not gotten any farther on my research. Too late last night to contact anybody.”
“That’s not what I’m calling about. Have you apologized to Mia yet?”
“No.”
Burt could hear the stubbornness in her voice.
“Why?”
“She can call me if she has a problem with what I said. I haven’t heard from her.”
“She’s in the middle of an investigation, one that needs her to be one hundred percent. Your messing with her is causing problems.”
“Oh, has she come running to you with a sob story?” Beth spat.
“No, I’ve not heard from her. Far as I know she hasn’t said anything to anyone but asked Ted about your message.”
“Ted hasn’t called me either.”
“Have you called him?”
“No.”
“Beth, I’m not sure I understand. You call and hurl accusations at Mia, and Ted for that matter. They take the high road and ignore it. You seem to think that they owe you an apology? That’s fucked up.”
