“Harper is right,” he said once he was settled. “We’re not interested in busting you for ... what was happening. We understand that sometimes things get out of control and when you need money, you need money. Isn’t that right, Mel?”
Mel nodded solemnly. “We’re not arresting people for anything other than murder at this point. We need information about the people who were in that house the night of the fire. Were you one of them?”
Jenny hesitated and looked between Zander and Harper for encouragement before answering.
“It’s okay,” Zander reassured her. “Mel is my uncle. He’s an okay guy. He used to catch me doing illegal stuff all the time when I was a teenager and he never arrested me. He did, however, tattle on me to my mother. It might’ve been better to be arrested.”
The statement was enough to elicit a ghost of a smile from Jenny and she relaxed, although only marginally. “And what about you?” Her voice was soft as her gaze landed on Jared. “How do you play into this?”
Jared pointed at Harper. “We’re getting married. It’s okay. You can tell us what happened and we’ll deal with it. You don’t have anything to fear from us.”
Jenny didn’t look entirely convinced, but she nodded. “Um ... okay. It’s not that I think what I was doing was good. You should know that. I’m not proud of myself. I have a daughter, though. I’m on my own. I’m trying to get my degree and I have a three-year-old. I need to go to school and still pay for babysitting ... and a place to live ... and a car. I can’t work a full forty hours. Even if I could, I wouldn’t make the same kind of money.”
Jared nodded in understanding. “I get that. You don’t have to explain yourself to us.”
“I kind of feel like I do.” Jenny was rueful. “When Patty approached me on campus, it was at a time when I was falling apart. I had no idea how I was going to manage to pay for an apartment. My daughter’s father just decided to stop paying child support when he got married to another woman. I was going to try and fight him in court, but I didn’t have the money and I honestly thought I was going to lose everything.”
Jared’s expression darkened. “What’s his name? We can help with the child support thing by filing a formal complaint. You don’t have to do everything on your own.”
“Definitely not,” Mel agreed, sitting next to Jared. “We’ll get the name and look into it when we’re done here. For now, tell us about Patty’s operation.”
“I cried the whole first time,” Jenny admitted. “It was horrible. I thought terrible things about myself. I was angry that I’d been forced into this position. It got easier the more I did it and wasn’t so bad at times. Sure, some of the men were jerks and they only cared about themselves, but I could disassociate while doing it.
“Patty was great,” she continued. “She listened to all our problems and made us promise that we would report any weird stuff to her. She didn’t want abusive guys in the house. She wasn’t into that. She protected us and allowed us to work however many nights a week we wanted.
“When my daughter got sick, for example, she gave me an entire week off and never once gave me grief about it. She did her very best for us. I get that this isn’t a lifestyle just anyone could accept, but I was okay with it. I’d wrapped my head around it. And then this happened.”
Jared’s heart went out to the woman. “I’m sure we’ll be able to figure something out to help you financially. It might not be as lucrative as what Patty was offering, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to be destitute.”
“We need to know about the people who frequented the house,” Mel interjected. “Can you tell us about them?”
“Not really. Patty didn’t want anybody using full names. We used made-up names — which is why I became Jewel — and the men went by first names or we were simply supposed to call them sir.”
Harper made a face. “Of course.”
Jared shot her a quelling look. “You were there the night of the fire, right? Did anything out of the ordinary happen?”
Jenny tilted her head to the side, considering. “Well, one weird thing did happen. I was with a guy who was married. I know because he kept talking about how his wife was pregnant and couldn’t have sex with him. It was as if he was making excuses for himself, like I cared.”
Jared and Harper exchanged a weighted look. Brett Lane. She was obviously talking about him.
“Usually when we went in a room we basically got right to business,” she continued. “I was with him more than once and he was a pretty basic guy. Go in, strip, go at it for ten minutes, call it a day. This time, though, he got distracted before stripping out of his clothes and he left.”
Jared’s eyebrows hopped. “He left the room? Where did he go?”
Jenny held out her hands and shrugged. “I don’t know. I heard him in the hallway talking at one point.”
“To Patty?”
Jenny hesitated and then shook her head. “I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure he was talking to another man ... but it honestly might have been a woman. I simply can’t say. All I know is that he sounded agitated, as if they were having a fight, and then he yelled at the other person not to do anything stupid. That’s all I heard. Then, ten minutes later, the smoke alarms started going off and it was utter pandemonium.”
“You fled through the tunnel that led to the basement, right?” Mel queried.
Jenny nodded. “I didn’t want to be seen. I never park in the lot. I always park two streets over ... just in case.” She turned sheepish. “I’ve always worried that there would be some sort of bust and I didn’t want my vehicle to be linked to the property.”
“That was really smart,” Jared encouraged. “That means you managed to get away the night of the fire. Some of the others who parked in the lot weren’t that lucky.”
“Yeah. I know. I saw three of the regular guys standing on the street corner when I was driving away. They looked like they were having an intense conversation.”
“Did you recognize them?”
“One was the guy I was supposed to be with. The other two ... I recognized them but have no idea who they are. I think one of them sells real estate. That’s the best I can do.”
Jared straightened. “We really appreciate your time. Honestly, you’ve been a big help. Now, give us the name of the guy who isn’t paying you child support. We’ll file a report on him and see what we can loosen up.”
“Thank you.” Jenny let loose a wispy breath. “Well, that wasn’t nearly as scary as I thought it would be.”
“I told you they were good guys,” Harper encouraged.
Jared slid his eyes to her. “Oh, you’re still going to be in trouble later ... and you know exactly why. You’ll probably be okay, though, because I’m such a good guy.”
Harper smirked. “I know all your secret tickle places. I’m going to be fine.”
“You keep thinking that.”
13
Thirteen
“Thank you for helping her.” Harper was sheepish as she stood hip-to-hip with Jared and watched Jenny hurry toward one of the buildings. She’d answered every question but ultimately had to hurry home to relieve her babysitter. Harper couldn’t help but worry about her. “She seems like a nice woman.”
Jared studied Harper’s pensive profile. “She’s a nice woman in an awful situation. I have no love for any man — or woman, for that matter — who abandons a child.”
“She’s a good mother.” Harper turned plaintive. “You’re not going to ... like ... get Child Protective Services involved or anything, are you?”
He had to bite back a sigh. “Do you really think I would do that?”
“No. I just ... I feel sorry for her.”
“No, you feel as if you should do something to fix her life.” Jared had known Harper long enough to be able to read her moods and he had no intention of letting her derail the conversation. “You’re a fixer. You can’t help yourself. When something needs to be fixed, you gnaw on it until you come up with
a solution.”
“I don’t know about that,” she hedged, her lips curving down.
“I do. That’s exactly who you are. You’re giving of mind and spirit. You risk yourself all the time for absolute strangers. It’s one of the reasons I fell in love with you.”
She preened at the compliment. “Well, when you say it like that, it doesn’t sound so bad.”
“That tendency to help also gets you in a lot of trouble,” he added. “Like today, for example, when you promised to call me should you have important updates.”
Harper telegraphed where he was directing the conversation before he got there. “Oh, that’s not fair,” she protested, her eyes flashing. “I didn’t have concrete proof of anything. All I had was a ghost who admitted she didn’t know the first names of any of these women but who promised to point them out to me. How could I call you with that information when I hadn’t even checked it out yet?”
Jared glanced around to see if anyone had picked up on the word “ghost,” but the only people looking in their direction were the occasional appraising students, both men and women, who seemed to be checking them both out from afar. “Um ... .”
“Eyes up here.” Harper snapped her fingers in front of Jared’s face. “I know that brunette was pretty, but I was talking to you.”
The statement was enough to elicit a frown. “First off, I wasn’t checking anybody out. I was making sure that nobody overheard what you said.”
Harper drew her eyebrows together. “About what?”
“About the ... ghosts.” He lowered his voice until it was barely a whisper, which was enough to make Harper bark out a laugh.
“Oh, you’re so funny.” She lightly patted his arm and shook her head. “I run Ghost Hunters, Inc.,” she reminded him. “I’m pretty sure the cat is out of the bag concerning what I do. I didn’t think it bothered you.”
“I didn’t say it bothered me.”
“Are you embarrassed?”
He scowled and pointed a finger in her direction. “Hey, don’t even think of turning this around on me. This is about you not telling me what you were up to.”
Sensing she had him on the ropes, Harper folded her arms over her chest and regarded him with a measuring look. “Why am I in trouble for not calling you when you obviously got a tip and didn’t call to share it with me?”
Jared was taken aback. “I ... you ... we ... .” He shook his head to dislodge the fuzzy thoughts — which were akin to landmines — that she’d deliberately set. “No, I’m not falling for that. You’re slick, but you’re not that slick. I’m doing my job. You’re supposed to be assisting me when you can. In exchange, we’re supposed to work together on this sort of thing. There’s a difference.”
Harper wanted to argue, but fundamentally she agreed. Instead, she let loose a sigh and dragged her hand through her hair. “It happened fast. I was going to call you if we found someone.”
“You did find someone.”
“Yeah, like two minutes before you arrived. I was seriously trying to figure out a way to text you without her noticing when you showed up. Honestly, your timing was almost magical ... just like your smile.”
The way she batted her eyelashes at him told Jared he wouldn’t even be able to feign anger much longer. She had a unique way of taking over his heart and it was on full display today. “Stop.” He gave her a serious look. “I’m supposed to be mad at you.”
“Oh, get over it,” Zander interjected, sliding to a stop between them. He’d been busily studying the student activity wall while he gauged whether they were going to fight. Now that he was reasonably assured it wasn’t going to happen, he’d decided to take over the conversation. “Everybody knows you’re not going to stay angry at her. You don’t have it in you.”
“You don’t know.” Jared always felt he was on the edge of losing his cool with Zander. Some days the annoyance ebbed and flowed. Today it was gushing like a waterfall. “I could be angry at her if I wanted.”
Zander snorted. “Right. Are you going to sit there and pretend you don’t want to kiss her senseless? That’s not going to fly with me.”
“Oh, shut up.” Jared crossed his arms and jutted out his chin as Harper did her best to hide her smile. “I’m legitimately annoyed,” he warned her. “I feel as if you’re purposely trying to cut me out of things right now and I don’t like it.”
Harper stilled. Even though she enjoyed teasing him, the last statement was dripping with as much truth as petulance. “I’m sorry.” She was instantly contrite. “That’s not how I wanted you to feel.”
“I don’t want to be the evil boyfriend who demands to know where you are,” he countered. “That’s not who I am. I love your independent streak. This, though, is different. You’re feeling out of sorts, even if you won’t admit it, and I’m worried because there’s a killer on the loose.”
“Yeah, but I had nothing to do with Patty’s brothel,” Harper supplied. “Why would I be a target?”
“I really don’t like the word ‘brothel,’” Patty offered. “It seems ... old-fashioned.”
Jared couldn’t hear her so he barreled forward. “Heart, you’ve been seen hanging around Patty’s house. People know what you do for a living. What if someone believes you’re hanging out with Patty ... ?”
“Which you are,” Zander added.
“Which you are,” Jared continued. “There are skeptics and believers out there. Even if our killer is a skeptic, he or she might want to cover their tracks. You’ve been in the news a lot lately thanks to your proximity with various cases, including Rain and Quinn.” He swallowed hard when he realized he’d brought up the one thing always guaranteed to bring her down. Quinn. He wanted the man out of their lives, but that wasn’t likely to happen with an upcoming trial. “I just want you safe,” he said as he adjusted his tone. “I can’t help it if that makes me overbearing.”
He was so earnest Harper could do nothing but nod in acquiescence. “I’m sorry. I should’ve texted and told you where we were going. It’s just ... Patty agreed to help and we got ahead of ourselves. I know you’re worried because you think that empathic thing you brought up might be real but I honest to goodness don’t think it’s a thing.”
“What empathic thing?” Patty asked curiously.
“Jared thinks that I’m channeling your feelings and that’s why I’ve been edgy and morose,” Harper responded absently.
“Is that a real thing?” Patty looked intrigued.
“I guess it could be.” When Harper lifted her head again, she found Jared studying her intently. “I really am okay.”
The smile she graced him with was enough to eradicate the rest of the anger that he’d been hoarding like gold. “I know that you are.” He blew out a sigh and grabbed her hand, giving it an intimate squeeze. “I just want you to think about the empathic thing.”
“I’ll think about it,” she promised. “I just don’t know that I believe it. I mean ... it’s out there.”
“Yes, because the rest of our lives are so normal,” he said dryly, pulling her in for a hug and then letting her go. “What are your plans for the rest of the day?”
She shrugged. “I honestly don’t know. I promise to text, though, even if it’s something mundane.”
He smirked. “That would be great.”
“What are you plans?”
“I believe we have some cheating husbands to visit. Jenny’s tip about all of them talking out on the sidewalk is too big to ignore. I assumed they all would’ve escaped into the woods to avoid detection. Apparently, that doesn’t seem to be the case.”
“What do you think it means?”
“I have no idea. I’m dying to find out, though.”
FIRST UP ON THE VISIT TRAIN WAS BRETT, and in a strange turn of events, he was standing on the front lawn watching as items of clothing rained from a second-story window when they drove up.
“What’s going on?” Jared asked, hopping out of the car and immediately making his way o
ver to the bewildered man. “Has something happened?”
Brett nodded and pressed the heel of his hand to his forehead. “I told Sheila what was going on.”
It took Jared a moment to absorb what was being said. “No offense because I tend to believe honesty is always the best policy, but ... I thought you were trying to keep it under wraps.”
“I was. Then something you said made me think that might be the wrong move.”
“Something I said?” Jared was taken aback. “I don’t understand. What did I say?”
“I heard you talking to your partner on your way out. He was teasing you about your fiancée. I didn’t mean to overhear but ... I did. Anyway, he said that you were offended on behalf of women everywhere over what I did because you’re gooey in love with your fiancée. You responded that was the way things were supposed to be.”
Jared cocked his head and watched as a pair of shoes came flying out the window. Inside, he could hear a woman bitterly cursing as she shouted expletives. “I vaguely remember that.”
“It made me think back to when Sheila and I were first married,” Brett explained, his smile rueful. “We were all over each other then. I couldn’t even remember looking at another woman. I told her absolutely everything. Over time, we somehow lost that. I thought ... maybe ... we could get back there if I came clean and asked her to go to counseling with me.”
“I take it that didn’t go over well,” Mel noted, his hands on his hips as a picture frame landed two feet in front of him, the glass shattering into a million pieces.
“I thought being honest was the way to go,” Brett explained. “Actually, I don’t know if that’s true. I convinced myself that telling Sheila what happened was the smart way to go because there was no way she wouldn’t find out over the long haul. I thought it would be better coming from me.”
Ghostly Business Page 13
