by Edie Ramer
“Will waiting make any difference?” Luke took Cassie’s arms and tugged her to the door. Acting like it didn’t matter a damn always worked—unless the other person gave a few damns less.
“I admire it that you don’t beat around the bush.” Dr. Rudolf followed them into the hall. “We can discuss this when I’m done. I’ll be with you as soon as I can.”
Cassie’s eyes gleamed. “We’ll wait.”
A thirtyish couple walked toward them. The woman’s eyes red and swollen, a tissue clutched in her hand. The man’s cheek twitched, his shoulders slumped.
“Don’t go back to the reception room.” Dr. Rudolf gestured around the corner. “It’s probably empty. You can wait in the first exam room to the left.”
Without pausing for their reply, the doctor shepherded the couple into her office. The door closed behind them
“I get the feeling she’s giving them bad news.” Cassie’s gaze remained on the closed door, the glow in her brown eyes doused.
Luke gripped her elbow and guided her to the exam room. “I get the feeling she’ll be giving us good news.”
“There’s more to life than gain.”
“Sure, there’s winning.” He closed the door behind him with a click. His eyes went straight to the exam table covered with a sheet of protective paper.
“You’re so noble.” Her voice oozed scorn.
He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the exam table while she stood in front of a heart diagram. “I don’t see any footprints on your back.”
“You’re right.” Her gaze remained fixed on the chart. “We both want the same thing, and I don’t know why I’m arguing.”
“I do.” He uncrossed his arms and came up behind her. Leaving her alone was impossible, thrown together with her in this small room. “Something else we both want. Sex.”
With a gasp, she wheeled around, the color high on her cheekbones. “I can’t believe you said that. What happened to the man who fired me because he was afraid he couldn’t keep his hands off me?”
“That man’s reached the end of his last guitar string.”
Her expression changed, her mouth firming. She glanced down, her gaze lingering on his crotch. “It doesn’t look like a string.” She raised her gaze to his, the color on her cheekbones burning higher, the glint in her eyes brighter. “You’re right. You want me, I want you. So let’s do it.”
“Do it?” Luke felt his jaw drop.
“I’ll pull down my pants and hop up on the table there.” She strode to the exam table. Facing him, she patted the paper sheet covering the gray vinyl. “You pull out your mini-you and—”
“Mini-you!”
“Mr. Happy, whatever name you call it.” She gestured toward his crotch. “We’ll go at it and be done before the doctor gets here. I’d say five minutes should do the trick.”
He tapped the fingers of his right hand against his thigh. “If I agreed, you’d run like hell.”
“You think so?” She pushed up her top an inch and undid the button on the waist of her pants. Her gaze challenged instead of enticed as she jerked down the zipper.
His body responded—every cell and every molecule. He reached for the snap on his jeans. She’d see who backed down first. And if she didn’t...hell, he’d give her a ride on that table she’d remember with a smile every time she walked into an exam—
The door clicked opened.
Cassie’s eyes darted past him, her breath hissing out, and she swung around, her back to the door. A muffled footstep hit the exam room floor, and Luke wheeled to face the doctor.
“Thank you for waiting,” she said. “I’m grateful my appointment didn’t take too long.”
“I hope it wasn’t bad news,” Cassie said from behind Luke, her voice breathless. “The couple didn’t look happy.”
The doctor’s eyebrows contracted, her mouth grim. “Some days I wish I’d gotten a D.D.S. instead of an M.D. The only time dental patients have heart attacks is after they get the bill.”
“It has to be tough,” Cassie said.
The doctor’s eyes warmed and she stepped toward them, a file under her arm. “If you don’t mind talking here, that would suit me.” Her mouth turned down. “To be honest, I don’t feel like going back to the office right now.”
“Bad vibes?” Luke asked. Thanks to his hippie-go-lightly mother, he knew all about bad vibes.
The doctor gave a wan smile and crossed to the wheeled stool by the wall, perching on it and setting the file on her lap. She nodded at the two side-by-side plastic chairs next to the consulting desk. “Let’s get down to business, shall we?”
Luke strode to the furthest chair. This was the second woman today who didn’t want to waste time. Good. He was all for getting down to the bare bones.
Cassie slid onto the seat next to him, their arms touching. He slanted closer to her, drawn by her honey smell, her warmth, her softness. He shouldn’t do this, but it was like taking a bit of the forbidden apple. One bite enticed, and it wasn’t enough. He wanted the whole round and juicy experience.
“My objective is fundraising for the hospital’s cardiology unit,” Dr. Rudolf said. “Yours is finding the cause of a patient’s death, even though this would necessitate me acting in an unprofessional manner.”
“The woman’s dead.” Luke sat back and wondered when the fundraising changed from helping patients pay their bills to helping fund the cardiology unit. The doc was trying to make him feel guilty, and it sure the hell wasn’t working.
“My objective is to help Isabel leave earth,” Cassie said.
From the pained expression on the doctor’s face, she could’ve been thinking about a sponge she’d left inside a patient. “My nurse said you’re some kind of ghost hunter. Frankly, I put ghosts in the same category as the Easter bunny.
Cassie scooted to the edge of the chair, leaning forward. “Come to Luke’s house and maybe you’ll see Isabel for yourself.”
A spark of interest lit the doctor’s eyes. “Can you guarantee she’ll be there?”
“She’s a ghost, not a Labrador retriever.”
“I take it that’s a no.” The doctor’s nostrils flared in distaste. “I have a parent-teacher conference in an hour. At seven tomorrow morning I have a triple bypass. I’m too busy for senseless ghost hunts.”
“And I’m too busy to waste time with a woman who has a closed mind.” Luke stood. When she asked him to stay earlier, he thought she was going to do some mutual back washing. Instead she was stalling. The hell with that. “C’mon, Cassie.”
“No, no, stay.” Dr. Rudolf waved the file at them. “Do I have your promise that you’ll be available for the benefit? I’ll talk to St. Joe’s PR facilitator, see if she can set up something.”
“I’ll be there.” Luke sat.
Cassie crossed her legs and leaned forward, giving the doctor her attention, like the good student she’d probably been in school.
Not him. He’d been the bad boy, locked in his own mind, listening to the music he heard even when he didn’t know how to play the guitar. One teacher told his outraged mother he had a form of autism. Later, Joy thought it was a great joke to tell her friends he had “social autism.”
The doc opened the folder, the rustle of pages interrupting his thoughts. She peered at the first page of the thick file. Her eyes didn’t move and Luke got the impression she knew every word but was delaying her explanation. Finally, she raised her head. “I won’t confuse you with the medical terminology. Isabel died of a massive coronary.”
“That’s common knowledge,” Cassie said. “Are you sure there wasn’t anything suspicious about Isabel’s death?”
“Of course, I’m sure,” the doctor snapped, her brows lowered. “I may work in a rural area, but it’s by preference, not necessity. I was in the top ten percent of my class and could have worked anywhere. I took this position for the same reason you came to Bliss.” She nodded at Luke. “It’s an excellent environment for raising a chil
d.”
“There was no autopsy,” Cassie said.
“There was no need.” Dr. Rudolf slapped the folder closed. “She was overweight, didn’t exercise, had high cholesterol and had complained of palpitations in the past.”
“So I heard. I also heard you tested her and she passed with flying colors.”
Angry blotches stained Dr. Rudolf’s cheeks. “I was very thorough. She passed the stress tests with no irregularities showing up. However, sometimes it’s not enough. Consider former President Clinton. He had regular checkups, including stress tests, but no irregularities showed until he started feeling symptoms of heart trouble. It’s not atypical. We’re doctors, not gods. Isabel hadn’t been taking her cholesterol medication, and when the housekeeper found her, there was an empty box of chocolates on the table next to her.”
“Is it possible the chocolates were poisoned?”
“You are too much.” Dr. Rudolf stood, the folder gripped in her hand. “To assume she was poisoned is ridiculous. If I recall correctly, her heirs were her husband’s relatives, who reside outside of Wisconsin. My nurse’s mother was their real estate broker, and she told Jenny their inheritance was a complete shock, even though it was common knowledge around here.”
“Common knowledge?” Cassie got to her feet, not taking her challenging gaze from the doc’s face. “How was it common?”
“She mentioned it to me every time I saw her for the last five years.” The doc’s lips twisted in a moue of distaste. “Without my urging, I assure you. It’s not a leap to assume she mentioned it to others. She enjoyed talking about her mortality. I believe in some sad way it made her feel important.” She glanced at her watch. “Does that satisfy your curiosity or is there more?”
“That’s all.” Cassie’s voice was flat.
Luke got to his feet, his hand out. “Thanks for your help.”
“You’ll be expecting my call?” She shook his hand, holding on a second too long.
“I keep my word.”
The doctor ushered them out the door and pointed toward the exit sign down the hall. The reception desk was empty, the lights in the waiting roomed dimmed. Cassie excused herself to use the bathroom, telling him he didn’t have to wait.
He waited in the empty room anyway, picking up a dog-eared copy of Dr. Seuss’s Green Eggs and Ham and finishing it before she returned. He gripped her arm as they walked toward the elevators, their footsteps echoing.
“Tricia said she could stay with Erin until eight,” he said. “About your offer in the exam room to play with my Mr. Maxi-me...”
She spurted laughter. “That’s worse than Mini-me. It sounds like a Tampon.”
He gave her arm a squeeze. “We can name it together.”
“How can I pass up that opportunity? But it’s not necessary. I already thought of a name.” She passed the elevator and pushed open the stairway door. ”I call it Missing-in-Action.”
He let go of her arm. “You’ll never know until you try it.”
She gave him a look that said “not a chance, dude,” then hurried down the stairs. He didn’t smile but inside he was grinning like a happy idiot. They were playing an age-old game: the woman running, the man chasing.
He hadn’t played it in a long time, but the rules were coming back fast.
He’d been insane to think he could keep away from her. Now that he’d admitted the craving and given in to it, he wondered why it had seemed so important to keep his distance. They could have an affair without Erin finding out. People did it all the time.
They reached the first floor and turned toward the exit. “You asked the doc a lot of questions. You’re sure Isabel was killed?”
Footsteps clumped behind them, a woman with white shoes passing them at a fast walk, a cell phone to her ear, saying, “Uh huh, uh huh.”
“I’m positive,” Cassie said, her voice low. “Murder or an accident. I think their souls know it’s not their time to leave. Since Isabel was sitting in a chair, eating chocolate, it couldn’t have been an accident.”
They walked outside, the brisk air gusting in their faces. He hunched his shoulders, wondering why the hell he’d left Carmel with its perfect weather for Wisconsin with forty-degree Octobers. “You seemed to think the chocolates might have been poisoned.”
“Isabel thinks her death was natural, which tells me she didn’t see anyone trying to kill her. If there were marks on her body, Dr. Rudolf would’ve seen them. She strikes me as a thorough woman. That leaves poison.”
“You could be stretching the facts.”
“Really, Mr. Maxi-me?” She smirked, then turned to her car.
He swore and turned to his SUV. Thanks to his ghost whisperer getting her attitude back, he was going home with an obligation to give a charity concert, a puzzle and a hard-on.
Chapter Twenty-nine
Tricia walked into the kitchen and saw Luke with his head in the refrigerator, bending down, his nice butt in the air. Frustration gathered within her head, a dark storm with lightning and thunder and a ton of rain.
She couldn’t wait any longer for him. After all these weeks he was only polite to her—no matter how wide she smiled, how many times she caught his glances, how often she mirrored his movements. He showed more interest in the cherry cheesecake she’d made last night than her.
He showed more interest in Cassie.
She couldn’t understand why Cassie—older, shorter and fatter—and not her. But it didn’t matter. She wasn’t going to let it stop her. She didn’t whine, she acted. Like she’d done with Mrs. Shay—even if the outcome hadn’t been what she expected.
He stood, his hand around a bottle of water, not a beer. For a rocker, he didn’t drink much or take drugs. Too bad. It would have been easier to get him to seduce her.
“You should’ve called me,” she said. “I would’ve brought you the water.”
“I can get my own water.” He twisted off the cap, not paying attention to her.
Okay, if that’s the way he was going to be... She pasted on a bright smile, remembering the acting classes, pretending to be the sun, shining brightly. Who didn’t love to talk to the sunny, smiling person?
“Something wrong?” Luke frowned at her.
“Uh, nothing. Well, maybe there is.” She tipped her head to the side. A feminine look. A cute look. That was her, feminine and cute. There was always hope that something would snap and he would realize she was the prettiest girl in the town of Bliss.
“I was wondering if you’re still thinking of leaving Bliss.”
“Not at the moment.” He took a slug of water. “Why?”
“I know someone who might be interested in buying the house. Since it’s haunted, the market might be small.”
“Who?”
“My boss at the motel, Kurt Cooper. He loves old houses. He’ll take good care of it.”
“I don’t give a damn who takes care of it after I’m done. They could turn it into a bonfire, for all I care.”
She gasped. A bonfire? Her house? No!
“I met your boss yesterday.”
What? No! Kurt would’ve told her.
“Give him a message for me,” Luke continued. “Tell him before he gets the house, I’ll burn it down.” Without another word, he stalked away, the water bottle in his hand halfway to his mouth.
Tricia sagged against the counter. What happened between Kurt and Luke? Why didn’t Kurt tell her? They’d slept together last night. He’d slunk into her bed when she was half asleep and snuggled against her, no sex, just sleeping.
Damn him. Whatever happened must have made him look bad, and men hated looking bad. He was probably thinking of a way to put a spin on it.
Shaking with anger, she pushed away from the counter and stomped out of the kitchen and down the hall. Forget about the chocolate she was going to scarf down. Her stomach was twirling like a roller coaster. If she tried to eat anything she wouldn’t need a finger down her throat to get rid of it.
Okay, that av
enue was out for now, Kurt buying the house and her getting it through him, even if it meant marriage to him, a man who wasn’t that successful. She’d have to find another way to get what she wanted. Because she wasn’t giving up. Ever.
She turned into the library...and her bad day got worse.
Cassie was in the library already. Nothing unusual about that. She was often there. She sometimes read books out loud while waiting for Isabel, books she thought Isabel would like. By authors like Jane Austen, Mary Higgins Clark and Jayne Ann Krentz.
But today she wasn’t reading. She was kneeling, setting a pile of books on the wooden floor, about ten stacks on the floor around her. Then she stood and grabbed another armful.
“Why are you emptying the bookshelf?” Tricia asked.
Cassie started, glancing at the shelves and then at her, panic and furtiveness crossing her face. Guilty of something, though she quickly covered up with a plastic smile and a blank expression that Tricia knew too well. One she’d practiced in the mirror for hours.
“Are the shelves dusty?” Tricia heard her voice rise, querulous and bitchy, but for once she didn’t give a shit how she sounded. “I only work here part-time. I can’t do everything.”
“It’s nothing like that. Isabel’s avoiding me today. I had some free time, and I just...” Cassie set the books next to the other pile.
“You just decided to dust?” Tricia let the sarcasm drip from her tongue.
“Dusting is the last thing on my mind. I was...looking for something.”
Tricia narrowed her eyes. “Jewelry?”
“No! A book. I was looking for a book.”
The phone’s rude ring made Cassie jerk. The reaction of a guilty woman.
Not taking her gaze off Cassie, Tricia strode to the library desk and grabbed the receiver. “Luke River’s residence.”
“Is Erin home?” a woman asked.
The front door slammed. Erin. Cassie turned and put a hand on either side of a two-foot row of books. She didn’t move, but her head turned slightly, as if she was aware of Tricia staring at her.
