Given Enough Rope (Haunted Series Book 20)

by Alexie Aaron

  “Put yourself in my shoes.”

  “Oh gee, faithful hot wife and genius IQ. I’ll slide into those shoes any day.”

  “How would you handle a guy who tells you to your face that he’s going to marry your wife once you’re dead?”

  “At least the fool is honest. I can tell by Mia’s body language that she’s not interested. She’s rocking the hot mom vibe, true, but when the lights are out, all she thinks about is you.”

  “Very poetic.”

  “You think?” Mason said. “Seriously, I take it you’ve tried talking to the pretty boy?”

  “Yes. I’ve even broken his nose.”

  “So he’s not afraid of you. Sick Murphy on him.”

  “Murphy tortures him all the time.”

  Mason was at a loss for what to do. He was saved by activity in the northwest corner of the construction site. He tapped the screen to show Ted and opened the com. “Be advised, there is spirit activity at your eleven, Inky.”

  Inky tapped Sabine’s arm lightly and pointed out the large dark mass moving their way.

  “I see a male about six feet tall. He’s got a cigar chomped in his mouth. Wearing basic work clothes and a flat type of hat,” Sabine said for the benefit of the camera. “I’m going to approach him. Wish me luck.”

  Sabine moved gracefully forward and stopped ten feet from the entity. “Hello, I’m Sabine.”

  “Roy,” barked the ghost, taking off his hat.

  “Roy, are you aware that you’ve passed on?” Sabine asked.

  “Yes, Miss.”

  “May I ask what you’re doing here?”

  “Not sure. All I know is, I have to stop the stiffs from covering up my place of business.”

  “And your place of business is what?” Sabine asked.

  “Only the best workingman’s bar in Chicago.”

  “Forgive me, but I don’t see any bar.”

  “Look deeper,” he said and disappeared.

  “Look at the piano player,” Mia said, working her way out of the curve of the booth.

  Mike looked and saw a faint glimmer of something behind the man at the grand piano. “Wait for me,” Mike said, catching up to Mia.

  Mia moved cautiously through the crowd. She swiped a saltshaker off of a table as she passed. Her eyes never leaving the entity standing with his hands on the piano player’s shoulders.

  Mia smiled at the piano player, and then at the ghost behind her. “Would you like to dance?”

  The ghost, dressed in his work clothes, looked down at the sensitive. “You can see me?”

  Mia leaned in. “Yes, but I can’t hear you well. Follow me if you can.”

  Mia led the ghost past Mike and through the throng to the doors to the outside. She waited patiently, and the ghost opened the door for her. This gave Mia every indication that the ghost was capable of touching things in this world, and was raised a gentleman. Mia walked over and sat down on the bench Dash had painstakingly refinished. She patted the seat next to her.

  Mike followed Mia, even though he was not able to see who she was talking to. He walked by her and pulled out a cigarette as if this was his reason for being there.

  “Now we can talk. My name is Mia.”

  “Fergus,” the ghost said. “How can you see me when most others can’t?”

  “I have the sight.”

  “My granny had the sight,” Fergus told her.

  “Fergus, why are you here?”

  “I was hoping you’d tell me. One minute, I’m telling lies with Kevin, and the next, I’m looking at his bones. I followed that bastard Roy out of the ground and tried to go home. Home is gone, and there’s all these machines everywhere. I decided I was better in the ground, but by the time I found my way back, I couldn’t get back in.”

  “So you know you’re dead.”

  “Most certainly. Am I in hell? My mother said, ‘If you spend any more time at McNally’s, you’ll end up in hell, Fergus!’”

  “Well, this isn’t hell. It’s 2016,” Mia told him. “Trust me, I’ve been to hell.”

  “I bet you have,” Fergus flirted.

  “How many displaced spirits are there?”

  “Outside, three. Roy, me, and Grady. And then there’s that other thing. I don’t know what you would call it. It stinks.”

  “Like rotten eggs?”

  “No, more like burnt toast.”

  “Can you tell me anything more about it?”

  “No. My memory is shot, but I don’t think I smelled it at McNally’s.”

  “Tell me about McNally’s.”

  “It’s a pub - you know, a bar - just for likes of me. We drink cheap beer and occasionally a watered whiskey. Great place to get away from the bosses and the wives, no disrespect meant.”

  “What happened to McNally’s?”

  “Oh, it’s still there, in the ground. How it got there I don’t know.”

  “Can you tell me who damaged the cement?”

  “Me and Grady.”

  “Why?”

  “They’ve locked us out of McNally’s. If they put a feckin’ building over it, we’ll never get the others out.”

  “How many are in there?”

  “When I walked in the door, there were a dozen fellas, McNally and Roy.”

  “Who’s Roy?”

  “He’s the money lender. Grady owes him money. Jesus, Mary, Joseph, it seems we can’t escape our debts even in death.”

  “Maybe I should have a chat with Roy?”

  “I hate to think of you having to speak with that vile beastie.”

  “I’ve spoken to worse. Fergus, I have a friend who’s a spirit like you. His name is Stephen Murphy. I’d like…”

  “Stephen Murphy you say?”

  “Yes.”

  “How would you be knowing Stephen Murphy?” he asked.

  “He died on the farm where I live. He’s about your height and carries an axe.”

  “Then he can’t be the little Stevie I knew.”

  “Tell me about little Stevie,” Mia insisted.

  “He’s the son of my best friend in this whole world.”

  “And that’s who again?”

  “Why Kevin Murphy. He’s the chap I was talking to when all of this happened.”

  “You’re telling me that Kevin Murphy is still around?” Mia asked.

  Mike moved in closer, not liking what he was hearing.

  “He’s not here. But I expect his bones are still in McNally’s.”

  Mia shivered.

  “It’s too cold outside for what you’re wearing. May I escort you inside?” Fergus asked.

  “No thank you, I have to head home. You’re not going to be up to any mischief inside are you?”

  “No, just enjoying the music,” he said and disappeared.

  Mia touched the com. “Did you guys get all of the conversation?”

  “Just the parts after Mike got there. He’s wearing the booster,” Ted told her.

  “Where’s Murph?

  “Down in the pit with Sabine and Ira. Do you think Murphy’s father is down there?”

  “Bet you a tenner that his bones are.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  “Father, is there any way you can come home and help me with this?” Mia asked after explaining the situation to him.

  “Your mother and I are committed to being here until winter,” Charles Cooper told his daughter. “But I’ve got someone who may be interested, and I think she’s available.”

  “She?”

  “Did I ever mention Barb Peters? She specializes in prohibition era buildings, but I know she’d love to get into something older.”

  “There are active spirits here and, possibly, a demon or elemental,” Mia stressed.

  “I’ll caution her as much as I can. Barb has dealt with the undead before. I think she’s worked with Paolo Santos.”

  “The owner can’t pay her. He’s barely squeaking by as it is,” Mia said.

  “The university will pic
k up the bill. Maybe you should get Bernard’s people involved too. A pre Great Fire building would be a feather in anyone’s cap. Mia, it would further legitimize your group,” he urged.

  “I’ll talk to Burt and Dash, but go ahead and bring her onboard.”

  “How’s my grandsons?”

  “Brian is keeping the Martins on their toes, Dieter is working on his football skills, and the giant inside me is behaving himself.”

  “Mia, I’m so proud of you.”

  Mia was momentarily lost for words but managed, “Thank you, Father.”

  “Give my regards to all, and don’t hesitate to call,” he said before hanging up.

  Murphy appeared at her side. “Burt said you needed to speak with me.”

  “Yes I do.” Mia took out her earcom, turned it off, and pocketed it. “Let’s go for a walk.”

  “Not dressed like you are,” Murphy said frowning. “The neighborhood isn’t safe for a woman alone.”

  “Alright, how about we sit down over there?” Mia pointed to some stacked girders.

  “You’ll get dirty.”

  “Honestly, do I have to strip to my underpants?”

  “Mia!” Murphy shouted at her.

  “I need to speak with you in private. Come on.” Mia stomped over to the pile of materials and sat down ignoring the dirt. Murphy followed her.

  “Your leg seems to be stronger.”

  “Every day it gets better. Still hurts like a sonofabitch, but I’ll live.”

  “What’s so important that you have to go off com?”

  “We think we know where your father’s remains are.”

  Murphy frowned. He had felt uneasy with Roy’s talk of a bar underground earlier, but he had pushed it off. Every corner of this area had a bar setting on it at one time.

  Mia continued, “I spoke with a ghost named Fergus. He’s one of the ones who is presently haunting this work site. He told me that under this construction site is what’s left of McNally’s bar.”

  Murphy started to waver, and Mia reached out and steadied him before Murphy lost his hold completely on the physical world.

  “It seems impossible to me, but considering the sinking the lot still goes through, it could have been pulled into a sinkhole. Tell me what you remember of McNally’s?”

  “It was an Irish pub, a workingman’s bar. It was located down the street from where Ma and me used to live. It disappeared when I was a child. One night it was there on the corner, and the next day it was gone. It disappeared. No one knew how or why. Some said the devil came and took it back to hell. It’s the last place my father supposedly was before he disappeared. He left the house after a row with my mother. He said, when she came to her senses, she could find him at McNally’s.”

  Mia put her hand on Murphy’s arm while he recalled the memory.

  “I woke up the next morning. My mother was tossing around pots and pans, angrier than a cat with a can tied to its tail. I snuck out of the house and ran down the street to bring my father home. There was a crowd of people. I made my way to the front and saw that McNally’s had disappeared. The building was gone. Nothing was left, no bricks, no glasses or tables. Just a hole in the ground. No one had heard anything in the night but a lot of wind.”

  “And there is a lot of wind in Chicago,” Mia said. “I don’t know anything about sinkholes, except for the ones in Sentinel Woods, but I find it almost improbable that the locals wouldn’t have suspected a natural reason for the disappearance of the bar.”

  “We weren’t as knowledgeable as the folks are now. If something bad happened to someone, we would think that God was punishing him. If someone was consumed with rage, my mother would say he had the Devil in him. Who knows, maybe McNally’s was taken by the Devil. It sure seems odd down there.”

  “It does, but I don’t think there is a demon involved. If it were a powerful demon, maybe, he pulled it into the earth. Or it happened naturally. All I know is that we’ve decided to dig down and see for ourselves. I just wanted to warn you.”

  Murphy looked at Mia. “You have a father to be proud of. Mine was a hooligan.”

  “So, your father is a hooligan. Roumain calls me a hooligan. Let me see if I can recover his bones so we can lay them to rest before…”

  “You’re saddled with another Murphy?” Murph said with a twisted smile.

  “I wasn’t thinking that. But you’re way too much for one woman as it is,” Mia teased. “What do I tell the group? We’re not going to move on this if you’re uncomfortable.”

  “Tell them to go ahead. I’d like to know what happened to my father. If he’s there, then I’ll know he didn’t abandon my mother and me. If not, then maybe one of the ghosts will know where he went that night.”

  Mia turned on her earcom and put it in. “Ted, let the PEEPs know we’re going ahead with the excavation.”

  “Will do. How’d he take it?”

  Mia looked over at Murphy and reported, “Harder than I expected, but he recovered quickly. Murphy wants answers to his questions, and hopefully, we’ll be able to give him some.”

  “That’s the idea. Burt broke it to Dash. He’s going to have his contractor erect a patio so he can serve the looky-loos while the investigation continues. How long do you think it’s going to take to get the archeologist onboard?”

  “I don’t know. I think she’s local. Why?”

  “Brian…”

  “We’ll figure something out when the time comes to pick him up. Maybe I’ll have to have Ralph’s help filling in with Brian.”

  “Maybe Lazar?”

  “Early days yet. Let’s wait and see what Dieter has to report. But I was thinking of, perhaps, only being on this investigation part time since Sabine is here.”

  “Are you feeling squeezed out?” Ted asked, concerned.

  “No, but I am aware of my present limitations. I’m not upset, just bummed.”

  “Is there a difference between upset and bummed?”

  “Upset is caused by others, bummed is brought on by oneself,” Mia said.

  “Come and get a hug. I’ll throw Mason out.”

  “Oh, damn, that reminds me. I better grab both kids and take them to my parents’ condo. Do you think you can slip away too?”

  “Nope, Mason’s my backup. I’ll send Cid along to chaperone.”

  “Very funny,” Mia said. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  “But you’re off duty.”

  “I’d rather spend my time off watching you work, than in a house full of redshirts.”

  “I appreciate that,” Ted said. “Bring me some Ted snacks. Cid’s new health kick is upsetting my stomach.”

  Cid idled the van while Mason and Inky pulled the bags out of the back. He found a parking space further down the block. He didn’t understand city people. Why would you want to live in a place where you had to fight for parking and move your car every time it snowed?

  Mia unlocked the door and let the guys into the Cooper house. It had recently been renovated by Cid from two apartments, one above the other, into a two-story condo.

  “There are two bedrooms upstairs and one more, and the nursery downstairs,” Mia said. “Bunk where you want, but save the nursery for me.”

  Mason and Ira walked up the stairs lugging their gear.

  Cid came in behind Mia. “Where do you want your stuff?”

  “Put our bags in the nursery. Since you and Ted are on opposite schedules, maybe you and he could share the guest bedroom. I’ll take my naps in the bunk bed.”

  “Are you sure? This is the best napping couch according to Ted,” Cid said, patting the extra-long sofa. “I could bunk out here.”

  “I expect you’d wake up with a crick in your neck if you do,” Mia said. “I’m going to change into human clothes.”

  “You do look nice,” Cid said.

  “Thanks, but this glam is not for me. I’m not comfortable in a dress designed by an accordion manufacturer.”

  Cid walked into the kitch
en and saw that the Coopers were well stocked with frozen and ready-packaged meals, and someone had come in and filled the refrigerator with milk, eggs, and beer.

  Mia came in wearing an oversized PEEPs tee, cargo pants, boots, and carrying a butter-soft black leather jacket.

  “Someone stocked the fridge,” Cid informed her.

  “My father must have had one of his grad students do it.”

  “There’s beer here,” Cid said, concerned.

  “Why is that a problem - oh Inky.”

  “Should I set some rules or…”

  “Wait. I suspect it won’t be a problem. If it is, let me talk to him. He’s been living in an adult world since he’s been fourteen. Don’t pull a Saint Cid unless you have to.”

  Cid frowned. “Am I that bad?”

  “No, you’re that perfect,” Mia said, pulling Cid down by the ear and kissing his cheek. “I called a cab. I’m leaving the van for you guys. Remember, you’re not their sitter. They are team members,” Mia stressed. “Newbies but still PEEPs.”

  “Finally, I get to pass on the red shirt.”

  “I thought Audrey was our red shirt?” Mia questioned.

  “She pulled the consultant card,” Cid said.

  “Jake?”

  “Jake is Jake. You could tell him he’s a buffalo and he’d be cool with it. There’s no fun in that,” Cid said.

  Mason walked into the kitchen. “I’ll see you in the morning, girly-girl. Wait! Ted said to remind you about his snacks.”

  “Thanks, I almost forgot.” Mia went to the pantry and took out some boxes of Zebra Cakes and a large plastic jug of Red Vines which she secured in her backpack. “Behave yourself, and get some sleep. I’ll call you guys if anything fantastic happens.”

  “Who’s all on the night shift?” Mason asked.

  “Burt, Murphy and Ted. Mike’s got to get his beauty sleep,” Mia said snidely.

  “Sabine is on our shift?” Cid asked.

  “Yup. You know, technically, she’s the red shirt,” Mia told them.

  “I wonder how she’d take knowing she’s the red shirt?” Mason asked.

  “Knowing Sabine, she’s having one made in cashmere as we speak,” Mia said, throwing her jacket dramatically over her shoulder and flouncing out the front door.