"Go for it," he urged with a wave of a hand. "Give me the whole list. Get it all out."
She could mention that kiss? The embarrassment of facing Kerilynn, Rocco and those customers again wouldn't be easy. But how could she blame Jonah? He didn't force her to participate. Belinda suddenly realized she felt the anger mostly at herself, at the utter stupidity of falling in love with the guy in spite of the fact that he created ghosts as a hobby.
Belinda opened her mouth but no sounds would emerge.
"Okay, I'll give you something to be pissed about," Jonah continued. "I was wrong about Jessica. She isn't gone."
Still no sounds would emerge.
"Go ahead," Jonah said. "Yell at me. Don't worry. I can take it. I won't shatter. Been there and done that this morning. Nothing you can say can touch the feeling I had when I thought you were dead. I would do anything—suffer anything—for you. So go ahead and let me have it."
Son of a bitch! Enough lava to melt the polar ice cap flowed in her.
"What am I supposed to say to that, Jonah? You make it impossible to...to..."
Derek's ghost popped out of the brick wall and into the alley between Belinda and Jonah.
"Aghhhhhh," Belinda screamed and jumped back.
"Hey," Derek said, raising his hands in surrender. "No screaming, please."
"What are you doing here?" Jonah asked. "I thought I asked you to wait outside the front door."
“It's not my fault I can't be that far from my ball,” the ghost said.
"Your balls?" Now that Belinda had a second, the difficulty of absorbing Derek as a ghost eased. Derek continued to be Derek even if he was now see-through.
"No," Derek said. "Not my balls. The ball that has my soul in it."
Before she could ask, Rocco burst out the diner door, his eyes darting back and forth between them. "I heard screaming. Are you okay, Belinda? This guy ain’t tryin' to slice you up, is he?"
"No, of course not," Belinda answered. "I just... The cat startled me."
Rocco glanced around as if trying to locate the cat, which, of course, was nowhere to be seen.
"This is a private conversation." Jonah took a step toward her boss. "Get lost."
Rocco squared his shoulders and, with a fully puffed chest, took a step toward Jonah. "I don't take orders from you, Slicer."
"You really want know about the Slicer?" Jonah asked in a low, ominous tone. "You won't like what you find out."
"Good one, Jonah," Derek said with a chuckle.
"I'm not afraid of you." Rocco blinked and took a step back and then another, his chest seeming to deflate. He paused with his hand on the doorknob. "Looks like you're okay, Belinda. So I'll go back to work."
Rocco had been gone for a beat when Derek piped in, "Good thing for you Jonah isn't the Slicer 'cause Mr. Bossy McWimperton wouldn't risk his own neck to save you."
The three chuckled.
Belinda shook her head. "I can't believe I'm laughing with a ghost."
"I can't believe I am a ghost, so we're even." Derek sat down—at least he looked like he sat down—on the Dumpster.
Abruptly, Belinda remembered what Jonah had said before Derek popped in on them. She turned to Jonah. "Speaking of the Slicer, you said something about Jessica?"
"She's back."
"And she's some kinda zombie," Derek added.
"Is that all?" Belinda asked with a heavy dollop of sarcasm.
"No, there's something else." Jonah's wide eyes held sparks of fear in their depths. "She may be searching for you."
Chapter Nine
Jonah had expected that once he'd delivered the news about the Jessica threat Belinda would run for the nearest hill, but she didn't.
Her gaze never wavered from his as she said, "What do we do?"
Shaking his head, Jonah couldn’t help grinning in response. She trusted him. She wanted to fight this together.
"What?" Belinda asked.
Glancing down at his feet, he shook his head again. "Nothing."
How could he tell her what that one small word—we—had meant to him?
By tacit agreement the three of them headed to the cemetery, with Jonah in the lead.
"I'm probably so fired. I didn't even tell Rocco I was leaving," Belinda said.
"Better unemployed than dead," Derek quipped.
"The diner would probably be the safest place for you." Jonah didn't break stride. Even though he wanted Belinda with him, he owed it to her to state the obvious. "Jessica could hardly show up at such a public place."
"We don't know that," Derek scoffed as they rounded the corner and the cemetery came into view. "That bitch has pretty much done anything she wanted. Plus, Belinda had to leave there sometime. Better she's got protection."
At the sight of a sedan parked at the curb in front of the cemetery, and Special Agent Wayburn walking through the gate, Jonah gasped. "No. No. No."
"Shit," Derek swore.
"What is it?” Belinda asked.
"A cop,” Jonah replied.
Jonah broke into a run and the other two followed suit.
The cemetery still a block away, Belinda somewhat breathlessly asked, "Why are we running toward Agent Wayburn?"
"'Cause I moved his partner’s car, but I didn’t rebury the guy in Jessica's grave, and if he finds that body, Wayburn's gonna believe I killed him."
Derek added, "Yeah. What's Jonah gonna say? A reanimated corpse is the Slicer?"
"I can see where that'd be a problem," Belinda gasped out.
Special Agent Wayburn pounded on the door to the caretaker's cottage and then pounded again. When he got no answer, Wayburn pushed his way through the foliage ringing the cottage to peer through an open window. After a few seconds, Wayburn weaved his way out of the bushes and then took a few steps onto the main path before stopping to glance around him as if to decide where to go next.
After speeding up, Jonah made it to the gate just as Wayburn stepped off the path to Jessica's grave...the grave that now half covered his partner.
"Hey," a winded Jonah called out. "Agent Wayburn. Can I help you?"
The agent turned back. "Yes. I'd like to ask you a few questions."
Jonah came to an abrupt stop just inches from Wayburn. "Why don't we go into the cottage?"
"No, here is fine." Wayburn eyed Belinda as she came to a stop beside Jonah and swiped at the sweat on her forehead. Fortunately, he still didn't detect Derek, although the ghost took up a position on Jonah's other side.
"Is Jonah a suspect in something?" Belinda's hand sought and held Jonah's.
Her fingers lacing with his sent Jonah's heart into overdrive, and not because of the run.
Wayburn frowned. "Just routine questions."
Over the agent's shoulder, the barely visible tips of Frank Jackson's fingers sticking out of Jessica's grave taunted Jonah. Don't feel too good, buddy. Just because Belinda believes you, doesn't mean anyone else will.
"I'd like to speak to Jonah alone, Miss Cruz," Wayburn said.
"If these questions you have are so routine, why can't I stay?" Belinda challenged.
"Oooooh, snap. Go, Belinda." Derek chuckled.
"Maybe Jonah should get an attorney before he answers these routine questions," Belinda added over Derek's laughter.
Wayburn's jaw visibly tightened as if he were biting his tongue. Then he directed his gaze at Jonah. "You were seen near the corner of Paulsen and Third this morning about 9:57 a.m. What were you doing there?"
"Don't answer, man," Derek said. "It's gotta be a trick question."
"He wasn't there," Belinda blurted out. "He was with me at the diner this morning. I took my break to talk to him and then he waited outside for a while and came back in."
"This is a serious matter, miss." Wayburn glared at Belinda with narrowed eyes. "Lying to an agent is obstruction and could subject you to arrest."
"I'm not lying." Belinda's spine went rigidly straight. "Jonah was hanging around the diner all this morning."
"You are aware of the Slicer murder this morning? Austin Lawrence was tortured and viciously murdered," Wayburn said.
"I'm sorry, but that has nothing to do with us," Belinda said.
Derek laughed again.
"I barely knew Austin. Why would I want to kill him?" Jonah said, casting a pointed look at Derek. His laugh was getting distracting.
"You were seen arguing with him just yesterday." Wayburn pivoted on one heel, turning toward Jessica's grave. "Right over there."
Jonah pulled his hand from Belinda's and circled around Wayburn to block his view. "We weren't arguing. I asked him a question and he yelled back."
"Why?"
"He was upset by the funeral, by Jessica Bundy."
"Ha-ha," Derek chuckled. "I bet he was more upset by Jessica this morning."
"Yeah," Belinda said.
Wayburn turned back to her and Jonah sighed with relief.
"Yeah what?" Wayburn asked her. "Did you hear the fight?"
"No," Belinda said, her expression mutinous. "But I attended the funeral. Austin was very upset."
Jonah returned to Belinda's side. "Anything else?"
"Can anyone but Ms. Cruz confirm your alibi?" Wayburn removed sunglasses from his pocket.
"My word isn't good enough?”
"Ha-ha. Go, girl."
"The more witnesses the better." Wayburn, with jaw clenched so hard his fillings must be aching, slid the sunglasses up his nose. "Did the other staff or the owner see him?"
"Yes. Of course," Belinda said. "Some of the customers too."
Wayburn seemed to scan the cemetery beyond the two of them, but with the sunglasses it was hard to tell what he focused on. Jonah wanted to scream.
"Can you go?" Belinda inclined her head toward the gate. "We've got stuff to do."
"Oh ho. No, she didn't." Derek covered his face and his ghost body convulsed with glee, almost toppling off the tombstone. "I love you, Belinda."
Jonah smiled. “Yeah.”
"I'll go for now." After one last glance over his shoulder, Wayburn marched to his car, started it and then peeled away.
"Great job, Belinda," Derek said, floating over to them. "You really diverted that cop. He was so pissed at you he could barely think. And what a great alibi."
"Yes," Jonah said. "You were fantastic. Thank you. But he's going to find out I don't really have one when he checks with the people at the diner."
"Maybe not. They might not remember exact times," Belinda said, with an encouraging smile.
"Kerilynn will," Jonah said.
"Why did you need an alibi?" Belinda took Jonah's arm and gave it a shake. "What were you doing in that neighborhood?"
"I went back to my old house," he answered, eyes falling to his feet. He felt like such a wimp.
"Why, dude? Wasn't that where you parents—”
"Were murdered," Jonah finished Derek's sentence. "I just ended up there. Maybe something about these recent killings and Jessica... There's something familiar. I don't really know how to describe it."
"I understand," Belinda said.
Derek flew to the other side of Jonah. "Better do something about the dead body before Wayburn comes back."
"Which one?" Jonah said with a dark laugh. "Jessica or Special Agent Jackson?"
Belinda squeezed Jonah's hand. "Preferably both."
* * * * *
Mayor Cecil Bundy almost ran the stop sign. At the last minute, he slammed his foot on the brake pedal and the Lincoln practically lifted off its back two wheels as it screeched to a halt just past the cross walk. The red pickup traveling through the intersection passed safely through.
He'd just come from a meeting of every possible official, a meeting which had accomplished nothing. Even with the GBI involved in the investigation, the Slicer still roamed the streets of his town. He'd lost Jessica but at least not to that maniac. Her being gone still lacked reality. In almost every moment he caught himself thinking of calling her on the phone, or thinking he saw her on a street corner.
"Come on." Cecil hit himself in the forehead with the heel of his palm. "Get your head back into the game, man."
The cell phone on the seat beside him rang. When he clicked on the steering wheel control, the voice of DeeDee, his assistant, came through the radio speakers. "I just wanted to let you know your 1:00 p.m. appointment cancelled."
Cecil sighed and pulled his car slowly forward and made a left turn, heading away from city hall. "Good. I'll just go home for a few hours and eat lunch. I'll be back by three."
"Why don't you just take the whole afternoon, sir? If you don't mind me saying, you're trying to do too much too quickly."
DeeDee might be a good assistant, but she lacked a professional distance, sometimes behaving more like his mother. Recently, Cecil had decided that trait wasn't so bad after all.
"Work is good for me." Before she could object, he added, "But if I decide to stay home, I'll call you."
After disconnecting the call, he parked the car in the driveway in front of his two-story Georgian and went inside. He stood in the entry hall where only silence greeted him.
No movement. Nothing.
He'd always thought of his four-thousand-square-foot home as a trophy, showing everyone just what a success he'd made of his life. Some success. What did he have now? With Jessica gone this place could be his tomb. Nothing mattered. He'd done everything, worked long hours to build a personal fortune, run for political office and had been exploring statewide office when she'd been struck down. The ambition seemed silly now. Silly and sad and wrong.
Cecil staggered a few steps to lean against the wall. "Jessica. My baby... Why?"
The thought of eating lunch made him heave. But nothing came from his empty stomach.
I can't stand to stay here, he thought. If do, I'll die.
He dashed back to his car, barely managing to close the front door, let alone lock it. After practically leaping into the driver's seat, he fired the car engine and glanced in the rearview mirror.
A figure in the back sat up. "Hi, Daddy."
* * * * *
Jonah entered the cottage and leaned the shovel against the wall, leaving the door open behind him. He glanced at Belinda who stood by his desk holding the note Jessica had left earlier.
"What does she mean, she did you a favor?" Belinda asked.
"I think she means that since Jackson suspected me of being the Slicer, she helped me by killing him."
"Sick."
"Yeah." Derek floated in. "But still not the sickest thing she's done."
"No," Jonah agreed.
The three of them fell silent. The atrocities Jessica had committed played out in Jonah's mind...and he was to blame since he'd brought her back. He glanced at Belinda and couldn't believe she hadn't run as fast and far away from him as she could.
Their eyes met.
She gave him a small smile. "So how do we get rid of that zombie?"
Catching sight of a shadowy figure in the doorway, Jonah started and turned.
"Jessica Bundy isn't a zombie." Eliza Devoe strode inside, a patchwork knapsack slung over one shoulder.
"Mama," Derek exclaimed.
Of course, Eliza didn't see or hear her son, and she passed right by him. Jonah wished he had a way to make her see Derek, but short of raising another ghost, he didn't know how.
"Mrs. Devoe." Jonah stepped forward. "I ummm...ummm. I don't know what...anyway, have a seat."
Did Eliza know about Special Agent Jackson? And what had she heard them say about Jessica? She could go to the police or, worse, get them committed to a nut house.
"A zombie doesn't think. It acts on instinct. What you got here has reason and a plan,” Eliza said.
"I was just joking about the zombie talk.” Belinda took Eliza by the arm and led her to the sofa. "Bad joke, I know."
Eliza sat down. "Don't waste my time with lies. I know the truth."
Jonah sank into the chair opposite Belinda and Eliza, his min
d racing. “What truth?”
"I know Jessica killed my son and the other Slicer victims," Eliza continued. "And I know you raised her from the dead, and that her rotting corpse is walking around killing again."
After picking his jaw up off the ground, Jonah looked to Belinda and then Derek. Both appeared equally stunned. "I, uh, don't know what you—”
Eliza held up a hand to stop him. "Don't bother denying it. She came to see me, but she's not a zombie."
"At least Jessica won't be eating any brains or making other zombies," Derek joked. "This town don't need no Dawn of the Dead. The people round here are stupid enough without something eatin’ their brains."
"Jessica Bundy isn't really Jessica Bundy. What we're dealing with is some kind of entity, but I’m not sure what or how to get rid of it,” Eliza added.
“Great.” Derek groaned. "Dawn of the Dead is sounding pretty good about now."
"Yeah," Jonah and Belinda said in unison.
"Yeah, what?" Eliza leaned forward in her seat, her eyes darting around the room. "Who are you talking to?"
"Tell her," Derek urged and then popped in at Jonah's side. "I want her to know I'm here."
"'Cause she reacted so well when I told her the last time." Jonah shook his head.
"Who are you talking to?" Eliza demanded.
"Derek," Jonah said.
"Yes," Belinda confirmed. "That's what he wanted us to tell you."
Eliza pinned first Belinda then Jonah with her gaze. "And both of you can see my boy?"
Jonah nodded.
"How do I know my boy is really here? What was his favorite toy when he was a child?" Eliza demanded.
"Cow baby," Derek said.
A barking laugh burst from Jonah. "Cow baby?"
"Man, I was four. Give me a break." Derek squirmed for the first time since Jonah had known him.
"Cow baby! He's really here." Eliza bowed her had and a gulping sob escaped her. "My boy, I wish I could hold you."
Derek sank down beside her. "I do, too, Mama."
"He said he does, too," Belinda reported. "He's next to you."
"He's crying," Jonah added.
"I'm not crying!" Derek insisted.
Caught Dead Page 11
