Ghostly Interests

by Lily Harper Hart

  “This is the new cop?”

  Zander nodded.

  “Do you like him?”

  “I can’t decide,” Zander said. “On one hand I think he’s smoking hot and he’s the first guy Harper has even looked sideways at in almost two years.”

  “What about the other hand?” Phil pressed.

  “On the other hand I’m going to have to kill him if he hurts her and that’s a possibility as long as he keeps acting all weird about the ghost stuff,” Zander said. “He looks like he works out. Killing him might be difficult.”

  Phil pursed his lips. When his daughter first started hanging out with Zander he thought it was odd for children of the opposite sex to be so close to one another. When he realized Zander was gay, he was initially uncomfortable around the teenage boy. Now he couldn’t be happier that his only child had such a loyal friend. “I’ll help you kill him if it comes to it.”

  Zander smiled. “Give it time. I think Jared just needs to wrap his mind around what’s going on.”

  “What if he never believes?” Phil asked. “Some people are like that, you know? No matter how much proof you show them they can’t accept what’s happening right in front of them.”

  “We’ll see how things go today,” Zander said. “Harper gave Jared a tip on where to find the dead woman’s car before leaving last night. If it pans out, I think we’re going to be seeing a lot more of Jared Monroe than Harper realizes.”

  “How do you know she likes him?” Phil asked.

  “Because she can’t stop watching him when he’s around,” Zander replied. “I’m not saying she likes him yet. I’m definitely saying there’s some sexual attraction there, though. It’s mutual. Jared looks at her the same way.”

  “I don’t know how to feel about that,” Phil said. “She’s my daughter. I like to think of her as sexless.”

  “That’s funny because Harper has been doing that for two years,” Zander said. “I know you’re her father and you don’t want to dwell on it, but she deserves some happiness.”

  “And you think this Jared Monroe guy could give it to her?” Phil looked both concerned and hopeful.

  “I think he’s our best shot right now,” Zander said. “It’s too early to tell, though. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

  Fourteen

  Jared’s mood wasn’t much better than Harper’s when he rolled into the station. Mel was already there, a mug of coffee in his hand, and the older police officer looked as if sleep mostly evaded him the night before.

  “What happened to you?” Jared asked.

  “My family happened to me,” Mel said, glaring at Jared. “I was on the phone with various sisters until two in the morning because you arrested Harper. I have no idea how I got blamed for your actions … but there it is.”

  “Your family seems awfully worried about what’s going on with Harper Harlow,” Jared pointed out. “Why is that? Is there some relationship I don’t know about?”

  “Harper is Zander’s best friend,” Mel replied.

  “I know.”

  “They’re thicker than thieves.”

  “I figured that out when I realized they were both in their late twenties and lived together,” Jared said. “Don’t you think they’re a little old to be roommates?”

  Mel sighed, exasperated. “You don’t get it,” he said. “They’re not just friends … they’re friends.”

  “Did you just explain something to me?” Jared asked, confused.

  “Those two have been joined at the hip since the moment they met,” Mel said. “It was the first day of kindergarten. They took one look at each other and fell in love.”

  “This was obviously before Zander realized he was gay,” Jared said, his tone dry.

  “There are a lot of different kinds of love, son,” Mel chided. “There are a lot of different kinds of soul mates. Zander and Harper are soul mates of a different kind. One day they’ll find romantic soul mates, but they’re always going to be soul mates of the friend variety.”

  “They’re close,” Jared said. “I get that. I don’t understand why your family is up in arms about Harper. I can see them being upset because Zander is upset. This is something … different, though.”

  “Harper is a part of our family,” Mel said. “Zander is a part of Harper’s family. They’re a unit. We all recognized that a long time ago. I can’t explain why they’re so close. Nothing in this world will ever tear them apart, though.

  “Through the years it became expected to see them together,” he continued. “Harper had presents under our family Christmas tree and Zander had presents under hers. When Gloria sent Harper to girls-only summer camp the two of them went on a hunger strike until Phil picked her up and brought her home.”

  “That sounds a little co-dependent.”

  “It’s more than a ‘little co-dependent,’” Mel conceded. “They’ve shunned most other people who tried to be friends with them. Even when one of them is involved with someone else you can’t separate them.”

  “That must be hard on the people they date,” Jared mused.

  “Harper doesn’t really date,” Mel said. “Not since … well … not in a few years.”

  Jared’s interest was piqued. “Not since what?”

  “She had a rough go of it a few years ago,” Mel said, choosing his words carefully. “She was dating a guy named Quinn Jackson. They were pretty close. Zander even liked him. Then … well … his car was found down an embankment up on the bluff above the lake.”

  Jared’s heart sank. “He died?”

  “We think so,” Mel said. “He’s never been officially declared dead. The car was badly beaten up and the driver’s side window was broken out like someone tried to climb out. There was blood all over the door and it was identified as Quinn’s.

  “Quinn’s injuries would’ve been quite severe from the accident,” he continued. “The working theory is he tried to climb out of the car and go for help, but that’s pretty rough terrain out there. We think he died of internal injuries.”

  “You never found a body?” Jared was horrified.

  “We looked for months,” Mel said. “Harper kept going out there by herself. It wasn’t that she didn’t think Quinn was dead. She believed he was dead. She wanted a body to put him to rest, though. She wanted to make sure … .”

  “He wasn’t wandering around as a ghost,” Jared finished, his expression thoughtful. “How does your family feel about this whole ghost thing?”

  “We love Harper,” Mel replied. “We adore Zander. Zander adores Harper. My family believes.”

  “Do they really believe or do they just say they believe?” Jared couldn’t let it go.

  “Most of them really believe,” Mel said. “You have to understand … Harper has proven herself so many times I’ve lost count. She’s led us to bodies. She’s saved lives. She’s solved a lot of missing person cases.”

  “Why don’t you believe?” Jared pressed.

  “I don’t know if I believe,” Mel clarified. “I’m one of those people who has to see things for himself before it sinks in. I do believe Harper has special abilities. I’m not sure what they are, but she’s not a normal girl.”

  Jared believed that. He barely knew her and couldn’t help but see something “different” about her every time he was in close proximity. “When did she give up looking for Quinn?”

  “Not for a long time,” Mel said. “Finally … one day she just let it go. She’s never been the same since.”

  “I’m guessing Zander stood by her during all of this.”

  “Zander will stand by her until the day he dies,” Mel said. “They’re joined for life. Whoever finally manages to snag Harper – or Zander, for that matter – is going to have to realize that they’re taking them both on.”

  “I didn’t realize about the boyfriend,” Jared said. “I feel kind of bad for hauling her in last night.”

  “She’ll survive,” Mel said. “She’s strong.”

&nb
sp; “I guess.”

  “Can I ask you something?”

  Jared arched an eyebrow and waited.

  “How come you’re so interested in Harper?” Mel asked. “Are you … attracted to her?”

  “Of course not,” Jared scoffed. “She keeps showing up at odd places and never has a good reason for being there. She showed up where a body was found, she went to the college to question people, she broke into a dead woman’s house … all of those things make her suspicious.”

  “And yet I don’t believe you’re suspicious that she has anything to do with this,” Mel said.

  “I … she’s a person of interest.”

  “Okay,” Mel said, holding up his hands. “A courier is dropping off the autopsy. Let’s focus on that and let Harper go back to … whatever it is she’ll be doing today.”

  “That sounds like a great idea,” Jared said, turning and heading toward the small kitchenette.

  Mel watched him go, a small grin playing at the corners of his mouth. Harper Harlow may be a “person of interest” to Jared Monroe, but Mel had a feeling that interest was a lot more varied than even Jared understood.

  “WELL, we can officially call it a homicide,” Jared said, leafing through the medical examiner’s findings. “Annie Dresden had sexual contact before her death and she was strangled.”

  “We can’t be sure the sexual contact was involuntary,” Mel warned.

  Jared shot him a dubious look.

  “She had sex with that nasty professor,” Mel reminded him. “Just because they weren’t seeing each other any longer that doesn’t mean she wasn’t seeing someone else.”

  “Don’t you think the parents would’ve told us about that?” Jared pressed.

  “The parents didn’t know about the professor.”

  “You have a point,” Jared said, rubbing the back of his neck to work out the kinks. While Mel was up late being lambasted by family members, Jared’s lack of sleep came from his own fitfulness. He couldn’t get the memory of Harper’s red-rimmed eyes out of his mind the entire night. By the time his alarm dinged in the morning he’d only managed four total hours of sleep. He was exhausted. “The report says they’re going to send the semen sample in for testing, but it could take some time to get the results back,” Jared said. “They asked for a rush, but we both know how that goes.”

  “It’s probably going to take at least a few days,” Mel said. “We need to figure out where Annie disappeared from and work from there to find out where she was killed. I think it’s fair to say she never made it back to her house.”

  “Those friends we interviewed yesterday said she was on her way to the library at six and the medical examiner puts her time of death around ten. That’s only a four-hour window,” Jared said.

  “I’m going to assume she was in the library for at least an hour,” Mel said. “I think we should head over there and see if we can find someone who remembers seeing her.”

  “That sounds like our best option for now,” Jared agreed. “Let’s get a move on.”

  “I KNOW Annie.” One of the library workers, Lexie Marsden, fixed her wide eyes on Jared as she twirled a finger through her brown waves. She was attempting to flirt with the attractive police officer, but he was doing his level best to ignore her obvious “open for business” signals.

  “Do you remember seeing her here three days ago?” Mel asked.

  “She was here a lot, but I’m not sure I remember her … oh, wait, that’s not true,” Lexie said. “She was sitting at that table over in that corner.” Lexie pointed. “I remember because she was one of the only ones here and I couldn’t figure out why she wasn’t out having a good time with everyone else.”

  “Her friends said she headed in this direction at around six,” Jared said. “Does that sound right to you?”

  Lexie racked her brain. “Yeah. I know she was still here around seven because that’s when I take my break and I went out through the east door to smoke a cigarette. When I came back in I saw that she was packing up her stuff.”

  “That means she was getting ready to leave at seven-thirty. Is that right?” Jared pressed.

  “I think it was closer to seven-forty-five,” Lexie said, smiling sheepishly. “I took longer than I was supposed to on my break, but since the library was so empty I didn’t think it would be a big deal.”

  “When Annie left, did she go out through the front door?”

  “I have no idea,” Lexie replied. “I wasn’t paying attention.

  “Did Annie talk to anyone while she was in here?” Mel asked.

  “She was by herself and I didn’t see anyone talking to her,” Lexie said. “Was that helpful?”

  “Very,” Jared said, gracing her with a small smile.

  “I … if you need anything else, you can call me whenever you want,” Lexie said. “I mean … anything.”

  “Um, thank you,” Jared said, shifting uncomfortably from one foot to the other.

  Mel rolled his eyes. “Thank you so much for your time.”

  “Oh, one other thing,” Jared said, turning back before he could move too far away from Lexie’s eager countenance.

  “Yeah?”

  “Which way is the east door?” Jared asked.

  “Right over there,” Lexie said, working hard to hide her disappointment.

  Instead of exiting the library through the door they entered Jared headed toward the side entrance Lexie indicated.

  “What are you doing?” Mel asked, following close on his new partner’s heels.

  “I just … I want to see something,” Jared said, something Harper told him before leaving the station the previous evening echoing in his mind.

  “What are we looking for?” Mel asked, pulling up short when he found Jared in the middle of the sidewalk outside of the library. “What are you looking at?”

  “Doesn’t Annie Dresden drive an older model Ford Explorer?” Jared asked.

  Mel nodded.

  Jared gestured toward one of only three vehicles in the well-hidden side lot.

  “That looks like the vehicle we’re looking for,” Mel said, striding toward it. “How did you know to look over here?”

  Jared didn’t immediately answer. Instead, once he got to the driver’s side of the vehicle, he played a hunch and hunkered down. There, just like Harper said he would, Jared found Annie’s keys underneath the Explorer.

  “We need a crime scene team out here,” Jared said grimly.

  “Tell me how you knew to look out here first,” Mel prodded.

  “Harper told me to before she left the station last night.” It was hard to admit, but Jared wasn’t big on lying.

  “I told you she was special,” Mel said, pulling his cell phone out of his pocket.

  “I already knew that,” Jared muttered. “Well … crap.”

  Fifteen

  “I heard you got arrested last night,” Molly said, breezing into the GHI office a half hour late and fixing Harper with an excited look. “Did you get printed? Did they give you a chemical shower? Did you have to undergo a cavity search?”

  Harper made a face from behind her desk. “You watch way too much television.”

  “Did any of that happen?” Molly asked, her enthusiasm shifting to disappointment.

  “None of that happened.”

  “It’s too bad, too,” Zander said, winking at Molly. “There’s nothing better than a good cavity search story.”

  “You’re so funny,” Harper deadpanned.

  “How come you got arrested?” Eric asked, tapping his watch and giving Molly a pointed look.

  “I’m not that late,” Molly snapped.

  “We don’t have a job this morning so it doesn’t matter,” Harper said.

  “It matters if I’m late,” Eric said.

  “We pay you,” Zander replied.

  “Barely,” Eric muttered. He turned his attention back to Harper. “Why were you arrested?”

  “I went to Annie Dresden’s house hoping I co
uld find her ghost,” Harper explained. “I did and she asked me to look in the house to see if her bag was on the table. She couldn’t remember if she made it home or not. She told me where to find the key and as I was letting myself into the house the cops showed up.”

  “That’s rotten luck,” Eric said. “Were you scared? I’ll bet you were scared.”

  “It wasn’t my finest moment,” Harper conceded.

  “Why didn’t Annie just walk through the walls and look at the table herself?” Molly asked.

  “Because I wasn’t firing on all cylinders and didn’t think that far ahead,” Harper replied. “I was nervous … and distracted … and I was trying to keep Annie talking so I did as she asked.”

  “Was it the new cop?” Molly asked. “He’s freaking hot, by the way.”

  “He is,” Zander agreed.

  “It was the new cop,” Harper said, nodding. “He’s not that hot.”

  “How come a Whisper Cove police officer arrested you at a St. Clair house?” Eric asked, his ever-pragmatic mind working overtime. “Is that even legal?”

  “Technically she wasn’t arrested,” Zander said. “She was taken into custody for questioning and released without being arrested.”

  “He said he could arrest anyone if he caught them breaking the law and it didn’t matter if he had proper jurisdiction or not,” Harper said. “I’m looking that up, by the way. I’m not sure I trust him to tell the truth.”

  “I don’t think he was lying,” Zander said. “What does it matter now anyway? He let you go. No one is pressing charges. You didn’t actually enter the house.”

  “He stopped you before you entered the house?” Eric asked, his eyes wide. “I wonder why. He would’ve had reason to hold you if you walked inside. By stopping you beforehand, he weakened his position.”

  Harper stilled, Eric’s words washing over her. “I never really considered that.”

  “I told you he liked you,” Zander teased. “He purposely stopped you from breaking the law because he didn’t want to throw you in the big house. He was saving you.”

  “He does not like me.”

  “You think the new cop likes Harper?” Eric asked, his shoulders straightening.

  “I hope he does,” Molly said, shooting a small look in Eric’s direction. His interest in Harper wasn’t lost on her. “I think he and Harper would make a gorgeous couple.”