“Like I said, it slipped my mind earlier.” He smirks at me, mirth dancing in his eyes because, if this is true, there is no way he could have gotten to Thea’s in time to kill her. By Thea’s own admission, she returned home from work at eight and was attacked immediately afterwards. The police were at the scene by eleven. He has an alibi for the exact middle of Thea’s murder.
“Bullshit. He’s lying. He did remember before, but he’s just being a difficult asshole,” Thea snaps.
“I’ll have to check this out, but in the meantime, I’ll still need you to stay in town and be available for any further questioning.” I hate how disheartened I sound. He hears it, too, judging by the way his smile widens.
“Of course.”
I quickly leave the house, feeling frustrated and stuck. I’m back at square one, no closer to solving Thea’s murder. On Monday, I’m going to have to give Jones my report and tell him my only lead just fell through. He’ll tell me to at least pull back on this one, pick up another case, and then, if I still can’t make any progress on this one, hand it off to the cold case squad where it probably won’t be looked into for at least a year. That means another year with Thea, which doesn’t anger me as much as I would have thought.
What angers me the most is that it will mean at least one free year for her killer, maybe more. A killer who deserves one of two outcomes—jail or death. If I can’t catch a break and get a decent lead, I am helping to hand him his freedom.
“Well, that went shitty,” Thea spits out, snapping me out of my thoughts.
I can’t even remember getting into my car. We’re both sitting in the dark, my keys in the ignition, but I haven’t turned the key yet.
“Do you think he’s telling the truth?” she asks me quietly.
“He’d be an idiot to lie about it. I’ll put in a request for the surveillance video from Monday night for that ATM, but I don’t have a good feeling about it.”
“What about a hit-man? Maybe he hired someone? It would explain how he managed such a convenient and airtight alibi.”
“Where is the motive, though? You had no contact with him for months. Why now? And Hargrove doesn’t seem like the type to hire a hit-man; he seems more hands on. If he wanted you dead, he would do it himself. Besides, I already ran his financials, and they appeared solid. There were no large withdrawals that could account for hiring a hit-man.” I berate myself for missing the transaction which must have been there from the night of Thea’s murder.
She sighs, her head hitting the back of the seat. “You’re right. So, what happens now?”
She has asked the one question I don’t want her to. How am I supposed to tell her we have run out of leads? How am I meant to say there isn’t really anything we can do without more to go on? How can I let her down like that? I’m not writing this case off. Something might come up. Hell, it might come up tomorrow, but that won’t help now. Having the victim questioning me and wanting answers is stressing me out.
“Now, I get dinner,” I tell her, starting up the car and purposely turning the sound up on my stereo, hoping it will cut off any further conversation.
I watch her out of the corner of my eye as she reaches out her hands. I growl in anger when I think she is going to turn down the music and continue to hound me with questions I can’t and don’t want to answer.
Instead, her hand doesn’t make contact with the knob. Her hand moves through it.
I pretend I don’t notice as I drive to my local watering hole. My mind is in constant thinking mode, wondering about the case and also what it means that Thea couldn’t touch the control on my car stereo. Is she fading? Will she go soon, regardless of whether I can solve the case?
When I pull up, I find the parking lot mostly empty. It’s too early for any crowds.
Rusty’s Bar isn’t known for doing good food, but it is known for cheap beer and scantily dressed barmaids. I find they make an okay burger. The last thing I want is for Thea to cook me dinner while I’m acting like a useless rookie detective working his first case and getting nowhere.
“This place looks … well…” Thea’s distaste says it all.
“It’s rustic.”
She raises her eyebrow at me, obviously wondering why I’m snapping at her. I know I’m just angry at myself, not her, but she’s the only outlet I have right now.
“What can I get for you, handsome?” The pretty barmaid asks me, her eyes trailing down me, as I enter through the beaten-in door and walk up to the bar. I almost laugh at the indignant look that crosses Thea’s face.
“I’ll just have my usual, Sugar,” I tell her, watching her nod and walk down the bar, calling out my burger to Wayne, the owner and cook for the place.
“Sugar? Really?” Thea snaps at me.
I don’t answer, waiting for the woman to hand me a beer before moving back down the bar to serve a couple farther down.
“First time I came here, she asked me to call her Sugar, so I do.” I shrug at Thea, taking a long sip of my cold beer. It hits the right spot, and I begin to relax a little. I know the feeling won’t last long, so I relish it.
“Who asks to be called something so ridiculous? Besides, did you see the way she was eyeing you? She practically eye-fucked you. Like seriously, you should probably get tested.” Thea stares at me worriedly, and I nearly snort my beer through my nose. “What?” She eyes me now like I’m crazy.
For a weird moment, I wish she would look at me like Sugar did.
Why would I want something like that?
Although, I guess she technically already has looked at me like that. I was just mostly asleep and didn’t have the chance to appreciate it. Since then, my bedroom has been off limits to her. She leaves me breakfast downstairs at the table. I miss the straight to my bed service.
“I was just remembering a similar look you gave me when I woke the other morning. What did you call it again?” I smirk, watching the crimson color rise over her pale skin. Ghosts can blush, huh? Interesting.
“I was not”—she lowers her voice, even though I’m the only one able to hear her—“eye-fucking you. I would never do that.”
“Why?” I take another sip of my drink, trying to hide the fact that I’m a little miffed by her comment. Is she not attracted to me? But then, why would she be attracted to the bumbling, useless detective screwing up her case?
“I’m just not the sort of person … I’ve never … I’m not…” She sighs, her frustration evident.
“I get that you’re not attracted to me, but surely you’ve been attracted to other men. Haven’t you ever just given them that look, the one where you imagine them naked and how good their skin would feel pressed up against you as you take them hard and fast or maybe slow enough to torture them with pleasure? Don’t you ever wonder what their moans would sound like under you, how beautiful they would look as they break out into an orgasm?” I watch her blush gaining speed as it disappears down her neck. I desperately want to see where it goes. Will it continue down to her breasts? The ones I’m staring at right now where they poke out of her T-shirt. She’s turned on, and I swear they are begging for my touch. Or is it my hands that are begging me to touch them?
Oh shit, stop looking!
I grab my beer again, shifting in my seat to hide my automatic reaction to seeing Thea turned on. No, not Thea. I would have that reaction to any woman, right?
I inwardly berate myself. I didn’t mean to keep going on like that, but I had to see how far her obvious heat could travel down her skin. Unfortunately, I didn’t consider the situation it would put me in.
Now I’m imagining all of those things with Thea, watching her slightly glazed eyes as she tries to shake herself out of it. Can a ghost have sex? I have touched her, but could we actually go there? What would it be like? Can she feel pleasure? Could I even get her off? How wrong is it that I’m having these thoughts?
“Aiden, please.” Thea clears her throat.
I am thankfully saved by Sugar bringing me my
food.
“Thanks, Sugar.”
“No worries, handsome. Were you just talking to yourself earlier?” She gives me a strange look, one I should probably get used to if Thea is going to stick around too much longer.
“Just working through a case. Sometimes it helps to talk aloud to myself.”
“Got a tough one, hey? You’re not working those awful serial killings, are you?”
“No. The F.B.I. are on that case.”
“It scares me how they don’t seem any closer to catching the sick bastard. I haven’t driven home alone in months. Wayne usually takes me home, even walks me to my door. Every woman who works here is wary around any new customers. It’s a little off-putting to them, but we need to protect ourselves, you know?” Sugar rushes out, making me realize how much this is scaring her.
“Just be smart, be vigilant, and be careful. The feds should have this cleared up soon enough.”
“You’re right, handsome. Enjoy your meal.” She pats my hand, keeping her hand there a little longer than necessary. Instead of appreciating that a beautiful woman is signaling an interest in me, I care more about the obvious jealousy that flashes over Thea.
She grinds her teeth, her cheeks redden, and I swear I hear a strained growl come from her.
I haven’t gotten laid in months, too exhausted and drowning in work, and I have a chance now with a real woman who is alive. Instead, I’m focusing on a ghost no one except me can see.
Maybe I really am crazy.
When Sugar moves on, serving more people, my eyes follow her ass, wondering why it’s not doing anything for me. It used to.
“You are such an asshole,” Thea mutters to me.
“Excuse me?” I drag my attention back to Thea, noticing the anger there, then avert my eyes to my food. I could really use a break from everyone right now, Thea included.
“Do you even care that I am right next to you? Are you more concerned with that woman than you are with my murder case? Are you even interested in catching my murderer?”
“Of course I fucking am, but I fucking need to eat, too. Should I just starve as I work dead end after dead end? Maybe I should stop sleeping, too?” I snap, wanting to yell at her yet knowing I would truly be an asshole then. I would also be an insane one to everyone in this bar.
“Of course you need to eat and sleep. I didn’t mean to suggest that you don’t. I’m sorry.” She gazes down at the ground, tears falling slowly down her face.
Yep, I’m an asshole.
“Just give me an hour. I want to drink my beer and eat my food in peace and quiet. When we get home, we’ll go over everything again. Tomorrow, we’ll try jogging your memory. We’ll go to your school, your house, everywhere you’ve been in the last few weeks. Maybe it’ll shake something loose. I’m not giving up; I just need one hour of silence, okay?”
She nods her agreement, her silence already beginning. I find her silence far more deafening than her words.
I finish my burger, knowing Thea definitely could have made me a better one, and then finish my beer. Just as I place the empty bottle down, a new one is set beside it. I turn to my side, watching a woman eyeing me in a way I know Thea would consider eye-fucking. She leans closer to me, moving the beer until it touches my fingers.
“I bought this for someone else, but something tells me you’ll be a much more fun ride to go on. So, what do you say? Let’s get out of this dump and not get off this ride until neither of us can walk.” She winks at me, her gaze travelling down to my dormant dick.
I can’t believe this is the second woman to hit on me tonight, and the only one who has been able to get a rise out of me—literally—is a fucking ghost who pisses me off as much as she turns me on.
I focus on the woman’s low cut top, her boobs practically falling out, and then her pretty face. She has a wide, kissable mouth that I notice when her tongue darts out to lick her lips. Her legs are long, her waist slim, and her boobs plentiful. She is most guys’ wet dream. Hell, she should be my wet dream, but she isn’t.
I feel the tension rolling off Thea behind me, and as soon as I think about her, imagine her wearing something as revealing as this, I feel my cock stirring.
I can’t believe how messed up I am.
I open my mouth, ready to turn her offer down, but Thea’s panicked voice stops me.
“Aiden, watch out!”
I turn my head to the side just in time to see a fist moving quickly towards me and then landing a punch across my face.
I stumble off the stool, surprised more than hurt by the hit.
“Are you coming on to my girl? You planning on fucking her?” the man roars at me.
With one quick glance at the woman next to me, I see her smiling in glee. She is excited. I realize her flirting with me was merely a way to get her insanely buff boyfriend jealous. What a crazy bitch.
“Actually, no, she was coming on to me,” I say, ducking when he takes another swing at me.
As he stumbles forward when he doesn’t make contact, I notice everyone giving us a wide berth, cautiously watching, but no one looks ready to step in to help.
“Fucking liar!” He takes another swing, and a waft of whiskey hits me. This guy is loaded and twice my size. Not a good combination.
“And now I’m going to point out that I’m a police officer, so I’d think twice about—” I stop speaking when he charges at me. I have to sidestep out of the way to avoid being slammed and probably crushed into the bar.
My back is to him for only a moment as I take in the look of horror over Thea’s face as she, too, charges at me. From her close range, I don’t manage to get out of the way in time, and her shoulder shoves me aside just as a gunshot rings out.
I turn in time to watch a bullet move through Thea. Even though I know she’s only a ghost, fear bombards me that she has been hurt.
Her body jolts from the bullet, as though she has taken the hit, and then she collapses on the ground, her eyes wide in shock.
“Thea,” I hiss, my hand moving to my sidearm weapon. I move it out just as Wayne, the bar owner, emerges from the back with a shotgun pointed at the asshole who just tried to shoot me.
“Drop the weapon and put your fucking hands in the air. I’ve called the police, and they’ll be here any second. Best you don’t have a gun to wave at them since it’ll just get you shot,” Wayne reasons with him.
Though I know he doesn’t want to do it, after eyeing my weapon and Wayne’s, the man eventually listens. Then the stupid woman who started this whole thing practically starts humping his leg. She’s obviously gotten off on this whole thing. Disgusting.
“Are you okay?” I whisper to Thea, looking her over to make sure I can’t see any entry wounds. There is no blood covering her shirt, but I do see a hole in it. What the hell?
“I … I think I am. Are you?”
I nod, aware that people are watching me. I stand up slowly, my aim from my gun never leaving the asshole as I kick his gun towards me and then behind me. No one has approached us, and there is an eerie silence that has taken over the bar.
I pull out my handcuffs then trap the man between the metal pole that runs parallel along the bar, just in case he gets any ideas on doing a runner.
As soon as he is secure, the small crowd slowly disperses, and I settle in to wait for the uniforms who can deal with this mess.
My heart is still pounding heavily in my chest, and I can’t stop staring at the hole in Thea’s shirt.
Can Thea actually die again?
CHAPTER NINE
Thea
My heart is pounding in my chest as I touch my stomach, unable to resist feeling the hole in my shirt. If I’m not real, then how come my shirt is real enough to get a hole through it?
And am I sweating?
Wait, do I have a beating heart to be racing?
What is going on?
“Thea, are you sure you’re okay?”
Aiden’s words take a while to filter through, even when he
is leaning over to shake me.
“You feel so cold, is that normal? Are you usually this cold?”
I open my mouth, but no words come out. Am I usually cold now? Is it weird that I am cold now?
“I think you’re going into shock. I’m going to take us home.”
By the time Aiden’s words resister in my mind, we’re already driving through the streets. When did we get into his car?
“Does that kind of stuff happen to you all the time?” I ask him, surprised by how meek my voice sounds.
“Getting shot at, getting punched, or getting hit on by two women?”
“Either of the first two,” I say, attempting to ignore the last one. I don’t know why I got so annoyed by both women hitting on Aiden. I’m not about to look too deeply into it, either. Instead, I focus on myself, on the way my body is shivering and how cold I feel. Is any of that normal for a ghost?
“I’ve been shot at a couple times in my life, but none have hit me. I’ve been in a few bar fights, too. That was mostly when I was younger, though.”
“How do you…? How can you be so calm?”
“I don’t know.” He shrugs nonchalantly “I guess I’m more used to it than you.”
“That’s awful.”
“It’s awful that I’m not freaking out?” His eyebrows raise, and I think I see a flare of annoyance in his eyes. Why does he have to take everything the wrong way all the time?
“No, it’s awful that you have a job where something like that can seem like no big deal. I guess, with you working so many murder cases, seeing me … Seeing my body probably wasn’t a shock, either.”
“Every case I work on saddens me. I hate what we as humans are capable of. I see the worst of what we can do, and it helps me to know I’m doing my part to put away the bastards so they can’t hurt more people. I’m giving families closure and victims justice.”
I nod, understanding him a little better now, maybe.
“Is your face okay? That guy was huge.” I try to see if his face has begun swelling, but the car is too dark, so I can’t see much.
“He definitely has been overdoing the steroids.” Aiden chuckles, making me fear Sugar might have slipped something into his beer. I’m not sure I have ever seen Aiden smile, and I’m not even able to appreciate the sight due to the darkness covering us.
Haunted Love Page 11
