Dying Wishes: A Paranormal Women's Fiction Novel (Shelby Nichols Adventure Book 14)

by Colleen Helme

  Ramos shrugged. “Well… when the earthquake struck, he’d just flipped the knife. With all the shaking, he missed catching it, and it fell straight into his foot.”

  “Oh… ow… I bet that hurt.”

  “Yeah, it went right through his shoe.” Ramos was there when it happened, and I picked up his memory of seeing that knife standing straight up in Uncle Joey’s foot. “He pulled it out, but Jackie insisted on taking him to the hospital. After the x-ray, they decided that he didn’t need surgery to reattach anything, so they’re stitching him up and sending him home. I got your call on my way back here.”

  I snapped my jaw shut, and shook my head. “That’s a relief.” I let out a breath and pushed my hair away from my face. “I kept thinking the worst… you know? I mean… he kept talking about me being his successor… and I thought it meant something was wrong with him.”

  “Yeah… I know what you mean.” Taking pity on me, he took my elbow and guided me into a chair. “Well… at the hospital they said nothing else is wrong with him, so we don’t need to worry about that.”

  “Oh… that’s a relief.”

  He nodded. “Yeah… I’m sorry I didn’t answer the phone when you called, but I was on the road and couldn’t pick up. After I got on the elevator, I listened to your message. You sounded a little frantic, and I felt bad you went through that.”

  I huffed. “Me? frantic? Why would I be frantic?”

  He grinned, then raised his brow. “Want a soda?”

  “You know it.” I followed him down the hall to his apartment, stopping to let Ricky know that it was just a flesh wound and not to worry. I mentioned the knife and the earthquake and caught a hint of surprise from him, which was soon followed by a grin.

  As Ramos handed me a glass of ice and a diet soda, I let out a chuckle. “It is kind of funny, you know? Joey “The Knife” Manetto stabbed himself. I’d laugh more if it hadn’t scared me so much, and I’ve had enough of being scared today.”

  “Why? What happened?”

  He grabbed a drink, and I followed him into the living room. We both slouched on his white couch and enjoyed the view of the city below. Since Ramos knew all about my other secret, that I could hear dead people, I told him the whole story.

  He already knew about my brush with Dex from his encounter last night. But he relished hearing that the ghost had kicked his ass, even if it was hard to believe. “He confessed?”

  “Yup.”

  “So the earthquake… you think that was the ghost too?”

  “Nah.” I shook my head. “It couldn’t be… right?” I took the last swallow of my drink and set the glass on the coffee table. “Oh… and we caught Xavier… the kid who killed Slasher? There might be a problem.”

  I filled him in on the health-and-nutrition store, and he promptly called Vinny, telling him to put the word out that the cops were onto the store and to stay away from it. He also called to warn the store manager in case the police showed up.

  Finished, he turned his gaze my way. “There’s nothing there for the cops to find, so that should take care of it.”

  “There’s one more thing. Grizzo might check you out. Do I need to worry?”

  He shrugged. “He can try, but I’ve got it under control.” He was thinking that he had his own connections and he’d be fine, but it pleased him to know I had his back. He raised his brow. “Want to go for a ride?”

  My heart soared. “I thought you’d never ask.”

  CHAPTER 15

  Nothing beat a motorcycle ride with Ramos to make me feel better. It ended sooner than I liked, but I’d take what I could get. Still, even after the ride with Ramos, I drove into my garage feeling totally drained. How was that possible? Of course, I’d had more than one scare for the day, so that probably accounted for it.

  Since we’d already had pizza this week, I’d stopped at a sandwich shop on the way home for our dinner. My kids weren’t nearly as happy to see me as Coco, but it was nice to catch up and relax. With the earthquake the major focus, it surprised me that my kids had hardly felt it. I checked the Internet and found that it had been a minor magnitude quake of about 3.5 on the Richter scale.

  To find that the epicenter of the quake was just a few yards east of the police station made a lot of sense. Most of the downtown buildings felt the quake, but the only damage at the station was an ornamental vase that had broken in half.

  Then there was Uncle Joey. He’d had his moment with the quake that hadn’t turned out so well, but at least it wasn’t life-threatening. I still couldn’t believe he’d gone to the emergency room, and that it had scared me to death. Sure, I didn’t want him to die, but I also wasn’t ready to be his successor. I wished there was a way out of it, but I didn’t see how it was possible. He was counting on me. How could I let him down?

  That left the earthquake. I couldn’t decide if there was a connection between the quake and Brock’s dying wish. It seemed crazy that it was just a coincidence, but I didn’t want to think about that too hard. I was just grateful that Dex had confessed and was going away for a long time.

  Chris was grateful too, especially after he found out what had happened to me last night at the hotel bar. He didn’t like hearing about my drink getting spiked, or that I’d put myself in danger without Dimples to back me up. But he held it all in and didn’t criticize me once. In fact, he only interrupted me when I brought up Ramos.

  “Wait… so… you called Ramos?” That was the part he liked the least.

  “Uh… yeah. My cell phone was missing, but luckily, I had the burner phone with his number already programmed in. It was a good thing you called Uncle Joey and talked him into getting one for me, otherwise, I don’t know what would have happened.”

  “Yeah.” He reluctantly agreed, especially since looking at it that way didn’t leave him much room to complain. “You’re right.”

  “But it all turned out okay. And you should have seen Dex. Ramos punched him a couple of times, and I think he even broke his nose. At least he got what he deserved. Then Dimples took over and covered for Ramos, even taking his spot in the narrative. I thought that was pretty nice of him.”

  Chris nodded. “Yeah… I suppose so.”

  “Then there was the earthquake today. Did you feel it?”

  “Yeah, but nothing really shook… mostly, the building just swayed a bit.”

  “Well, it happened right as Dimples and I were questioning Dex, who refused to cooperate. He sure changed his tune after that.” I filled him in, including how scared I’d been, and how badly it had terrified Dex. “He wrote down his confession and signed it so he could get out of that room. After they took him away, I smelled the Armani cologne, then it was gone too. I hope that means Brock is done, but honestly, I have no idea.”

  “That’s crazy… you think Brock made the earthquake happen?”

  “No way. That’s… I just can’t believe that. Still, there was another benefit because it convinced Willow that working for the police wasn’t for her.” I filled him in on what happened, and he was surprised she’d given up so easily.

  “I guess if she took the earthquake as a sign, it makes sense.”

  “True. But after she left, Bates brought in Xavier.” I explained that whole deal and Chris could hardly believe so much had happened.

  “But there’s more.” I told him about visiting Thrasher, only to find that Uncle Joey had been taken to the emergency room. “It all turned out okay, but it scared me to death, too.”

  “What happened?” I explained Uncle Joey’s accident with his knife during the earthquake, and Chris got a chuckle out of that.

  “It’s been a weird day. I mean, the ghost was bad enough, but thinking that Uncle Joey might be dying just about did me in.”

  “No doubt.” He thought my fear probably had a lot to do with being named Uncle Joey’s successor. He still wasn’t sure how he felt about that. “You’ve certainly been busy.”

  “You can say that again.”

 
We were in our room getting ready for bed, and Chris began to pull off my shoes. He started rubbing my foot, and it felt so good that I flopped back on the bed and groaned. He moved to the other foot, paying special attention to the pad and joints. Next, he traveled from my ankle and on up my leg, rubbing my calves with his magic hands.

  Happy and relaxed, he helped me out of my clothes, and I kissed him tenderly. “You sure know how to help me feel better.” I unbuttoned his shirt.

  He sent me a sexy smile. “It’s a job I take rather seriously.”

  I laughed. “And you’re very good at it, too.”

  “Oh baby, oh baby.”

  I woke the next morning at eight, surprised that I’d slept so well. In fact, I hadn’t had one nightmare, even after the ghostly visit at the precinct. Maybe things were looking up. Of course, it helped that I’d solved a couple of cases yesterday. Now, I had one more to go… only this case seemed the most difficult.

  I hadn’t heard a thing from Misti, so I hoped my appointment to meet with her and her mother today would actually happen. Still, each time my phone rang, I held my breath, worried that they’d cancel. At ten-thirty, with no call, I was ready to go. I gathered some treats and a couple of dog toys for Coco, and we were off.

  I pulled up in front of the imposing house and called Misti. She told me to come to the side of the house opposite the driveway, and she would let me in the gate to the back yard. Coco followed me with his ears up, curious about where we were going.

  Misti stood at the gate, waiting. She pulled it open and we stepped inside, catching sight of Ava standing behind her mother. Seeing the little girl excited Coco. He dropped his head, and his tail wagged furiously. Ava squealed, and he trotted straight to her side, sniffing her, like he was making sure she was all right.

  He held perfectly still while she put her arms around his neck and kissed him. She patted him and hugged him, all while talking a mile a minute. Coco licked her a few times, and she giggled.

  “Let’s move into the backyard,” Misti said.

  We walked around the house into a beautifully manicured yard, lined with shade trees and a covered deck, connected to the house by a set of patio doors. In the back corner, a small stream flowed down a rocky path and into a shallow pond. Another small patio set, with cushioned chairs and a table, were arranged by the water feature, making it private and lovely.

  Misti led me to the patio by the pond, and the sound of the trickling water played pleasantly in the background. On the table, a pitcher of lemonade, along with a plate of fruit, awaited us. I opened the small backpack that contained Coco’s toys and treats, and showed them to Ava and Misti so they could play with Coco.

  I picked up that Misti had never had a dog before, and she was a little nervous around them, but, with Coco, she let go of her fear and began to enjoy his company. After playing for a while, Misti sat down and poured the lemonade.

  I took a swallow, enjoying the fresh-squeezed tartness. “Is your mother going to join us?”

  “I’m not sure.” Misti shouldn’t have been surprised by her mother’s vitriolic response to my visit, but it still upset her. It got worse after she’d found out I was bringing a dog. Apparently, she hated dogs, even the one who’d found Ava. That stung even more, but her mother was like that.

  I glanced up at the windows in the house. At a second-story window, I caught sight of a woman watching us. She was thin, with a patrician nose and a scowl on her face. Her short, white hair poked up in a few places. She caught me staring, and the curtain dropped.

  “I take it she doesn’t like dogs?”

  Misti shrugged. “I guess not.” She smiled, hoping to soothe any hurt feelings that might have caused me. “But I’m really glad you’re here. Ava’s having a blast.” Coco lay on the grass, and Ava sat beside him, showing him a flower she’d picked.

  “Ava’s adorable. How old is she?”

  “Five.”

  “How did she get lost?” I listened while Misti spoke about that day, looking up at the window every so often, in case Carolyn watched us. After hearing the story, along with the happy ending, I was pretty sure Carolyn wasn’t going to come down. I picked up that Misti didn’t think so either.

  Without talking to Carolyn first, I wasn’t sure if telling Misti about my suspicions was a good idea. I mean… what if I was wrong? On the other hand, if I asked Misti what she thought about the picture, maybe she’d get her mother to see me.

  It was now or never, so I reached into my purse and pulled out Misti’s photograph. “I thought you might want to see this.” I handed it to her, and her eyes widened with surprise.

  “It’s Ava. But I don’t recognize it. Where did you get this?”

  “That’s the thing. It’s not Ava. I think it might be… you.”

  “Me? But… I’ve never seen this before. How can it be me?” She studied it, thinking it looked exactly like her, but the age was wrong. In this photo she was two or three. “My mother doesn’t have pictures of me at this age. She told me all my baby pictures were destroyed in a fire. Did someone give this to you?”

  I nodded, not quite sure how to continue. “Yes. Mack Haywood had a whole album full of pictures just like this one, including baby pictures.”

  She caught my gaze. Was I trying to pull something over on her? “What are you saying?”

  “I was hoping to talk to your mother, so she could explain. I don’t know exactly what this means, but I have a pretty good idea, and it involves Mack Haywood. Do you want to hear it from me, or shall we ask her?”

  Misti sat back in her chair, her breath coming out in short little gasps. Did this mean that something had happened to her? When she was a child? “So if this is me… what do you think happened?”

  “I think… you were taken away from your family… and raised by someone else.”

  Misti’s breath caught. “You mean kidnapped? And you think…” Her gaze swiveled up to her mother’s room. How could it be possible? If I was right… did this mean her mother wasn’t really her mother, and she’d… kidnapped her? What the hell? That was insane. Still… in a place where she’d never admitted it… she’d known there had been something missing… something wrong… all her life.

  In the first place, she didn’t look a thing like her mother, and she never had. Her hair and eye coloring were completely different. They had different body types. In fact, nothing about them matched, and it had always bothered her.

  Then there was her father. She’d always believed that she must have taken after him, but her mother had refused to talk about him. There were no pictures of him, or any of his possessions that remained behind after he left. When she did mention him, the story seemed to change every time her mother spoke. But, most of the time, the subject was strictly forbidden.

  If this was true, it made sense that her mother had been so secretive. She’d made up the story that her father had left her right after Misti had been born. It meant that her mother’s reticence to talk wasn’t because he’d broken her heart… it was because he’d never existed.

  Misti inhaled sharply, thinking that it explained her mother’s constant neediness. She’d tried to escape her mother’s controlling will all her life, even finding a college far away. But nothing really changed. Her mother had always found a way to weasel back into her life. It usually involved money that came with conditions attached.

  Even after she’d found a husband, and had a child of her own, her mother had managed to insinuate herself into her life. Look at her. Here she was, right back with her mother where she started.

  But this… could it be true? “Tell me everything. I want to know.”

  I opened my mouth to speak, but the sound of her mother’s voice calling from the house stopped me.

  “Misti? Misti!”

  My gaze jerked to the window, finding that Carolyn had pulled it open and was leaning her head out. “Can you come up here for a minute? I’m ready to meet your friend, but I need your help first.”

&nb
sp; Misti frowned, unhappy to put me off, but years of dealing with Carolyn kicked in, and she couldn’t turn her down. “Will you watch Ava for a minute?”

  “Of course.”

  With a nod, she hurried inside. I glanced back at the window, but Carolyn had disappeared. Had she heard us talking? It sure seemed like it. So what was she planning to tell Misti? I noticed the photograph sitting on the table and picked it up.

  As far as proof went, this was kind of flimsy. Could Carolyn convince Misti that I was wrong without promising to look into it? From what I’d picked up, Misti wanted to know, but would she defy her mother to find out? Her mother held something over her, but what? Her fortune? I had no doubt that Carolyn had a lot of money; maybe that was part of it.

  Several tense minutes later, Misti emerged from the house, her face flushed and angry. I picked up that her mother had used her illness as leverage to keep Misty from upsetting her and had denied the whole thing. The reprimand from Carolyn accusing Misti of being taken in by me still stung.

  Misti held my gaze, wondering if I was the gold-digger her mother had insinuated. Had I made it all up for a piece of her fortune? I didn’t seem the type. Then there was the photo. Was it a fake? But what about Mack and the dog? Something was going on… and she needed to know the truth. “Mother will see you now.”

  “Okay. Good.” Facing Carolyn was the only way to settle this. I just hoped Misti wasn’t swayed, especially if her mother accused me of lying. I stood, clutching the photograph in my hand, and took a few steps toward the house before glancing over my shoulder. “Aren’t you coming?”

  “No. She wants to see you alone.”

  A chill ran down my spine. “Oh… don’t you want to hear what she has to say?”

  “Yes but… she insisted on talking to you first. I’ll come up when you’re done.”

  “Uh… I don’t think that’s a good idea. You should be there too.”

  Misti shook her head. “It’s fine. Besides, her health isn’t the best, and I don’t want to upset her too much. After she’s spoken to you is soon enough. Her room is on the second floor. Just go inside and take the staircase. Her room is on the far end. The door’s open, and she’s sitting in a chair by the window.”