Bane sat back and sipped his coffee. “Yeah, he’s the first accountant to get the drop on me and leave a bruise.”
“Tell him I’ll kiss it and make it better,” Stretch said.
She lifted her brow in a scold.
“Fine, fine.” She held up her hands. “I’ll go for now, but you need to choose between the cop and this one. I’m getting bored.”
“You’re talking to her again, aren’t you?” Logan asked.
She returned her gaze to meet his and grinned. “No. Of course not. That would be rude.” She gestured back to the paper. “Did it hurt your pride that he left his mark, Bane?”
“Logan,” he corrected. “And yes. It did. I’m normally better prepared before I go into any situation.” He sipped his coffee, watching her over the top. “Speaking of, can you talk to all ghosts?”
“If they’re around or if the body hasn’t been buried. With a touch, I can get most answers I need.” She turned her gaze to the paper. “This guy hasn’t been buried. I haven’t been to his funeral.”
“Do you go to everyone’s funerals?”
“Everyone needs a hobby,” she said with a sweet-as-pie smirk.
“You’ll have to explain that later,” Logan said and pointed to the paper. “Are you telling me, that if I get you inside to see the body, this can all be cleared up with a single touch?”
“Maybe,” she answered and continued to eat. “I need my breakfast first. Touching corpses makes my stomach queasy and depletes my energy.”
“I can wait,” Logan said, leaning back in his chair.
“No need.” She smiled up at him.
“But I need to feed you the questions,” Logan said, his brows dipped.
“No. There are only two questions we need to ask. What happened and who did this to him if it wasn’t you.”
“Right,” he said just as his phone rang. He pulled it out of his jacket pocket and glanced at the screen. “Excuse me. I need to take this.”
Logan slipped out of the booth and headed for the door as he answered, “Bane.”
He paced the parking lot while talking. Had Ryley needed to recon, she could have easily talked Stretch into finding out what that call was about. But she didn’t want to know that bad. Not that it stopped Stretch. She was moving outside with him, back and forth across the asphalt. She grinned and reappeared in a flash in the seat across from Ryley.
“He’s making plans to seduce you.”
“No, he’s not,” Ryley answered.
Stretch chuckled. “Yeah I know, but can you blame the guy? You aren’t even showing him any cleavage.”
“Nor do I plan on it,” Ryley said.
“Gah, have I not taught you anything?” Stretch vanished in a huff.
Logan returned, grabbed his jacket, and picked up the file and paper. He dropped some bills on the table. “Sorry, but I have to run.”
“No problem. I’ll call when I have news,” Ryley said.
“You can call me anytime.” He winked. Grabbed his boxes of food and headed for the door.
She met Maggie’s gaze, and the check was delivered instantly. Riley pulled out a fifty-dollar bill and laid it on the table next to Logan’s money.
“Big bills mean big favors,” Maggie said, grabbing the money and slipping it in her apron.
“I need you to call your roommate and see if he can sneak me in to see a body.”
“One you’re trying to cross over?” Maggie asked, already knowing Ryley’s secret.
“That, and I have a couple of questions that need answers,” Ryley said, slipping out of the booth.
“I’ll tell him to be expecting you.”
“Thanks, and stop by the bar soon so we can grab a drink.”
“Absolutely.” Maggie grinned.
Ryley walked out the door feeling ten times heavier than when she’d entered.
“It’s time to deal with you, Logan Bane, so I can concentrate on Rosalind’s issues,” Ryley whispered into the morning air, slipping her sunglasses over her eyes. She got in the car.
Three cars were parked in the coroner’s office parking lot, but the designated space for the Medical Examiner sat empty. Five ghosts were hovering around the entry door. Two were pacing and the other three just looked confused.
Ryley got out and kept her gaze down refusing to make eye contact as she jogged toward the front door. Maggie’s roommate was waiting just inside. He opened the door and held it for Ryley to pass, stopping her at the counter long enough to clip a badge on her shirt.
“We have to make this quick. The coroner is at the dentist but will be here shortly.”
“Not a problem,” Ryley said, following him into the morgue. She didn’t frequent this place. She normally caught the spirits at their funerals and dealt with them there. Forcing them into the afterlife just seemed wrong. Had someone done it to her, she would have returned to haunt them and drive them nuts.
The freezer where they kept the bodies was only partially full. Two ghosts slid through the walls vanishing from sight as she entered. That could have turned into more sleepless nights. If they knew she could see them, they’d never leave her alone. She’d learned that the hard way.
“Who are you looking for?”
“Curtis Jones.”
“Ah yeah, the dastardly accountant that met with foul play,” the assistant said, unlocking one of the metal drawers. He pulled out the slab and unzipped the bag. “You have five minutes.”
“I won’t need that long.” Ryley smiled up at him.
Curtis Jones looked peaceful if it wasn’t for the gash and bruise on the side of his neck. The pictures had shown that he’d been lying in a pool of blood on a street corner downtown.
She touched his shoulder. “Curtis. I’m sorry, but I need to see how you died.”
She closed her eyes, and within seconds the images burned behind her lids. An indescribable chill crept up her fingers, numbing her arm and shortening her breath. She always hated this part, that first contact with the lingering consciousness of a spirt. Ryley fought the shivers trying to rip through her. Muscles popped in her jaw as she tried to keep her
