No shit? Bill had seemed nice enough, but he was no Don Juan. More like a Don Quixote. I batted Harvey’s finger away. “I told you to stop calling me a heifer. Now are you going to come guard my body, or are your feet too cold?”
His blue eyes narrowed. “Teach your grandmother to suck eggs.” He turned forward as we pulled into the driveway. “Prudence just makes my skin jump up and crawl all over me,” he told Doc.
“Same here,” I said, staring out the windshield at the beautiful, haunted house.
We slowed to a stop behind the unmarked SUV Cooper often used. No sooner had Doc parked and killed the engine, the detective opened his driver’s side door and stepped outside.
“He must have talked to Natalie,” I told the two in the front seat. She probably called as we were walking out the door.
The three of us exited my rig, Doc carrying the mirror for me. The wind whipped my curls into my eyes. For some reason, the weather up at Zelda’s always seemed colder, the frigid air blasting. Then I remembered the huge open pit mine on the other side of the chain link fence bordering the property. Oh, duh. The freezing gusts had nothing to do with the cold-hearted ghost inside of the house. It was simply that there were no trees on that side of the house to block the wind. The same was true of the Sugarloaf Building that sat on the other side of the Open Cut.
“Howdy, Coop,” Harvey called to his nephew, who looked about as happy to see us as he would a proctologist donning latex gloves.
Cooper had on the same police coat he’d worn last night, but his jeans were black this morning. His hair was slicked back until a puff of wind had fun with it. His jaw was whisker-covered and his eyes were red-rimmed. I wondered how much sleep he’d gotten after last night’s fun and games at the grocery store, not to mention the report that Hawke had pushed off on him to write regarding the B&E at the bank. I hoped he’d managed to get enough sleep to make him less growly, but knowing Cooper, I expected to get nipped a few times this morning.
“What are you doing here, Coop?” Doc asked. “I figured you’d still be curled up in bed with your little blankie and toy pistol after the long hours you put in yesterday.”
I grinned in spite of the glower Cooper aimed at Doc.
“I’m going to shoot at your feet later, Nyce, just to watch you dance.”
Doc laughed.
“I got a call,” Cooper explained, hunching deeper into his coat as another rush of cold air rocked us.
“From Natalie?” I asked.
He shook his head. “From Zelda Britton.”
What? Zelda called the cops? “Did somebody try to break into the house again?”
A few months ago, while Wanda Carhart was still alive and owned the place, somebody had broken into the house looking for a certain book—one that I had snuck out with me after the showdown I’d had with Lila Beaumont and Wanda’s daughter, Millie. Doc had stashed the book in his closet for me, which was where it was when the robber had come looking for it here. Prudence had been in the house alone at the time and witnessed the scene, which she later relayed to me through Wanda. I’d filled Doc and Cooper in about the break-in, so we were all up to speed.
“No,” Cooper said, scowling up at the sky as it started to pepper us with snow. “Zelda called me about a half hour ago. She told me that Parker was going to be up here with my uncle soon and said that Prudence insisted I join them here.” He focused on Doc. “She didn’t mention anything about you, though.”
“I’m the surprise guest star,” he said, looking toward the house. I wondered if he could sense anything from Prudence yet. All I was picking up out in this wind were goose bumps, and they had little to do with the unnerving ghost waiting for us inside.
“So Zelda calls and you jump,” I said to Cooper. “I’m surprised you didn’t tell Prudence to go to hell.”
“I did, but Zelda swore that this was a life-or-death sort of conversation. After I complained about Parker interfering with my sleep yet again, Prudence came on the line.”
“Prudence?” I asked, wondering if he’d meant to say Zelda.
“Yes, Prudence. She told me that as a constable, I needed to reconsider my attitude and watch my mouth around respectable ladies.”
Harvey snorted. “Ol’ Prudy reminds me of a prostitute I knew back in—”
“Uncle Willis,” Cooper stopped him. “Take care. She’s probably listening to us right now.”
Cooper could be right. Prudence was sneaky that way.
“What is Prudence up to?” I said under my breath, staring up at the attic window. I watched for the sheer curtain to shift or sway to show that we were being watched, but it stayed still. “First she wanted Harvey here and now you, too.”
“Zelda wouldn’t tell me anything more,” Cooper said. “She just reiterated that Prudence wanted me to join your Sunday morning meeting and that I shouldn’t be late.” Cooper looked back at the SUV. “Oh, and there was one other order Zelda relayed.”
“What’s that?” Doc asked.
Cooper opened the back door of his SUV. “Wake up, buttercup,” he shouted.
I leaned over and peered into the back seat, my jaw dropping. “You brought Cornelius?” I watched as the long-legged ghost whisperer stretched and yawned before joining us out in the cold.
“Prudence is very bossy.” Cooper squinted at me. “She reminds me a lot of you, Parker, minus the crazy hair, of course.”
“Be careful, Cooper,” I said, shutting the door behind Cornelius. “Or I’ll tell Prudence you don’t like Executioners. It’d be a shame to watch her make you tear out one of your own teeth this morning.”
He aimed his keys at me. “If I lose a
