“All I did was pull your head out of your…” The squint was joined by a raised eyebrow, “…pants. What did you think I was going to say?”
“Never mind that. What am I supposed to do now?”
“I don’t know. Turn on that lady-killer charm you bragged about. Or better yet, for once in your life, be honest with her and with yourself. Tell her how you feel. Ask the woman out to dinner. You might have to convince her your intentions are good.” Adriel paused, “They are good, right. She’s not going to be another notch on your lady-killer gun.”
His snort at the visual eased the tension. “No, my intentions are honorable. I knew the moment I met you my life was about to be turned upside-down, I just never thought it would be like this.” Callum reached for Adriel, planted a smacking kiss on her lips and walked back the way he had come.
***
“I saw that,” Kat singsonged when the screen door slammed behind Adriel.
“Get your mind out of the gutter. It was a thank you kiss for putting his feet on the path to the right woman. Nothing more. I’d rather talk about what happened with Ben. Did you bring Zack up to speed?”
“She did. It was an accident; no doubt in my mind. Ben was late going home, so dusk had already fallen. He moved over into the grassy verge, but not as far as he thought. The headlight blinded him when he looked back, and he swerved at just the wrong time. Does that fit with your impressions?”
“Completely. The first time Ben looked back, the driver was over the line, then right before the impact, the car was too far to the right. It looked like he or she overcompensated.” Adriel replayed the scene in her head. Something about what Ben had witnessed triggered a niggle in the back of her mind, but the more she tried to bring it clear, the more it slid away.
“Based on the trajectory, it looked like the driver was impaired. Maybe by age or alcohol,” Kat added while Adriel nodded her agreement.
“I think we can eliminate age,” Zack mused, “or maybe not. I’m still fuzzy on how the details work when it comes to ghosts. Let’s say Ben didn’t cross over because he couldn’t until his killer was found. If the killer was an elderly person thirty years ago, they would be long dead by now. Wouldn’t their death satisfy Ben’s unfinished business?”
“It’s a tough call. There are three possible motivations connected to his journey. Finding the body, identifying the killer, and getting justice. Usually those last two happen together, but not always. It’s not the first, since his bones were found and he’s still here. The killer’s own death would usually satisfy both of the other two, but not always.”
Kat picked up where Adriel left off, “Let’s say someone else knew or strongly suspected where Ben’s body was buried. If that person keeps the secret, they become complicit, and Ben’s unfinished business transfers to them. I don’t think that’s what’s happening here, though.”
“Nor do I.” Adriel said. “That scenario is usually reserved for people who know exactly who killed them and who is keeping the secret. Ben has no idea. I’m leaning toward his killer still being alive.”
“A drunk driver makes the most sense given the lengths taken to hide the body. There’s a good chance it was a habitual offender. I’ll pull driving records for DUI violations over the past thirty years. It’s a place to start.
Chapter 16
“Are you doing anything tonight?” Turning to avoid slamming into Hamlin while the three of them unloaded the food truck, Adriel tossed the question at Pam.
“Let’s see, there’s my dinner with the queen, I can’t put that off again. Then later I was thinking of rearranging my video collection. They’ve been in alphabetical order for so long, I’m thinking I might change it up and create a complex rating system based on seven points of likability to sort them by.”
“Is that supposed to be humor? We don’t do corny where I come from.”
“Ouch, burn,” Hamlin teased Pam.
“Burn? That was barely even warm.” Her smile was, though. After only seeing the occasional glimpse of this side of Pam over the years, Hamlin enjoyed her lighthearted laughter.
“I’d like you to meet some friends of mine.”
Pam wanted to ask a bajillion questions, but with Hamlin in close proximity, settled for saying yes. Even worse, there was no chance over the rest of the day to get Adriel alone and grill her for information.
So, when she arrived at the cabin after work, Pam had no idea what she was walking into. The mid-sized SUV in the yard suggested Adriel probably wasn’t entertaining angels. Or ghosts. Too bad. That might have been fun.
The sound of female voices raised in laughter intimidated Pam enough to halt her forward progress. All through her teenage years, when other girls grouped into cliques, none included the awkward subject of speculation who wouldn’t have put herself forward in any case. Experience insisted this would be no different. She had turned to leave when Adriel stepped onto the porch.
“Pam? Were you leaving? Come inside and meet my friends. Please?” Adriel’s tone soothed away doubt, but not the hesitation making Pam stay a few steps behind. She had no idea what to expect, outside of being the weird one in the group.
“Ladies, I’d like you to meet Pam. She’s my boss and landlord. More importantly, she’s my friend.” Too dumbfounded to speak coherently, Pam stammered out a perfunctory greeting. She tried not to stare, she really did, but Gustavia in full regalia was a sight worth a good, long look. And it wasn’t even one of her crazier getups. She’d taken a page out of Amethyst’s book and gone for a monochromatic color palette. She wore gladiator sandals
