The Ex Who Saw a Ghost (Charley's Ghost Book 4) (7 page)

Teresa sank into the folding chair and pressed her hands to the side of her face. “You’re not going to believe. I don’t know where to start.”

“How about the middle?” Amanda sat in the chair behind the desk.

Teresa spread her hands and drew in a deep breath. “Ross is rich.”

“Ross is...” Amanda repeated. “What?”

“Well, you did tell her to start in the middle,” Charley said.

“I’m pretty sure Dallas doesn’t pay cops exorbitant salaries. How did Ross get rich? Did he take bribes or inherit the family fortune?”

“Actually,” Teresa said, “he did. Inherit the family fortune, not take bribes.”

Amanda went to the small refrigerator, retrieved two Cokes, and handed one to Teresa.

“We may need something stronger than Coke for this,” Teresa said. “Have you got a bottle of wine tucked away in that little refrigerator? Better yet, a bottle of tequila?”

Amanda popped the top of her can. “No, I think I need to be completely sober for this.” She sat down and took a long drink then leaned back in the office chair and put her feet on the desk. “Okay, Ross is rich.”

“He told me about it last night. We had a long talk.” She smiled and a faint glow suffused her cheeks. “He still can’t totally accept the spirit thing, but he said he cares for me. He wants us to be exclusive. I thought we already were, but it was nice to hear him put it into words, and it was really cute to see Mr. Macho Cop blush and stammer.”

Teresa seemed more interested in the caring part, not the rich part. Interesting. “Okay, he wants you to have an exclusive relationship. That’s good. How about the rich part? His family’s wealthy? Didn’t he say his parents were dead?”

“Yes, they are. His dad was a cop who got killed on the job when Ross was three.”

“Another cop? So where does the money come in?”

“Probably stole it from a drug bust,” Charley mumbled.

Teresa’s lips thinned. “Really, Charley?”

He shrugged and looked away. “I guess not.”

Teresa turned her attention back to Amanda. “Two years after Ross’ father died, his mother married Nicholas Minatelli who adopted Ross and raised him. He barely remembers his real father except what his mother told him, but it was enough to make him decide to be a cop.”

“So his step father wasn’t a cop?”

“No, he came over from Italy and opened a small pizza parlor. He was making enough money to pay the bills and was perfectly happy with that, but Ross’ mother saw potential. She jumped in and helped him turn it into a chain which they sold for a lot of money when Ross was twenty-five. But they didn’t get to enjoy their wealth for long. They were in Hawaii on vacation, took one of those helicopter tours and crashed.”

Amanda flinched. “That’s horrible!”

“Yeah. Ross doesn’t like to talk about it. That’s why he hadn’t said anything before. All the money went into trust funds for him and Parker. He hasn’t touched his. If he thinks about the money, he thinks about the death of his parents.”

“And Parker is Ross’ brother? His half brother?”

Teresa nodded. “Technically, yes, but Parker came along a couple of years after Ross’ mom married his step dad, so they grew up together. Parker is his little brother, and he’s always taken care of him. Parker was only seventeen when his parents were killed, so he got an allowance from his trust until he turned twenty-one, which was last year. A few months ago he changed, became very secretive, something he’d never been before.” She stopped talking and looked around the room.

Amanda and Charley followed her gaze.

“It’s okay,” Teresa said. “I just wanted to be sure he isn’t here. It feels weird talking about him in front of him. He was with me most of the night. After Ross left, he confirmed everything Ross said, that they were close and Ross took care of him after their parents died. Then he had charge of his own money and his own life. Suddenly it hit him that his parents were really gone and he had to become an adult. He won’t tell me what he was being secretive about, but he didn’t deny it. He just said it wasn’t important.”

“Good grief,” Amanda said. “There sure are a lot of things that aren’t important to dead people.”

“Hey!” Charley protested. “Don’t stereotype dead people. Lots of things are important to me.”

Like seeing to it that she and Jake didn’t spend time alone together.

“What was important to him,” Amanda said, “was that Ross find his body and get his accounts transferred into Ross’ name?”

Teresa nodded. “Ross was designated the beneficiary of the trust if anything happened to Parker.”

“But what difference would it make if Ross is already rich? Not like he’s going to lose his house if he doesn’t get his brother’s money now instead of seven years from now when he’s declared legally dead. And if that was the reason, why is he still here since he’s already done that?”

“I’ll ask him next time he comes around, but I doubt if he’ll tell me.” Teresa looked at Charley. “Why did you come back to Amanda?”

“I came back to save her from Kimball, the man who murdered me.”

Amanda leveled her gaze at him. “And Kimball is now in prison serving life without parole. Why are you still here?”

Charley considered her question for a moment. Finally he looked down at the floor. “I don’t know. So maybe Parker doesn’t know either.”

No one spoke for a long moment.

“I think he knows,” Teresa finally said. “He seems determined and purposeful. Maybe it’s something as simple as not wanting Ross to worry about him. But I don’t understand why he doesn’t just tell me that.”

“I don’t understand why he doesn’t tell you who killed him,” Charley said. “I told Amanda right away. They tried to blame her for killing me.”

“Because I had plenty of motive. Are they trying to blame you for Parker’s death, Teresa?”

Teresa leaned back in the metal chair. “I told Sheriff Laskey last night that Ross’ brother led us to the bodies through me. He didn’t say anything at the time, but now he wants me to come in and explain how I knew where to find a well full of bodies. That’s what I get for being honest.”

“It would have come up eventually. Jake told him we got the information from a trusted source. He’d have wanted to know the name of that trusted source, and you know neither of them would ever lie to another officer of the law.” Amanda was learning that the occasional white lie could serve a good purpose, but Jake and Ross were the ultimate cops. “So when do you have to go in?”

“Next couple of days. He was pretty nice about it, but he seems to think I can tell him something that will help solve the case. I can’t because Parker won’t tell me.”

Amanda nodded slowly. “I see. You’ve got to convince the man that you knew where to find the bodies because you talked to one of the dead men who told you where his body was but he won’t tell you who murdered him. Maybe you need a lawyer.”

“People always get lawyers on TV.” Since Charley could no longer go to bars, scam people, pick up women and gamble, he spent a lot of time watching TV.

“Yeah, I need somebody who’s tough and who won’t think I’m nuts because I talk to dead people.”

“Actually, I may know somebody like that.” Sunny was smart, tough, and if she accepted that Amanda saw Charley, surely she’d accept that Teresa communed with other spirits. “I’ll call her.”

“Thanks.” Teresa turned to Charley. “Yesterday when we were walking through the woods, what were you and Parker talking about when you went off to the side together?”

Charley shrugged in an apparent attempt to look casual, but his expression was pleased. “Spiritual stuff. He’s new to this whole ghost thing and he needs guidance.”

Amanda shuddered. “Please don’t guide him.”

“That was very nice of you,” Teresa said. “You can be a big help to him. Did you discuss how it felt to leave your bodies?”

Charley nodded. “We were both pretty confused at first. He’s still a little confused, but he’s getting better.”

“Did you talk about how it felt to be murdered?”

“We didn’t get that far. It was mostly how to move around from place to place and how to control coming back to visit with you all.”

“Next time we see him, could you ask him who killed him? Maybe he’ll tell you. I’d kind of like to know so I can stay out of jail.”

“Oh!” Charley grinned. “I can do that. Yeah, he’ll tell me. We have a bond.”

“I would really appreciate that, Charley.” Teresa rose. “All right, I’ll let you get back to work.”

The two women and one ghost strolled through the shop to the front door.

“Good to see you, Dawson,” Teresa said.

Dawson looked up from his work. “Good to see you, Teresa.”

Amanda closed the door behind her friend and started back across the shop.

“I like her.” Dawson didn’t look up.

“Yes,” Amanda said. “I do too.”

“I hope everything works out about finding the dead guys.”

Amanda stopped in the middle of the floor. “Did you overhear us talking?”

“No. I just see things on the Internet.”

“What did you see?”

“That she led authorities to a well with twenty bodies in it, and she said their spirits took her there.”

“It was only five bodies and one spirit.”

“Oh, good.” He dismissed the subject and continued with his work, putting an engine back together.

Charley lifted his eyebrows. “What’s wrong with him? That’s not good at all.”

Dawson looked up again. “Parker Minatelli was related to Ross, right? It’s not a common last name. Did Ross know any of the other people? Did he know Steven Anderson?”

“Who? I don’t know. Who’s Steven Anderson?”

“The only body besides Parker that they’ve identified so far. He’s why it’s all over the Internet. He’s Senator Glen Anderson’s son.”

Amanda raced out the door, trying to catch Teresa. It was too late. The little blue convertible flew down the street as if determined to catch a speeding ticket.

She turned to Charley. “Stop her! She needs to ask Parker about Steven Anderson.”

Charley dashed after the car but returned almost immediately, a sullen look on his face. “I got to the end of my leash and you yanked me back.”

“I’m not any happier about this attachment you have to me than you are.” Amanda took her cell phone from her pocket and punched in Teresa’s number. She got voice mail. “This is Amanda. One of the bodies has been identified. Steven Anderson. Ask Parker if he knows him. Knew him. Whatever. Call me.”

“Amanda?”

She whirled around at the sound of her name. “Davey?”

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.” Her sister’s husband blinked in the sunlight and smiled apologetically. In his dark gray suit, white shirt and blue tie, he looked every inch the tax lawyer he was. But for the first time since she’d known him, the man looked slightly rumpled. Only slightly. Considering he was wearing a suit in the Texas sun and his pregnant wife had left him, he remained remarkably cool.

Amanda shoved her phone into her back pocket. “It’s okay. I was just—uh—a friend left and I was trying to catch her.”

“The brunette in the BMW?”

“Yeah, that’s the one. Have you talked to Jenny yet?”

“I knocked on the door, but she’s not there. I came down when I saw you out here. Do you know where she’s gone?”

Amanda pointed toward the white Mercedes parked a few feet away. “She’s here. Maybe she’s sleeping.”

Davey shook his head. “That’s not her car. That’s mine.”

“Matching Mercedes,” Charley said. “Isn’t that just adorable?”

“She was here a few minutes ago,” Amanda said. “We had lunch together. Maybe she decided to go home.”

He looked down at the pavement. “I doubt it.” He lifted his gaze. “Would you tell her I was here? And give her this?” He held out a small gift box wrapped in silver paper with a pink bow.

She accepted the box and looked it over. “Pink for the baby?”

He nodded.

“I hope this gift has nothing to do with the baby. She needs something that’s just for her.” She shook the box and heard faint movement. “This better not be a rattle.”

“It’s a diamond necklace, just like we talked about.”

“She can add it to her collection,” Charley said. “Pretty soon she’ll be renting a storage unit just for her diamonds. Or does she already have one?”

Amanda refused to look at Charley. She might laugh if she did. “Good choice.”

“Diamonds are her birthstone.”

“I’ll bet her mother timed it that way on purpose,” Charley said.

She handed the box back to him. “You better keep this. It will mean so much more coming directly from you. And maybe she’s already gone home.”

He accepted the box. “That would be wonderful if I return to find her there. Thank you, Amanda, for taking care of my Jenny. This pregnancy has been hard on her. She’s so delicate.”

“No problem,” Amanda assured him. “It’s a chance for us to share this special time together.”

Charley burst into laughter, pounding the air with one fist. “You’re a lousy actress! That came out sounding totally phony!”

Davey smiled. For a moment she thought he was going to hug her. Davey was not the affectionate type. Amanda liked that about him. He nodded and turned to go then stopped. “Did I hear you say something about Steven Anderson? Would that be Senator Anderson’s son?”

“Don’t tell him anything!” Charley said.

Amanda thought about Charley’s warning but couldn’t see any reason not to tell Davey something he’d soon see on the news. “They found his body in an old well. Homicide.”

Davey sighed. “I’m sorry to hear that but not surprised. How long has he been dead?”

“I haven’t heard. Did you know him?”

Davey nodded. “The senator and your dad are friends. Jenny and I hosted a couple of dinners during his campaign. He’s a good man, and he’s been very worried about his son. I hate to hear he’s dead, but at least Glen will have some closure now.”

“
Closure
?” Charley mimicked. “He doesn’t know much about death if he thinks it’s some kind of closure.”

“What happened? Was Steven kidnapped or something?”

Davey shook his head. “He got in with the wrong crowd. He was taking drugs and got arrested twice over the last couple of years. Those are the only times Glen heard from him, when he needed bail money. Very sad when you hope your son gets arrested just so you can hear from him and know he’s okay.”

“Drugs,” Charley said. “There’s your connection to Parker. He got a lot of money and got all secretive. He was probably using and—”

“That is sad,” Amanda said, interrupting Charley. She didn’t want to think that Ross’ little brother had been on drugs. Besides, he’d have told Teresa if he was. Wouldn’t he? However, he was keeping a lot of things secret, a lot of things he didn’t consider
important
. “So Steven’s father hasn’t heard from him in a while?”

“A few months. I’m not sure exactly how long. I’ll have to express my condolences. Jenny will want to...” He stopped and swallowed.

“Yes,” Amanda assured him, “she will want to send flowers and visit with the family and do all the right things. If I see her before you do, I’ll tell her.”

“Thank you.” Again Davey looked as if he might want to hug Amanda. Instead he extended a hand.

Amanda took his hand, pulled him to her and gave him a quick hug along with a pat on the back. “It’s going to be fine.”

He left, driving away in the white car that matched his wife’s.

“You think they have matching underwear?” Charley asked.

It was entirely possible. “Shut up.” Amanda turned and started back up the steps to her apartment.

“Better check and be sure your sister didn’t run away with your store brand soap and shampoo.” He laughed again.

Had she really once thought he had a nice laugh? Had she really once thought he was a nice man?

“I want to see if her luggage is still there or if she went home.”

“She wouldn’t go home without telling you. That would be rude. Her mother would never tolerate such behavior.”

“She came over here without telling me.” Amanda strode into her apartment and straight to the bedroom. Jenny’s suitcases sat open on the floor, various garments spilling out.

“Told you she wouldn’t leave.” He darted through the wall. “Here’s a note in the kitchen! She says she’s gone shopping and will be back in time for dinner.”

Amanda picked up a filmy white garment from the floor and put it on top of the clothes in the suitcase. “Oh, goody. I was afraid we’d have to eat alone again.”

Charley appeared beside her. “You were?”

“No.” Her phone rang. She pulled it from her pocket. Teresa.

“I just got home,” she said. “I didn’t want to answer my phone while I was driving. Tell me about Steven Anderson. How did you find out he was one of the victims?”

“Dawson saw it on the Internet. I just found out he’s been involved in the drug scene. Any chance Parker was doing drugs and met Anderson in that world?”

“He says he wasn’t using drugs and he didn’t know the man.”

“Too bad. That might have given us a clue as to who killed him.”

“Gotta go,” Teresa said. “Ross is calling. Bye.”

Charley looked at the phone and snorted. “That was rude.”

Amanda shoved her phone into her back pocket. “No, it wasn’t. She got another call. We didn’t have anything else to say and I’ve got to get back to work. One of us has to make the money to pay the bills so you can watch television all night.”

“Can’t watch it while you’re sleeping in the living room,” he grumbled, following her out of the apartment. “Maybe your sister’s shopping for a guest room for you.”

It was always possible.

Amanda made it inside the door of her shop before her phone rang again.

“You’re never going to believe what just happened!” Teresa said.

“You sound ecstatic and you talked to Ross. He proposed?”

Dawson looked up from his work and smiled. Amanda returned the smile and continued toward the office at the back.

“No—”

Charley hovered close to the phone. “He told you your ex was killed in a prison fight by somebody named Shankie?”

“No! Charley, be quiet a minute,” Teresa said. “This is important. Ross went to the bank today to transfer that account his brother mentioned, and he found out some woman named Lila Stone has been getting automated payments from it.”

“Parker, you dog!” Charley grinned. “Got you a—”

“A girl friend?” Amanda interrupted.

“We don’t know what her relationship to him is. But the good news is, Ross called me and requested I ask Parker who she is.”

“That’s great! You’ve made a believer out of him!”

“Sort of. He started the conversation with, ‘Not that I really believe you can talk to my brother, but if you can...’”

“Okay, that’s progress. So what did Parker say when you asked him?”

Teresa sighed. “What do you think? He said it’s not important.”

Amanda sank into the chair behind her desk, put her chin in her free hand and groaned. “Of course. What did Ross say when you told him that?”

“It didn’t make him happy.”

“Maybe,” Charley said, “Parker doesn’t think you and Ross should be together, so he’s deliberately sabotaging your relationship. Maybe...”

“Shut up,” Amanda said.

“I haven’t got to the best part yet,” Teresa said. “With Steven Anderson being the son of a senator, the whole state is getting involved in the investigation. No way Ross can get into Parker’s apartment until they finish searching it, and who knows if there’ll even be anything left to find when they get through with it? So he can’t look for information about this Lila Stone, and if the cops find her name, they’ll be hot on her tracks. He’s taken a leave of absence and he wants to go question her before anybody else gets to her.”

“Makes sense.”

“And he wants me to go with him and bring Parker so I can relay his questions and see how Parker reacts.”

“I can see how questioning Parker’s former girlfriend or whatever she is while dragging along his ghost could be a bonding moment for you and Ross.”

“I think it will be. This will be the time he finally accepts my talent.”

Teresa had taken Amanda’s sarcastic comment seriously. “Well, let me know how it goes.”
And good luck with that.

“Actually, I’d like for you to be there. I need you to bring Charley since he seems to have established a relationship with Parker.”

“Bring Charley?” Amanda did not want to get involved in a situation that promised to have no good outcome. “Why don’t you just do whatever it is you do to make him go with you? I don’t have to be there.”

“Okay, thanks, I’ll do that.”

“Hey!” Charley protested. “I’m right here! I can hear you! Anybody think about asking me if I want to go?”

Amanda twisted around and arched an eyebrow. “Like you have a choice?”

“I’m sorry, Charley,” Teresa said. “I apologize for leaving you out. Would you please come with me to question Parker’s girl friend? Maybe you can even get him to tell us who murdered him.”

“Well...”

“I’ll get you a margarita next time we go out for Mexican food.”

“Just you, me and Amanda? No guys?”

Amanda wasn’t sure what teeth gnashing sounded like, but she felt certain Teresa was doing it during the long moment of silence that followed Charley’s request.

“Yes,” Teresa agreed. “The three of us will go out for Mexican food without the guys if you’ll help me. Deal?”

Charley stood back, pressed his hands together and halfway through each other and looked thoughtful. “I think Parker will tell me more than he tells you since he and I have a lot in common, both of us being spiritual. He’s an all right guy. I like him better than his brother.”

That wasn’t surprising. Parker was dead so he wasn’t a serious rival for Teresa’s attention. Would Charley change his mind if Teresa spent too much time with Parker during the planned interview?

“Great!” Teresa said. “Thank you.”

“Wait a minute,” Charley protested. “We haven’t finished working out the terms of our deal.”

“We haven’t? I thought the evening out was your payment.”

“It’s part of it. There’s one more term. Amanda comes with us.”

“Okay. Amanda comes with us.”

“Wait a minute,” Amanda protested. “To quote someone we heard from recently, ‘Anybody think about asking me if I want to go?’ The answer is, no. I don’t want to go.”

Charley fisted his hands on his hips defiantly. “If you don’t go, I don’t go.”

“You have to go if Teresa does whatever it is she does and takes you.”