Demons LLC (Damned and Cursed Book 7) (17 page)

But the look on Kylie's face haunted him.
 
She was alone, desperate, lost.
 
He didn't know if he could help her, but he wasn't going to turn her away.

"Wow," he said, shaking his head.
 
"I'm really sorry."

She waved her hands in the air.

"Yeah, everyone's sorry.
 
All the ghosts watching me cry in the cemetery were sorry.
 
All the cops that showed up at my house were sorry.
 
The therapist my mom is seeing, she's sorry, too.
 
But no one can
help
.
 
Can you help me?"

The front door opened before Alex could answer.
 
Cindy backed inside and set her purse and laptop bag on the corner table.

"Hey, babe," she said, turning to face him.
 
"I'm surprised you're not dead asleep in bed.
 
Get your shoes off.
 
I'll make us something to eat.
 
Maybe, if you're still up for it later, we can get back to that scream we were talking about."
 
Cindy reached down to grab the hem of her blouse.
 
She had a habit of stripping as soon as she entered the home.

Alex leaned forward on the couch, his eyes opening wide.

"Cindy, wait!"

She froze in partial undress.
 
Her shirt was almost up over her chest, revealing a black bra and slim stomach.
 
Facing the couch, she comically stood there, unmoving, with her face covered.
 
Her torso was exposed for all the world to see.

"There's someone here, isn't there?"

"Yeah."

"Nate?"

"No."

She pulled her blouse down.

"Ah, thank God.
 
Sorry about that," Cindy said.
 
"And where would this person be?"

"Just in front of you.
 
You pretty much flashed her."

"Nice.
 
Sorry, again."
 
A hint of a smile played at her lips.
 
"Maybe you should start leaving a sock on the doorknob?"

Kylie howled with laughter, prompting a smile from Alex.
 
It was the first time he'd heard her laugh.
 
He was glad she was still capable of it.

Cindy grabbed her laptop bag.
 
She was familiar with the routine by now.
 
She would work in the dining room while listening to Alex's one-sided conversation.

"I'll start on dinner," she said.
 
"Just holler when you're all done."

Alex held up a finger.
 
"Actually, you'll want to stay for this."

Her eyes lit up with excitement.
 
"A job?"

"Yeah."

Cindy turned serious, but still had trouble hiding her enthusiasm.
 
She unveiled her laptop and took a moment to set up next to Alex on the couch.
 
She already looked the part of an executive at a small business.
 
Gray skirt, dark blouse.
 
Alex put a hand on her bare knee, and although Cindy knew to expect someone in their living room, she still jumped at seeing Kylie.

"Hi," Cindy said.

Kylie waved awkwardly.
 
"Uh, hello."

"It's okay," Alex assured her.
 
"Kylie, this is my wife, Cindy.
 
She takes notes on all the work I do for people.
 
Just play along."

Cindy scolded Alex with a look for his choice of words.
 
He lowered his gaze sheepishly.

"This is important," Cindy said, then smiled at their guest.
 
"Kylie?
 
Pretty name.
 
Have a seat next to me here."

Kylie did so, walking through the coffee table in the process.
 
Cindy's breath hitched.
 
She hadn't seen as many ghosts as Alex, or the things they could do.
 
Kylie left no shadow or impression in the cushion as she settled on the couch.

Cindy poked at the laptop while talking to Kylie.
 
Alex wondered if she knew how sexy she looked.
 
Not many people could handle the kind of life Alex brought to the table.
 
Cindy not only handled it, she excelled.

"So, Kylie," Cindy said.
 
"You want to hire Alex?"

"Yes.
 
I want to find who killed me."

Cindy looked up.
 
Alex squeezed her knee, knowing what she was thinking.
 
She wanted to be professional, but knowing that the young girl next to her was murdered assaulted her emotions.

"I'm very sorry to hear that," Cindy said, her voice shaking a bit.
 
She regained her composure.
 
"Kylie, listen, I know this might sound terrible, but this is actually a business for us.
 
We have to charge for the work we do.
 
And with you being…."

She couldn't finish.
 
Kylie adjusted her glasses and brushed hair aside as her lip curled into a smile.

"Dead?
 
A ghost?"

"Yeah.
 
A ghost.
 
A ghost can't exactly pay for things."

Kylie stared at Alex's hand on Cindy's knee.

"So," she said.
 
"When Alex touches someone, they can see ghosts?"

"Yeah."

"Wow.
 
Well, that's it, then.
 
Payment shouldn't be a problem."

Alex and Cindy glanced at each other.
 
That normally wasn't the case in working with spirits.
 
Payment usually involved finding secret stashes of money, or the combination to a hidden safe.

"Really?"

"Yeah.
 
My mom's rich.
 
You let me talk to her, and we can get all that straightened out.
 
Believe me, she'll be more than happy to pay to find out who killed me."

"It won't be cheap," Cindy warned.

"It won't be a problem."

Kylie was certainly straightforward for being so young.
 
Cindy gave Alex's hand a quick squeeze as she pulled up a form on the laptop he'd never seen before.
 
No doubt another piece of information for the database.

"Okay, Kylie.
 
I've got just a bit of paperwork for our system here."

Alex and Kylie frowned at the same time in confusion.
 
As much sense as it made for what they wanted to accomplish, paperwork for a ghost simply sounded wrong.

"Full name?"

"Kylie Sinclair."

Cindy laughed shortly with glee as she typed, dropping her professional demeanor.

"That just sounds like a rich name."

Kylie smiled, but Alex bumped Cindy's shoulder.
 
He shook his head slightly when she looked at him.

"Sorry," she said.
 
"Address?"

Kylie was silent a moment as she glanced back and forth between Alex and Cindy.

"Uh, does that matter?
 
Do I even have one?
 
I am dead, you know.
 
Do you want my old home address, or the cemetery I was buried at?"

"Do we need to know that for her?" Alex asked.

"It's on the form," Cindy said, trying to keep her voice low.
 
"I just thought I'd ask."
 
She looked ahead to the next question.
 
"How did you hear about us?"

"From a few ghosts in my cemetery.
 
They didn't know you personally, but knew others you'd helped."

Alex leaned forward and stared at the screen.
 
"You probably shouldn't type that.
 
Where did you get this?"

"From the Internet."

"Well, it's a dumb form."

Cindy agreed.
 
"Yeah.
 
I should probably change it around a little."

Alex leaned forward.
 
It was time to say his piece.
 
The business part, filling out forms, that could come later.

"Kylie—"

Cindy stopped him.
 
He'd taken his hand off her knee.
 
She wrapped her hand in his own, allowing her to see Kylie once again.
 
Kylie smiled at the simple display of affection.

"You want me to find out who killed you?" Alex continued.

Kylie nodded.
 
"Yes."

"And that's all?"

"What do you mean?"

Alex gestured to himself.
 
His sweatpants and tee shirt were still dirty from the warehouse.

"I'm not a cop.
 
I can't arrest anybody.
 
I've gotten lucky before, scared people into running to the police.
 
But that's not a guarantee.
 
And I'm definitely not going to kill anyone.
 
I can find your murderer, but he may still be a free man, or woman, after that.
 
Just knowing who it is…is that enough closure for you?"

Kylie was quiet as pain played across her face.
 
Alex wished he could say all good things.
 
Her killer would be brought to justice.
 
She could move into the afterlife without a mystery following her.
 
Everything would be okay.

He couldn't promise any of it.

"I think so," she said.
 
"It'll
have
to be.
 
I don't have a choice.
 
I can't
not
know."

"Okay.
 
I think we've got a deal.
 
Where are we talking about, anyway?"

"Stewardtown.
 
It's a tiny place in northern Florida."

Alex blinked in surprise.
 
He wasn't expecting to take a trip several states away.
 
Experienced ghosts didn't have a problem moving large distances through the spirit world, basically teleporting anywhere they'd already been.
 
But with Kylie, he couldn't see that happening.

"How did you
get
here?"

Kylie sighed at the memory.

"I-95, and a lot of cars.
 
A lot of riding in cars, and a lot of falling out of cars.
 
Hours of walking along the road after falling out of cars.
 
Even more hours waiting at truck stops listening for someone saying they were heading north.
 
After hitting Maryland, I begged every ghost I could find on information on you.
 
It wasn't fun."

Alex leaned back in disbelief.
 
If Kylie had opened with that story he wouldn't have asked any questions.
 
He would simply have taken her case.

"Holy shit," Cindy said.
 
"Why didn't you just hop a plane?"

Alex held in a laugh as he thought of the drive home.
 
Kylie in a plane.
 
That was a story that wouldn't have ended well.

"No, she did the right thing," Alex said.

Kylie rose to her feet.
 
"So, we're good?
 
You'll help me?
 
What's the next step?"

Cindy stood as well, letting her hand drift to the back of Alex's neck.

"Hold on, before we get too far ahead.
 
Can Alex and I talk for a minute?"

"Sure."
 
Kylie turned back and forth several times, in an awkward effort to go somewhere else.
 
"Uh, you want me to wait outside?"

"Please."

"Okay.
 
Just come get me when you're done.
 
It's not like I have anywhere else to go.
 
Oh, Cindy?"

"Yeah?"

"Alex had to grab my leg earlier.
 
But it wasn't in a pervy, feel-me-up type way.
 
I just wanted you to know so you didn't get pissed at him."

"Uh, sure.
 
Whatever you say."

Kylie disappeared through the front door.
 
Cindy stood up and placed her hands on her cheeks, her eyes wide.
 
She paced, short steps, near the coffee table.

"Oh my God," she said.
 
"Did that just happen?
 
Another client?
 
You just had a case last night."

"Yeah," Alex said, smiling.
 
"Business is booming."

"A rich client," Cindy mused.
 
"Think about it.
 
People are actually
seeking you out
, more than ever.
 
Ghosts and the living both.
 
This could be big for you, Alex."

"Big for
us
," he corrected.
 
"None of this happens without you."

Cindy halted her pacing long enough to embrace Alex.
 
They shared a kiss, which Alex moved from quick to passionate.
 
The sight of Paul earlier, and the loss of his wife, made Alex want to hold onto Cindy as long as he could.
 
She didn't mind.
 
She returned his energy, until they both had to come up for breath.
 
She stayed close, her arms around his neck.

Both of them were lost in their own thoughts.
 
A simple question of taking the case or not had its own complications.

"Solving a murder," Alex said.
 
"Okay, I've done it before."

"But this is a little different.
 
This isn't a hundred-year-old murder that you research in a library.
 
Kylie was killed recently, wasn't she?"

"Definitely.
 
She's still mourning her death.
 
She can't even ride in a car without falling out."