Drop Dead Beauty (2 page)

She cut off a large bite of the burrito and stuffed it in her mouth. It was just as gooey and delicious as it had always been.

“A toast,” Zack said, raising his coffee cup. “To the first date of many.”

Sadie laughed as she clunked her mug against his.

When he had to quit the force, Sadie had hired Zack at Scene-2-Clean to help her do trauma cleaning. They’d started off working together, ended up living together, and had never, officially, done the dating thing. Once he’d gone to rehab for a second time and blew her off while turning his entire life around, she’d thought they were done. Now they wanted to try again and they’d agreed to start things off in the right order. Regardless how awkward the date felt, Sadie was cautiously optimistic about their future. Things would get easier. They’d be comfortable together again soon.

They finished eating and talked about the Seahawks and Zack’s new job as a security advisor. Both were safer subjects than Dean Petrovich. Sadie’s stomach still protested the cheese and eggs, but she ignored it. After breakfast, Zack paid the bill. They walked back to his car and he reached for her hand and held it snugly in his.

“I wish I didn’t have to go to work,” he said wistfully. “I’d suggest we go for a walk in Discovery Park or something.”

“That would be nice. Maybe next time?” She smiled up at him.

“As far as first dates go, I think this went pretty well, don’t you?” he asked.

Sadie looked up into Zack’s smiling face and he bent to kiss her. Suddenly the breakfast burrito in her stomach roared to life. Before she could stop herself, she threw up all over his shoes.

“I’m so-o-o sorry!” Sadie exclaimed sorrowfully. “I don’t know where that came from.”

“Your stomach, apparently,” Zack said dryly. “If you weren’t feeling good this morning you could’ve just said so.” He cringed, looking at his shoes. “I would’ve understood. Really.”

Zack reached into the backseat of his car and pulled out a couple of warm water bottles. He handed her one to drink and used the other to rinse off his shoes. Sadie swished a mouthful of water in her mouth and spat. Then, while Zack continued to clean his runners, she climbed into the passenger seat of his car, feeling disconcerted and ashamed. The last time she’d felt this embarrassed it had involved a prom date and the unexpected arrival of her period. It was nice to know that at thirty she wasn’t above humiliating herself in front of men.

“I must be coming down with the flu or something,” she told Zack as he slipped into the driver’s seat. “I wasn’t feeling great first thing this morning and went back to bed.”

“Hey, it’s okay,” he said, looking over at her and winking. “As long as it wasn’t the company you found repulsive.”

As Zack drove Sadie back home she checked her phone and noticed she had multiple texts from her good friend, Maeva, wondering how the breakfast date had gone. Although Maeva was a psychic by trade, her abilities didn’t allow her to read much into Sadie’s love life. That was probably a good thing.

When they pulled into her driveway things became awkward again. They should’ve ended their date with at least a kiss, but instead Sadie got a friendly pat on her knee. What the knee rub lacked in passion it made up for in good intentions.

“Thanks for breakfast,” she said. “Sorry about throwing it up all over your shoes.”

“Rest today. I’ll call you tomorrow,” he promised. “Feel better.”

Once back inside her house Sadie locked the door behind her and then slumped onto her sofa.

“How’d it go?” Petrovich asked.

Sadie jumped.

“Could you announce yourself or something instead of just appearing out of nowhere?”

Petrovich ignored her complaint.

“Must’ve been some kind of hot date,” he commented. “The guy doesn’t even come inside afterward.”

“It was fine. He has to work.” She looked up at him. “Not that it’s any of your business.”

He put his hands up. “You’re right. So what did he have to say about me?”

Sadie raised her eyebrows. “We were on a date. What makes you think we talked about you? You didn’t want anyone to know you were here, remember?”

Sadie rubbed at her sternum where acid was bubbling up from her stomach.

“Oh c’mon, you mean you didn’t even ask Bowman about the case? You could’ve asked his opinion without telling him where I was.” Petrovich began to pace. “I need help here, Sadie. I need you to be my ears and find out what everyone is saying. You gotta help me find out who really did this and—”

Sadie’s office phone rang from her den down the hall and she was grateful for the interruption.

“Hold that thought,” she told Dean and ran down the hall to pick up the business line.

She answered the call in her most businesslike tone.

“Scene-2-Clean. How can I help you?” She dug in her desk drawer and found an old roll of antacids and popped one in her mouth.

“I’m Harrison and I manage an apartment block up by Northgate Mall. Last week they found a body in one of our apartments. Tenant was killed by her boyfriend but nobody knew about it until the neighbors started smelling something.”

“Yes, I heard about the incident on the news,” Sadie said sympathetically. “Very sad.”

“Yeah, well, I called the police and asked when they were going to come and clean up the mess at this place so I can put an ad in the paper and get it rented out, you know?” Harrison said, sounding agitated. “But they tell me they don’t even do the cleaning. Said I’ve gotta call a trauma cleaner so I Googled and found you.”

“Yes, you’re correct. Once the police have retrieved all their evidence from a scene the cleanup is the owner’s responsibility. The good news is that insurance will usually cover my costs.”

“That’s great to know ’cause I’m just in charge of renting out the apartments, you know? I’m not paid enough to go in there and wipe up after somebody dies.”

“I’m certified to handle decomp and blood-borne pathogens, so you were right to call a professional,” she told him. “I can be there for an initial walk-through early this afternoon.”

Harrison was thrilled to have her start so soon. Sadie got the address from him and promised to be there in a couple hours.

“Please gather the insurance information in the meantime,” Sadie told him, and they ended the call.

Sadie smiled and the grin turned into a yawn. She’d had a solid night’s sleep and still felt like she could go back to bed. She was definitely coming down with something.

“Sorry about that,” she said to Dean as she returned to the living room. “Got a job to do over by Northgate Mall. So, what were you saying?”

“I was saying that I need your help to do some investigating into Jane’s death. Find out what really happened so everyone stops putting the blame on me.” He was tossing his hands in the air with agitation and walking back and forth across the room.

Sadie could think of a thousand reasons to avoid this mess like the plague. But she knew that if Dean really needed her, she had to be there for him. Sometimes being a good friend sucked pond water.

“Dean, you’re a cop. You must’ve told me a thousand times to leave the investigating to the police. What if I start nosing around and make things worse? Don’t you see the advantage of leaving the investigation into Jane’s death to the detectives to handle?”

“I’m a cop so I know
exactly
how they are handling it. They’ve pinned it on me and nobody’s looking any further.” He stopped pacing just a couple inches away. “Just see if you can talk to Jane.”

“That means I’d have to go to where she was killed.”

“She was murdered at a spa!” he shouted. “Make yourself an appointment for something girly and maybe Jane’ll show up and talk to you. Geez, do I have to think of everything? I thought you loved talking to the dead?”

“I don’t ever remember saying I love it,” Sadie replied. “I’m going to try and help you without messing up the investigation, okay?”

The doorbell rang and Petrovich rolled his eyes. “This place is like Grand Central frickin’ station!”

He grumbled to himself and headed down the hall while Sadie answered the door.

“I’m back, baby!” Maeva exclaimed when Sadie opened the door.

“You’re back from where?” Sadie asked her best friend.

Maeva pushed through the door. She was a vision in a flowing gauzy peasant dress and a jangle of gold chains.

“I’m back from limbo land. Now that Osbert is completely weaned, I decided it was time to test my psychic prowess and went back to work.”

“I didn’t know you were going back to Madam Maeva’s so soon,” Sadie said. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“It isn’t soon. Between pregnancy, birthing, and nursing I’ve been off nearly a year. I didn’t tell anyone besides Terry about trying to go back to work.”

“Nice to tell your husband but not your best friend,” Sadie smirked.

“I didn’t want to tell anyone I was going back until I was sure my abilities had returned,” Maeva explained. “I had a session this morning and it was like all my psychicness is back—bigger and better than ever. Saw a woman’s dead father and she got to make peace with him. It was a beautiful moment.”

“That’s awesome,” Sadie said, glancing distractedly over her shoulder.

“Is there a reason we’re standing at your front door?” Maeva asked, then her eyes got big and round and she whispered, “Oh my God, you had your breakfast date with Zack this morning! How did it go?” She lowered her voice even more. “Is he in the bedroom? Did I interrupt something?”

“No, he’s not here.” Sadie laughed. “Let’s go for a walk. I just need some fresh air.”

She stuffed her feet into her Nikes and pushed Maeva out the front door.

“What’s going on? Why are you acting so weird?”

Sadie ignored Maeva’s questions until they were at the end of the driveway, and then she said out of the side of her mouth, “Petrovich is holed up inside my house.”

Maeva was quiet a moment, then muttered “Wow” under her breath.

“Exactly,” Sadie continued as they picked up speed on their walk. “Apparently he wants me to find out who really killed his ex-wife.”

“But I thought
he
killed her,” Maeva said. “That’s what every TV channel and newspaper has said all along.”

“I know. That’s what everyone thinks. Except Dean.” Sadie slowed her walking pace and stuffed her hands in her jeans. “I can’t even think straight because I’m so damn tired.”

“He kept you up all night?” Maeva asked.

“No, but he woke me up early, and even though I went back to bed for a couple hours, I’m beat. Even my hair feels tired. Don’t stand too close. I might be coming down with the flu.”

“I’m betting it’s just stress over renewing your relationship with Zack,” Maeva said with a smirk. “Speaking of that, how did the breakfast date go?”

“About as poorly as it possibly could.”

“I doubt it was as bad as you think.”

“I threw up on him.”

Maeva stopped walking and stared. “You’re kidding.”

“I wish I was.”

Suddenly Maeva tilted her head and looked Sadie over from head to toe. “Hold up your hands. Let me see if I can get a reading off of you.”

Maeva was touch-sensitive and couldn’t physically contact Sadie. Due to the fact that Sadie connected so strongly with the dead, Maeva had a physical reaction to Sadie’s touch that was much like Sadie’s reaction to her breakfast burrito. To give her friend a reading, Maeva merely hovered her hands very closely to Sadie’s fingers and somehow felt the vibe.

“Hurry up. The neighbors are liable to call the cops and tell them there’s a couple of weirdos doing a strange dance on the sidewalk.”

Maeva shushed her and frowned seriously before dropping her hands and turning on her heel. She began jogging back in the direction they’d just come, with Sadie panting after her.

“Where are you going?” Sadie asked. “Aren’t we going for a walk?”

“No. We’re going back to get my car and then we’re going to the store.”

“Why?” Sadie demanded, running after her.

“To buy a pregnancy test.”

Chapter 2

“I am
not
pregnant!” Sadie shouted.

A neighbor across the street glanced over at Sadie and smirked.

“I’m
not
,” Sadie insisted on a whisper.

“You threw up, you’re exhausted, and I’m betting you’re late.” Maeva counted the offenses on her fingers. “Remember I just told you how my psychic powers have returned bigger and better? Well, I just got a distinct vibe off of you that screamed momma!”

“I’m sure your vibrations have been wrong before, and late shmate.” She shook her head. “If I think hard about it I’m sure I am a little late, but I’ve never had a regular cycle so that doesn’t matter.” Sadie stomped angrily as they walked up the driveway to her house. “So what if I’m tired. So what if I threw up. None of that matters.”

Maeva stopped next to her car and pointed a finger at Sadie’s belly.

“It matters if it means you’re growing a baby inside of you.”

“This would have to be an immaculate conception because, news flash, Zack and I haven’t even had sex!” Sadie hissed.

“Who said anything about Zack?”

“Who then . . .” Sadie’s mind raced. Abruptly her jaw went slack and she leaned on the hood of Maeva’s car. “Not Owen!” She realized she was shouting when the same neighbor across the street gave her the evil stink eye. Sadie waved in return and then lowered her voice. “We slept together one time. Once! And that was weeks ago!”

“Last time I checked, all it ever took was one time. Have you had your period since then?”

“I must have.” Sadie rubbed the creases between her eyes as she tried to concentrate.

Maeva pressed the key fob to unlock her car.

“Get in. It’ll take five minutes to pick up a test at the store.”

“B-but I can’t be pregnant. We were careful,” Sadie explained, and then she cringed. “Most of the time.”

“
Most
of the time?” Maeva’s eyebrows went up in question as she climbed into the driver’s seat. “I thought you said it was a onetime thing.”

“I guess what I should’ve said was that it was a one
night
thing.” Sadie nervously dragged her fingers through her hair. “It’s possible that one of the times that night we weren’t careful.”

“Get in the car.”

“No.” Sadie stuck out her bottom lip. “This is ridiculous.”

“Fine. You don’t have to come. I’ll go to the store and be back in a few minutes.”

Maeva closed the car door and backed out of the driveway. Sadie watched her go and then grumbled to herself as she walked toward the front door.

“I’m not pregnant. That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard!”

She thought about Owen Sorkin and her face grew hot. She’d helped out at an investment property he’d owned. That had been right around the time Zack had told her that they were officially on a break. Sadie had been needy and Owen had been both sexy and persistent. There was no relationship. In the end she told him she didn’t want to pursue anything because she wanted to repair things with Zack. Then Owen had left to attend to his life and she’d gone back to hers.

Sadie let herself back inside her house. Hairy scampered over to greet her by twitching his whiskers. She scooped up her bunny and sat down on the sofa.

“Your lunatic friend gone?” Dean asked from down the hall.

“She’s not a lunatic,” Sadie mumbled. “And she’ll be back soon.”

“You think she’s normal? That Maeva’s about five gallons of crazy in a one-quart container.” He chuckled at his comment.

“Want to know what crazy is? Crazy is having sex with someone and getting accidentally knocked up like a teenager! Now
that’s
ten shades of crazy!”

She was screaming. Hairy squirmed in her lap and Sadie put him down on the floor.

“Are you saying what I think you’re saying? Are you going to have a baby?”

Sadie folded her arms across her chest angrily and didn’t respond.

Dean walked around the front of the sofa and faced her.

“It’s not such a bad thing. You and Zack always knew you’d end up together anyway, right?”

“I need to have a couple minutes to myself. Give me a second, okay?” Sadie got up and went to the kitchen. She poured herself a tall glass of water and drank it down while she looked over the calendar she had pinned to a wall. The last few months had been a roller-coaster ride of instability in her life. She’d been concentrating on saving her business and keeping her house from going into foreclosure. She’d worked her ass off, taking on all sorts of jobs that she’d normally turn down. She’d been so busy and stressed it would be no wonder if her cycle was even more off than usual. She took a relieved breath. It was all stress. She was sure of it.

By the time Maeva returned with a small white box in her hand, Sadie waved her away dismissively.

“It’s stress. I’ve been thinking about it, and yeah, I’ve just been working too hard. Things’ll get better soon. Now that business is better I’ve paid off some debt and got my mortgage back under control, so I’m back to living the American dream.”

“Take the test.”

Maeva dropped the box on the kitchen table.

“It’s stress.”

“Then it’s no big deal. Just do it to appease me. Do it so you can tell me I told you so, and then we can have a big laugh about it later.”

“Fine.” Sadie snatched up the box. “Be prepared to laugh your butt off in a couple minutes because this is going to be freakin’ hilarious.”

But a few minutes later when Sadie returned to the kitchen with the plastic stick in her hand her eyes were wild and filled with tears.

“Maybe I need to do another one. I’ve never been good at taking tests.”

Sadie showed Maeva the test stick with the two distinct pink lines.

“Oh, hon, I’m so sorry but it’ll be okay. You’ll see. Things will work out. . . .”

Sadie dropped onto a kitchen chair next to her friend. Her mind raced in circles and she could feel Maeva’s concerned eyes on her. Finally, she couldn’t stand it anymore.

“I’ve got to go.” Sadie got up so abruptly she had to stop her chair from keeling over. “I told a client I’d be out to do a walk-through at a job and . . .” She glanced at her watch. “It’s already noon.” She made shooing motions with her hands. “I’ll talk to you later. I have to get ready.”

“The land of denial is a very inviting place but eventually you’ve got to return to the here and now,” Maeva told her wisely. “I’m here for you whenever you want to talk.”

“Just be here for me somewhere else.”

Sadie walked her friend to the door. When Maeva left she made Sadie promise to call her later. Sadie locked the door and then leaned against it for a moment with her eyes closed. When she opened them Dean Petrovich was watching her from the hallway. She held up a hand.

“I do
not
want to talk about it.” She made her way down the hall to the mudroom that led to her garage door and slipped her feet inside her Nikes. Petrovich followed her. With her hand on the door Sadie turned to him. “Look, I know you’re hell-bent on having me help you clear your name and I’m going to be there for you any way that I can, but right now I’ve got a business to run and I need to scream hysterically in my car to clear my head.”

“Fine. I’ll just talk to you later,” he said, wisely backing off.

Sadie walked into her garage. Her Corolla was parked beside the Scene-2-Clean van. Since she was doing only an initial walk-through, she’d need only a hazmat suit and a camera, so she’d be taking the car that was already stocked with those supplies. She climbed behind the wheel and pressed the button on the garage door remote. While the door rumbled and rattled open, Sadie dropped her head to the steering wheel and cried.

She cried most of the way to her appointment. When she pulled to the curb in front of the four-level concrete building that was her destination, Sadie glanced at her reflection in the rearview mirror. Her eyes were puffy and red-rimmed.

“Great. I look like shit.”

She got out of the car and grabbed a tote bag from the trunk that held her supplies. The air was cool and in the mid-fifties with a touch of drizzle. She took deep breaths as she walked toward the building and felt a lot calmer by the time she was pressing the building manager’s buzzer.

“Wait in the lobby and I’ll come down,” Harrison told her after he buzzed her inside.

Harrison was a tall, twentysomething redhead who looked like he was in over his head managing a building where people got murdered. He looked Sadie over and frowned.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Allergies.” She cleared her throat and rubbed her eyes.

“I hear you.” He nodded knowingly. “It’s apartment 211. Next to the laundry room.” He handed her the key and a sheet of paper. “That’s the insurance information and the contact info for the guy who owns the building. Do you need me to come inside the apartment with you?”

“No. I can take it from here.”

“Thank God.” He shook his head, relieved. “People at that end of the hall are ready to move out because of the smell. It has gotten much better since they pulled Yolanda’s body outta there, but still . . . it reeks.”

“Not for long. I’ll take care of it. I’m just doing a walk-through now to take pictures for insurance purposes and to see what will be required.” She lifted her tote bag that contained her hazmat suit and camera. “Next, I’ll gather all my equipment and start cleaning. Probably tomorrow. I promise you that by the time I’m done, it’ll smell like daisies.”

Harrison looked skeptical about the concept that body decomposition could end up smelling like fresh flowers, but he was willing to hope for the best.

“Right.” He nodded. “Have at it then.”

Sadie took the stairs up to the second floor and was out of breath by the time she reached the apartment. She had a vision of trying to do that same simple walk nine months pregnant and shook her head violently. She didn’t want to think about that now.

The distinct smell of decomp permeated the hallway. Normally it had little effect on her, but today it seemed to reach up inside her sinuses and tug on her gag reflex. She decided to use the laundry room next door as a safe zone. She stepped inside and pulled the disposable hazmat suit out of her tote bag. An older woman folding laundry in the corner eyed Sadie curiously. Sadie offered her a halfhearted wave as she slipped into gear complete with booties, gloves, and a full facial respirator. She breathed easier with the respirator blocking out the bad smell. Carrying her camera, she stepped into the hall and plugged the apartment key into the lock, turning the deadbolt.

Once inside she began snapping photos of the living room. It was clear that Yolanda’s body had rested where there was now a sticky puddle of bodily fluids and sloughed skin. Maggots were having a heyday too. Cleaning up scenes of unattended death was nothing new to Sadie. While her finger clicked the shutter button on the camera, her mind listed supplies needed to clean the mess and the number of hours required.

Once she had all the photos she needed, she turned to leave and came face-to-face with a thin black woman who looked dazed and confused. The marks around her neck told Sadie this was the ghost of Yolanda, the woman who’d been strangled in this apartment.

Abruptly, Sadie’s heart began to race and she felt a tightening around her own neck. She tried to gasp for air but it was as though a noose was around her neck. She dropped her camera as she clawed desperately at her throat. The invisible grip tightened. Her lungs burned and her eyes began to bulge. Sadie grabbed at her throat and the ghost of Yolanda tilted her head and, with openmouthed confusion, watched Sadie struggle.

In desperation, Sadie bolted from the apartment. As soon as she was in the hall the grip around her throat disappeared. She ripped off her respirator and drew in a hoarse, ragged breath and coughed repeatedly. She bent at the waist and sucked air into her lungs.

“You okay?” The woman who’d been folding laundry was in the hall with her basket of towels balanced on one hip.

“Peachy,” Sadie replied and coughed again. “Thanks.”

Sadie straightened and turned to look at the apartment door. What the hell was that all about? She’d never experienced anything like that. Her camera was in there. She needed to go back inside but she couldn’t bring herself to do it alone.

She returned to the laundry room, dug her cell phone out of her tote, and dialed Zack’s number.

“I know you’re probably really busy at that big security and safety director job you do now, but I was wondering if you got any kind of a lunch break or anything?” Sadie asked.

“Sure. I was just about to go for a bite. Are you feeling better? Do you want to join me?”

“I’m just at a job and I could use a little help.” Sadie described a little of what was going on and about being scared to go inside for her camera. Zack had worked with her. He knew about her supernatural abilities and, even though he didn’t talk about it much, he accepted it as just another weird Sadie trait.

“Let me get this straight; you’re scared of a ghost? You?” There was laughter in his voice. “My Sadie . . . the gal who deals with this kind of talking to the dead thing all the time?”

She smiled a little at his use of “my Sadie.”

“Yes. Well, maybe I’m just having a bad day all round.” She laughed herself. “As you know, I’m not feeling my best today.”

“My shoes remember it well,” Zack said. “I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

Sadie greeted Zack at his Mustang at the curb and retrieved a hazmat suit from the trunk of her car and handed it to him.

“Oh my God. What happened to your throat?” he asked, running a finger gently on her neck. “You’re all bruised.”

Sadie opened her mouth to speak then shut it again and simply shrugged. She didn’t want to get into the fact that something had somehow tried to strangle her. As an ex-cop, Zack liked to deal with things he could see in the here and now. Although he’d come to accept her so-called talent, she didn’t like to shove his face in it and add more strain to their already tentative relationship by stating she was now having to wrestle with spirits.

They walked into the building and made their way to the laundry room, where Zack donned a hazmat suit just as Sadie had. They’d worked together for a couple years. Even though he’d left trauma cleaning for the comparative thrills of security consultation, he still knew the drill. Sadie opened the apartment door for him and Zack slipped inside. He was back in the hall only seconds later and tossed her the camera.