Elizabeth Basque - Medium Mysteries 01 - Echo Park (8 page)

I took a deep breath. I needed to clear my own mind, no matter if they could or not. This was old hand for me, or at least it should have been. I wasn’t usually so emotionally invested in my cases, though. I had to concentrate, and make an extra effort to focus.

“
We all need to center on thoughts of Michael. Carla, you and I have seen him, though you may not remember much. Julie, just do your best. Think of the connection between Carla and him.”

They nodded. The room became eerily silent as we thought about Michael. Carla’s pleas for his presence clouded my focus, and I purposefully shoved her psychic plaintive cries away from me.

Michael. Michael. Michael, young spirit, I know you’re not far. Please come. You will be safe here, I promise.
This was my mantra for the next several minutes. I envisioned him, his dirty hair, his serious eyes. His scrawny build. I searched for him in the other world, calling, coaxing.

“
Pauline, it’s not wor—” Julie started, but both Carla and I shushed her.

It
was
starting to work. At least, I could feel some kind of energy shift in the room. And a spiritual shift. He was approaching. I could feel the chill and the sense of regret that preceded his arrival.

He was now near. Not in my apartment yet, but I could feel him close by. Apparently, Carla could, too, as she squirmed a little and looked around briefly. Then the girl scrunched her eyes closed again, and I stifled a smile. She was trying too hard, but telling her that would only make things worse.

Michael, Michael, young spirit, I know you’re not far…

I looked up just in time to see Michael being shoved through my front door—my closed door, of course—by none other than good old Mack. What would I do without him? I nodded my thanks at Mack and he nodded back.

The kid stumbled, his feet tripping on nothing, as he was floating above the floor. He tossed a hurt look back at Mack.

Mack wasn’t the least inhibited by Michael, though. “Go on,” the East Coast Ghost grumbled, “get in there or you’ll have me to deal with, as well.”

He pushed the younger ghost forward, and Michael shrugged Mack’s hand off his shoulder, now indignant. The kid dusted himself off as if he’d fallen in the dirt. Perhaps he had, I thought, and smiled up at Mack.

“
Well, look what the cat dragged in,” Mack said, with not a little pride at delivering the culprit to my hands.

“
Michael. Welcome. Thank you for coming.”

Carla looked up at him in amazement. Julie immediately tensed. Michael stared at the three of us, especially Carla. He looked like he’d rather be anywhere than here, but Mack hovered directly behind him, blocking the way to my front door. Not that the ghost couldn’t just escape through a wall.

“Uh, hi, Pauline,” Michael said nervously. “Thanks.”

“
Hello, Michael,” I returned with a calm I hoped would spread. Tension was running high, and we’d barely begun. “Michael, I asked you here because I think you might have some unfinished business here on Earth. I’d like to help you, if you’re willing. Carla needs some help, too. She has the same problem as you do. You are both still here.”

We’d all opened our eyes now. Julie couldn’t see Michael or Mack. Nor Carla, for that matter.

Time for the old television remote trick. “I can see you, Michael, but Julie—this is Julie, by the way, she’s a good friend of Carla’s and here on Carla’s behalf—Julie can’t see you. It would be easier if you took shape a little, if you’re willing?” I gestured to the remote.

Michael understood, but he still hesitated. He looked back at Mack, who nodded for him to go ahead.

He moved to the remote and touched it. The television protested with a flurry of snow on the screen. The temperature in the room dropped a good ten degrees.

Julie sucked in air as he materialized. Carla took it upon herself to draw the same energy, perhaps as much for Julie’s benefit as her own. The electricity seemed to be working. I knew from Mack’s face he wanted to be a part of this, too, although I wasn’t sure why. I moved the remote toward him.

When Mack’s form started shimmering, and he materialized, he smiled down at Julie like a dad would. Old Salty still had some compassion, I thought, amused. Mack tried to appear unassuming, reassuring, but Julie just wasn’t used to this…to ghosts. Carla was different for obvious reasons.

“
Pleased to meet you, Miss Julie,” Mack said pleasantly enough.

“
Uh, likewise,” Julie managed.

Carla and Michael just stared at each other. I sensed that they were both re-living that fateful evening together. Julie looked from her friend to her friend’s killer. She understood, as well, and she suddenly stood, letting go of my hand…

“You’re the one who killed her.” Her voice was icy now, just like the room. “You killed them both in cold blood. How could you? She’s just a child!”

Michael started to back away, but Mack gave him the evil eye and the young man stayed put.

“I…I’m sorry,” he blurted. “I didn’t mean to. Really, you don’t understand.”

“
What is there to understand?” Julie demanded. Here was a side of her I hadn’t seen before. She’d never been outspoken or aggressive. She was turning into a mama tiger. “She didn’t do anything wrong. You took her life—our lives, our friendship! I hate you!” Angry tears now flooded from her eyes.

Michael stood, or floated, frozen, unable to speak. He knew she was right. He couldn’t find any words. What could he say?

That was where I came in. “Julie, of course you’re upset. Probably you, too, Carla. This is partly why we’re all here.”
Except for Mack. But maybe there was a reason for his presence here, too.

I reached for Julie’s hand again, but she moved away from me. I felt a strong anger in her. That could be bad. She couldn’t really do anything, like hurt Michael physically, or kill him. But there were other ways of damaging a soul.

“You! Why did you do it?” she demanded. “What reason could there ever be? Can’t you see what a wonderful girl she is? Or was? She’ll never grow up. She’ll never have that chance. Because of
you
.”

I had to act. “We can’t undo the past, Julie. All we can do is find a way for all concerned to move forward.” I moved between Julie and Michael. “It’s all right, Michael, I’m going to help you.”

He was relieved, a little, but this only made Julie angrier. “You’re going to help him? Why?”

Even Carla could see things were getting out of control. She moved to Julie’s side. And all the while, Mack hovered in the background, interested, but serious. I nodded to Carla.

“
Jules,” the girl-ghost said, “you need to calm down. It’s okay.”

Julie suddenly swirled around at Carla. “Don’t you
dare
talk to me like I’m your loser mother, like I need to be taken care of!”

Carla’s jaw dropped.

Julie cried openly now, her mascara blackening around her eyes. She took a look at all of us and ran down the hall, slamming my bathroom door.

Chapter Thirteen

The room was deathly quiet now; the only sound was the ticking of my kitchen wall clock.

“Oh, dear,” I managed with a weak smile.

“
I didn’t mean to upset her more,” Carla said miserably.

“
Uh, maybe I should go,” Michael said. “I didn’t…” but he didn’t finish. He just looked away with a mournful, sorrowful look.

For once, Mack looked to me for direction. No one was enjoying this at all. I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but I hadn’t expected this.

I set my shoulders back, drew myself up. “No, Michael, please don’t leave. Let me go talk with her. There are things you don’t understand yet, and we need to hear your story. Both Carla and Julie do.” I wished I could pat him on the back or something. “Carla, why don’t you explain about you and Julie to Michael? About your unique relationship. I’ll be back.”

I didn’t wait for a response. I trusted that Mack could keep Michael there, while I worked on Julie. The three ghosts could only stay visible for so long, so I had to make it quick.

I knocked on the bathroom door.

“
Go away,” Julie said, hiccupping now. At least she was finished having a hard cry.

I tried the door, and it was unlocked. I poked my head in. Julie was sitting on the closed toilet seat, dabbing her eyes with a crumbling tissue.

I entered, closed the door and slid down the same wall I had so many times before, usually with a bottle in my hand. This time I wasn’t drunk, but a part of me half-wished that I was.

Give her a moment,
I thought. I did. I just looked down at the octagonal white tiles on the floor—the pattern always made me feel seasick when I looked at them too hard when I was drunk—while Julie tried to pull herself together.

“
I didn’t mean to say that, and not in that way,” she finally managed.

“
I know, Julie.”

“
It’s just that, if Carla had been
my
daughter, none of this would ever have happened. Oh, Pauline, don’t you see?” she pleaded. “I should have been her mother! I love kids, and I love Carla more than anything! I can’t have children, you know.”

The salty rivers gushed down her face again. I hadn’t known that, and I understood a little better now why her protection of Carla was so fierce.

“He’s ruined the only true happiness I’ve ever known,” she went on, angry again. “This isn’t the way things were supposed to turn out.”

“
My dear,” I tried to be as gentle as I could, “but it is the way things were supposed to turn out. Most people never get to understand why life unfolds the way it does. But we can. You can, and so can Carla. And maybe, Michael can.”

“
I don’t give a damn about Michael,” she spat. “He can rot away in his loathsome spirit body, for all I care.”

“
I can understand where you’re coming from. But here is where you have to trust me. You think you didn’t ask for any of this, but you did.” She started to protest, but I held up a hand. “You understand about soul mates now, right?”

Julie nodded.

“Whether you remember or not, you and Carla planned this life. You both did. Almost everyone does. There are very, very few ‘firstborns’ in the world today. If you’ll just trust me, and come back out there with me, maybe we can find out why Michael chose his own path. And maybe it will all make more sense.”

“
But, then, Carla will have to…
leave
,” Julie whispered.

“
Probably. But would you rather she’d never come in to your life at all?”

Julie thought about this. “No. I wouldn’t trade knowing Carla for anything.”

“Then you can count yourself lucky,” I said, trying to hide my own bitterness. My personal life had nothing to do with this.

I took a deep breath and stood. “Come on. I’ll be there the whole time. And so will Carla.”

I had to force my own tears back as Julie looked up at me, trying to decide if she really did trust me after all. Then she got up too, wiped her eyes once more, and we headed for the living room.

Carla and Michael were talking quietly as we entered. Mack hovered mid-air a little behind them. The three froze when they saw Julie. Michael, especially, was frightened. Even ghosts have emotions; as a matter of fact, emotions, feelings and thoughts were all they consisted of, really.

Carla took Julie’s hand, and Julie held on tight.

“All right.” I took command again. I had to. “We need some communication,
positive
communication. Let’s just all calm down, a little. You three,” I indicated the dead, “give yourselves another boost.” I nodded to the remote.
Damned electric bill’s gonna be sky-high,
I thought to myself, not to mention all of the batteries I went through to help ghosts manifest themselves, like at the poker party. Only Mack caught this thought; he kept his mouth shut, but smiled at me. I smiled back in my mind but kept a serious face.

When the three of them “energized,” and Julie was fairly calm, I said, “Carla, have you explained your close ties with Julie to Michael?”

They both nodded.

“
Good. Now, our next step is to listen to Michael, for every story has two sides. Whether we want to know them, or not.” I nodded to Michael. “I’m here to help you, too, son.”

“
I, uh, I don’t know what you want me to tell you.”

“
Oh, I think you do. I’m not here to judge you. I just want to know what happened, and how you came to die.”

Michael nodded briefly, and sat on the carpet in front of us.

After a deep sigh, he began his tale.

Chapter Fourteen

“
I was ten years old when Mom was killed by a hit-and-run driver.”