SPIRIT OF CONSEQUENCE (A Spirit Walking Mystery Book 1) (10 page)

“I don’t know what it could be.”

“Maybe it’s a who rather than a what.”

“My parents are dead, I have no brothers or sisters, and I wasn’t involved with anyone when I died.”

“How did you die?”

That was a great question, but one I didn’t have an answer to. I don’t remember being sick, lying in a hospital, or anything like that. The last thing I remember was driving my car. Being a ghost was so frustrating; not knowing why I was a ghost was maddening.

Dodge interrupted my thoughts. “I’m sorry, Samantha, if it upsets you to talk about when you died.” He shook his head. “That was really insensitive of me.”

“It’s okay. It’s just that I’m not sure how I died.”

“What?”

“The best I can figure out is that I was in a car accident. The last thing I remember is driving my car down the curvy highway by my house.”

“Did someone hit you?”

“I don’t think so. It was raining and I was driving really fast, taking the curves by downshifting rather than braking. I don’t know how, but I figure I lost control of the car and crashed.”

“Why were you driving at that speed in the rain?”

“I always drove fast.” He frowned and I ignored him. “Besides, I’d been driving those roads since I was sixteen. I could drive them with my eyes closed.”

He shook his head. “I bet you did.”

“Did what?”

“Drive them with your eyes closed.”

I turned away and muttered, “Only a few times.”

Ten minutes later we pulled up to an apartment complex on Nob Hill. Dodge slid his car to the curb. A patrol car waited out front for us.

Dodge put in his earpiece, winked at me, and then said, “Let’s go get the bad guy.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Stay with me until we get to Allen’s apartment. Then go in ahead of me and let me know if it’s safe to go in. I’ll follow with one of the patrolmen.”

I slid out of the car and followed him. The fog had miraculously lifted and the night was clear. You could even see a few stars in the sky. It was quite nice weather for the city in June.

Two patrolmen got out of their squad car as we approached. One was a tall stocky African American, the other a small wiry Asian. San Francisco had the most diverse police force of any city. Dodge shook hands with them. Their nameplates told me that Officer Bill Jackson was the taller man, and the shorter Officer Dan Choi.

“What’s up, Dodge?” Officer Jackson asked.

“I’ve got a source that says that someone is going to try and kill Allen Jorgensen tonight, Bill.”

“Why?”

“He’s part of a betting and extortion ring that I ran across while investigating a homicide.”

“The prostitute murders?” Officer Choi asked.

“Yes. I was going to have him picked up tomorrow, Dan, to answer some questions and to verify a suspect’s alibi. I guess his boss was afraid that he might let something slip about the operation while I questioned him about the murders.”

“How do you want to play this?” Officer Jackson asked.

“Jorgensen’s apartment is on the top floor,” Dodge told them.

Officer Choi whistled. “That’s got to cost a fortune.”

“The betting and extortion business pays well,” Officer Jackson pointed out. “Dan will stay in the front lobby and make sure Allen doesn’t slip out.”

“Perfect,” Dodge replied. “You and I can go up and ring his doorbell.”

The four of us walked into the lobby. It was richly decorated with blush carpeting, crystal chandeliers, and antique oak furniture.

In the middle of the lobby sat a security guard behind a tall oak circular counter. Dodge walked up to him and flipped out his badge.

“What can I do for you, officers?” The guard asked.

“We need to see Allen Jorgensen,” Dodge told him.

The guard glanced at his watch. “It’s after two in the morning. Mr. Jorgensen is sleeping. Can’t this wait until later?”

“We have information that an attempt is going to be made on his life, but if you want us to come back later today, we can.” Dodge turned to the patrolmen. “Let’s come back in a few hours. We can bring the coroner’s van with us by them.”

The guard glanced down at his telephone. “No, no. If it’s that important, let me call Mr. Jorgensen.”

Dodge reached down and put his hand over the phone. “I’d rather go up and ring the doorbell. We don’t want to alarm him, just protect him.”

“Okay, but I’m going with you.”

“No, you’re going to stay here with Officer Choi.”

“But …,” the guard started to protest.

“Just give me the key to the elevator and we’ll go up.”

The guard reluctantly handed over the elevator key. “He’s in Penthouse C. Please try not to disturb any of the other residents on that floor.”

“We’ll do the best we can to stay quiet.”

Dodge, Officer Jackson, and I got into the elevator. Dodge punched the Penthouse button. When the elevator opened, he looked at me and tilted his head toward Penthouse C.

“Okay, I’m going.” I slipped by the two men, walked quickly down the hall and into Penthouse C.

Everything about Allen’s apartment was modern – with shiny chrome and black leather predominant. I found him sleeping in the largest bed I had ever seen. Black silk sheets and a leopard print comforter covered him. The man was a cliché.

When the doorbell rang, Allen didn’t stir. Then the doorbell rang again. Still Allen didn’t sit up. I walked closer to the bed. I hadn’t noticed it before. In the center of Allen’s forehead was a single hole. He was already dead and he had moved on. Lucky him.

I walked through the bedroom and over to the front door. I stuck my head out of the door.

Dodge jumped back and Officer Jackson pulled his weapon and said, “What?”

“Sorry,” I told Dodge. “Allen’s already dead.”

Dodge leaned toward the door. “I thought I heard something. Call down and have Dan bring the guard up. We need him to open this apartment. I think we might be too late.”

Officer Jackson stepped away from the door and radioed his partner.

Dodge leaned toward me and whispered, “Is there anyone else in the apartment?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Go back and check.”

“Okay.” I stepped back into the apartment. I went through the foyer into the living room. Nobody. From the living room there were two hallways. I took the left one. It led to the kitchen. Nobody. Beyond that was an office, empty, too. The closet was closed, I stepped inside – empty except four leather jackets, two black, one brown, and the other tan.

I heard the lock turning and Dodge and the two patrolmen came into the apartment. I walked back to them. “He’s in the last bedroom, down the hallway on the right.”

Dodge nodded to the hallway. “Dan, you stay here at the door. Bill, you and I will go down and check out the bedrooms.”

I watched as they went into each bedroom, checking under the bed and in the closet before moving on to the next room. I had already seen Allen, so I moved back to the living room and sat on the black leather couch. Officer Choi leaned against the closed front door. He looked very young to me. How old did you need to be to be a policeman, I wondered?

We both heard the noise at the same time. It was coming from the office beyond the kitchen. I had checked that already. Officer Choi pulled his gun and headed down the hallway. I ran back toward Dodge. I found him in Allen’s bedroom, leaning over the body.

“Dodge!”

He whipped his head around.

“There’s a noise coming from the office beyond the kitchen. Officer Choi went to investigate it.”

“What?” Officer Jackson asked.

“I hear a noise coming from the other end of the house. Let’s go check it out.”

Dodge and Officer Jackson quickly left Allen’s bedroom and cautiously went down the hallway toward the noise. I ran ahead.

When I came into the office, Officer Choi was slumped on the floor. Blood pooled under him. I ran back to Dodge. “He’s bleeding. Hurry up!”

Dodge took off running, with Officer Jackson right behind him. We all saw the man dressed in black at the same time. He aimed a gun at Dodge. I screamed. The gun went off.

Chapter 10

All three of us ended up on the ground, piled on top of each other - Officer Jackson on the bottom, Dodge, and then me. I jumped up as I heard the front door slam shut.

Dodge yelled, “Call it in and go check on Choi. I’m going after the son of a bitch!”

I went with Dodge. He opened the front door, checked the hallway. Then he went into the hallway. People came out of their doors.

“Police. Get back inside!” Dodge shouted at them.

Immediately we heard doors slam. I followed him down the stairway as he checked the doors to each floor. You needed a keycard to open the doors from each of the levels. You could use the staircase to get out of the building but not to gain access to any of the floors. Finally we were on the bottom floor. He slowly opened the door. It led to a huge parking garage.

“He could be anywhere,” Dodge said.

“Yeah, and it seems like a good place to sneak up on somebody, too.”

“Let’s get back to Allen’s apartment.”

I could hear sirens screaming toward the building. “Your backup’s coming.”

He flashed me a smile. “I guess you figured out how to touch things.”

“What?”

“You pushed me over into Officer Jackson. I felt the bullet whiz right by my head as I fell. It would have gone right into my head if you hadn’t pushed me.”

I reached out and tried to touch him but my hand went right through his chest. “Damn it!”

“Hey, it worked when it counted. Thanks.”

As we walked back up the stairs, I kept trying to touch something. It just didn’t work. My hand went through the stair’s handrail, the doors, the coffee table in Allen’s apartment, and everything else I tried to touch or hold. Maybe it only worked when I was scared to death, the way I was when I saw the gun pointed at Dodge’s head. I think my heart actually stopped beating when the man dressed in black raised his gun and pointed it at Dodge. Knowing a cop was a scary thing.

I sat down on the couch and watched as several police officers came into the apartment, along with emergency crews. Officer Choi had been shot in the chest, but he had his vest on. It saved his life. The blood pooled beneath him was from a bullet that passed through his right arm.

Dexter stormed into the apartment a few minutes later. He was dressed in blue jeans and a patriotic shirt with a scowl on his face that radiated anger.

The apartment was so noisy, I couldn’t think anymore. I couldn’t get my emotions under control either. I felt exhausted – quite a feat for a ghost. I was on the verge of crying, maybe even hysterically.

I found Dodge in the kitchen arguing with Dexter.

“You should have called me, Dodge. You walked into a dangerous situation, again!”

“It all happened so fast. I got the call from my informant and just headed over here.”

“Who the hell is this informant of yours?”

“Never mind.” Dodge glanced my way.

“I’m going for a walk, Dodge,” I said over Dexter’s shoulder.

“Dodge, I want to know who your informant is, right now.” Dexter shouted.

“I’m going for a little walk.” He patted Dexter on the shoulder. “You need to cool off. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

“Wait!” Dexter yelled as Dodge and I walked out of the apartment.

We walked in silence to Dodge’s car on the street. He started to open the door for me but I put my hand up. “People are going to start talking about you and your invisible friend.”

“You’re right,” he whispered, then opened the passenger door and threw in his bomber jacket. “Get in anyway.”

I laughed and slid into the seat before he closed the door. He got in, and then smiled at me. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

“Are you running away from your friend?”

“Yes.”

“I thought that was my MO.”

“It works in this situation.”

“What about Allen’s death?”

“I’ll let another inspector investigate it. I’m still working the other two deaths.”

“Are you going to tell them about the mayor?”

“Who’d believe me?”

“That’s true. It’s not like you can produce your informant.”

“They’d lock me up,” he laughed and started the car. “Where would you like to take that walk?”

“On the pier. I love listening to the ocean.”

“I’ve got a better place.”

“Okay, you’re the driver.” I felt as if I could actually fall asleep, so I put my head back on the seat and closed my eyes.

A few minutes later the car stopped. I opened my eyes. “Where are we?”

“Between Golden Gate Park and the Zoo. After the earthquake they leveled out the section between them. It’s a very nice beach and a great place to watch the sun rise over the city as you listen to the waves crashing on the beach behind you.”

“Sounds lovely.” I got out of the car.

Dodge grabbed a flashlight and a blanket from the trunk of his car. We walked down to the beach. Although it was practically deserted this early in the morning, I could see a few other flashlights. Obviously, a few people were sitting on the beach waiting for the sun to rise too.

We found a place far enough from people, so we could talk without anyone thinking Dodge was a mental patient who had forgotten to take his medication that morning.

Dodge spread out the blanket and sat down.

“I don’t need the blanket.”

“It’s not for you, it’s for me. You might be impermeable to sand but I hate it when it gets everywhere.”

We sat in silence for several minutes.

I felt very strange. My stomach was tied up in knots. I was happy that Dodge wasn’t hurt, sad that Officer Choi was shot, frightened that if I hadn’t been there, Dodge would be dead, angry that Allen was killed, and frustrated that the mayor would get away with having Allen killed. All those different emotions whirled together with my feelings toward Dodge. Just the thought of him getting hurt made my insides cringe. I felt nauseated. If it had been possible, I think I would have thrown up.

Finally Dodge broke the silence. “Are you okay?”

“No.”

“I shouldn’t have taken you with me. You don’t have any training as a cop,” he sighed. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault. I was the one who wanted to go along. What made me think that I could help?”

Dodge turned and looked at me. “You did help. You found out about the mayor. I wouldn’t have ever known without your help.”

“Big deal. He’s going to get away with it.”

“No, don’t worry. Someday the information you gave me about the mayor will come in very handy.”

“Allen was still killed.”

“That would have happened anyway, and without you, I wouldn’t know why. I might have suspected it was part of Mandy’s death. Then I would have spent time and energy pursuing that line.”

I shrugged. “I suppose.”

“Come on, Samantha. We make great partners and together we’ll find out who killed Sharece and Mandy.”

“Yeah?”

“Oh yeah,” Dodge smiled and tilted his head toward the city skyline. “Look, the sun’s coming up.”

We sat and watched the sun rise. It was beautiful the way the sun rose over the hills and reflected off the buildings. I looked over at Dodge. Seeing him smile as he watched the sun pulled on my heart. Why hadn’t I met this man when I was alive? I wanted to reach over, touch his face, and kiss him. None of which was possible for a ghost.

He turned his head and looked at me. “A penny for your thoughts, Samantha.”

“I was thinking that it sucks that I’m dead.”

He tried to push a strand of my unruly hair behind my ears. His hands went right through. “My thoughts exactly.”

It was time to change the subject. A ghost couldn’t have an intimate relationship with a flesh and blood person. It wasn’t possible, so I might as well put it out of my mind. “What’s next on the case?”

“I’m supposed to meet the team at eight this morning, go over what we all learned yesterday, and then plot our strategy for the day. I told Dexter I needed a few hours of sleep first and to tell Marge I’d meet them at noon.”

I stood up. “Then it’s back to your apartment for some rest. Is there anything you want me to do while you’re sleeping?”

“Speaking of sleeping,” Dodge stood, picked up the blanket and the flashlight. “How did you get me to wake up earlier tonight?”

“I ran around the room, waving my arms and screaming. You finally must have heard me and woke up.”

He tilted his head at me. “Try again.”

“Excuse me?”

“You’re a terrible liar, Samantha. When you lie, your right eye twitches.”

I grabbed my eye. “Did you decide what you want me to do while you sleep?”

“You’re avoiding the question.”

“As best I can.” I continued to hold my eye and started toward the car, parked just off the sand.

Dodge ran and caught up with me. “You jumped into my body, didn’t you?”

I shook my head and kept walking.

“That explains it.”

I turned to him. “Explains what?”

He stared at me.

“Fine, okay, it was me. You wouldn’t wake up and I knew that Allen was going to die. I didn’t know what else to do.”

“Did you actually wear those outfits when you were alive?”

“No!”

“You should have. Some of them were very nice.”

I smiled. “Which was your favorite?”

“The long red clingy one with the slits up the side and no back. I’ve always been partial to red.”

I changed my appearance to match his memory.

“Oh yeah, that’s the one.”

I chuckled. “This old thing?”

He shook his head. “Just great. The first woman I want to undress since I lost my wife and she’s a ghost.”

“Maybe that’s why. I’m safe.”

He stopped and stood in front of me, “I guess that’s possible, but it doesn’t make me want you any less.”

“Sorry.” It was the only thing I could think of to say. I changed my appearance back to my green sweatsuit.

Dodge started walking toward the car again. “It’s not your fault, Samantha.” Then he looked back to me, “Just stay out of my body, okay?”

I nodded and followed him. He opened my door, I slid in, then he threw the blanket and flashlight into the back seat, got into the driver’s seat and started up the car.

We rode in silence to his apartment. I didn’t know what was on his mind, but I was thinking that I needed to get away from Dodge Benson. If people knew he wanted to undress a ghost, they would certainly lock him up. The bad part was that I wanted him, too. I knew that life’s not fair but I had to die to fall in love? What was that about?

Dodge parked and we walked down the hall to his apartment.

As he headed toward his bedroom, I said, “Maybe I better go.”

“No,” he said.

“I’m just going to complicate your life, Dodge. You don’t need that.”

“For the first time in a very long time, I feel like I want to have a life, Samantha. And it’s because of you.”

“There is no life with me.”

“We’ll figure something out.”

“Fine, did you decide what you want me to do while you sleep?”

“Yes.”

“What?”

“Come in and lie down next to me.”

I shook my head. “What good is that going to do?”

“It will be torture, but I still want you to.”

“Okay,” I ran into the bedroom and he ran behind me.

I lay down and watched as he stripped down to his boxers. As he took off each piece of clothing, my pulse rate rose. By the time he climbed into the bed next to me, I was ready to explode. “That’s not fair, you know.”

He smiled. “I know. It’s a little payback for the red dress.”

“That wasn’t my red dress, it was yours.”

“I know.” His words were accompanied by a hint of a smile.

I changed into a red negligee.

He moaned, then closed his eyes. “Samantha.”

“Yeah?”

“Tell me about your life.”

“Where do you want me to start?”

“At the very beginning. I want to know everything about you.”

“Why?”

“More torture,” he smiled, but didn’t open his eyes.

“Okay.” I started. I told him about my earliest memories of a birthday party. I was three years old and there were ponies at my party. Before I finished telling him about my first pony ride, he was fast asleep. I sat up and looked at him. “Dodge?”

No answer.

“Are you still awake?”