SPIRIT OF CONSEQUENCE (A Spirit Walking Mystery Book 1) (31 page)

“No. We didn’t trust him that much.”

“Well, I do. I’m not telling him either. He’d lean toward more security rather than a trap. That goes for Jed and Carl, too. I trust them too. They’re my family.”

“Carl’s not family and Jed’s a loose cannon.” Dexter’s broad jaw tightened. “I don’t trust either one of them.”

Just then Jed came in carrying a rifle. Dexter pulled his gun and rushed him. They went crashing onto the floor. Carl rushed in and drew his gun. Fists flew everywhere. A gunshot echoed in the small room and the bullet zinged past my head. I covered my ears and screamed.

Chapter 31

All three men wrestled on the floor, trying to take the guns away from each other. There was a new hole in the ceiling where Jed’s rifle had discharged. My head pounded from the noise and commotion.

I pushed my fingers into my temples and screamed, “Stop!”

All three men froze, jerked their heads around, and looked at me.

“Enough! All of you get off the floor.”

No one moved.

“Now!” I screamed again with more than a little exasperation in my voice.

As they got up, Uncle George charged through the door. “What’s all the racket up here? It sounded like a herd of elephants dancing on my head, then a shot, and you screaming.”

“The boys were showing me their latest self-defense moves,” I answered with forced patience.

Uncle George frowned as Jed shook off Dexter. “What the hell’s going on around here?”

It was time to trust some people, and if I couldn’t trust the four people in this room, my entire life had been one big fat lie.

“My car accident wasn’t an accident,” I explained, and then after a moment’s pause added, “someone tried to kill me. Dexter’s a little overprotective because of his sister. Jed’s an idiot for carrying a loaded rifle into my bedroom, and Carl’s, well just Carl.”

Carl, Jed, and Uncle George all said together, “What?” as a wave of pure exhaustion came over me.

“More explanations later.” I pointed to the door. “Everybody out!”

Dexter looked at Uncle George, Jed, and Carl. “You heard the lady, boys.”

“You too, Dexter.”

“Dodge said to stay with you.”

“I’ll deal with Dodge when he gets back. I need peace and quiet.”

“I’m not going,” Dexter said, as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

“Oh yes, you are. You can stand outside my door, but I’m going to be in this room by myself.”

“No,” Dexter said in a deadpan voice.

“Carl.”

“Yes, Ms. Samantha.”

“Shoot Dexter and drag his body out of my room.”

Carl’s brows rose and he looked at me blankly. “Miss?”

Dexter put his hands up. “Fine, I’m going.”

Uncle George finally spoke again, “Let’s backtrack before we all leave the room. Someone tried to kill you?”

“Dexter, fill the family in on the situation. Tell them about the party and get everything started,” I closed my eyes and continued, “I need a nap.”

I was asleep before the door closed behind them.

When I woke up, Dodge sat by my bed. My heart stirred at the sight of him.

His face was grim, annoyance evident in his set jaw and cool eyes. “You told the three people who have the most to gain that you knew someone had tried to kill you.

I started to protest but he put his hand up. “You told Carl to shoot Dexter.”

I shrugged and yawned, attempting to diffuse his anger. “It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

Dodge took my hand. “I’m not sure it was the smartest thing to do.”

“Telling Uncle George, Jed, and Carl, or having Dexter shot?”

“All of the above.”

“Well, Dexter was getting on my nerves,”

“He does that sometimes.” Dodge’s words were accompanied by a hint of a smile, and his body relaxed.

“Uncle George, Jed, and Carl are my family. If I can’t trust them, then --” I shrugged, “What’s the point?”

“Okay, I understand about George. Jed’s a loose cannon – an egotistical, self-centered idiot.”

I scratched my head, chuckling under my breath. “Now, that description sounds very familiar.”

“Samantha.” The muscles in his jaw tightened.

“Look, if Jed wanted to kill me he could have done it a million times. You remember all those files about him and me. Every time I did something dangerous, he was there, too. If he really wanted me dead, he could have done it long before the night of that party and certainly less obviously than sending me over a cliff and having my car explode.”

“And Carl?”

“Carl has worked for my family since I was six.”

“He came after the incident with Uncle Ted.”

I nodded. “The next day. Besides he’s too smart to kill me in a way that you’d be able to trace.”

Dodge raised his eyebrows.

“He’s an ex-Navy SEAL. If he wanted me dead, you wouldn’t find any evidence.”

Dodge scowled, a spasm of irritation crossed his face. “What’s this about a party?”

“That was Dexter’s idea,” I told him.

The lines in his face deepened; he wasn’t buying my lie.

“Okay, fine, it was mine. He wasn’t supposed to tell you about it.”

“Dexter and I don’t keep secrets from each other.”

Dexter and Dodge are best friends, like Jed and me. We never kept secrets from each other either, so I should have been able to guess that Dexter would go blabbing to Dodge as soon as he saw him.

“It’s a good plan, don’t you think?”

“Using yourself as bait is
never
a good plan, Samantha.”

“What’s the alternative? Having a bodyguard follow me around for the rest of my life?”

“That works for me.”

“Well, it won’t work for me. Let’s flush the guy out and see what happens. If he doesn’t take another shot at me, then it’s over.”

“Sometimes when you think something is over, it isn’t,” he muttered.

I put my hand on his arm. “This is not like what happened to Cynthia. You’re not chasing a killer. It’s about my money, and once it’s mine, there won’t be any reason for anyone to kill me.” I smiled. “Unless you’re planning on killing me and taking my money.”

He looked at me, surprise giving way to a tight scowl. “I don’t want your money.”

“Too bad, I’ve already asked Uncle George to draw up a new will.”

“Samantha.” Dodge shook his head.

“What are you going to do when you’re a billionaire, Dodge?”

“Go to work as an SFPD Homicide Inspector.”

“Every day?”

“Maybe I’ll cut back to six days a week.” He laughed.

The next week was filled with party plans. I got up every day and walked with the Queen of Torture, my physical therapist, and by the end of the week, I could make it out of bed and even walk around Uncle George’s rose garden behind the house. The stairs were still a little tricky, but other than that, I started to feel more like myself again.

Dodge, Dexter, and Carl worked on all the security preparations. I kept telling them not to make the place too airtight or the killer wouldn’t be able to get in. Dodge told me that was the goal.

On day seven, I moved out of the hospital room and back into my own room. The best part was finally wearing some real clothes. I never thought I would get tired of wearing pajama bottoms and t-shirts, but I was. I slipped into a tight pair of blue jeans, short red crop top, and high-heeled red sandals.

The doctor tried to take back his hasty statement, “no sex for one more week” but I wouldn’t let him. I wasn’t sure I was physically able to do all the things that Dodge and I had done when I was a ghost. Truthfully, I hadn’t done any of them even when I wasn’t a ghost. God, what if he was disappointed with me in bed? Okay, the doctor was right. I needed to wait at least another week. I definitely was not ready! I exchanged the crop top for a flowered peasant shirt and the sandals for a pair of tennis shoes.

That decided, I went to find Dodge and give him the bad news. I found him and Dexter watching the new panel of video displays. They had installed ten video cameras around the property. Both men were dressed in solid colored t-shirts and blue jeans, but Dodge’s were snugger, displaying one of his best features – his tight ass. My pulse spiked at the thoughts that swirled in my head. I took a deep breath and stepped into the room.

“Hi guys,” I said.

They looked up. Dexter frowned and Dodge smiled.

“How are you feeling, Samantha?” Dodge asked, his smile broadening.

“I’m a little tired today,” I told him, hoping that my eye wasn’t twitching with the lie.

Dodge came over, concern evident on his face. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” I walked over and sat next to Dexter. “How are the cameras, Dexter?”

“Up and running, Samantha.” He pointed to the ten displays. “I can see every little inch of the place.”

Dodge put his hand on my shoulder. “If you’re tired, why don’t you go and lie down?”

I smiled up at him, ignoring the heat that radiated from his hand to other places in my body. “No, I’m okay.” I pointed to the screens. “Tell me about the cameras.”

I didn’t hear one single word Dexter said because my entire attention was on Dodge and his fingers. He kept rubbing my shoulder, slowly and in circles. My pulse raced, the butterflies in my stomach were doing flip-flops, and controlling my breathing took every bit of my strength. Finally, I stood. Dexter was in the middle of a sentence and he looked at me.

“Thanks, but I think Dodge is right. I need a nap.” I quickly left the room, went to my own, closed the door, and leaned against it. Slowly my breathing, stomach, and pulse came under control.

I heard a knock on the door. “Yes?”

“It’s Dodge. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Then open the door.”

The butterflies in my stomach started to dance again. “I’m going to lie down for a while, Dodge.”

“Samantha, open the door.”

I took a deep breath and opened the door a crack. “Yes?”

He waved his hand at me. “Open up, Samantha.”

I swung the door open and placed my hands on my hips. “What do you want, Dodge?”

He stepped in and closed the door.

Immediately my pulse spiked again. I concentrated on my breathing and said, “I’m really tired, Dodge.”

He stepped toward me. I stepped back. He raised his eyebrows and moved away from me. “What’s going on, Samantha?”

“Nothing, I’m fine.”

“Close your eyes, Samantha.”

“Why?” I eyed him suspiciously.

“Trust me?”

“Of course.”

“Then close your eyes and keep them closed until I tell you to open them.”

I shut my eyes, crossing my arms over my chest. “Okay, they’re closed.”

Suddenly I was surrounded by the scent of mint. It made my head spin and warmed my heart, just like it had the first time I’d met Dodge. Then I felt him standing next to me. I opened my eyes. “Dodge.”

“Close your eyes, Samantha.”

“Why?” I looked directly into his eyes.

His eyes glistened, then darkened. “Are you having second thoughts about sleeping with me?”

“No, I’m not,” I lied.

He put his hand up and gave me a thumbs down, our signal for someone lying.

I tried to slap his hand away but he grabbed mine and pulled me close.

“Now, if you want to change your mind, that’s okay. If you’re just getting cold feet, then I know a way to heat them up.”

“It’s just…” but I didn’t get to finish. Dodge covered my mouth with his. It sent a jolt through my body and my knees buckled.

He picked me up before I sagged to the ground. “Okay, Samantha. It’s your call. I either set you down on the bed and go back and help Dexter or I crawl in with you.”

I leaned in and kissed him. “Stay, Dodge.”

“I thought you’d never ask,” Dodge whispered into my neck.

He carried me over to the bed, threw the sheets off and set me down.

He started to take his shirt off and I said, “Can you do me a favor?”

“What?” His eyes narrowed, but there was a hint of amusement in them. “You’ve got something special in mind?”

“No, would you close the curtains?”

He raised his eyebrows. “You want it dark in here?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, but next time, we leave the curtains open and the lights on. I want to see you, Samantha.”

“Thanks.”

As Dodge went over to the window, I took off my clothes and pulled the covers up. He came back and reached for me. “Hey, where’d you go?”

“I’m just where you left me.”

He turned on the light on my side table. “Not fair. I wanted to undress you.”

“Next time, Dodge.”

He began unbuttoning his shirt, and then stopped, frowning. “Wait a minute.”

“What?”

He sat down on the bed. I sat up, pulled the covers around my neck, and leaned over toward him. “What’s the matter, Dodge?”

He turned his head. “Tell me you’ve done this before.”

I laughed and pushed my hair behind my ears, “Dodge, we’ve done this several times before and quite successfully, too, I’d have to say.”