SPIRIT OF CONSEQUENCE (A Spirit Walking Mystery Book 1) (32 page)

He stroked the side of my face. “I know that. What I’m asking is whether you’ve done this before as a person, not a ghost?”

I didn’t answer.

He shook his head. “After all the things you did as a teenager and in your early twenties, you never…”

I didn’t let him finish. “I might have been high on drugs and alcohol and totally out of control all the time, but I was not easy!”

He stood. “And with Jed?”

I hit him on the arm. “Oh, yuck! Jed’s my best friend,” then I smiled, “Of course, we always played it up that we had sex morning, noon and night. It was so much fun. It kept the girls away from him, because everyone was afraid of me, and the only boys that would come near me were the ones that preferred boys.” I laughed thinking about the many evenings I had taken off and left Jed with one of them. Then I put my hands on my hips, “but I never…”

“This changes things.”

“Why?”

“The first time should be more special than a quick roll in the sack in the middle of the afternoon.”

“You and I have rolled around before.”

“I know that, Samantha, and it seems bizarre that I’m saying this, but we should wait.”

“For what?”

“Let’s start with, until after your party.”

“But that’s another whole week.”

He ran his hands through his hair. “I know it is and it’s going to make me crazy and a bit cranky but we’re going to wait.”

“And then what?”

“Then I’m going to take you out on a real date – dinner, candlelight, maybe a movie, and then we’ll see where that leads us.”

“I love you, Dodge, and I do want you to make love to me.”

“I love you to, Samantha. But, God help me, we’re going to wait.”

I let the sheet fall down to my waist, exposing my breasts. “Are you sure?”

He walked toward the door, then turned as he reached for the handle. “Samantha, don’t be a tease or I won’t be responsible for what might happen.”

I grabbed the sheet and pulled it up again.

He left.

Chapter 32

I stayed in my room the rest of the afternoon. I just didn’t want to see Dodge again. How embarrassing? If we could have just gone through with it, I never would have had to tell him that I was a virgin. Twenty-five years old and never had sex. Oh, change that. Now I’m thirty years old and have never had sex. Well, not as a person anyway. Dodge and I had it all the time when I was a ghost. That was different. I was able to just do whatever I wanted, no inhibitions. Who ever heard of a ghost with inhibitions?

Early in the evening, someone knocked on my door as I sat at my desk and wrote in my journal. It was something Uncle George had given me when I was five. Except for the last five years, I had written in it every day. I quickly put it away and said, “Come in.”

Dodge stuck his head in. “Are you still mad at me?”

“I’m not mad, Dodge.”

He came in carrying a tray and a file folder tucked under his arm. “I brought you some dinner.”

“Can this count as our date?”

He shook his head. “No.”

I frowned. “Fine.”

“Do you want the food?”

“Of course I do. I’m starving.”

Dodge smiled and set the food down on my desk.

I opened the covers on the food and breathed in the wonderful aroma of Sylvia’s cooking – her famous filet mignon with Béarnaise sauce. I cut into it immediately.

“Did you eat?” I asked between bites.

“Yes, I ate with your uncle a little while ago.”

“It’s quiet around here. Where is everybody?”

“You want an accounting of everyone?”

“Yes.” I took a sip from the Diet Coke on the tray.

“Dexter and Carl are in town getting more cameras. Dexter found three parts of the yard that can’t be seen by his new monitors.”

“He’s really getting into this security work, isn’t he?”

“Yes.”

“And Jed?”

“He said he was going into town to a movie.”

I smiled remembering all the times we used that excuse. Gold Camp is a very small town, population less than two thousand, and nestled in the pine trees of the Sierra Nevada mountains of California. It’s a beautiful place to visit but the town lacks
any
activities beyond hiking and snow sports, neither my idea of fun.

“What?”

“Gold Camp doesn’t have a movie theater.”

“Okay, then he’s probably going into town to see a girl.”

“Nope.” I laughed.

“Okay, smarty pants. Where is he going?”

“First off, Jed’s gay, so he wouldn’t be looking for a girl - he’d be looking for a guy.”

“He’s gay?”

“Yes.”

Dodge’s eyes widened with understanding. “Now I get the comment about it being a good thing that the only boys that would come near you were the ones that preferred boys.”

I smiled, then narrowed my eyes. “Don’t tell Uncle George. He doesn’t know.”

“Okay, so he’s going into town to see a guy.”

“Nope.”

“Then what?”

“The movie theater is our code for the airport.”

“He’s going to the airport?”

“Sure, he’s probably headed for either New York or Rome, those have always been his favorite cities. Did he say when he’d be back?”

“Late tomorrow night.”

“Then it’s New York. He used to have a thing for a guy who owns a café there but he and I haven’t really caught up on his latest adventures. He should be back unless he decides to go over to D. C. and visit Web.” I sucked in my breath. That was so stupid. Why didn’t I think before I spoke?

“Who’s Web?” Dodge asked.

I didn’t answer.

“Drug connection?”

“No, he’s just a friend of Jed’s.”

“Your eye’s twitching, Samantha.”

I grabbed my eye and smiled. “It’s just for personal use.”

“There is no such thing as personal use of Zeon, Samantha.”

“Let’s move on, Dodge.” Time to change the subject. “What’s in the file?”

“It’s the guest list from your two parties and the people that work here.”

“Oh.” I put another bite of steak into my mouth, chewed slowly, enjoying the tender meat and succulent sauce. After I swallowed, I asked, “How’s your investigation going?”

“It’s slow. I’ve made it all the way through the employees here.”

“Anyone that looks sinister?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Not really. A couple with police records.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, but nothing serious. No one goes from shoplifting or drunk in public to murder without a few steps in between.”

“My employees are cleared?”

“Yes, but wouldn’t that be your uncle’s employees?”

“No. This is my house.”

“It is? I thought it was your uncle’s.”

“Not really. I grew up in this house.”

“But your uncle lives here?”

“He moved in when my parents were killed.”

“And Jed?”

“Of course.” I pointed to the file again. “What else have you found?”

Dodge took out a small sheet of paper. “These are the folks at the after-party.”

“Just ten friends celebrating my birthday.”

“I looked into them first, seeing that you were with them last.”

“Cool, dirt on my friends. I love gossip. I wish Jed was here – he loves gossip too. Let me hear it. I’ll share with him later.”

He rolled his eyes, but continued, “They’re all rich, spoiled brats. I really couldn’t find any reason any of them would want you dead. Unless they just felt like it or were bored. These guys are all about the moment and having fun. Their life is seeking one thrill after another.” He shook his head in disgust. “It’s a joke that they have all this money and they blow it on alcohol, Zeon, and fast thrills.”

I didn’t say anything.

Dodge glanced over at me and touched my arm. “I’m sorry, Samantha. I didn’t mean…”

“No, you’re right. It is what they are all about. It was what I was all about too. I never stopped to think about anything or anybody but myself. I lived in the moment with them. You’re right about one thing. None of them would have done anything to hurt me. It’s not in them. They’re too self-centered to care about me.”

“You’re not like that anymore, Samantha.”

I laughed. “I haven’t changed that much, Dodge.”

“You cared about me. If it wasn’t for you, I’d be dead.”

“What if Dexter is right? What if I only did it because I wanted someone to talk to, someone who could see me?”

“I think that was probably it in the beginning, but you could have left anytime, especially once you figured out how to touch things. You didn’t have to stay with me, you could have had anyone.”

I caressed the side of his face. “I don’t want anyone but you.”

He kissed my hand, then took a deep breath. He took out the other list from the folder. “Then there’s this list – three hundred of your closest friends?”

I shrugged.

“Can we talk about some of these people?”

“Sure.” I took another bite.

“I’m glad to see your appetite’s back.”

“It’s been five years since I ate food by myself and I enjoy every bite.”

He shook his head and smiled.

“Is that the original list from my other party?”

“Yeah, I just reorganized it and have been doing some research on these people.”

“Cool, more dirt on my friends. Let me hear it.”

Dodge rolled his eyes again. He seemed to do that a lot around me. He pointed to some names on the list, “These people all work at your uncle’s law firm.”

“I recognize most of them, except these.” I indicated several names.

“They were added while you were in a coma.”

“Oh.” I shrugged and took a bite of Sylvia’s apple pie. “Any dirt on any of them?”

“Not really, except that their entire livelihood is tied to your uncle’s firm, which is completely dependent upon you.”

“Okay, how about those names? I don’t recognize any of them.” I pointed to the list.

“That’s my group of reporters.”

“Uncle George didn’t invite any reporters to the last party.”

“I know, but several reporters wrote extensive articles about the party. They were either there or they had sources that filled them in on every little detail.”

“You invited all the reporters on this list?”

“Yes.” He shook his head, then pointed to the list again. “The original list was much longer. All of these are either local, or I couldn’t find a viable alibi for them during the time your tires were stabbed, or when the incendiary device might have been attached to your car.”

I wondered how many articles had been written about me. “How many were you able to eliminate?”

“Four had alibis that kept them from being anywhere near here. Three were out of the country and one is in San Quentin. I put him there. It’s amazing how many articles this man writes from jail.”

“I never read any of them, about my death or party.”

“Well, they run the entire spectrum. Some read like they were your publicist, all the way to the other extreme.”

“Okay.” I held up a forkful of pie. “Want some dessert?”

He smiled. “Sure.”

I fed him a bite.

“Yum,” he said.

“Sylvia makes the best pie,” I said and took a bite myself.

“I wasn’t thinking about the pie.” His smile deepened and his eyes glistened with intensity.

I filled the fork again and waved it in front of his lips. “We could call this dessert after dinner?”

“No,” Dodge said.

I frowned.

“But I’ll take another bite.”

I laughed and fed him the next bite. When we finished the pie, I started on my vanilla ice cream.

“Why don’t you just put your ice cream on your pie?”

“Oh.” I shivered. “No, I don’t mix them. Yuck!”

Dodge laughed, then closed his file. “There are a lot of people on this list who would benefit immensely with your death, Samantha.”

“Why?”

“It’s the way your uncle has the companies set up.” He shook his head. “God, Samantha. I think you own half the world.

“I’m not that rich, Dodge.”

“You’re pretty close. You own five estates: here, Paris, New York, Key West, and an entire island in the Caribbean. Then there’s the seven or eight different bank accounts, hundreds of stocks and bonds. You own a major percentage of over two hundred companies and a smaller but still substantial percentage of at least a thousand more. I think you’re the richest women in the entire world.”

I shrugged. “I am not; at least, I didn’t used to be. Before I died, I was third on the list but diversification is the key, Dodge. It’s Uncle George’s mantra and Jed carried it on when he took over, too.”

“Well, they’ve both done a great job.”

“What happens when I die?”

“I’ve spent a lot of time talking to George. He told me about the document he forged after you were in the accident.”

“Oh, yeah. The – I am dead but not really so give the money to Jed. It was a great idea, I like that.”

“Well, he didn’t do it just so that Jed would get your money. He never gave up that you would come back. George was afraid that the companies’ boards would have you proclaimed legally dead so they could take over. The original paperwork was set up so that if you died, the percentage of the company that you own reverts back to the company. In other words, if you die, they got to keep everything.”

“Good, that’s the way it should be. I don’t really want their companies, anyway, especially if I am dead.”

“Okay, but it gives them all a great motive for seeing you dead. Then there’s the town.”

“Gold Camp?”

“Yeah, you own it.”

“No, I don’t.” I shook my head.

“Yes, you do. There isn’t one business, including the police and fire departments, that isn’t dependent upon your money in some way.”

“Well, I like giving my money away.”

“Yeah, you generously give it away, but with one little subtle string attached.”

“What string?”

“It’s just the way the corporations or organizations are set up. There are companies within companies buried in other companies, but if you search down far enough, you find just one person with all the power – one person who could close the doors today on any business in the entire town, half the major businesses in this country, and several throughout the world.”

“Me?”