The Body Hunters (4 page)

 
Normal folks would shudder at the thought of talking to ghosts, but to her there was nothing out of the ordinary about her abilities. Most ghosts were just passing the time, waiting on the gates of Heaven to finally open. At times they manifested their presence in energy; maybe a flickering of light or the malfunctioning of electronic equipment. Most people dismissed it as an electrical current, but it was just the spirits making their presence known.

 
The elevator dinged and the doors opened up on her floor. As soon as she stepped out a tickle of apprehension slithered down her spine. She shook it off as she groped for the doorknob of her apartment and realized quickly enough that it was ajar. All her instincts kicked into high gear and her senses heightened, natural and supernatural. She tried to stretch out her mind and feel the presence within, something else grand mere had taught her. All she could feel was a dark foreboding emptiness. She removed her gun from her holster. Ready now for an ambush, she pushed the door open slightly with her hand and jumped into the room ready to shoot if needed. A very bewildered look came across her face.

 
           "What the hell are you doing here?" She practically screamed.  Anger resided in her shaky voice. Gerard had the gall to look innocent as he grinned like a Cheshire cat standing in her kitchen. He was holding a large wooden spoon high in the air with one hand and a sauce pan in the other
.

 
    "I give up!" He joked, putting the pot back on the stove and the spoon on the counter. He had already spilled sauce on the floor while holding the spoon in the air. He grabbed a paper towel to wipe up the mess. "I told you I wanted to see you! Didn't you get my text?
"

 
           "Jesus Christ Ger, I could have killed you! And yes I got your text, but I thought you meant we'd meet up and get dinner, not breaking and entering! How did you get in here anyway?
"

 
          Danny put her pistol back in its holster and put it on top of the fridge. She approached him and gave him a big smack in the chest. Gerard feigned injury by putting his hands on his chest and wincing. He turned off the stove and turned around grabbing her by the waist and kissing her very gently on the lips. She returned the kiss and slipped a little tongue to him. She then bit his lower lip hard
.

 
  "Ow!" Gerard cried out. "Damn it, that hurts!"

 
           "Good!" Danny couldn't help laughing. "You deserve it you idiot! And you still haven't answered me! How did you get in here?"

 
          "You gave me a key about a month ago, remember?" He said, still holding his lower lip. "Remember?
"

 
           She couldn't remember, but how else would he have gotten in?  Seeing him still holding his lip she walked over to him again.

 
           "Oh I didn't bite it that hard! Gee, you big baby! Let me kiss it and make it better." She gave him a very long passionate kiss wrapping her arms around his neck lifting herselfup and wrapping her legs around his waist
.

 
          Gerard walked her over to the counter and set her down on it. "Can't a man make his beautiful girlfriend a nice dinner?
"

 
           "Why I do declare! Dr. Wolfe making lil' old me dinner? What will the neighbors think?" Danny was laughing as she slipped back into her southern drawl.

 
          "You're a regular comedienne," He said, "but I couldn't wait to see you! I have great news, and I wanted to celebrate tonight.
"

 
          She jumped down from the counter, went over to the sink and washed her hands. "Okay, I'm intrigued, but can I slip into something more comfortable?
"

 
           "Oh by all means darling! Don't let me stop you from that! In fact, I can help you do that if you like!" He winked wickedly at her.

 
           "Um, I think I can manage by myself, maybe later though!" She said as she turned on her bedroom light across the hall from Stephania's room.

 
          "Yeah, that reminds me," Gerard began, "before I forget you may want to have the super check the electric. Lights kept flashing on and off since I got here. I just don't know how you live in this place! Oh! The damn TV turned on by itself and scared the crap outta me! About gave me a heart attack!
"

 
           Danny came out of the bedroom wearing her favorite AC/DC tee shirt and shorts. Looking Gerard in the eyes she said in a mockingly haunting voice wiggling all her fingers in the air.

 
           "Oooooh, the ghosts of the apartment past hate your cooking!" She broke into laughter and gave him a quick kiss. She took the wine glasses he had brought from his hands and walked into the living room, putting the glasses down on the small wooden coffee table.       Gerard followed behind with the red merlot wine bottle. "I'm just saying, it could be bad wiring." Gerard was only half amused, wanting to get to his news. "Please sit Danny I've really got to tell you this. It's amazing! Well, we'll see how amazing when I see your reaction!"

 
           She took the seat next to him on the small sofa. "Okay out with it! I'm listening."

 
           Gerard took a deep breath and began. "I had a phone call today from one of my medical school buddies." Gerard continued excitedly. "He and three other doctors are opening a plastic surgery clinic and spa in Phoenix. It'll cater to the wealthy crowd, but it will also be Angel Faces new headquarters! We will bring the kids from all over the world to the clinic for free. They want me to head the crania-facial surgery department staff! I won't have to travel anymore, and I'll also be a partner!"

 
          "Take a breath, Ger!" Then it hit her. This is either a goodbye dinner or a let's have a long distance relationship dinner, which she knew would never work
.

 
          "Wait there's more." He said "One of the docs' brother-in-law is a cable network exec, and he wants to do a reality show based on the clinic and spa, highlighting both the charity work and the rich clientele and showcasing the differences and similarities. No telling how much exposure and donations Angel Faces will get now!" He was practically jumping out of his skin
.

 
           "OK, I know where this is leading. When do you leave?" she asked.

 
           "Well, that's what I wanted to talk to you about darling. I have to give an answer right away, but I really can't pass this up! The money will be fantastic and more importantly helping the kids in, for once, a sterile environment! State of the art care! It's everything I ever wanted!"

 
           Gerard slipped off the couch and knelt down. She thought he had lost a contact or something. He reached into his front pocket and took out a small black velvet box, opened it and presented her with a brilliant princess cut diamond set on a gold band. "It would mean nothing if you weren't there with me. Will you come to Arizona and do methe honor of being my wife?
"

 
           She stared in disbelief. A million thoughts raced through her head, and before she could even speak any of them her mouth yelled.

 
           "Yes! Oh my God! Yes!"

 
           Overjoyed, she fell to the floor on top of him kissing him as they tumbled. She quickly unbuttoned his shirt, sowing kisses from his lips to his navel.

 
           Gerard still holding the box laughed. "Can I at least put this on you now?"

 
           She held out her hand as he slipped it on her finger.

 
          "You don't know how happy you just made me." He said
.

 
          "Shut up and kiss me you fool!" she said planting another one on him
.

 
           She pushed the coffee table away with her foot and took off her tee shirt. Sitting on top of him she unbuckled his belt and unzipped his pants. Reenacting their familiar dance, they maneuvered their clothing off and let the pieces fall where they may. In moments, their bodies were one and their passions ensued. After the first round, they took their lovemaking to her bedroom. Caveman style, Gerard flung her on her bed and leaped upon her, both of them laughing and forgetting about the dinner or the wine. All they needed at that moment was each other.

 
           Afterward, as they lay spooning together, Gerard fell fast asleep. Danny was still a little awake with all the day's events in her head. Feeling schoolgirl giddy, she started practicing her soon to be new name: Mrs. Danielle Wolfe, Dr. and Mrs. Gerard Wolfe, Big Bad Wolfe! The last one was not in her inner voice but her grand mere’s. She sat up startled and looked down at her new ring. The diamond seemed to have an unnatural glow to it and was feeling really uncomfortable at the moment.

Damn! The ring's a bit too tight!
 She thought. I'll have to get a jeweler to re-size it. With that she snuggled up to Gerard and went to sleep
.

Chapter
4

 
           After weeks of arranging and packing her belongings she had, clothes and antiques from New Orleans passed down from her family, Danny had turned in her resignation and badge to the NYPD.  Tearful goodbyes with Stephania now over with, Gerard and Danny were officially residents of the gated community of Sheridan Hills, Arizona just outside Phoenix. Gerard left almost immediately after he proposed and had settled into his new role at Beautiful Image Spa and Cosmetic Surgery Center as chief of surgery in the facial reconstruction side of the center. When there was lag time, he was performing facelifts on underprivileged children. The job was just fine with him; the money was too lucrative to turn down.

 
             He was able to afford his dream car, a Bentley Continental GT in St. James Red, and a new house with attached garage to put it in. Danny, on the other hand, drove her candy-apple red Camaro cross country with everything she owned packed in the back, save for the antiques she had shipped privately. Gerard offered to have her things and her muscle car shipped with his, but she hated the thought of strangers rifling through her belongings. Most important of all, her laptop never left her side the entire trip.

 
           With the packing and moving they did not have enough time to plan for the wedding. It would have to wait until they settled into their new life. That was just fine with her. She had been feeling as if things were moving too fast and wanted breathing space to create the wedding she really wanted. It was, after all, a girl thing! Gerard did seem a bit impatient at first, wanting to tie the knot practically the next day after the proposal, but now he did seem content to slow down and jump head first into his new role at the surgery center
.

 
           They were, as Danny's grand mere would put it, "shacking up," and the shack was a six-bedroom, four-bath "starter home" as Gerard put it. He bought it and had it decorated before Danny arrived. The mini mansion reflected his taste completely, harsh clean lines, ultramodern design, chrome and inky black leather furniture. The flooring's white marble tiles looked as inviting as a doctor's office, a setting which, of course, Gerard was used to. The only real splash of color coming from this seemingly sterile environment was the paintings on the wall from, as Gerard put it, "an up and coming new local artist." He assured Danny that they would rise in value someday, a very good investment.  All she saw was someone who maybe was high and using finger paints on canvas.

 
          The day Danny arrived she realized the whole house seemed to reflect Gerard and Gerard alone. She really didn't care as long as she had her own cave. She secretly had a small apartment above a bookshop downtown to use as her office. She, however, did not intend to tell Gerard. He had set up an office for her in the house, again devoid of her input, another cold sterile room in which to pursue a new job
.

 
           Gerard was amused at the thought of her working at home with this new crime magazine she was to edit. He didn't care as long as she was available to be the arm candy and dutiful wife he needed at various functions he would require her to attend. More fundraisers and dinner parties with the cronies were going to be in order. Once they were married he figured babies and hostess duties would keep her completely occupied, and this nonsense of working would stop. She, on the other hand, had no intention of being the barefoot and pregnant type, let alone a mindless piece of arm candy. Time has a way of sorting these things out she told herself. She wanted earnestly to believe that once the dust settled they would come to an understanding.

 
           The FBI had plans for Danny too. Lucius Johnson, her old boss at the agency, got wind of her leaving through a contact at the NYPD and made her an offer too good to refuse. He was working on a special project: an online magazine that would showcase unsolved murders and cold cases.    It would be a source of entertainment but would also be a serious tool for various law enforcement agencies to receive tips from the public.  John Q. Reader and wannabe armchair detectives could get involved and feel like they were helping in solving cold case murders. Danny would be an editor and contributor to the e-zine and would use her expertise to solve some of the unsolved crimes.  The project was funded secretly by federal agencies, and Danny's ability would allow her to view crime scene photos and make a connection with some of the departed. It didn't always work one hundred percent of the time and sometimes she wasn't able to communicate with the deceased. However, when they did, she needed a safe place to be alone and fall into her trance. It wasn't going to be feasible in the mini mansion office that Gerard had set up for her. She still hadn't told him about her ability and preferred he now never know.