Ghost a La Mode (31 page)

ARCHIE SEEMED AS RESTLESS as Emma. He circled the bedroom several times before laying down on a braided rug in the middle of the floor. Soon he was back at it, pacing, trying to find just the right position. Without his own bed, he couldn't sleep. In spite of the comfortable bed she was in, Emma understood his frustration.

Emma, Tracy, and Milo had driven back to the cottage in near silence. And even though it wasn't that late, all of them had turned in almost as soon as they'd gotten back. No ghosts had come with them. Emma figured Granny had used up her power pack and was off recharging. Garrett hadn't been seen since his chat with Milo.

Earlier, before they'd gone over to the Bowers ranch, Emma had taken her friends to the cottage to drop off their bags. The cottage had two bedrooms. One had a queen-size bed, the other contained twin beds. The women and Archie were sharing the room with the two beds. Emma looked over at Tracy. She was on her stomach, dead to the world except for a slight snore.

When Archie started taking another turn just ten minutes after his last, Emma invited him up onto the end of the bed. The dog happily accepted, and the two of them finally fell into a fitful sleep.

EMMA SAT UP WITH a start, her heart racing like a muscle car. The room was completely dark except for the glow from the small clock on the nightstand between the beds. Archie had moved up next to her on the bed and was nudging her. It had been his wet nose against her cheek that had shot adrenaline through her body as if with a hypodermic needle.

Seeing his mission accomplished, Archie hopped off the bed. The black dog in the dark room was not easy to see, but when Archie started lightly scratching at the closed door to the bedroom, Emma knew what he needed. She looked at the clock. It was almost one in the morning. They'd been asleep two short hours.

At home, Archie had a small doggie door for his nocturnal bathroom needs. No such luck here. Emma swung her feet to the floor and felt around for her sneakers. As she slipped her feet into them, she had a thought.

The cemetery wasn't that far from the cottage. And even though it was the middle of the night, what better time to visit a graveyard looking for ghosts? Emma gave a brief thought to the killer but dismissed it. At one in the morning, he'd probably be asleep, too, or else long gone from Julian. She could go, talk to Billy, and be back before anyone knew. Of course, she would catch the dickens from everyone, especially Phil, when they found out, but by then it would be over with and, hopefully, she'd have the information she sought.

Quietly, she slipped on her jeans, tucking her nightgown down into them. Picking up her tennis shoes, she opened the door and tiptoed out into the living room, being careful as she closed the bedroom door behind her. Grateful for the thoughtfully placed nightlights in the bathroom and kitchen, Emma made a quick stop in the bathroom to pee, then she latched Archie's leash to his collar and grabbed her lightweight jacket.

Once again, she thought about the flashlight in her car, but that ship had sailed in more ways than one. Before leaving, Emma went into the kitchen. The doors to the bedrooms were shut tight, so she turned on the overhead light. It didn't take her long to locate an emergency flashlight stored on top of the refrigerator. Blessing the owner for thinking of such small amenities, Emma grabbed the flashlight and made her way out the front door with Archie.

She didn't turn on the flashlight while she walked. She didn't need to. The moon wasn't quite full, but it was bright enough to guide her down the small side street to Main Street. Once there, she felt comfortable walking along the storefronts. Archie trotted in front of her at the end of his leash, stopping here and there to smell and pee.

When they approached the Pioneer Cemetery, Emma had a choice to make. She could go up the steep, winding stairs or go the long way via the road. This time, she chose the road. With a quick glance over her shoulder, she passed under the crime-scene tape that blocked the entrance.

The moon spread a dim carpet of light in front of her as she made her way up the road. To her right were the newer graves, set in a more orderly fashion along the slope. At the top, the road branched to the right and left. It was actually a one-way road that circled the cemetery like a halo. Here, cars could only make a righthand turn, but pedestrians and ghosts had no such rules to follow.

Emma stopped to get her bearings and to let her eyes adjust. The graveyard, with its awning of trees, was darker than the road leading up to it. Afraid someone up late in nearby houses might see her, she hadn't used the flashlight yet, but now she switched it on and pointed it downward to minimize any chance of being seen. The yellow beam cast a spot of light on the road as she turned right and tried to find Billy's bench in the dark.

Archie let her know the ghosts were there before she could clearly make them out. He pulled her forward, sniffing first at one foggy image, then another. He didn't seem tense or anxious, just curious about them. As Emma let her eyes and mind relax, she began to see what Archie sensed. The graveyard was alive with spirits, even more than the first time she visited. In the inky darkness of deep night, they shimmered with their own kind of life.

Tugging the excited Archie along the curving road, Emma came across her first bench but knew instantly that it wasn't Billy's. It didn't face toward town and wasn't under a large tree. The two nocturnal wanderers kept moving, going slowly in the dark, guided only by the small splash of light. Emma stopped at the next bench.

"Hello, Billy."

The ghost sat on his bench, staring out at the town. He didn't look at her but kept his eyes straight ahead. "Hello, Miss Emma."

"Beautiful night, isn't it?"

"Yes, ma'am. That your dog?"

"His name's Archie." As he was introduced, Archie moved forward and sniffed Billy Winslow's spirit. His tail wagged.

"I always did like dogs. Had one once, a shepherd named Jasper.

As the other ghosts went about their business, Emma sat down next to Billy. She kept still, sensing that he would talk in his own good time, if he talked at all. Archie lay at her feet, waiting, enjoying the evening air. She didn't know how much time passed before Billy spoke again, but it seemed to her several minutes.

"You come here to ask me more questions?"

"You know I did, Billy."

"About the man who died here last night?" He turned to look at her. As usual, his face was passive. "Or about something else?"

"I'm here about a few things. That is, if you are willing to tell me.

"That man," he started, turning back toward the town, "he came here to ask me questions, too."

"Had he been here before?"

"Yes, ma'am. Couple of times."

"Did you talk to him?"

"No. Didn't seem right. He said he was Winston's kin, like you. But I knew he wasn't, even if he did know a lot about what happened."

"He knew why you were killed, didn't he?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"You were killed by your father's partners, isn't that right? Men named Bobcat and Parker."

"You know more than you did last time."

"I came across some letters your father wrote to your mother. In them, your father refers to something you did. He doesn't say what it was, just that you did something you shouldn't have."

"Pa told me to fix it and save my skin. But he's the one who did something wrong. I was just trying to make it right." Billy sighed, his young, broad shoulders rising and falling like a soft wave. "I thought it would bring Ma and my sister back."

"You knew your father killed Winston's parents, didn't you? And that he got Winston to sell him the property so he could have the gold?"

Billy nodded. "It wasn't right, Miss Emma. Pa knew better. Those other men were bad. Made him do bad things."

"What did you do to make them so angry? Did you tell someone about what they did?"

"No, ma'am. I took it."

"Took it? Took the gold?"

"Yes, ma'am. I was going to find Winston and give it to him. It was rightly his. Wouldn't bring his ma and pa back, but it still belonged to him."

"But they killed you to get it back, right?"

"I never gave it back. I hid it."

It was Emma's turn to be silent. In the darkness of the graveyard, she rotated this new information this way and that in her brain, blending it with what she already knew, trying to fit the right-shaped peg into the correct slot. Garrett and his partner must have found out about the missing gold.

"Did you hide the gold on the Reynolds property, Billy?"

The ghost remained silent.

"Where, Billy? Where did you hide it? Do you mind telling me?"

"No, Miss Emma. You're Winston's kin. It belongs to you now."

Emma wasn't so sure about that theory. That might have been true years ago, when Billy took the gold. But if it was hidden on the old Reynolds property, it now legally belonged to the Bowers family. Personally, Emma didn't care. What she cared about was finishing this and getting home.

They fell into silence once more as Emma waited patiently for Billy to tell her where he'd hidden the gold. At her feet, Archie stirred, his pointed ears sharp in silhouette, his body stiff. She looked around. The ghosts were still milling about, but other than them, Emma heard and saw nothing. Even the small creatures in the trees and bushes were still. But Emma trusted Archie's instincts, and the dog was definitely on alert.

"I have to be getting back," she told the ghost. "It might not be safe for me here. Where's the gold, Billy?"

"It's not safe, Emma." It wasn't Billy's voice. Emma turned to her right and saw the ghost of Garrett Bell. "You need to leave. Right now. Or you will never leave alive."

She turned to Billy's spirit. Like a candle burned to the end of its wick, he was beginning to fade into the darkness. "Billy, please tell me." The other ghosts were also vanishing.

"Twentyfive paces north," Billy told her.

"Leave now, Emma," Garrett cautioned. "Go"

"Twentyfive paces north," Emma repeated, ignoring Garrett.

Archie was on his feet, standing at attention, looking off into the darkness. A low growl, like the buzz from an electric shaver, came from his gut. Emma stood up and looked around. Fear as prickly as feasting fire ants blanketed her skin.

"Well" Billy said the single word and was gone.

"Twentyfive paces north of what, Emma?"

Emma jumped at the voice. It wasn't the feathery words of a ghost but the full-bodied sound of the living coming from the depths of night. Keeping a tight hold on Archie's leash, Emma shined the flashlight in the direction of the voice, moving the beam this way and that until it found its mark.

Before her stood a man thick in body, average in height. He held a gun. Next to him was a short, stocky woman also holding a gun. To Emma's great surprise, it was the Quinns, the older couple staying at the Julian Hotel.

"Twentyfive paces north of what?" Mr. Quinn asked again. His wife remained silent.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't play games. Just tell me what Billy Winslow had to say."

"Who are you, and what do you have to do with this?"

"Let's just say we're interested parties, folks who are so glad you stumbled into this one-horse town when you did. We'd just about given up on Billy."

Archie's growl was deeper now. Emma pulled in a little more of his leash. "Billy?"

"Don't play the wide-eyed ingenue with me. You know I'm talking about the ghost of Billy Winslow. And you know about the gold."

"You killed Garrett, didn't you?"

"That was an unfortunate accident. We argued. He lost. But he'd outlived his usefulness anyway."

"Emma."

She cut her eyes a few inches to the right of Mr. Quinn and saw Garrett's ghost. Quinn noticed her movement.

"You seeing ghosts, Emma?"

"There are many ghosts up here. It's a graveyard."

Quinn gave off a deep chuckle. "So true." His wife also laughed.

"You put the snakes in my car, didn't you?"

"Actually, that was an idea I'm glad didn't pan out. I thought Billy had already given you the information, and we certainly couldn't have you claiming the prize, not after all the time and money we've spent to get to this point. It wasn't until last night, after the snakes were set, that Garrett Bell told us he didn't think Billy told you squat about the gold. But now that Bell's dead, you're our only hope of getting that information. Billy wouldn't talk to Bell-seems Bell had some bad karma or some other shit with the spirit world. We didn't know that when we hired him. They all clammed up every time we tried to get them to talk, especially Billy."

Archie strained on his leash and gave out a short couple of yips.

"If you don't want that dog dead, I'd advise keeping him in line."

Emma tugged the leash and shushed the animal. Archie got quiet but stayed on alert.

"How'd you know I was up here? Did Garrett's ghost tell you?"

"His ghost? Figures he'd come back to ruin everything. But alas, if one of us could see and talk to ghosts, we wouldn't have needed Bell in the first place, or you. But you did save us a lot of trouble by coming up here tonight. We were all set to bust into that cottage and take you by force when we saw you leave for your stroll."