Ghost Walk (24 page)

Before
Grace could respond to that, her harridan boss, Anita, came speeding up in one
of Harrisonburg’s security golf carts.  The ones that were only used for
extreme emergencies, like shoplifting from the gift shop, lost children after a
parade, and tour guides running amuck.

Jamie
groaned.  As if the night wasn’t bad enough.  “Oh here we fucking go…”

“What
seems to be the problem?”  Anita demanded, all but leaping from the small cart
and surveying to the unhappy faces of the guests.  To get there so quickly, she
must have been poised to spring into action.  Her shellacked hair didn’t move
as her head whipped around to face Grace.  “I’ve have complaints about this
Ghost Walk.”  She intoned in a voice that a doctor might use to announce that
plague had come to town.

The
blonde woman in the Lakers hat nodded smugly.

“Now’s
not a good time, Anita.”  Grace told her distractedly, still frowning up at the
statue.  “Jamie, we’re not just saving the murder victims, we’re enabling all
their descendants to be born and changing the lives of everyone who knew them. 
Do you have any idea the incredible repercussions it could have to…?”

“Not
a good time?”  Anita sputtered.  “You’re ruining this Ghost Walk for our
customers.  Now is the
only
time!”

“She
is --like-- the worst guide
ever
.”  Lakers Hat announced and half the
tour nodded.  “Like, her ‘ghost stories’ are all plagiarized from last season
on
Haunted High
.”

The
woman was technically right, but Jamie still shot her a glower.

“Plus,
she keeps talking to herself.”  Tube Socks chimed in.  “It’s really
distracting, ‘cause I don’t think we got a pamphlet to explain the show.  I
know
I
didn’t get a pamphlet.  Did anyone else get a pamphlet?”

No
one had gotten a pamphlet.

“Or
a menu.”  The other guy reminded them.  “And I already ate, too, so I’m pissed
no one told me there’d be food.”

“I’m
a vegan.”  Lakers Hat held up a French manicured hand.  “So, I’ll probably need
to talk to the chef first.  Do you have organic flatbreads here?  But --like--
authentically Colonial ones?  I’m totally serious about honoring the
gluten-free parts of history.”

Anita’s
eyes nearly popped out of her head.  “Excuse us for a moment, folks.”  She
seized Grace’s arm and tugged her far enough away that the tour guests couldn’t
hear.  “What the hell is going on?”  She hissed as soon as they were out of
earshot.  “Are you having another breakdown?”

“No,
of course not.  I’m just…”

“This
is how you repay me for giving you a job?”  Anita interrupted, disregarding her
denial.  “By telling our guests that we’re giving them free meals?!”

Grace
jerked free of Anita’s grip, an angry look on her face.  “I didn’t tell them…”

Anita
talked right over that explanation, too.  “Do you have any idea what kind of
pressure I’m under here?  Two tour guides walked --No,
ran!
-- off the hedge
maze assignment today.  The irresponsible little slackers took off without
notice, screaming about ghosts and probably high as kites.”  Her lips pursed in
disapproval.  “We need to take a serious look at what’s growing in those
gardens, because they no doubt had a whole stash of pot in there.”

“Jesus,
Mary, and Joseph…”  Jamie rolled his eyes skyward.

Grace
did, too.  “Anita, if you would just…”

Anita
kept going.  “And now this!”  She clasped her palms to her chest, as if Grace had
stabbed her through the heart.  “No one else would hire the craziest Rivera in
town, but
I
gave you a job.  And how do you show your appreciation?  You
go even crazier!  How do you think that makes
me
feel?  Did you even
consider the reputation of the Ghost Walk before you selfishly lost your mind?”

“I’m
not crazy and neither is anyone else in my family.”  Grace announced for the
possibly the first time ever.  “Maybe we’re not exactly normal, but we’re okay
with that.  And we’re okay that you’re
not
okay with that, Anita.”

Those
three sentences were all it took for Anita to find Grace guilty.  It was a
shame she’d been born too late for any witch trials, because she would have fit
right in with the crazy zealots throwing stones.  “I knew it!”  She poked a
triumphant finger at Grace’s chest.  “I
knew
I shouldn’t have taken a
chance on someone with your lunatic reputation!  I knew it all along!”

Grace
had finally had enough.  “You didn’t hire me out of the kindness of your
heart.  You hired me because no one else was willing to work this miserable shift. 
Not at this miserable salary and in this miserable costume.  …That you made
me
pay for!”

“Well,
if you don’t pull it together, you crazy bitch, you can find yourself
another
miserable job.”  Anita snarled between clenched teeth.

“I
quit
.”  Grace retorted, her eyes bright with satisfaction.  “And, FYI, you
don’t even
need
troll powder to belong under a bridge somewhere, eating little
children and bullying everyone who tries to pass.”

Jamie’s
eyebrows soared.  For a lass who needed to “peaceful green cornfield” her way
through any conversation with raised voices, she was doing a damn good job of
holding her own against her dreadful boss.  He didn’t know whether to be
worried or proud.  “Grace, are you sure that…?”

“You
can’t quit!”  Anita shrieked, inadvertently cutting him off.  “I’m firing you!”

“Either
way, you can give you own stupid tours, from now on.  I have a real job, trying
to
solve
murders, not milk them for tourist bucks.”  Turning on the heel
of her white Ked, Grace headed back towards the tour group.  “You morons
wouldn’t know a ghost if he was standing right next to you in a tri-corner hat. 
Trust me.  I know that for a
fact
.”

“I’m
so
leaving her a bad rating on the comment card.”  Lakers Hat decided
with a sniff.

“Love,”
Jamie hurried after Grace as she marched down the cobblestone road, “mayhaps
you should take a moment and consider this.”

“Consider
what?  You’ve been after me to quit this lousy job since the first night we met.”

“But,
you have no other way to making a living.”  It wasn’t as if Jamie could provide
for her.  Not with his gold lost and his body moldering in an unmarked grave. 
The idea of her destitute on the streets did nothing to improve his mood.  “Your
emotions are high and you’re not thinking straight.  You’re doing something you
may regret.  Do you have any savings, at all?”

“Nope.”

Jamie
made an aggravated sound.  “You need to go back there and fix this, Grace.”

“I
did
just fix it and I’ve never felt better.  I’m getting pretty awesome
at confrontations.”

It
was
lovely to see her standing up for herself, but it hardly made up for
the fact she was now unemployed.  “How do you plan to eat with no money coming
in?”

She
waved that aside as if starvation wasn’t a concern.  “Which other girls did you
dance with?”

He
tried to catch up with her non sequitur.  “What?”

“At
the Summer Ball.  Who did you dance with that the killer
didn’t
target?”

“I
donea know.  Some matronly girls, who no one else was paying attention to.”  Jamie
always tried to make sure every lass got to dance at a party.  “What does it
matter?”

“Maybe
there’s a clue in his victim selection.”

The
woman made him want to tear out his hair.  “He left the other girls alone
because they were Sunday school teachers and old maids.  He only had an eye for
beautiful victims… like
you
.  Which is the whole point of you staying
away from 1789.”

Grace
wasn’t convinced.  “Yeah, but…”

“Would
you stop fixating on the past and think of the present?  You’re now jobless and
broke, because of me.”

“Because
of you?”  She blinked.  “It wasn’t your fault. 
I’m
the one who just
walked off the eight o’clock Ghost Tour.”

Jamie
disregarded those semantics, focusing on the big picture.  “Before I entered
your life, you had an income.  You were in no danger of being the target of a
killer.  You weren’t slipping through time.”

“That
isn’t true.  I went back in time last year, before I even met you.”

If
he’d been solid, he’d have taken her by the shoulders, but it was one more
thing ghosts couldn’t do.  “Knowing me is harming you.  Keeping you from
living.”

She
shook her head, refusing to admit the truth.  “I’m more alive with you around
than I’ve been in thirty-two years.”

“This
won’t work.”  Jamie persisted.  “I’m dead and you’re not.  Sooner or later, you’ll
want someone with a heartbeat.”

“No.” 
She sounded very sure.  “I’ve only ever wanted you.”

Jamie
squeezed his eyes shut.  Damn it, she was going to rip him apart.  “You should
have
more
than me.  You should have
everything
.”

“Where
is this even coming from?”  She demanded.  “Things have been fine, up until
now.”

“No,
they haven’t.  We just haven’t wanted to see reality.  What kind of future can
I give you?  What will happen when your Partner comes and offers you children
and a real life?”  Either Jamie would have to stand by and watch her love
another man or --even worse-- she would walk away from everything she deserved
for a ghost.  He scrubbed a hand over his face.  “It won’t
work
, Grace.”

“Let
me explain about the Partner thing.  Then you’ll…”  She trailed off and turned
to look at him, comprehension dawning on her lovely face.  “Wait a second, are
you
dumping
me?  Is that what this is about?”

He
nearly flinched.  “I’m trying to save you, as you’ve saved me.”  The least he
could do was return the favor.

“Except
I haven’t saved you, yet, idiot!”

She’d
saved him, just by being born.  “It was wrong of me to ask you to solve these
murderers.  All that matters now is
your
life.  I know you, Grace.  So
long as I’m here, you will never stop this.  Once I go, the investigation is
over.”  He took a deep breath.  “And so I’m leaving.”

“You’re
leaving.”  She repeated quietly, her expression shifting.  “And going where?”

“To
Heaven.”

That
was lie.  No pearly gates were opening for Jamie anytime soon.  If he’d been a
Rivera, no doubt he’d attribute that to the fact he wasn’t
supposed
to
be dead.  Since he was just a Riordan, though, he knew better.  God hadn’t
forsaken him, but He wasn’t exactly going to welcome him into the clouds,
either.  This brief time with Grace was the only paradise he’d ever be granted. 
This
was
Jamie’s eternal reward and it had been a blessing.

“You
can go to Heaven?”  She asked skeptically.  “Since when?  You told me you were
stuck here.”

“Well,
now I feel like it’s time to move on.”  He obfuscated, wanting to ease her
mind.  Ghosts had a few tricks up their sleeves.  He could make himself
invisible to Grace and she would think he’d found peace.  It would be for the
best.

…Then
he could haunt her for the next seventy years, hating every man who came near
her.

Grace’s
magical brown eyes narrowed slightly.  “I know you, too, Jamie.  So I know you’re
not going
anywhere
.  Even if you could get up there somehow, you don’t
want
to go to Heaven.  Not right now.  You want to be
here.
  It’s probably
why you’re still roaming around.  Why are you lying?”

“I’m
not.”  It didn’t sound convincing even to his ears.  Jamie was an earthly
creature and always had been.  Heaven was no doubt a very dull place for a
pirate.  It wasn’t as if he’d know anyone up there.  Truthfully, anywhere would
be dull without Grace.  “Look, I just…”

She
cut him off.  “Is it me?  Are you bored with me?”

“Bored?” 
He actually laughed at that.  “Are you fucking crazy?  When would I have
time
to be bored?  Every ten minutes you’re mixed up in some knew lunacy.”

“Well,
that’s not
my
fault.”  She protested, as if he was complaining.  “Most
of it,
you’ve
caused!”

“I
know!”  He pinched the bridge of his nose.  “And I can’t keep doing this to
you.”

“You
want to find someone else to help you?”  Tears glittered in her eyes, making
him feel like a monster.  “How?  I’m the only one who can see you or hear you
or touch…”  She paused.  “Wait, is it because we touched each other?”  She
nodded like she’d finally figured it out and wiped at her cheeks.  “If that
makes you uncomfortable, Jamie, we don’t have to do it anymore.  I promise.”

“Good
Lord,
no
.”  It was a mystery to him how the woman’s mind worked.  “I’m
dead, but I’m not
that
dead.”  He scoffed at the very idea.  “Have I
ever
shown any discomfort at touching you?  In
any
time period?  It seems to
me,
I’ve
been the one pushing
you
, not the other way around.”