The Ex Who Wouldn't Die (15 page)

On his way out, he indicated the half-empty glass of wine sitting on the dresser. "First of the evening? Second? Third?"

She sighed. "First." But it wouldn't be the last.

She couldn't really blame him for doubting her word when she'd been blithering about messages from her dead ex-husband.

After he left, she locked the door behind him, returned to the bedroom and retrieved her glass of wine. It was room temperature now, but she didn't care. She sank into the rocking chair, stared at the wall where she'd seen Charley, then took a big gulp.

"Kimball
tried to kill you because he thinks I told you about him.
He's going to try again
.
You're in danger.
You need my help.
"

Charley. No more wine for her.

Chapter S
even

She refused to look up.
"Go away. You're dead."

"Yeah, I am. But that's beside the point. Or maybe that is the point. I don't know. Believe me, I'm as confused as you are, but I think
I'm here to save your life.
"

"I am not hearing voices. I am not hallucinating."

"That's true. You're not."

Amanda put her fingers in her ears.

Charley suddenly appeared, grinning, sitting cross-legged on the floor in her line of sight. "Hi."

Amanda shot out of the chair. "I need more wine." She sank back down. "Or less wine."

"Hey, I'm not thrilled about this deal, either, but I'm stuck with it. That white light everybody sees when they die? It got yanked away from me before I could reach it, and suddenly I'm watching you go tumbling down that mountain. I took care of you
,
didn't I, got you back to the highway, saved your life?
I thought
maybe that would be it
and I'd get to move on, but I
'm still here
.
At least you can see me now. When I talked to you at your mother's house, you
acted like you didn't hear
me. Your mother never did like me.
"

"
With good reason.
Go away."

"I can't. I tried. I can go inside the dark like I did just now when those cops came, but other than that, I'm stuck
with you
."

Amanda rose, deliberately averting her eyes from the illusion of Charley. "I'm going to bed now, and when I wake up in the morning, I'm going to be completely normal again…no Charley, no little green men."

"You need to cut back on the wine, Amanda. There aren't any little green men here, just me. And I'll probably still be here when you wake up."

Amanda crossed the room and yanked open the bottom drawer of her dresser. Selecting a nightshirt, she clutched it to her chest and turned around.

Charley's grin widened. "Go ahead. Change clothes. If I'm not really here, getting naked in front of me won't bother you."

Amanda hesitated, then, determined not to give in to her own delusions, laid the nightshirt on her bed
and lifted the bottom of her T
-shirt.

Charley whistled and clapped. "Take it off! Take it all off!"

Amanda spun around, turning her back to him. Charley's grinning image reflected in the beveled mirror of her antique dresser. Did hallucinations reflect in mirrors? Vampires didn't, but she wasn't sure about the protocol for hallucinations.

"Gotcha!" Charley exclaimed triumphantly. "If you didn't believe I'm here, you wouldn't be embarrassed to undress."

"I don't believe you're here
.
I believe I'm losing my mind, but I'm not going to undress in front of you anyway."

"Like I've never seen you—"

Amanda whirled on him. "That's enough! We're getting a divorce. You do not have the right to talk to me that way!" She lifted her hand to her head. "Oh, lordy! I'm t
alking to my hallucination
again
!"

"It's a start. Sit down. We've got a lot to talk about."

Amanda shook her head but followed his directions an
d sat in the rocking chair
. "If I listen to you, will you go away?"

"Maybe." He sighed. "To tell you the truth…and I'm afraid that's all I can do anymore…I'm not sure. This death thing, I don't have any experience with it.
I don't really know what I'm supposed to do.
"

"So you're dead. You're a ghost."

Charley flinched. "You don't have to be rude."

"You're dead, but you're not a ghost?" If he was
her
hallucination, shouldn't he be more agreeable?

"
Ghost
just sounds so…hazy
and insubstantial
."

"Fine, you're dead, but you're not a ghost."

"I'm still Charley. I just don't have a body. At least, not the same kind of body
I used to
have.
I'm
not very
solid anymore.
"

Like a ghost,
she thought. But arguing with Ch
arley had always been pointless. H
is hallucination wasn't likel
y to be any more open to logic.

"Whatever. It's late. I'm tired. What is it you want to talk about?"

"I guess we have to start with Kimball and that gun."

"Can you sit down? I don't feel comfortable having a conversation with someone who's standing while I'm sitting."
Standing
and hovering a few inches off
the floor.

"Sure." He perched on the side of the bed, about an inch
above
the colorful spread.

Amanda motioned with her hand, indicating he should lower himself a little more.

"Huh?"

"You're floating. That
doesn't make me feel comfortable."

Charley lowered half an inch into the bed.

"Up," Amanda instructed, and he rose. "That's good. You look like you're actually sitting."

Charley gave her a satisfied smile. "I'm getting better at this no
body thing."

"Okay. Talk, then go away."

Charley drew in a deep breath. "Roland Kimball. Mayor of Silver Creek. Future Governor of Texas, if he and his family and his wife's family have anything to say about it, and, as much money as they've got, they probably do."

"The mayor of your home town, a rich man who could buy all the guns he wants, stole my gun. Do I have this right so far?"

"Sort of." Charley cleared his throat. "There's a little more to the story."

"Of course there is." There always was with Charley.

Amanda realized with a start that she was buying into this ghost story.

But right now,
it seemed the only thing to do, j
ust for tonight, just until she got some rest and returned to normal.

"Kimball thought I had the gun he used to kill his former girlfriend, and he wanted to get it back. But I didn't have it. But he didn't believe me. So he killed me,
tried to kill you,
searched my apartment, picked your lock, found your gun and thought it was his.
He's going to try again becaus
e he thinks you know about him
.
Those
anonymous
call
s
Dawson told you about
were
him, calling here, trying to fi
nd you
.
He might have figured out the gun he took isn't his. If that happens, he's going to be really upset.
"

Perhaps this was Charley's ghost after all. Only Charley could tell such a nonsensical tale and sit there looking as if he'd just explained everything.
"
So this Kimball person killed you, tried to kill me, and
the an
onymous phone call
s
were from
him
,
checking on my whereabouts
so he can make another attempt
?"

"Yeah. I didn't see
him making those
call
s
, and I didn't see him stealing your gun,
but I know it happened
the same as if I'd been there
. Now that I'm on the other side, I know things
," he said smugly.

"Funny. You claimed to know everything when you were on this side."

"I
might have been
bragging then, but I'm telling the truth now."

"
Got it. Kimball killed you, and now he wants to kill me.
Why did
he
think you had the gun he used to kill his former girlfriend?"

"Because I told him I had it."

"Why did you tell him you had his gun?"

Charley lowered his head and mumbled.

"What?" she asked.

"Blackmail."

"
Blackmail
?" Amanda leaned forward. "You were blackmailing this Roland Kimball?"

"Yes."

"You tol
d him you had his murder weapon?
"

"Yes."

"But you didn't really have it?
"

"That's right
."

Amanda shook her head slowly. "I can't have a coherent conversation with you even after you're dead." And that statement itself was the ultimate in
incoherence
.