The Dead Come Calling Read online

  “Why am I even discussing this with you?” I asked, mostly to myself. “Go press the button on the coffeemaker and do not speak to me again until I’ve had my first cup.”

  “Fine,” she replied, sounding put out. She started to disappear into the floor before she popped back up, her expression bright. “Oh, yeah. I forgot to tell you. Happy birthday.”

  With that, her head vanished beneath the bathroom rug.

  After I had showered and dressed, I headed downstairs. The scent of freshly brewed coffee drew me straight toward the kitchen. Pouring my first cup, I added milk and sugar and took a big sip. It was heavenly.

  Before I could figure out what I wanted for lunch, the doorbell rang.

  I grinned when I saw who was standing on the front porch and swung the door open.

  “Happy birthday!” Jonelle cried, throwing her arms up. “Damn, you’re not hung over.”

  I laughed. “Nope, though I did sleep for about twelve hours.”

  She peered behind me. “Did the guys go home last night?”

  I nodded, yawning. “Yeah, they said they were ready for their own beds.” Then I realized that I hadn’t heard from them. “Damn, they said they were going to text me, but I didn’t check my cell.”

  I stepped back and let Jonelle inside. “Let me run upstairs and get my phone. I need to see if they texted.”

  “Grab your shoes while you’re up there,” Jonelle directed.

  I stopped halfway up the stairs and frowned at her. “Why?”

  “Because we’re taking a field trip,” she replied.

  “Where?”

  “It’s a surprise.”

  Rolling my eyes, I hurried up the stairs and checked my phone. Mal had texted me at two in the morning, but it hadn’t woken me up. He also wished me a happy birthday, which made me smile.

  Since I wasn’t sure where Jonelle was taking me, I changed into a pair of denim shorts and one of the cute t-shirts I’d bought to wear on camera for the show. Slipping my feet into a pair of flip-flops, I went back downstairs to find Jonelle in the kitchen, sipping a cup of coffee.

  “Cute top,” she stated. “Is it new?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, I needed something a little more…feminine for filming.”

  Her eyebrows lifted. “Really? No more t-shirts that are five sizes too large?”

  “Not while I’m on camera.”

  “Well, I like it,” she replied.

  “Thanks.”

  “Okay, are you ready to go?” she asked.

  “Where are we going?”

  She didn’t answer right away and carried both of our cups to the sink, dumping the contents and rinsing them out. “I’m not telling you. You’ll see when we get there.”

  My surprise turned out to be lunch and some much needed pampering at a spa in Fort Worth. My mother and father called while we were on our way and wished me a happy birthday. My mom also informed me that I’d missed too many Thursday night dinners and she expected to see me this week. I was surprised that she didn’t insist on going out to dinner tonight, but I didn’t say anything.

  I enjoyed the lunch and spa treatments more than I ever had before. Probably because Jonelle was with me.

  It was nearly six when we left the spa, but Jonelle didn’t head back toward Kenna. She drove to my favorite Mexican restaurant in Fort Worth. When we walked in, my parents were waiting by the door.

  Now I knew why my mother hadn’t demanded I have dinner with them.

  The food, as usual, was delicious and my mother was relaxed and happy. I hadn’t seen her smile so much in years, if ever.

  When we were done, my father insisted on paying for everyone’s meal. As I hugged my parents good-bye, my mother cupped my shoulders with her hands, looking up at me with sparkling hazel eyes so similar to my own.

  “Happy birthday, Zoe. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this happy.”

  “Thanks, Mom.”

  She released me and my dad hugged me too.

  “Your mom and I are glad you’ve found something you love doing,” he murmured.

  After we said our good-byes, Jonelle and I headed back to Kenna in her car.

  “Did my mom seem different to you?” I asked.

  “Oh yeah. She wasn’t as scary as usual.”

  I scoffed. “She’s not that bad.”

  Jonelle shot me a sideways look. “You’re kidding right? Your mom would make the Third Reich tremble in their boots,” she retorted.

  “You’re exaggerating.” Needless to say, Jonelle and my mom had rubbed each other the wrong way for years.

  “Well, she did seem less rigid tonight,” Jonelle stated. “I almost choked when she ordered a margarita!”

  Considering my mother rarely drank more than a single glass of white wine, the margarita had been a surprise.

  “I wonder why,” I mused.

  Jonelle was silent for a moment. “It’s because you’re clearly happier, Zoe. It’s written all over your face and in the way you carry yourself. Watching you on The Wraith Files, it’s obvious that you’re in your element. And I’m pretty sure your mom has been watching just like I have.”

  Considering how strained my relationship with my mother had been for most of my life, I hoped she was right.

  Chapter

  Jonelle pulled up in front of my house and I saw a black rectangular shaped box on my porch, topped with a shiny silver bow.

  “Oh, it looks like someone left you another birthday present,” she teased.

  “I wonder who.”

  “Well, let’s go see.”

  She climbed out of the car and followed me to the front door. I picked up the box, but didn’t see a card.

  “Open the door and let’s go inside and see what it is!” Jonelle insisted, crowding me toward the front door.

  Once we were inside, Teri came downstairs. “Finally! Where have you been all day?” Her eyes lighted on the box in my hands. “Oh, a present! Who’s it from?”

  Without thinking, I answered, “I don’t know.”

  “What’d you say?” Jonelle asked.

  I glanced at her. “Uh, Teri just came downstairs.”

  Since she was used to me doing things like that, Jonelle took it in stride. “Well, what are you waiting for? Open it!”

  I lifted the lid off the box and pulled out a bottle of amber liquid. “It’s whiskey,” I murmured, at a loss because I didn’t drink whiskey.

  Teri came closer. “That’s Scotch and it’s the good stuff, too. It was fifty bucks a bottle back in the eighties, so it’s gotta be expensive as hell now. I used to drink it all the time before…well, you know.” She licked her lips. “I miss the taste.”

  Jonelle studied the bottle. “It’s around a hundred and fifty bucks a bottle now.”

  “Who would buy me a bottle of 21 year old Scotch?” I asked. “Anyone who knows me has to know I don’t drink it.”

  “Maybe Stony or Blaine did it,” Jonelle suggested. “I wouldn’t put it past them to buy you a bottle of expensive whiskey and then come over and drink it all the next time they visit.”

  I considered her words and grinned. “Yeah, that sounds just like them.”

  “Wanna open it?” she asked, waggling her eyebrows at me.

  “Nah, I’m already tipsy from that second margarita. I don’t want to be hungover tomorrow.”

  “Fine. We’ll open it the next time Tweedle Dick and Tweedle Dumbass are here,” she conceded. “Now, tomorrow is Monday and I actually have an appointment, so I’m going to head home.”

  I put the bottle on the table in the foyer and hugged her. “Thank you for a wonderful birthday, Jonelle. I think it’s been the best one I’ve ever had.”

  “Great. That’s what I was aiming for. Now you owe me.”

  Releasing her, I stepped back. “What do you mean?”

  “You’re wearing your new dress and going out on the town with me on Friday.”

  “Jonelle…”

  “Zip it. I just gave you th
e best birthday of your life. You owe me a night out.”

  I huffed out a laugh. “Fine.”

  “I’ll call you Thursday night with the details,” she stated.

  After another hug, she bounded down the steps, waved back at me, climbed in her car and drove away.

  “Did you have a good birthday?” Teri asked.

  “Yeah, it was awesome.” I grabbed the bottle of whiskey and carried it into the kitchen. I stuck it on the top shelf in the cabinet where I kept the tequila and vodka.

  Teri followed me silently, which was unlike her. I turned toward her and found her watching me with serious eyes.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  “Nothing,” she replied quietly. “I guess you’re going to turn in early, then?”

  I realized that she had missed me. I’d been gone for the last six weeks and my first day home, I’d been out all day.

  “Actually, I feel like watching a movie. What are you in the mood for?”

  Just like that, Teri perked up. “How about that Dwayne Johnson flick? That car one with all the hot guys in it?”

  Grinning, I nodded. “Just let me go put on my PJ’s and wash my face. You wanna set it up?”

  “Sure.”

  As I climbed the stairs, my phone rang. I pulled it out of my back pocket and glanced at the screen.

  Smiling, I answered, “Miss me already?”

  “Maybe a little,” Mal admitted. “But mostly I was calling to wish you a happy birthday.”

  “Thank you,” I murmured, my free hand lifting to the owl pendant that rested against my sternum. “I’m wearing my necklace.”

  I could hear the answering smile in his voice when he responded, “Good. Jonelle told me last night that she had plans for you today, or I would have called earlier.”

  My face warmed at his statement. In the last two months, I’d come to realize that Mal was a genuinely nice guy. It wasn’t a pretense designed to soften me up until he got me into bed. Even on four hours of sleep and without time to eat, he was even-tempered and his personality never verged on nasty.

  “Thank you.”

  “Is Jonelle still there?”

  “No, she’s working tomorrow so she went home, but Teri and I are about to watch a movie.”

  There was no strange pause or disbelief, Mal just accepted what I said without a hitch. Anyone else would have thought it was peculiar that I intended to have a movie night with my resident ghost.

  “Okay, I’ll talk to you later. Have a good night, Zoe.”

  “You too, Mal.”

  When I returned to the living room a few minutes later, my face clean of make-up and wearing my softest summer pajamas, Teri gave me a knowing look.

  “Let me guess, that was Hunkypants calling,” she teased.

  “Eavesdropping?”

  She shook her head, smirking. “No, it’s the look on your face. That same look also tells me that you haven’t jumped on his pogo stick yet.”

  I couldn’t control the laugh that bubbled up in my throat. Teri had a way of cracking me up with very little effort. It was one of the biggest reasons I chose to buy the house.

  “No, there has been no jumping or humping or even groping.”

  She shook her head. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with you,” she grumbled.

  “You’re going to shut up and watch a movie with me.”

  As we settled on the sofa and started the movie, I finally felt like I was home.

  The next morning, I woke up early without the aid of an annoying ghost. Though Teri didn’t stay away for long.

  As soon as I went downstairs to start a pot of coffee, she came through the door, looking surprised.

  “You’re up.”

  “Yeah, I slept like a rock.” I studied her for a moment before I spoke again. “Now that I’m back, I think we should talk.”

  “About what?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

  There was no gentle way to ask my next question, so I spoke bluntly. “Do you still want me to find the man who killed you?”

  Teri stared at me, her eyes wide. “Are you serious?”

  I nodded. I couldn’t be sure what she was thinking. The expression on her face wasn’t one I’d seen before.

  “Yes, I want to find the man who murdered me and I want him to pay,” she finally answered.

  I took a deep breath. “Okay, then I’ll start looking into it while I’m off for the next few weeks.”

  I sounded much more confident than I felt. I wasn’t even sure where to start. Teri had no family when she died, no husband or children and her parents had passed away a few years before. She was my only link to the events that occurred the night she was killed.

  “What should we do first?” she asked.

  “I think it’s time you told me what happened.”

  “Right now?” Teri asked hesitantly.

  “Yeah. I want to grab a notebook first. I’ll be right back.”

  I ran upstairs to my office and picked up the notebook I scribbled in when Mal and I were prepping for a show.

  When I came back downstairs, Teri was standing by the window over the sink, staring out into the backyard. She didn’t speak as I poured myself a cup of coffee and settled at the kitchen table.

  When the silence continued for another minute, I queried, “Are you ready, Teri?”

  “I’m not sure where to begin,” she murmured, still staring outside. I got the impression she wasn’t focused on anything in the backyard.

  “Tell me what happened that day, from the time you woke up.”

  Though Teri didn’t need to breathe, it looked like she exhaled. It always took me by surprise when she did something so human, even though she no longer had a functioning body.

  “I’d worked the night before, so I didn’t wake up until one in the afternoon. I ate lunch, went to aerobics class, then I came home and got ready for work.” In profile, I saw the corner of her mouth quirk up in a smile. “You probably don’t remember the place, but back then The Honeypot was the best strip club for miles. I made really good money, even back then.”

  She was right. I didn’t remember the place, other than hearing my mother tell my father how relieved she was when it closed down. She thought stripping was one step above prostitution. Personally, I thought that was a little puritanical, especially since a talented exotic dancer in a good club could make well over six figures per year.

  “I danced on stage a couple of times that night, then I gave lap dances to a few of my regulars. There was one guy. The last guy of the night. He’d been coming in for a few weeks and he tipped really well. I was happy to see him, even though he seemed a little odd. I thought he would be a new regular. He bought me a drink at last call.” Her eyes narrowed and her breath hitched. “The same Scotch on your porch last night. God, I’d forgotten that.” Teri shook her head before she continued. “We chatted for a while. I remember feeling really dizzy and light-headed. I almost fell off my stool and he grabbed my arm, asked me if I was okay.” She paused. “I think I passed out after that, because when I woke up I was at home. In my bed. And he…he was…” Teri trailed off, wrapping her arms around her torso.

  It was obvious that she was comforting herself and I felt the strong urge to go to her and hug her, but it would have been useless. She wouldn’t be able to feel it.

  Before I could figure out what to say, she continued. “He was on top of me. Inside of me. I tried to scream, but my voice wouldn’t work. I wanted to shove him away, hit him, but my arms wouldn’t move. I couldn’t move. Couldn’t scream. It was like my worst nightmare. I must have passed out again, because the next thing I knew he was hoisting me up by my neck and I couldn’t breath. Somehow I managed to move my arms and I tried to loosen whatever he’d tied around me, but I couldn’t. I was so scared and he was just standing there, watching me die. And he was smiling. The asshole was smiling!” She slammed her hand down on the edge of the sink, but it passed right through, which told me t
hat she hadn’t done it intentionally.

  With effort Teri could move objects and touch people. It seemed almost second nature now, but occasionally she would lose concentration and move through something without meaning to. Considering how her current distress radiated through the kitchen, I was certain she wasn’t focused.

  “That’s the last thing I remember before I became this,” she stated, gesturing to her oddly flat appearance.

  “I’m sorry, Teri,” I whispered.

  She finally faced me then, her lips curved in a small, sad smile. “I know.”

  “I’ll do everything in my power to find the bastard and make sure he pays,” I promised.

  She nodded. “I know you will.”

  I looked down at the page in front of me and realized I’d only written a couple of sentences. “I hate to ask you to do it, but I need to you to talk me through that day again. And I need you to describe the man in as much detail as possible. The more information you give me, the better.”

  Her mouth firmed into a straight, determined line. “Okay. I can do that.”

  Chapter

  By the time Teri had walked me through the day she died and described her murderer, we were both stretched thin. My body ached from the tension that ran through my muscles as I asked her as many questions as I could think of. I tried to emulate Mal during our talk, because he had a talent for finessing information from people, even things they didn’t truly want to share.

  While Teri didn’t hesitate to answer my questions honestly, it was her answers that drew my muscles taut and raised my tension. Hearing about the horrific way she died in such vivid description deeply disturbed me.

  I hurt for her.

  After our conversation, Teri disappeared for a while and I couldn’t blame her. Even though it happened thirty years ago, her death still haunted her. It made me angry. Angry for her and angry with myself.

  I’d been living here for years. I should have listened to her, looked for her murderer before now. She deserved better than what I’d given her.

  I also had to stop the self-recriminations and focus on doing what I could for her now. I didn’t think I could stomach a meal after hearing the grisly details of Teri’s death, so I made another cup of coffee and carried it into my office. I booted up my laptop and opened my web browser.