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Zia continued to ask the spirit questions. “We want to help you. To understand what happened. Were you killed in this room?”
The loud rap sounded again, this time twice in quick succession.
“Do you know who shot you?”
Suddenly the room went crazy. Cabinet doors opened and slammed shut, books flew off the shelves, and a loud wind filled the room, blowing out the candle and leaving them in pitch blackness. The sound of a door opening and closing could be heard in the dark. The distinct smell of garlic and salami filled the room.
Fi
What the hell?
The sound of a woman weeping sent chills down Fi
“Morty, are you still with us?” Zia asked, her composure calm and confident.
Two quick knocks on the table.
“Was it Stan? Was he the one who shot you?”
Another two knocks, and Edna gasped.
It seemed like a given that Stan would have been the one to shoot him. Happened all the time — partners in crime double-crossed each other.
A new sound filled the air, one that sent a different but just as chilling shiver down Fi
The sound came from Fi
“It’s no surprise who shot him,” an unfamiliar male voice spoke from the darkness. “Why don’t you ask him the more important question — like where he hid the diamonds?”
“Stan! You rotten son-of-a-bitch!” Phyllis swore. She bucked against the table, but Edna held her hand tightly.
“Look,” Stan said, “I don’t want no trouble. I just came for the diamonds. I know Morty had ’em when he came in here last night, but I searched him after I shot him, and they weren’t on him. So they must be hid in one of these offices. Those diamonds belong to me.” He called out into the room, “Where’d you hide the jewels, you bastard?”
The room went into bedlam again, but ratcheted up ten more notches. Books and jars flew from the shelves, the wind howled, and the ceiling light flickered on and off. But those few seconds of light were all Fi
Taking advantage of the chaos, Fi
“All right,” Stan wheezed. “Don’t shoot.”
The door of Zia’s office flew open and Officer McCarthy burst in, gun in hand. Another officer followed close behind, his gun also drawn.
“It’s okay, Mac. We got him,” Fi
Mac holstered his gun and gestured to the other officer, who bent at Fi
Fi
“We heard him confess to shooting Morty,” Fi
The lights flickered again, a cold chill settled into the room, and a big glass jar slid off the counter. It shattered as it hit the ground and spilled colored velvet bags across the floor.
Su
The cold chill left the air, and the group stared at the diamonds in silence.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Stan said. “That son of a bitch hid ’em right out in plain sight. I must have walked by that jar twenty times when I was tossing this place.”
Mac took Stan by the arm and led him to the door. “Hope they didn’t give your cell away to a new tenant, because you’re headed back to lock-up.” He passed him off to the other officer to drive down to the station while he stayed to take their statements. He shook his head in disbelief as they all told the same unbelievable tale.
Once finished, he offered Phyllis a ride home. Jake collected Su
The door clicked shut behind them, and all that was left were Fi
He raised an eyebrow at Zia. “See, I was right. I told you a person had trashed our offices.”
She put a hand on her hip and sighed. “Is that really the argument you want to go with? After everything that happened here tonight? You’re still going to claim there are no ghosts?”
He laughed. “I didn’t say that. I just said I was right about the offices. After this crazy night, I need to be right about something.”
She slowly walked toward him, a smoldering look in her eye. “It seems to me you were exactly right earlier tonight when you had your lips pressed against mine.”
He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her to him. “I do enjoy being right.” Tilting her face up, he placed a soft kiss on her lips. “Happy Halloween.”
“Happy crazy Halloween. What a night.” She gri
He shrugged. “Don’t care. If you did, I hope you don’t take it off. I like you and I like us together.”
“Can you handle our differences? Keep an open mind about my work and what I do?”
“Hey, I already tried a pumpkin spice latte and participated in a séance — what else do you want from me?”
She wrapped her arms around his waist and laid a kiss against his neck. In a husky voice, she replied, “Oh, you’ve only begun to see what I want from you.”
Oh boy.
“Is that a prediction of what’s in store for me?”
She gave him a suggestive look. “I don’t need tarot cards to read what’s in store for you.”
He liked the way she thought. In fact, he’d like to hear a few more of those thoughts. Except not in a closet with a dead body as an audience. It was time he took Miss Zia home and shared a few of his own predictions.
He leaned in and placed a soft kiss on her lips before offering her a mischievous grin. “Well, I don’t have a crystal ball and I’m no psychic, but I definitely see you in my future. All of you.
Je