The Partners in Crime Collection, page 18
“Just stick with us, Noah,” Mike said. “Jamie on one side of the Veil and me on the other? We’ll figure it out. His new living partner is a pretty smart cop, too, from what I can tell. I’m sure she’ll be useful.”
Later that evening, Jamie drained the bottle of water as he made his way through his newly built house. He sat on the bed and pulled off his shirt, giving it a halfhearted toss in the general direction of the hamper.
“You done partying it up?” Mike said as Jamie sat on the side of the bed.
“Was a good time,” Jamie said.
“I’m glad. No, really. You deserve some fun and relaxation,” Mike replied.
“I’m going to sleep in tomorrow, then go for a run on the beach, and when I come back from Florida, I’m going to get myself a rescue dog. It’s time I got myself a companion,” Jamie said.
“Just don’t get one of those little fluffball things. Get a dog that can run the beach with you,” Mike suggested. “Speaking of companions, I have someone for you to meet.”
“Another dead person?” Jamie asked.
Mike gestured to someone, then took the hand of a teenage kid.
“Aw, hell,” Jamie said with a sigh.
“Jamie, this is Noah Riggs. He died, he thinks, sometime over the last twenty-four hours, but his body hasn’t been found yet. Tomorrow morning, after your run, maybe you could help us look?” Mike asked.
“Like I’m gonna say no?” Jamie replied. “Hi, Noah. When it’s daylight, I’ll help you look. Maybe someone will have called in a missing person or something by then.”
“Thank you, sir,” Noah replied. “But no one will call it in. I live in a group home and they don’t check who is and who isn’t around every night. They kinda don’t care much.”
Jamie scrubbed his hands over his face and rolled fully onto his bed. “I’m too drunk and tired to even think clearly right now, so let me get some sleep and we’ll work on it tomorrow.”
“See?” Mike said. “I told you he’d help. That’s what we do. We solve murders. Even though I’m dead now, I still work with the best partner in existence.”
A faint snore drifted up from where Jamie lay across his bed.
“Uh huh,” Noah replied as he eyed Jamie’s half-dressed body sprawled across the top of the blankets. “If you say so.”
Jack dropped her son Avery off at his dorm then headed to the tiny apartment she currently slept in. She wouldn’t exactly say she lived in it since most of her boxes were just stacked in the living room and the only furniture she had taken out of storage was a bed, a folding table, and one chair. It was intended to be temporary while she found something better, and now she’d been here a few months and finally put an offer down on a Craftsman bungalow near the water. It needed some work, but Jack needed to stay busy.
Jack put her keys and wallet on the counter, poured herself water and took two aspirin before she got into bed. Phone charging and alarm set, she rolled over and thought about her new problem. How to bring up to her partner that she, too, could see ghosts. Oh, how did she know? Her ghost told her that his ghost had ratted him out. Earlier, at Mike’s place, she’d been on the deck with Avery and saw Ellis standing beside him.
“I know you see me,” the girl said.
Jack covered her mouth with her hand, her words barely audible. “Not here. Wait until later.” A shiver ran through Jack as she took a swallow of her drink. She really wanted something stronger, but she was driving Avery back to campus after the cookout.
“Go to the bathroom, we can talk there,” the girl said.
Jack got to her feet and set the soda on the arm of her chair. “Be right back,” she told Avery and ducked into the house. The half bath was under the stairs and she stepped inside, locked the door, and turned on the water. “Ellis, you can’t just show up and demand I speak to you. I’ve already had to rearrange my life because of this shit.”
“Like I chose to die and end up being a ghost that only you can see?” Ellis replied. “I was twenty-two years old, clean, and trying to start a new life. My death? It’s on your hands.”
“No, your death is on Samson Rhodes’ hands. He’s the one that shot you. Quit playing the guilt trip card. It doesn’t work. I had to give up my job, my friends, my family, my home – because you wouldn’t leave me alone. You cause me trouble here? I’ll ignore you until the end of time. I swear it,” Jack hissed at the girl’s shade.
“There’s another ghost here,” Ellis said. “I told him not to tell Jamie about me, so relax. His name is Michael Donovan. He talks to Jamie all the time.”
Jack leaned back against the sink and stared at Ellis. “He...what?”
“Y’know how I talk to you? Mike talks to Jamie. You should probably talk to him about me. He’s like the only person in the world who would understand.”
“I don’t know. I’m still so new here,” Jack said with a sigh. “Look, just leave me alone today, okay? I want to spend time with my new team and with Avery. Come find me when I get home tonight if you need to chat.”
“Whatever,” Ellis said and disappeared.
Jack sighed and punched her pillow. What were the odds that she’d end up with the one partner that might understand? But could she really take that chance? The only reason she was able to get a new job was because her last boss kept the crazy talk out of her file – as long as she got out of his precinct. It had cost her everything. Her beautiful apartment had sold for enough to help her buy the new house, but she missed it. She missed the neighborhood she’d lived in for most of her life, the friends and family that were now so far away—it made her feel homesick. Jack pulled the covers up and curled around an extra pillow. It soaked up her tears while she cried herself to sleep.
Dead Wrong: Chapter Three
The next morning, Jamie got up, pulled on his shorts and a t-shirt, then crossed the street in front of his new house to take the stairs from the break wall to the beach. A quick stretch and he headed down the beach towards the cliffs, sneakers pounding into the wet sand as the tide continued to go out. The harbor that gave the city the name was one of many along the Massachusetts coast. A history of ocean trade and fishing could still be seen in the few private lobster or fishing crew boats that set out from the docks. Most mornings, Jamie would see them pulling out in the misty fog of predawn as he did his run, but he had the next four days off so he was out later than usual. He was looking forward to flying down to Florida that evening to spend the long weekend with the kids.
Then he remembered Mike’s companion last night. He knew that Mike had had a problem with time passing when he’d first died, so the when of it happening could still be in question. Once Jamie got home, he showered, changed, grabbed coffee and food, and opened up his laptop to do some research. ‘Noah Riggs’ brought up nothing in several databases, and there had not been any reports of a body found.
“Mike,” Jamie called. “Need you a moment.”
Mike dropped into the chair across from him and leaned on the table. “You rang?”
“Were you reading over my shoulder again?” Jamie asked and shook his head. “I’m not seeing anything on Noah Riggs yet. I also cannot cancel this weekend. I’m going to put together an email, send it to Jack and have her keep an eye out. I’m only gone a couple of days, then I’ll be back and can dive into this.”
“He said he just died,” Mike said.
“And remember how time got convoluted for you when you were newly dead? He could have died a week ago or eight hours ago, we have no way of knowing.”
“That’s true. Okay, send what you can to Jack and I’ll let her ghost know what’s going on,” Mike said.
“Her...what?”
“Her ghost. Ellis Calder. Ellis was her CI and died in her arms in New York. That’s why she’s up here. She wasn’t as good at keeping her mouth shut about the weird stuff as you were,” Mike said.
“So...Jack can see ghosts? Can she see you?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t checked. Maybe I’ll give it a shot while you’re down south.”
“Great. Now how do I phrase this email? I don’t want to put in an email that either of us can see ghosts.”
“Yeah, good luck with that,” Mike replied.
Jack got Jamie’s email later that morning and if Ellis hadn’t told her he could see ghosts too, she would’ve thought he’d let a squirrel run across his keyboard then hit send.
“My guess is you got a tip you can’t discuss and want me to look into this kid that you know is missing, presumably dead, but can’t say how you know. I’ll check into Noah Riggs, but when you get back from Florida, we need to have an off-the-books heart to heart. Agreed?” Jack sent that email reply to Jamie and a few minutes later got back a one word answer. “Agreed.”
Since Jamie was away for a few days, Jack had also taken two days off to close on her new place and move in. She got Avery and a few of his college buddies to help her with the move and with getting some of the repair and upgrading work started. The house was solid, but needed the hardwood floors redone, some paint, and a bit of updating. For now, she set up her bed and desk in the living room so she could get the bedroom and office done first. Once everything was unloaded and stacked around the living and dining room space, Jack drove the moving team back to campus and paid them in a stack of pizzas and soft drinks. One more stop to pick up the floor refinishing equipment and the rest of Jack’s time off was booked solid. Two rooms sanded and swept, first coat laid down, and Jack stretched out in her recliner, laptop on a stack of boxes to one side. Pizza and a beer kept her company while she went over the various reports to see if Noah Riggs or a missing boy had popped yet. Nothing.
Jack fell asleep in the recliner, woke in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, then fell onto her bed and pulled the comforter over herself. She woke to the scent of coffee brewing and reached for her gun under her jacket next to the bed.
“Hello?” Jack called out.
“Hey, Mom, I’m sorry if I woke you,” Avery said as he came out of the kitchen. “You said ten, and when I got here, you were really sleeping, so I made coffee and grabbed some breakfast sandwiches from the coffee shop up the street.”
Jack let go of the gun and scrubbed her face. “Forgot I gave you a key. Kinda forgot where I was when I first woke up.”
“No worries. Looks like the first coat dried well in those two rooms. Let’s eat and let you wake up, and I’ll work on the bathroom?”
“Sure, that would be a great help. I’ll get the second coat down in those two rooms and start painting the kitchen. You probably want to pull the sink and toilet before you do the little bit of painting in there, then put the new ones in so you’re not painting around stuff.”
“Yeah, I thought that would be a good way to do it, too. It helps that it’s not a big space, I should have the new stuff in place in a couple of hours,” Avery said. “Guess those summers spent helping Uncle Anson paid off after all, huh?”
Anson, her ex’s brother, was a contractor and worked on a lot of old buildings. Avery had spent the last three summers working with Anson to make some money – and learn new skills. Jack, along with Avery’s father, Andrew, had wanted Avery to have the option to do trade or academics, so they’d exposed him to both. Andrew worked in finance in New York City, and he didn’t want Avery following in his footsteps. It was, as Andrew put it, a soulless business. Avery had chosen a technical engineering degree because it would allow him to design and develop new tech. He hoped to work on space tech when he graduated.
“I’m really glad you’re here, Avery. I appreciate you lending a hand with all of this,” Jack said.
“Are you kidding?” Avery replied. “I’m psyched that you’re settling here. I love Harbor, it’s a city, but a lot less intense than New York, and if I’m going to be stuck here for the next three to six years, it’s nice to have somewhere to come home to.”
“Three to six years?” Jack asked.
“Yeah, a little over three to finish the undergrad degree, then two more for grad school. If I’m going to do this thing, I need to do it right. I’ll get the grad degree and work on projects and in the labs around the area to get experience. Get a job and have the benefits for the job include that they pay for my doctorate.”
Jack shook her head lightly, then leaned over to kiss his cheek. “You amaze me, my brilliant son. If you ever get tired of the dorm life, we can talk to your Dad again about that tiny home idea. Now that I have my own property, you could lay a slab in the backyard and open the fence to the street that runs behind the house down to the beach. You’d have your own entrance, your own place, and we could plug you into the water and power here with an RV hookup, and you can pitch in for the utility bill. It’d be a lot cheaper than paying the residency fees at the college.”
Avery looked out the kitchen window into the back yard. “Y’know, that’s sounding pretty awesome, actually. I’ve already decided I hate dorm life but didn’t see any affordable options. I don’t want to move back in with my Mom, no offense, but I’m liking the independence. But I miss showering by myself, having the food I buy not get stolen out of the fridge, and being able to fall asleep and not be jerked awake by a fight in the commons room or someone’s slammed door.”
“Then it’s decided. You’ve got, what, a few weeks left in the semester? Call your father, get the house ordered, and you can set up the back yard for it. You can sleep in the office room on the Murphy bed until it arrives – once we get the office finished and the Murphy installed, that is.”
“I better get my ass in gear then,” Avery said. “Love you, Mom.”
“Love you too, son. I’ll be right behind you. Just need to check my work messages.”
Jack watched Avery gather up his tools and head into the bathroom, then refilled her coffee and settled with her cup and her phone. She hated answering emails on her phone, so Jack pulled out her laptop and got to work. Still no alerts on a John Doe body, or on Noah Riggs. A death certificate for a Noah Riggs popped up but it was for a baby back in 2004, and that was all Jack could find. She closed the laptop and tucked it safely away before she started the prep to paint in the kitchen. By the time they stopped for lunch, Avery had painted the bathroom, scrubbed and repaired the handful of cracked tiles, and put the new toilet in place. Jack had all of the cabinet doors and drawer fronts washed, sanded, and laid out to paint, and the cleaning and taping done inside.
Avery ran out to grab them sandwiches from the deli, and they sat on the front porch and ate.
“This is going to be nice when it’s done, Mom,” Avery said. “Get a couple of comfortable chairs out here and I can see you sitting with a glass of wine, watching the world go by.”
“I’m looking forward to that, too. I have those old wicker chairs my folks gave me. They need new cushions but hose them down and they’ll look perfect out here.”
“I was thinking, would you be okay with a flagstone patio out back? That area where it’s all dirt needs something, and I could do the work if you bought the materials. I was thinking of new brick steps put over the chipped concrete, then flagstone with a fire pit area and a path to where the slab will be. Then build up a couple of brick raised planting beds and plant a couple of trees for more shade?”
“You want to do all that?” Jack asked.
“Yeah, I do. I’ll have all summer with only work keeping me busy, so I’ll have time to do stuff. Free labor, you buy the materials, and it’ll be gorgeous out here by the time fall rolls around. Whaddya say?”
“I say it’s a deal. As long as you also handle mowing the grass, what little there is of it.”
“Deal,” Avery said.
Dead Wrong: Chapter Four
By the time Avery was back in class on Monday, and Jack back in the office, the bedroom and office were painted and partially furnished, the bathroom was updated and sparkled, and the kitchen was painted with new hardware, new faucet, and appliances were on order.
When Jamie showed up on Tuesday, Jack was on her second cup of coffee and trying to wipe a splatter of paint off of one of her work shoes with a cleaning cloth.
“You look like you’ve been having fun,” Jamie said as he stepped into their shared office and shut the door. “I brought donuts and fresh coffee from Dunkies. You want some?”
Jamie looked tan and more relaxed than Jack had ever seen him. “Yes, gods, yes. Please. Sugar. Caffeine. Ibuprofen. Muscle liniment. You look good, I think I hate you a little bit.”
“Ibuprofen in the end drawer in the wall cabinets. Muscle liniment is probably under the top layer of stuff in that same drawer. Are you okay?” Jamie asked.
“Just feeling my age,” Jack said as she got up to check the drawer. “Avery and I spent the weekend working on the house. I would’ve worked a little slower, but that boy doesn’t stop and now I’m regretting the pace.”
“He’s what, nineteen? Twenty? Even I know I can’t keep up with a kid anymore. Liking the place, though?”
“Yeah, I love it. It’s a solid little house and it feels good to have something that’s all mine,” Jack said. “How were the kids?”
“They were great. Big Mike, Mike’s father, let me stay in his place next door and he’s really taken to those kids – all four of them, not just his two grandkids. Elise, Big Mike, and the kids are all doing exceptionally well and I can relax on that front,” Jamie said. “But speaking of kids, any hits on Noah Riggs?”
