Almost Midnight (Shadow Falls: After Dark #3.5)(127)

Moving to the front door that she’d left open, she confirmed what she’d feared. The man standing in the side yard looking between the two houses was the same guy she’d seen in the car a couple of days ago. The man Brandon said was Linda’s old boyfriend. The same one Brandon believed killed Linda.

Then he swung around and started for the porch. Fredericka probably should have been afraid, but all she felt was fury. This man had taken Linda’s life.

He stopped when he got onto the porch and looked at her, still standing in the doorway. Looked at her the way disgusting men looked at women. The hair on the back of her neck rose, warning her that this man was trouble.

She checked his pattern to make sure he wasn’t anything more than human. He wasn’t. But she noted his pattern was murky. So her perception of him was right on target.

She took a small step back, but not so far he’d think it was an invitation to come inside.

“Hey, gorgeous. Where’s Brandon?” He moved in closer and even leaned against the door frame as if he was too sexy to stand on his own two feet. But holy shit, what she wouldn’t give to knock him on his ass and give his ego a good squashing. Squash it like the no-good worm he was.

“He’ll be here shortly,” she replied matter-of-factly, if not a bit cold.

“Can you give him a message for me?” He reached out to touch her hair.

She stepped back and glared at his hand.

“Sorry, it’s just so pretty. Girls like you make guys wanna touch. And be touched. I even have a few scars if that’s what turns you on.”

Her hackles rose up so fast, she had to hold back a growl. “Does your message have anything to do with Linda and her disappearance?”

His demeanor changed from guy-on-the-prowl to pissed-off murderer. Changed so fast, she suspected this guy either had mental issues or was a user of some badass drug. Or maybe both.

“Yeah.” He leaned in. So close she could tell he’d had garlic for dinner last night and had overlooked his oral hygiene. Then he put his face right in hers. And that was the wrong thing to do. Everyone knew you didn’t get in a were’s face.

Well, not everyone knew, but she didn’t mind teaching the lesson to this ignorant human.

Before she started initiating that lesson he spoke again. “Tell Brandon to stop telling these stories to the police, or they’ll be looking for his body!”

She tilted up her chin, showing him she wasn’t afraid, and well, maybe egging him on. “You know, that’s a threat and I think it’s against the law.”

His eyes glittered with rage. He caught her by her arm. She could have dodged his reach, but nope, she actually hoped he’d give her a little something to justify what was coming.

His hand tightened. “No, sweet ass, that’s not a threat. It’s a promise.”

She lifted one eyebrow, leaned in just a bit, and looked him dead in the eyes. “Wanna hear my promise?”





Chapter Sixteen


His hand tightened on her arm.

“I promise that I’m gonna find out what happened to Linda, so your butt will rot in jail. Oh, yeah, I also promise you that this is gonna hurt!” She lifted her knee with were force and got him right in his gonads.

The man went down to his knees. Between gasps for air, she heard him call her a few names. However, what she mostly heard were the wind chimes playing a beautiful song.

She stepped back and shut the door, and looked back at the chimes. She still didn’t see Linda, but she knew she was there. “You liked that, didn’t you?”

The chimes played louder.

*

“Please talk to me,” Fredericka said five minutes later.

Linda’s killer had managed to get his sorry ass and sore balls into his car and drive off. Fredericka walked around the house talking to a ghost who apparently had disappeared. The chimes were still silent. Not the dead kind of still from before, but just silent.

Suddenly remembering seeing Linda outside by the flower bed several times, she walked out.

As she cut the corner, she saw her, sitting there, hugging her knees. Eyes all in the proper sockets.

“Can we talk?” Fredericka asked.

The spirit looked up. “Why can you see me and no one else can?”

“I guess I’m supposed to help you.”

She smiled. “I like what you did to Brice.”

“He … hurt you, didn’t he?” Fredericka asked.

Linda nodded and her gaze moved to Fredericka’s arm. “He hurt you, too.”

Glancing at the bruises, Fredericka said, “This is nothing. But if you can tell me about what he did to you, maybe I can make good on my promise to him. To get him arrested before he hurts anyone else.”

Linda inhaled. “This is where I am.”

Fredericka didn’t understand. “I know, I see you.” She moved in a little closer. She heard a car pull up in front of the house, a different-sounding motor than the one she’d heard the creep drive away in. So she ignored it, because she didn’t want Linda to disappear. “Remember I saw you the other day, too.”

“No, not this me.” She touched her chest, pressing her hand over her heart. “The other me.”

The other you? All of the sudden Fredericka understood. “You mean…”