“I called the sheriff about the break-in,” the dark woman reported. “I told him we were here to pick up the birthday presents in my closet.”
Jax nodded. “Good thinking. Evie, you need to get your pretty rear out of there now.”
She huffed but scooted backward toward him. Jax caught her by the waist and hauled her up, relieved to have her safe in his arms again. “That ought to erase your tracks. Sheriff will think the thieves dragged out a safe.”
She elbowed him. “I’m not as heavy as a safe.”
Reassured that she was capable of sensible speech, Jax resigned himself to police interrogation. He needed to rethink his connection to Evie if he meant to represent law and order in this town.
Sheriff Troy’s night replacement wasn’t as sharp as the older man. He idiotically took the women at their word, cordoned off the office again, and placed a guard before sending everyone home.
“Were you really talking to a ghost?” Blondie asked as they grabbed the birthday presents and hurried out the back door.
“A presence,” Evie said warily. “I think maybe Clancy was still in shock and didn’t know how to move on. I’ve never been on the site of a recent death. I wonder if the spirit always lingers?”
“What did he say?” The dark-haired woman no longer seemed as drunk as she had earlier.
“Not much. He was confused. Someone broke into the computer. He thinks they stole his phone, too, but that was probably the police.”
“OMG, you talked to a ghost!” Blondie stumbled. Jax caught her elbow, but he didn’t release Evie.
“Did he say who did it?” the dark one asked.
“That’s when he knocked stuff around.” Evie glanced at him. “Did you find it?”
“Just a pin,” Jax lied. He didn’t like lying, but he didn’t know these women. “One of those eagle political pins people are wearing.”
“My brother has one.” Blondie nodded knowingly. “It’s Senator Swenson’s party. They’re promising to cut taxes.”
“Don’t they all?” Jax asked cynically. “I don’t think you ladies should drive home, but I only have my bike. Do you know someone to call?”
“We live in the apartments over there.” Blondie gestured vaguely as they proceeded down the street. “We can walk. I want to hear more about the ghost. My life is so boring.”
“Not tonight, Dot. I’m wiped. Come in the shop at lunch, and I’ll try to remember if I heard anything else, but I don’t think so. Ghosts are pretty inarticulate.”
Jax stood back as they hugged and said farewells. After watching to see that the two women made it inside the aging apartment house, Jax led Evie back to the Harley. He waited patiently.
She held off speaking until they were home. “I don’t suppose Roark hacked the computer at city hall.”
“I suspect he was after Clancy’s work office and didn’t know about city hall. Want to check now or wait until morning?” Under the security light, she looked weary.
“Probably now. Clancy’s ghost didn’t even know he was dead. He thought he’d just woke up and scared a burglar rifling the desk. I’m guessing that means he didn’t commit suicide. When he finally accepted what I was saying, he deliberately threw that thumb drive and pin. I’m thinking that’s a pretty impressive feat for a new ghost. He refused to move on to the next plane and vanished. I’m afraid he’ll be back.”
And so would the killer—if he knew they had the thumb drive. Jax cursed.
* * *
Evie curledup under a sleeping bag on the broad couch in the cellar den R&R had claimed for their own. Despite the sultry night air outside, she couldn’t get warm.
She’d talked to a recently deceased spirit.She hadn’t thought it possible. All the encounters she’d had before had been with dusty remnants of energy clinging to ancient memories. Clancy had been raging furious—and exhausting.
The men tip-toed around her as Reuben—using a tissue—loaded the thumb drive, and Roark belatedly hunted for connections to the city hall computer. She didn’t even need to read their auras to sense their overwhelming curiosity.
“Why didn’t the cops take the computer and thumb drive?” Reuben demanded as he hacked to get into the drive’s information.
“Public office connected to public information, used by all the council, not just Clancy,” Evie told them. “Don’t know who the thumb drive belongs to, though. Maybe the intruder?”
Jax came in bearing a mug of tea. She felt better just smelling it. Sitting up, she cradled the hot mug between her palms and let the aromatic steam tease her nose. The man occasionally had uses.