Andrei Cuza and Dean Marshall celebrated their tenth anniversary only to have their happiness shattered by a random, insane event: On his way home from closing a business deal, Dean stops on the parkway to help a young mother with her flat tire, and her ex arrives, murders them, and takes off with his two kids.
Ghosts have haunted Andrei all his life. He bears the guilt for his sister being stuck in limbo, because ghosts are frozen at the moment they died, unable to adapt to the changes in their living loved ones. When Dean returns to Andrei as a ghost, the double punch of losing him and having to watch him founder if he doesn’t move on is almost more than Andrei can bear.
Despite dangers in limbo””Jackal Wraiths that devour souls are hunting him””Dean isn’t going anywhere until he helps Andrei track down the missing children. Andrei is in danger as well when he pays dearly to feel Dean’s touch one last time. Time is slowly running out as Dean and Andrei try to say good-bye while they track a killer who’s more than happy to kill again.
*****
I don’t know about you, but I love a good ghost story, throw in a mystery as well and I’m hooked. As much as I love them, I’d never thought I’d write one, until one afternoon when I was driving down a stretch of 95. My husband and son were with me, asleep, and I was enjoying the quiet time where I get plot problems worked when the plot for Ghosts in the Wind came to me with a whammy. I could see the whole scene where Dean died so clearly and I knew I had to write this story.
This excerpt picks up where Andrei is visiting the other victim’s mother to see if he can get a lead on the killer and the missing kids. While he’s there, he get some unexpected help from Dean’s ghost.
I hope you enjoy! I’ll be giving away a copy, so leave a comment and your email address to enter.
*****
Covered dishes sat on the counter in the kitchen, and when Wanda opened the fridge to pour them all some tea, Andrei saw more dishes in there. He felt almost immediately at home here, despite the grief and fear that hung heavy in the air. In some ways he supposed he wanted to share it with them. Despite the sadness, it was so much like being at Dean’s parents’ house. This was a place where the extended family cared for its own, whether by blood or community.
“I’m sorry to intrude on you today, ma’am,” he said, thanking Wanda as she handed him a cold glass of tea. “As I explained to your daughter, I’m a private detective, representing Dean Marshall’s family.”
“We’ve already told the police everything we know.” She searched his face with penetrating eyes. “You said Mr. Marshall’s family hired you?”
Andrei hesitated; something told him this woman was astute at picking up lies and that she would have nothing to do with him if she thought he was lying. “Not exactly, Mrs. Acosta. I’m doing this for free with Dean’s family’s approval and knowledge.”
Evelyn remained quiet and Andrei let her think it out, biting back a sigh of relief when she finally nodded. “Please, call me Evelyn. I’ll tell you what I told them, but it isn’t much. Robin was on her way here, to start her life over again. Her and Blake tried to make it work, but he seemed to get more and more unhappy after Inez was born. He’d wanted a son, not a daughter.”
“He was a jackass. I never understood what Robin saw in him.” Wanda joined them at the table. “And it pissed Robin off that he couldn’t see how wonderful Inez was.”
“He wasn’t that bad. He’s their father, remember that,” Evelyn said with a sharp look at her daughter. “But Wanda’s right, he never was the same after Inez was born. Started working weird hours, stayed away from home more than he was there, and she finally got fed up. He fought her leaving, and she stayed and ended up getting pregnant with Tristan.”
“She believed him enough to let him put a wall between us and them so we couldn’t see what was going on until she was truly miserable,” Wanda cut in. “He got more possessive after Robin got pregnant again, and she finally kicked him out.”
Andrei took out his notebook, weighing chances of Blake Olsen being the killer. The police would nail him quick if that was the case, and it made it more likely the kids were still alive, but that meant Inez probably witnessed the murders, and he’d seen too many shattered little faces on children who shouldn’t have seen the things that they had.
“Do you have any idea where Blake is now?” Not arrested already or brought in for questioning, because Justin would’ve called him. “I heard that Robin filed a missing person’s report on him.”
“Dead for all we know,” Wanda said. “I’m pretty sure he was doing something illegal. I found drugs at their place, right before Robin left him. I wouldn’t be surprised if he got on the wrong side of some of those people he ran with.”
“He disappeared not long after Tristan was born. The divorce was still being finalized. I think he gave up on the idea that she’d change her mind and come back to him.” The lines of grief and age etched deeper in Evelyn’s brow as she thought. “Maybe mid-June.”
“She was scared though,” Wanda said in a low voice. “She tried to hide it, but something spooked her.”
Evelyn wrung a napkin, knotting the fabric in her gnarled hands, and Andrei laid his hand over hers in a soothing gesture. “We encouraged her to come home. I didn’t like the thought of my baby being down there all alone and hurting, trying to care for a newborn on her own.”
Andrei asked a few more questions, organizing his thoughts as he went. There was a certain amount of relief in burying himself in an investigation. Shoving emotions aside was far easier when he had a puzzle to work out. The calmer he became, though, the more upset Evelyn got, and he decided that he had enough information to go on when tears filled her eyes.
“Don’t cry, Evelyn,” he said and squeezed her hand. “We’ll find your grandkids. Would you happen to have a picture of Inez and Tristan you could let me borrow?”
“I’ll get one.” Wanda hurried from the room.
Evelyn tightened her hand on his. “Tell me the truth, I can take it. You think my babies are still alive?”
“Yes, ma’am, I do. In the meantime I want you to get the news out there as much as you can. Talk to the reporters, get the image of your grandkids all over the place if you can. The more the word is out, the harder it’ll be for him to move about.”
“You keep saying he. What makes you so sure it’s a man?”
“Justin told me Dean defended himself. He wouldn’t have lifted a hand against a woman. Maybe to save the kids, but I don’t think it would’ve occurred to him to do it for himself until it was too late.”
“You sound as if you knew him very well.”
For a moment, a profound depression swept over Andrei. He couldn’t get used to people referring to Dean in the past tense. Every time he thought he’d steadied himself, something would remind him of the intensity of that aching hole inside of him, and his emotions threatened to rise up and drown him.
Wanda returned and handed him a smaller version of the picture he’d of Inez holding her brother. “I didn’t think it would hurt to have a picture of Blake either.”
Andrei lifted the other photo up to examine the happy couple. The woman looked like Wanda, and a beautiful smile lit up her face. Both she and the man behind her had their hands on the swell of her stomach. The date on the picture was from five years ago, so it had to be before Inez was born.
A flicker caught his eye, a touch of air, and Andrei lifted his head, gaze already searching for Dean. He stood by the table, blood spreading across his shirt, his image wavering in and out until he turned solid with a rush of air that almost yanked the picture out of Andrei’s hand. A sick, cold feeling settled in Andrei’s gut. Dean didn’t look at Andrei or acknowledge him. He stared at the picture in Andrei’s hands, rage and fear chasing across his face. “Run, Inez. Run, sweetheart.”
Dean’s voice sounded so harsh and distant that Andrei barely recognized it. He touched the photograph, leaving a bloody fingerprint on the man’s chest. His gaze clashed with Andrei’s as his lips moved again. “Andrei, I’m sorry.” With another flicker he vanished.
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