Dead for the Money (33 page)

At almost the same time, she heard the sound of a trap door banging behind her. Turning, she saw a man’s head emerge through the opening. A few second later, she found herself in Scarlet’s arms.

B
UD
CAME
DOWN
from the bridge fastened with harness and positioned between two men who watched his every step. Scarlet met him as he touched the solid surface of the deck, her hands reaching out unconsciously before she remembered herself and folded her arms. “Are you all right?”

“Shoulder hurts like mad,” he said, grimacing. “Brodie?”

“The EMT is looking her over. She has some cuts where bolts and rivets did damage.” Scarlet gave a half-hearted chuckle. “You know what she told them? That the view up there is something else.”

Bud shook his head. “Wouldn’t know. I was trying not to look down.” His tone was light, but she noted the strain in his face. “I felt a lot better once I was harnessed to the hand-rope.”

An EMT interrupted, insisting that Bud be examined. Scarlet said, “I’ll wait with Brodie.” Hesitantly she added, “I’m glad you’re okay.”

Understatement,
Seamus thought.
The woman is a master of understatement.

Seamus knew what Scarlet was feeling, even if she had not yet admitted it. He was not sure what he was feeling. Relief, certainly. Pleasure at the outcome, which he considered just. An eye for an eye, a fall for a fall. What he did not feel was the presence of Mildred. He could not believe that she had kept quiet through all that had happened. At some point, probably when Leland started his climb, she must have gone back to the ship.

After all that talking I didn’t want, she leaves without a word?

Brodie sat in a sheriff’s patrol car, wrapped in a blanket and looking miserable. While Scarlet assured her that Bud was okay, Seamus jumped to the girl. It wasn’t fair, after what she’d been through, but he had to know it all.

He felt a difference right away from his first hosting and this one. Brodie’s mind was not closed. A hundred different thoughts chased through it, and Seamus had to work to pick up on them. First, he sensed relief that Bud was all right. There was shock at Leland’s death. There was residual terror from the ordeal she had survived. And there was a tiny sense of exaltation. Brodie had banished her craziness.

He couldn’t quite follow the thought, but it seemed that in the midst of the crisis, she had ordered her mind to straighten up, and it had. She had taken control, and now she believed it was possible to keep it. Although Seamus wasn’t sure what had led up to it, he sensed that Mildred’s interference had had a good effect, giving Brodie a new confidence in herself, a feeling she was not as damaged as she had imagined.

In only a few minutes, Bud came along. “They say I’ll live,” he told the two women. Scarlet gave Bud her seat beside Brodie in the patrol car and a smile of encouragement before leaving the two of them to talk.

“Hey.”

Brodie looked up at him, her eyes wide and shiny with tears. “Bud, are you really okay?”

“I’m fine. What about you?”

Seamus felt her fighting for control. “I thought he was going to kill you.”

Bud looked to where the emergency crews still worked to recover Leland’s body from the waters of Lake Huron. “He certainly tried.”

“He killed Gramps.”

“I know. Did you see—?”

Brodie decided that a small fib to make Bud feel better was okay. Seamus approved, although she was tougher than Bud thought. A lie might make him feel a tiny bit better. “I didn’t see him fall. Scarlet and the bridge guy got me into the elevator while you two were fighting.”

“I’m glad.”

“I didn’t think he would follow me up there. If I hadn’t—”

Bud took her hands in his. “None of it is your fault, do you hear me? Leland killed Gramps. He kidnapped you. He tried to kill me, and he fell because—because he wanted so badly to throw me off the bridge.”

“Yeah. He was kinda nice at first, but then he went apeshit.” At Bud’s shocked expression, she rephrased. “Ape. I mean, he went ape.”
Sorry, Gramps
.

“I guess so.” Bud continued, earnestly making his point. “People do stuff that isn’t right, Brodie, and sometimes we can’t stop them. But we don’t have to let them drag us down too.”

Brodie thought about that. “Like my mom.”

“Mine too.” He chuckled dryly. “Guess we were kids only a Gramps could love.”

She smiled briefly at the attempted humor. “Leland said he was my dad, but I knew he wasn’t.”

Bud nodded. “Your father lives in Muskegon. If you want to someday, we can go and meet him.”

Brodie didn’t answer, but a bridge officer came over just then. She did not know, at least not yet, if meeting her father was a good idea or not.

“We’re done here, Mr. Dunbar. Your friend has berthed your boat, and you can return for it whenever you’re ready. We’ve arranged for the sheriff’s department to take you home.”

“Home sounds good to us, right, Brodie?” Bud turned to look around. “Where’s Scarlet?”

“I’m here.” Seeing the look that passed between Bud and Scarlet, Brodie got a tiny glow of satisfaction. Whatever else happened, those two had gotten past what had kept them apart.

The last thoughts Seamus got from Brodie came through clearly, and he realized it was because Brodie was speaking to herself, clarifying what she had learned in the last few days.
I don’t have a DNA-type family, so I can’t make an informed decision about what that’s like. But some people are family, no matter what. Gramps was right. As usual.

Chapter Twenty-two

S
EAMUS
FOUND
M
ILLIE
at the same spot along the ship’s rail where they had first met. She turned slightly as he approached, her silver-blond hair catching the light. Seamus was unsure how to begin the conversation. For the first time in a very long while, he found himself reluctant to tell the truth.

He started instead with an update. “I talked to William Dunbar. He was shocked at Leland’s actions but satisfied that Bud is safe from prosecution.”

“Do you think he knew Bud was innocent?”

“I think he hoped that was the case. But it helps them to know for sure.”

After a pause, Millie said, “I wasn’t very good, was I?”

“There were some things you did really well,” he told her, turning so she could see the honesty in his eyes.

“And other things not so much.” She shook her head gently. “I had this picture in my mind of going back and making things right, the way I never could in life.” Mildred’s teeth caught her bottom lip briefly before she went on. “When my only son was nineteen, away at college and confused about things, he killed himself. Nobody was there to tell him the road would smooth out, you know? He must have thought life was always going to be as sad as he was at that moment.”

Seamus said nothing, aware that no words could take away that kind of pain.

Mildred passed a hand over her forehead as if attempting to banish the memory. “When I got here, I thought if I could be inside a person, I could make them see the good and get past the bad.”

“You care about people,” Seamus said. “That’s important.”

“But I push too hard.”

He shrugged. “It’s kind of a balancing act. You have to care about the case, but you can’t let yourself care too much about the people.”

“Because they’re gone so soon.” She shook her head slightly. “Or, rather, we are.” Letting out a long breath, she said, “I don’t think I could do it again.”

Seamus turned to the view outside the ship. “You don’t have to.”

“I know. I’ve already made my decision. I just wanted to—” For the first time since he met her, Seamus sensed embarrassment. “I wanted to say that I think you’re very good at your job. It was a pleasure to work with you.”

Now it was his turn to be embarrassed. “Uh, thanks, Millie—I mean, Mildred. I appreciate it.”

There was a twinkle in her eye as she answered. “I think I kind of like Millie when you say it.” Her expression changed. “Not that I’ll remember my name much longer.”

“You’re going on?”

“Yes.” She put out a hand. “So this is good-bye, I guess.”

Seamus took her hand, and in a gesture even he didn’t expect, kissed it. “You’re quite a woman, Millie.”

Mildred backed away, extending her arm until she finally had to let go of Seamus’ hand. “For a little while more,” she said softly. “After that, who knows what I will be?”

See what’s next for Seamus

in

DEAD FOR THE SHOW

Seamus takes on the case of a young woman murdered backstage at a theater in Toronto. Cassie Parker does not want Seamus’ services; in fact, she refuses to believe that she is dead. Seamus is sent to discover what happened so Cassie can be convinced she has indeed crossed over.

At the theater where Cassie designed and made costumes, currents and undercurrents surge among the colorful cast and crew. Cassie’s sister Christie is in danger, Cassie’s former boyfriend seems guilt-ridden, and there’s someone—or some
thing
—hovering on the edges, possibly watching Seamus but, like him, not exactly natural.

And don’t miss the first book of the series:

The Dead Detective Agency

Tori VanCamp wakes in a strange room with a vivid recollection of being shot. The memory is startlingly clear, but she functions normally. She finds herself on a ship but has no knowledge of how that happened, no memory of planning a cruise.

Determined to find out what’s happened and why, Tori enlists the help of an odd man named Seamus. Together they embark on an investigation that is like nothing she has ever experienced. Death is all around her, and soon, two people she cares about are prime candidates for murder.

About the Author

Peg Herring lives in Michigan and writes both historical and contemporary mysteries. When not reading or writing, Peg loves travel and directing choral music. She and her husband also garden, mostly for the benefit of elk, deer, rabbits, and birds in the area, and work to keep their century-old farmhouse from crumbling around them.

Visit her website
www.pegherring.com

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