Elizabeth Basque - Medium Mysteries 01 - Echo Park (15 page)

“I can hear your thoughts,” Michael said.

“
Sorry, I don’t mean to pry,” I said.

“
I know. This is so hard, Pauline. I feel like this is the do-or-die part, where you don’t even know if it will pan out. And if one thing goes wrong, the whole plan crumbles into dust.”

“
All the more reason for me to do my part now, Michael.”

Julie said, “I’m the only one who hasn’t helped,” she argued.

“You wrote everything down,” I reminded her. “And, you did a good job. This might make a great book someday.”

At this, Julie brightened. “You think so?”

I nodded. Julie’s face was full of gratitude.

“
Well, it’s sundown,” Mack said, his voice gruff. He wasn’t much for sentimental crap, as he called it. At least he didn’t let on. I was beginning to understand him a little better though. There was a big heart, beating or not, within the tough old guy.

“
It is, indeed,” I said. “We could wait until the witching hour, but I say, let’s get ‘er done.”

Julie and I were dressed in our new outfits, and I had to admit I felt a little more confident dressed all in black, down to my nice new black leather boots. We both had gloves, and our cool shades that we would don before meeting with our dealer boys. The sunglasses were for appearance, but the gloves would serve to ensure that we left no fingerprints.

Carla floated toward Michael. “Michael, I forgot to tell you. My haunt, CoCo, got arrested because of me, and she’s going back to prison, so it’s one down and two to go. We only have two stops tonight, instead of three.”

“
Awesome work, Carla.” Michael and Carla high-fived each other.

“
All right, everyone,” I said. “Time to go.”

“
To the Batmobile!” Mack quipped. “I’ve always wanted to say that.”

I shook my head, amused. “We have a date with Snake and JJ.”

“And Michael and Carla have a date with destiny,” Julie said.

I’d never driven with ghosts in my car. Julie rode shotgun, but the three spirits settled themselves in the back seat, eager to get going. I knew nobody else could see the ghostly crew, and I got a kick out of it. I made another mental note to myself to discover why and how some spirits were confined to buildings, and others, like these three, weren’t. And I was determined to check out more of the ghosts of Echo Park that Carla had told me about and find out why there were apparently so many, and why they
stayed
.

Michael gave me directions to Snake’s place. The plan was to pick him up and take him to JJ’s, and I was to have a serious talk with the both of them. Being haunted, no matter how scared you were, was one thing. Hearing the possible repercussions of these hauntings from a living person, such as me, was another. I only hoped it would work.

I wound my car down the sometimes tricky little streets from the top of Echo Park Hill onto Sunset Boulevard. Contrasting with my quiet nights in my apartment, these streets were still full of people who were networking, dining, and sharing coffees on the sidewalks of funky cafés that spilled music out of their open doors.

Snake’s place was on the “other side of the tracks.” It wasn’t far, though.

“Slow down,” Michael instructed. “It’s just the next apartment complex.”

I found a space just a couple of buildings down, and Julie and I exited the car the normal way, opening our doors and getting out. The other three just moved through the rear door.

Julie couldn’t see them, but I could. They sensed our unease at being in what I considered a fairly dangerous neighborhood at night in Echo Park.

“
Are they with us?” Julie whispered. Carla and Michael had taken the lead, and Mack brought up the rear. But when Carla heard this, she scampered back to us, and put her hand over Julie’s. Julie felt Carla at once, and relaxed.

I strode along the sidewalk with what I hoped portrayed confidence and assertiveness. Julie and I, for all our wardrobe efforts, looked pretty out of place here. Our new clothes helped a little, but we still stuck out like a couple of sore thumbs. If we wanted to be Neo from
The Matrix
, we had a long way to go.

Still, we had ammunition: our three spirit friends. They seemed to spread a protective presence around us. I watched as a couple of kids actually did see them. One of them watched us curiously, the other dropped her toys and ran inside her house.
Good, kids should not play outside at night anyway
.
Go to bed,
I thought.

I rapped on Snake’s door. I heard a little movement inside, but he didn’t answer my knock. I rapped again, this time louder.

“
Yo!” I called, loud enough for his neighbors to hear. I knew he wouldn’t like that. It was the first time I had ever said “yo” in my life.

He opened the door, but only as far as the chain would allow.

“Who are you?” Snake asked with narrowed eyes.

“
I’m—we’re friends.” I cursed myself for not acting tougher. “I’m someone who can help you out of the mess you’re in.” That was a little better.

“
I don’t need no help.”

“
Oh, I think you do need some help.” Julie stepped forward. “We’re here to help you with an unwanted guest.”

That caught Snake’s attention, but he was still on defense. I couldn’t see his hands, but from the other side of the door came the unmistakable click of a trigger being cocked.

Mack wasted no time. Julie and I had the wisdom to take a step back as he stuck his finger right into the light fixture in the hallway and materialized. Snake’s eyes widened as Mack moved through the closed door.

“
What the…” Snake started, but the door slammed shut.

“
Should we go in, too?” Carla asked Michael.

“
No,” I told them. “Not yet. Let Mack do his thing.”

I don’t know what Mack did or said, but not a moment later, Snake opened the door wide. Sans the gun. Mack hovered behind him, fully visible now. Julie looked up at his eyes, which were flaring mad now.

“Come on,” was all Mack said, and Snake came out into the hall and closed the door behind him.

“
What do you want?” he asked me.

“
We’re going to take you to see someone else, someone having the same troubles as you,” I explained. “And we’re all going to have a little pow-wow.”

“
Look, lady,” Snake started. “Ladies, I mean. I don’t know what this is all about, but I don’t want any trouble. Who are you, anyways?”

“
You’re not asking the questions here,” I told him. “Just come with us.”

Julie got behind him and gave him a slight shove. He wasn’t used to that, and turned on her. “Watch it,” he warned.

Then Mack floated down between the two. “Who do you want to deal with,” Mack asked, “her, or me? Do what you’re told, unless you want me to let your snake loose again, this time while you are in a drugged sleep.”

“
Leave her alone! She never hurt anyone until you upset her by letting her loose all those times. Every time I had to put her back in the cage, she got more and more upset. I’m…I’m calling around, trying to find a zoo to take her. She’s too big, but she’s a nice snake. I swear.”

Outside now, at my car, Snake got in the back seat and stayed as far from Mack as possible, cringing and clinging to the door handle. That was until Carla and Michael decided to put their hands through the car’s hood to draw power from its battery. They materialized instantly, and appeared brighter than Mack.

They wasted no time moving through the rear door, shoving Snake into the middle of the back seat. He was definitely freaked, glancing from a fierce Mack to Michael, and then Carla, who sat on Michael’s lap.

“
What’s the kid got to do with this?” Snake asked.

“
Everything
,” Carla replied.

Chapter Twenty-five

By now, Snake was scared into submission.

I refused to park in the dark alleyway, opting instead for the brightly-lit CVS drugstore parking lot about a block away. We all got out of the car. I put The Club on my steering wheel and checked all the doors to make sure they were locked.

We started down the trash-strewn alley toward JJ’s decrepit abode. When Snake realized where we were headed, he stopped abruptly.

“No way,” he said. “I know where you’re going. This guy is bad news. He’s competition, and I heard he’s in some trouble.”

“
So are you,” I quipped. I enjoyed wearing the black sunglasses at night; Snake couldn’t read my face at all. “You’ll be in deeper trouble if you don’t come along.”

Julie nodded slightly, her face deadpan.

Snake glanced behind Julie and me to see our three dead friends shoulder to shoulder, all of them with their arms crossed.

“
Shit.” Snake started walking. “I don’t know what I ever did to deserve this,” he mumbled. “And I don’t know you guys from jack. I sure as hell wish someone would tell me what’s going on.”

“
All in good time, my friend, all in good time.” It was Michael who spoke. He’d been silent the whole time, but I could tell his apprehension was growing. Would this work for him? I hoped so.

Standing outside of JJ’s side door, Mack said, “Snake, knock on the door.”

“Why me?” he asked. “JJ doesn’t even like me. We keep our distance, you know? Turf issues.”

“
Just do it,” I ordered.

Snake knocked on the door. The TV was on, but JJ asked, “Who’s there?” His voice was a bit wary.

“Snake. Open the door, man. I gotta talk to you.”

JJ was next to the door now; we could hear him clearly. “What the fuck you want, coming to my crib like this? Get the hell outta here. Crazy dumb fuck,” he added.

The ghosts had faded now, unseen. But Snake knew they were there. I could tell by the chill bumps on his arm.

“
Listen, man,” Snake pleaded, “I got these…people on my back and I have to talk to you.”

“
What people?” Paranoia quivered in JJ’s voice now.

“
Well, there’s these two ladies, I don’t know who they are or what they have to do with it, but…” Snake lowered his voice a little now, “but there’s this ghost haunting me, bro. I swear it. I…”

JJ opened the door. He saw Snake’s eyes filled with wild fear, but as soon as he spied me and Julie, he started to slam the door.

Snake shoved his foot into the doorway. “You gotta let us in,” he begged.

“
How do I know they’re not cops?” JJ spat.

“
We’re not, I assure you.” I kept my voice calm. “We have absolutely no interest in your ‘business,’ or your safety. At least, not here on Earth.”

JJ looked at me like I was crazy, but I continued, “It has come to my attention that you’ve had an unwanted visitor. I’m here to help resolve that problem.”

He still wasn’t convinced. “You da problem.”

Julie spoke up now. “Of course, if you don’t need any help with
de-haunting
your ‘crib,’ we can just be on our way.”

It was at this moment that Mack, Carla and Michael chose to appear behind us. JJ’s eyes bulged, and he let go of the doorknob. Julie gave Snake a push and he entered the place; she and I followed. Behind us, the three spirits floated in. The door slammed hard. Mack locked it and grinned wickedly.

“Shit, shit, shit!” JJ backed up to the other end of the garage, tripping over an unused set of weights. Carla, Mack and Michael hovered menacingly over him.

“
You,” he pointed to Michael. “What the hell do you want with me anyway? I said I was sorry!”

Michael gestured to Carla. “Recognize her?” he demanded.

JJ didn’t move, but his gaze shifted to the girl. “I remember you. And your mom.”

We could hear those wheels turning inside JJ’s fuzzy head as it started to make a little bit of sense.

“You’re the girl that Michael smoked,” JJ said. He took in the blood on her shirt, saw the gunshot wound. He was still lying on the floor, but now, he got up.

“
I am,” Carla said simply. “And you don’t even care.”

“
Of course I do,” he countered. “I’m sorry as hell. But in this line of business, you know, shit happens.”

That pissed Julie off. “Maybe to her mother,” she said as she moved closer. I could see Julie shaking with rage. Rage for the loss of her friend’s life, which didn’t seem to mean anything to anyone. Except the five of us, of course. “But nothing should have happened to Carla. You didn’t even know her name, did you? She never deserved any of this.”

“Well, I didn’t even smoke her,” JJ protested. “It was him!” He pointed a finger at Michael.

“
But you made him do it,” I said. “You threatened him. He’s just a kid himself. Or was, anyway. And look at him now. Do you see how he died?”