The Grey Tier (29 page)

Chapter Forty-Two

JANIS-AS-EVIE WAS on my couch, crawling all over Joshua, who looked a bit uncomfortable but also happy. I cleared my throat. Of course Joshua couldn’t hear me, but Janis could.

Bob laughed. “Oh boy. Well, doan say I didn’t warn you.”

“You think?” I stepped forward and cleared my throat again. “Janis!”

She turned around, a look of disappointment darting across her face. “Well, shit,” she said.

“What?” Joshua asked.

“Get off of him, now, and switch back.” I crossed my arms in front of my chest as authoritatively as possible in an effort to keep myself from strangling her. Not that it would have done a lot good, since she was dead already. “I am so angry with you!” Never thought I would be saying that to Janis Joplin, but I guess there’s a first time for everything.

She glanced sheepishly at me and mouthed, “I’m sorry.” Then glanced back over at Joshua. “I’m thirsty, you?” she asked.

He nodded, seeming rather dazed. “Yeah. Uh. Do you have any beer?”

“You got it.” She winked at him and stood up, her hips swaying in a way they have never ever swayed when I was “in residence.” She sashayed into the kitchen and I turned to follow, but not before I saw Joshua’s eyes focus in on my retreating rear. Oh hell.

Once we were in the safety of the kitchen I hissed, “What are you doing?” Never mind there was no point whispering because Joshua couldn’t hear me.

Janis leaned back into the counter, looking a lot more relaxed than I felt the situation warranted. “I was only having fun, and your boyfriend didn’t seem to mind one bit.”

“He’s not my boyfriend!” I said.

She laughed, low and throaty. “He might be now.”

This was
so
not happening. “What did you do with him?”

“Lighten up,” she said, turning to the fridge to grab three beers. “Your generation is so fucking uptight. Mellow out.” She reached around me for the bottle opener, popped the tops, and took a long, deep drink out of one of the bottles. “Ahhh. How I’ve missed beer.” She nodded towards the other two bottles. “These are for you and lover boy out there. You look like you could use a drink.”

Bob strolled into the kitchen, humming. “C’mon, J. We need to be leavin our girl alone. She had enough of our kind tonight.”

Janis sighed and then drew my feather out of her (my) back pocket. I unstrapped her guitar from my back and handed it over. “Been fun,” she said. She started singing
“
Piece of My Heart,” and I joined in quietly. Janis shot me a frustrated look. “No girl, you gotta sing.”

I belted out the song, and suddenly that warm feeling came over me. Then I was back in my body, and Janis and Bob had disappeared. I grabbed the two open beers and turned to leave the kitchen, almost bumping into Joshua who stood just a few inches behind me. He looked very confused and not a little surprised.

“Whoa, Evie, was that you? You sounded almost
exactly
like Janis Joplin for a minute. My mom used to play her stuff all the time when I was a kid. I had no idea you had that kind of range! I mean, you’ve got a great voice as it is but that was pretty remarkable.”

“Yeah.” I handed one of the beers to him and took a long drink out of the other. We needed to drink these, fast, and I had to get him out of my place ASAP. I needed to think and process. What was he doing here anyway? It was after midnight!

“Look, uh, I am really sorry for being so . . . grabby.” Awkward.

He blushed, smiling. “I’m not. I mean it’s not like anything happened between us. What are you sorry for?”

“I, well . . .” I took another sip of my liquid courage. “I’m not usually so assertive and I don’t know what got into me.”

He took a drink. “Honestly, I didn’t mind the climbing, and you’ve been pretty stressed out lately. I think you’re entitled to let loose once in a while.”

“Yes.” I nodded. “And it probably didn’t help that I took an Ambien before you arrived.” Lying might be a sin, but it seemed like I was a natural at it. “I’ve been feeling loopy for the past hour or two. Anyway . . . You know what that famous golfer claimed Ambien did to him! Can’t think of his name now, but made him a sex addict.” Oh such the wrong thing to say! I took another sip of my beer. “I promise you as my boss and my friend that will never happen again.”

Joshua reached out and took the beer out of my hand. “First of all, beer and Ambien do not mix. I’d say you’ve had enough, sweetheart.” He set the bottle down on the counter and turned back to me. “Secondly, nothing happened. Remember? You dropped an earring behind the couch and when you went to look for it, you kind of stumbled and wound up in my lap. I wasn’t thinking you were going all Tiger on me.” He winked.

Seriously? Janis needed to update her moves. I mean, how obvious was that? Either Joshua was super naïve, or he was letting me off easy.

“Right.” I feigned a deep yawn. “You know, I am kind of tired from that sleeping pill. Shall we call it a night?”

Joshua ran his hands through his hair. “Oh yeah, sure. Like I told you when I dropped in, I was only checking on you. You seemed pretty distracted tonight, so I called when I was closing and you didn’t answer. I know it was late, but I was just worried.”

I nodded, smiling up at him. “That’s so nice of you, Joshua! I really appreciate it. I guess I have been a little distracted. And I’m sorry I didn’t answer my phone. I didn’t hear it.”

“No worries at all. It
was
late. I’m sorry if I bothered you.” He gave me a quick hug. “See you at work!”

I walked him to the front door and waved goodbye as he slowly walked down the driveway to his car parked on the other side of the gate. I locked the doors behind me and called out for Cass who had gone into hiding along with Mac. She eventually crawled out of wherever she’d hidden herself and gave me a long, appraising look.

“Crazy night,” I said.

Her eyes widened and then she wagged her tail. I figured she was glad to have me back to normal again.

I gave her a quick kiss on the top of her head. “You are so smart, and I am so not.”

We traipsed back to my room where I fell onto my bed next to a dozing Mac. I wanted badly to close my eyes and go to sleep, but I couldn’t. All I could think about was Jackson’s review and the image of that man who pushed him into the pool, the same man I’d seen in that awful dream. Clearly he was part of the Asat, a spirit from the Black Tier. Had my so-called dream been real? If he could kill Jackson on my property, what was stopping him from coming into my house?

I reached over to scratch Cass’s fur. I reminded myself Lucas said there was a protective barrier around the house, but for some reason, it wasn’t making me feel all that safe.

I tried hard to think of nice things—the ocean, butterflies, hummingbirds (which I really like), cheesecake—and I finally drifted off to sleep. But those sweet visions didn’t stick around for long. They were soon replaced by images of spirits dressed in grey, and jaguars . . . and Joshua. But Lucas remained absent that night from my bedroom and my dreams.

Chapter Forty-Three

MY BRAIN WAS ON OVERDRIVE the next day. To sum it up . . .

. . . I was having sex with a spirit, after being raised in a pretty hardcore Christian home . . .

. . . I’d gone to the “other side” to see a man who’d been murdered in my pool and, without mincing words, ended up with a one-way ticket to hell . . .

. . . My day boss was a pop star who I had become friends with . . .

. . . My previous evening boss had been murdered and everyone around me seemed to be a possible suspect . . .

. . . My new boss—the old boss’s long-lost son . . . I think—was easy on the eyes and kind hearted but . . .

. . . his mom was a major beyotch who had accidentally killed a famous movie star . . .

. . . And lest I forget, not a day went by that I didn’t think about my big sister who’d been missing for over sixteen years.

Oh yeah, and famous dead people visited me frequently, including pervy spirits from the dark side who wanted to nab my soul because I had the gift of healing thanks to some eagle feathers I’d found on the ground near the location where my sister had been abducted.

Well, at least I couldn’t ever say my life was boring.

After a little more feeling sorry for myself, I got dressed, brewed some coffee, and sat down to have breakfast while pondering all I’d discovered in the last few days. I got out a clean sheet of paper and started making a list. Cass was under my chair and Mac had remained in bed.

First I reread Jackson’s article, having found it online. He’d obviously been there the day Nick had been murdered. He could have come back to the bar and killed Nick after their fight. But I’m pretty sure that would have been part of Jackson’s review. Not, of course, that he needed more reasons to go to the Black Tier.

Obviously, Jackson was mentally unstable. But did that mean his entire article was bogus, the fantasy of a delusional young man with a bone to pick? I wasn’t so sure about that. He’d skewed things, for sure. I mean, I believed Joshua when he explained about the guy he killed and his subsequent jail time. And knowing Joshua as I did, I couldn’t fathom that he and Becky had been in cahoots and murdered Nick for his assets. That said, Becky was turning out to be a real piece of work and could have very likely offed Nick herself.

What if, after Nick and Jackson argued, Becky came in, caught him by surprise, and killed him? If Joshua was really Roger’s son, Becky might have felt desperate enough to kill Nick in order to provide for her son and convince him to return home. And with Nick dead, there’d be no one to contest her claim that he was Joshua’s father. Nick could have been weak and dazed from the fight with Jackson and not able to defend himself. But as much as I didn’t care for Becky, I still couldn’t quite see it.

Candace was still on my list. She had old resentments, and alcohol can make people do crazy things. A memory could have triggered her, especially with Becky showing up on the scene. Maybe.

Pietro and George. That one just seemed too neat. Too much motive, and easy for the cops to place blame. They were bad guys, no doubt, but had they murdered Nick? I really did not think so. Even though I didn’t doubt that they would have murdered me.

Simone and Dwight. Dwight maybe, but Simone was insistent I was being paranoid, and I think she had something there. There was still something about Dwight, though, that bothered me. I knew if I wanted to get any answers from him, the only way would be to touch him.

Bradley Verne? He was a nice guy who appeared to think the world of Nick. But his dependency on Raquela was a little over the top. Could his childhood jealousy of his father’s love for Nick cause him to go over the edge? And was there any truth to what Jackson mentioned in his article about bankruptcy?

Last on my list, but not least, was Mumbles. Frankly, I could never picture him hurting a fly. Then again, isn’t that what they always say when the next-door neighbor goes postal? Hmmm.

I decided there were a few things to be done. First, I needed to confront Becky about Roger Hawks. Then I needed to do the same with Candace about her past and lay it on the line. After that, I needed to find out if Bradley Verne had filed bankruptcy. As for Dwight, he’d likely accompany Simone to our meeting at the bar this evening. So touching him was key. As for Mumbles . . . I wasn’t certain.

I was determined and, yes, a bit obsessed at this point. But I felt very, very close to solving the mystery of Nick’s murder. It was time to catch a killer!