Werewolf Upstairs (24 page)

Roz smiled. “That’s my guy…or werewolf or…whatever.” Her expression turned serious again. “Are you sure I’m not going to be in danger if he shifts when he’s with me?”

“What did he tell you?”

“He said he’d never attack me, that a werewolf will protect the pack, especially his mate and pups, over all others.” She shook her head. “I still can’t get used to the idea of calling children
pups
!”

Morgaine raised her eyebrows. “Are you saying you might give birth to a litter of wolves?”

Roz let out a howl of laughter. “No. He was human until about age ten, when he was bitten, and unless the children are turned, they’ll stay human.”

“Whew! That must be a relief.”

“Yeah, somehow we’ll make this work…if I can keep him out of jail.”

“Then we need to talk to Reginald and get him to admit to planting false evidence. I’m still not sure how we’re going to get Chad to the museum.”

“Okay, let’s figure out a way.”

“Chad said we might be able to shield him from the wind. What if we make sort of a ‘bat wing’ thing,” Morgaine suggested. “If we wrap our arms around each other’s waists and hold our coats open on either side, we should be able to create a fairly wide shield. If I can close my eyes and let you lead, it might help me, too.”

“
It figures you’d think of bat wings,
”
Chad said. “
Let’s try it.
”

The two women put their arms around each other’s waists and shimmied sideways across the bridge.

Roz glanced over at Morgaine. Her eyes were squeezed shut.

“I feel pretty foolish doing this, don’t you?”

Roz laughed. “Not really. There’s an art school on the other side of this bridge. You wouldn’t believe some of the strange things I’ve seen happen here.”

“Like what?”

Roz grinned. “Streaking, bed races, rainbow parades that had nothing to do with gay rights…”

The two women chuckled and continued to shuffle across the bridge side by side. “Are you still with us, Chad?” Morgaine asked.

“
I’m here. Oh, shit. Here comes a truck, stay as close together as you possibly—
”

Morgaine stopped.

Roz took a step without her. “What’s wrong?”

Morgaine paused. “Chad?” When he didn’t answer, she called out louder. “Chad?”

Roz stared at her wide-eyed. “Oh, no. Is he—?”

Morgaine let out one final cry, “Chad? Where are you, God damn it? If you’re playing some kind of game—”

Silence.

“Shit. We lost him.” Morgaine wailed and tossed her free hand in the air. “Now what?”

“Let’s keep going.”

Morgaine swallowed hard. Roz was right. She couldn’t stay there. “Hopefully Chad will meet us at the museum, and if not, I’ll try to talk to Reginald myself. I just don’t know if I can persuade him to change his story.”

Morgaine and Roz resumed a more natural pose, as long as Roz’s arm around Morgaine’s waist was considered natural. With Morgaine’s eyes closed, the two women walked next to each other over the rest of the bridge. Morgaine opened her eyes and continued along the sidewalk toward the Fenway.

“What made Chad think he could get the other ghost to recant?”

“You know what karma is, don’t you?”

Roz nodded.

“It exists on the other side too. Chad thinks he’s improved his karma since he stopped driving tenants out of the building. He hopes to transcend this plane and go to a higher one as soon as the powers that be notice.”

“And he thinks Reginald will want to do that too?”

“He claims that without someone to talk to, being trapped on this plane is sheer torture. He used to amuse himself with pranks on the residents, but we figured out that his behavior was probably the thing holding him back.

“Joe Murphy solved his murder case, so his unfinished business was finally finished. Unfortunately he still didn’t see any beam of light or porthole or anything to indicate he was welcome to transcend, so he made an excuse to stay around, saying he wanted to know how karma paid back his murderers. The truth is, it’s his own karma that’s in trouble. He can’t transcend, even though he wants to.”

“That’s terrible. So he’s cleaning up his act?”

“He’s trying to. He’s been such a smartass for so long, I don’t expect miracles overnight.”

Roz kept walking. “At least he has you to talk to. If Reginald hasn’t had anyone to communicate with for all these years, he’s probably losing it.”

“That’s what Chad thought. I mentioned there was something ‘off’ about his energy and that he reminded me of Chad when I first moved into the building, before we discovered we could talk to each other.”

“So Chad was losing it before he had you to talk to?”

“Yeah. He was going stark, raving bananas. You’d think Reginald would be nicer to me when I show up to talk to him, but maybe he knows it won’t last.”

“That could make him feel even worse, having a taste of companionship but knowing it will end as soon as the case is closed. Now it makes sense that he’d give false clues. Anything to keep you there.”

“I know. If only I could find someone to talk to him on a regular basis.”

“Why not you?”

Morgaine waved away the question. “If it weren’t for the money…I have to make a living. Something tells me the museum won’t hire me to chat up its disgruntled ghost.”

Roz made a “Hmmm” noise as if thinking of a plan.

Morgaine remained quiet. Maybe the smart lawyer could come up with a solution if she let her mull it over.

***

“Reginald, please listen to me. I’m a lawyer, and seeing justice done is my job.”

Reginald regarded the two women while one tried to reason with him and the other acted as his mouthpiece.

He had nothing to lose. What if he
did
plant the hairs and lie about it? The police couldn’t lock him up for falsifying evidence or perjury. He was already in his prison and had been there for decades. The curvy young woman with the brown and blonde strange hair could go pound sand.

“
I’ve done nothing of the kind. I merely reported what I saw.
”
Hearing his words come from a woman’s mouth was still bizarre, but at least he finally had a voice.

“You saw Konrad take the guards to the basement and duct tape them almost twenty years ago?”

“
No, I didn’t say that. I said they missed a piece of evidence, and I told Morgaine where to find it.
”

The lawyer shook her head and looked disgusted. “Morgaine told me what our friend, Chad, was going to tell you before he got—uh, waylaid.”

“
Yes, about that. What detained your ghost? Why didn’t he come with you?
”

“I’ll let him explain when he gets here,” Roz said. “Meanwhile your testimony, which can only be considered hearsay, is causing an innocent man major problems. I think you should recant.”

“
And I think you should lose a few pounds.
”

Roz balled her fists and her face turned red, but before she came up with a retort, Reginald sensed another presence.

“
Is someone else here?
”

“
Yeah, hello, bonehead. My name is Chad, and I have a message for you.
”

“
Bonehead?
”

“
It’s a modern expression meaning idiot, moron, a person who’s stupid beyond belief.
”

“
Oh?
”
Reginald was highly offended, but decided to play it cool. Perhaps the fellow was trying to get him so riled that he’d blurt out the truth. Well, he wouldn’t let that happen.

The medium continued to speak for him, but apparently the other spirit preferred she didn’t.

He said, “
Morgaine, do you think you could give us a few minutes of silence to speak ghost to ghost?
”

Morgaine nodded, opened her eyes, and came out of her trance.

“
Yeah, listen up dude. Konrad is kind and decent. He hasn’t done anything to deserve this frame job. And you’re an ass for not only trying to ruin his life, but your afterlife too.
”

“
What are you talking about? What more can happen to me?
”
Was it possible this other spirit knew something about the afterlife? Reginald had been stuck for eighty-something years, and no heaven or hell had opened its gates to claim him. At this point, he didn’t care which. Any change would be welcome.

The other spirit sighed. Reginald didn’t know why he couldn’t see him. He wished he could. It would be nice to know what kind of man he was dealing with.

Chad continued.
“
Do you know what karma is? I doubt you do, or you’d realize how messed up yours is.
”

“
Karma is a term I’m familiar with, although it has to do with an Eastern religion, and I fail to see what difference—
”

“
That’s because you’re a dumb ass.
”

All this name-calling was getting ugly. Reginald liked having someone to talk to, and he’d thought communicating with another spirit would be a special treat, but not this one. “
Now see here—
”

“
No,
you
see. You’ll never get to the other side if you keep pulling this kind of crap.
”

“
What other side? What do you know about it, and if that’s where we’re supposed to be, why are you still here?
”

“
I thought it was because of unfinished business, but once my murder had been solved and I still didn’t move on, I realized it had to be more than that.
”

“
And have you deduced what that additional criterion might be?
”

“
I knew enough to realize I was losing my shit. I had gone a little nuts from being alone so long. I took it out on the residents of my building, simply because I was bored.
”

“
How so?
”

“
I learned to move objects with my mind. It’s called telekinesis. I had an obnoxious sense of humor and redirected moving objects to hit someone in the eye or set up an obstacle course so I could laugh my ass off when they tripped. And then Morgaine talked to me, and I slowly came to realize what I had been doing.
”

“
What? Enjoying yourself?
”

“
That’s what I used to think. Now I know I had been lengthening my time here in purgatory.
”

Reginald snapped to attention. “
Purgatory? This is purgatory?
”

“
Either that or limbo. Whatever you call it, we ain’t here, and we ain’t there. We’re trapped because we can’t go back, and we’re not welcome wherever we were headed, yet.
”

“
I see.
”
The rude spirit made sense. “
And if I continue along this path, I’ll stay here forever?
”

“
I guess so. I don’t know if there’s someplace worse you could go or not. Looking around, I can see you have some pretty groovy digs. You might not want to downgrade.
”

“
Hmmm…I’ll have to think about whatever you just said.
”

“
I said—
”

“
Never mind, I understood you well enough.
”

“
So you’ll give the ladies a statement of retraction?
”

“
Certainly not. I said what I said because I saw what I saw and heard what I heard.
”

“
You’re a friggin’ piece of work, you know that?
”

“
I know nothing of the kind. And I imagine you know nothing about the afterlife. Unless you’ve been there and back, everything you say is just theory.
”

Chad blew out a deep breath of exasperation. “
I can’t think of a better explanation, can you?
”

“
I’ll admit I’ve been puzzled about why I’m still here, but I don’t have the answer, and I’m sorry to say this, but neither do you.
”

***

Konrad sat on his sofa with Roz and played with her cute new haircut. “You couldn’t get Reginald to admit he lied?”

“I’m afraid not,” Roz said. Her shoulders sagged. “Chad is staying for a while, hoping to wear him down.”

“That’s surprisingly decent of him.” He stretched. “I have a little good news. I was able to rebook our photography class date. We can start this week.”

“Oh, by the way, I thought of another career that might be fun. It’s not something we can try on a date, though.”

“Really? What is it?”

“Hairstylist. I spoke to the instructor at the school where I got my hair cut, and she said training was less than a year and the job prospects in urban areas look good.”

“It might be fun for you, but I can’t see these big meaty hands of mine doing something that requires that much dexterity.”

“Hmm…I guess you have a point. But maybe I could go for hairdressing, you could go for management, and then we could buy a trendy salon.”

“With what?”

Roz grimaced. “Oh, yeah. I forgot about the hefty down payment on a mortgage like that.”