The rest of that night is pretty fuzzy. Caleb took both of us back to Quinn’s loft, and if he was surprised by the elephants, he kept his opinion to himself. He made us coffee and soup, too, got us settled and left us, and Quinn and I fell into bed together and slept the sleep of the dead.
The next day was Friday and I called in sick because, really, how was I supposed to explain the cuts and the bruises and the black eye? For the first time ever in his brilliant career, Quinn called off, too, and we spent that day and the rest of the weekend tossing out elephants, holding each other, and climbing into bed more than a few times and making love in spite of all our aches and pains.
As for bringing McClure’s murderer to justice … well, there were plenty of ethical questions involved and we talked about them and came up with the only solution that seemed right. The murder weapon Al Capone had Quinn steal to hamper the investigation and buy time so he could find the ashes? We wiped it clean of fingerprints – Wally’s and Quinn’s – and deep-sixed it in the lake. Yeah, yeah, I know, not exactly the way a cop should handle evidence, but let’s face it, there was no way either one of us wanted to see Wally take the rap for a crime committed by Al Capone. It wasn’t Wally’s fault he’d killed McClure – he’d been possessed at the time – and it sure wasn’t Quinn’s fault that he snatched up that pen holder and stashed it where no one could find it.
And that old beer bottle that started all the trouble in the first place?
Funny, but as soon as Al Capone swooped inside me (which wasn’t all that funny, and I’m not going to think about it because when I do I get queasy), I understood that piece of the puzzle perfectly.
See, thanks to that spell Ness had cast at Capone’s grave, the gangster’s spirit couldn’t just come and go like so many ghosts do. That’s where Dean McClure came in. Weak mind, weak will, and the only way Capone could ever escape was with the help of a living person. McClure was the perfect patsy, and it had cost him his life.
Capone convinced McClure to cork up his spirit in the bottle and bring it to Cleveland because, remember, I’m the talk of the Other Side, and Capone knew if anyone was going to be in touch with Eliot Ness, it would be me. Capone was the one who made that bottle jump in Quinn’s hand so it would fall and break and he could be free, and he was the one (the bastard!) who possessed Quinn and had him take the pieces of the bottle from the Garden View trash. He thought the less I knew about the bottle, the longer it would take me to figure things out.
That ought to teach him!
Or at least it would have if I hadn’t consigned him to the deepest reaches of nowhere.
Nothing can keep a good PI to the dead down. Not when the hearts and souls of the people she loves (well, except for Wally, but hey, even a curmudgeon doesn’t deserve what happened to Wally) are at stake.
I guess that means in the great scheme of things, Justice was served in its own, weird way. As I was learning each day I dealt with my Gift, the world isn’t as black-and-white as it is gray. At least Wally, crabby but innocent, didn’t go to jail and, just for the record, neither did Cindy McClure. The guy she was messing around with provided her an alibi that Quinn was only too happy to accept.
Not a perfect solution, but then, what is? In spite of it all, we both came to realize what really mattered – Quinn was grateful I’d saved his life. I was grateful he was part of mine.
And glad when the last elephant was in a big, black trash bag and down in the dumpster.
By Monday morning, I was able to cover up most of the damage with makeup, but I wasn’t taking any chances. I told Ella I had a mild case of pink eye, and I wore sunglasses in the office and kept the lights turned off, and when Ella was busy in some bigshot board meeting and I knew she wouldn’t corner me and ask where I was going, I slipped outside. It was a beautiful afternoon and, even though I hadn’t planned it, I wasn’t surprised when I realized I was headed to the Ness monument. I parked my car and found the G-man near his granite marker.
‘I’m heading out,’ he said, glancing around to drink in the scenery. The cherry trees were in flower and, all around us, daffodils bloomed and dipped their heads in a gentle breeze. ‘It’s time.’
‘Who would have guessed that Al Capone was going to be the one who made it all possible!’ Yeah, it was warm and the sun was shining and the clouds were so white and puffy, they reminded me of a kid’s drawing. I still shivered. I knew it would take me a long time before I could think about Ness and Capone without reliving the horror of their final confrontation.
‘I appreciate your help, kid,’ Ness said.
‘Hey, no problem.’ Of course, that wasn’t true, but it sounded good and softened the hard edges of our goodbyes. Sure, ghosts are a pain in the tushy, but when they leave … well, when they leave, I always feel all warm and fuzzy.
‘He’s a good man.’ Ness looked past me and down the road and I recognized the car coming our way as Quinn’s. ‘I could have used him back in the day. It’s important to hang on to a good cop.’
The words hit a spot that still ached from a punch thrown by Ness, and I turned away for a second and watched Quinn slow down and park the car.
‘So—’ I turned to Eliot Ness.
But he was gone.
‘Thought I’d find you out here.’ Quinn brushed a gentle kiss against my cheek right below a spot that was cut and scraped from when his fist had connected.
‘Hiding out from Ella,’ I admitted. ‘And saying goodbye to Ness.’
Quinn glanced around. ‘He’s gone?’
‘For good, I think. He’s finally getting the rest he deserves.’
‘And I’m finally getting …’ How many times have I said how cool and collected Quinn is? I guess that’s why seeing a splash of color in his cheeks made a little kerthump start up inside my aching ribs.
He stuck a hand into his pocket and pulled out a small blue box. ‘I wanted to do this over the weekend,’ he said. ‘But we both just needed a little quiet time, and I didn’t want you to feel as if you had to do anything you don’t want to do.’
I thought back to how it felt to have Al Capone’s spirit snaking through my insides.
I looked at the little box Quinn bobbled in one hand.
‘You know me better than that,’ I told him. ‘I don’t do things I don’t want to do.’
‘That’s for sure.’ His smile was tender. ‘And I’ve been putting off something I’ve been wanting to do for too long. Pepper …’ I actually thought he was going to get down on one knee, but one look at the ground that had been churned up when Al Capone had departed his body and left him crumpled against the Ness marker and Quinn changed his mind. Instead, he took my hand. ‘Pepper Martin, will you marry me?’
Ignoring the bruises on his hands and my scraped knuckles, I wound my fingers through his and held on tight. But then, I pretty much had no choice when my world was about to tip and the universe was about to change forever.
I sucked in a breath and looked into Quinn’s eyes. ‘No.’
He thought I was kidding. Which would explain the dumbfounded half-smile. ‘That’s not what you’re supposed to say.’
‘I know what I’m supposed to say.’ If I kept looking into those amazing green eyes of his, I couldn’t do what I knew I had to do, so I dropped his hand and turned away. From this angle, I could see the lake where I’d first met Eliot Ness, and the marker where I’d found Quinn on that foggy night that I thought I’d lost him forever.
I took a deep breath and turned back around. ‘I wasn’t bullshitting Al Capone. I love you, Quinn. More than anybody. Ever. That’s why I can’t marry you.’
He hadn’t looked that surprised even back at the Van Sweringen apartment when I gave him a right cross to the jaw. ‘This is some kind of crazy joke, right?’
‘It’s not. It’s …’ I refused to cry. ‘What happened the other night,’ I said instead, ‘that was because of me. Because of my Gift. I can’t … I won’t let it happen again. I can’t let the people I love be put in danger because of me.’
‘Danger?’ His face twisted like he’d been sucker punched. ‘You’re forgetting what I do for a living.’
‘That’s different,’ I told him. ‘It’s what you’re trained to do. What you’re paid to do. And you’re really, really good at it. But there’s no training that’s ever going to prepare either one of us for the kind of trouble I have to deal with. When Capone took over your body, I was scared to death. But not nearly as scared as I was when I almost killed you. I can’t let that happen. I won’t.’ I lifted my chin because I either had to act like my heart wasn’t breaking into a million pieces or I was going to collapse right then and there. ‘I’m glad we had the weekend together,’ I told him. ‘We needed the healing. And you …’ I laughed and sniffled at the same time. ‘You needed help tossing all those elephants.’ I kissed his cheek. Quick. So I couldn’t change my mind.
‘Goodbye, Quinn.’
The next few weeks went by in a fog. Mom came with me when I returned all the pre-engagement pre-shower shower gifts, and though I told her that Quinn and I were through, I never did reveal that he’d actually bought a ring and that I’d never even taken a look at it.
There is only so much a woman itching to be the mother of the bride can take.
I slogged through my duties at Garden View, and the good news is that except for Chet and Jean and Albert, the dead-but-not-gone left me alone. By the time June rolled around and the weather heated up, I was to the point of hoping my Gift was just as dead and gone as my clients had always been and I could settle down to a nice, normal life.
Maybe my mother was right (and don’t tell her I said that or I’ll never hear the end of it!). Maybe Mom and Dad and I should go into the private eye business together. Maybe then I’d be so busy tailing unfaithful spouses and checking out peoples’ backgrounds, I wouldn’t have time to get involved with things that go bump in the night.
White collar crime.
Vandalism.
Lost pets.
It all sounded wonderfully boring, and boring was exactly what I was thinking about when I dragged into my apartment after another long day at the cemetery, tossed my purse down, and flopped onto the couch.
That’s when my TV flickered on.
Strange, because I hadn’t touched the remote.
And stranger still when the first thing I saw on the screen was Caleb.
I sat up like a shot. The show was Jeopardy and he was a contestant! Not only that, but the lighted board in front of him showed that he had a grand total of nearly eighty thousand dollars of winnings, far more than either of the other two contestants.
It was late, and the show was almost over and the contestants were just giving their final answers. The category: the periodic table, and the clue was ‘The chemical element that has the shortest name.’
Some time while I was staring at the screen, in wonder, the other contestants answered. Since Caleb was winning (by a lot), he had the final turn.
The camera zoomed in on him and on the question he’d written in bold, heavy letters:
‘Did I tell you my parents were vampires?’
I was as stunned as the show’s host. Which is why I didn’t even think not to answer my phone when it rang. I didn’t need to look at the caller ID, either.
‘You said you were always right,’ I told Caleb.
‘Yeah, well …’ His laughter was soft and low. ‘Figured you wouldn’t pay it no mind if I answered like I was supposed to answer. You haven’t been picking up your phone or answering any of the messages I left you. How else was I supposed to get your attention?’
‘By telling me your parents are vampires on national television? Weren’t you afraid of looking stupid and losing all that money?’
‘Anything for you!’ His laughter settled. ‘So now that you’re finally listening—’
I really wasn’t. Because I blurted out, ‘And when did you go on Jeopardy, anyway? And how can you be calling me when …’ I watched him on the TV screen and wondered why he was smiling.
‘It don’ madda, cher! The show is taped. But what really matters is that my momma and daddy, they’re in boo-coo trouble and they need our help.’
‘Your parents, the vampires.’
Of course I couldn’t see Caleb. So why did I picture him giving me a wink? ‘I’ll pick you up at eight. Pack light. It’s hot in N’Orleans this time of year.’
‘I’m not going to New Orleans.’
‘No worries, sugar, I’ll take care of all the expenses. I won a bundle, and I might as well spend some of it.’
‘But your answer was wrong!’
‘You don’t think I bet the whole wad and lost it all, do you? I wanted to get your attention, cher, but I didn’t want to get it that bad.’
‘But—’ I wasn’t sure why I even tried to protest, he’d already ended the call.
And me?
I thought about the boredom of unfaithful spouses and lost pets, and a life free of woo-woo.
And I went to pack my bags.