Ghost Mortem (Ghost Detective #1) - Jane Hinchey Page 0,40

Ben's business, of seeing myself as a super sleuth private investigator. But now I may have just put a massive target on my back.

"I'm telling you this so you can take precautions. Be mindful of your own safety. There's no reason to think that you're next."

I nodded. Heaven help us all if this got me killed, I'd be really pissed with him.

Ben returned with a gust of arctic air. "That's odd," he commented.

Galloway was at the sink rinsing his cup so I mouthed the word "Oh?" to Ben while jerking my head toward the detective.

Ben gave Galloway a glance and then slid onto the barstool the other man had recently vacated. "I couldn't get into Ethel's house," he answered.

"What?" That got my attention. Ben could move through walls—how could he not get into her house?

"What?" Galloway said over his shoulder. "Did you say something?" Turning off the tap, he grabbed a tea towel and dried off his cup before returning it to its rightful place—the cupboard above the coffee machine. God, he was even house trained. He'd be perfect if it weren't for that one major defect. He was a cop. I sighed wistfully. Such a waste.

"Audrey?" he prompted when I didn't reply and I suspected I was eyeballing him with a rather dreamy expression on my face, for that grin was back, the one with the endearing dimple that was oh, so distracting.

"Nope, didn't say a word," I lied. Lies were falling thick and fast from my lips these days and I wondered if I should be worried about that. After all, we grow up being told lying is bad, yet here I was, dispensing them like candy on Halloween. For the greater good, I assured myself.

"I wonder where you go," Galloway said, more to himself than me.

"Hmmmm?" I arched a brow, still half lost in thought.

His grin widened, showing even, white teeth. He had very nice teeth I noticed, running my tongue over my own. My bottom teeth were crooked and I'd thought about having work done to straighten them, but all of that cost money that I didn't have. Correction, money that I didn't used to have. But now I did. Maybe I should make an appointment with my dentist.

"In that head of yours. I wonder where you go. You drift off, your mind miles away." He'd folded his arms across his chest and leaned back against the kitchen cupboard looking all sexy cowboy—minus the hat—and hot detective. My ovaries were having a hard time keeping their minds on the job—and that was finding Ben's killer. The mental reminder was enough to snap me out of my fantasizing.

15

I was keen to get started on my PI school application, but two things happened. My phone rang and so did Galloway's.

Peering through the crack on the screen, I sighed. I couldn't ignore this one.

"Mom!" I answered, hearing Galloway barking into his own phone, clearly not happy with whoever was on the other end.

"Audrey, love, how are you?" Mom's voice was all sympathy and warm hugs and I sagged a little, a sudden yearning to be wrapped in her arms, to rest my head on her shoulder.

"I'm okay," I said. And I was. Sort of. I didn't know how I'd be coping if Ben weren’t around in ghost form, but I was adjusting reasonably fast to my new normal. Of course, I couldn't tell her that.

"Darling, you don't have to lie to me. I'm your mother. And Ben was your best friend. Gosh, I can't remember a time when the two of you weren't joined at the hip." She went off on a trip down memory lane and I smiled, my eyes misty. Ben and I sure had racked up a lot of memories. I tuned back in, catching the tail end. "...need help with?"

I looked around at the mess the police had left Ben's house in and on a whim suggested a cleaning party.

"We can certainly do that," Mom agreed and I realized she was grieving too. Ben was another son to her. And having something tangible to do helped.

"Remember, Mom, earth-friendly products. Actually Ben probably has everything he needs here."

"Here? You're at Ben's house?"

"Oh, yeah. Sorry, I should've called you, but it's been hectic. Ben left me everything in his will. His lawyer called me into his office today."

"Oh!" It was one of those things that came as a shock, but then when you took a minute and thought about it, it made perfect sense. Which was exactly