Ghost Mortem (Ghost Detective #1) - Jane Hinchey Page 0,69

their bags and saluted farewell to me. "Take care, Audrey. Try and stay away from crazy pants old ladies, huh?"

"No promises." I grinned, giving them a wave, then I turned my attention to Galloway. "Okay, I know you're going to want me to come into the station and give a statement, and you're going to want a DNA sample because it's my blood on the knife, and my fingerprints and all of that stuff," I began, "but can I just pop home for a minute first? I could really use the bathroom and to freshen up."

He frowned. "Everything okay?"

"Yup." I nodded. Then I felt it. The first gurgling’s. Placing my hand over my belly I smiled sweetly. "All good." I had to get home. Fast. Pushing past Galloway I called out over my shoulder, "I'm fine, I promise. I'll just freshen up and then come down to the station. I'll see you there." With a wave, I was gone. Out the front door that hung off its hinges, across the lawn, up Ben's driveway where Ben and Thor were waiting for me.

"God, Audrey, are you okay? You're hurt! What happened?" Ben floated along beside me as I made a beeline for the front door. My focus entirely on getting myself to the sanctuary of Ben’s house before the storm that was about to come was unleashed.

"Audrey?" Ben pressed when I didn't answer him. Truth was, I couldn't. I was wildly recalculating my options, for the rolling in my abdomen was clear. Armageddon was coming, I was out of time. Moving as fast as my clenched ass would take me, I made it inside and into the bathroom, slamming the door in Ben's face. Which made zero difference because he simply floated right on through. Fingers frantically undoing my jeans, I totally ignored him, which should have been an indication to him that shit was about to go down. To give him credit, when I started doing a mad bunny hop and pulling my jeans down at the same time, he did squeak "oh" and hurried out of the bathroom. From the other side of the door, he called, "Fitz? You okay in there?"

I made it to the toilet with seconds to spare and there I spent the worst twenty minutes of my life. Oh. My. God. The noises. The smell. The burning! When the storm had passed I sat there, gathering myself. One thing I'd learned about Crimson Bark—its effects were fast. Fast to hit and fast to leave. But just in case, I remained seated and told Ben what had happened through the door.

"Do you think that's why I couldn't get into her house?" he asked. "She used some sort of spell to keep me out?"

I recalled Ben had said he couldn't enter Mrs. Hill's place, but I hadn't paid it any attention. "She doesn't know you're a ghost though. Well, at least I don't think she does. She never mentioned it, and at the end there, well, she wasn't hiding anything."

"So maybe some sort of ward or sigil or something that protects her house from spirits?"

"You could be onto something. There's a sigil burned into the wood on the gate between your place and hers. I've never thought anything of it until now. Enough about me, what about you?" I yelled at the door.

"What about me?" He sounded puzzled.

"You phoned Galloway! How did you do that?"

"Ahhh. It wasn't me. Not exactly. I instructed Thor on what to do. He dragged your phone out of your bag, held his paw on the last dialed number and told Kade that you needed help. Of course, Kade didn't understand any of it and hung up. So we rang back."

"Genius," I muttered. With no action for at least ten minutes, I figured I was safe, and weakly peeled myself off the toilet, kicked my jeans off because I didn't think I could stand the pressure of denim against my butt, and washed my hands. Well, one hand, since the other was out of commission thanks to Mrs. Crazy Pants. Dressed in T-shirt and panties I opened the door, gasping in the sweet fresh air. "I think the bathroom is going to need a fresh coat of paint."

"Everything okay?" Galloway drawled.

"Argh!" Shit. Poo. Bum. How long had he been standing there? Did he hear... I closed my eyes, not wanting to think about what had just transpired in the bathroom. Then another thought. Did he hear me talking to Ben? About ghosts? But I figured Ben would have warned me if that were the case. Wouldn't he? The dirty rat had disappeared, leaving me dressed in my underwear to face Captain Cowboy Hot Pants alone.

"Audrey Fitzgerald," Galloway said, grinning, dimple flashing, "working with you is going to be interesting, to say the least."

Oh sugar, you don't know the half of it.