Seventh Seal - Jacquelyn Faye Page 0,23

police, jay walkin' like some sort of criminal." I chuckled and grabbed his hand.

"No jokes. Not right now, please."

Pursing my lips, I gave him a sad smile and nodded.

The woosh of warm air and the smells of the warmer food pushed some of the icky 'I just saw the ghost of my lover's dead wife' feelings out of the way. Tabby, Marge's niece who worked the night shift, waved from behind the counter and made coffee motions. Chief and I both nodded emphatically. Tabby narrowed her eyes and nodded.

Chief sat on the other side of the booth instead of taking the spot next to me. Not being a petty woman, I let it slide without comment. This was hard on me. It had to be like teaching Josie Calculus for him.

"All these years?? He shook his head and set it in his hands, resting his elbows on the table.

"She was right beside you and you didn't know?"

He pulled his face from his hands and shot me a rather unpleasant look. "No. All these years I thought she had moved to the next life or was roaming the celestial planes. Anything but being stuck in this world as a ghost." He nearly sobbed as he worked his way through the sentence.

"We don't know that she was. For all I know, it could just be my powers manifesting her spiritual imprint on the house. I don't know how all this ghost shit works." I reached over and took his hand. "One thing is, I do know I'm sorry if my being there gave her form."

"Can we lay her to rest?"

Yeah. If I punch her in the gut, turn her into a zombie, and let her melt into the ground. "I don't know, but I'll try."

Tabby stepped up to the table and set two mugs and two pieces of rhubarb pie in front of us. She had broken out the good shit for the occasion. I gave her a grateful look. "You looked like you all just saw a ghost. Figured you needed it. There's a bitta Marge Magic in that coffee, too. So, drink it slow."

We were both staring at her in shock.

"Marge Magic. That means whiskey." She blushed.

"We know. How'd you know we'd seen a ghost?" Chief gulped.

"It's an expression? Wait! You actually saw a ghost?" She plopped down into the booth next to him, turning her head back and forth waiting for someone to spill the story.

Chief pleaded to me with his eyes.

"Tab? Give us a minute. I'll tell you all about it later. I promise."

She opened her mouth to protest, saw the look on Chief's face, and understanding outweighed curiosity. "Oh. Yep. No worries. Holler if you need more pie."

"Trust me when I say we will." I nodded to drive the point home.

She smiled, rubbed Chief's shoulder, and headed back toward the counter. I forked a bit of my pie into my mouth, let the flavor seep into my buds, and washed it down with a little bit of whiskey splashed with coffee for flavor. It was no small wonder why Tabby was a waitress and not a bartender.

Chief took a bit of pie, too. Then, the worried expression etched itself back on his face. "We've got to do something."

"Well, I've gone to Nana and Mother for the ghost issue before. They weren't much help. If you want to go back, I can try."

"No. Not tonight. I don't think I can deal with it right this moment. Mind if I stay at your place?"

"If you don't mind the crowd, you can stay as long as you want or need." I smiled at the thought.

"Well, if I get to be a bother, let me know. I can bunk with the Jimmy."

"The Jimmy?"

Chief smiled for the first time since we'd run out of his house in a panic. "Slip of the tongue, but fitting."

"He is definitely the Jimmy. Just like you're the Chief." I forked the bit of pie into my mouth and grinned at him. Until I felt the storm behind me. No rain, no clouds, no thunder, just a heap of 'oh shit' brewing outside. Dropping the fork, I turned in the booth to see the storm front move inside the door of the diner. Three vamps were standing inside the door looking for someone while the remainder of the kiss waited outside. A moment later, their eyes met mine and relief and fear washed over them like a wet blanket. Apparently, I was the someone they were looking