It's A Wonderful Midlife Crisis (Good To The Last Death #1) - Robyn Peterman Page 0,66
I hadn’t noticed her sooner.
It was possible they came to me when they were supposed to. I hadn’t started the sign-up list yet, but it might just happen organically. I had a big backup here. Hopefully they were aware of that and would play nice. I prayed using a Ouija board wasn’t going to be as painful or tiring as dead man mind-diving. I wasn’t exactly twenty anymore.
“Hi,” I said.
She smiled. It wasn’t pretty, but it was nice. She placed her hands on the Ouija board and glanced up at me expectantly as if she was waiting for me to do the same. I really regretted not asking Gram about her Ouija board use. It occurred to me that I could drive over and ask her real quick. I hadn’t remembered to take the stuff to forge postmarks either. It could be a two-fer. God, Tim would crack in half like Rumpelstiltskin if he knew I had plans to commit mail fraud. The thought actually made me laugh, and the gal sitting across from me giggled too.
“You don’t even know what I’m laughing at,” I told her with a grin.
She shrugged and continued to giggle. She really was adorable in a dead kind of way. I was sure she would go toward the light. No one this sweet was destined for darkness.
Glancing over at the clock, I sighed. It was ten-thirty. Gram would nap until noon. I couldn’t even call her right now. Fine. I’d figure it out myself.
“You want me to touch the board?” I asked my new friend.
She nodded her head and continued to giggle. I couldn’t help but smile as I placed my hands on the board.
“Suzy Jones,” she said inside my head as my eyes widened and she shuddered with happiness.
It wasn’t like a dead man mind-dive. It was very different. Suzie’s voice was distant and slightly off. However, I understood her. This wouldn’t do for a long, in-depth conversation, but it would work well enough for me to send a note to someone.
“Okay, Suzy Jones, do you have an address that you want me to send something to?” I asked.
She quickly reeled it off. Keeping one hand on the Ouija board, I wrote down the address with the other. She was from New Hope, New Jersey. Her address confirmed the squatters weren’t all from around here.
I also realized that the penmanship I just used wasn’t my own. Was it Suzy’s?
“Is this your handwriting?” I asked and showed her the page.
She nodded. Well, that certainly solved a multitude of potential problems. I wasn’t sure if the people who received the cards and letters would believe it was from their dead loved one if it was in the wrong script. The weird voodoo just kept rolling in. It would take some work, but I could forge their writing style as well. My list of crimes was increasing by the minute.
“Got it,” I told her. “What am I sending and what should I say?”
“Birthday card. Granddaughter,” she said. “Bought one. Forgot to mail. Died,” she explained.
“Umm… okay,” I said. “Is it cool if I don’t break into your house and try to find the one you already bought? You lived pretty far away from here.”
“Yes. Loves Power Rangers. Power Ranger card please.”
“Your granddaughter loves Power Rangers?” I asked with a smile. “She sounds like a neat little girl.”
“Yes. Neat. Five,” Suzy said. “I love you, Maddie. You are my special girl always. Love, Mimi.”
Making complete sentences had taken a toll on Suzy. She became more transparent with each word. Thankfully, I just needed one more piece of information.
“When did you die, Suzie?” I asked. “I need to know when to postmark the card so it makes sense and doesn’t scare your granddaughter.”
“Two weeks,” she said so softly, I wasn’t sure I heard her correctly.
“Two weeks ago?” I asked, still making notes.
She nodded and smiled.
“Okay, I’ll postmark it for three weeks ago and send it in the morning. I have to go get more superglue. I can buy a Power Rangers card then.”
I also had to stop by Gram’s and figure out the finer points of mail fraud. I hoped to hell and back that there weren’t differences for each state or country. That could get wildly complicated. However, I was great with spreadsheets and compiling information. It’s what I did for a living.
Suzy smiled and reached across the table to me. I took her frail dead hand in my own and smiled back at her.