Page 26

Clearly, we were getting nowhere.

I turned my chair opposite the three of them. Then I cleared my throat, feeling massively self-conscious. It was worse than speech class in high school, which we had been required to take, which was cruel and unusual punishment. Who forces awkward teens to stand up and give speeches in order to get a high school diploma?

“Patricia Jackson?” I said. “Hi, I’m Bailey. If you’re with us, I’d like to speak to you.”

“If I hear a voice right now, I’m going to piss my pants,” Cox murmured.

“God, I hope that happens,” Smith quipped right back.

“Shh!” I commanded. Not because I needed to but because it felt good to reprimanded those two yahoos.

With power comes great responsibility and I was inclined to use it for petty revenge.

To my complete amazement they both went totally silent.

“Patricia, I’d love to speak to you,” I said in what I hoped was a gentle voice. “These nice detectives are doing their best to figure out what happened to you but they could use your help. Can you tell me who hurt you?”

Given that my only training was one book I’d ordered online on fostering your talents as a medium, I was winging it.

“Thomas did it.”

I jumped when I heard an unknown woman’s voice behind me. I turned and standing right between Cox and Smith and to the left of Jake was a woman wearing muddy jeans, a sweatshirt emblazoned with “Grandma” on it in plaid embroidery, and a blue plastic bag over her head.

That was unexpected.

I swallowed hard and tried not to look terrified.

But this was uncharted territory. Not only could I conjure up a spirit, shehad a plastic bag over her head.

“What are you looking at?” Cox said, sitting straight up and glancing over each of us shoulders.

“Hi, Patricia,” I said, digging my fingernails into my thighs under the table to prevent myself from passing out or running screaming. “Who is Thomas?”

Smith frowned and glanced at Jake. “The ex?” she murmured. “He had an alibi. The girlfriend.”

“My ex-husband,” Patricia said. “He followed me, cornered me in the alley, then threw me behind that drug house.”

Still reeling from a disembodied voice coming out from beneath a grocery bag, I nodded rapidly. “So his girlfriend lied about his alibi?”

“She sure did. Because she’s afraid of him. Because of this.” She pointed to the bag.

“That’s understandable.”

“Where is she?” Cox whispered, his brown eyes wide.

“Right next to you.”

“Tell that fool—” Patricia started to say, but was cut off by Cox leaping out of his chair.

“Oh, shit!” Cox walked right into Patricia.

“Stop—” I tried to tell him but now he was waving his arms and his shoulders shook. Patricia instantly vanished.

“A cold breeze just went through me,” he said.

“You just walked into Patricia.”

“Oh, hell, no!” Cox made all kinds of noises and flapped his arms and brushed off his pants.