Page 16 of Ghostly Bother (Ghostly #9)

Angus woke, surprised to find himself alone in bed.

He hadn't gotten in until after midnight and had showered and slid into bed beside Lance.

They whispered their hellos, kissed softly, then Angus had fallen into a deep sleep.

He almost always heard when Lance got up, so it showed how tired he'd been that he now lay alone in their bed.

He didn't want to start the day, but there was just too much to do. He had a meeting with everyone working on the case at eight and needed to be up and alert for that. Still, he wished Lance was there beside him for a quick make out session before he forced himself to get out of bed.

He forced himself out of bed and quickly dressed for work, wondering what had Lance up so early.

It was rare they didn't both get out of bed at the same time.

He smelled the coffee as he made his way down the hallway, and the bacon a moment later.

Curious, he raised a brow as he walked into the kitchen. "Hot breakfast on a workday?"

Lance smiled. "I needed something to do. Figured I'd surprise you." He walked over and gave Angus a soft kiss. "Morning."

"Morning." Angus kissed him again. "You know, as much as I love a home-cooked breakfast, I missed waking up beside you. Is everything okay?"

Lance glared across the room and Angus guessed there was a ghost there. He'd learned to read the looks and gestures from years of being around his mother, who always seemed to have a ghost or two around. Lance turned away and went back to the frying bacon.

"Who's here?" Angus poured himself a cup of coffee.

"A screeching banshee that sat in the bedroom all night singing.

She was pissed because I wouldn't call you for information last night.

I told her that's not the way we do things.

" Lance held up a hand. "And before you say anything about Eden's case, don't. I refuse to give her any information or speak to you for her.

After last night, I'm done being nice. She can ride with you to the station this morning and learn on her own what's going on. "

Angus was stunned. "You're kidding me? Why didn't you tell me? I would have done something to make her stop."

Lance shook his head. "You couldn't do anything other than give her what she wants, and that's the last thing I want to give her.

She needs to learn that being a bitch isn't going to get me to help her.

You and I both know I'm willing to do anything to help most recently deceased figure things out, but Eden's pushed me beyond angry.

I'm not doing another thing to help her.

She can sing every night, but I will not help her.

She's on her own." Lance glared across the room again, then shook his head before refocusing on breakfast.

"Fair enough. I won't bring up the case unless you ask about it.

" Angus tried to think of how he could help Lance, but there really wasn't anything he could do.

He couldn't see or hear Eden. He could get his mother involved, but he hated the idea that Eden might bother his mom the same way.

He really didn't want to let Eden know that there were other living humans who could see and hear her. "Did you get any sleep?"

"Cat naps. She claims she sang to her kids, but if that's the truth, someone needs to make sure her kids are okay. Listening to her sing might have caused some kind of trauma." Lance glanced over to where Angus was sure Eden was standing.

Lance was never rude like this, and that alone told Angus how angry Lance had to be.

So far, Lance had only met nice ghosts. Angus knew ghosts could become troublesome, and honestly, Eden wasn't as bad as many his mother had come across.

She seemed more annoying than troublesome, but that could easily change.

He needed to keep an eye on Lance so he could get his mother to intervene if it got worse.

"How are things going with Sam on vacation? "

Lance seemed to relax and the change of subject.

"Not bad. It's been slow this week. We only had one case yesterday and I had two call outs yesterday afternoon.

We'll do those autopsies today. Unless Mac got busy last night, things are kind of quiet.

" Lance plated scrambled eggs and bacon, then put a small plate of toast on the table.

"Gretta is revamping the front office and updating the filing system.

Carrie and Kyle have been helping her while Brayden and I push through paperwork.

I have to admit having Brayden there to help with things has been a huge bonus.

I forgot how much paperwork Sam does every day. "

"I'm glad things have slowed down this week. I was worried with Sam gone, you'd be pulling late nights and getting called in at all hours of the night." Angus reached for a slice of toast. "God, this is so good. Thanks. I needed this to give me the energy to get through the day."

"Thanks. Figured I had the extra time today, and hopefully, it will help keep me awake today since I slept so little last night." Again, Lance cast a glare across the room.

"Well, let's not let that happen again." Angus frowned.

"I'm buying some noise canceling headphones on the way home tonight." Lance grinned.

"Let's hope you won't need them. If Eden wants to know what is going on, we have a meeting at eight about the case. She can learn everything she needs to know then." Angus picked up a crisp piece of bacon. "What got her so upset last night? Just the fact you wouldn't call me?"

"Pretty much. She was angry you arrested Lucas Jenkin and was mad her information got him arrested." Lance shrugged.

"Lucas wasn't arrested. He was detained for throwing an empty vodka bottle at Franks.

His attorney had him out of there in no time.

We've got another interview set up with him this afternoon.

" Angus sighed. "If she saw us detain him, she could have just stuck around the station to figure out what was going on. "

"That's what I told her." Lance scraped the last of the eggs from his plate. "Not my worry anymore. I'm done with her case."

"Fair enough and I completely agree with you." Angus stood and took his dishes to the sink, rinsed them, then turned back to Lance. "I'd like to say I'll be around for lunch, but it's doubtful. I've got a full day ahead of me."

"That's okay. I have time to make a lunch before I go in. Want me to make you something?" Lance started to clear his plate and dishes from the table.

"No thanks. I don't have time. I need to get going." Angus glanced at the clock on the microwave. "Is Eden going with me? If so, I'll give her an update in the car. If not, I'd like to know so I'm not talking to myself on the way in."

Lance glanced across the room, then back at Angus. "She'll be with you."

"Good. Try and get a nap in when you get home." Angus leaned in and kissed Lance softly. "Thanks for breakfast."

"Maybe we'll try to do it more often. I enjoyed this morning." Lance rubbed a hand over Angus's chest. "Stay safe."

"Promise." Angus smiled, wishing he could sweep Lance back into the bedroom and spend the day in there together. "Hopefully, I won't be too late. Love you."

"Love you too." Lance smiled.

Angus made sure he had everything he needed and started for the garage.

"Eden, let's go." He hoped the ghost would follow and didn't continue to bother Lance.

He was furious that she'd kept him up all night and the moment he was in the car and pulling out of the driveway, he let her know it.

"I hope you're here and listening to everything I have to say.

Bothering Lance isn't the way to get information.

He's more than willing to help those who treat him decently.

If you continue to bother him and try and force him to do your bidding, I'll find a way to stop you.

" He let his words hang for a few minutes before going on.

"Your case isn't going to solve itself overnight.

We're all working to find out who might have wanted you dead, but honestly, other than interviewing those in your office and those we know were probably working deals with you, we don't have a lot to work with.

The meeting this morning will hopefully give us a few new threads to pull, but honestly, the secrets everyone is keeping is making it hard.

It would be a lot easier if you just give us a list of people you were accepting bribes from and those who were angry because you refused their bribes. "

He took a deep breath, glad that he couldn't hear Eden, because he could imagine the excuses and comments she was probably throwing at him right now.

He didn't say anything else as he made his way to the station.

Once there, he parked and got out of the car, figuring Eden would follow him inside.

He smiled and said good morning to those he saw as he made his way to his office and the coffee pot waiting for him.

"Morning." Amy glanced up from her desk.

"Morning." He liked Amy. She was a great detective and had recently turned down an offer from the FBI to work with them.

She usually worked alone or teamed up with their night detective, Phil, if there was anything big going on.

He liked that the four of them shared an office.

It made it easier to share information. "Anything new?

" He poured a cup of hot coffee and sank down in his chair.

"Not really. We got a short list of names from one of Eden's interns.

He couldn't verify that these are people she was taking bribes from, but thinks they are the most likely.

They were often seen coming and going from her office and their companies seemed to win a lot of the contracts when they'd come up. " She slid a printout toward him.

He stretched to reach it and looked at the names. "Some of Fairway's most prominent businessmen and women."

"Yep, and their companies are also some of the largest in the area.

But I don't think anyone who was winning bids killed her.

It's more likely someone she wasn't willing to work with.

Maybe someone she had been working with and suddenly stopped.

I'm going through a list of contracts the city had and seeing if any name appears often over the last couple of years and then suddenly stops showing up.

" Amy tapped away on her keyboard. "We've requested the findings from the audit that was recently conducted in the Mayor's Office, but we're still waiting to receive it.

It should come in today. We've also lined up interviews with everyone who worked for the mayor, but it's going to take time.

I'm spending most of the day at the City Center doing those interviews today while you and Franks work through the interviews here. "

"We'll start going down this list." He tapped the paper she'd handed him with business names. "We'll call them in and see if any of them are willing to talk."

"Husband's in the clear?" Amy asked.

"So far nothing's come up that makes him look like he's involved.

Other than filing for divorce, which Eden didn't know about before she died, he doesn't seem to have any hostility toward his wife.

He claims the reason for divorce was to protect him and the kids when everyone found out she was corrupt.

Rumor is that the couple seemed happy. My gut says he's not who we're looking for, but anything is possible.

" Angus wondered if Eden was still in the room.

Had he just broken the news to her that her husband was filing for divorce?

He couldn't recall whether Lance had told her about that or not.

"Morning." Franks walked into the office and grabbed a cup of coffee before taking a seat at his desk. "Tell me the case was solved overnight and I can spend today catching up on paperwork."

"No such luck." Angus sighed. "We're in for a full day of interviews. You feeling like good cop or bad cop today?"

Franks shook his head. "Not feeling like a cop at all today. I slept like crap. I've decided I'm coming back in my next life as a cat. They sleep ninety percent of the day, have people feed them, and don't have a problem in the world."

Amy laughed. "With your luck you'd come back as a stray and end up fighting other cats in the back of some dirty alley for the right to some diseased rat."

"Don't ruin my fantasy." Franks nodded to the paper in front of Angus. "What you got?"

"Amy got us a list of businessmen who had a lot of dealings with Eden and the Mayor's Office.

We'll work our way through them today. I'm guessing most will act like they want to help, but let their lawyers do all the talking.

" Angus was tired of talking to lawyers.

They were the main reason his cases were held up.

He could get so much more work done if people would just talk to him.

Especially in cases like this where there was a murder to solve.

While he hated anyone getting away with any crime, he wasn't worried about someone bribing the mayor when he had her murder to solve.

Yet, in fear, every single person on that list would lawyer-up and make finding the killer that much harder.

"Hand it over and I'll start setting up interviews." Franks held out his hand.

Angus pushed the paper toward him.

"I'll send over anything interesting that pops up during our interviews at the Mayor's Office today." Amy stood and gathered a few folders from her desk. "You two boys have fun."

"Oh, it will be a blast," Franks said with an eye roll.

Angus sighed. It was going to be a long day of trying to read between the lines as everyone tried to cover their own ass instead of helping them find a killer.