Page 24 of Ghostly Bother (Ghostly #9)

Lance heard the voices before leaving the bedroom.

He wasn't shocked to hear Betty. He figured she'd rush over as soon as Angus had shown up at his parents' door.

He'd assumed she'd wake him in the middle of the night, but for once, he'd slept peacefully.

It was the first time in days he hadn't been woken by Eden in his room.

The peace was so nice that he almost hated opening his door and stepping out of his bedroom to face the day.

He was trying hard not to think about how easily Angus had left him the night before.

Every time he thought about it, his chest tightened with worry.

If he could walk out so easily, maybe things weren't going as great as he'd thought they were.

Here he'd been thinking marriage was just around the corner, but now, he worried that Angus wasn't feeling the same way he was.

While he understood what Angus was thinking, the fact he left without discussing it and made the decision on his own was what hurt and angered Lance.

It was something they should have talked about.

Lance wasn't as confident that Angus being away would keep Eden from bothering him.

He was starting to see that Eden wanted to be heard by the living more than she wanted her case solved.

The fact that Lance wasn't giving her the attention she desired was what was making her mad and causing her to become a nuisance in his life.

He wasn't sure what would make her leave him alone, but Angus being gone wasn't going to solve anything.

It just made matters worse because now Lance was second guessing everything about their relationship.

Had Angus been looking for an excuse to leave and jumped at the chance when he saw one?

He couldn't stress on this. He had work to focus on. With Sam gone, he had twice the workload, and he was behind on reports. He headed into the kitchen to find Betty sitting at the kitchen table with Ray and Bethany. Eden appeared to be leaning against the counter.

Eden smiled when she saw him. "About time you got up."

Betty shook her head. "Eden, remember what we talked about."

"Morning." Lance focused on Betty, then smiled at Ray and Bethany. He completely ignored Eden as he started to make coffee.

"Sleep well?" Betty asked.

"For once. I have you to thank for that?" he asked as he glanced over his shoulder.

"Possibly. It's not as if I could have kept her out physically, but I think I got my point across that she was becoming a problem." Betty smiled.

"I stayed out here to talk to Betty, but it doesn't change things. I still want answers." Eden moved to take the seat beside Bethany.

"I'm sorry we didn't realize things had gotten so bad," Ray told him.

"Yeah, we should have paid more attention." Bethany frowned.

"It's okay. You two have been busy. I don't expect you to babysit every ghost we meet. One would think someone recently deceased would have better things to do than bother me." Lance put some toast into the toaster, then went to get the butter and jelly.

"You're the only one who hears me and can talk to the detective for me," Eden grumbled.

"That would be fine if you asked your questions or voiced your concerns, then let him be. But I hear you've been following him around like a stalker. He has a job and other things to focus on other than you." Betty glared at Eden.

"But he hasn't gotten me any answers," Eden said, then her eyes went wide. "Wait a minute. How do you know I've been following him? Who told you? You haven't spoken to Lance, so someone else had to tell you." Eden glanced at Ray and Bethany. "Did you tell her?"

Bethany held up her hands. "It wasn't us. Had we known, we would have found a way to get rid of you."

"Get rid of me?" Eden looked offended.

"The light is there for a reason. Go into it," Ray told her.

"Why should I have to go into it? You haven't," Eden argued.

"Because we aren't harassing anyone. We're going about doing our own thing." Bethany glanced at Betty. "Got any ideas?"

"If only we could pick her up and toss her into the light." Betty smiled. "That would be fun."

Lance laughed at the visual. "You guys, it's okay.

She's my issue. You guys don't need to suffer dealing with her as well.

Hopefully, the police will solve her murder, and she'll move on.

As of now, I'm no longer interacting with her or even acknowledging her.

She'll have to get answers from someone else.

If she continues to follow me around, she's going to get bored quickly. "

"Well, now that we know what's going on, we'll head down to the station and see what's going on with the case. Maybe we'll overhear something or be able to find a lead the detectives haven't seen yet." Ray stood.

Bethany got up beside him. "Isn't that what Eden should be doing?"

"They can't hear me at the station," Eden told them. "It's pointless being there."

"They can't hear us either. That's what makes it easy for us to get information.

People talk because they don't know we're around.

We can follow people into their offices and homes.

Hear what they say to their attorneys or family members.

" Ray nodded to Lance. "Have someone get us if you need anything. "

"I will. Thanks, guys." Lance buttered his toast.

"And I'm going to tag along with Eden today. She thinks it's fun following you around, we'll see how she feels having someone follow her." Betty glared at Eden.

Eden appeared to roll her eyes. "So how did you find out about me?"

Betty laughed. "You don't want to find out. Trust me, if you think having me around is a pain, you have no idea who much worse it could get."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Eden looked confused.

Lance knew exactly what it meant. Lizzy would be a nightmare for a ghost like Eden.

He imagined her recruiting every ghost in the city to find a way to get Eden to leave or at least back off.

He was grateful the others were concerned about him, but he didn't want to bring his chaos into their lives.

That was why he hadn't told anyone how bad Eden had gotten.

Besides, there wasn't much they could do to stop her from harassing him.

No one could physically remove her. If she started singing in his bedroom or sitting on his desk at work while he was trying to fill out paperwork, they couldn't do a damn thing about it.

He poured himself a cup of coffee and took his toast to the table. "So, what's new with you, Betty?" He turned to face her, giving Eden his back.

"We're going on a cruise next spring. It's Cruising with the Hair Bands. Every night will have a different performance from an eighty's hair band. Lizzy was so excited to get tickets. It's not until next May, but I'm looking forward to it."

"I wish Angus and I could take the time to go with you. That cruise we went on was amazing. I can't wait to do another." Lance sighed. "How's Angus?"

"He'll be okay. I didn't stick around to hear everything he said, but just the fact he's not here with you told me enough.

The two of you just need a chance to talk.

Alone." Betty glared at Eden. "We'll all make sure you two get that time soon.

For now, he's going to focus on the case, and you're going to do your job.

This insanity won't last forever. Things will be back to normal before you know it. "

Lance sure hoped so. He wasn't sure how many nights he could go without Angus by his side. "Let's hope."

"Have faith. Before too long, we'll be back to Friday night dinners and Eden will be nothing more than a bad memory." Betty smiled.

"Hey," Eden called. "That's rude."

"And so are you." Betty smirked at Eden.

"You might have been important when you were alive, but dead, you're just another ghost hanging around and wondering what comes next.

You forget we all saw what a fuck-up you were while living.

We aren't going to let you try and control the afterlife the same way. "

Lance hid his smile by shoving a bite of toast into his mouth. It was so good to hear someone calling Eden out. He'd wanted to do it so many times, but most of those times were when others were around and would have found him crazy for yelling at something they couldn't see.

"You have no idea the pressure I was under being mayor," Eden told them. "Everything I did was to make this city better."

"Everything you did was to line your pockets," Betty spat back. "I may be dead, but even I could see how you focused on your friends' and families' interests over the good of the city. If a project didn't make you money, you weren't interested in it."

Lance stood. As enjoyable as it was listening to Betty go off on Eden, he had a job to get to. "I need to get ready for work." He smiled at Betty. "If I could hug you, I would. Thank you for coming over."

"Anything for you. Next time, don't wait so long to seek my help," Betty told him.

"Let's hope there isn't a next time." Lance headed to his room.

Forty minutes later, he was walking into work, followed by Eden and Betty.

The two ghosts were arguing like they'd been enemies for years and Lance was starting to wonder if having Betty around was going to make things worse.

While he enjoyed hearing Eden be put in her place, he wasn't going to have any luck getting through reports with the two of them going at each other.

"Morning," Gretta called from her desk.

"Good morning." Lance paused by her desk. "Anything come in overnight?"

"Another probable overdose. A friend found the body in the man's apartment on the bathroom floor. Drug paraphernalia was found near the body. You also have a stabbing victim. Bar fight."

"Police catch his killer?" Lance asked.

"Mac said that the people at the bar held the attacker down until cops arrived." Gretta sighed. "I was at that bar just a few weeks ago. Seemed like a nice place."