Page 9 of Ghostly Bother (Ghostly #9)

Lance finished putting the groceries away and sat down at the kitchen table to go through the mail that had come that day. He sighed, seeing more bills and wondering if there would ever be a day when he wasn't worried about money and paying off something.

"Why the heavy sigh?" Ray asked as he floated into the room followed by his girlfriend, Bethany.

"Bills and more bills." Lance tossed the mail aside as he watched Haunt circle around the ghosts, begging for attention.

"What are you two up to?" It was amazing how normal having ghosts float in and out of his home had become.

While they spent most of their time in the backyard, they often came in to visit or watch whatever was on TV.

It was like having roommates that only he could see.

"We were with Isaac and Jeremy. We followed Isaac's son, Ethan, to a house where he's getting a lot of his drugs.

We were there about two hours and saw at least six transactions take place.

Then we went over to Lizzy's so she could write down the address and information we found to give to Captain Marshall when we meet again.

We got license plate numbers and names of everyone that showed up.

I wish we could write stuff down, because memorizing this stuff isn't easy.

" Bethany sat on the floor to play with the dog. "How was your day?"

"Not too bad. I thought it would be worse, but the mayor's autopsy went well, and the media didn't bother us as much as I expected. Once we told them we'd given the initial results to the police, they left us alone." Lance stood. "I'm going to go shower. Do you two want me to turn the TV on?"

"No, we're going out back for now. We need to relax. We used up a lot of energy today," Ray informed him. "We'll come in and see what you're watching later."

Bethany stood. "Come on, Haunt. You can hang with us."

"Let me get the door." Lance stood and opened the sliding glass door a bit so Haunt could run in and out of the house.

Once everyone was outside, he headed to his bedroom to change clothes and wash away the death from his body.

He liked showering as soon as he got home, washing away the smells and anything else he might have carried home from the morgue.

The water was hot as he stepped into the shower and he closed his eyes, lifting his face to the stream, letting himself relax.

He let thoughts of work slip away and thought about what he could make for dinner.

With no idea when Angus would get home, he didn't plan on anything too extensive, but he wanted more than a frozen dinner.

"You are here."

A woman's voice pulled him from his thoughts, and he jumped as he realized he wasn't alone. Lance gasped and quickly put his hands over his goods as he recognized the woman. "What the hell are you doing? I'm showering."

"I wanted to be sure you were here." Eden shrugged. "You're not embarrassed, are you? I'm dead. I'm hardly interested in what you have to offer."

Anger raged as Lance stared at her, unable to believe she would be so intrusive. "Get out. I'll talk to you when I'm done."

"You okay in there?" Angus called from the doorway.

"No, Eden's in here with me. I didn't hear you get home." Lance wanted to tell Angus to get her out, but since Angus couldn't see ghosts, that wasn't possible. "Eden, get out. Go into the backyard and we'll meet you there once I'm dressed."

"I want to know what's going on with my murder." She stood with her head half in and out of the shower curtain.

"Well, I'm not having this conversation while naked. Get out!" Lance wanted to push her, but again, she was a ghost, and he couldn't do anything to stop her.

"She's here?" Angus came into the bathroom and pulled back the shower curtain a bit to look at Lance. "You brought her home?"

"I didn't. She must have gotten a ride with you." Lance glared at Eden who wasn't leaving.

"I was at the police station, and he said he was headed home. You said you were dating him, so I figured he could lead me to you. Now you can tell me everything he found out today."

"I'm not telling you anything unless you get out of my bathroom now." Lance pointed a finger. "Go out to the backyard and talk to the ghosts out there. I'll come out when I finish."

"There's more ghosts here?" Eden asked, still watching him.

"Backyard. Go!" Lance yelled.

Eden sighed. "I'll be back if you don't hurry." She disappeared as she pulled back.

"She gone?" Angus asked.

"I hope so. That was unexpected. Does she think rules don't apply to her now that she's a ghost?" Lance was furious. He angerly reached for the shampoo and filled his palm with the liquid before slamming the bottle back onto the rack.

"What can I do?" Angus asked, looking toward the bedroom, then back at him.

"I'd ask you to join me, but she's ruined my mood." Lance lathered his hair, then tipped back his head to rinse. "I can't believe she did that."

"Sorry. I had no idea she was with me." Angus stepped back. "Finish your shower and we can talk."

Lance heard the bathroom door close, and he let out a long sigh.

As angry as he was, he wouldn't take it out on Angus.

It wasn't his fault Eden had come home with him.

Just the fact that woman knew where he lived now pissed him off.

His home was his safe place. Sure, a lot of ghosts came and went, but he'd invited most of them.

And none of the ghosts he called friends would ever dream of invading his shower.

He quickly finished his shower and made his way into the bedroom, a towel tucked tightly around his waist. He wasn't going to risk Eden being in the room waiting for him. He didn't see her but found Angus sitting at the foot of the bed waiting for him.

"You okay?" Angus asked.

"Yeah, just mad she had the nerve to do that." Lance pulled out underwear and a pair of sweatpants. He quickly changed into them before grabbing a t-shirt and pulling it on.

"Come here." Angus held out his arms.

Lance sighed, trying to let his anger go as he walked into his arms and rested his head on Angus's shoulder. "I'm sorry." He closed his eyes as Angus's arms tightened around him. "It's not your fault."

"No, but I'm still angry she had the nerve to catch a ride with me. Did you tell her we were dating?" Angus asked as he caressed Lance's back soothingly.

"She heard about us at the morgue this morning. She obviously thinks she can do anything she wants even now that she's dead." Lance kissed Angus's neck, wishing he could ignore Eden and just stay locked in the bedroom with Angus. "Sorry if I yelled at you."

"You didn't. You were yelling at her. I'm just sorry I brought her here."

"Again, not your fault. You can't see her to know when she's around." Lance pulled back. "She's here, so now we deal with her. We'll give her an update and send her on her way." Lance ran his fingers through his wet hair. "You okay? How was your day?"

"It was long. Spent most of it going through Eden's home office.

Didn't find much. A list of names and companies with what we think is how much the person or business is worth beside it.

Mostly construction companies and contractors.

There's a ton of paperwork we still have to go through, but it's going to take time. " Angus stood and went to the dresser.

"What about the baby? Did you ask if he knew?" Lance watched as Angus changed into a pair of sweats and a t-shirt.

"He had no idea Eden was pregnant and swears that it couldn't be his. He had a vasectomy after the birth of their last daughter over three years ago." Angus sat back down to put on a pair of tennis shoes.

Lance whistled. "Did he at least assume she was cheating or was that a surprise as well?"

"He had no clue she was cheating, though he didn't seem too shocked by it.

He couldn't give us any names of a possible father though.

It's something we'll need to push Eden to tell us.

" Angus walked over to the dresser and picked up his notebook.

He opened it and glanced at his notes. "We need to ask her about the murder.

Have her play everything back in her mind.

Find out why she was there, was she meeting someone, and if so, who?

Find out if she'd been threatened recently or had any fights with anyone.

See if you can get her to admit to the fraud she's been accused of and if she does, who is working with her.

Someone either wanted her out of the way or was upset with her enough to kill her.

She has to have ideas on who it could be. "

"I'll do what I can when questioning her, but if she's like she was this morning, she's not going to be any help," Lance said.

"This morning, she was worried about the pregnancy. That ship has sailed. Now we can move on to the murder." Angus moved close, giving Lance a soft kiss. "Let's get this over with. I'd like a few hours to relax tonight without focusing on the case."

Lance wanted that too. He hadn't planned on Angus being home early and he was going to enjoy the time they had together.

He knew from other cases that things could get crazy and at any time, he might not see Angus for days other than to sleep beside each other for a few hours every night. "Let's do this."

"Did you eat yet?" Angus asked as they left the bedroom.

"No, I wanted to shower first. I can make us something while we talk to Eden." Lance tried to remember what they had in the fridge.

"Would you mind making your grilled cheese? Maybe a can of soup?" Angus asked.