She headed to the kitchen and the large ceramic container that held Rollo’s extra-large dog biscuits. She loved the sound of his toenails clattering on the hardwood floors as he trotted behind her.
“You know what, Rollo?” she said. “Men! Why do they only seem to come in three forms? Known-you-forever-and-I-love-you-like-a-brother. Total jerk-off slime. Or to-die-for-but-what-an-ass? Huh, Rollo? Dogs aren’t like that, are they? Nah. Although I hate to admit it, kid, but you guys is where that expression came from—you dog, you!”
Rollo just wagged his tail.
“Really, I must beg your pardon.”
Mo raised her eyes to the kitchen door. Colonel Daniel Parker stood there, handsome and casual in his field uniform.
I should have said that they came in four different types, Mo thought. The first three and totally-charming-but-taken-and-dead.
“Sorry, Daniel. The world’s changed a lot since you had to deal with things,” Mo said.
Candy swept in behind him, setting her spectral arms around his shoulders and peeking around him to speak with Mo. “It’s changed in a lot of good ways! When Daniel and I fell in love, we would’ve been ostracized if we left this house. Slavery, remember? I was a runaway slave. But Daniel loved me, anyway. He was ahead of the rest of the world.”
Mo nodded and poured herself more coffee. “True, but there are still people out there who are—” She paused, trying to think of the right word. In greeting cards, the writing had to be brief, succinct, effective. She knew there was a better word for what she was trying to say.
She couldn’t think of it.
“Jerks!” she exploded.
“Eloquent,” Candy said to Daniel.
“Oh, very,” Daniel agreed.
“I mean, thank God, yes, we have laws that protect people now, and our constitution declares that we are all equal, regardless of color, religion, et cetera. But people are still jerks!”
Candy smiled. “And now you believe the ‘sane’ world discriminates against those with a sixth sense?”
“No. Yes. I—”
“But you accept it—and you hide it,” Daniel said softly.
“Yes. Which is what people with a sixth sense do.” It was information that could only be shared with a select few. And it wasn’t as if you could grab your cell phone and call the dead. Some knew why they stayed behind. Some weren’t really sure.
“He’s so...intense,” Mo said. “I’ve been with cops at murder scenes before—although I admit this has been the worst. When I was living in the city, it wasn’t that they were jaded or cold or didn’t care, but they dealt with murder quite often and they weren’t so involved. I don’t mean they were cold or that they weren’t a hundred percent dedicated to solving the crime. But I’ve seen them talk about their lives, ask about each other’s kids, make off-duty plans. With this guy, it’s...different.”
“Maybe he was a fervent believer in the dead man, in Richard,” Daniel said. “I felt that way about the general—Robert E. Lee. He was a man of principle. He felt as if he bled himself, watching men die. I didn’t know him personally, but I would’ve followed him to hell and back.”
“Or maybe he knew Mr. Highsmith personally,” Candy suggested.
Mo nodded. “He did.”
“And maybe he had a bad experience somewhere along the line,” Daniel said. He hesitated, drawing Candy close. “I’ve seen people who I’m sure have seen me—and I’ve seen them panic and run away as if they were being chased by fire.”
“He doesn’t look like the kind who’d panic,” Mo said. “And yet...” She’d already seen that he was deceiving himself about his unusual ability.
“No, he looks like the kind who would fight it,” Daniel said. “And fighting it might mean that he’s determined to deny it. So much so, he’s managed to create a block he can’t break through.”
Mo turned and poured herself a cup of coffee from the pot she kept on during the day. “Okay, thank you both. I’m off to work now.”
Neither of them moved. She, could, of course, have walked through them, but she felt uncomfortable doing that.
It also seemed incredibly rude.
“What?” she asked.
“I think he’s out there,” Daniel said.
“He?”
“Richard Highsmith. He might have been at one of the crime scenes—watching. Sadly, it’s something the dead are sometimes compelled to do,” Candy said.
“Or he might have heard about you before...Politicians usually know the police. You worked with the police in the city as well as here,” Daniel reminded her.
“Perhaps he feels he can’t really reach Agent Mahoney, so he’s coming to you,” Candy said. “I know there was someone out there last night.”
“If he wants to reach me, I’m here,” Mo told her.
“We should take a constitutional.” Daniel bowed slightly toward Candy.
“He means a walk,” Candy said, grinning up at him.