*
It was actually a wonder that there was room for the living, the parlor was so crowded with the dead. Dallas realized he should have been pleased and grateful the ghosts were there to help. Sometimes, of course, the dead actually rested in peace and never appeared. But too often they were shy, bitter, resentful—or totally lost and unable to communicate with the living other than by creating a whisper of cold air.
But, in this case, Melody and Hagen had apparently decided it was their role to help the newcomers learn to negotiate their new world. When Dallas and Hannah got downstairs they found the veteran ghosts encouraging the newcomers not to tax their strength, explaining that appearing at will took time and patience, and that speaking would tire them even more quickly.
Logan and Kelsey joined the impromptu meeting a minute later. Hagen had taken up his customary place by the mantel, Melody hovered beside the sofa and the sofa itself was occupied by Jose and Yerby. Logan, coming up behind Dallas and aware that something was up but not sure what, raised his brows.
“New kind of task force,” Dallas told him. He glanced at his watch. It was early—about 7:30 a.m. They had plenty of time to reach the police station by 9:00 a.m., the start time Liam had texted to him.
Logan nodded. “Then I guess, we’ll start here.”
Jose began. “I’ve told my story a few times, but to recap what’s important, I don’t know if the guys I was with the night I was killed knew what was happening and were setting me up, or if they were taken by surprise and ran like rats to make sure it wouldn’t be them. I’ve been searching the city since then, hitting every bar and hangout I can find—even went to a few up on Stock Island—but I can’t find any of them.
“As we all know—” he paused, looking at Dallas “—the real problem is finding the Wolf himself. He keeps his gang together with fear. Toe the line or you’re next. Most members only know one or two others, because you have to be invited to join. And the Wolf seems to have eyes everywhere.
“And here’s another problem. When he is caught, the only charge we’ll get him on is conspiracy, and that’s not easy to prove. His hands are clean. His soldiers out in the world perform all the grisly deeds on his orders. When they fail him...they have no idea that the friendly drunk or hot babe beside them at the bar has been assigned to take them out.” He looked over at Hannah. “I’m so sorry I came here that night. If I had known what it would lead to...”
“So you think your killer stumbled upon you here?” Dallas asked him.
“Maybe it was planned. I don’t know,” Jose said. “Old Town isn’t that big. Maybe he knew the route my ‘friends’ would take.”
“So, tell us more about your friends,” Hannah said. “My friend Katie saw you all at her family’s bar, and she thinks one of them may have taken my ghost tour last night. She led it in my place, and she thought he looked familiar.”
Jose grimaced. “Knife, Hammer, Pistol and Blade.”
“Those are their names?” Logan asked.
“No one uses their real name,” Jose said. “I was Pulpit. Here’s another thing. The Wolf’s reach stretches pretty far. Up to Miami–Dade and Broward counties, and west toward Naples and Fort Myers—then down into the Caribbean and South America. People come and go. It’s almost impossible to get a real handle on someone. I was getting close, but then I gave myself away, somehow. I suspect he has people watching his people—while other people are watching them.”
“What about your sister?” Hannah asked him.
Jose frowned. “Alicia,” he murmured softly. He lifted his hands. “I don’t know how they found her. I don’t know if I’d been made before I ever came down here.” He hesitated, obviously in pain. “She might have fallen in with them. If she fell in with them...then she might have given me up. She’s a good person, but she’s an addict, and addicts will do anything to get another fix. The Wolf must have known the FBI was trying to infiltrate his gang. Alicia might have innocently mentioned me—and from then on, we would both have been targeted. Anyway, she just disappeared. You can contact Miami Officer Pete Marin about her. It’s still open as a missing persons case, and he’s the lead detective.”
Hannah cleared her throat. “Jose...you don’t feel Alicia, do you? I mean, if she had been killed, you might know it. You have...abilities in death.”
Dallas looked at Hannah. He loved the empathy in her. She honestly felt for others—maybe that was why lost souls sought her out.
Jose looked back at her. “No. I don’t feel her.” He looked relieved.
“And I died because...?” Yerby asked.
“We think you were a warning,” Dallas told her.
“A warning?” she asked.