Chapter 13
Pete
“I like that color on you,” Jackson said, joining me on the couch, the Christmas tree twinkling in front of us, making me fear this wasn’t real, like my biggest Christmas gift was just an illusion.
“Thank you,” I whispered, eyeing my red sweater. I would need to add more red to my wardrobe.
He leaned in, to either whisper something or kiss me, either way I froze, not wanting to mess things up.
“Do you think Mike will last until after dessert?” He gave a pointed look in Mike’s direction.
He was slumped over the armchair, one hand resting on his bloated belly, his eyes closed as he accepted the food coma.
I snickered, looking at my big brother with fondness. I knew they rarely ate this good being at college, but I also felt giddy having Jackson to myself for a bit. This was the second Christmas we shared together and I selfishly wanted more time just the two of us.
“Trust me,” I whispered back. “As soon as Mom calls that dessert is ready, Mike will be running towards the kitchen.”
“I don’t doubt it,” he laughed, his eyes soft and open as he eyed me.
I blinked awake, mad at first for losing my amazing Jackson filled dream, only to realize he was now my reality.
He was no longer just the few instances a year where I saw him.
The few moments I’d shared with him in the past were no more the only pieces I held of him.
I closed my eyes and snuggled further into him, basking in his warmth.
I wanted forever with him.
“More?” Jackson asked, holding out the plate filled with pancakes. The man must have been in the kitchen for hours to make that amount for us.
I shook my head. I’d only needed two before I felt full, but here I was, four pancakes later, and I couldn’t stomach anymore. “Can we save the rest for tomorrow?”
“Sure can,” he replied, putting the rest in the fridge.
“Do you feel okay?” He’d already asked me three times, but I seemed to be too dazed for his liking.
That had been my first sexual anything. I’d only kissed one other person than him, when I was fourteen, and it had been awkward as hell.
But I had no idea how Jackson would react to knowing I was a virgin when it came to anything sex related.
I’d wanted to reciprocate in the shower, my pleasured haze had made me brave, but I would be lying if I didn’t say I’d felt relieved when he’d refused me.
I didn’t feel rejected. He promised me I would get to taste him later, so the question was if I should tell him before or after.
I really didn’t want him to take things slowly with me.
I worried he’d be afraid he might push me to do things I wasn’t ready for, when I so was.
But I also wanted him to know I had no experience.
Maybe that way he could help guide me, let me know what he liked and disliked.
“Pete?” I looked up, remembering I still hadn’t replied.
“Sorry, yes, I’m okay.” He relaxed at that.
“Good. I need to call the landlord about the electricity. I think it needs to be checked out.”
“You sure it’s not just some slight problem that’ll work itself out?”
“Electricity that gets out of hand could lead to fires. I won’t risk your safety, or the other people living in this building, for that matter. A simple call to let the landlord know is the least I can do.”
I nodded. He was right. And besides, Sven had said the new ghost had messed with other apartments too, so Jackson most likely wasn’t the only one concerned. “I’ll call my partner Daisy and make sure everything is okay at work.”
“Good idea,” he smiled. I smiled back, then left the kitchen to call Daisy.
“Hey, Pete,” Daisy greeted me.
I closed Jackson’s bedroom door behind me before answering.
“Hey. How did it go with my assailant?” I didn’t like talking about the man, but I had very little time to talk privately with her, and I needed to know if he was dealt with before I could feel safe outside.
I kept thinking about what he would do to me or Jackson if he spotted us outside. The man was a murderer, after all.
“About that…” she replied, sounding apologetic. I felt my unease rise. Had he escaped town? Killed someone else?
“Tell me,” I demanded. I was on borrowed time and my unease would only grow the longer she waited.
“He’s dead,” she announced, an unsure tone to her voice.
“Dead? How?!” Holy fuck, had the universe done this as a ‘thank you’ to me for saving those men from him? Not that I believed in the whole universe and balance thing many mediums did.
“He was killed. The police are on the case, but since I was already working on the house and had alerted the FBI about the men he’d killed, I was allowed to work alongside them, you too, when you return next week.”
“Tell me everything.”
“I found ten ghosts in his house; most had been killed by him. Two were there before he bought the house and were protective of his victims. They told me he’d killed a young guy and it was his older brother who killed the murderer.
Whose name was William, by the way. Aaaanyway, William got murdered for killing the other guy’s younger brother, and the brother’s body was found with the help of said brother’s ghost. It’s all very confusing, even for me.
But the older brother fled the scene and they’re now looking for him.
I’m trying to help the older brother so he won’t get prosecuted for murder, since according to the ghosts, he did it in self-defense.
He’d found the address and had confronted William and asked where his brother was, and it had ended with William attacking the brother. And yeah, you know how that ended.”
“So we need to find the brother and clear him of all charges on account of what the ghosts told you? You know that won’t hold up in court. It’s our word against the police then, and we always lose those.”
“But get this, there was surveillance on William’s building, but they won’t tell me if they found anything.” That was odd. When we worked on cases with either the police or the FBI, they shared everything with us. Them hiding something wasn’t normal, and it felt personal.
“And William’s ghost?”
“Passed on immediately.”
I scoffed. “Coward.”
She laughed. “Did you expect anything else from him?”
I sighed. “No. Is it weird I’m both relieved he’s dead, but also annoyed I didn’t get to see him suffer?”
“It’s human to feel like that, Pete. Just remember what he has to go through before being reincarnated.” I shuddered. We knew very little about the matter, but it was no secret that if you’d taken another’s life, you’d get punished. How? We had no idea, but I doubted it would be fun for William.
“So other than the FBI being weird and secretive, we can’t really do anything about it?”
“Not really,” she replied, sounding just as frustrated as I felt. “And they’re being smart about it too.”
“How?”
“Well, I asked the ghosts in William’s house if they knew anything, and the FBI hadn’t said a word about the cameras or surveillance inside the property.
Like they knew the ghosts would tattle on them to me or something.
It’s so weird. I’m close to contacting Rino about it.
” Rino was our boss, and no one could say no to him.
Well, they could, but no one dared. He was scary as fuck, and the most powerful medium in the country.
There were rumors amongst the mediums that he got his power from banishing ghosts.
All lies, of course, since that wasn’t possible, but to have rumors made about him showed just how powerful he was.
I’d never actually met the man, so all I knew was from the other mediums.
“Do you think he’d want to help us?”
“It never hurts to ask.”
“True. Promise to keep me updated?”
“Promise. Enjoy the rest of your week of rest.”
“I will.” I hung up and felt the relief of William’s death take over.
I had faith that he would get his punishment.
I was a little nervous about involving Rino, especially after taking a week off, not that it was unusual in our line of work.
We needed mental breaks more often and had double the vacation time than regular jobs offered.
It was partly because we were never off the clock since ghosts could come to us at any time and we would have to help them.
The other part was that it drained us, and therefore we got tired more easily.
I’d never known anything else, so a nap mid-day those days I needed it was my normal.
But maybe I should start drinking coffee so Jackson wouldn’t worry.
Speaking of Jackson… “Everything okay at work?” he asked, having just opened the bedroom door.
“Yeah.” How should I tell him the guy that strangled me was dead? “He’s dead.” That was all the brain power I had apparently. I sighed mentally.
He frowned. “Who’s dead?”
“The guy that strangled me. Daisy just told me he’d been murdered.”
“Fuck, what is up with this week? Are you okay with that? I mean, I know you wanted him behind bars from what you’ve told me, but is this okay for you?”
I smiled. He was just so understanding. “I guess. If he went to jail, I would always fear his release. Now, I know I’ll never see him again.”
“I guess that’s a good way of seeing things. And to have been killed must’ve been an unpleasant punishment for him. I can’t imagine it being a peaceful way to die.”
I snorted. “No, hardly peaceful. What did the landlord say about the electricity?”
He sat down next to me on his bed. “An electrician is coming later today to check on it. Five other people in the building already called and complained.”
“That’s good. Then we don’t have to worry about electrical fires anymore.
” It suddenly felt awkward between us, like the reality of what had happened in the shower hit me.
Jackson on his knees for me. But then William’s death and the weird behavior from the FBI took over my thoughts.
Now my brain was back on Jackson. And I much preferred that.
He smiled at that. “No more worries. But one other thing happened too.” I sat up straighter. Another thing I had to worry about? I almost whined. “Ida is coming.”
Oh. “Why do you sound worried about that?”
He sighed, then leaned back on his bed. “She wasn’t at our father’s funeral. Neither was her mother. I inherited everything and she was left with nothing.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah. Oh. I want her to take half, but I have no idea how she’ll take it.
I don’t want her to feel like it’s charity.
She deserves half of his money, in my opinion, but she’s only sixteen, so I’ve made it clear she won’t get the money until she’s twenty-one.
I had our family lawyer, or my father’s lawyer, write a contract, transferring half the money to a bank account for her. I just need her signature.”
“What about her mom?”
He waved it off. “Her signature isn’t needed since Ida won’t get the money until she’s an adult anyway. As long as Ida trusts me, we won’t need to involve her mother in this. Plus, I don’t know if Ida even wants her mom to know about the money. That’s up to her to tell her. Not me.”
I held my hand up. “Hold on… So Ida isn’t coming here to sign the papers? She’s just visiting?”
“Yeah. She had a fight with her mother over the fact that Ida didn’t inherit any money.
Her mother wanted to take legal action, however, she can’t do that if Ida doesn’t want to, since it’s Ida’s inheritance.
Her mom doesn’t have enough money to pay for an attorney.
So yeah, she’s coming here to stay for a few days. ”
I blinked. I couldn’t stay here when his little sister was coming. It didn’t seem right to ruin their sibling time. Mom knew about my neck now, so technically I could ask Jackson to drive me home. Not that I wanted to leave, but he needed this time with his sister.
“I’ll pack my things. Do you mind giving me a ride home?
I don’t want to explain to a random Uber driver why my neck is bruised.
” I located my clothes from yesterday and stuffed them into my bag, along with the book I’d started reading yesterday.
I didn’t have much so I was done packing before Jackson seemed to realize I was serious.
“You can’t leave.”
“Um. You’ll find that I can.”
“But I don’t want you too.”
“I don’t want to leave either. But Ida needs you. We can see each other when she’s ready to go home again.”
He shook his head. “But that could take weeks. She’s really angry with her, Pete. And I can’t stand not being with you for that long.” Fuck, he was cute.
“I know. But what else can we do? She needs you, and me being here won’t be easy for her.”
“But what if you lived here?”
“What?!”
He got up and held my face in his hands. “Just hear me out, okay? If you lived here, would you have left? Or is it because you feel like you’re visiting and imposing on her visiting?”
“Um.” I really had no way of answering that.
“Exactly. If you lived here, you wouldn’t feel the need to go away, because this would be your home.
Ida doesn’t know if you live here or not.
And I selfishly want you by my side. I can’t deal with you going home already.
Please stay. We can tell Ida you’re living here.
She won’t feel like you’re imposing on our brother and sister time if you live here. ”
He was making sense, but I still couldn’t shake the feeling of being in the way. “I’ll stay on one condition.”
“Name it.”
“If I feel like a third wheel, or like you two need to speak alone, I’ll go into your bedroom and read, and you’ll allow that without trying to make me stay. There might be things she won’t be comfortable talking about with me in the room.”
“Deal.” He kissed me. Softly at first, then more demanding as his tongue sought entry. I moaned, allowing him to dominate the kiss. To take whatever he wanted from me.
The sound of the intercom buzzing ruined the heated kiss.
I slapped his arm. “She’s here already?!”
A sheepish shrug was all the answer I got.