Chapter One
There was a crisp mountain smell in the air that made Melody Zabat hate the sight of Blackcliff. Though the little town was clean and she generally loved the mix of Old West and modern aesthetic that the buildings exuded, it was one of those days where she wished she could just blow off her responsibilities and run naked through the woods with a spear in hand and a wolf at her side. Or just go fishing.
Unfortunately, Melody had to be satisfied with a shot of coffee and a hot breakfast from her favorite café in town, Old Gossip. Houses weren't going to sell themselves, and ever since that handsome billionaire, Oskar Freyson, had taken an interest in their town, she felt like she was being run off her feet.
Freyson was the Alpha of the wealthiest community of Shifters in the country, and he had billions of dollars of his own personal wealth at his disposal. Some people in town were concerned that he was going to try to turn Blackcliff into a Shifter Sanctuary, but Melody wasn't worried about that. If anything, an influx of Shifters, especially wealthy Shifters, would do the town some good. The economy wasn't doing very well. If the town continued on the path it was on, it would be a ghost town in a few decades.
Ghost town. Melody couldn't help but chuckle at her own joke. Of course, it didn't hurt that Oskar Freyson was perhaps the most handsome person she had ever seen. All Shifters were hot, but he was exceptional. What was it about Shifters and their naturally good genes?
Jane Gardens, the owner of Old Gossip, beamed at her when she entered the café. The silver-haired woman was still as spry as she was when she was sixty, which was how old she had been claiming to be for the past decade. Melody took her usual spot on a barstool at the counter, beside Elisabeth Burgess, a young woman with curly hair.
"And then I saw Milly Braden and Russel Rickey standing on the corner, kissing." Jane leaned on the counter, her wide eyes fixed on Elisabeth.
"Oh, really?"
Elisabeth glanced at Melody from the corner of her eye, a slightly pained expression on her face, but she was far too shy and eager to please people to interrupt Jane. Her compassionate personality served her well at the daycare she ran, but when it came to busybodies like Jane Gardens, she was the unwilling recipient of hours' worth of gossip.
Melody debated whether she should come to Elisabeth's rescue, but she didn't want to end up hearing the whole story that led up to Milly Braden and Russel Rickey kissing, and she kept quiet.
"I don't know what's happening with young people these days. Imagine, kissing like that out in the middle of the day." Jane shook her head. "Back in my day, kissing was done sitting in parked cars out in the woods." Jane giggled suddenly, sounding like a woman much younger than she was. "And when I say kissing—"
"Too much information," Melody interrupted, miming covering her ears. "You're like a grandmother to us here, we don't need to hear that sort of thing."
Jane shrugged. "You want your usual, dear?"
Melody nodded. "Please."
"Salmon steak with fried eggs coming up," Jane trilled.
As the older woman moved away, Elisabeth let out a pent-up sigh of relief. "Thank you,"
"My pleasure. How are you and Bobby liking the new house?"
Elisabeth had moved to Blackcliff with her then-infant son ten years previously, but it was only now that her business was picking up that she had been able to afford to buy a house. Melody had worked closely with her to find the perfect fit for the two of them, and she was eager to know how they were settling in. It was the best part of selling houses, hearing how happy people were in their new homes. Almost as good as a whole day's fishing.
"It's wonderful, thank you." Elisabeth beamed. "The backyard is so big, we might even be able to get a dog. I think Bobby is old enough to start taking on a little more responsibility."
Melody nodded. "He's a bright boy. I'm sure you'd do well with a dog."
Jane bustled back towards them, refilling Elisabeth's coffee cup and giving some to Melody as well. "So, are either of you young ladies dating anybody yet?"
Elisabeth's face went beet red, but Melody laughed to draw Jane's attention to her.
"No dating for me. I like where I am right now. Selling houses, building up my real estate company. Besides, I know everybody who lives here too well to find them interesting. I need somebody with a little more mystery." She took a sip of her coffee.
It was mostly true. Melody wasn’t interested in any of the locals. If Oskar Freyson showed any interest in her, however, it would be another story.
A tall, leggy blonde suddenly appeared behind Jane. Melody's eyes widened. The blonde's form was wavering, translucent, like an image projected onto the surface of a lake. Her hair was turned up with flowers in it, and she wore a tight-fitting white dress that looked halfway between something a bride would wear and something to go clubbing in.
"You," the blonde said, pointing at her. "They told me to find you."
Melody ducked her head. Not now! Not here!
Jane tapped her hand. "Hello? Dear, you really need to stop spacing out on me."
"Sorry." Melody shook her head and forced herself to look at the older woman.
The blonde stood right behind Jane, her form growing more solid, blue eyes flashing. "Don't you dare ignore me!"
"I asked you how you plan on having a lasting relationship with a mystery man," Jane said. "The mystery will wear off, and then what?"
The blonde vanished, only to reappear right beside Melody. "Hello? I know you can see me. I do not take kindly to being ignored!"
She actually stomped her foot.
Melody tried to repress a groan, but she didn't quite make it. Jane's brows furrowed. "Are you feeling okay?"
"I might be a little queasy," Melody said, grabbing her stomach for emphasis. "I've been going pretty hard since Freyson came to town. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad for the work, but it's been almost two weeks since I've had a day off and I think it's catching up with me."
Jane's eyes flashed and her mouth turned down. "I have nothing against Shifters, but that man can't just waltz in here and take over everything. We ought to have a say in what goes on in our own town!"
The blonde appeared right in front of Melody, putting her hands on her hips. "Are you deaf or blind? I need your help and I'm not going anywhere until you help me."
"Can I get that salmon to go?" Melody blurted. "I just remembered I have things to do at the office."
Jane looked surprised but soon handed Melody a container with her breakfast in it. Melody threw down some money and raced from the café, trying her best not to glare at the blonde, who was following after her. Stupid, pushy ghost.
Melody hurried to her car, tossing her breakfast onto the passenger seat. It slipped through the blonde already sitting there, who made a face and folded her arms. Melody whipped out her phone and held it to her ear. She learned long ago the tricks of preventing people from looking at her strangely as she talked to ghosts.
"Let's make this quick," Melody said, fixing her hair as she looked at the blonde in the rearview mirror. "I don't have time to deal with pushy ghosts today. I have a meeting with a very important client."
"Oskar Freyson," the blonde said. "That's who you are meeting?"
The way she said it had Melody frowning. "You know him?"
The blonde sighed. "I suppose you can't tell, but I'm a Shifter. And these shoes? They cost five thousand dollars."
"You're a member of his pack," Melody realized, her eyes widening.
"Yes. Although I never liked the word 'pack'. It's not like we're wolves. We're all different animals. I happen to be able to Shift into a dolphin. Not that I had much chance to do it, seeing as we're so far from the ocean. Well, Oskar had a pool for us marine Shifters, but it's just not the same. What are you wearing, anyway? Are you going to a costume party for homeless people?"
Great. A rich, preppy, pushy ghost. Melody ground her teeth together.
Hopefully, this one hadn't been murdered like the last one. That had been a mess. It was only because of her father's best friend, Uncle Todd, that she had avoided too much public attention. Knowing somebody in the FBI really had its perks, even if Melody would like one year to go by when she wasn't involved in somebody's murder.
"So you sought me out for a reason. What do you want?"
"You'll see when I show you."
Melody groaned. "I don't have time for games."
The blonde folded her arms. "I'm not playing games. It's too complicated to just explain."
Ghosts!
They were all the same. Melody was willing to bet dollars to donuts that, in the end, a simple conversation would solve the whole issue. Hopefully, this one wouldn't take two months to resolve like the last one–they had wanted Melody to make sure their dog's ashes were buried with them. Why they couldn't just tell her that, she didn't know.
But then, ghosts were often are too self-conscious to say what they actually wanted, and so made her run around in circles trying to solve the mystery. She hated mysteries more than she hated losing her favorite fishing lure.
"Where are we going?" Melody asked.
"There's a bridge just outside of town."
Melody nodded. She knew where it was, a popular fishing hole. She'd caught a ten-pound trout there two years ago, a real beauty.
"I better not find your body there," she warned her passenger, reaching through the ghost for her breakfast.
The ghost made a disgusted noise as Melody broke off a piece of salmon and popped it into her mouth. "Must you put your hand through me?"
"Honey, you're not there," Melody replied. "And I'm hungry."
"Okay, let's get one thing straight. Anybody who calls me honey gets their face slapped. I don't care if I'm dead, it's condescending, and I will find some way to make you pay if you ever call me that again. My name is Cindy."
"Melody. So? Are you taking me to see your body? Cause I really don't want to find another body. The last time a ghost made me find their body, I ended up being a suspect in a murder investigation. I do not want to go through that again."
Cindy slumped in her seat and folded her arms. "You're not going to find my body. It was cremated two years ago."
"Well, that's a relief." Melody's shoulders relaxed.
She made it to the bridge quickly. To her relief, there was nobody around, and so she didn't bother with the phone when she got out of the car. Cindy sat on the hood of her car, arms folded, staring at Melody as she walked out onto the bridge.
"Okay. So what am I supposed to see?"
Cindy pointed downwards. "It's under the bridge."
Melody rolled her eyes. "Seriously, why can't you just tell me? Do you have any idea how difficult it is to be the person who always sees ghosts and finds bodies and tries to convince the police to believe what actually happened? It's a nightmare! Blackcliff is literally my only free spot. I can't have ghosts start showing up around my home. I'd go crazy."
"Are you finished?"
Melody glared at the ghost and stomped down the trail that led under the bridge. As soon as the river came into view she stopped. And groaned.
Lying half in the water was a body.