“What are you doing today?” Marner asked me over coffee the next morning. He was wearing his jeans and nothing else, his hair sporting a cowlick as he sprawled out in the chair on the opposite side of the kitchen table. He looked adorable and sexy. Mostly sexy.

I was struggling to contain a smile, feeling more than a little content as I sipped my coffee. Well worth the wait. That was all I was going to say about that. “I don’t have to work, which is a plus.” I really didn’t want to ruin the mood of contentment between us, so I didn’t mention Cezar and his requests, i.e. demands. I wanted Marner to bring it up first. “What are you doing?”

“I’m going to spend the day with you. And if you don’t want me to, I’m going to spend the day convincing you that you should spend the day with me.” He gave me a slow, mischievous smile.

There had been a time when I had thought Marner was a good-looking guy, but I hadn’t looked at him and felt myself in danger of combustion. Those days were gone. Long gone. This man lit me on fire. Not a good look for a redhead, but a hot one.

“Sounds like a plan,” I said. “Especially if it involves you feeding me pasta.” Marner was a great cook. I was feeling pretty damn lucky to have him. My cheeks warmed. And boy. Did I have him. Wow.

He reached for my hand and clasped it. “I can feed you pasta. So what do we have to do to get this dead guy out of your house for good? I don’t need my greatest performances interrupted.”

That made me laugh. “I don’t want that either. I told Cezar I would take the storage unit key to his son, and that I would do a quick search of his house.” I sipped my coffee. “As bizarre as it sounds, if I find the body and/or the killer, the ghosts disappear. So far, anyway.”

“You’re not going to his house alone. I’ll go with you.”

It was such a sweet gesture, my insides felt warm and fuzzy. But I thought it was potentially a bad idea. “You can’t go with me. You’re a cop. You don’t want to be involved in this.”

“I don’t want you involved in this. But you are. So I want to help you figure it out so Wozniak moves on, or whatever you call it.” He stood up. “Do you want some eggs and bacon? I’m starving.”

“Sure.” Another few months of dating and I was going to be a roly-poly. But given how many months I had struggled to eat from anxiety over Ryan’s death, I figured I wasn’t going to worry about it if I gained a few pounds. “Thank you,” I said, feeling choked up suddenly. “For everything, you know?”

The smile fell off his face. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, thank you. For believing me.” I blushed a little. “And for…this.” I wanted to say thank you for liking me, but that was so lame I stopped myself. It wasn’t even what I meant, precisely. How did you let someone know you were grateful they were in your life? So I settled for, “I enjoy our time together.”

If it had been Ryan or a dozen other guys I knew, they would have said something like “I enjoyed last night, that’s for sure,” but that wasn’t Marner’s style. He saved the sexy for the right moments, and didn’t use it as a way to avoid his emotions. He was well adjusted and all that. Grown up. A man, not an overgrown boy.

Instead of going for comedy or changing the subject uncomfortably, he said, “I’ve always thought you were an amazing woman. Being with you makes me happy.”

Swoon. I practically felt an egg drop into my uterus. “Being with you makes me happy too.”

Marner winked and stood up. “Let me fry you an egg.”

Fry my insides. That’s what he did. I was wearing my robe again, and even that thin fabric felt too warm. I stood to help him by getting the frying pan out from the cabinet. It of course required me to bend over. I admit it, I knew what I was doing. Marner made a sound in the back of his throat.

“You’re lucky I’m hungry,” he said. “Or I’d drag your tempting little butt back to bed.”

“I have no objections to that.”

Apparently his stomach wasn’t the most urgent need. A while later, when we were finally getting serious about making breakfast, Ryan walked in the back door, slamming it shut hard.

“Mom, I’m home.”

To his credit, Marner barely reacted to the door opening and closing entirely on its own. He glanced over at me. “Cezar?”

“Nope, it’s Ryan.”

I couldn’t tell if Marner was happy about that or not. “Can he hear me if I talk to him?”

“Yeah, I can hear you, dickhead,” Ryan said, leaning over the frying pan and taking a deep breath. “I miss eggs. I miss a lot of things.”

“He can hear you,” I assured Jake. “You just can’t hear him. He says he misses eggs. He’s actually standing right next to you.”

Marner searched the air around him. “That’s mind-blowing. I’m trying to go with this, but I’m having a hard time here.”

“I know.” I gave Ryan a pointed look. “I’m sure Ryan won’t stay long.”

“You get a boyfriend and then you dump me. Isn’t that what all BFFs complain about? I never thought you’d be the one to throw me over for a guy.” Ryan put his fist to his chest and spoke dramatically. “That hurts, Bai. I thought we were more than that.”

I rolled my eyes back in my head.

“It’s very disturbing to watch you talk to the air,” Marner said. “I’m not going to lie. I need an adjustment period on this.”

“I needed one too, and I can see Ryan.”

Marner stirred the eggs. “For the record, Ryan, I’ve missed you, man. Just so you know.”

The stupid mocking smile fell off Ryan’s face. “Yeah, you too. Thanks, partner.”

With a lump in my throat I relayed the words to Marner. Neither one of them said anything else for a second and I figured that was as bromance as they were going to get.

“Also, tell him if he hurts you I will kick his ass,” Ryan said.

Exactly. The second they got too close to real feelings, it had to go back to smack talk.

“I’m not going to say that,” I protested. “And by the way, you have no ability to do that, so stop.”

“What?” Marner asked.

“Nothing. So what’s up, Ryan?”

“So…I have it on good authority that Cezar is lying to you. I can’t tell you what about, but I got a warning to pass on to you.”

That was as vague as my sister’s birth control methods. She always just waved her hand and smiled and then turned up pregnant again. Which reminded me, I needed to call her. I was supposed to be planning a trip to see her in Texas before she had her fifth (yes, fifth!) little peanut.

“What kind of warning? I mean, is he secretly a demon, not a dead mobster?” I was half-joking. I didn’t know how any of this stuff worked, really. Maybe that was possible. The thought made fear inch up my spine.

Ryan looked at me like I was the very definition of bonehead. “Of course not. Give me a break.”

While I didn’t appreciate his disdain, I was relieved. “So what do you mean then?”

“I’ve told you everything I know.”

“Ever since you reappeared, you’ve been very secretive,” I told him. “It’s not like you.” But then I realized it was. Ryan had kept many secrets from me while he was alive. Why would now be any different? “I don’t even know what to do with that warning. Geez, Louise.” I was getting a little fired up.

Not only had Ryan come into the house uninvited, without knocking, which was typical now that he was dead, he’d interrupted my morning with Marner to tell me Cezar was lying to me. I could have figured that out on my own. Cezar had his own best interests in mind, and I knew that it was likely he either embellished the truth or avoided it. This was not news.

“Don’t get your panties in a wad.” Ryan smirked. “Oh wait, you’re not wearing panties, are you?”

Guilty as charged. I’d just got out of bed. Not that it was any of his business. Yet I couldn’t prevent heat spreading across my cheeks. It wasn’t fair. My mother never blushed. She also didn’t have my transparent skin tone. So not only had she failed to pass on her steely nature, she hadn’t even given me the coloring to mask my moments of visually obvious embarrassment.

“Nice distraction technique,” I told him. “But I’m not falling for it. Either give me more details about Cezar’s alleged lying and shadiness, or hit the road.” I realized I suddenly sounded like Cezar. I was spending far too much time with him. If I started calling Ryan “kid” I was going to worry about the whole demon thing for real.

Ryan didn’t look concerned. He was still grinning. “Ooh, tough girl.”

Marner was sliding my eggs onto a plate. I realized that he shouldn’t be subjected to me ranting at the air for longer than absolutely necessary. It was one thing to tentatively believe me—it was another thing to watch the crazy in action. So after giving Marner’s back a worried glance, I made a face at Ryan. I put my fingers to my lips and gestured to Marner.

“I have no idea what that is supposed to mean.”

I put my finger across my throat in a slicing motion. It was meant to indicate I wanted to end the conversation.

But he just looked amused. “You want me to kill Marner? Not in my wheelhouse, sorry.”

“No!” I blurted out before I could stop myself.

Marner turned, two plates in his hands. “You okay?” He didn’t look anything other than mildly concerned.

God, how was he so calm all the time? Was he on Valium? I envied his chill. I had no chill. Ever. I was the definition of Not Chill. That was the legacy I had inherited from my mother. Not her shrewdness, not her confidence, not her great skin. Just her high levels of agitation.

“Yes, I’m fine. Ryan isn’t getting the message that he and I can talk later. It’s like two people speaking French in front of a friend who only speaks English. It’s rude because you can’t hear Ryan, so we can discuss Cezar’s alleged manipulation of me later.”

Marner gave my temple a kiss and set the plates down on the kitchen table. “It’s okay, baby, don’t worry about me.”

“I’m going to throw up,” Ryan said. “Just vomit all over this ugly-ass green kitchen. That was the most cheese-dick thing I’ve ever heard.”

That was enough. He had no business insulting my boyfriend or my décor.

“One, this is chartreuse. It’s a beautiful green. You don’t know green.” Don’t insult a designer. I may not have a degree, but I had turned a passion for fashion and color into a lucrative home staging career, thank you very much. I knew pops of color, damn it. “Two, I don’t even know what you’re talking about.” It wasn’t like Marner had said he loved the beauty of my sea-glass eyes. Or that he couldn’t imagine a world without the soft touch of my delicate kiss. He literally said don’t worry about me.

Ryan laughed. “I don’t know green? That was a good one, Bai. All right. I’m out of here. I am not into group sex. Not with another guy, anyway.”

“Ew. Bye.” I waved at him and sat down decisively at the table across from Marner. My appetite had soured. Ryan had agitated me with both warnings about Cezar and making me acutely aware of how insane it is to see dead people when no one else can.

“Bye.” Ryan flipped me off and left, slamming the door behind him. Why was he suddenly slamming doors and copping attitude?

Marner didn’t even jump when the door slammed. That was impressive. “We’re alone again?” he asked, glancing over at the door.

“Yes, thank God. Ryan being kind of a jerk. He’s making fun of us dating.”

“He’s just jealous.” Marner sipped his coffee.

“Jealous of what, us being alive?” I could understand that. No one wants to be dead and stuck in stasis. But you don’t bite the hand that feeds you, so to speak.

“No. Jealous of me having you.”

That was ludicrous. Ryan had said about a million times I wasn’t his type. I was inclined to believe him. “You know what? I don’t want to talk about Ryan.”

For months, Ryan had occupied my thoughts as I had grieved over his death. Ryan wasn’t exactly being endearing or charming right now. Where was his signature smoothness? Now he was just flat-out attitude and vague gloomy warnings. Death wasn’t wearing well on him, I had to say.

“What do you want to talk about?” he asked, giving me a little sexy smile.

“Whether we’re staying at my place tonight or yours.”

---

Marner agreed to hang back when we went to meet Cezar’s son. After getting the info from Cezar, I had called Slade Wozniak and arranged to meet him at a coffeeshop in Tremont, near where he lived. He had sounded impatient with me on the phone, like he didn’t understand why I didn’t just leave the key at the lake house, but I explained I hadn’t been able to get in touch with Cezar in three days. He grudgingly agreed to allow me to deliver it to him at the coffeeshop where his girlfriend worked. Which was interesting, because Cezar thought he was single.

It became obvious why it was probably a secret when I saw a junior version of Cezar, sans the belly, leaning over the counter talking to a woman who was twice his age. She gave him a quick kiss and went back to work, giving a laugh that was throaty and mature and sexual. A laugh can sound that way, trust me. And only women over forty know how to do it. I wondered if at thirty-nine a switch would flip and I would magically understand how to be seductive, a genuine femme fatale.

Then again, I had the infamous “bend and snap” a la Legally Blonde in my arsenal, which was more my style. It worked on Marner, so whatever.

Damn it, I needed to focus. That was the problem with dating again. I felt like I was wandering around in a dreamlike state with a silly smile on my face. I needed to snap out of it. Marner sat down at an empty table and said, “This should be quick. He doesn’t look interested in chatting.”

I had to agree. I headed to the counter. “Slade?” I asked as I approached him.

He eyed me up and down, and seemed to find me lacking, especially in the chest area. “Yeah, I’m Slade. You Bailey?”

He sounded like Cezar. It was bizarre. “Yes. Thanks for meeting me.”

He grunted. He didn’t offer me a seat at the table he was standing next to, or a coffee. He didn’t even offer me a smile. I thought he was lacking in the charm that made Cezar amusing despite his irritating qualities. I had almost learned to like Cezar. I wasn’t going to warm to Slade any time soon.

“So you got the key?” Slade asked.

Right to the point. Okay then. I pulled it out of my purse and handed it to him. “It’s for a storage unit, like I said. I just thought it was really weird that it was in the middle of the living room floor when it wasn’t there last time I was in the house. Plus, your father isn’t returning any of my calls. Have you heard from him?”

“Maybe he just doesn’t want to talk to you.”

My jaw dropped. “Maybe. You’re welcome.” I turned on my heel and stomped off. “What a jerk,” I seethed to Marner as I plunked down across from him. “Nobody needs to be that self-important when they’re wearing a silk shirt at eleven in the morning.”

Marner looked amused. “Want me to go tell him off?”

“No. He’s not worth ten more seconds of my time.” I leaned forward and whispered, “He didn’t even care that his dad seems to be MIA.”

“Maybe they’re not close. Maybe Cezar goes radio silent on a regular basis.”

That was possible. Slade had just rubbed me wrong. “I guess.”

Marner’s phone was chiming and he pulled it out of his pocket. “Ah, hell. I totally forgot I promised my dad I would help him fix his fence. It will only take a few hours. I can be done in time to cook you dinner. I’m sorry.”

“That’s fine, no problem.” That meant I could go to Cezar’s house solo, which I really preferred. I didn’t want Marner to be connected in any way to shady doings. It would not look good. I feigned disappointment. “Tell your mom I said hi.” I had yet to meet his father, but his mother was nice.

“Will do, but fair warning, if I say anything, it will mean that she’s going to push even harder for us to go over there for dinner. She’s been on that for weeks now.”

“We can do dinner with them.” I didn’t see what the big deal was.

“You are so cute when you’re being naïve,” he said. “She’s going to embarrass the hell out of both of us.”

“No one beats my mother in that arena. I’ve got this,” I said with confidence.

Thirty minutes later I was at home, changing into pants that would allow me to move up and down the steps of Cezar’s house quickly, searching for his body in closets and the basement. I initially thought black, but black shows dust, so I went for light-gray joggers and track shoes with a loose, boatneck T-shirt that stated, “I run on coffee and lipstick,” because duh, I do.

Once I was dressed, I called out, “Yo, Cezar!” I figured he would like that.

He walked through my bedroom door. “What’s up? How did it go with Slade?”

“Well, I gave him the key, but I’m not convinced he’ll bother looking in that storage unit. He was kind of nonchalant about it. He seemed irritated that I was bothering him.”

“He’ll go look. Slade is in the family business. He knows what that unit is for.”

I started transferring important items from my handbag to a smaller, cherry-red, cross-body bag. “By the way, for a man who has such disdain for all things youthful and trendy, I find it ironic that you named your son Slade.”

He shrugged. “That was my ex-wife’s idea.”

I had assumed he was divorced, because a Mrs. Wozniak had never been mentioned, but I wasn’t surprised to hear that she had come up with the name for their son. “So you just went along with it?”

“It wasn’t worth the fight. Besides, I named our oldest Daniel, so she got kid number two.”

“Daniel is a nice name.” It was. Stable, yet interesting. Not as stuffy as William. Cooler than George.

“He’s a good kid. Like I said, married, two kids, nice wife. He works in finance.”

“Maybe I should have taken the key to him.”

“No, definitely to Slade. Daniel wouldn’t know what to do with it, and he needs to keep his nose clean. Slade is always up to his ears in things an old man should never involve his kid in.” Cezar was getting morose again. He was a moody spirit, much like they all were.

“Like what?”

“He was the armored car driver. He’d been working there six months, giving me insider information so I could plan the heist. He pretended to get robbed by an unknown person when really it was me.”

Oh my. “Wow.”

“I know, kind of a lousy thing for a father to pressure his kid to do. I feel guilty about that. But Slade was always all in. He’s got the fire. And the high taste.”

Slade was also a jerk, given what I had seen. A niggling suspicion started in the back of my mind and began to grow. What if Slade had killed his father for the money? Not just the three million, but whatever assets Cezar had, which included the lake house and a house in the city. I had no idea what else he possessed.

“Hey, Cezar, do you have life insurance?” I asked.

“Yeah, about two million.” Cezar’s head snapped up. “Oh no, don’t you go there, kid. I know what you’re thinking and that’s horseshit. Slade would never kill me.”

“Of course not,” I agreed. But it didn’t mean he wouldn’t hire someone else to pull the trigger. It might be too much to kill his own father while looking him in the eye, but he might be capable of creating an alibi for himself while someone else did his dirty work.

“Damn straight.” He pointed his finger at me. “Don’t even go there.”

“I’m not.” I was, but I didn’t want to upset Cezar. “And if you start singing Wayne Newton, I will find a way to vaporize you.” It was an idle threat, but it made me wonder if I should start researching mediums. Relying on my motley crew of idiot spirits to guide me wasn’t getting me jack, and neither was my previous plan of attempting to ignore them.

“I wouldn’t sully Wayne Newton that way,” he said solemnly. “A man knows where to draw the line.”

With that bit of ridiculousness, I waved and left my house.