CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Lance listened as Angus explained to Gail what had happened to Tom the night before. It wasn't exactly how he wanted to spend his Saturday morning, but he understood that this needed to be done. He admired Angus for being able to speak to what appeared to be thin air and still have as much compassion and empathy in his voice. He loved him so much for his acceptance and understanding when it came to ghosts.

"So is he okay now?" Gail asked.

Lance looked at Angus. "She's asking if he's okay now."

Angus nodded. "I just spoke to the hospital. He's going to be okay. His parents got back in town this morning and are with him. They're keeping him in the hospital for another day or two while they flush the poison from his system."

"Do they know what poisoned him?" Lance asked.

"Tetrahydrozoline, better known as an ingredient in eye drops. Taken as eye drops, it helps clear redness from the eyes, but taken orally, it can be deadly." Angus stared at where Gail was sitting. "The doctor isn't sure if it was a large one-time dose or something that was given to him in smaller doses over a few days, but it caused his chest pain and breathing issues, along with the seizure he had. Thankfully, Terrance acted quickly and got help. It could have been deadly."

Lance was glad Bethany and Ray sat with Gail to give her comfort. And, of course, Haunt was there by her side.

"Eye drops?" Gail looked shocked.

Lance nodded. "Eye drops are very dangerous if taken orally. I've seen several deaths come through the morgue due to them. What's good for one part of the body isn't always good for the other parts. Not all eye drops have it in them. I tend to avoid eye drops with it, just because I've seen what it can do and don't like having it around. But anyone can run out and buy a bottle. If someone wanted to poison Tom, it would be one of the easiest ways."

Angus looked at his phone. "Franks and I are headed over to Terrance's today to interview everyone in the house. What do you know about his family?"

Gail shrugged. "Not much. His parents work a ton, but when they are home, they're nice. I never hear them fighting or arguing. Terrance wasn't very close to his stepdad, but he said he liked having a dad again. Terrance's dad left right after he was born, and he never knew him." She paused to let Lance repeat what she'd said.

"What about Johnny? Did he get along with Terrance?" Angus asked.

"Not at all. No one liked Johnny. I mean, we didn't really know him, but he was never friendly. We'd only see him in passing really. He'd come out of his room to get food or sometimes be on his laptop in the upstairs living room when we'd come in. He would glare up at us and make us feel like he didn't want us there, but we'd just go downstairs and do our thing and ignore him. Terrance didn't talk much about him, but I know they weren't close. They didn't have anything in common. Terrance was all about playing basketball, and I doubt Johnny ever touched a ball unless he was forced to in gym class." Gail paused again.

Lance let Angus know what she'd said, his stomach rolling at the direction this questioning was going. Did Angus actually think a kid was doing all this killing? He wasn't in a place he dared ask questions — not with Gail sitting right there — but he wanted to know what Angus was thinking.

"I want you to think back on your killer. Do you think it is possible that it was Johnny?" Angus asked.

Gail's eyes widened and she shook her head, but then she stilled. Lance watched as she really thought about the question. He saw the way her ghostly body seemed to tense as the idea that a fifteen-year-old brother of a friend might be her killer really settled with her. She shrugged. "My first thought was no way, but I guess it could have been. The height is right, but my killer seemed a lot stronger than I would have thought Johnny would be."

"But you were injured and had been unconscious right before you fought with him. Could that have made you weaker and him seem stronger?" Lance asked, then repeated what Gail had said to Angus.

"Maybe. It could have been him, but I couldn't be sure." Gail shrugged.

Lance looked at Angus. "She can't be sure, but it's possible." He reached for his coffee. "During her autopsy, we found what I think was skin under her nails. We haven't gotten the lab results back yet on that, but I'd say there is a good chance that whoever pushed Gail off that bridge has scratches somewhere on him."

"His arms. I scratched his arms." Gail nodded.

"She says she scratched his arms, so if you can get Johnny to show you his arms during an interview, maybe that will give you at least enough to hold him while you find more evidence to charge him?" Lance wished it wasn't the weekend and that he could go back to work and put a rush on the lab work.

"That's something we'll definitely look at. We're also going to run by the hospital and talk to Tom now that he's awake and see if he remembers anything. It wouldn't have been hard to dump some eye drops into whatever Tom was drinking, but I need one of the boys to verify that Johnny was around them enough to do that." Angus wrote something in his notebook. "Did you ever hear Johnny and Terrance argue?"

"Not really arguing. Just make comments. You know how siblings insult each other. Terrance would call Johnny a nerd, and Johnny would call Terrance a stupid jock. Just stuff in passing. Seriously, Johnny barely came out of his room. We'd hardly ever see him. Terrance didn't hate him or anything. They just didn't have anything in common. I remember Fiona asking if Johnny had any friends and Terrance shrugged and said they were all online. He said no one ever came over to the house and Johnny didn't leave unless it was to school or some computer camp he went to for a few weeks last summer." Gail stopped so Lance could repeat everything. "Sorry, I forget he can't hear me, and you have to tell him what I say."

"It's okay. We're used to this." Lance smiled as he thought about how second-nature it had become to speak for the ghosts so Angus could hear them. He hardly thought about doing it now. It was just natural.

Angus glanced at his phone as it beeped. "That's Franks. He's on his way over to pick me up. We'll head over to check on Tom first, then go speak to Terrance and his family." He glanced at Lance. "I should be back by one or two. That gives us the afternoon together."

"It's okay. I know this is your job. I've got laundry to do and unfortunately, I can't bribe Ray or Bethany into mowing the back yard. I've got plenty to keep me occupied until you get home. What did you want to do for dinner?"

"How about I grill those steaks we bought? I think there is a can of baked beans we can open to have with it, and there's some salad left over from last night." Angus set his phone down.

"Sounds good." Lance always loved it when Angus grilled. "I'll get the steaks out and ready. I found a marinade that sounds good in one of those books of Cel's we bought."

"Looking forward to trying it." Angus stood. "I need to get ready. Is there anything else you can think of that I should know about Johnny or Terrance's family?" He looked where Gail was sitting.

"No, not that I can think of. I don't know why Johnny would do anything to all of us. We hardly knew him." Gail continued to run her ghostly fingers over Haunt's fur.

"I hope he didn't do this, but it's something I have to investigate. Thanks for your help." Angus looked at Lance. "Help me in the bedroom for a minute?"

Lance smiled. "Of course." He was used to Angus asking him that when he wanted to steal a few minutes alone without the ghosts watching them. He stood and followed Angus into the bedroom, not shocked at all when Angus closed the door and pulled Lance into his arms.

"I really hate it when I can't spend weekends together." Angus brushed his mouth over Lance's, holding him tightly against his body.

"It's not the whole weekend. It's a few hours. We'd both be lost in yard work if you were here anyway. Go see what you can learn. This case is important. I'd rather you catch this killer than hang around with me." Lance rocked his hips. "But tonight, when you get home, I plan on getting all your attention."

"I'll be yours all night. I promise." Angus rocked back against him.

Lance groaned then pulled away before things went too far and it would be impossible to stop. "Don't tempt me to keep you here when you have places to be."

"Franks would wait for me." Angus gave a sly grin.

"And the last thing I want is for Franks to know what we're doing in here. We have all night and all day tomorrow. As badly as I want you, we can wait. My desire for you isn't going to fade in a few hours. I always want you." Lance leaned in and gave him another kiss. "Now get ready. I'll go let Franks in if he shows up."

"I'll be right out." Angus turned for the bathroom.

Lance let him go and headed out to the living room. The ghosts had moved to the backyard, leaving him alone in the house. He cleaned up their morning dishes, sticking them in the dishwasher to deal with later, and started to plan his day.

He'd just made a grocery list when he heard Franks knock, then the door open.

"It's just me," Franks yelled.

"In the kitchen," Lance called back.

Franks walked in a second later and frowned. "Where's Haunt? She always greets me at the door."

"With our new ghost. She hasn't left Gail's side since they met. It's as if Haunt knows she needs the extra affection." Lance nodded to the coffee pot. "There's still coffee there if you want some."

"I'm good, but thanks." Franks took a seat. "I stopped and had breakfast at Benny's this morning before coming over here. It's becoming a Saturday habit."

Lance raised a brow. "Alone?"

"Yes, alone. Don't go getting that hopeful look in your eyes. I'm happy being single. Stop thinking that's going to change," Franks growled.

"I thought I was happy single until I met Angus." Lance grinned.

"Same. Meeting the right person changes everything." Angus walked into the kitchen, going to Lance and dropping a kiss on his lips before looking at Franks. "You ready?"

"If it means avoiding the dating conversation again, I'm more than ready. Hospital, then the Jefferies?"

"Yeah, I want to see if we can get more information on the poison used. I found very little online telling me how much a person has to receive to make them this sick." Angus patted his pockets, making sure he had everything, then turned back to Lance. "Shouldn't be more than a few hours."

"I'll be here. Take your time. I hope you find—" Lance stopped speaking as Angus's phone rang.

Angus answered and almost instantly his body tensed, and his expression grew serious. "How long ago?" He cast a look at Franks, then at Lance. "Okay, we're on our way." Angus ended the call and frowned. "That was Detective Burns. A call just went out for police and an ambulance for the Jefferies home. She was in the office working on something when she heard the call over the radio and remembered the address as one connected to our case." He ran his fingers through his hair and shook his head. "I'll be later than planned." Angus turned to leave, and Franks stood and followed.

"Be safe." Lance's gut tightened, praying it was something simple and not another murder. He headed into the backyard, debating whether to tell Gail, but in the end decided she had a right to know what was going on. He sat down at the table and told her about the call.

Gail stood. "Can I go with them?" She started to move toward the house.

"They're already gone," Lance called to her.

She turned. "I can walk there, or grab a ride from someone going that way, right? You said I could jump into cars without people knowing?" She looked at Ray. "I need to be there. Maybe I can see something, learn something. I can go into the house and listen where you guys can't." She looked at Lance.

Lance sighed.

"She's right. We can go where Angus and Franks can't without a warrant. Maybe we'll learn something. It's worth a try." Bethany stood beside Gail. "Will you give us a ride?"

Lance didn't like this, but honestly, if he didn't give them a ride, they'd just go find one. He almost asked if she knew the address, then remembered the kids spent most of their free time at Terrance's home. "Let me grab my wallet and keys. Meet me in the garage."

Angus was not going to be happy about this, but Lance would simply drop the ghosts off down the street a bit, then head home. They could tag along with Angus when he was done if they needed a ride back to the house. All in all, having the ghosts spy wasn't a bad idea. It was something they should have thought of earlier. They'd never be seen, couldn't be injured, and were able to go places the police couldn't. The trouble came when the ghosts might actually find something out and then Angus couldn't use it as evidence, because, of course, who is going to believe that a ghost told him?

"Ready?" He got into the car, seeing Ray and Bethany in the back seat and Gail in the passenger seat. "Where am I going?"

"Do you know where Baxter Park is? Terrance lives just down the road from there," Gail told him.

"Sure. I used to play softball there when I was in a summer league a few years ago." Lance knew the area well. Then again, at one point or another, he'd been out to pick up bodies in most areas of Fairway.

"Once we're close I can direct you." Gail leaned toward Lance. "Do you know what the emergency was?"

"No, just that an ambulance was called. It could be nothing more than someone falling, or someone cutting their hand chopping vegetables." He hoped it was that simple, but the hush in the car told him that none of them believed that.

"Gail, maybe you should let me go in first." Ray met Lance's gaze in the rearview mirror. "Considering how Terrance was scared to die, it might not be pretty."

"Oh, God!" Gail's hand went to cover her mouth. "He was scared of being crushed." She sagged in her seat. "Please don't let him be hurt." She held her hands together as if praying, but glanced back at Ray. "I'll be okay. I watched Lance do my autopsy. I can handle it."

Lance wasn't sure, but he'd learned long ago not to argue with the ghosts about these things. To his surprise, the ghosts handled death and horrible death scenes way better than he imagined they would.

Silence filled the car as he drove, thankful that the weekend traffic wasn't heavy. It took only about ten minutes to cross town and drive into the neighborhood. Once they got to the park, Gail told Lance where to turn. He saw the flashing lights first, then his stomach tightened as he saw the medical examiner's van parked on the curb. This wasn't going to be just a simple fall or someone needing stitches. Lance parked and he watched as Gail floated out of the car and rushed to the house with Bethany and Ray following. Lance sat for a moment debating on what to do, but finally decided to get out and walk over to the medical examiner's van. Either Sam or Mack would be there since they swapped calls over the weekend. He was here and he would see if he could help. If not, he'd quietly leave, knowing that Angus would have his hands full well into the night if another teen was dead.

Lance walked over to the medical examiner's van but didn't see anyone around it. It was unlocked, so he helped himself to what he would need and made his way toward the house. He knew before he got there that it was probably Terrance who had died. Standing in the driveway, Gail, Ray, and Bethany stood with a very tall young man. The guy had a confused look on his face as Gail spoke to him. Lance wanted to approach, but there were other first responders out front, and he couldn't risk drawing attention to himself by speaking with ghosts that no one else could see. He'd get his chance to speak with them later.

One of the two garage doors was open and crime scene tape was already in place, keeping people from entering the garage. He saw Mack standing inside the garage, speaking with one of the paramedics who had responded. He looked around but didn't see Angus or Franks anywhere. He nodded to one of the officers he knew, but stayed to the side, not wanting to interfere with everything going on. He couldn't see the body, but he guessed it was in the garage by the attention the area was getting.

"Lance?" Mack called as he looked out to the driveway from the garage. He moved closer. "You come with Angus?"

Not wanting to lie, Lance simply said, "You need help?"

"I won't turn it down. But it's a bad one." Mack glanced back over his shoulder. "Prepare yourself."

Lance's stomach tightened, but he'd expected it to be bad. After all, Terrance's fear had been being crushed. Lance didn't know yet how it had happened, but was ready for anything. Crossing under the crime scene tape, he paused to give his name and position to the officer securing the area, slid on a pair of booties over his shoes, then gloved up. He took a deep breath and prepared himself for the worst.