Page 45 of Ghost Town Boogie

“Fine, they tell me,” Mac said. “Or she will be. Someone jumped her. She fell and hit her head pretty hard, so the paramedics are insisting on a trip to the hospital.”

Anna and her mother joined them. Jack was so close to Nina Miller he was almost a part of her.

“I’ll go with her,” Anna said.

“No, I will,” Nina insisted. “Emily doesn’t need to be alone, and you two…” She looked at her daughter and then at Colt. “You two need to figure out what the hell is going on around here.”

Mac looked insulted. “That’s normally my job.”

“You haven’t exactly been succeeding lately, now have you?” Nina said.

The police chief looked chastened, like a little kid who’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

Anna took Colt’s hand and held on tight. He liked it. He wondered how he’d survived the last dozen years without this.

The paramedics loaded Emily into the back of the ambulance, against her weak objections. The reluctant patient asked Anna to fetch her purse, and she did. It probably didn’t take a full minute for Anna to run into the house and come back with the small bag. Emily clutched the purse to her chest and asked Anna to contact Curtis and tell him she’d call later.

When the patient was settled, Nina joined her. The paramedics tried to insist that the older woman meet them at the hospital, but she argued for staying and they soon relented. Jack remained close to Nina, more faded than usual but still strong.

The ghost looked at Colt and flickered as he said, “I have to go with her, I don’t have the strength to separate myself again right now. But Colt, you have to know… he thought it was Anna.”

CHAPTER 18

Anna called Curtis as soon as they were back in the house. She kept the news simple, only the truth. That truth was somewhat incomplete, but she considered it accurate enough, for now. Emily had fallen and hit her head, and she’d been taken to the hospital for observation. It was simply a precaution. Emily had her cell and would call when she could. Anna didn’t share the news that her cousin had fallen because she’d been attacked. She didn’t know enough to answer any of the questions that would follow. Emily could tell her husband everything, when they talked.

Even without knowing everything, Curtis insisted on heading out tonight. Anna urged him to wait. Emily should be out of the hospital by morning, and if all was well she and Nina could be on the road in a couple of days. They agreed to talk in the morning.

She wouldn’t be surprised if Curtis showed up here by noon tomorrow, call or no call.

Anna dropped her cell onto the couch and walked into Colt’s arms. She sighed, already tired from thinking of everything she had to do tonight. For now she just wanted to be held. By Colt. She didn’t care where they were or how many ghosts might be watching; she needed him.

Neither of them spoke for a few long seconds, and then Colt whispered,

“I thought it was you. For a split second, when I first got here… I thought it was you and my heart damn near stopped.”

“I’m pretty sure it was supposed to be me,” she said, as calmly as possible. Her pounding heart gave her away, though. She was anything but calm. “Jack made things shake, I knew it had to be him, I knew something was wrong. Then I heard Emily shout as I opened the door.” She waited for Colt to remind her that he’d told her to stay inside. He didn’t. “The man who attacked her had a knife in his hand but when he saw me… he was surprised, I think. He ran.”

He stepped back, held her at arm’s length. “Knife?”

“Was this the man who killed Nicole?” she whispered.

Colt didn’t answer that question. He didn’t need to. “Can you identify him? Did you tell Mac?”

Anna shook her head. The police chief hadn’t asked her detailed questions, at least not yet. They’d told him a man jumped Emily and she fell. More questions were coming, she was certain, but for now it was down to her and Colt. “This has something to do with Jack, doesn’t it? What was he into that could lead to this, all these years later? Is he here? I have questions.”

“Jack isn’t here. He’s with your Mom.”

“Always?”

“Pretty much. He did break away long enough to tell me you needed me, but the effort exhausted him. He’s done some bad shit, and yes, this is all his fault, somehow. I know it. But he tried to save you. Dammit, I should’ve been with you instead of out playing amateur detective.”

She agreed. He should’ve been with her. Tonight. Last year. Tomorrow…

“I always thought Seawolf Beach was such a sleepy, peaceful little town. People aren’t supposed to be murdered here, or attacked on the sidewalk, or…” She stopped, sighed, pressed her face into Colt’s chest. “There’s so much to do, but all I really want to do is stand here and hold you.”

It had been a long time since she’d wanted or needed anyone the way she needed Colt. Was that a good thing?

He saw ghosts. Her brother, dead for five years, had dragged them all into a heap of trouble. If she was smart she’d see her mother on the way to Florida and light out of town right behind her.