Star Walk (A Lacey Fitzpatrick and Sam Firecloud Mystery Book 3) Read online

  Sam was quiet as she mulled over her next words.

  “It’s becoming clear to me that our real focus—our real success—is helping the ghosts find peace. Find closure. I used to think that your talking to them, getting their story, was only the path to solving the crime. Now I realize that your communicating with them is everything. It’s the path, and it’s the goal, all in one.”

  She glanced over at him. “Does that make sense?”

  Sam smiled humorlessly. “It makes perfect sense. I think you’re absolutely right. Geoffrey Johns is dead. Lance’s father is dead. There’s nothing we can do to even the score on that level. All we can do is uncover the story of the victims, know their truth, and help them to understand they were not at fault. That they really were abused. Both of them—Estelle and Lance—were told lies, and both came to believe those lies. We can restore the truth to them. We can vindicate them.” He looked over at her. “And that’s a big deal.”

  She met his eyes for a moment before turning back to the road. “Yes, it is. I’d like to think that if I… had trouble letting go, when my time came, that someone would do for me what we’re doing.” She reached over and squeezed his hand. “Thank you. For being my partner. For letting me help.”

  He squeezed back. “We do good work. And I wouldn’t want any other partner.”

  Lacey blinked back tears. “Me, neither,” she said.

  Deidre was waiting for them. She seemed to pick up on their quiet confidence.

  “You think you have what you need to get him to move on?” she asked as she led the way to the living room.

  “We think so,” Lacey said. She set her purse down and pulled out her video camera.

  “You’ve had no more evidence of Estelle?” Sam asked.

  Deidre shook her head. “None. It feels… clean up there. Fresh. It’s wonderful.”

  “Good.” He arched an eyebrow at Lacey. “Let’s see what we can do for Lance.”

  “I’ll wait here,” Deidre said, “and see you when you’re done.”

  Lacey let Sam lead the way up the staircase. He took the steps easily, in no hurry, and Lacey could see that questing look on his face. As they neared the third floor landing, he slowed.

  Lacey stepped up behind him and turned on her camera.

  Sam went directly to the south apartment door and turned the knob, pushing the door open. He stood on the threshold and surveyed the room with narrowed eyes. Finally, he stepped in.

  Lacey followed.

  Sam stood in the middle of the room. He angled his head left, then right, like a dog triangulating an unfamiliar sound. He took a few steps toward the alcove that served as a bedroom.

  “Lance Tynan,” he intoned in a low voice. “We know your story. We know your pain.” Sam held his hands out to his sides, palms up. “The evil is not within you. You are not to blame.”

  His words echoed away into silence. Sam stood still, waiting, listening. Then he jerked his head toward a corner of the room, a dark corner beyond the bed.

  “Lance,” he said softly. “You were a child. Eight years old. You were innocent. You were preyed upon. By a monster.” He stepped closer to the corner. “Your father was a monster. It was his shame, not yours. His weakness, not yours. Do you see that, now? Can you see how he put his shame on you? It was not ever your fault. It was his. His, with his twisted religion, his twisted mind, his twisted lies. You were the victim. The helpless, innocent victim.”

  Sam pulled in a deep breath. Lacey, watching through the viewfinder, thought he looked as if he were filling himself up.

  “Lance, religion is not God. Religion is man’s attempt to understand and control. God is only one thing—love. If you loved during your life—loved your wife, your daughter, your male partners—that is all God would want. Love is what makes us human. Not power. Not control. Love. Did you love, Lance?”

  He waited in the stillness. The room seemed to throb with expectant silence.

  “I believe you did, Lance. I believe you loved the people in your life. That you wanted the best for them. That you wanted them to be happy. That’s what love is. You know that now. God is love. And God will take you into a loving embrace. God will make you whole. Strong. Perfect.”

  Sam turned slowly, his senses tuned, around the room. Finally he pulled a smudge stick from his pocket and lit it. The blue smoke curled upward in graceful spirals.

  “Let go, Lance. You are free now. Let go, and go to God. You are a perfect point of light. A star. Brilliant, white, perfect. Free.”

  His words faded away to nothing. The smoke curled and fluttered, soft blue tendrils drifting throughout the room. Then, as Sam stood still in the center of the room, the smoke began to coalesce, and the column of it rose straight up toward the ceiling. Up against the high crown molding, it dissipated and melted away.

  Sam turned to Lacey and nodded. “I think we’re done.”

  She dragged her eyes from the ceiling where the smoke faded away and turned off the camera. “Was that him—in the corner?” she asked softly.

  “That was the eight-year-old,” Sam said with a sigh. “He was hiding there, paralyzed with fear. But he’s okay now. He’s gone.”

  ~~~

  Back downstairs with Deidre, they sipped iced tea. Lacey felt all the tension in her body release as she sat back against the soft cushions of the white couch.

  “I can’t thank you enough,” Deidre said as she wrote a check. “You have been… invaluable.” She tore off the check and handed it to Sam. He glanced at it, and his eyebrows shot up. “I added a little extra,” she said, smiling. “Just a little bonus for a job well done.”

  Sam showed the check to Lacey. A thousand dollars. Some little bonus, she thought.

  “Thank you,” Sam said. “That’s very generous of you.”

  “Well worth it,” Deidre said, waving away the compliment.

  “We’re glad we could help,” Lacey said. She stowed her camera in her bag. “As with all these cases, we learned a lot. I’m glad it all worked out.”

  “You and me both,” Deidre said. As she led them to the door, she gave them a wink. “If I hear about anyone else with ghost trouble, I’ll be sure to refer them to you.”

  “That’s all we can ask,” Sam said with a smile.

  ~~~

  TWENTY

  One week later, Lacey parked her car and walked to the front door of the Wild Animal Foundation of Hollywood. Inside the gift shop, she glanced around and found the counter along the far wall. She threaded her way through the displays of stuffed animals, coffee mugs and jigsaw puzzles and approached the girl behind the counter.

  “I’m here for the birthday party,” she said. “Kenzie Firecloud?”

  “Oh, yeah. The kids are still out on the tour, but they should be back shortly. If you want to go through that door over there, that’s where the party will be.” She waved a hand toward double doors at the back of the gift shop.

  “Great, thanks,” Lacey said.

  She pushed through the doors and entered a large dining room filled with tables and chairs. Each table was draped with a pink tablecloth dotted with animals, and each sported a centerpiece of fresh daisies. A huge banner across one wall read Happy Birthday Kenzie.

  A small group of people stood to one side, gathered around a wheelchair. Lacey smiled and walked directly to Celeste. Leaning down, she kissed the papery-dry cheek.

  “Celeste, this is absolutely wonderful. Thank you so much for doing this. I know Kenzie will love it.”

  “Tut, tut,” Celeste said. “It’s my pleasure. Kenzie seems a lovely child.”

  “She is,” Lacey said. “And I still want to pay you back for this. Sam and I both do.”

  “You’ll do no such thing,” Celeste said with a wicked grin. “This is my treat.”

  “Well, it’s fabulous.” Glancing around, Lacey greeted Paula and then Christine, Kenzie’s mother. Christine introduced her to the handful of other mothers.

  “Where’s Sam?” Lace
y asked.

  “Out with the kids,” Christine said. “They should be here any minute.” She stepped up close to Lacey. “I want to thank you for arranging this. Kenzie was beside herself with excitement.”

  “When I heard about the problem with the zoo, I thought this might be a good alternative. And Celeste was very open to the idea. It seemed like a win-win to me.”

  Just then the sound of children’s voices, loud with excitement, bounced against the outside wall of the dining room. A door on the far side opened, and twenty children dashed inside. Some ran to tables and grabbed seats while others skipped to their waiting mothers, all atwitter about their tour of the grounds.

  “We saw lions and tigers…”

  “A giraffe!”

  “Pretty horses…”

  Lacey watched the swarm of miniaturized humanity flow about the room with gleeful energy.

  Sam came in, and he and Daniel and Kenzie went to join Christine. When Kenzie saw Lacey, she ran over and threw her arms around her.

  “Wow,” Lacey said, smiling. “What a great hug. Are you having a good birthday?”

  “It’s the best,” Kenzie said. Her dark eyes, so like her father’s, sparkled with joy. “Dad said it’s all because of you.”

  “It was my idea,” Lacey admitted, “but this lady right here made it happen. Have you met Celeste?”

  “Yes, before,” Kenzie said. “Thank you, Celeste. This is awesome!”

  “I’m glad you’re having fun,” Celeste said. “Are you ready for some cake and ice cream?”

  “Yeah!” Several voices answered the question. Kenzie scooted to the seat of honor and took her place beside a mound of presents and a large decorated sheet cake. A server proceeded to light the nine candles atop the cake.

  Sam edged over close to Lacey and nudged her with an elbow. “She’ll remember this forever,” he said in a low voice.

  “I’m glad,” Lacey said. She looked from Kenzie to Christine, to Celeste and Paula, and thought about Margaret and about Doreen. This whole adventure had been about family; about mothers and fathers, about daughters and sons, about sisters. Family, she realized, was fiercely important. Families had the power to harm—or heal. The power to destroy—or make whole. After all was said and done, family remained the most important part of life.

  She slipped one arm around Sam’s waist. “Remind me when the party’s over,” she said to him, “to call my folks when I get home.”

  He draped one arm around her shoulders and gave her a squeeze. “You got it.”

  ~~~

  Look for

  Dream Walk

  Book 4 of the Lacey Fitzpatrick and Sam Firecloud mystery series.

  Thank You for Reading

  I sincerely hope you enjoyed reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you did, I would greatly appreciate a short review on Amazon or your favorite book website. Reviews are crucial for any author, and even just a line or two can make a huge difference.

  --MJB

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Melissa Bowersock is an eclectic, award-winning author who writes in a variety of fiction and non-fiction genres: paranormal, western, action, romance, fantasy and spiritual, satire and biography. She lives in a small community in Northern Arizona with her husband and an Airedale terrier.

  For more information, visit

  http://www.newmoonrising.net

  or

  http://www.melissabowersock.com

  Find Me Online on Twitter and Facebook or visit my blog at:

  http://mjb-wordlovers.blogspot.com

  BOOKS BY MELISSA BOWERSOCK

  The Appaloosa Connection (Western Adventure)

  When Ross Garvey's prized Appaloosa is stolen from his Colorado ranch, he fully intends to hunt down the thieves in their New Mexico hideout and regain his best broodmare. What he doesn't count on is bull-headed, fifteen year old Jaimie Callahan, whose horse was also stolen by the same thieves. And he certainly does not anticipate the beautiful Mexican girl who's dealing with the thieves, nor the fact that an entire company of Mexican troops is in on the deal!

  The Blue Crystal (Fantasy)

  In the realm of Zor, the tyrant Mal-Zor is maniacal in his quest for the mythical Blue Crystal of power sends generations of innocents to their deaths in the crystal mines. Jared, a young farmer from a small isolated village, has paid scant attention to the distant troubles until his younger siblings are taken as slaves. Jared vows to free them and his quest soon becomes enmeshed in the most magical power struggle imaginable. Accompanied by a recalcitrant halfling, mounted on a huge black lion and supported by an aging wizard and his daughter, Jared prepares to challenge the king and claim his hidden destiny.

  Burning Through (Paranormal Suspense/Romance)

  When Jennifer and Robert Stinson buy a beautifully restored Victorian house, the last thing they expect is to share their home with a ghost―especially one with a penchant for setting fires. Unfortunately the ghostly arson only creates more tension in their already strained marriage. Jen launches her own investigation into the history of her house and discovers a surprising ally in a sympathetic fire captain. But can she unravel the mystery of the fires before they consume her home, her marriage … and her life?

  Finding Travis – No Time for Travis: Book 1 (Time Travel)

  Travis Merrill’s life isn’t going according to plan. He’s quit several career paths, his wife has left him, and his only solace is volunteering to portray a cavalry surgeon at historic Fort Verde in Arizona, a place where time seems to stand still. When a weird trick of time actually sends him back to the year 1877, he’s boxed into impersonating the post surgeon for real. Unfortunately, he finds his medical knowledge is no match for the primitive practices of the day, and he’s forced to make life or death decisions, not always successfully. He wonders if he will ever be able to return to his own time, or if he might find a life—and a love—140 years in the past.

  Being Travis – No Time for Travis: Book 2 (Time Travel)

  Two years ago, a weird trick of time sent Travis Merrill spiraling from 2016 to the year 1877. Committed now to his life in frontier Arizona, Travis is married with a child on the way and is homesteading a ranch. His knowledge of the future, however, keeps him at odds with his neighbors, his friends… and his wife. He finds it more and more difficult to protect his home without alienating his family, yet he can’t ignore what he knows is – and will be – true.

  Fleischerhaus (Paranormal Suspense/Romance)

  Julia Martin, newly-divorced but still reeling from her husband’s infidelity, takes a much needed vacation to visit old college friends in Germany. While touring a little-known concentration camp and museum, she spontaneously experiences a violent past life memory of being murdered in this very camp during the Holocaust. Efforts to understand her memories only lead to more questions, the largest being: is her killer still alive? Supported by her friends and comforted in the arms of a handsome doctor, Julia strives to uncover the mysteries of her past life and find justice for the person she used to be.

  Ghost Walk (Paranormal Mystery)

  Book 1 of the Lacey Fitzpatrick and Sam Firecloud Mystery Series

  Lacey Fitzpatrick is an ex-LAPD detective with an axe to grind. Tainted by the betrayal of her drug-dealing cop boyfriend, she’s on a quest to prove to herself—and the world—that she’s still a competent crime-fighter. In order to do that, she teams up with Sam Firecloud, a half-Navajo man who communicates with ghosts. With his talent and her research, they tackle troubling unsolved crimes, but their latest case is the toughest. They have to solve a murder—where no record of a murder even exists. Can Sam glean enough information from the victim’s ghost to unravel the mystery, and can Lacey convince the authorities that the murder actually happened?

  Skin Walk (Paranormal Mystery)

  Book 2 of the Lacey Fitzpatrick and Sam Firecloud Mystery Series

  Lacey and Sam are on the job again. This time, the ex-cop and the Navajo medium have b
een called out to the Navajo reservation to investigate the suspicious death of Sam’s cousin. What they uncover leads them into a realm of the supernatural beyond anything Lacey ever imagined; her years on the LAPD did nothing to prepare her for dealing with witches and shapeshifters. With clues few and far between, can they determine who the murderer is before they themselves become the target of deadly curses and feral shapeshifter beasts?

  Star Walk (Paranormal Mystery)

  Book 3 of the Lacey Fitzpatrick and Sam Firecloud Mystery Series

  Ex-cop Lacey Fitzpatrick and Navajo medium Sam Firecloud are working a new investigation into paranormal activity. This time they’re called to clear an old Hollywood mansion of the multiple ghostly tenants that are threatening the home owner’s livelihood. At the same time, however, Lacey gets a call from her ex-boyfriend, now prison inmate, for help in a more earthly manner. He fears his sister is siphoning money from his elderly mother, and only Lacey can find out the truth. Between saving her ex’s mother from bankruptcy and researching deep into the families of the tortured souls haunting the mansion, Lacey finds the revelations of family dynamics to be both fatally flawed and heartbreakingly inspired.

  Dream Walk (Paranormal Mystery)

  Book 4 of the Lacey Fitzpatrick and Sam Firecloud Mystery Series

  Private investigator Lacey Fitzpatrick and Navajo medium Sam Firecloud are usually called to clear haunted locations of their lingering ghosts using Sam’s unusual talent for communicating with the dead. This time, however, the dead—Sam’s former brother-in-law—comes to him… in a dream. Now Sam and Lacey have to go to Las Vegas and figure out how to find the body and uncover a murder plot before the murderers bury them forever.