Ghost Walk Page 15

  “Go on,” the officer said.

  “I was horrified at the blood. He ran out of the kitchen, down the hall, and I dropped the knife. I couldn’t believe that I had actually done that, but I had blood on my hands, blood on the floor, the cabinets. When he ran out, I thought maybe he would be okay, that it wasn’t that bad, that I hadn’t hurt him that badly, but I followed him down the hall into the office.”

  The officer waited, but she just cried silently. “And…?”

  “He was there in the corner. Blood everywhere. He’d been trying to get into the closet, but… was too weak, I guess. He was just lying there, glaring at me. I could see the hatred on his face. I knew he’d been trying to get his gun. He would have killed me, then. He was just enraged. It scared the hell out of me, and I was… glad, then, that he couldn’t get to me. I mean, I was sorry I’d hurt him so badly, but he… he deserved it. But I didn’t want him to die. I didn’t want him to die.” She lifted her face to the officer. “I loved him.”

  The video cut once again, this time to a news byte. A stone-faced female journalist sat at a news desk and read from a teleprompter.

  “Anacortes police announced today that they have taken a woman into custody for the brutal murder of her husband three years ago. Marsha Addison has been charged with one count of second degree murder in the stabbing death of her husband, Douglas Addison, in June of 2013 in San Clemente, California. The woman made a full confession, even detailing how she staged a boating accident and her husband’s disappearance in order to cover up the murder. She is now cooperating with police and has given details about where her husband’s body was buried. Recovery crews are searching an area in the Angeles National Forest in Southern California and expect to locate the body shortly. In other news…”

  Shaw flicked off the TV and tossed the remote onto his desk.

  Lacey stared at the blank screen, still in awe. Finally she turned to face the captain, and she caught Sam’s surprised look as well.

  “Wow,” she said softly.

  “Yeah,” Shaw said. He smiled grimly. “You two did it. It all happened exactly as you said.” He inclined his head toward Sam. “As you saw it.”

  Sam nodded. He looked over at Lacey. She saw no trace of a smile on his lips, but his eyes glittered at her. It felt not quite right to be ecstatic about this, but she couldn’t deny a palpable satisfaction. Vindication.

  “And,” Shaw continued, “they found the body. She’d wrapped it in a sail and buried it out in the forest.”

  Lacey blinked. “A sail?”

  Shaw shrugged. “I guess that’s all she had on hand that was big enough to cover the body.” He leaned back in his chair, ignoring the creaking as he laced his hands behind his head. “So, case closed. Thanks to you two.”

  Lacey couldn’t smother a grin. “Well, thanks to you, too, sir, for believing in us and running with what we had. You could have shelved the whole thing.”

  “And I have to admit, that crossed my mind,” Shaw said. “But I know you, Lacey. You’re honest and you’re conscientious. You were a damn fine officer.” He turned to Sam. “And since you two have been working together, you’re doing good things. Keep it up.”

  “Yes, sir,” Lacey said with a smile.

  Sam nodded. “Thank you, Captain.” The pair rose and shook the captain’s hand again, then filed out of his office.

  Outside, Lacey didn’t go far. She walked to a half wall that contained a bit of green space and settled on the concrete surface. Sam sat beside her.

  “Wow,” she said again, shaking her head slowly. “I really didn’t quite think this would ever happen. After the way Captain Shaw was when I brought him all my evidence, I didn’t have much hope. Then, with the shooting and Daniel being hurt and all, I didn’t even think about it much.” She looked over at Sam. “This is pretty cool.”

  He nodded. “Yes, it is.” He stared down at the ground, nudging a fallen leaf with the toe of his work boot. “I didn’t think much about it, either, not with everything else, but I can see, now, how satisfying it is to tie up something like this. Bring it full circle.” He looked at Lacey. “I think I understand why you like doing this.”

  “I think it’s very nearly like you doing what you do,” she said. “It’s bringing balance, bringing harmony.” She looked out over the busy street that fronted the police station. “You know what? I think Marci was glad. Did you notice her face? I think she was relieved. I’ll bet it’s been hard for her to carry that these three years. And what she said… She was obviously horrified that she’d killed him.” She shook her head. “She really did love him, God knows why.”

  “People do strange things,” Sam agreed.

  “Yes, they do.” She paused, reluctant to bring up another issue, but needing to. “There’s something else I need to tell you. That day that Daniel was shot, when I was waiting for you in Captain Shaw’s office and you didn’t come. I was… pretty angry at you. I thought you’d punked out on me. Blown me off. At least until I heard what happened.” She turned and peeked at Sam.

  “Yeah, I can understand that,” he said. “I’m sorry.” He met her eyes, his expression serious. “I would never leave you hanging like that, you know.”

  She studied his face, the dark eyes, the slightly creased brow.

  “I know,” she said. She managed a wan smile.

  “Partners don’t do that to each other,” he said. “And we are partners, right?”

  Her smile widened into a grin. “Yeah,” she said. “We are partners.”

  ~~~

  Look for

  Skin Walk

  Book 2 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: contemporary, 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

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  No Time for Travis: Book 1

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  Being Travis (Time Travel)

  No Time for Travis: Book 2

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  Ghost Walk (Paranormal Mystery)

  A Lacey Fitzpatrick and Sam Firecloud Mystery Book 1

  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)

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  A Lacey Fitzpatrick and Sam Firecloud Mystery Book 3

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  Dream Walk (Paranormal Mystery

  A Lacey Fitzpatrick and Sam Firecloud Mystery Series Book 4

  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 ex-brother-in-law—comes to him… in a dream. Now Sam and Lacey have to figure out how to find the body and uncover a murder plot before the murderers bury them—forever.

  Goddess Rising (Spiritual Fantasy)

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  Marcia L. Gates was an Army nurse and prisoner of war during WWII. As an “Angel of Bataan,” she spent three years in a Japanese internment camp in the Philippines. This is her award-winning story, told through her letters and the newspaper clippings, photos and letters collected by her mother. The book was awarded a medal for biography by both the Military Writers Society of America and Stars and Flags.com and won honorable mentions at the Hollywood Book Festival and the Great Midwest Book Festival. It was featured in the documentary Our Wisconsin: The Military History of America's Dairyland produced by WKOW-TV in Madison.

  The Rare Breed (Historical Romance)

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