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I considered my options, which were limited at best. Annoying to find that part of me was hell-bent on saying no because I kinda liked looking at him and didn’t mind hearing his voice, which disturbed me. The situation turned into some sick movie I’d watch because I didn’t have a choice, but then I’d complain about how morbid the movie was afterward. I had to put a stop to this insanity. “Fine, I’ll help you. But just so you know, they’re not going to believe me.”
He winked and aimed his sexy grin my way. “You won’t see me arguing that point with you, gorgeous.”
* * * * *
G E Patterson Avenue led to anything and everything in Memphis; exactly why I loved downtown living. I strode next to Kipp, heading down the road toward the police station, while he stayed quiet and thoughtful.
He didn’t even chime in after I called in sick to work—Dylan would hand me my ass later—to handle my current predicament. Doris, as always, wished me well and sent a big dose of love over the telephone line.
We continued down the street and the silence became unbearable. So I did what I always do when uncomfortable and blurted out the first thing to enter my mind. “How long have you been dead?” I clamped a hand over my mouth. “Sorry,” I mumbled beneath my fingers.
Kipp smiled. “Nah, it’s a valid question and I suspect if I were you I’d wonder the same thing. If I woke the night I died, then a week has passed.”
A week didn’t seem too long, but to a dead person I assumed it’d feel like an eternity. No one to talk to or acknowledge your presence, I imagined minutes would feel like hours. “And you’ve just been wandering the streets?”
“I went home for a few days, actually, but as expected, I ended up getting nowhere, so I decided to venture out.” He winked. “Luckily, I stumbled across you.”
Yeah right, lucky me!
Main Street came into view and the downtown core buzzed with pedestrians, which explained why every person I passed looked at me like “oh that poor crazy person”, since I was having a conversation with myself. “The glowing bit caught your attention, didn’t it?”
“The glowing bit?”
“The golden aura.” I waved my hand across my body. “It made you approach me, right?”
“Initially, yes.” He cocked his head. “And why do you have an aura around you?”
“Good question, and I’ve never found an answer to why.” Even though it made me curious what he meant by initially, the intensity in his stare told me to leave the subject alone. Moreover, his sexy grin, which grazed his face, left me all too aware he was once a man—a smokin’-hot man with a dirty mouth.
I needed to change the subject to direct the conversation into an appropriate one. “How long have you been a cop?”
He chuckled, apparently aware I dodged his attempt to flatter me. “I joined the force a few years back and I’ve lived and breathed it ever since.”
His admission stunned me. He seemed too personable to only care about his career. “Not married, then?”
“You up for a proposal?”
“No,” I retorted. “I just want to get to know you better since I’m on my way to talk with your partner.” Good God, did I probe him to actually learn more about him?
His smile confirmed my interest showed. “No, I’m not married. Too busy working to have time for relationships.” His eyes twinkled. “Well, ones lasting longer than a night.”
We turned left onto Main Street. “Sounds like you had fun.”
He nodded, solemnly. “Yes, I have had that.”
I recognized immediately I’d made a terrible mistake. If I could’ve, I would have buried myself underground and stayed there. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t make you relive the life you’ve lost.”
His eyes filled with profound sadness, yet he shook his head. “It doesn’t bother me for the reasons you think.”
No denying the misery on his face, something made him regretful. “What—”
A stern voice interrupted, “Ma’am, are you all right?”
I glanced away from Kipp to find a uniformed cop staring at me. “Ahh…” I peered over his shoulder to see the police station. I’d been so lost in the conversation and my own thoughts, I hadn’t realized we had arrived. “Yes, I’m fine. I’m…er…just going into the police station.”
The cop nodded. He clearly agreed I made a wise decision, considering he must have seen me talking to thin air. “Go on in.” He held the door open and gestured for me to enter. “You’ll find the help you need with the officers, and not to worry, you can trust them.”
I fought against the urge to roll my eyes. Instead, I offered him a kind smile. “Thank you.”
