EXCERPT 1
“Peekaboo!”

I burst through the front door, Ryan in my wake. I stopped in the hallway and looked for any sign of the orange cat who was currently on my sugar (I don’t like to swear) list. It only took a moment before the little creature stepped primly into the hall.

“I was napping,” the grumpy feline said, shooting me a gold-eyed glare. She waited for me to continue.

“I acknowledged them,” I said, deadpan. Just what my cat warned me not to do.

“Oh.” Peekaboo’s snooty manner fell away, and she lowered those gold eyes.

“That’s all you have to say?” I stood, arms crossed, my eyes shooting daggers. Ryan, my boyfriend, stood mutely watching. He couldn’t hear Peekaboo.

But I could. Oh, boy, could I. My sweet little inherited orange cat bestowed on me, by way of tripping me on my way down the front porch steps, the “gift” of being able to communicate with her. Oh, and see ghosts. To be fair, her motives were pure. She needed me to have a near-death experience so I’d wake up and be able to listen to her.

Maybe I should back up, so you know what I’m talking about.

I used to live in Los Angeles. When I was twenty-one, I broke up a mugging and saved a dear little old lady. She was so grateful that seven years later she left me her estate in her will.

In addition to a house, an SUV and a large amount of money, I inherited Peekaboo, the talking cat. Of course, I didn’t know she was a talking cat at the time. After glaring at me for a few days, she apparently thought I was hopeless and pushed me down the stairs. So, I woke up in the hospital and saw a doctor with a clipboard walk through a wall. But that’s really immaterial to my story. My neighbor, who found me splayed out on the porch steps, called 911. When I was released from the hospital, Elsie, the neighbor, told me I’d flatlined and it took ten minutes of the paddles to bring me back to life.

As I hobbled into my house after Elsie brought me home from the hospital and made sure I was all right to be left alone, subject cat started talking to me. I thought I must have a brain tumor…somebody get me back to the hospital! I grabbed the fireplace poker and used it to keep her at bay. I think she may have rolled her eyes at me.

Then, before I was comfortable that she was talking…and I could understand her…she trotted out the ghost of Alice, the sweet little old lady who’d left me her house. Apparently, this whole episode was so I could see Alice and solve her murder.

 

EXCERPT 2
It was beautiful fall weather, and colorful leaves were everywhere, especially in my front yard. Make that on my front yard. They were beautiful and I didn’t mind them at all. Although I was sure for the neighborhood’s sake my gardeners would be blowing them away soon.

I stood in the middle of my yard, admiring the beauty of the autumn foliage, and even kicked around a few leaves. Hey, don’t judge me. We didn’t have leaves like this in Los Angeles.

Bending down, I picked up a bouquet of colorful leaves. As I stood back up, I heard a cheery “How’s it going?” and turned to see Jordan approaching.

“Hey,” I said, brushing my long hair back from my face. “What’s up?”

“Wow!,” he said. “The sun really makes your white hair shine.” He held a hand in front of his eyes. “I think it’s blinding me.”

I laughed and shook my head. “Did you just come over to insult me?”

“It wasn’t an insult. You have great hair. Special hair.”

“Give me a break,” I said. “Although this is the first time my hair has been called ‘special.’ So, what’s going on?”

“I heard something that might interest you,” he said, with a sly smile.

“What? Tell me everything.”

“Well, I heard that Derek is missing.”

“What do you mean missing?” I asked, narrowing my eyes. “And where did you hear that?”

“I heard it from Laurie. She was watering some plants on her front porch when I was going for a walk, and I decided to see how she was doing. She wiped at her eyes as I approached her. She pasted a smile on her face, but it fell pretty quickly. I grabbed her hand and pulled her down onto the porch steps then sat beside her. And then she started crying.” Jordan threw up his hands. “I didn’t know what to do!”

“What did she say?” I could hardly hold in my curiosity, but I would let him tell the story at his own pace.

“She just said that Derek’s gone. So, I asked if they were getting a divorce and she said no, he was just gone.”

“Gone? Like missing?” I prompted.

“That’s what I asked. She said yes. He’s missing.”

“How long has he been gone?” I asked.

“She didn’t really say, but I got the feeling it just happened.”

“Hmm,” I said.

“Derek’s kind of a jerk,” Jordan said. “It wouldn’t surprise me if he was shacking up with some babe.”

“Really?” I asked. I knew he’d been…or at least I suspected he’d been…an abusive husband, but I hadn’t thought about whether he was unfaithful to Laurie. To be honest, I rarely thought about the Blooms at all. After our fiasco following Alice’s murder, when Laurie threw me and Susie out of her house, I pretty much wrote them off.

“You never know. I just get a skeezy feeling from that guy.”

“I think I do, too,” I said. “But unless Laurie asks for help, there’s not anything we can do. Besides, he might still turn up.”

Jordan kicked a small pile of leaves, then looked at me sheepishly. I grinned back and kicked a few myself.

“See you later.” Jordan turned and started back toward his house. “Let me know,” he said, waving his fingers around in a woo-woo gesture, “if anything ‘out of the ordinary’ happens.”

I laughed at his air quotes.

I went back into the house. I wanted coffee and I wanted to keep enjoying the day out on my front porch while I sipped my coffee. Susie was sitting at the kitchen table cradling her coffee mug in both hands. “What’s up?” she asked.

“Is there any coffee left?”

“Yeah. I made enough for both of us.”

“Then let me pour my cup and come sit outside with me. It’s gorgeous today.”

“Cool,” she said.

Once we were sitting on the porch, I filled her in on what Jordan had told me. She had about the same reaction I did. Interesting, but doesn’t really concern us.

I settled back in my chair, savoring the aroma of the Maui coffee before taking a sip. It was hot and delicious.

I sat forward suddenly, sloshing coffee out of my mug onto my jeans, startling Susie.

“Erin, what’s wrong?” she asked in alarm.

“I see Derek.”

“Where?” she asked. “I don’t’ see him.”

“Because he’s dead.”

“Here we go again,” Susie muttered under her breath.