Ghostly Wedding (A Harper Harlow Mystery Book 17) Read online

  Harper nodded as she watched the ghost eye her with overt dislike. “He doesn’t look happy to see me.”

  “He clearly doesn’t understand your charm.” Zander took her hand and urged her to cross the street. “Since you’re not going to let this go, I think now would be the appropriate time to approach him. If he’s going to talk, he should do it now.”

  “Yeah. He doesn’t look like he wants to talk.” Despite that, Harper found she was eager to talk to the man. She watched traffic carefully as they crossed — the memory of Peter’s death loomed large — and when she lifted her eyes again once they were on the other side, she found he was gone.

  “Okay, do your thing,” Zander instructed.

  “He left.” Harper couldn’t contain her disappointment as she looked around. “Oh, wait, he didn’t. He just moved down the block.”

  “In the direction we just came from?” Zander queried. “Does he not know how hot it is? I don’t want to cross again.”

  “No, that way.” Harper pointed, narrowing her eyes as she studied the ghost. He wasn’t gesturing toward her, and yet she had the distinct impression that he wanted her to follow. “I think he wants to show us something.”

  “It’s not going to be something gross, is it? You know how I feel about seeing nasty things before lunch.”

  “As opposed to how happy you are to see nasty things before dinner,” Harper deadpanned.

  “You’re right. I don’t want to see anything nasty.”

  “He’s not letting me know either way what he wants to show me.”

  “You want to follow him, though, don’t you?”

  “Yup.” Harper pasted a rueful smile on her face. “And since I know you won’t turn around and leave me to enjoy this adventure on my own, you’re going to have to keep the complaining to a minimum until we get wherever we’re going.”

  “I don’t remember agreeing to that.”

  “Think of it as a wedding gift.”

  “No way. Your wedding gift has to be fun for me, too. Not complaining about a ghost acting weird is zero fun for either of us.”

  “Just ... give it your best shot.”

  “Okay, I’ll try, but I can promise nothing.”

  JARED AND MEL PARKED ON THE STREET IN front of Denise’s house in an effort to leave the driveway open. If they had to call for a tech team, the crew would need a spot to park. Just like before, the neighborhood was quiet. This time, though, Jared felt uneasy as they trudged toward the front door.

  “How do you want to play this?” Jared asked. “Should we get right to the point or feel her out?”

  “I haven’t decided yet.” Mel pressed the doorbell. “Let me do the talking.”

  “I hate it when you say things like that,” Jared groused. “You sound like Zander.”

  “If you say that again, you’re the one who is going to be getting married with bruises all over your face tomorrow.”

  “Oh, bold talk.” Jared tucked away his smirk when he heard movement by the door. It wasn’t Denise who opened it, though. It was Cami.

  “What do you want?” the girl asked on a scowl. She most definitely didn’t look happy to see them. “I already told you that I don’t know who would want to hurt my dad. Why can’t you accept that he was a good guy?”

  “We have accepted that,” Mel replied. “Nobody we’ve interviewed has said a single bad thing about your father. It sounds like he was an amazing man.”

  “He was,” Cami agreed.

  “We’re not here about that. We need to talk to your mother.”

  Cami’s brow furrowed. “About what?”

  “We just need to talk to her.”

  Cami didn’t look keen at the prospect. “Why can’t you tell me?”

  “Because that’s not how this works,” Mel replied. “Whether you want to believe it or not, you’re still a minor. It’s your mother we need to talk to.”

  “Oh, whatever.” Cami made a disgusted face and disappeared inside the house, leaving the door gaping open.

  Mel and Jared exchanged dour looks but there was no turning back. Mel was the first through the door and he wasn’t surprised when Denise appeared in the hallway, a dishtowel in her hand. “You’re not Patty from next door,” she said blankly.

  “No,” Mel agreed. “We need to talk to you.”

  “You just talked to me thirty minutes ago at the funeral home.”

  “I’m aware. This time we need to talk to you about something else.”

  “This doesn’t sound good.” Denise tilted her head toward the kitchen. “I’m washing dishes. You can talk to me in here I guess.”

  “Thank you.” Mel watched the woman’s movements as she slid behind the island, briefly wondering if she would try to arm herself. Not once did she even glance at the knife block on the counter, though. Instead, she appeared mystified as she went back to her task. “What could’ve possibly happened in the time since I last saw you?”

  “Your daughter said something to us when you were talking to Tom about taking the binder,” Mel volunteered. “It was enough to pique our interest.”

  “Cami said something to you?” Denise looked more confused than before. “I don’t understand. What could she have possibly said?”

  “She complained about having to ride in an Uber.”

  Denise stiffened but didn’t stop washing the dishes. “Okay. I didn’t realize that was a crime.”

  “It’s not, but she also mentioned that your car was in working order but locked away in the garage,” Mel explained. “You see, we’ve theorized that whoever hit Peter would do just that, lock the vehicle in the garage and not take it in to get fixed for several weeks, wait until after all the media coverage of the accident has died down.”

  “Am I to understand you think I hit Peter?” Denise pulled off incredulous really well. “How can you think that?”

  “We ran your vehicle,” Jared volunteered in an even voice. “We know you drive a Honda Civic, which just happens to be the same vehicle that struck Peter in the intersection. We also know it’s red.”

  “But ... no. I don’t have long hair.” Denise pointed toward her head. “It’s not me.”

  Jared couldn’t remember if they’d let the long hair tidbit slip when they were questioning Denise the first time. Now it didn’t really matter, though. “You could’ve gotten it cut. There was plenty of time between the accident and when we informed you of Peter’s death.”

  “Well, I didn’t get my hair cut.”

  “What about a wig?” Mel queried. “Do you happen to own a wig?”

  “What? I ... no. I don’t own a wig.” This time the statement didn’t roll as easily off her tongue.

  “We’d like to believe you,” Jared supplied. “It’s too coincidental, though. We need you to show us your car.”

  Denise immediately abandoned her dishes and shook her head. “No. I won’t allow you to come into my home and accuse me of something so heinous. I loved Peter. Sure, we couldn’t make our marriage work, but that doesn’t mean we weren’t friends.”

  “We need to see the vehicle, Mrs. Humphrey,” Mel pressed. “We’re not leaving until we do.”

  “Well, I say you are leaving.” Denise stalked toward the door. “I think you’re leaving right now because I don’t have to allow you to stay. You don’t have a warrant. I want you out of here right now.”

  “We can get a warrant,” Mel warned.

  “Do whatever you want.” Denise’s eyes were wild. “Just keep in mind that you’re further traumatizing my daughter with this nonsense. As her mother, it’s my job to protect her. If you think I’m going to let you railroad me, it’s not going to happen. That’s not protecting her.”

  Mel offered up a stiff nod. “Have it your way. We’ll be out front waiting for our warrant to clear.”

  Denise hesitated. “You can’t just sit in front of my house.”

  “On the contrary. We can.”

  “And that’s what we intend to do,” Jared added.
“You’re making things harder than they have to be.”

  “No, I’m protecting what’s left of my family,” Denise shot back. “Cami has already lost her father. Now you want to take her mother from her.”

  “We want justice for your ex-husband,” Jared countered. “We will get it.”

  HARPER AND ZANDER FOLLOWED PETER for a full mile until he turned down a side street. Zander complained for the entire walk, making a big show of fanning his face and complaining about a potential tan.

  “It won’t be a good look if we’re both sunburned tomorrow,” he noted.

  “It’s twenty minutes,” Harper shot back. “I hardly think we’re going to look like lobsters.”

  “It’s also twenty minutes back.”

  “Yes, but the sun will be to our backs so there’s nothing to worry about.”

  She had him there, which was something Zander refused to acknowledge. “I think we should turn around.”

  “No.” Harper was perplexed when she got a better view of the street. The first thing she noticed was that Mel’s cruiser was parked in front of a nondescript ranch house several doors down. She also noted that Jared and Mel were leaning on it, arms folded, and watching the house for signs of movement. “What are they doing here?”

  “What?” Zander followed her gaze, frowning. “Huh. Well, at least we won’t have to walk back. Sure, they’ll put up the cage to mess with us, but I’m willing to put up with it because the ride involves air conditioning.”

  “Sure. Whatever.” Harper looked both ways before crossing the street, her eyes on Jared.

  As if sensing her, he turned and fixed her with a puzzled stare. “What are you doing here?”

  “They’re following us,” Mel replied. “They want to stick their noses in our case.”

  “That’s not why we’re here,” Harper countered, her eyes sweeping over the house in question so she could locate Peter. Sure enough, the ghost hovered on the front lawn, staring at the huge bay window at the front of the house, his attention completely focused on what was inside instead of the growing group of people outside. “Is that Peter Humphrey’s ex-wife’s house?”

  “It is,” Jared confirmed. “What are you doing here?”

  “Following his ghost. He was at the intersection downtown and seemed as if he wanted us to follow.”

  “Well, that’s interesting,” Jared said. “Since we left you less than an hour ago, we found out that Denise Humphrey owns a 2016 Honda Civic and apparently it’s drivable but hidden in the garage. She won’t let us see it so we’re waiting for a warrant to clear.”

  Harper was gobsmacked. “What? Are you saying ... ?” She didn’t finish the question. It wasn’t necessary.

  “We should’ve checked her first,” Mel said. “I don’t know why we didn’t. That’s standard when dealing with a divorced couple and one half is murdered.”

  “You think it was her.” Harper could only shake her head. “I don’t understand any of this.”

  “Neither do we. Right now, Denise is inside and refuses to let us see the vehicle. Once we have a warrant, we’ll be breaching the garage and looking for ourselves.”

  “Right.” Harper shifted so she was staring at Peter. “That solves half the mystery. What about the other half, though?”

  “What other half?” Mel asked blankly.

  “Penny Montgomery and her baby.”

  “That’s not technically our mystery,” Mel pointed out.

  “No, but it plays into this. I’m almost certain of it.” Harper started across the street.

  “Where are you going?” Jared called to her back.

  “I have questions.”

  “We all have questions. We need to wait for a warrant.”

  “You do. I don’t.”

  16

  Sixteen

  Harper stopped when she was directly next to Peter, who seemed fixated on the house. A quick study told her that he looked absolutely lost, and it broke her heart a little bit.

  “Your daughter is here,” she noted.

  “Cami.”

  “You must love her a great deal.”

  “She’s my daughter.”

  “Of course.”

  “She is my daughter.” His eyes were clear when he turned to face her. “She was always my daughter. She’s not Denise’s daughter, though.”

  The simple statement was like a fist to Harper’s heart. “Your ex-wife killed Penny.”

  “I didn’t know that.”

  “Tell me what happened.” She slid her gaze to Jared as he edged closer but didn’t admonish him to stay away. It wasn’t necessary. Peter was finally ready to talk. “I can help if you tell me what’s going on.”

  “You can help?” Peter looked forlorn. “How can you help? I’m dead. You can’t change that, right?”

  “No. Dead is dead. I can help you cross over, though. I can help you move on to the next phase.” She hesitated and then barreled forward. “Penny might be on the other side.”

  “Might?” Peter’s voice was rusty. “Don’t you know? You’re the ghost woman, right? That means you’re supposed to know.”

  “I’ve never seen Penny,” Harper admitted. “I don’t know if she stayed behind or not. I’m guessing I would’ve seen her if she was still hanging around Whisper Cove, though.” She lapsed into silence a beat, debating how to proceed. Peter’s emotions were all over the place. He was like a live wire and it was dangerous to touch him. “I need to know what happened. You and Penny were involved, right?”

  He nodded, morose. “I met her when I was twenty-one years old.”

  “She was still technically a minor, though.”

  “Not for long. Yes, though, looking back now I was probably too old for her. That doesn’t mean I didn’t love her. We were just going to wait for a few months until she was an adult and then tell her mother. She suggested we tell her mother right away, said it would be okay, but I was afraid. I loved her so much but ... .”

  “Fear is something you can’t always control,” Harper surmised. “I get it.”

  “I was afraid to be a father,” he said. “I mean ... really afraid. I didn’t think I would be any good at it.”

  “Obviously you were wrong,” Harper noted. “The fact that you’re here now means you were an awesome father.”

  “Except I wasn’t.” Peter’s gaze was desperate when it locked with Harper’s sympathetic stare. “I didn’t know Cami was mine. I made her mine. Yet, she was really mine. Do you understand?”

  “I think I’m starting to,” Harper acknowledged. “You didn’t get involved with Denise until after Penny disappeared.”

  “I didn’t want to get involved with anyone,” Peter explained. “Denise always had a crush on me. I was friendly with her, but I wasn’t in love with her. She knew I was in love with Penny. I might not have given her a name — this was back when we were keeping it a secret — but I told her I was in love with someone else.”

  Harper ran the scenario through her head. “Was Denise pregnant? I mean really pregnant.”

  “She said she was, and she had a stomach when we worked together at the pizzeria.”

  “The pizzeria?” Harper felt as if she was muddling through quicksand as she tried to catch up to the story. “I guess you were only twenty-one. It doesn’t make sense for you to work in the insurance agency at such a young age.”

  “I didn’t decide to go that route for another few years,” Peter acknowledged. “I was aimless back then. I wouldn’t say I was shiftless because I wasn’t afraid to work. I had no idea what I wanted to do, though.”

  “What did Penny say?”

  “She thought I should keep at it until I figured out my career path. She was pretty understanding. Of course, her mother was loaded and she swore we didn’t have to worry about providing for the baby. That seemed surreal to me, but it was a load off. The worry I was carrying back then ... well … it was profound.”

  “Did you unload some of that worry on Denise?”

/>   “I ... .” Peter worked his jaw as he looked back in time. “I guess I did. She knew I was going to be a father because I let it slip one day. She seemed agitated about it, kept saying that it wasn’t the right time for me to be a father. I explained that it might not be the right time, but I was determined to be a good father all the same.”

  “And what did she say to that?”

  “After a few days of arguing, she let it go. Then, about a month later, she turned up and said she was pregnant.”

  “That was convenient timing,” Harper mused.

  “I didn’t think about it. I didn’t realize. She ... manipulated me.”

  He said it with so much anguish Harper’s stomach twisted. “I’m guessing she spent the next few months confiding in you,” she said. “She probably told you about her hopes and fears, and since you could only see Penny on the sly, before you realized it, you were spending more time with Denise than Penny.”

  Peter bobbed his head. “That’s exactly what happened. How did you know?”

  “Because it’s the only thing that plays out correctly in my head,” Harper admitted. “She was obsessed with you, although you didn’t realize it.”

  “I didn’t,” he agreed. “I didn’t realize it at all.”

  “She probably followed you,” Harper mused, working things out in her head. “That’s how she found out who you were dating. Were you and Penny still spending time together?”

  “Yeah. We spent as much time as possible together. We loved each other.”

  “And then she was gone.”

  “She was gone, and I was broken-hearted.”

  Harper lobbed a quick glance toward Jared, debating, and then pushed forward. “Did you think of going to Lila?”

  “Yes. I wanted answers. At first, I thought it was possible Lila sent Penny away. I believed Penny might’ve exaggerated her mother’s response to the baby. In the back of my mind, I thought she would send Penny to a hospital or something and then claim the baby had died when she was gone, but really they would give it up for adoption.”

  It wasn’t out of the realm of possibility so Harper nodded in understanding. “And you feel guilty because you were okay with the idea.”