Bid for midnight, p.16
Bid for Midnight,
p.16
By the time I got back to Lincoln, Bud had made a tourniquet of sorts out of his bloody bandana. It looked as though he was going to make it. Why didn’t I care more about that than I did?
Once Lincoln was relieved by one of the deputy sheriffs, he wrapped me up in his arms. “Are you okay?”
“He never touched me,” I said numbly. “How about you?”
Lincoln shrugged. “I tore up one of my knuckles changing a tire. That’s what kept me. It was pretty bad trying to swap that thing out in the rain.”
“But you kept trying until you got it, didn’t you?” I asked. “Good for you.”
“You didn’t do so bad yourself,” he said. The paramedics followed soon after the police, and Lincoln wouldn’t let them even look at Bud until they’d checked me out. I got a blanket, a quick examination, and then Bud got his toe looked at.
The sheriff managed to get a moment alone with me before we all left Bud Lake’s property. “Sorry I was wrong about Jack Baron,” he said.
“I was wrong, too. I didn’t realize that the heaters were the same at both places until Bud practically pushed me into his. If you ask me, I have a feeling that he wanted to get caught. The guilt must have been too much for him to take.”
“Not enough to keep him from trying to kill you, though,” the sheriff said with a wry grin.
“What do you know? It turns out that killing me is tougher than it looks.”
“And a good thing that is,” the sheriff said. “I can take you home myself, and one of my people can follow you in your car.”
“If it’s all the same to you, I’d just as soon drive by myself,” I said. “I need some time to process all of this.”
Lincoln had been listening in. “Don’t worry. I’ll follow her home, Sheriff,” he said.
“You can drive behind me to make sure that I get there safely, but I’m going in alone.” I was being stubborn about it, but not for the reasons I’m sure they were assuming. If Summer was still around, she wouldn’t appear if anyone else was there.
I had to know, one way or the other, if I’d been in time.
“That’s fine,” Lincoln said, and that’s exactly the way that it all worked out. I didn’t realize how tightly I was wound until I walked across the threshold of the home I shared with Marybeth. Once I was back there, and safe at last, I felt the tension flow out of me.
And then I saw a flickering light in the hallway.
Was it Summer and Midnight, or had I just gone the rest of the way around the bend?
With what appeared to be great difficulty, Summer appeared in the next moment, but it wasn’t all at once, which had been her custom up until then. Instead, it was gradual, as though she was expending great energy to show herself to me, even with Midnight’s help.
“You’re alive,” she said with great relief once she was fully formed again. That was a tricky term, since her composition still appeared to be in a misty state to me.
“Thanks to you,” I said. “You tripped me, didn’t you?”
She looked a little upset by my comment. “It was the only way that I could get you out of his line of fire.”
“I’m not complaining,” I said. “If you hadn’t grabbed my leg when you did, I would have been a goner. How did you even manage to do it?”
“It cost me, I won’t deny it, but I had no choice, did I? You did it all trying to help me.”
I was sorry that I had caused my new friend pain, but there was nothing that I could do about it. “We got him, Summer.”
“Are you certain?” she asked, as though she couldn’t trust herself to believe that it was really true.
“Bud Lake confessed to killing you and Silas.”
“Because of what happened to David,” she said sadly.
“I’m afraid so. He just couldn’t let it go. But Summer, think about what that means. You can Cross Over now.”
“If only it were that easy,” she said.
I felt my heart sink. “Does that mean that you’re stuck here? Is it because of the way that you saved me? I can’t live with myself if that’s true.”
“I don’t know why, but it’s just too hard now. I’m afraid that this will be the last time that I’ll be able to make myself seen even by you. Midnight gives me a great deal of strength, but it’s just not enough anymore.”
“You can’t give up,” I said, pleading with her. “You have to try.”
“I have been,” she said. “I’m afraid that it’s no use.”
I looked squarely at my cat, who was listening intently to our conversation. “Help her, Midnight. You can do it. I know that you can.”
“Mrwerer,” he said defiantly. I knew that tone of voice all too well.
“You have to at least try,” I answered.
Midnight stretched out his neck, and then I could swear that my sweet ghostly cat nodded at me and winked. Surprising us both, he leapt to his feet and jumped straight at Summer. Summer was clearly caught off guard by the sudden action, and she instinctively tried to put up her hands to protect herself from his impact. When the two of them touched, the light in the room suddenly brightened to double its normal intensity, and I could swear that I could hear a rumble tear through the room as they made contact.
And then, to my dismay, I was all alone.
Summer had managed to Cross Over, but at what cost?
It appeared that Midnight had sacrificed his halfway existence to help her along in her journey, at my urging, and now he was gone too, for what was probably going to be forever.
It was more than I could stand.
I fell to the floor, weeping with uncontrollable sorrow and sadness.
I hadn’t realized just how much I’d grown to depend on the chance that I might see Midnight come around the corner again until it was gone.
And now I’d never felt more alone in my life.
Chapter 19
I managed to crawl into my bed, but that was all of the energy that I had left in me. Shadow was upset about what he’d witnessed as well, but there was nothing that I could do to comfort him at the moment.
My own heart was breaking all over again.
And then I heard the loveliest sound I’d ever heard in my life.
“Mrrwerer.”
I pulled the blankets off my head and found myself inches from Midnight’s ghostly face.
“You’re here,” I said, and then, without even thinking about it, I tried to hug him. My hands went through him, of course, but he didn’t seem all that unhappy about my attempt to make contact with him. “What about Summer? Did she make it?”
“Mrer,” he said, which sounded exactly like “of course” in feline chatter.
I didn’t want to say what I felt that I had to next, but I owed it to my dear friend. “Midnight, if you need to go, I completely understand. I don’t want you to get stuck here because of me.”
“Phht,” he said, a noise he reserved especially for when he thought I’d lost my mind, which had happened more than I’d liked when he’d still been alive.
“Does that mean that you can stay a little longer?”
“Mrer,” he said. Of course.
It was all that I needed, and more than I had any right to expect.
After seeing my smile, Midnight floated off the bed and went out into the hallway, in search of his former companion, no doubt. He and Shadow had formed an easy alliance after his return that had surprised me, though that was truly a difficult thing for either one of my cats to do after the years we’d spent together.
And now it appeared that we’d have more time left after all.
I wasn’t at all certain just how long I’d have Midnight with me, but that didn’t matter.
What mattered was that I had him with me right now.
If you enjoy Jessica Beck Mysteries and you would like to be notified when the next book is being released, please send your email address to newreleases@jessicabeckmysteries.net. Your email address will not be shared, sold, bartered, traded, broadcast, or disclosed in any way. There will be no spam from us, just a friendly reminder when the latest book is being released.
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Other Books by Jessica Beck
The Donut Mysteries
Glazed Murder
Fatally Frosted
Sinister Sprinkles
Evil Éclairs
Tragic Toppings
Killer Crullers
Drop Dead Chocolate
Powdered Peril
Illegally Iced
Deadly Donuts
Assault and Batter
Sweet Suspects
Deep Fried Homicide
Custard Crime
Lemon Larceny
Bad Bites
Old Fashioned Crooks
Dangerous Dough
Troubled Treats
The Classic Diner Mysteries
A Chili Death
A Deadly Beef
A Killer Cake
A Baked Ham
A Bad Egg
A Real Pickle
A Burned Biscuit
The Ghost Cat Cozy Mysteries
Ghost Cat: Midnight Paws
Ghost Cat 2: Bid for Midnight
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Jessica Beck, Bid for Midnight
