Stolen Dreams Read online

  I couldn’t. I was as helpless in this as he was.

  Finally, after many minutes, he spoke. “I’m not quite sure if I can put it into words, but there is a great amount of energy I feel right here, in this very spot. It’s in the air, along my skin, fills me when I breathe, and it fuels me with adrenaline.”

  This was just bizarre. No ghost had told me they’d had a reaction like this. Most of them were so distant to the world around them, which is why they always drove me batty. Self-absorbed wasn’t a strong enough word to describe them. Leaving my thoughts behind, I voiced my confusion. “I’ve never heard anything like that before.”

  His expression filled with shock. Apparently, my confusion left him completely flabbergasted. “Never?”

  I shook my head slowly. “No, never.”

  “The feel of it is very powerful.” He inhaled deeply, his eyes closed. “I feel alive.”

  My eyes went wide and my voice came out in a soft whisper. “Alive?” Whatever I expected him to say next, it definitely hadn’t been that. The word was wrong coming from his mouth. He was so far from being alive, and the comparison left my mouth wide open.

  “That’s it―that’s what it feels like.” His eyes snapped open to meet mine, full of excitement. “It was hard to place at first. But that’s what it is―I feel more alive right now than I have since...I died.”

  This was beginning to turn into the Twilight Zone. Ghosts were ghosts and they did what they had to in order to move on. This had nothing to do with moving on, but felt like self-discovery. The whole thing made me extremely uncomfortable. “Why...why do you think you are experiencing all of this?”

  Kipp shrugged. “How should I know? You’re the expert here.”

  First off, nothing about this deserved a smile. It was the definition of odd. And he was right, too. I was the expert, but now I was anything but. I felt turned around, upside down with nothing to support me. For once, I had no answers. “So where does that leave us then?”

  He winked as the grin on his face returned. “Leaves us―one stupid ghost with one pretty lady.”

  My blush would have risen, if Zach hadn’t chosen that moment to interrupt us. “Found nothing inside.”

  By his angered expression, I couldn’t quite tell where his thoughts were leading him. “Is that a good or a bad thing?”

  Zach shrugged. “A bit of both.”

  I looked to Kipp, who said nothing. My gaze came back to Zach, who also said nothing. “Would you care to elaborate?”

  Zach ran a hand through his hair, leaned up against the house and put one foot up on the brick wall. “It’s good we’ve ruled out your theory―it’s bad that our assumption of this being a cop is right. Have you found anything out here?”

  I gave Kipp a sideways glance in question. Did he want to tell Zach about what he felt here? Kipp shook his head. Enough said. “No, just like you, we found nothing out here.”

  Zach yawned, stretched, and pushed himself off the wall. “Figured as much.” He quickly rubbed his hands across his face as if to wake himself up.

  Silence grew heavy around us. I wasn’t about to wait for one of them to break it. I had enough for one night, thank you very much.

  “So...what are we going to do now?” I hoped the answer to that was to go home. I felt the tiredness Zach suffered, too. It had been an exhausting couple days and these late nights during the week were something I wasn’t used to. I was a stickler for being in bed at ten, up at seven. My body was used to a routine and this murder business was messing me up.

  After Zach bent down to stretch his muscles some more, he stood, then looked straight at the ground. “Whatcha thinking, Kipp?”

  I laughed, even if it was under my breath. Zach had resorted to looking down now instead of making a fool of himself. Truth was, I couldn’t really blame him. Without knowing Kipp’s location, he did look rather silly when he talked to thin air. I thought it wise to help him out instead of him looking ridiculous. “He’s right in front of me.”

  Zach raised his head and smiled his relief.

  “From Hannah’s description, I think we are safe to say that neither Max nor Eddie is involved with this.”

  Kipp brought up a good point. “Speaking of that, why would you suspect either of them? Shouldn’t you know and trust the people you work with?”

  “You never take chances,” Kipp responded.

  “Suspected who?” Zach asked.

  “When I first told Max and Eddie about this, Kipp didn’t want me to say anything in case either of them was involved.”

  Zach gave a firm nod. “Best way to proceed.”

  Of course, they’d stick together like glue. I didn’t expect any different, but it didn’t mean I was going to stay silent and not voice my side of it. “I can see Eddie, but Max?” I had to laugh at the idea of it. The man was old enough to be her father and he certainly wasn’t Sean Connery either. “He’d be robbing the cradle a little bit, don’t you think?”

  “Women make strange choices sometimes,” Kipp responded, just as Zach said, “Some women have interesting taste.”

  “If you all say so, but I happen to disagree with you both. No women in their right mind, who are Hannah’s age, would be chasing after Max’s tail.”

  Zach grinned. “Might have to repeat that when we get back to the station, I bet Max would get a real kick out of hearing he’s less than appealing to women.”

  Insulting Max was the least of my worries. Something he said hit a bad note. Back at the station? They couldn’t be thinking…

  My gaze swept over to Kipp’s. The implication of what was coming was right on his face―a little pleading, a lot of sorry, with a big chunk of demanding. “Oh no. I’m not doing that again.”

  “It won’t be as bad.” Kipp smiled in a reassuring way, soft and delicate, that in most cases would sink me to my knees and turn me into a love sick woman.

  Not tonight. Not now. Not after all the crap I’d already been put through.

  I put my hands on my hips as I gave Kipp a serious stare down. “Do I look stupid to you?”

  “No.”

  “Really? I find that hard to believe since you just fed me some serious bullshit.”

  “Tess...” he began.

  I shot my hand up in front of his face to stop him. I didn’t need―or want―him to give me some lame excuse. “They didn’t believe me before. In fact, I seem to remember them laughing in my face. What makes you think they are going to believe me now?” Kipp opened his mouth to speak. Again, I waved my hand in his face to stop him. “And furthermore, what makes you think I’m about to agree to this?”

  Kipp paused for a moment, studying me. Was he waiting me out to see if I was going to stop him this time? Annoyed, I waved him on. His reassuring smile returned. Way too easily if you ask me.

  He nodded toward Zach and gave me a knowing glance. “Just as we did with Zach, we’ll get them to believe.”

  “It won’t be as hard this time,” Zach added, missing Kipp’s comparison. “I believe you now. Once they hear that, it will make them more open to the idea. I am sure of it.” He pulled out his cell phone from his pocket and turned away to place the call.

  I continued to stare at Kipp, not really knowing what to say. But I did know I wanted to say something that involved every single curse word known to man.

  Kipp looked far beyond amused. His gaze never left mine as Zach started rambling something on the cell phone. I was too something to really hear what was being said. It was hard enough going through all that the first time around. Repeating the event was not on my to-do list.

  Zach’s voice beside me interrupted my thoughts. “Max and Eddie will come back to the station. They’ll be there in twenty so best we head off and meet up with them.” Without waiting for my response, he spun around and walked away.

  Kipp finally let his amusement show in a full out grin before he turned and followed behind Zach.

  I hadn’t moved an inch and planned on keeping it t
hat way. “Excuse me?” I called out after them.

  Kipp glanced over his shoulder. “Yes.”

  Zach continued walking, his laugh was quiet but his body shook from the force of suppressing it. My anger doubled.

  My hands clenched on my hips so tight, they dug into the skin. I didn’t care. No part of me wanted to go back to circus city and become a stage act once again. “What part of I’m not going there don’t you get?”

  Kipp let out a long sigh then came back to where I stood. The air around me instantly dropped a few degrees and my breath shortened from the effect of it. His head bowed down toward me, a soft expression filled his face. “Now Tess, I’m going to tell you two ways of how this is going to go.” He raised one finger. “One, you are going to get in the truck and willingly come to the station with us.” He held up another finger. “Two, you and I will stand here and argue about this. You’ll try and prove your point and I’ll listen because frankly I enjoy the sound of your voice. But in the end, you’re going to end up with that sexy ass of yours in the truck.”

  My eyes narrowed.

  The corner of his mouth lifted slightly, his eyes twinkling in laughter at me. “You tell me, which one seems like a better choice for you?”

  I thought about that, long and hard. The idea of arguing actually appealed to me, which was strange. But there it was. I liked squabbling with him, liked to see the amusement run through his eyes when he saw steam coming out of my ears. Deep down, I took pleasure in the knowledge that he enjoyed me.

  With that, came the flashing indicator I needed to go against my better judgement and do the exact opposite. Acting on instinct only landed me in heaps of trouble when it came to Kipp. My resolve about him hung on by a very fine line, and if I didn’t change my ways soon, that thread was going to break.

  Something I just couldn’t allow.

  “Fine.” I walked by him. “But let me just point out again, you owe me.” I turned back to him and glared. “If you get to Heaven, you better put in some good words for me with the big guy. After all this I deserve to be named a damn Saint.”

  Kipp arched an eyebrow, dead serious. “Now that will not be a problem.”

  ***

  Chapter Nine

  Back at the police station, I stood outside the interview room, feeling hesitant, apprehensive and more than irritated. I didn’t want to go into the room and be humiliated all over again. I glanced at Zach pleading. “Must I do this?”

  “I have to bring you into the case so I can work with Kipp.” Zach gave me a firm look. “I can’t do that without having the okay from the Sergeant. Plus, we need to bring Max up to speed.”

  “But Hannah will find him,” I retorted. “Let’s just go find her.”

  “We haven’t been able to locate the suspect even though we have the murder victim’s statement,” Kipp intervened. “She knows nothing of him. Everything he told her was a lie. She’ll be running around in circles.”

  “She won’t find him,” Zach said at the same time.

  “But...but...” I searched my mind for way out. “All the cops think I’m nuts.”

  “That they do, but we’ll change their minds.” Zach winked. “Don’t worry about that.”

  “Besides, it’s either this or my persuasion techniques to get you to agree. Would you like me to replay the night in the bar?”

  “God no,” I snapped, and even I could hear the doubt flowing off my words. Kipp’s wicked grin said he heard it too. My stomach fluttered, I clamped down, tightened my abs and bit the inside of my cheek to focus elsewhere. What was wrong with me? He was a ghost, not some guy I could have a round of fun or start a relationship with. I needed to stop feeling these little inklings toward him.

  Now.

  “What?” Zach asked, confused at my snippety remark.

  I waved away his question. “I was talking to Kipp.”

  “All right then.” Zach closed his hand around the door handle. “You ready?”

  “No,” I replied adamantly.

  He laughed, said nothing and opened the door.

  The door breezed open and I groaned loud enough to be heard. Max and Eddie were seated, both with looks of pure amusement shinning on their faces. Even so, I could see the exhaustion through their caffeine laced expressions. Being so later at night, everyone had already had one hell of a long day.

  “Thanks for coming back,” Zach said to Max as he gave me a push forward to take a seat at the head of the table.

  Max gave a firm nod with a slight curve to his lips. “Not a problem.”

  Of course not. I groaned again. Everyone wanted to see the freak at the circus show. I plopped down into the hard plastic chair. My gaze flickered between the two men while I waited for someone to say something.

  Minutes later, the room remained silent.

  I met Kipp’s amused stare, ready to hit something. “Am I supposed to say something here?”

  “Are you talking to him?” Max asked, which caused Zach and Eddie to laugh.

  A nasty retort rested on the tip of my tongue. I drew in a deep breath and forced diplomacy into my tone. “Yes, I am. He’s standing right there.” I pointed toward Kipp.

  His eyes held an expression that could melt ice on the coldest of days. Intense. He was trying to project the importance of them believing me, but the look made me wonder if this was how he looked when he had other intense thoughts on his mind.

  The longer I stared, the more I reacted, which made me to squirm in my chair a little. I’d never been so attracted to anyone in my life. For a moment, I examined him. What was it about him that made me react and think like this? Yes, he was drop dead gorgeous, but I’d seen men like him before, even dated a few and never had I responded this way. My body lived in a constant state of arousal around him. Was it from our first encounter and my mind still lingered on the sound of his dirty talk? Or was it because he was the first ghost I was attracted to and the hands-off rule made him more tempting?

  I didn’t have the answers. The only thing left was the knowledge that it was there and undeniably strong.

  Suddenly, I realized I was ogling and snapped out of my thoughts. I blinked and when my vision refocused, Kipp’s gaze remained locked on mine, only deeper. Apparently, I hadn’t seen anything to what those amazing eyes could do because now it was obvious he enjoyed the way I had watched him. My suspicions were answered, I wasn’t alone in this attraction judging by the smoulder which reached his eyes, the tension set in his jaw. He demanded I acknowledge my feelings toward him and almost dared me to respond.

  Unable to deny it any longer, not wanting to deny myself of this intense attraction, a playful grin rose to my lips. I spun my chair to face him, uncrossed my legs and answered his challenge with one of my own.

  My skirt rose high on my thighs. Kipp’s gaze snapped toward my lace panties. His body tensed, his eyes burned and when he glanced back up to me, the look I was beginning to adore had shifted into something needy and hungry.

  Abruptly, someone cleared their throat.

  Breaking my gaze from Kipp’s captivating eyes, I glanced over and was hit with awareness, as if I’d just taken a polar bear swim. Every gaze was on me―Max with wide-eyes and Eddie just looked lustful.

  I laughed nervously. “Sorry.”

  Determined to keep my gaze off Kipp, I focused on Zach and crossed my legs. I took a deep breath to settle myself, aghast at what I’d just done in front of these men. What the hell was wrong with me? Hiding my blush was impossible, but was glad to note, my voice held strong, “Where were we?”

  “They asked if you were talking to him,” Zach answered before he cleared his throat again, a sound that was rapidly followed by a low chuckle. “Which apparently, you were.”

  My blush deepened. What I wouldn’t give for an escape route at that moment. I was becoming one of those ridiculous women from romance novels, all smitten and unable to control myself.

  To make matters worse, Kipp said huskily behind me, “I’d like to.
..”

  Apparently, he’d moved closer toward me. I’d been so focused on the heat raging in regions south, I never noticed his cold presence. The cold breeze danced along the back of my neck. I swatted behind me, so he’d catch the drift and forced myself to remain deaf to anything else he was about to say. I wasn’t going to go there again.

  “All right, let’s just get to this,” Max said, breaking the awkwardness that filled the room. “We have questions. You will answer them and until we are satisfied you are being truthful, we’ll keep you here.” He gave me a measured look. “Understood?”

  “God yes, please, get on with it.” Not only because I knew how not fun this was going to be, but also I needed―wanted―to get away from Kipp. Space between us was important right about now, I had to get my head screwed back on straight.

  “How long have you been able to see and talk to ghosts?” Max asked the first question which turned into a hundred more.

  After an hour of questioning, I’d been right on the money. At first, they questioned my ability, made me run through the car accident I chose to forget. Then, it was on to how many ghosts I’d helped, what I did for them, and so on. From there, it was all about Kipp. I learned his entire life story, which was the one part of this I hadn’t minded. There was nothing told I didn’t like which was almost a shame. A flaw would have been nice to see so I could stop this ridiculous behaviour. The problem was he didn’t have one.

  After that, they questioned me about the Reid case, the explanation of Kipp digging deeper into the case and his suspicion the killer in the case was also the one who shot him.

  Now, the random questions were tedious and personal. I had my arms crossed on the table with my chin resting on my hands. “Your wife’s name is Cynthia,” I answered Max’s last question, counting the little specks of black dots on the fake wood table.

  “I’ve got this one,” Eddie shouted. “Where is my birthmark?”

  “On his balls.”

  “Balls.” I replied, then realized what I’d said. I raised my head, glanced at Kipp whose eyes hadn’t wavered from their position on me. “How do you know his birthmark is on his balls?”