When the Dead Speak Bailey Bradford (books on motivation txt) 📖

His hat was tipped off backwards and his hair ruffled, then Laine was left alone. He wondered briefly at the sudden departure then reached for the phone. He had one quick, he hoped, call to make then he would tell Montoya he knew what he needed to about Severo Robledo.

“Good morning, Sherry. Can you put me through to Mayor Jeffries?” Laine tapped the desktop as he waited for the mayor to pick up the call. No matter what, he was determined not to lose his temper with the man.

“Stenley? What’s with the gossip I’ve been hearing about you…you being, you know?”

Laine felt his lip curl at the mayor’s tone, and his apparent inability to say the word gay. Far be it from him to help the fool out. “No, I don’t know, Mayor Jeffries, but—”

“Like your friends! Zeke Mathers and his, uh, partner.” The relief at finding a suitably unsexual word was evident in the mayor’s gleeful tone. Something about that tone had a feeling of calm filling Laine. He eased back in his chair and propped his booted feet up on the desk, crossing his legs at the ankles.

“Well, now, I don’t see as how anything about my personal life is your business, Jeffries, and if I were to listen to the town gossips about you, I might think you’re screwing around on your wife with one of the waitresses at Virginia’s. Lotta gossip about that, rumors and such, but my momma raised me better than that, you know?” It wasn’t a threat, and it also wasn’t a rumor that Laine had paid particular attention to, but he had heard it. The fact that Doreen hadn’t gone after Jeffries meant either she hadn’t heard the rumor, or she knew Jeffries was innocent. If the mayor wanted to keep his privates intact, he’d best be innocent.

Indignant sputtering was the only reply Laine got before Jeffries got off the phone. He couldn’t help smirking a bit. Let the man see what it felt like to have someone pry into his private life. At least what Laine and Sev were doing wasn’t going to hurt anyone else. Laine had no other lovers, and he was certain that Sev wasn’t in a relationship, either.

The matter settled for now, Laine dropped his feet back to the floor and stretched his arms, arching his back to work out the kinks. As comfortable as he was going to get for now, Laine went ahead and called his former partner at the Houston PD. He didn’t know whether to be relieved or not when he got Rich’s voicemail.

* * * *

Warm sheets and a comfortable mattress were all the encouragement Sev needed to stay in bed, dozing off shortly after Laine left for work. His body pleasantly sore, Sev pushed away thoughts and worries over what was happening between him and the sheriff, choosing instead to replay numerous erotic memories of their shared loving. Images of Laine’s big dick, glistening beads of pre-cum coating the bulbous head, had Sev’s dick hard and straining for relief. He’d just reached down and fisted his shaft when the buzzing started in his head, the plea for him to listen.

If he didn’t know better, he’d swear Conner was deliberately interrupting. But he’d learned through the years that ghosts couldn’t see, not physically. They seemed to exist on an emotional plane, reacting to deep-rooted emotions and needs. But it sure had seemed like Conner had been looking at him yesterday, and Sev had never known a ghost to take on a form like Conner had, either. Not to mention the whole freeze-Sev’s-balls-off incident. Maybe he didn’t know quite as much about ghosts as he’d thought. Then again, since they were so responsive to strong emotions, maybe that was why Conner was making such intense appearances. Sev and Laine had to have been sending out some decidedly strong and horny emotions, at the hotel and here in this house.

The buzzing intensified and Sev let down his guard enough that Conner could speak to him. Ignoring him wasn’t an option, not after nearly freezing to death yesterday. Sev had no doubt it was an accident, but the urgency he sensed in Conner at this moment was tantamount to what it had been in the motel room. There was no sense in risking a desperate bid for attention from an impetuous ghost.

“What is it, Conner?” Sev started to sit up in the bed only to find himself held down by an invisible force. Panic kicked in and Sev began to struggle. “What the hell? What are you doing?” A prickle of cold brushed across his forehead and Sev stilled, closing his eyes and reaching out with his senses. The warning from Conner slammed into his mind, clear and stark. Danger. He’s here—outside!

With a sudden clarity, Sev knew who ‘he’ was. The man who’d come for Laine wasn’t some ex-con with a grudge—he was the same man who had killed Conner. Terror unlike anything he had known filled Sev. He damn sure didn’t want to die, and especially not like that. Even more so, though, he didn’t want Laine to ever have to experience such a thing again. Finding his new lover dead and butchered would surely push the man over the edge.

“What do I do? Help me, Conner, please, don’t let this happen to Laine again!” Sev’s hair was pushed off his forehead then he felt a nudge. A quick glance informed him that the curtains over the window were drawn, but there was an inch or so where the material gaped open, certainly enough for someone to see into the room. Sev scooted to the edge of the bed, never looking away from that gap until he quietly tumbled to the floor.

Uncaring of his nudity, he crawled to the door and, with one last look backward, turned the knob and hurried into the hallway. Back braced against the wall and his knees pulled up