Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde
This takes place after "It's a new day, it's a new dawn, it's a new year"
A/N Thank you so much for reading along and for all your wonderful reviews. They really do keep me going. :) Thank you :)
M rating
Thank you Margaret for reading ahead as my Beta. :) I much appreciate :)
Chapter 7—Dead Men Walking
We left my parents' house after that futile call. I was armed with some leftover pineapple upside down cake and Ranger was just, well...armed. As soon as we pulled away from the curb, Ranger's phone buzzed. He took it from his pocket and dropped it into the hands-free device.
"Speak."
"Hola boss. Is Estefania with you?" It was Hector. "Tell her to take a look at her text messages."
I dug through my bag for my phone and pulled it out. I had three new texts from that 454-545 number. "Clyde," I said and Ranger flashed me a look.
"Sí. Can you read the texts out loud?"
"Uh the first one was sent four minutes ago. It says, 'lovely.' The second was sent two minutes after that. It says, 'will I see you again?' and the last one was just sent. It says 'tomorrow?'"
"I think I have a date with a ghost," I added smiling, although Hector couldn't see me.
"Are they coming from that same unlicensed frequency?" Ranger asked.
"Sí. Want me to call the shaman lady and meet you at the house?"
"No," I answered. "My date with him is for tomorrow. I should at least honor his wishes, and come when he asks me too. Don't you think?"
"If we show up unannounced we may be able to surprise him."
"Wait. Let me text him back and see what happens."
I responded to the first text with 'Clyde?' and I waited. Nothing. Then I tried the final text that mentioned tomorrow. 'Can I come now?'
Two seconds later my phone buzzed with a response. 'Ok.'
"Ranger! Hector! He answered me. He said it's ok to come now. Hector can you call Artemis and meet us at the house?"
"I thought you were afraid of him Babe? You seem awfully anxious to meet him."
"He's a pussycat. How can you be afraid of that? And he invited me."
"I'll bring some recording equipment," Hector replied. "The cameras are in place. Boss, should I bring some night vision goggles? We probably could see him if we used infrared, like our cameras."
"You sound just as excited as Stephanie. What am I missing?"
"Well it's not everyday we get to talk to a ghost. You ready Chica?"
"Yes. How long will it take you to get there?"
"I'll call the shaman now and get her out of bed if I have to. She's in Trenton. I'll pick her up and we can be there in maybe half an hour?"
"Ok. Against my better judgment, I'll meet you at the gate," Ranger mumbled.
"Ranger, are you jealous?" I asked.
"No," he said, going into shutdown mode. "You can't feel emotion for something that doesn't exist."
"Oh but he does Ranger. He may not be like you and me, but he definitely exists."
"You, Hector and Santos. I'm surprised he's not calling you now too."
Speak of the devil. My phone rang just as Ranger mentioned Lester's name.
"Hey Beautiful. I asked Hector to let me know if we got anymore blips on the screen and he just emailed me that you and Clyde have been texting?"
"I have a date with him and Ranger's jealous," I said out loud, looking right at my fiancé.
"Can I come too? I can help Hector with the recording."
I looked over at Ranger before responding. If this were standard operating procedure, there would be two Rangeman in every vehicle. But this was anything but standard.
"Does your backup protocol work for ghosts too?"
"Oh for God's sake. Tell him to meet us at the gate or hitch a ride with Hector and Artemis. Dios. The lot of you are delusional."
"You're just jealous because a ghost has a crush on me. I'm going to have to set him straight; I'm not who he thinks I am."
"Artemis said you're going to have to tell him that he's dead. That should go over real well. He seems to have an ego."
Look who's talking?
When we got to the gate Hector and Artemis were in a Rangeman SUV and Lester was in his Mustang.
"Beautiful, we're expecting some snow tonight. I'm hoping for an in and out with you; this car is terrible in bad weather. But it's a museum piece, and women seem to like it," he added with a wink.
"Lester, I love this car. It reminds me of a car Val's friend had in high school—and it was a museum piece then.
"Chica, I've been monitoring this house the whole way here. All four spirits are active. Are you ready for this?" Hector asked; taking me out of my musings and back into the real reason we were here in the first place.
"Artemis? You said I just needed to talk to Clyde. What about the others? And is there anything I need to know before we go in? How should I start this conversation? Will he speak back to me?"
"Introduce yourself. Introduce us. He may speak to you; I'm not sure if we're all here. He's spoken to you before. As Hector's video showed us, Clyde is the brightest of the four spirits. He very likely has the most power. Speak directly to him, the others will hear, but I doubt they can answer or interact with you."
"Ok. I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be."
Ranger fobbed the gate open and our little caravan headed up the hill. Ranger and I were in the lead with the turbo. When we got to the house, all three cars parked in front and we got out. Hector took a few pair of night vision goggles out of the Rangeman SUV and we climbed the few stairs to the front door.
Again it was unlocked. Trusting spirits.
As soon as we opened the door I could smell the smoky sage from our earlier smudging. Obviously that did little to make the ghosts feel unwelcome.
"Hi Clyde," I said as we entered and put our stuff down in the living room. "It's Stephanie Plum. Uh, you invited me."
I turned and looked at Hector who was wearing night vision goggles and he prompted me to continue. I wasn't sure if Clyde was in the room with us, but I went on.
"I think you may have mistaken me for someone else, someone you once knew and I think cared about. I'm not her. I'm not Hedy, but I'm very happy to make your acquaintance. I want you to meet my friends and then I, uh, have a couple of uh, things I want to tell you."
I turned to my right and took Ranger's hand.
"Clyde, this is my fiancé Carlos Manoso. We call him Ranger and he's the owner of Rangeman Security." I reached for Lester next, taking him by the arm. If I was going to have to have conversations with spirits, I wanted a living, breathing person with me at all times.
"And this is my friend Lester Santos. Lester sometimes works with me and he's one of Ranger's top men." I kept going, keeping my arm on Les, but bringing Artemis and Hector into the fold. "And this is Artemis Fanoosian. She's a shaman and this man with the goggles is Hector Santiago. He's a good friend who also works for Ranger. He's into technology."
So far no one grabbed my ass, spoke to me or sent icy cold chills down my spine.
"Now that you've met everyone," I continued, "I want to tell you a couple of things. Um, Ranger and I bought this place and we wanted to call it home. But the building inspector condemned it, so we're going to have to tear it down. You won't be able to live here any longer. I'm hoping you'll leave on your own when I tell you the second part of my story, but if you don't I'm going to have to let you know that you won't be welcome here much longer.
"Clyde, you're dead. This is 2013 and you died in 1946. Artemis tells me that there is a light that you can see that has been beckoning to you for years. Clyde, it's time to go to the light. It's your destiny and you'll be much happier."
I decided that since nothing bad had happened yet I'd just give him a little more information.
"Tomorrow we're having a cleaning crew come in here and thoroughly clean the place. Whatever is holding you to this house will be eliminated. Artemis and I will come back tomorrow night and at that time, I hope to find that you and the Sweeneys have moved on. I know you can hear me and I know you can communicate with me through my cell phone. I have it with me if you want to say anything to me before you go," I added bravely.
I took my phone out of my bag, half expecting to see a couple of texts from Clyde, but there was nothing.
"We're going to leave now," I added. "It was nice meeting you."
I turned towards the door when an icy wind blew past me and knocked over the lamp that was on the table. Artemis mentioned that spirits could get very angry when you tell them they are no longer living.
I wasn't quite sure what to do, so I looked to Artemis for help.
"Tell him again," she prodded. "And then we'll leave."
I nodded that I'd give it another try. "Clyde you really are dead and there is a better place for you if you go to the light. You're just not welcome to stay here with Ranger and me. We're getting married and we'd like to start a life together here…but not with you and the Sweeneys. I hope you can understand and will leave on your own. Text me if you need me," I added more like I was talking to Mary Lou or one of the guys. "Bye Clyde."
I turned towards the door again and then I heard it, quite distinctly for that matter.
"No."
It wasn't the forceful 'no' that I would use if I were disagreeing with someone; it was more of a pleading 'no,' like he wanted to stay. At least that was the way I took it. So I tried something that usually worked with me.
"Please."
I waited for further comment from Clyde and when there was none, I looked at my phone…nothing there either. I turned toward the door again and this time nothing stopped me. Ranger, Les, Hector and Artemis followed me out and we closed the door behind us.
Tomorrow would be telling as to whether this worked or not.
"Let's meet at the gate," Artemis said as we got into our cars.
It had just started to snow, so I was sure Lester wouldn't want to stay long. And for that matter neither did I. I was drained from my little conversation with Clyde.
We drove to the gate and we got out. The wind had started to pick up along with the snow so we took shelter in the Explorer.
"I think that went well," Artemis began. "For a minute I thought he was going to have a little temper tantrum, but your 'please' seemed to work."
"I picked that up from real life. It usually works with me. What time should I meet you here tomorrow?"
"Hector, are you going to keep the cameras on tonight? I'd like to see if there is any more activity before the morning. The crew will be here at nine and I thought we could come by in the afternoon. Say two o'clock?"
"Sí, the cameras will be on until we start demolition. I'll email all of you if there is any activity toward the morning."
"Ok then, I'll see you at two tomorrow."
Ranger, Les and I went back to our cars and Ranger fobbed us out. And although I didn't want him prying into my life, I was thinking I was going to miss Clyde.
"Proud of you Babe." Ranger said, buckling me in and placing a lingering kiss on my forehead.
"Thank you. That wasn't the easiest conversation I've ever had."
"I'm not sure if you noticed, but Hector, Santos and I were wearing our night vision goggles. I was watching the phosphorous display as you were speaking to Clyde. It got brighter when you told him he was dead and brightest just before the gust of wind blew over the lamp. I think somehow he harnesses energy and uses it to his advantage. I hope the cameras picked that up; you would enjoy the display and I'd like a professional to look at it. Not that I don't trust Artemis, but…well, I don't trust anyone."
"Who are you sending it to?"
"Jeffrey Fishbourne. He's the top parapsychologist in the world and he lives in London. Tank gave me his name and we've been emailing each other. He asked to see the tapes so I thought I'd add this to what I was planning to send him. He actually agrees with everything you've been doing and thinks we'll be successful getting rid of the spirits."
"Do you believe now?"
"I guess I have no choice. I was there when he spoke to you and I saw the energy displays. I have nothing else to attribute it to…so spirits it is."
Somehow I felt like I'd won this one.
We drove back to Trenton pretty much in silence. Something in my heart ached. I guess it was a feeling for Clyde. He was going to be homeless if he didn't follow my–well no, it was Artemis' advice–to seek the light. I hoped he was rational.
"Deep thoughts?" Ranger asked as we pulled into the garage at Rangeman.
"Not really. More worry. What will happen to them? You know once Clyde heads toward the light that Artemis mentioned. I hope it doesn't make him, um, dead? For a dead guy he seems so alive. Know what I mean?"
"Actually I do. You handled that well. It could have really backfired in your face, but you gave him all the answers before he asked for them and he took it well after his initial backlash."
"Can we go upstairs and not think about this?"
"Are you ok?"
"Hold me. Make love to me."
"Babe?"
"I guess I need to feel a real flesh and blood human next to me."
Ranger came over to my side of the car and opened the door for me. He helped me out and I fell into his arms. He pulled me close to him and he kissed me. I ran my hands over his perfect ass and pulled him in tighter.
"Mmmmm Babe, let's go upstairs. The guys don't need any more of a show."
Shit. I forgot all about those damn cameras.
We buzzed the elevator and it must have been on two as it came right down. We got in and Ranger moved to the back, pulling me to him. My back was to his front and he put both his arms around me cocoon-style. I reached my hands up to touch him and we just held each other, his lips on my head, until we disembarked on seven. I was pretty sure it was as much to hold me as close as humanly possible as it was to hide a little suggestive-something from the guys on monitor duty.
Once we fobbed in and put our stuff down on the credenza in the foyer, Ranger pulled me to him.
"You want to be close Babe?" he asked, moving my hair off my shoulders and kissing that tender spot near my neck.
"Mmmm Ranger, closer." He moved us towards the wall and inserted his leg between mine, kissing me again. Plenty of tongue. Oh my God.
I don't know how long we stood there kissing and touching but when we broke apart we were breathless.
"Close enough?" Ranger asked, probably the only words he could get out.
"No."
He scooped me up and carried me into the bedroom, shedding some clothes along the way.
Ranger threw me down on the bed and just looked at me with a full 200-watt smile on his face. He stripped and then little by little removed whatever remaining clothes I had on. Now Ranger is a fabulous lover and never leaves me wishing for more so as he licked and kissed his way down my body, I could feel that something wasn't right.
"Ranger what's the matter?"
"I'm sorry Babe. I didn't think you'd pick up on it, but I guess you know me too well."
"Ranger talk to me."
"We got our test results back from Bobby. He wants you to be on penicillin for seven days."
"STD? From Joe?"
"Most likely."
"HIV positive?"
"No Babe. Chlamydia. I filled the prescription for you. You can start taking it tonight."
"And what about you?"
"I'm clean."
"Shit. What did Bobby say? Is it serious? Am I going to die?"
"Babe. Come here."
Ranger pulled me close and held me while he spoke.
"You're not going to die. About three million people in the U.S. test positive for Chlamydia every year. One course of antibiotics should be enough to knock it out of your system and then you'll be fine. Bobby will need to test you again and then you should be tested after three months to make sure it's totally gone. Until then we'll use condoms."
"What about you? You know you like to um, oral, um. Can't you catch it?"
"No Babe. I asked. Bobby says it's very rare to be transmitted through oral sex. And I tested negative to everything. But I think you need to let Morelli know that he's a carrier."
"Fuck. This is not going to be pretty. I'd rather talk to Clyde."
Chapter 8