Page 32 of Shenanigans

“Maybe his slaughterhouse. He sometimes holds cage matches there. My sister say it makes it easier to get rid of the dead.”

Ugh. Bile rose in my throat. Was Tomas sick enough to turn corpses into cheap hamburger? God, I hoped not. “You mean Lopez Meat on Broadway?”

“Si. You find Tinkerbell? He no kill her?”

“I did. She wasn’t hurt, and I have her at my house now.”

“Promise me you will take care of her. Por favor.”

“You have my word she will always have a home with me. No one will ever harm her.”

“Gracias.”Maria took her father’s hand. Poof! She vanished.

I did a little happy dance. I had summoned the dead and hadn’t gotten zapped in the process.

“Did she go into the light?” Jana practically vibrated with excitement.

“She did.”

Teri stared at me thoughtfully. “So, not a homicide. Maria accidently shot herself, and this Tomas kidnapped her sister?”

“That’s it in a nutshell.”

“You should have asked Maria if she saw her sister on the other side,” Jana exclaimed.

“Damn. I didn’t even think to ask that.”

Jana shrugged. “Hey, it’s your first summoning. You’ll do better next time.”

“You need to tell the detective what you’ve learned,” Teri stated.

“Right. That I summoned Dead Maria and she gave me the down low on how she died?” I snorted. “Like he would believe me.”

“I know you can talk to animals. Why not the dead too?” Dutch’s gruff voice announced from behind me.

“Holy hell!” I spun around, and Dutch gave me his gotcha smile. Crap. How had he managed to sneak up on us? “Me? Communicate with the dead?” I let out a hysterical laugh. “Don’t be silly. Do you see any spirits hanging around?”

“You either talk to me here or in interrogation room one.” Dutch held up his handcuffs.

Shit. He’d arrest me just for the hell of it. “Okay, fine. What do you want to know?”

“If you’ll excuse me, I have an autopsy to do,” Teri interjected.

I quickly handed Teri the crystal ball and mouthed,“Sorry.”

“Don’t let this happen again,” Dutch told Teri sternly.

“It won’t detective.” Teri rolled Maria’s gurney away.

I watched her disappear into an autopsy room.

Dutch pull out a pen and notepad. “Spill.”

“How long were you listening in?”

“Maria shot herself. Tomas kidnapped her sister, the skank, because her boyfriend, Julio, stole his money. What do you know about Julio?”

“He’s a conniving thief.”

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