Ghosted, p.1
Ghosted, page 1
part #4 of Girl's Guide to Voodoo Bounty Hunting Series
Copyright 2022 by Eden Crowne. All rights reserved
Visit Eden Crowne at: edencrowne.com
More by Eden Crowne:
Girl’s Guide to Voodoo Bounty Hunting:
The Fast and the Furriest
Shifty Business
Royal Pain
Ghosted
Coming Soon: High Jinx
Avenging Angel Series:
Fall From Grace
Perilous Grace
Deadly Grace
Royal Grace (coming soon)
Dust to Dust Series:
Fangs for your Memories
Witch You Were Here
Ghost of a Chance
Fear Club Series:
Cruel and Unusual Magic
Fear Club
Fear Club 2: The Summoning
Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
HIGH JINX: Exclusive Preview
CHAPTER ONE
“I’m going to burn it, I swear. Come closer and I will.” The man waved an old-school Polaroid-style photograph in one hand and a lighter in the other.
Nessa skidded to a stop, both hands out. “No. Don’t. Please. Please.”
“Help,” called a tiny voice. “Help, help.”
Barely visible in the photograph a woman wearing a Unicorn Onesie was jumping up and down beating against the film.
The day was not going well. Not at all.
Nessa Scott’s boss, Roman Barracuda, owner of Barracuda Bail Bonds and L.A.’s reigning Voodoo King, had handed her a new case this morning. Not Infernal. The Infernal Court policed supernaturals. Enforcing the rules, lax as they were, about interfering too much in human affairs. This was a strictly human court matter. Or so they’d thought.
Nessa and her Familiar, Pim, were only a few weeks into their new careers as bounty hunters. Her deadbeat dad had skipped town owing Barracuda big time. Only the debt wasn’t money, it was magic. And guess who he left as collateral?
Peg Porter’s court date was yesterday afternoon. She had not shown up nor phoned her lawyer. Ms. Porter was charged with disturbing a burial site. Grave robbing, not to dress it up. The cops hadn’t found any objects on her besides an old Polaroid camera which she claimed was to take pictures of ghosts. She wasn’t charged with theft, but they’d hung trespassing on top of disturbing a gravesite
It was a low-level bond which was why Roman Barracuda had given it to Nessa and Pim. His enforcers, the formidable and only marginally human sisters Pansie and Rose Marie La Rue, got the toughest bonds. Though now they divided some of the work with Jun Hee Kim. Jun Hee was from a rival supernatural Bail Bonds office in Denver. He’d decided to try his luck in Los Angeles. Since Jun Hee was both adept at martial and magical arts, Mr. Barracuda was delighted with the addition.
Barracuda handed Nessa the paperwork on Ms. Porter. “Just a simple...”
“Don’t say it!” Nessa interrupted, putting a hand up to stop him.
“…apprehension.”
“You said it.”
He’d jinxed it for sure.
In Nessa and her Familiar Pim’s short careers as bounty hunters, every time her boss said ‘easy’ or ‘simple,’ Nessa had nearly gotten killed. First by Skinwalkers. Then zombies. Followed by Baron Samedi, the Voodoo Loa of the Dead. The reincarnation of a dead samurai. A hit-and-run plus kidnapping by Warlocks. More zombies. And let’s not forget being claimed by the Faerie Court of Air as their newest Princess. Though to be honest, the last one wasn’t entirely Mr. Barracuda’s fault.
“Her address is in there. Boyle Heights. She wrote ‘self-employed’ as Place of Work.” He gave a snort. “I’ve included a list of cemeteries. That’s most often where she can be found after dark.”
Ms. Porter had been arrested on this charge twice before. She should have gotten away with an ankle bracelet until her court date, but the judge said he was tired of her bull and imposed bail.
According to Mr. Barracuda, people hired Peg to circumvent burial wards to find enchanted objects or bones or God knows what.
He pointed at the file. “Read the sticky notes.”
Nessa held the file so Pim could see it too. Pim was an intelligent, well-read feline. He wasn’t her pet; he was her partner. He was also invisible. This unfortunate situation was the result of a shipboard romance with a winsome calico over a century before. The calico belonged to a gypsy witch who cursed poor Pim. Since then, only his witch and a few select others could see him in his feline form. He could also transform into a rather terrifying werecat. As a beast, he was fully visible. Though anyone who had the bad luck to see the werecat up close would probably prefer otherwise.
The sticky notes let them know Peg was a Diviner. She used her divining talent to locate lost objects, specifically those tied to burial sites and corpses. She wasn’t a necromancer since she couldn’t reanimate or manipulate dead flesh. However, her magic blurred a little into those dark arts.
“Have shovel, will travel?” Nessa said, surprised. “For real?”
“For real.” Barracuda shook his head. “Stupid girl. Flipping off the dead has consequences. She’s going to pay for her disrespect one day.”
As Nessa left the office, she sincerely hoped it would not be today.
She had hoped in vain.
Boyle Heights was conveniently close to Evergreen Cemetery. One of Miss Porter’s places of business. This was Los Angeles’s largest, oldest, and currently most neglected graveyard according to various news sites Nessa looked through on the way there.
Fiona drove her and Pim in the witch’s sleek silver Audi. Fiona was a rich young witch currently working off a Community Service sentence from the Infernal Court at the bail bonds office. Fiona had used black magic to compel the price down on a house she wanted to buy in Glendale. Assorted acts of mayhem with some hospital-centric side effects had resulted in her official censure by the Infernal Court.
The Infernal Court was both the police and judicial arm of supernatural life in big cities like Los Angeles. Magic was far more pervasive than run-of-the-hill humans knew. The Court’s job was to keep it that way.
Nessa didn’t understand how pursuing felons for Mr. Barracuda translated to Community Service, but no one had asked her opinion. Mostly Fiona drove Nessa and Pim around greater L.A. as the two of them did the pursuing. Nessa did not have a car and as she had learned the hard way, transporting felons on the back of a 40cc scooter – her only mode of transportation – was no easy task.
Boyle Heights was about ten miles from the bail bonds office in Compton. Nessa noted a KFC and a McDonald’s on the way. She had a feeling today was going to be especially hungry work. She and Pim had stopped at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf for some espresso and a fat, buttery croissant on the way to Barracuda Bail Bonds in the morning. That wouldn’t last long. Magic took a toll and summoning spells quickly sapped a witch’s body of energy. After ending up in the hospital several times, Nessa had learned to keep herself fed and hydrated. That included scouting places for possible fuel stops.
Peg Porter’s house was a tiny white cottage on a postage-stamp-sized yard. Neat and pretty with violet hydrangea bushes blooming along the front wall. A pair of picture windows looked out on the street.
Nessa felt a pang of envy. The cottage was exactly the sort of home she’d longed for growing up. Small and private. No midnight scramble for possessions from cheap motel rooms, one step ahead of the local police. Life with her magical scam-artist father coupled with the curse she’d inherited from her mother meant they’d never had a home. Frank the Fallen already had her mother’s soul and wanted a matched set. Every time Frank got close, they had to run.
At least now she had a glimmer of hope. And from such an unlikely source. Only last week, a group of thieving Warlocks told her the legend of three enchanted objects: a sword, a stone, and a mirror. If bound together, they might be able to break her dark legacy. Free her from Frank. She knew where the sword was. The location of the jewel and mirror were still a mystery.
Pim sat on her lap. He pressed his head under her chin, meowing an encouraging mew. He could always sense her moods.
She stroked him between his ears. “I’m okay. I was thinking what a nice little house this is.”
Pim meowed in agreement. They often strolled neighborhoods in whatever city they’d found themselves before settling with her Aunt Emerald when Nessa started college. They liked to look at houses and gardens. Pim was especially keen on flowers.
Fiona snorted. “Are you joking? It’s like the size of our pool cabana.”
Nessa ignored her. Fiona was from old money. Lots of it. Her family lived in Bel Air or Beverly Hills or some other luxurious Los Angeles neighborhood. She dressed in designer clothes and her Audi was barely a year old.
An electric blue Ford EcoSport sat in Ms. Porter’s driveway. Nessa knew a lot about cars. Deadbeat Dad had taught her to recognize and remember the make of cars since she w as a toddler. His criminal career meant they had to be always vigilant for vengeful victims and/or plainclothes police.
Nessa pulled the papers from Barracuda out of her backpack checking them again. Peg Porter owned the house. It wasn’t a rental. Ditto the car. A nice car and a house? Dang. Grave robbing paid well.
As soon as Nessa stepped out of the car, she gagged. The sidewalk smelled like rotting meat. Pim sneezed repeatedly, rubbing frantically at his nose with one paw.
“Oh my god. Shut the door!” Fiona shouted.
Nessa barely had time to shut it before Fiona sped away. Pedal to the metal.
Nessa crossed her fingers hoping Fiona would return at some point. You never knew with that witch.
It was hard to blame her. What a stink! Pulling her shirt up over her nose did not help stave off the stench. Her eyes started watering from the ferocity of it. Since no neighbors or police were outside exclaiming over the stink, Nessa assumed it was supernatural in nature. Probably affecting only magic users.
She walked the border of the front yard. The smell stretched from one side to the other. Taking a few steps beyond, the stink abruptly dropped to nothing.
“Pim, check around the back.”
Gagging, Pim scampered off.
When he returned, she asked, “All around the house?”
He nodded.
Something had marked the property boundary but not ventured inside. Maybe because it couldn’t. Peg Porter was a witch who played on the dark side of magic. She’d have powerful magical wards to protect her home.
“Does it go anywhere else?”
Pim gave a meow of protest, still sneezing, but tracked the scent to one neighbor’s yard up a tall oak.
The tree faced a picture window in Peg’s house. Judging from its placement, Nessa guessed it was the bedroom.
Nessa had no trouble crossing Peg’s protective wards. They must be set up against someone or something with malevolent intentions. That way the mailman or delivery people could still come and go from the sidewalk. Nevertheless, she knew from the prickling along her skin she had set off the house’s silent supernatural alarm system. Anyone at home would know she was here
She went up to the front door to knock. It swung open slightly at her touch.
Not good.
Another thing Deadbeat Dad had taught her was never stand directly in front of a door if she didn’t know who was on the other side.
Carefully she positioned herself on the door’s outer edge.
“Hello?” she said again, pushing it open wither elbow.
“Miss Porter? Barracuda Bail Bonds. It’s about your court date.”
No answer.
Pim slipped by her gliding soundlessly inside. There were many advantages to having an invisible Familiar. Stealthy reconnaissance was one of them.
She waited until he returned meowing an ‘all clear.’
The open plan of the cottage let her see the living room, dining room, and much of the galley-style kitchen from the doorway.
Trouble had found Ms. Porter. That was immediately obvious.
Glasses and plates were broken and scattered on the floor. Wine bottles tipped over on the table. One had spilled its contents leaving red puddles. A dining chair was overturned.
There was no lingering stink from the entity that had circled the outside of the house. Whatever it was hadn’t caused this mess.
Directly in front of the entryway down a short hall was another door, and one more to the right. The door at the end of the hall should be the bathroom. There was probably only one in a small house like this. The other door was open. A bedroom.
Nessa was careful not to touch anything in case the police became involved.
She followed Pim into the bedroom. Blankets, sheets, and pillows lay strewn around the bed and floor. An ashy, smokey smell lingered that wasn’t present in the rest of the house.
“Do you smell blood?”
Pim shook his head.
They looked around the bed. She checked the closet and bureau. Pim meowed an alert pointing with a paw.
Nessa squatted down, looking at his find. A burned something lay crumpled near the window. Not paper or it would have been ash. This was where the smokey smell was coming from. That was a lot of smell for such a small thing. Nessa held her hand over the crumpled black object. The tingle was unmistakable.
Magic.
Pim crawled out from under the bed pushing a set of keys with his nose.
Nessa walked back to the front of the cottage, pressing a button on the black key fob. The blue Ford beeped and flashed its lights.
She closed the front door, got in the car, and turned it on. This was a deluxe model with all the bells and whistles. Her dad had rented one before. She flicked through the onboard navigation and entertainment display screens looking to see what apps had been installed.
Nessa crossed her fingers and said, “Hey Siri?”
Nothing.
“Siri?”
Silence.
“Hey, Alexa?”
“Uh-huh,” came the chirpy reply.
Nessa fist-pumped the air. Ms. Porter had taken advantage of connecting her cell to the car’s onboard system. Hopefully, she had taken it one step further.
“Alexa, find my phone.”
“Give me a moment,” came the reply. Shortly a map with a blinking light appeared on the screen.
Nessa called Fiona.
“Are you dead?” Fiona said.
Last week Nessa had been kidnapped by a gang of warlocks fighting Baron Samedi, the Voodoo Loa of the Dead, for a cursed sword. Predictably, mayhem and blood had ensued. Since then, this was Fiona’s annoying stock answer to Nessa’s calls.
“Will you stop? Gawd. No. Not dead. The lady isn’t here. Something bad happened. Pim found her car keys. We’re going to track her phone. According to the map, she’s not far. Will you follow?”
“I guess,” she said after a lengthy pause.
Nessa backed out of the driveway, pulling in front of Fiona.
Technically she was sort of stealing Ms. Porter’s car. It was for a good cause, Nessa reasoned. The woman had likely been kidnapped. Or worse.
The onboard AI sent them to Evergreen Avenue and then onto Caesar Chavez. Cesar Chavez bordered Evergreen Cemetery.
Of course, it did.
Peg Porter couldn’t be sitting around Starbucks sipping an iced latte, could she? No, no, no. Had to be in a creepy-ass graveyard. Full of creepy-ass spirits that thanks to her Scott blood, Nessa could see exactly like her Aunt Emerald. Ah, the wonders of DNA.
The cheerful voice guided them around the corner, through the cemetery’s main gate.
“You’ve arrived,” droned the AI when Nessa pulled up to a faded, maroon-colored Scion sedan.
Both spots near it were taken. The cemetery parking lot was awfully full for a weekday afternoon. A funeral, perhaps?
Nessa parked next to a fat white van with the logo, ‘Back from the Dead. Paranormal Investigators. Follow us on YouTube,’ painted in black across one side.
Ghost hunters. Wonderful. Why did people think ghosts wanted to talk to them? Most spirits had little to say according to her aunt. And she should know. Emerald was the real deal. Able to not only speak but see and hear the dead.
Fiona parked a few cars farther away. She stayed inside the Audi with the windows up and the engine running. Fiona was all about quick getaways. Often without Nessa.
She peered inside the Scion’s dusty windows. There was a handbag on the backseat.
Maybe whoever took Peg Porter was going to bury her in the cemetery. Pretty good hiding place except it was just after one in the afternoon. People might notice someone dragging a body and carrying a shovel in broad daylight. Even in L.A.
Nessa drew a question mark in the air for Fiona to ask if she was coming.
Fiona made a gesture back.
Clearly not.
Pim walked on scouting for Miss Porter. Living or dead.
The drought had not been kind to the cemetery. The grounds looked like a schoolyard in a poor neighborhood. Lots of bleached dirt with scraggly patches of dead brown grass brightened only occasionally with a well-tended plot of green. There were a few skinny palms and some hardy evergreens holding on despite the neglect.
Glowing balls of greenish light hovered around gravestones here and there. Contrary to popular belief, ghosts did not only come out at night. If a spirit was tied to a graveyard or anywhere, it hung around twenty-four-seven.
