A Long Way Down Read online

“Let’s not rehash it, now,” Jon put in. He grinned. “I’ll tell you the whole story next time you’re bored and need something to entertain you.”

  “Where is it?” Tonio asked.

  Brody told him, and by extension the others. “You and Russ are coming too, right?” he said to Daw.

  “Sure. We’ll follow you.”

  * * * *

  Twenty minutes later, the ghosts were standing along the wall next to the dance floor, watching the goings-on.

  “That guy,” Tonio said, pointing to one of the dancers, “should realize he’s got a partner who’s going to dump his ass if he doesn’t stop showing off his moves to everyone one around them.”

  Kurt nodded. “If looks could kill…”

  “Let’s show him how it’s done.” Tonio grabbed Kurt’s hand, pulling him onto the dance floor.

  Gene rolled his eyes. “Like anyone can see them, including the guy they just danced through.”

  Van chuckled. “It’s the thought that counts. You want to take a stab at it.”

  “I guess. The music’s pretty fast, but what the hell.”

  Gene and Van made their way to the dance floor, with Brody and Jon right behind them.

  “You can tell they love each other,” Russ said a few minutes later when Brody wrapped his arms around Jon as they moved to the slow beat of the next song.

  “They do,” Daw replied. He had kicked one foot up against the wall, leaned back, and crossed his arms as he watched them and the others.

  “You don’t want to dance, do you?” Russ said sounding dejected.

  “Honest truth, I don’t know how,” Daw admitted. “It was never my thing.”

  “It’s not that hard. Come on, I’ll show you.” Russ didn’t wait for a reply as he took Daw’s hand and tugged.

  Daw resisted at first before figuring he had nothing to lose. As Jon had said, no one would see him except his friends, and they were too wrapped up in their partners to notice.

  “The first thing,” Russ said when they reached the dance floor, “is to move with the music, like this.” He swayed back and forth, shaking his head when Daw stood as still as a statue. “Damn it, it’s not rocket science. Move your hips to the right and then the left. Boom, boom.” He demonstrated.

  “Boom, boom?” Daw tried to copy Russ’s movements and found out it wasn’t that difficult. It wasn’t really dancing, but at least he wasn’t frozen in place.

  “That’s a start. Now we do it at the same time.” Putting his hands on Daw’s hips, he said, “Right, left, right, left, take a step back, and another one.”

  “I feel silly,” Daw muttered.

  “You’re not. You’re new at this. It’s easier if…” Russ lifted his arms, wrapping them around Daw’s neck and used his hips to urge Daw to turn and step. “See, is that so hard?”

  “I guess not.” Daw wrapped his arms around Russ’s waist as he tried to move with him to the beat of the music, stepping backwards, then forward, while turning.

  “Not bad,” Kurt said from beside them. “Now try smiling, Daw. Dancing isn’t a death sentence.”

  “Says you.”

  It took a while before Daw began to enjoy himself. He knew it had to do with the young man in his arms, and wasn’t certain if that was good or bad. He liked Russ, was perhaps even growing fond of him, but he knew they had no future together. At least we won’t if we find our killer. Then we’ll go our separate ways, somewhere in the void. Presuming there is a void. For all I know, when this is over it’s over. He frowned, prompting Russ to ask what was wrong.

  “What if this is it?” Daw replied. “We die and…there’s nothing afterward?”

  Russ leaned back, gazing up at him as he obviously pondered the question. “No, there’s something. If there wasn’t, why would we hang around as ghosts until we find out who killed us, or, I guess, admitted to ourselves we committed suicide if we’d done that?”

  Daw nodded. “That makes sense. You’re quite smart, you know, for being so young,” he paused a beat, “kid.”

  Russ scowled. “Stop with the kid thing!”

  “Why? It’s fun teasing you about it.”

  Russ harrumphed. “If you say so—old man.”

  “I’m not an…” Daw laughed. “Okay, you got me.”

  Russ’s lips curled up as he replied, “Not that you’re any great bargain.”

  “Well…damn.” Taking a chance he wouldn’t fall, Daw lifted Russ off his feet to spin him around—and through the couple next to them.

  “Whoa, did they turn the AC up?” one of the men exclaimed.

  “Felt like it for a second,” his partner replied.

  Daw and Russ broke into gales of laughter. “So it is true,” Russ gasped out.

  “Seems like. At least when we merge with one of the living for a second or two.”

  “We don’t create cold spots otherwise, though,” Russ pointed out. “If we did, with all of us here, we’d have cleared the joint.”

  “That or there would have been a lot of complaints to the management about their air conditioning.”

  They continued dancing for a while longer, with Russ complimenting Daw on how quickly he’d picked it up. “If you get any better, we can enter you in Dancing with the Stars, or one of those TV shows.”

  “Uh-huh. Not,” Daw retorted, but it made him feel good knowing he’d impressed Russ. I shouldn’t care, but I do. He’s kind of special.

  “Guys, if you hold each other any tighter, you’re going to meld into one ghost.”

  Daw lifted an eyebrow at Jon, who had spoken, and Brody. “You’re hardly ones to talk.”

  “None of us are,” Tonio said as he and Kurt whirled into view. “The only ones who are acting like adults are Van and Gene, but that’s because they are.”

  “Excuse me? I’m their age,” Brody huffed.

  “Thank God you don’t act it,” Jon retorted before kissing him.

  “No PDAs on the dance floor,” Kurt said.

  Daw glanced around, shook his head, and said, “Seems like you’re the only one who believes that.”

  General laughter ensued before Brody suggested it was time to head home. They gathered up Gene and Van—and did.

  Chapter 8

  Friday began with Brody calling a meeting in the office to plan how they would search for the killer. “We need to finalize things,” as he put it.

  Each of the ghosts who were able to hold them already had cell phones. At Brody’s prompting, they checked to make certain they were fully charged. Because his wasn’t, Kurt went upstairs to put it on the charger and rejoined them.

  Van booted up his laptop and then brought up the map of the part of the city comprising the murder sites. “There’s no guarantee he’s going to stick to this area, but we have to start somewhere.”

  “I suggest we pair off,” Brody said. “Van and Gene, Tonio and Kurt, of course. Since neither Daw nor Russ have or can use phones, Daw will come with me, Russ, you’ll be with Jon. Van, if you’ll break the area into four quadrants, we’ll each take one.”

  “And do flyovers, looking for him?” Russ said, sounding dubious.

  “I thought we’d already established that,” Gene replied.

  “I know, I just…It seems so hit-and-miss.”

  “It is,” Brody agreed. “If you can come up with a better idea, we’re open to suggestions.”

  “Think of us like police helicopters looking for escaping robbers, only we’re much quieter, and when we spot him we can get to him without his knowing we’re around,” Tonio suggested with a brief grin.

  “We need something to stop him,” Jon reminded them. “We can’t count on finding a pipe or bat on the scene.”

  “Pipes,” Kurt said. “I don’t think I can stuff a baseball bat down the leg of my jeans.”

  “Why would you need to?” Daw asked and then answered his own question. “If it’s part of you, under your clothes, nobody can see it because they can’t see you. If you’re carrying it…” H
e chuckled. “A bat-shaped UFO.”

  “Bingo.”

  “They’re building a new house a couple of blocks down,” Van said. “Gene and I can go scrounging when we’re done here. What we’re wearing gives us more coverage for carrying anything back here.”

  Brody nodded. “Now for the ground rules. I know we pretty much established them yesterday, but I want to reiterate them. We’re there to stop the bastard, but not harm him unless it becomes absolutely necessary.”

  “Keep him busy and off kilter until the cops get there,” Jon said.

  Tonio grinned. “I think seeing a lot of pipes and whatever floating around should do that.”

  “But…” Russ frowned.

  “Yes?” Brody asked.

  “The guy he attacked will see them, too.”

  “He’s got a point, Brody,” Gene said.

  “Why use weapons?” Kurt held up his hands. “We’ve got these. Punch, push, pummel, that should throw him off kilter.”

  Tonio grinned. “The three ‘Ps.’”

  “Well, it will,” Kurt retorted, flipping him off.

  “I agree,” Brody said. “That’s better than physical weapons. As Mike pointed out, if he gets bruised or worse from one of us hitting him with a pipe he can claim police brutality once he’s arrested.” He looked at each of his friends, one by one. “Push, shove, or trip him. Do not punch him. I don’t know if, being ghosts, we’d have enough strength to leave bruises but let’s not tempt fate.”

  “Got it,” Jon replied, and the others nodded.

  “Good. Now, unless anyone has anything more they want to add to our plan, I suggest we do recon on where we’ll be going tonight. The more we know about what’s on the roofs, and what hiding places there are where the killer lie in wait the better.”

  No one had anything to add, so, pairing off, they left the carriage house, heading to the ten-block area where they hoped the killer would strike again—with them there to stop him.

  * * * *

  “If wishes were horses…” Daw commented dryly as he and Brody made yet another circuit of the rooftops they were searching.

  “He’d show up right about now,” Brody replied with as bit of a grin.

  It was well after midnight, making it very early Saturday morning, and so far none of the ghosts had spotted anything out of the ordinary—or at least in respect to what they were searching for. They knew the chances were slim as it had only been a bit over a week since Daw’s murder, but they weren’t willing to chance the killer would absolutely stick to what seemed to be his timetable.

  “There are times when a serial killer accelerates because the urge to kill again gets stronger,” Gene had told them—and those who knew anything about it agreed with him.

  Brody and Daw didn’t spend all their time in the air. Whenever a roof had heating or cooling units, or covered entryways into the building, that could provide cover for a homeless man or the killer, they checked them out. In several cases they saw someone sleeping in what Daw deemed safe places, generally against parapets, because they were shadowed enough that the person would be virtually invisible in the darkness unless someone was looking for him.

  He also made certain they checked inside the housing for any large swamp coolers. “Not the greatest place to crash, but I’ve known guys who will, even though they have to sleep sitting up, and hope to hell the cooler doesn’t start leaking.”

  “Yeah, a leak could make things even more uncomfortable,” Brody replied, wincing at the thought.

  By the time the sky began to lighten to the east, Brody called an end to their recon and texted the others to let them know it was time to go home.

  They tried again Saturday and Sunday nights with the same results.

  “If I don’t see another roof it’ll be too soon,” Gene grumbled when they reconvened at dawn Monday morning.

  “Hey, be glad he’s not killing guys in alleys,” Russ retorted. “In this weather the smell sucks.”

  “Who would sleep there, then?” Kurt asked.

  Russ shot him a disbelieving look. “Who do you think? Homeless guys like us who have nowhere else to go. And do not say shelters. Even the ones that are sort of safe stink of dirty, sweaty bodies, especially during a heat wave.”

  “I did the parks, sometimes,” Daw said. “You get rousted a lot there because you’re in a public space—” he made finger quotes. “We can’t have the uppity-ups offended by our presence.”

  “Fuck them, it’s a free world,” Kurt retorted.

  “Tell that to the cops and social workers.” Daw shook his head. “Okay, enough of my bellyaching. I don’t have to worry about that anymore.” He smiled ruefully. “I’d say ‘Thank God’ but all things considered, I sort of wish I did.”

  “Me, too,” Russ said sadly.

  “Hey, we’re going to be okay.” Daw gave him a hug. “We’ll find the bastard and then be on our way to wherever.”

  “If we went together, it would be all right…I guess.”

  “Who’s to say you won’t?” Jon asked. He turned to Van. “You and Gene left at the same time. Were you together before you came back?”

  “We did it so fast we didn’t get a chance to find out,” Van replied.

  “You could stick around,” Brody said to Daw.

  “And do what? You guys have plans. The whole detective agency thing. Hell, in a way you’re already putting them into practice. I know bupkus about stuff like that.”

  “You think Kurt and I do?” Tonio asked.

  “Yes. You helped solve his murder, from what you said, and then theirs.” Daw nodded toward Van and Gene. “So you’ve got the basics down, at least.”

  “When we’re done here, you’ll have them down, too,” Kurt pointed out. “It’s all in knowing what to look for, clues and all that stuff, then taking it from there.”

  “All that stuff?” Brody laughed. “He has a point, though. Most of it comes down to using your smarts to figure things out.”

  “I guess. Still…” Daw gave him the smallest of smiles. “If you try taking in every ghost you help who decides to stick around…”

  “Yeah, it would make for a full house and then some,” Brody agreed.

  “That could be a real problem,” Jon said.

  “See.” Daw shot Brody a dour look. “It’ll be better if I move on the way I’m supposed to.”

  “Me, too,” Russ said, gripping Daw’s arm. “He’ll need company, wherever he winds up.”

  “In Hell, probably,” Daw grumbled. “If there is such a place. Not sure I want to find out.”

  “So stick around,” Gene said. “You and Russ can…umm…yeah, the barn.” He grinned. “It worked for us until we moved here.”

  “Not a bad idea,” Jon said. “They can turn it into a ghost shelter. I’m betting we’re not the only ones who decided not to move on—or couldn’t.”

  “Something to think about,” Brody said. “Not right now, however. We need our rest so we can go out again tonight with working brains.”

  “What are these ‘brains’ you speak of?” Kurt grinned.

  Tonio muttered, “Always the comic,” and then grabbed Kurt’s hand and they floated through the ceiling to their bedroom.

  Van and Gene took the hint and went upstairs, too—the normal way. After saying “Good night,” Jon and Brody did as well.

  * * * *

  “And then there were two, until you head to bed,” Russ said.

  “Yep. But I’m not tired so…” Daw shrugged, dropping down on the sofa.

  Russ glanced at him, got up, and began pacing. “Can I say something?”

  “I can’t stop you.”

  “Well you could, but…” Russ shook his head and continued. “You probably don’t want to hear this but I like you a hell of a lot, in case you haven’t figured it out. I know you don’t feel the same. To you I’m a friend and a bit of a pest that you put up with because you’re a nice guy. Anyway, whatever you decide, to stay or go, I’m not letting yo
u leave me behind. There, I said it, so…” He stuttered to a stop.

  “Did I say I wanted to?”

  “Well…no.”

  “Then stop putting words in my mouth. You’re wrong about one thing, you’re not a pest. After what you’ve been through, it would surprise me if you didn’t feel like you needed someone’s support. You can’t do everything on your own. Nobody can, or should have to.”

  “Even you?” Russ asked, his tone of voice accusatory.

  “I’m the exception to the rule,” Daw replied with a wry grin.

  “Bullshit. If you were, you wouldn’t be here and you know it.”

  “I’m here because we have to stop the bastard from killing anyone else.”

  “And that’s the only reason?”

  Daw looked away as he responded with an adamant, “Yes!”

  “I don’t believe you.” Russ came over until he was toe-to-toe with Daw. Looking down at him, he said, “You need people in your life as much as I do. What we went through? It changed us.”

  “No shit,” Daw muttered.

  “I mean before all this crap happened. We didn’t leave home because we wanted to explore the world, or improve it, or better ourselves. We were forced onto the streets and did the best we could to survive. Maybe, if we were still alive, we would have become someone who mattered in the grand scheme of things.” He put his hands on Daw’s shoulders, staring into his eyes. “Maybe we still can be if we try.”

  “Just how, oh great and wise one?”

  “Honestly, I haven’t a clue right now. Let’s think about it, though, okay?”

  “Okay,” Daw replied quietly. He eased out of Russ’s grip, and patted the sofa. Russ settled next to him and for a long time they sat there, not saying a word. Then, he said. “A ghost shelter like Jon suggested?”

  It took Russ a moment to get what he meant. “In the barn he and Gene talked about?”

  “Yeah. We’d have to see it first, to figure out if it would work.”

  “If it doesn’t, we’ll find somewhere else.”

  “Yep.” Daw gave him a hug. “It’s worth a shot, anyway.”

  “We’ll create the perfect homeless shelter, because when it comes down to it, I bet there’s some of us, some ghosts, who don’t have any place to stay. We wouldn’t, if it wasn’t for Brody and the others. Well, you wouldn’t. Me? I’m a guest and I’m sure they’ll want me out of here when all this is over, or when it turns out we can’t find that bastard, meaning we’re stuck on this…plane, I guess.”