Member-only story
Un-Ghosted
A murder mystery
Love often defies the rules of death.
When Cara entered their bedroom, her husband, Joe, was dead asleep. That expression made her smile. Sadie, their black lab, held her back curled tight against Joe’s. She awoke and raised her head. Her ears pricked up, and the hair on her ruff raised slightly.
“It’s okay, girl. Just me.”
Satisfied, Sadie settled back down, her tags playing their familiar short jingle.
“It’s too bad ghosts have no odor, isn’t it girl?” Cara scratched the top of Sadie’s ears, which a few months ago would have sent her thick stick tail thumping with joy. But, alas, ghosts couldn’t be physically felt either.
Cara lay down on the bed, wrapping her arms around Joe and Sadie to form a Sadie sandwich. A ghostly tear spilled down her cheek.
“I guess for now, it’ll be open faced grilled cheese my loves.”
After a few moments, Cara blanked out, and when she came to, she found herself back at the crime scene — empty now, except for the dulling yellow police tape and a single detective sitting in his Chevy Maverick staring at what was left of her neighbor’s Victorian home.
“You’ll never figure it out,” Cara sighed.
