Heather Graham - Ghost Shadow

He leapt to his feet, and followed.

H e was stunned to see Katie O’Hara suddenly on the street. She was staring after someone-as if she had just seen a long-dead relative.

And she was making her way down Duval. The crowd had thinned, but she was oblivious of the people who remained out.

She was chasing someone.

David Beckett was on the street, too, searching for Katie, then following her.

She seemed to be in some kind of a daze, intent on nothing but her purpose.

“Katie!” Beckett called, seeing her, racing after her. He reached Katie. Caught her by her shoulders and spun her around with surprise.

He couldn’t have known her, couldn’t have really known her, she’d been a kid back then.

But he’d known her brother, of course. Sean. Who had gotten out of town when it all broke, as well.

Beckett shook her gently, saying her name again, and then once again.

It was bizarre. She snapped out of whatever spell had gripped her. She seemed surprised to be in the street, there, with him. He was touching her. And her eyes met his. There was no hostility in them, just curiosity.

She shook her head then. Beckett was still concerned. Katie seemed to be determined to assure him that everything was all right. What was she saying to him?

He could tell…

There was just something about the two.

There was tenderness in Beckett’s eyes. It wasn’t the same kind of tenderness a man might show the younger sibling of an old friend.

And his hands. The way that he touched her…

The way that they stood. Why not? She was a stunning young woman. And Beckett…ah, Beckett. He played the part. The sterling son of a sterling family. Tall and handsome, a vet, an educated man, a famed photographer…

He felt his fists tensing into knots at his side.

Yes, there was something there.

Regrettable. Katie was a good kid. She didn’t sleep around, she didn’t drink herself silly. But it looked as if Katie was going to be the one. Maybe not first…maybe that would be too obvious far too quickly. But Katie would be the one who mattered.

Katie wasn’t as alarmed by what had happened as she was by the fact that David Beckett had followed her, that he had seen her.

And she couldn’t even try to explain.

I finally saw a ghost who might be Tanya. No, she probably is Tanya. She was in the cemetery today. I think she’s trying to reach me. I thought there was something familiar about her, and, of course, there was. I’ve seen her picture, I saw it years ago.

“I could have sworn I saw an old friend,” she lied. “I mean, I could have sworn it, but…I guess I was wrong. I thought it was…Janis Seacloud,” she said. She’d had to search her mind swiftly for the name of anyone she had gone to school with whom she was certain had left town years ago and not returned. He wouldn’t know her friends, of course. Still, a lie had to be as close to the truth as possible.

Bartholomew was beside her, as well.

“Oh, good save, young lady,” he told her. “I mean, seriously, what was that? I thought you’d lost your mind. And you say I’m going to make you look crazy! You’re doing just fine on that all by yourself.”

“Stop!” she murmured.

“Pardon?” David asked, frowning. He still had his hands on her shoulders. She liked the feel of them.

But they were still standing in the street, and she was looking more unbalanced every second.

“Oh, God, I ran out in the middle of a song!” she said. She turned, escaping his hold, and hurried back.

She paused at the door, looking back at David. “Um, thank you. I’m sorry, didn’t mean to alarm anyone… I’m… Thanks!”

She hurried back to the microphone at her station, and called up the group of partying girls she’d helped choose a song. It was an old Madonna song, and the group had a lot of fun doing it. She felt unnerved, and prayed for the business of the place and the music to calm her sense of unease.

For God’s sake, she’d seen ghosts forever. Sometimes they approached her-most often they didn’t. Only Bartholomew had ever decided that he needed a best friend among the living!

“Steady, kid, steady,” Bartholomew whispered to her.

“Did you see her?” Katie asked.

“Yes.”

“Who is she?”

“I don’t know.”

“You’re a ghost.”

“Right! And do you know every tourist walking down the street? Tourists are living, you’re living. Does it mean that you know everyone? No! Just hold it together, Katie O’Hara. And stay away from this whole thing. I know you’re thinking that girl was Tanya. Maybe she was, maybe she wasn’t. Doesn’t matter-you need to stay out of it and away from David.”

Katie ignored him. She needed to get through the night.

“Katie?” he persisted.

“Bartholomew, you need to make up your mind. You said that you liked David, but you keep suggesting that he might be a murderer.”

“I do like him.”

“Okay, so?”

“He still may be a murderer.”

She groaned and turned her attention to her computer.

“What the hell happened?” Liam asked David as he took his chair next to his cousin.

“Beats me. I’ve never seen anyone with a look like that… She said she saw an old friend.”

“It’s still bizarre,” Liam noted. “I guess I’ll hang around and walk her home. I’ve never seen Katie behave so oddly. And it looks like she’s talking to herself.”

Clarinda swept over to the table; she had heard Liam. “Anything else for the moment, fellows? Oh, and she isn’t talking to herself-she sings along with the music.”

“Of course,” Liam said.

“How late does she keep the music going?” David asked.

“It’s Saturday night; she’ll go to three,” Clarinda said. “Jamie O’Hara says that three is just right. By then, folks are in, and the place stays open, so people will stay. And hard-core karaoke folks can go down the street to Rick’s. Share the wealth, so he says.”

She smiled, arched a brow, saw they wanted nothing else at the moment and moved on to check on other tables.

“Don’t worry about hanging around,” David told Liam. “I’ll stay.”

“No, I’ve known Katie a long time now. And…there’s an interesting, rowdy crew in here tonight.”

“Liam, I don’t work in the morning. You do.”

“All right. You stay. But don’t decide she’s all right, okay? Make sure you see her all the way home.”

“I will,” David promised.

Soon after Liam left, Sam walked over to his table. “How’s it going?”

“Slowly.”

Sam nodded and lifted his beer, indicating Danny Zigler, who was busing a table nearby. “There’s a suspicious character for you,” he said.

“Danny?”

“Scrawny little fellow just making his way.”

“Right. Which makes you wonder if such a scrawny little fellow just making his way would have the capability of planning out such a murder,” David said.

“I wouldn’t count him out,” Sam said morosely.

Katie announced the last singer of the evening and Marty went up to do a Jimmy Buffett song. When he was done, Katie started closing down the equipment. She announced that if anyone wanted to keep on singing, they could head down Duval to Rick’s.

A few moments later, Katie joined them at the table. She seemed pleased to meet Sam, told him that it was good to see him. “You were in the other night, weren’t you?” she asked him. “But you’ve shaved since then.”

“Observant girl!” Sam noted.

“Well, it was quite a beard!”

Sam seemed to like Katie, which seemed equally natural. She spoke softly with a sweet voice, her eyes were like crystal and her scent was definitely compelling. She was a beautiful young woman.