Givin' Up The Ghost (An Indigo Eady Paranormal Mystery) by Gwen Gardner Page A

blew out
his breath as if he’d been holding it. “Man, I am so sorry. What happened?
Where’d they find him?”
    Badger struggled to compose himself, so Simon answered for
him. “His body was hung up on branches in the river.”
    “So he drowned, then?”
    “No,” answered Simon. “The back of his head was crushed and
it looks like foul play, according to the investigators.”
    “What? I thought...” began Andy, but he didn’t finish. He
shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut. Leaning back in his chair, he rubbed
the back of his neck and then ran fingers through his hair. He shook his head
again, leaning forward. 
    “What did you think?” I asked him. “Because,” I glanced at
Badger and back again, “his family is trying to understand what happened - what
might have been going on in his life that they might not have known about. And
since you were his friend...” I shrugged, letting the sentence hang. 
    “Look, Badger, we don’t need to discuss this,” said Andy,
“There were rumors, you know the sort of thing people gossip about.”
    Badger leaned forward in earnest. “Andy, he was my father.
He’s dead - that’s why I’m here. I want to know what was going on in his life
before he died. Did he confide anything to you?”
    “No, we had lunch before he disappeared, discussed a few
projects. That’s all.”
    Badger perked up. “What projects? What was he working on?”
    “A few small things. A new gazebo in the park. Upgrades on
Sabrina Castle, cobblestone repairs on the more high-traffic areas. It’s been
kind of slow.” 
    “Was he having problems with anyone? Did he have enemies? If
you know anything, even rumors, I want to know,” pleaded Badger.
    Andy sighed. “Okay. I heard a rumor that he was having a
fling with Shelly. When they disappeared at the same time, I assumed...you know
- they were together.” He shrugged.
    “I’m aware of that rumor,” said Badger. “But I don’t believe
it.” He pinned Andy with a piercing gaze. “Why do you believe it? Is there any
proof? Did you see anything in particular? Do you know for sure?” Sometimes
Badger can be intense. Like right then.
    “Whoa,” said Andy, “slow down. Look, when people spend a
fair amount of time together, they sometimes grow close. Your dad and Shelly
spent a great deal of time together. It doesn’t mean he didn’t love your mom,
or you kids. Sometimes, when men get to a certain age...” he faltered. “Hell,
men have needs, you know? And Shelly was attractive.”
    Andy squirmed. That had not been an easy thing to say to the
son of a dead man. And Badger’s intent gaze pinning him to the chair hadn’t
made it any easier.
    “But you have no proof?” Badger insisted.
    “Nooo,” he hesitated. “Not really.”
    “You don’t sound completely confident,” I said. Badger’s
rising anger required defusing, so I jumped on Andy’s hesitation. I was
learning that Badger could be hot-tempered and wondered how much of that came
from Bart.
    Andy sat back in his chair, re-crossing his legs. He rubbed
his chin between thumb and forefinger, like he was smoothing down a beard.
“Well, the night of your mom’s birthday party, they did look rather cozy.” He
squirmed before looking up at Badger. 
    “I see,” said Badger, getting to his feet. “Well, thank you
for your honesty. I appreciate it.” His stony look and set jaw spoke volumes.
He was not a happy camper.
    “Sure, no problem.” Andy looked miserable, like he regretted
saying more than he should have. “Tell your mom I’ll come by to see if I can do
anything.”
    Badger nodded curtly and strode down the hall. Simon and I
hurried after him.
    I caught up to him and grabbed his sleeve. “Badger, wait.” 
    I glanced back over my shoulder to check if Andy was
watching, but he had gone back into his office.
    “We should look at your dad’s office,” I whispered. “The
police will no doubt search it sometime today.”
    He nodded. “Brilliant.