The Ex Who Saw a Ghost (Charley's Ghost Book 4) by Sally Berneathy

Ross’ brother being with this woman in a loving relationship. Much easier to believe she’d been blackmailing him.
    Charley made a face. “She’s a skank, Parker. You could have done better.”
    “Were you lovers?” Teresa asked the question of the blank television screen.
    Teresa was talking to Parker, but Lila’s eyes widened in horror. She shook her head adamantly. “No! No, he was my...friend. We never...no!”
    Parker was...had been...single. Lila was single. There was no reason they shouldn’t have been lovers. Whether they were or weren’t seemed more inconsequential than Lila’s vehement denial warranted.
    Frustration spread over Teresa’s features. She stood and moved closer to the television. “You were just friends?”
    Lila scowled. “Are you talking to me or the television?”
    Teresa turned to face her and gave her best phony smile. “You, of course.”
    Lila’s lips thinned and her eyes narrowed. “I thought you said he told you about me.”
    Teresa bit her lip. Busted.
    A thick silence filled the room.
    “He did tell us.” Amanda flinched at the words coming out of her mouth. She was getting way too handy with the fluid explanations, an art formerly practiced only by Charley. “Parker said you were close. He just didn’t specify exactly what your relationship was.”
    “That’s right,” Teresa agreed. “He, uh, said you were very close.”
    Lila reached for another cigarette. “Yeah, we were. Do you have a problem with that?”
    Ross looked at Teresa and arched his eyebrows in a questioning expression. She shrugged. Parker wasn’t being as informative as they had hoped.
    “Let me handle this,” Charley said. “Parker, my man, were you and this lady...” He paused then cleared his throat. “Were you and this lady, uh, you know, sleeping together?”
    Amanda could only imagine what crude expression he’d almost used. Actually, she probably could imagine it but didn’t want to.
    “Hey,” Charley continued, “it’s okay if you were. I mean, we’re all adults here, right?” He paused and looked puzzled. “You weren’t sleeping with her, and she wasn’t blackmailing you. So you were paying her every month just because you’re a nice guy? That doesn’t make sense.”
    Naturally Charley found it hard to believe that anyone would have purely altruistic motives. Though, to be honest, Amanda didn’t quite buy into that either. Something strange was going on, and both Parker and Lila seemed reluctant to discuss it.
    Parker had been anxious to get his accounts transferred into Ross’ name. That would make sense if she’d been blackmailing him. If she had been, of course Lila wouldn’t want to admit it but why wouldn’t Parker speak up, exact revenge from the grave as Charley had done?
    “So Parker was your friend and he helped you.” Ross knelt next to Lila’s chair and took the hand that wasn’t holding the cigarette. “Can you help him now? Do you know anybody who’d want to hurt him?”
    Lila took another puff of her second cigarette and smashed it in the ashtray with a vengeance. She wiped her eyes with the heel of her hand, smearing her mascara. “I thought you wanted to talk about Parker, not question me like you’re a cop and I’m a suspect or something.”
    “She is a suspect,” Charley muttered. “I bet she’s still using. That’s why she’s wearing long sleeves in this weather, to cover the tracks on her arms.”
    “I’m asking as his brother,” Ross said hastily, “not as a police officer. Just as somebody who loved him and misses him terribly, the same way you do. Someone who wants to see his murderer punished.”
    Lila rubbed her arms. “I don’t know anybody who’d want to hurt him. Can we talk about something else?”
    “Of course. The last time Parker came up for the weekend we went out and had a couple of beers, and he told me all about his classes. Did he tell you about the English class that was a required subject and how much he