“Come on, pretty thing, ‘Save A Horse, (Ride A Cowboy’)
like the song says.”

Give me a break.

Number one, Gino Bernardi would never be mistaken for a
cowboy in his designer jeans and silk shirt, and number two,
she
hadn’t ridden a horse in years, around about the same time
she’d
actually ridden a cowboy.

She was beginning to regret coming to work tonight. Her
measly salary was so not worth having to babysit an
obnoxious
perv like Gino Bernardi. Most days she didn’t have to deal
with
his kind. Still trying to wrap up her last few college
credits
at night school, she normally worked the morning shift.
Tonight
she’d offered to switch with Jeff Flanagan so he could enjoy
his kids over the Thanksgiving holidays. Something had come
up
unexpectedly, and his ex had asked him to keep them
overnight.

She had a soft spot for kids and their daddies, especially
since her own ten-year old had never seen hers. With Jessie
at
her grandmother’s for the weekend, Maddy had volunteered to
take
Flanagan’s shift.

She jumped when Bernardi slid the empty tray through the
opening. “Sugar, I swear I’ve never seen a police woman who
looks like you, and trust me, I’ve seen plenty of them. You
could be the cover on one of them naked cop calendars.” He
lowered his voice. “And just between you and me, I’m about
to
become a rich man. If you treat me right, I might be tempted
to
spend a little of it on you.”

Maddy frowned as she pulled the tray through. “Try to get
some sleep, Bernardi. I’ll be out front if you need
anything.”

He smirked. “Oh, I need something, all right. And you do,
too, if you’d ever admit it. Come on. Ten minutes. That’s
all
I need.” When she started toward the door, he called after
her.

“Okay, five minutes.”

Just shoot the sonofabitch and put him out of his misery.

Maddy screamed, jumping back as the tray clattered to the
concrete floor. “Tessa! What are you doing here?”

“Who’s Tessa?” Bernardi asked, leaning as far as he could
to see through the bars. “Maybe we can do a three-way.”

Sounds good, big boy. Why don’t you go ahead and get
started? Slip into something more comfortable—like a coma!

Maddy blinked twice, then ran from the cell area. She
lowered her body into her chair, letting out the breath
she’d
held while she ran. She had to quit burning the candle at
both
ends. Even her mind was starting to go just like the rest of
her
stressed-out body.

Surprised to see me, sis?

Maddy shot straight up when her younger sister plopped down
on the edge of the desk. Her dead younger sister! “It’s
really
you?”

In the flesh, Tessa said, her eyes scanning the empty
police station, before settling back on Maddy. Okay,
maybe not
in the flesh, but here, nonetheless.

Maddy tried to calm down enough to think rationally. “Why
are you still here? I thought you were finally at rest after
we
found your killer.”

Yeah, you may have found him, but he got off too easy
when
Colt put a bullet in his back. The SOB didn’t suffer nearly
enough.

Maddy sighed. “Would you have preferred that he kill our
sister instead? Colt did what he had to do to save Lainey.”
She
poked her finger toward her sister but felt only air.

Give it up, Maddy. You can’t feel me.

“Thought you’d gone off to wherever dead people go for
eternal peace, or whatever.”

Yeah, that eternal peace thing is overrated, if you ask
me.

Tessa sniffed. I was sent back to help you.

“Help me with what?”

Beats the hell out of me. I just go where they send me.

Tessa giggled. St. Peter’s old lady wanted me out of
there in a
hurry.

Despite herself, Maddy laughed. Her younger sister had
always had a penchant for pissing off other women, usually
over
a man. But St. Peter? She didn’t even want to know what
Tessa
had done. “So, really, why are you back? You told Lainey
your
work here was finished.”

I know. I know. Like I said, I have no idea why I’m here.

Tessa scooted off the desk and walked around to face Maddy.

What’d you go and do?

“Nothing,” Maddy said, indignantly. “My life’s fine. My
daughter’s fine.”

How is that sweet niece of mine?

“Jessie’s good,” Maddy answered, finally allowing her
shoulders to relax.

Seeing her dead sister had been quite a shock but not
totally a surprise. When Tessa was poisoned the year before,
she’d come back to help find her killer. At first, Maddy and
her
three sisters had freaked out, but they’d finally accepted
it
to be true when Tessa began spouting off secrets only she
could
have known. Back then, Lainey was the only one who could see
or
hear the ghost, and they’d all assumed Tessa had gone off to
the
big condo in the sky when her murder was solved.

“You look good,” Maddy finally managed to say.

I do, don’t I? No wonder that old bag didn’t want me
around
Pete. Tessa’s grin faded, and she eyed Maddy curiously.
Are you
sure you’re not in trouble?

Just then, a loud rendition of Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
pierced the quiet of the room. Maddy’s eyes shifted toward
Tessa, unable to squelch the apprehension that suddenly
washed
over her. She glanced down to the source of the music and
slowly
opened the desk drawer. A cell phone skittered across the
bottom
as it vibrated.

Taking a deep breath, she scolded herself for being so
paranoid. She picked up the phone and flipped it open, ready
to
razz one of the guys for leaving it at the office. She’d bet
money it belonged to Landers. The kid would forget his head
if
it wasn’t screwed on.

“Looking for your phone?” Maddy asked with a laugh.

“Madelyn Castillo?” the voice on the other end asked.

“Yes,” she stammered, not recognizing the weird voice as
any of her co-workers. Silently, she prayed her sister’s
sudden
appearance was only a mistake.

“Checked on your daughter lately?” the computer-enhanced
voice continued.

Panic set in the minute Jessie’s name was mentioned. “Who
is this?”

“You might want to take a look at the text messages.”

Maddy jerked the phone from her ear and held it out in
front of her as she pounded the menu button. Her fingers
were
shaking so badly she hit the wrong one twice before finally
getting to the right page. The minute she clicked on the
massage, a photo popped up. “Oh my God!” she said, almost
inaudibly as she dropped the phone on the desk.

Tessa leaned over and stared at the picture, her facial
expression turning serious as she viewed the image of a
hooded
man standing over Jessie’s bed, a gun pointed directly at
her
head.

Find out what they want.