She gazed at the grave in front of her. “That’s me.”
“Er…we’re not sure yet.” My heart sank for her. Nothing about this could’ve been easy. I thought it might be worse to witness her skeleton than if she saw her body the day after she’d been killed. At least she’d recognize herself—this would be hard to accept.
“Do you remember anything now that you’re back here?” Kipp asked her, clearly shifting into detective mode. “Anything at all that could help us in the investigation?”
Hannah pondered, then shook her head. “I’m sorry, no. I only know what I’ve already told you. I know Percy, or whatever his name is, killed me. I know why he did it, but I can’t seem to remember anything else.”
Zach huffed, appearing annoyed he only heard my side of the conversation and aware a conversation was taking place. “Do you mind filling us in on what you’re all talking about?”
“Kipp asked her if she remembers anything else, but she doesn’t,” I replied.
“Of course she doesn’t,” Zach muttered.
“Hey, cut her a break.” As if he was about to make her feel bad for what she couldn’t control. “Ghosts don’t usually remember much about their lives.”
Zach’s eyebrows shot up. “But Kipp does?”
“Yes.” I nodded in slow manner. “I know this.” I still had to figure out that one. I hadn’t forgotten he remembered everything about his life, but with no answers for why, it’d been put on the back burner.
“Then why can he remember things?” Eddie asked.
I shrugged. “Good question. I have no idea.”
Eddie looked to Zach, knowingly. “Maybe it’s because—”
Zach raised his hand to cut him off and focused back on me. “I think when this is over, you should try to learn more about why you can do this. There has to be like a group or something.”
I scoffed. “What do you want me to do, search others with my gift out on Facebook?”
Zach nodded. “It’s a place to start.”
Before I could respond to how ridiculous the suggestion was, Kipp interjected. “He’s right, you know. There must be others like you. Wouldn’t it be nice not to feel alone?”
What was this, an intervention? “How did this become about me?” I scowled. “Would you all focus, please?”
“It doesn’t even look like me,” Hannah whispered.
I looked over at her and found her peering down into the grave. “Er, well, that’d be ‘cause it’s bones.”
Hannah smiled. “Why hadn’t I noticed that?”
A warm and fuzzy feeling drifted up. The first time I’d seen her smile where it hadn’t looked forced. I looked over at Kipp, and judging by his sweet grin, it appeared he appreciated the sight as much as I did. I returned my gaze to Hannah. “You have a beautiful smile.”
She reached up and ran her hand along her lips. “I think I forgot how nice it feels to do that.” Her form shimmered.
It didn’t surprise me to see her time had come. I suspected her crossing over hadn’t been about solving the murder, but more so about finding her body and bringing her home. “It was nice to meet you, Hannah.”
“Thank you.” She smiled at me before she glanced around to the group. “Thanks to all of you.”
“She’s thanking you,” I told them, “and she’s leaving now.”
Eddie cleared his throat and mumbled something that sounded like, “I’m glad to have helped.”
“Godspeed,” Zach said. Eddie burst out laughing. Zach punched him in the arm. “It seemed like the right thing to say, dickhead.”
“That’s what you come up with?” Eddie laughed harder. “Godspeed—damn that’s funny.”
“Ahem,” I interrupted. “Having a magical moment here, do you two think you could zip it?”