Beach Blanket Homicide (Lucy McGuffin, Psychic Amateur Detective 1)

Sarah makes another pot of coffee while I struggle to balance a bag of melting frozen peas over the lump on my head. I’m sitting on a chair in The Bistro dining area with my feet propped up while Sebastian scolds me. “Why didn’t you call Travis the second you realized who Gloria was?” he demands.

“Well if I’d known a crazed serial killer was waiting for me down in the kitchen I would have.”

“Ever heard of locking your door?”

“I lock my door.” At least I do now. Ever since the night I came home to find Paco half unconscious, I’ve been careful to double check. I doubt I’ll ever forget again. “I can’t help it if Gloria knows how to pick a lock.”

Will hands me a fresh bag of ice to replace the bag of peas. “Go easy on her, Sebastian. She’s had a rough night.”

I’ll say.

After Will came bursting through the kitchen, he called 911. Travis and Rusty arrived within minutes and took Gloria down to police headquarters. An ambulance came too. The EMTs insisted on taking me to the hospital in Panama City. After they checked me out head to toe, they discharged me with precautions.

The first thing Will did when we got back was to call Sarah and tell her wh

at happened. Sarah’s husband, Luke, called his sister Mimi, the mayor, and despite the late-night hour, within thirty minutes half of Whispering Bay either dropped by to check on me or called. Which is really flattering, except I’m not sure whether it’s to see if I’m okay, or if they’re just worried they might not get their muffins this morning.

“You’re right,” Sebastian says. “I’m sorry, Lucy. I’m just really thankful that you’re all right. But promise me you’ll never do this again.”

“Do what? Provoke a crazy killer into coming after me? Okay, I promise.”

Paco barks happily. I kiss him on the nose. “Good boy. You saved my life.”

“Thank God for the dog,” says Sarah.

“He’s a special one, all right.” I look at Will. “Sorry, but there’s no way I can give him up.”

Will doesn’t look surprised. “What are you going to do about your allergy?”

“I’m sure Dr. Nate can help me with that.” I ruffle the top of Paco’s head. “What do you say? Want to stay with me?”

He barks again like he approves, and we all laugh. I swear that dog can understand everything going on around him. How else did he know that I needed him? He might not be a ghost whisperer, but he’s definitely a hero.

Sarah brings us all coffee. “I just can’t believe it. All this time, Gloria Hightower was a killer. And she seemed so normal!” She glances over at Victor and Phoebe, who are talking to Viola, and lowers her voice. “Well, except for the ghost stuff.”

Phoebe picks up on the first part of the conversation. “I always knew there was something off about her.”

Victor nods eagerly. “Me too. I never did trust her. No sirree.”

Considering that Gloria has been part of their ghost society for the past fifteen years, you’d think they’d have spoken up a little earlier.

Everyone starts trying to one-up each other with their most suspicious Gloria stories. Will goes off to the kitchen. I quietly follow him.

“Hey, I haven’t had a chance to thank you.”

“For what?”

“For showing up in the nick of time.”

“I didn’t do anything. Except call the cops, and you could have done that all on your own. If anything had happened to you…” He reaches out and grabs me in a fierce hug.

“Listen,” I say stroking his back. “I’m okay. Really.”

He breaks off the hug, but I can tell he’s still shaken by tonight’s events. I am too, but I’m trying hard to keep it all together.

“What were you doing here anyway? How was your date with Brittany?”

“The evening ended early,” he says meaningfully.