"Casey Daniels - Pepper Martin 02 - The Chick and the Dead" - читать интересную книгу автора (Daniels Casey)

gone-but-not-forgotten Mafia donтАФthe aforementioned Gus Scarpetti.

Luckily, the whole ghostly experience didn't last more than a few weeks. I did some investigating and,
thanks to me, Gus's unfinished business here on earth got finished. After thirty years of his restless spirit
looking for someone who could help, his murder had been solved. By me. Gus had finally gone to the
Great Beyond. Or the white light. Or wherever it was that ghosts went after they served out their time
here.

And like any logical person, I figured that wasтАФas they sayтАФthat.

Except apparently it wasn't.
 Because just minutes after I said my final goodbyes to Gus, I walked into my office
atGardenViewCemetery and came face-to-face with a blond wearing a cardigan sweater and a poodle
skirt. Saddle shoes or no saddle shoes, I knew we were not talking twenty-first century.

The awareness stung like a shot of Botox, and for a couple of long seconds, all I could do was stand
there and listen to my blood rush in my ears and my heart slam against my ribs.

That, and stare.

At the woman perched on the edge of my desk, her legs crossed and one footтАФand the saddle shoe on
itтАФswinging. At her bobbed, wavy hair. And the pink chiffon scarf tied around her neck. At her pink
cardigan, the one with the loopy D written in rhinestones over her heart.

She was a ghost. I knew it as sure as I knew my own name was Pepper Martin, and realizing it made
me feel, wellтАж I'll leave out the part about being pissed, exasperated, and leery, and just settle with
saying I was not a happy camper.

I backed away, but my office isn't very big and there wasn't far to go. The doorknob poked my butt.

"No. No. No. No way can I see you." I held one hand out in front of me, emphasizing my point. "No
way can you be here. You're not Gus."

She snapped her gum and blew a big, pink bubble. "Don't have a cow! Of course I'm not Gus. Do I
look like Gus?" The woman sat up and pulled back her shoulders, the better to emphasize a bust-line that
was nearly as ample as mine. "No way Gus has a chassis this classy," she said. "Gus is the one who sent
me."

"But Gus is dead." Okay, it was an understatement, but I thought I should mention it, just in case she
didn't know. I looked toward the far wall. If I had a windowтАФwhich I didn'tтАФI would have been able to
see across Garden ViewтАФwhich I couldn'tтАФtoward the mausoleum that was as flamboyant as Gus was
himself. "I solved Gus's murder. This is the rest-in-peace part. For him and for me. No more ghosts."

"You think?" She grinned. "I've got news for you. That's not how it works."

I didn't have to ask, I knew theit in question was my ability to see and talk to the dead. As far as I
knewтАФat least until right then and thereтАФthatdead meant Gus and only Gus.

Which meant that with Gus gone, I was officially out of the private-investigation-for-the-dearly-departed
business.