nonsense, and tell me what’s coming down?”
“Nothing—”
“I’m a witness to your stepping into traffic with a child. I can press charges for child endangerment.”
“No…” Her voice broke on a sob. “Please. I’m all Mark has left. His mother died three years ago, and it’s only been three weeks since we buried my brother.”
David gave a brief nod. “I’m sorry to hear that.” He took a deep breath and withdrew his ID. “But that doesn’t change what I saw. I’m with the FBI. Please tell me what just happened here, why you’re so determined to avoid an investigation.”
Another sob ripped through her. Fear left her features drawn, pale, eerie-looking in the weak glow of the streetlight on the opposite corner across the street. Unless he was much mistaken, her shivers intensified.
She began to shake her head.
He glared.
Mark reached up to pat her cheek. “You ’kay, Aunt Lauren?”
She tried to smile at the boy, but failed. “Fine, Marky. I’m fine.”
“Lady—”
“My name’s Lauren, Lauren DiStefano.”
“Okay, Lauren DiStefano. I’m David Latham. Now why don’t you tell me what you think happened here? What you really think happened here.”
She took a deep breath, forced a…maybe she meant it as a smile, but from his point of view, it looked more like a grimace. She met his gaze.
“My brother’s—” She shut her eyes, shook herself, then squared her shoulders. When she looked at him again, some corner of David’s mind took note of her clear green eyes.
But it was her words that took him by surprise.
With a heavy dose of audible determination, she said, “My brother’s ghost just tried to kill me.”
TWO
David rolled his eyes. “Let me get this straight. Nothing really happened here, you say. It was just a driver who slid on wet pavement. And that driver was…your brother’s ghost?”
Lauren bit her lower lip. Then she squared her shoulders and nodded. “Yes. That’s what I said.”
But she didn’t meet his gaze.
The ambulance shrieked up and came to a complete stop a few inches from David’s feet. Two squad cars careered around the corner behind the siren-blaring, light-flashing, foot-threatening white-and-yellow menace. He scrambled upright, if for no other reason than to protect his feet.
But it was good. Reinforcements just when he needed them. He didn’t know what to make of his accident victim.
Two officers approached. David nodded at them. “Glad to see you guys.”
Officer Radford, as per his name tag, returned the nod. “Can you tell me what happened? The dispatcher wasn’t long on details.”
David withdrew his ID and turned it over to the two cops. “I was on my way down the street when a gray Lexus swerved around me and aimed straight at the woman and child. It hit and ran, and although she says she’s fine, I think she might have a concussion or something. At the very least, she must’ve rattled her head.”
The EMT who’d come up behind Officer Sherman, Radford’s partner, waved her own partner toward Lauren then said, “Why her head? Did you see evidence of trauma?”
“No, but she’s talking crazy.”
With a puzzled look for him, the medic turned to Lauren.
Radford took out a notepad. “What do you mean, talking crazy?”
David snorted. “I feel stupid just telling you what she said. She tried to tell me her brother’s ghost was behind the wheel. And that’s after she insisted again and again that the driver had only skidded on the damp road.”
Radford didn’t look up from his scribbles, but his right eyebrow rose. “So we’re talking criminal ghosts, are we?”
David ran a hand through his hair. He’d known better than to agree to come after Gram. Now he was making a fool of himself thanks to a pretty blonde who might have rocks in her head.
“That’s what she said.”
“Did you get a good look at the driver?”
“It happened so fast, I didn’t even get a good look at the license plate, much less the driver.”
“But you’re sure it was a gray Lexus?”
“That I’m sure. My grandmother just traded in one just like it only in pink.”
The eyebrow rose higher. “A pink Lexus. What’d she get? A pink Caddie instead?”
David’s cheeks flamed. “No. A purple Hummer.”
Radford’s left eyebrow joined his right. He turned to Officer Sherman. “Is that ID for real, or did he get it in a gumball machine?”
Sherman scanned it again. “Looks plenty kosher to me.”
David glared at Lauren. “Call the office. I’m for real. I’m just not sure what she is.”
“She,” said the female EMT as she returned, “is just fine. Oh, she’ll have a doozy of a bruise on her hip by tomorrow, all right, and I’ll bet she scraped her knees good under those pants, but otherwise she’s fine. Not even a bump on her head.”
“Then she’s nuts,” David said before he could stop himself.
Lauren glared back. “I’m not crazy, but I am fine, as I told you over and over again.” She turned to Radford. “He shouldn’t have made such a fuss. I’m sorry he bothered you, sir. But as you heard, I’m fine. You can all go home now. It’s getting late, especially for my nephew.”
Radford glanced at David. In that quick look, he saw the same alarm he’d felt at Lauren’s urgent objections. Something was up with this woman. And he wasn’t about to let her go until he had a good idea what it might be.
David crossed his arms and pinned Lauren with his stare. “Listen. I don’t buy a word of your ghost story, so why don’t you try telling me the truth? What’s going on here? What are you trying to hide?”
At his side, Radford cleared his throat.
David winced. He was stepping on the locals’ toes, and he was off duty, but by now he’d lost his patience. He had to know what Lauren DiStefano was up to.
Instead of answering, though, she helped her nephew stand before she stood, as well. Only then did she meet David’s gaze. “I’m sorry. I’m absolutely exhausted. And I’ve been under a great deal of stress these last few weeks. I’m sure it’s all taken its toll on my sanity.”
David caught himself before the spontaneous “Yeah, right” popped out. “So in your world exhaustion and stress lead to hit-and-runs and ghosts.”
She had the decency to blush. “I suppose it does sound stupid when you put it that way.”
“What way would you rather I put it?”
The shrug made her wince. She was hurt, no matter how hard she tried to deny it. What he wanted to know was why she was so determined to do so.
“Well?” he prodded.
Radford’s pencil scratched across paper.
The ambulance pulled away, this time minus the theatrics.
Officer Sherman joined them.
Still, Lauren didn’t speak. By now, she’d grown visibly uncomfortable with the triple scrutiny—just what David had hoped for. Maybe that discomfort would make her decide