A Question of Ghosts by Cate Culpepper

Author:Cate Culpepper
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: ! Yes, cookie429, Extratorrents, Kat
ISBN: 9781602826724
Publisher: Bella Books
Published: 2012-07-17T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Jo waited until the twilight faded and it was fully dark outside. “You’re sure you’re up for this, Becca? It’s been a very long day.”

“If we really have to do it at night, yeah, I guess I’m up for it.” Becca stood across the living room, looking at Jo as if she were a dentist about to inflict an unanesthetized root canal. “You’re sure it can’t wait for some nice, sunny morning?”

“I’m afraid it has to be dark. The shootings occurred at night. We want to reproduce the conditions of the catalyzing event as closely as possible.”

“I guess I’m still not sure why this walk-through thing is necessary, period.”

“Walking through what happened will re-create a scene that holds great emotional resonance, for both you and your mother.” Jo made herself be the factual guide Becca would need to get through this. She went to the last of the radios and tuned it in. The Spiricom was set at full range. “Voices have been known to speak in moments of mutual memory—in the presence of a loved one who’s talking about a shared experience.”

“Can’t we do this at the Lady of the Rock, then?” Becca’s smile told Jo she was being facetious, perhaps a way of whistling in the dark. “I can talk about the shared experience of our picnics there; those are emotionally resonant. And Mom can float by and give us her recipe for peanut butter sandwiches.”

“I wish we could. That would be much more pleasant.” Jo wished Becca weren’t standing clear across the room. If she were beside her, Jo might be able to touch her shoulder as casually as any of her friends. “But I’m afraid your mother didn’t come back to talk to you about your picnics. Her messages all relate to the night she died.”

“I understand. I was kidding.” Becca drew her hands through her hair. “Okay. How do we start?”

Jo went to one corner to make herself as unobtrusive as possible and clasped her hands behind her. “Please start with the day, before it happened. Everything you remember about that day.”

“All right. It was my birthday. Dad had to work, but Mom took me to a movie that afternoon. Grease, I think. I remember my little baby dyke self crushing out on Olivia Newton-John.” Becca spoke methodically. “And my folks threw me a birthday party later. Cake, presents, the works.”

“The party was held in here?” Jo asked.

“No. In our backyard.” Becca drifted to a window and looked out at the dark yard. “It was a big deal, lots of neighborhood kids. Rachel brought her son, Loren. My aunt and uncle were there. Mitchell flirted with my mother most of the party.”

Jo looked up. “You remember this, Becca?”

“Jo, I’ve been through this day at least a hundred times in therapy. The details are pretty clear. And that one’s no big surprise; Mitchell still flirts with every attractive woman he sees. I grew up watching him do it.”

Jo nodded. “Go on.”

“That’s all I remember of the day.

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