A Little More Dead Read online

  A LITTLE MORE DEAD

  For my dad …

  who is somehow making sure I stay on course.

  Chapter One

  “Bridget?”

  I heard the voice but it was coming from so far, far away and I was enjoying my day too much to listen. I was lying back on the most comfortable sun lounger I had ever known on a blissfully deserted beach. My right arm hung off the lounger, my fingers dangling into the tantalisingly warm ocean that lapped all the way up the white sand around me. I was in Acapulco. Or was it Aruba? Or somewhere else that began with “a”. I didn’t know. I didn’t care. The breeze was warm enough to cool the feel of the blistering sun on my skin but not too much to chill me. This was what Heaven felt like. I had finally died properly and this was my reward for enduring the heinousness that was the afterlife. Even real life hadn’t been that bad.

  “Bridget.” The voice came again. More insistently this time. Maybe it was God and he wanted my attention. Maybe to utilise my awesome event planning skills to throw a party. But what type of party would they throw in Heaven? And I could’ve sworn the voice had an Australian accent. Maybe God was Australian. Something about that struck me as wrong but I was too comfortable to care. And not to perpetuate the stereotype but Australians had barbecues a lot, right? How much work could they be to organise? He might be male but surely God could manage that. He was God, after all.

  “Bridget!”

  I threw my arm over my face, my forearm covering my eyes. The voice was like a determined mosquito. Someone lifted my arm from my eyes and the beach faded into darkness. Surely that should’ve been the reverse. The sun should’ve blinded me. It took a moment for my eyes to become accustomed to the dark. There was just enough moonlight coming through the gap in the curtains to make out a handsome, tanned face with a strong jaw covered in stubble and ocean blue-green eyes staring down at me.

  I squinted at him. “God? Why did you turn the sun off?”

  “Are you drunk?” God asked, heavy disapproval in his Australian-accented voice.

  “No. I’m tired.” I pulled my arm out of his grip and covered my face again. “Please turn the sun back on.”

  God lifted my arm from my face, placed it by my side and shook my shoulders gently. “Bridget.”

  “What? What? What?” I snapped. Admittedly, that probably wasn’t the best tone to take with an omniscient being, but he’d disappeared my sunny beach and replaced it with a dark room. That made me grumpy. I batted his hands away and sat up, rubbing my face and blinking my eyes open, my beach already only a vague memory.

  I yawned and looked around. Oz, my parole officer, was standing by the side of the bed, hands on his hips, frown on his face. He looked much bigger in the dark. Or maybe that was just because he was standing over me. He had the broad-shouldered physique of someone who was actively fit rather than a gym goer – I wasn’t exactly sure how I could tell the difference but I could.

  I watched him watching me, groaned and flopped back down, covering my eyes with my arm again. I wasn’t doubly dead, I was just plain old one-time dead. My beach had just been a beautiful dream. I was still trapped in this dismal afterlife with a job, with a nightly Ghostly Acclimatisation meeting, with over a century of community service, with housemates like barnacles, with Oz, until I died again.

  “You stole my beach.” I pulled the duvet over my head.

  “You’ve stolen my bed.”

  I spoke from under the duvet. “I didn’t steal it. I’m sleeping in it. Or I was.”

  He didn’t sigh exactly, it was more a long exhalation. That was a sign he was trying very hard not to lose his temper. I was very accustomed to those signs.

  “Why are you sleeping in it?”

  “Because everyone else is sleeping in mine.”

  He pulled the duvet down from over my face. “You can’t stay here.”

  “Then get everyone out of my bed,” I said and pulled the duvet back up over my head.

  He pulled the duvet down again. “I thought you were getting along.”

  “We are getting along. We’d get along a lot better, though, if they didn’t climb into my bed every other night.”

  “They just—”

  “Want to be my friends. I know. What they don’t understand is that friends don’t have sleepovers every other night.”

  “Okay.” Oz nodded slowly as he stepped back from the bed and folded his arms. I hated it when he did that because it always made me focus on his biceps. “So, what do you want to do?” he asked, calling my attention away from his biceps and back to the problem.

  I rolled over and pulled the duvet back up. “I want to get back to my dream.” Which, due to Oz’s interruption, was now likely to feature a hunky, scantily clad waiter that might resemble a certain parole officer. I tried very hard not to think about that, though. As my parole officer, Oz had some sort of supernatural connection to me which meant he could sense my emotions. I called it illegal surveillance. He called it a handy tool to help gauge my adjustment.

  “You can’t stay in here,” he said.

  “Why?”

  “Because it’s my room.”

  “You’re letting them sleep in my room.”

  “Yes.” Oz yanked the duvet from the bottom of the bed so I couldn’t pull it back over my head and ignore him. I rolled onto my back and propped myself up on my elbows to see him staring down at me. “But this is inappropriate.”

  “Right, me sleeping in your empty bed is inappropriate but me sleeping in a bed with three women is perfectly acceptable.” I pointed a finger at him. “You have odd standards of acceptability.”

  “Bridget—”

  “Look.” I pushed myself upright since it was hard to argue with any type of authority while lying down. “I just want a good night’s sleep. That’s all. So the way I see it you have three choices here. One: You can oust the others from my room so I can go back in there. Two: You can sleep in here as long as you promise not to get frisky. Or three: You can sleep on the sofa.”

  Oz inclined his head in a nod. “Four: I could drag you out and dump you in the hallway.”

  I shook my head at him. “You don’t want to do that.”

  “Why not?”

  “I bite.”

  Oz blew out another breath. This time he covered his eyes. Yep, definitely holding his temper by a thread.

  Officer Leonard appeared behind Oz and took in the scene. He was clad in his usual black jumpsuit with black burglar mask to match. The white, embroidered “GB” stood out in sharp contrast on both the bottom right corner of his mask and the right breast pocket of his jumpsuit. He’d combed his dark hair back and his muddy brown eyes appeared almost black in the dim light.

  He was nearly as tall as Oz but had more of an average build. I figured that all GBs had a nondescript physicality which helped them remain unidentifiable and give the impression the Ghosting Busters worked as one organism rather than individuals who could be singled out and manipulated. That said, I always managed to recognise Officer Leonard. Maybe it was his perpetual amiable smile. Or maybe it was because I had more interaction with him than the average afterlife citizen.

  Officer Leonard folded his arms, that amiable smile a little wider than usual. “Well, isn’t this inappropriate?”

  I pointed to Oz. “That’s what he said.”

  “He’s right,” Officer Leonard said without looking at Oz.

  I rolled my eyes. “Please don’t say things like that. I’ll never hear the end of it.”

  “What do you want?” Oz turned to face Officer Leonard and moved slightly to block Officer Leonard from my view. Though I think Oz’s intention was to block me from Officer Leonard’s view. But then Oz was my parole officer/gu
ardian angel, so he could be a little overprotective/suffocating/downright unreasonable at times.

  That said, his concern was almost understandable, not that I’d ever admit that to his face, since a little while ago I’d been involved in a couple of dead ghost-finding sprees. Detective Johnson, of the general afterlife police, had wanted to arrest me both times, but Officer Leonard had presumed my innocence. At least that’s how I saw it. Oz saw it as Officer Leonard using me as bait to find the killers, hence Oz’s general disobliging attitude where Officer Leonard was concerned.

  I pulled the duvet all the way back up over me as I lay down and rolled over. “If you’re going to chat can you please do it elsewhere? I’m trying to sleep.”

  “I don’t mean to interrupt …” Officer Leonard said and I could hear the smile in his voice.

  “You’re not. Bridget?” That was Oz’s serious tone.

  I rolled over and gave Oz my best puppy dog eyes. “But I’m comfy.” Oz didn’t say anything, he just waited. I sighed and threw the covers back. “Fine, but don’t expect me to be all shiny and happy in the morning.”

  I climbed out of the bed trying to maintain some dignity, which was difficult since the oversized T-shirt I was wearing rode up my thighs as I shuffled to the edge of the bed. And because I was pretty sure after the duvet-tugging discussion with Oz my bright red hair was puffed up around my head like a pom-pom.

  Oz’s eyes narrowed on my choice of bed wear, thankfully not mentioning my case of pom-pom head. “Is that—”

  “Are you wearing your parole officer’s T-shirt to bed, Ms Sway?” Officer Leonard asked.

  “Yep.” I looked down at the faded, black Rolling Stones T-shirt. It was very comfy. I could see why Oz wore them all the time.

  “And why are you sleeping in his bed? In his T-shirt?” Officer Leonard asked, making no attempt to hide his amusement.

  I shrugged. “I have nothing to sleep in, or wear really, other than my uniform, so I stole this from him. And my housemates want to sleep with me but I don’t want to sleep with them, so I’m hiding in here.”

  “She means her three female housemates,” Oz clarified with a pointed look at me. “And they would like to stay in her room with her because they are still trying to befriend her.”

  “Is that an accurate statement?” Officer Leonard asked me.

  I shrugged again. “Depends on your perspective, I guess.”

  “Doesn’t everything?” Office Leonard asked and then gestured to the nearly healed bullet wound on my thigh. “That looks like it’s healing well.”

  Oz stepped directly in front of me and blocked Officer Leonard from my vision. And, again, I think it was more to do with blocking me from Officer Leonard’s sight.

  I placed my hands on Oz’s broad back and stretched up onto my tiptoes so I could peer over his shoulder at our guest. “Can I get you some tea or coffee, Officer Leonard? Maybe some cake?”

  “That’s very kind, Ms Sway, but I really just need a moment with Officer Salier.”

  “Okay, well, I’ll head on up to my overcrowded bed then,” I said as I let go of Oz and moved toward the door. “If you hear screaming, don’t worry, I’m just murdering the trespassers.”

  “Bridget,” Oz warned, flicking his eyes toward Officer Leonard.

  Officer Leonard checked his watch. “If that’s really the case, Ms Sway, I’ll give you an hour’s head start.”

  I pointed to Officer Leonard but spoke to Oz. “Told you he was my friend.” Oz didn’t say anything. He just waited for me to leave. “Fine, I’m going,” I said and held up a hand in surrender as I opened the door. I closed it behind me and briefly hovered in the corridor outside. It would be wrong to eavesdrop. It would. It totally would. But then the fact that Officer Leonard had tunnelled directly into Oz’s room in the dead of night for a private conversation practically screamed to be eavesdropped on.

  Tunnelling was the ghost version of transport. Homes and all bureau-related buildings were blocked to regular ghosts like me so we could only tunnel outside the building and walk in, or to designated tunnelling areas. Oz could tunnel anywhere in our house but another parole officer couldn’t. Just like Oz couldn’t tunnel directly into another domicile he wasn’t responsible for. But when on duty everywhere was blocked to GBs, so Officer Leonard must have had to file a flight plan and get permission. And why wouldn’t he just tunnel outside and walk in? Unless he didn’t want anyone to see him. But why wouldn’t he want anyone to see him?

  I heard movement from inside the room and scurried, on my tiptoes, several steps along the corridor before the door opened again. I did my best to look casual as I turned at the sound. Officer Leonard stuck his head out and checked both ways along the corridor.

  “Did you change your mind about the tea?” I asked.

  “No, thank you, Ms Sway, I thought I heard somebody knock,” Officer Leonard said and ducked back inside the room.

  “Heard somebody knock,” I scoffed quietly. I hadn’t made a sound. He was checking to see if I was listening in on their conversation.

  Admittedly, I’d been considering eavesdropping, but now Officer Leonard had checked that I wasn’t eavesdropping totally convinced me I should be. Then again, he might have been playing me and trying to get me to eavesdrop and catch me in the act for some reason. Or maybe he genuinely didn’t want me to hear what he had to say. Those GBs were tricksy at the best of times. Or at least Officer Leonard was.

  Before I had made up my mind whether I wanted to eavesdrop or not, Oz’s door opened again and I scurried the rest of the way along the corridor and dived into the stairwell.

  “I just thought you should know.” That was the last thing Officer Leonard said before the pop of his departure echoed faintly on the corridor walls.

  Before I could go up to my room or down for some cake, since offering it to Officer Leonard had made me crave it, Oz stepped into the stairwell. He didn’t seem all that surprised to find me there.

  “Were you eavesdropping?”

  “No.” I shook my head and he arched an eyebrow. “I wasn’t. Honest.”

  “Then why are you standing here?”

  “I was trying to decide if I wanted to eavesdrop or not. I got the impression that Officer Leonard wanted me to, so I figured I probably shouldn’t.”

  “That’s sound reasoning. I have to go out so you can sleep in my bed for tonight.” Oz raised a finger in warning. “Tonight only. This is a one-off.”

  “Thank you,” I said with a grateful dip of my head. “So what’s he giving you fair warning about?”

  “I thought you weren’t eavesdropping?”

  “He waited until he was out in the corridor before he said it and he made sure his voice carried.”

  “You don’t need to worry about it, okay? Just go to bed.” Oz put his hands on my shoulders and turned me to face the archway leading to the boys’ floor.

  “I wasn’t worrying about it until you just told me not to worry about it,” I said, turning all the way around, the movement forcing him to lift his hands from my shoulders. “But now you mention it, covert late-night visits from a GB do seem a touch concerning. And this honesty thing goes both ways,” I said, gesturing between us.

  He nodded. “Yeah, it’s annoying when people just won’t tell you the truth, isn’t it?”

  “Okay,” I said, pointing to him, “I’ll take that on the chin but, if you remember, we have a deal in place where I’ve promised to tell you the truth so—”

  “No, you’ve promised to tell me the truth in exchange for something. That’s bribery, not honesty.”

  “Why do you need to label it?” I asked, dusting some imaginary dirt from his oh-so-broad shoulder. “Why can’t you think of it as a mutually beneficial arrangement?”

  “Because it’s illegal, unethical, immoral—”

  “Advantageous to us both,” I finished for him. “Soooooo, what did Officer Leonard want?”

  “Look,” Oz said and placed his hands on my sho
ulders again, adding a softness to his voice that wasn’t mirrored in his posture. “It’s nothing you need to worry about, okay? Go to bed.” He tried to turn me back to face the archway to the boys’ corridor, but I kept turning until I faced him and his hands dropped to his sides again. I hoped he wouldn’t try to spin me around again – I was getting dizzy.

  “If it’s nothing to worry about, then why don’t you tell me?”

  “Because it’s nothing for—”

  “Me to worry about. I got that part but, y’know, I wouldn’t worry if I knew what it was. It’s uncertainty that causes anxiety.” I stood and waited. Oz said nothing. The seconds ticked by. Oz still said nothing. “Okay. Fine. Keep your secrets. I hope you and Officer Leonard will be very happy together.”

  Oz blinked at me, his face blank. “What?”

  “For what it’s worth, despite the whole GB thing, I think he’s a nice guy.” I patted Oz’s bicep. “I’m happy for you. Really. The rest of the girls will be too. You don’t need to hide this from people who care about you.”

  “I’m glad you approve,” he said, his tone flat, and pointed behind me. “Now go to bed.” He didn’t wait to see if I’d go. He turned and headed downstairs.

  I hovered in the stairwell. Was it worth trying to pursue him and the topic? Probably not. I’d ask Sabrina, my super snooper of a best friend, what she knew about it in the morning. She was a coordinator of pre- and post-life affairs, which basically meant she was an office dogsbody who filed reports all day. Handily, though, pretty much everything in the afterlife had to be documented, so she had access to heaps of information. She’d probably know more than Oz anyway. Since there was no point antagonising him further. I turned to head back to his bed. I made it three steps along the corridor and stopped. I was wide awake now and offering Officer Leonard tea and cake had settled the idea in my brain. A large dose of sugar was just what I needed to help me sleep.

  I turned and headed downstairs. Oz was checking the bolts on the front door as I made it to the foot of the stairs. I watched him silently. He checked them over once, rattled the door and checked them again. Just watching him raised the hairs on the back of my neck. Something about his movements told me it was more than just a repeat of his routine nightly check. Once satisfied in their security he turned and seemed surprised to find me watching him.