Dead and Kicking Read online

  Off to the gym?

  Before she could stop herself, Sadie two-footed the brake pedal and cranked the wheel to make an illegal U-turn. She found herself a half dozen cars behind Zack’s on the main road.

  “He’s probably just going to the store for beer,” she told herself, but her hands were white knuckled on the steering wheel. They passed right by the neighborhood market where Zack should’ve stopped if beer was his goal. Sadie’s stomach did flip-flops as he kept going.

  “Okay, so he really does go to the gym,” Sadie murmured to herself, but the words sounded hollow with disbelief.

  Sadie kept her Honda well back in traffic. As an ex-cop, Zack would most assuredly pick her out if he felt someone was tailing him. The farther they drove, the sillier she felt. If it turned out that an actual gym was his destination, Sadie vowed she’d never, ever doubt his word about anything again.

  She was so far back in traffic that Sadie almost lost track of the Mustang when it veered into the neighborhood of Green Lake in north Seattle. It seemed awfully far to travel for a workout, but Sadie was still willing to give him the benefit of doubt. After all, he could be picking up one of his old cop pals in this neighborhood.

  Traffic was thin in this residential area, and though she was still a ways back, Sadie began to wonder if Zack would spot her. At this point, though, she no longer cared. If he had nothing to hide, then no harm, no foul. But if Zack was off to cheat on her on the very day she’d buried her father . . . She didn’t want to even think about that but the ugly thought kept cropping up in her mind to taunt her, and her stomach was a knot of nerves.

  When Zack pulled to the curb in front of a faded blue Victorian two-level home on Sunnyside Avenue, Sadie pulled to the curb a block behind. Once she saw Zack walk up the sidewalk to the house, she drove forward to pull her Honda into a spot just a few car lengths behind his Mustang. There was a massive construction-sized rubbish container that took up most of the driveway, and it blocked her view of the front door.

  “What now?” she asked herself. She sat in her car for ten minutes. If he was picking up a friend to go to the gym, surely they’d be out of the house by now. Curiosity finally got the better of her, and Sadie found herself walking to the front door. She had no idea what she’d say, but having come this far, it seemed ridiculous to back down. She rang the bell and waited.

  After a minute the door opened wide, and standing there was a slim, pretty brunette in a starched white nurse’s uniform. Sadie recognized her immediately as Paula Wicks. Zack’s ex-girlfriend. Sadie sucked in a sharp breath as if she’d been sucker punched.

  “Oh. Hi,” Paula said. She looked surprised but didn’t run for cover or slam the door in Sadie’s face. “Sorry, I didn’t realize Zack had told you about the job yet.” Casually over her shoulder she called out, “Zack! Sadie’s here.” Back to Sadie she said, “I’m so sorry to hear about your dad.”

  Paula went back inside the house. She needed to take only a few steps before she was completely blocked from view by a massive pile of garbage. The house was floor-to-ceiling debris. The outwardly tidy two-story hid an interior jam-packed with more trash and possessions than seemed possible. Mountain after mountain of paraphernalia was piled far and deep. Bags, boxes, and containers groaned under more bags, boxes, and containers. Sadie could do little but stare until Zack wound his way through a path between the rubbish to get to the front door.

  “What the hell is going on?” Sadie hissed.

  “How did you know I was here? Did you follow me?” He looked confused when Sadie expected he would’ve been looking guilty as hell.

  “That’s the least of your worries right now.”

  “I can explain,” he said confidently.

  “Start talking.” Sadie placed her fists on her hips.

  “Paula asked me to help clean her mother’s place. It’s a cleanup job. I’m getting paid.” He waved his hand behind him, indicating the mess beyond. “Her mom was an obsessive hoarder.”

  “So I can see. If this is a paying job, why didn’t you tell me about it? Is she paying you with sex?” Sadie snapped.

  “No!” He stepped outside to join Sadie on the front porch and closed the door behind him. “When Paula first asked me to take a look at the place, she asked me to keep it quiet. She didn’t want anyone to know. She’s not exactly proud of how her mother lived.” He nodded toward the house behind him.

  “So you chose to respect your ex-lover’s wishes and lie to me?” Sadie folded her arms tightly across her chest to keep her aching heart from springing out and to keep her angry knuckles from punching him in the nose.

  “I was going to tell you. Really. A few days ago I’d finally made Paula realize there’s no way we’re going to get through all this junk with just the two of us. Hell, we need an army! She’s still working full-time at the hospital and she can’t get any more time off. I explained that you were the expert because you’ve worked squalor jobs like this before. She agreed that I could tell you about the job and hire a crew, if you recommended it. She just wants everything tossed.” He nodded at the giant bin taking up the majority of the driveway. “She doesn’t think anything’s worth keeping.”

  Sadie conceded that Zack looked confident and not at all like a man caught with his ex-girlfriend.

  “So why all the lies about going to the damn gym if it was all innocent?” she asked, unable to keep hurt from her voice.

  “The day I was going to tell you was the day your dad died.” His eyes were soft as he ran his fingers through his hair. “I figured it could wait a few more days. I didn’t want you rushing into working a job just when you needed to be taking it easy.”

  Her gut told her that he was telling her the truth. Her heart said it wasn’t the whole truth. Sadie’s armor began to crumple anyway.

  “You realize how this looks, right? That you lied to me to spend time with your ex.” Her bottom lip trembled slightly and she bit down on it.

  Zack put his arms around her and drew her in close.

  “You’re my girl, Sadie,” he breathed against her neck. “I asked you to marry me last month, and just because you still haven’t given me an answer doesn’t mean I’ve started to screw Paula while I wait.” He kissed her hard and leaned back to look in her eyes. “Are we okay?”

  Even her doubting heart gave in on those words. She blew out a long breath and then nodded. “We’re okay.”

  “Good.” He released her from their embrace and smiled down at her. “You should go and be with your mom. If you want, I’ll come with you. This place won’t get worse if it’s left another day.” He opened the door and called inside. “Paula, I’m going to go. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Paula turned sideways to fit down the path of junk that lead from deep inside the mega-clutter to the front door.

  “That’s fine. You two should be with family today,” Paula said in a reasonable tone that made Sadie feel a tiny bit guilty.

  Sadie realized that for all she knew, Paula was happily involved with someone else. She glanced hopefully at Paula’s left hand but didn’t see a ring.

  “If you think this is a job you can help with, Sadie, I’m ready to call in the troops,” Paula continued. “Zack’s been griping that it’s too big a job, and I’ve gotta admit I haven’t been much help. I’ve taken out a loan to get the place cleaned up, so I don’t mind paying both of you, or even a team. The sooner we get the place cleaned out, the sooner I can sell the house and put it all behind me.” She reached to her throat and spun a silver twisted S-shaped pendant that dangled on a pretty chain.

  “From here alone I can tell it’s a pretty big job,” Sadie said. Instinctively she wanted to turn her back on the situation, but it was the first honest-to-goodness job offer they’d had in weeks, and soon she’d be cutting into her savings to pay the bills. “How about you show me through the house so I can get an idea of what we’re dealing with?”

  “Now?” Zack asked.

  “Sure,” Sadie replied
. “I’ve got a few minutes.”

  The inside of the house was best described as a catastrophic disaster zone. There were tight pathways that wound through teetering piles. Sadie had been hired to clean the homes of compulsive hoarders before. It was a time-consuming, arduous task usually attempted by children of the hoarders but it rarely made a dent in the actual problem. Sure, the house would get clean, but within a year there would be goat paths again winding through towering piles of rubbish, and again debris would cover every inch of livable space.

  “So where is your mother?” Sadie asked. “Is she okay with you taking care of—”

  “She’s in an institution,” Paula said in a clipped, no-nonsense tone. “Alzheimer’s. The gift that keeps on giving.” She laughed without mirth and waved her hands. “Not that her mind is too far gone. Hell, if it wasn’t for this, um, problem, she could’ve stayed home longer. The dementia hasn’t eaten away her brain yet. She still had her wits about her more days than not. As long as I called and reminded her to eat and take her meds, she was fine, but I kept worrying she’d fall under all this rubble, break a hip, and go undiscovered for days.”

  Looking around at what was supposed to be a living room, Sadie could believe a fall was more than likely.

  “I’m positive that somewhere under all that stuff is a green sofa and matching chair that she bought when I was in high school. Even a television and coffee table,” Paula said, and sighed.

  Sadie and Zack glanced around. There was no telling what was hidden under all the junk. There could easily be ten televisions and a few sofas piled one on top of another, and by the smell Sadie was betting they’d find rotten food and rodents too.

  “Things weren’t always like this, you know. She started collecting junk when my dad got sick. As if buying boxes of crud at every yard sale would stop the cancer. It took years but when he died they could hardly carry out his body because of all the stuff. It’s only gotten worse since then. I was fourteen and stayed here until I could get away to college.” She stopped in the middle of a tight-fitting exit that lead them out of the living room. “Hard to believe but Zack and I already carted out a huge amount of stuff. There were no paths even leading to the front door before. The only way in and out for the last few years was through the back door.”

  Zack was in the lead, and they continued walking single file since there was no room to stand side by side. They entered the kitchen area but Sadie doubted there’d been anything cooked in that room in years. The stove, table, and counters were piled high with dust-covered boxes and containers, and the kitchen table was hidden under stacks of yellowed newspapers.

  “We’re talking at least a dozen more industrial bins the size of the one in the driveway,” Sadie muttered.

  Zack nodded. “It’s been slow going.”

  “I know what you’re thinking,” Paula said with a rueful smile. “You’re thinking, how could you let your mother live like this?”

  “That’s not what I’m thinking,” Sadie protested. Well, it wasn’t the only thing she was thinking. “I know that people who live in these kinds of deplorable conditions usually have compulsive disorders and can’t help themselves. I’ve seen it before. Even if you tried to clean out the place, it would’ve been back to this condition again if your mother didn’t control the mental cause of the problem.”

  “Wish I’d known that,” Paula said, blowing out a long, huffy breath. “Twice in the last six years I’ve come back and shoveled the place out, and each time it’s been in the same shape, or even worse, within the year.”

  They painstakingly went through the rest of the main floor.

  “I’m not going to take you upstairs,” Paula said. “It’s too difficult to get up there and the bedrooms are mostly impassible. It’s probably best to work on the main floor first. There’s a den through here.” She motioned for Sadie to follow but movement at the top of the stairs caught Sadie’s eye.

  A deep male voice shouted, “Get out of here!”

  Sadie stared up the stairs to see the furious face of a large middle-aged man standing on a pile of boxes in the hall above. She froze.

  “Get out!” he roared, waving an angry fist.

  Sadie realized Paula was talking. She and Zack had entered the den up ahead and were oblivious to the meaty Neanderthal screaming angrily from the top of the stairs.

  Sadie narrowed her eyes at the man who stood shouting and positively snarling at her. Saliva dripped from his ghoulish grin and his massive hands opened and closed into tight fists. Even though Sadie was positive he was a ghost, she couldn’t help but feel a little intimidated. The spirit was well over six feet with a barrel of a chest straining against a sweat-stained undershirt and long hairy legs protruding from ugly green boxers. His lips were ruby red cherries against the gray complexion of the dead.

  “The Little Mouse sent you, didn’t she?” he demanded. “Tell her she’ll never get this stuff. It’s all mine.”

  “I don’t know who you’re talking about.”

  “Sadie?” Zack called, sticking his head out of the room down the hall. “You coming?”

  “Just give me a minute,” she replied.

  Zack looked at her quizzically but nodded, then retreated back inside the den. Sadie headed up the stairs in spite of her fears. She was near the top when the angry apparition lunged for her. She felt queasy as the ghost passed directly through her and then attempted to wrap his arms around her body. Whenever the spirits of the dead came in physical contact with her, it was a revolting feeling, like nails on a blackboard followed by stomach churning nausea. Due to the sheer size of this apparition, the grossed-out feeling was worse than usual.

  “Stop that!” she snapped.

  The spirit stopped short with a look of shock.

  “You can see me,” he said, taking a step back to eye her curiously. “And hear me.”

  A twisted smile played on his bloodred lips as he reached to touch her, and Sadie flinched away.

  “And feel me.” He tossed back his head and released a cold bark of dark laughter. “Man, this should be good.”

  “Who are you?” Sadie asked.

  “Listen up, chickie; you let them know the stuff in that bedroom is mine.” He stabbed a thick finger in the direction of what Sadie assumed was a bedroom. Then he leaned in until his face was a scant inch from hers. “Touch my things and I’ll bring you down into my own personal hell. I know how to make women scream and not always in a good way.”

  If looks could kill, Sadie would’ve been as dead as he was.

  3

  Sadie headed back downstairs in a hurry. She met Zack and Paula just leaving the den and told them she’d changed her mind about wanting a tour of the house. Suddenly the prospect of being in the house with Mr. Ugly was far less appealing than leaving her boyfriend alone with his ex-girlfriend.

  “You’re right. My head just isn’t in this,” Sadie said, nervously glancing over her shoulder. “I need to go and be with my mom.”

  “Of course,” Paula said, nodding emphatically.

  “I’ll come with you,” Zack said.

  Sadie shook her head. “That’s okay. You stay here,” Sadie said. “Take some pictures of the place for our records.” She was angling her body through the narrow path of boxes. “Oh, and speaking of pictures, I forgot the photo album and that’s why I was on my way home when I saw you and . . .” She let her voice trail off.

  “I’ll walk you out,” Zack said, putting a gentle hand on the small of her back.

  Sadie was grateful to get out of the house. She took a deep breath, glad for the clean air and thrilled to be away from the vicious ghost. At her car, Zack pulled her into a tight hug.

  “I’m sorry about lying.” He released her and looked her in the eye. “And we don’t have to take the job.”

  “Looks like you already have,” she reminded him.

  “She needed help and came to me. Since Scene-2-Clean needed the business, I figured it was an honest job.” He held u
p his hand to stop her when she opened her mouth to speak. “But I was wrong about not mentioning it and I totally get that you may not be comfortable with me working with Paula. Say the word and I’ll tell her to find someone else.”

  Sadie glanced at Paula looking like a sexy wet dream in her snug nurse’s whites as she began walking to her own car. Sadie blew out an exasperated breath.

  “We need the money and, like you said, it’s a job, so . . .” She shrugged her shoulders. “Just promise me you won’t attempt cleaning the bedrooms.”

  “Sadie, even if we were cleaning a bedroom together, it wouldn’t mean Paula and I would end up in bed,” Zack said in a clipped tone that said he was hurt.

  Gee, thanks; that thought hadn’t even entered my head, Sadie thought with annoyance.

  “This isn’t about that.” She looked over at the house and saw the ghost of Mr. Ugly watching her from an upstairs window. “This is ghost stuff and it isn’t pretty.” She returned her gaze to Zack. “Angry ghost in the bedrooms, so just stay out.”

  “Great.” Zack rolled his eyes.

  “I’ve got to get to the hospital,” Paula called, and offered them a wave before folding her long legs into her yellow Volkswagen Beetle parked at the curb. “Zack, could you make sure you lock up?”

  Zack said that he would.

  Before Paula could start her car, she was approached by a short brunette about the same age who ran over from the house next door. The two chatted briefly at Paula’s car. When Paula drove off, the woman approached Sadie and Zack.

  “Hi. I’m Carole Brant, from next door. My mom wanted me to ask if it would be okay if we tossed a couple of boxes of our own junk in the bin here.” She nodded at the garbage container. “Paula said to ask you two if it’s okay. It’s only a few boxes.”

  “Sure,” Zack said. “I don’t see why not.”

  Sadie and Zack introduced themselves, and Sadie gave Carole a business card. You never knew when someone might need to mop up a friend or relative.