The Chick and the Dead Read online

  "But it won't make any sense. Not until you hear the good news."

  "Then start with the good news."

  "Which isn't really fair because then you'll think I'm insensitive and you know I'm really not, Pepper. I think of you the way I think about my girls. I mean, you're a good worker and a fine young woman and I—"

  "Ella!" I screeched. It was the only way I could get her attention. "Spit it out, will you! Not knowing is way worse than any news you could ever tell me."

  "Yes. Of course. You're right." Ella pressed one hand to her heart. She forced herself to stand still, and I could tell the effort cost her dearly. All that nervous energy, and Ella looked like she was going to burst at the seams.

  "The good news." She cleared her throat and raised her chin. When she spoke, her face was transcendent. Like she really had just won the lottery. Or gotten her lousy ex, Jeffrey, to finally pay all the back child support he owed. "The good news… are you ready for this? The good news is that Merilee Bowman is coming. To Cleveland!"

  Chapter 2

  I would have lied if I had the energy.

  If I hadn't spent the day exposing a killer, saying goodbye to Gus, and getting up close and personal with another ghost—and the realization that this Gift thing just might plague me until I was a ghost myself—I might have managed some bit of bullshit that would have made Ella believe I shared in her excitement.

  The way it was, the only thing I could do was chirp out a confused "Who?"

  Ella's expression dissolved like my social contacts had once my plastic surgeon dad had been convicted of Medicare fraud. She blinked at me in stunned disbelief.

  "What do you mean, who? Merilee Bowman." Ella pronounced the name very carefully, as if she was sure I simply hadn't heard her correctly. She touched a hand to the button pinned to her blouse. "The Merilee Bowman," she said. "You know. So Far the Dawn?"

  I looked at the yellow, flowing script, and suddenly the button on Ella's blouse made sense. Even if all the pieces still didn't connect. "SFTD. So Far the Dawn. That's a movie, right?"

  Big points for Ella. When she sighed with exasperation, at least she didn't do it too loudly. She couldn't stop herself from rolling her eyes, though. "Pepper, Pepper, Pepper." She shook her head. Clearly, I'd gone from fine young woman and model employee to world's biggest disappointment in no time flat. "I can't believe you young people these days. Yes, So Far the Dawn is a movie. But it was a book before that. Don't tell me you've never read it?"

  The way she asked the question, I knew she was convinced there wasn't a soul on earth who hadn't read the book. Who was I to burst her literary bubble? "I saw the movie," I said instead, deflecting the whole question of book reading before I was forced to confess that the only thing I'd read in as long as I could remember were the sex quizzes in Cosmo.

  "At least I think I saw the movie. Once. A long time ago. It had something to do with women in gowns and guys in uniforms and… " I knew this was important to Ella, so I thought really hard. "Horses?"

  This time, she didn't even try to muffle her sigh. Her excitement smothered beneath what was apparently my suffocating cultural deprivation, she went over to my guest chair and plunked right down. "Maybe we should start at the very beginning," she said.

  I wasn't convinced it was the best idea. Especially since it was after five o'clock. But since I'd already taken Ella's excitement and ground it under the soles of the adorable silk and lizard T-strap pumps I'd bought with some of the money I earned from Gus's investigation, I didn't want to do any more damage. Dutifully, I took a seat behind my desk.

  "I'm right, right?" I asked her. "So Far the Dawn is a movie, isn't it?"

  I could just about see Ella fight to retain her composure. She closed her eyes, drew in a breath, let it out slowly. "It's not just a movie," she said, giving me a look that told me she was about to set me straight, whether I wanted it or not. "It's the movie. The single most romantic and wonderful movie ever made. Based on the single most romantic and wonderful book ever written."

  "And this Bowman woman?"

  "Is the author of the book." There was only so long Ella's nervous energy could be contained. She hopped to her feet. "She's coming here, Pepper. To Cleveland. Because this is where she lived when she wrote the book. This is where the book is set. It's a classic, the story of a Union family's lives and loves during the Civil War. Now do you remember it?"

  I did. Or at least I remembered what I'd remembered before: women in gowns, guys in uniforms. Horses.

  "So what's the big deal?" I asked, because I figured she didn't want to hear me say that, try as I might, there wasn't another thing about the movie that I could recall. "So the author's coming to town. Authors come to town all the time."

  "Merilee Bowman is not just an author. She's a superstar, Pepper. A supernova in the literary world. No one's ever written a book like So Far the Dawn. Not before and not since. It's sold millions and millions of copies and it's been translated into every language in the world. There are So Far the Dawn conventions and study groups. There are reenacting weekends and groups that come to town to tour every location she mentions in the book. There are collectors who specialize in dolls modeled after Opal and Palmer, the heroine and hero of the story. And some who collect out-of-print editions of the book. And some who like—"

  "Those creepy porcelain figurines of the characters." Another memory sparked and I thought of my aunt Carolyn, my mother's sister, and her affinity for what my mother kindly called "collectibles." "You don't do stuff like that, do you?"

  Ella's shoulders shot back, and she arched an eyebrow at me. "Stuff like what? You mean collect? You bet I do! It's how I got involved in the fan club."

  I didn't bother to point out that Ella wasn't the groupie type. Apparently there were depths to Ella that I had never even guessed existed. "That's what the button is all about, right?" I asked with another look at the lurid yellow letters pinned to Ella's chest. "That's a fan club thing."

  "My idea." She beamed. "It's a way for us to identify each other. I started the button campaign right after I took office as president of ISFTDS."

  The alphabet soup of letters floated through my brain.

  Ella must have realized my attention span was drifting away with them. "The International So Far the Dawn Society," she explained. "I've served as local chapter representative, national secretary, and now I'm president of the international group for the next two years. I'm proud to say that I was instrumental in arranging Merilee Bowman's visit. I didn't want to announce it. Not to anyone. Not until it was official. But I just got word and…" She dropped back into my guest chair. "I'm so happy, Pepper, I could just cry."

  She looked like she was going to, too, and I was so not in the mood. Not after the day I'd had. I decided to humor her and tried for a smile that looked at least a little bit genuine. "So this author is coming to Cleveland. That's great."

  "Not just to Cleveland." So much for humoring. Tears splashed onto Ella's round-as-apple cheeks. "To Garden View!"

  Suddenly Ella's mood made a lot more sense. "You're going to get to meet her?" This I did understand. I imagined myself one-on-one with the genius who had combined silk and lizard into T-strap pumps, and suddenly it all made sense. I grinned and gave Ella the thumbs-up. "That's so cool."

  Ella was too overwhelmed to speak. She took a moment to compose herself, and when she finally did, she hiccupped over her words. "Merilee is something of a recluse. She moved to California right after the book was published so she could act as a consultant when they were making the movie, and she's stayed there ever since. These days, she lives on a two-hundred-acre compound surrounded by a wall and plenty of security. No one ever sees her. The fact that she's agreed to come to Cleveland is a major breakthrough." Another round of tears put an end to Ella's explanation, and I was forced to fill in the blanks.

  "She's got family buried here at Garden View?"

  Ella nodded.

  "And she's going to visit them while sh
e's in town?"

  Another nod. It was all she could bring herself to do.

  "And she's coming to town because… " This was something I couldn't figure out for myself. I had to wait until Ella was calm enough to continue.

  "The movie has been digitally remastered, of course," she said, sniffing. "Surely you must have read about it."

  I didn't bother to point out that I'd been too busy trying to stay alive.

  "The premiere is scheduled to coincide with the original publication of the book. That was back on July 12, 1959. Between now and July 12, the society has all sorts of things planned. Miss Bowman has agreed to a television interview. Her first since the original movie premiere. There's going to be a big gala, too. You know, with everyone in Civil War-era costumes. It's going to be fabulous."

  I dunno. Hoop skirts and pantaloons? That wasn't sounding fabulous to me.

  "Oh, and the museum, of course."

  The P.S. from Ella jarred me out of my thoughts, which was just as well. I had this frightening vision of myself captive inside the confining clothing women wore back in the way-back-when. I skimmed a finger under one strap of my Victoria's Secret IPEX demi to get rid of the thought and turned my attention back to Ella.

  "Thank goodness the old Bowman home was never demolished like a lot of the other houses in the Ohio City neighborhood. And it's still in the family, too. Isn't that remarkable?" Ella sure sounded like she thought it was. "That just shows you what a sweet and caring person Merilee is. Even though she doesn't live here, she's maintained the family house all these years and now she's donated it, and it's being restored and turned into the So Far the Dawn museum. The gala will mark the grand opening."

  "Well, you are going to be busy, aren't you?" It seemed a kinder question than And I'm supposed to care about all this why? I took another look at the clock and rose from my chair. "I should let you get to it."

  Ella took my statement at face value. Like it was no big deal, she waved one hand. "Most of the groundwork is done, of course. Had to be before now. Merilee's appearance is the icing on the cake, so to speak." Her smile faded, and she sighed. "There was never a chance Elizabeth could make it, of course. But I was so hoping Kurt could be here."

  I was tired. That had to be the reason why when I wracked my brain, I couldn't figure out who Ella was talking about. Kurt wasn't a boyfriend; Ella hardly ever dated, she said she was too busy with her job and her girls. And Elizabeth wasn't someone on the cemetery staff, either; tired or not, I'd at least remember that.

  I gave up. "Elizabeth?" I asked. "Kurt?"

  "Elizabeth Goddard? Kurt Benjamin?" Her eyebrows did a slow slide up her forehead, and Ella pinned me with a look. It still didn't register, and she surrendered with an exasperated groan. "Opal and Palmer in the movie! Everybody knows that. Elizabeth died back in the sixties, but even so, I can't believe you wouldn't know her if you saw a picture of her. She was a gorgeous blond. And what an actress! As for Kurt… come on, Pepper. No way you don't remember him. I don't think there's a female alive who could see that movie and not remember him. I swear…" She fanned her face. "Postmenopausal or not, that man makes my hormones shoot to the moon! He was so handsome and such a rogue. Remember that scene in the movie? The one where he's saying what he thinks is his final goodbye to Opal?"

  Clearly this was something Ella enjoyed talking about. She was off and running.

  "Opal's leaving for Baltimore, remember. She's going to marry Charleton Hanratty, the swine who's making millions—well, I suppose it wouldn't have been millions in those days, but you know what I mean—millions smuggling illegal arms to the Confederacy. And remember what he says?"

  I didn't. My blank expression said it all.

  "Palmer looks deep into Opal's eyes and says, 'There never will be another woman like you, Opal. There never will be another woman I love. But don't think that means I'm not going to try. With every woman I meet.'" Ella squealed with delight. "Doesn't that just make you tingly all over?"

  It didn't. As a matter of fact, as lines went, it was pretty lame. Rather than point it out, I asked the logical question. "And this Palmer guy… I mean Kurt… he's not coming to the premiere because… ?"

  "Because he passed away, of course. Just a couple of weeks ago." Disgusted by my knowledge (or lack thereof) of current events, Ella slapped one hand against her thigh. "And we had a commitment from him, too. I swear, meeting him, that would have been one of the true highlights of my life. Right up there with the births of my children. One look from those smoldering eyes of his…" She sighed again.

  I wrinkled my nose. "Come on. The guy would have to be what, like ninety years old or something?" A shiver skittered up my spine. "How creepy is that."

  "He was eighty-three when he died. Not all that old. And still as handsome as ever. Besides, he'll always be Palmer to me. Those flashing eyes. That dark, dark hair. That bushy mustache. Remember what Opal said the first time he kissed her? She wasn't in love with him yet, or at least she wouldn't admit she was. She said it felt like kissing a caterpillar." Ella laughed. "If he kissed me, I sure wouldn't be thinking about caterpillars."

  I had tuned out at the first mention of kissing and caterpillars in the same sentence and figured this was as good a time as any to put an end to Ella's fan frenzy. I headed for the door.

  "Well, I'm happy for you," I told her, and I was. "I hope it all goes really well. The gala and the premiere and all. I'm sure you have a lot to do and—"

  "But, um, Pepper?"

  The excitement had drained from Ella's voice, and I remembered what she'd said when she first walked in.

  The thing about the good news.

  And something about bad news, too.

  My stomach clutched, and I stopped and turned to see that she had risen from the chair.

  "You're not going to tell me I have to wear a hoop skirt, are you?" I asked.

  It was her turn to look at me the way I'd been looking at her since she started jabbering on about So Far the Dawn. She finally got the joke, but she didn't laugh. "Maybe you should sit down," she said.

  The tightening in my stomach intensified. I decided to stay right where I was.

  Ella cleared her throat. She tugged on her right earlobe, and the earring in it jiggled. "Well…" She looked at the ceiling tiles. And the scuffed wooden floor. She took off her SFTD button and straightened it, even though it wasn't crooked to begin with. Carefully she pinned it back into place. "Like I said, good news and bad news. The good news—"

  "Yeah, Merilee. I know that part."

  "And the bad news… well…" She shifted from foot to foot. "Merilee's coming. Here, Pepper. To Garden View. And when she does…"

  I guess I was getting pretty good at this reading-between-the-lines thing. "I get it." I breathed a sigh of relief. "You said it yourself. Merilee is a recluse. And she's famous. That means when she comes to visit, the press is going to follow. You're thinking newspapers and TV reporters, right? And you're telling me I'll need to work longer hours."

  "Not exactly." Ella sat back down. She stood up. "You're right about the press and the reporters. In fact, Jim called me into his office earlier this afternoon. He says the grounds crew has already seen some photographers hanging around."

  "Paparazzi?" The very word was exciting, and I combed my fingers through my hair. Not that I actually expected them to be lying in wait to catch a shot of me when I walked out of the office, but there was always a chance. And it sure would beat the other kinds of shots that had been aimed at me as of late. "That's terrific," I told Ella. "Great publicity for Garden View, right?"

  "Publicity? Sure. If we're careful and we do everything just right. That's going to mean coordinating with Merilee's secretary and hiring extra security and coming up with a plan to funnel people in and out. Plus, of course, we need to worry about any funerals that are scheduled. That's more important than anything."

  "So we're back to the whole extra hours of work thing, right?" I wasn't exactly looking forward to
it, but hey, Ella's bad news could have been a whole bunch badder. And a little extra money wouldn't hurt, either. Sure, I had the nine thousand bucks from Gus. Or at least I used to have it. After catching up on my bills (there were plenty of them), a shopping trip to Saks (where the T-straps had come from), and an afternoon spent online tiptoeing through the White House Black Market, Victoria's Secret, and BCBG sites, credit card in hand, my bank account balance was dwindling fast. "You can count on me, chief," I told Ella. "I'll be here."

  "Well, that's just it, Pepper. See, I'm sorry, but you won't be."

  That got my attention.

  I already had my hand on the doorknob, and I stopped and looked over my shoulder at Ella.

  "I'm sorry," she said. "Really. It's not my decision. I'm not supposed to tell you that. As your immediate supervisor, I'm supposed to take responsibility. But I'm so sorry about it all and I couldn't live with myself if you thought that—"

  "What?"

  She gulped. "That I was the one who decided to lay you off."

  "What?"

  Ella hurried over to where I stood. "I'm sorry," she said for like the fifth time in thirty seconds. "I know this is a lousy way to break this to you. I know it's a lousy thing to do, but with paparazzi and TV cameras and reporters… we think they'll be swarming the place. And like I said, we have to concentrate on funerals and on the residents who are already buried here. Their loved ones need to have access, of course and with it all… well, Jim decided and I agreed, reluctantly, but I agreed… that there won't be time to conduct any tours. But don't worry!" Ella jumped in with the words of encouragement, such as they were. "There's no way we're going to eliminate your job. You have my word of honor on that. As soon as the excitement dies down, you'll be right back here where you belong."

  Most of the summer off? Honestly, I'd never been squeamish about working on my tan. But there was the whole paycheck thing to think about, and thinking about it…