Seeing the Light (A Marie Jenner Mystery Book 1) by E. C. Bell Page B

people like my mom and me. Then, they truly are stuck, forever.
    She didn’t mention a ghost blinking out, though. Not once.
    I should have asked her about it. I know that. But she just would have started in on the “You know this is your calling, Marie,” and I would have said something stupid like, “I don’t want a calling that leaves you alone and dying in your fifties,” or something. I didn’t want to fight, so I didn’t mention it to her.
    I was pretty sure that the blinking out wasn’t another form of fading away. Mom had said that the first thing all spirits had to come to terms with was the manner of their death, and Farley couldn’t remember how he’d died. Maybe blinking out had to do with his memory loss. If he could just remember how he died, then the blinking would stop. I was almost sure of it.
    So, I was feeling energized and sympathetic and hopeful. Until I saw Farley, that is. Then all those feelings took a back seat to feeling dread. Lots and lots of dread.
    He was leaning near the inside of the front door of the Palais, and he was crying. No. He was sobbing like a kid would, open mouthed, with tears streaming down his face, leaving a trail of light, like phosphorescence, from his eyes, down his cheeks, to the floor. Those trails of light were the brightest thing about him. That was not good.
    When he saw me, he scrubbed his face with his hand and then pointed at me. I could tell he was yelling angrily, even though I couldn’t hear him yet. Great. Fear and anger, rolling off of him in waves. First thing in the morning. Just what I needed.
    “What the fuck happened to me, Marie?” he cried, when I pushed open the door. “Why didn’t you warn me about this?”
    I couldn’t talk to him in front of all the other people straggling in to work. “Come to my office,” I said, ignoring the guy from 215 who had followed me into the building and who thought I had been speaking to him. He looked confused for a moment, then wandered to the stairs, glancing back over his shoulder at me before he disappeared. He looked afraid.
    I decided to take the elevator, even though it was old and clunky and scared me, and rammed myself in it with ten other people. Farley didn’t join, so I was able to try to pull myself together just a little bit before I got to the third floor and stepped out.
    “So what happened to me?” I had barely walked around the corner when Farley appeared, still yelling. “I want to know, now.”
    I held up my hand for silence, and unlocked the door. He followed me, and had the decency to keep his mouth shut until we were inside the office and the door was once again closed.
    “Tell me, right now,” he barked. “Did you send me to Hell or something?”
    All right, so I admit, I snapped a bit.
    “I didn’t ‘send’ you anywhere!” I cried. “I couldn’t, even if I wanted to. Tell me what happened to you yesterday. I need details—”
    “How am I supposed to know?” he snapped back. “I tell you, girl, I have about one nerve left, and you have figured out how to rub it exactly the wrong way. I don’t know what happened!”
    I took a deep breath and tried again. “Can you remember anything?”
    He stopped ranting. “Yeah,” he said. “I can.”
    “Well, tell me. Please.”
    He paced back and forth in front of my desk. “One second I’m talking to you, and the next, Poof! It was like I was having a nightmare, only ten times worse. I saw a wire in my hand. Then the lights went out. And then I was back looking at the wire and the lights went out. Over and over and over. I could hear a voice, like someone was talking underwater or something, talking about me. Then lights out. Until it started again.” He stopped and stared at me. “What the hell is going on with me?”
    “No idea,” I said.
    All right, I could have handled it better, but wow. On top of blinking out, he had a nightmare? I needed to think.
    Luckily, Mr. Latterson walked in, scowling because the coffee