Deadly Gamble by Linda Lael Miller

litter, I mean.”
    Chester sniffed the bag curiously.
    â€œOf course,” I reasoned, because I needed to hear a voice, even if it was my own, “if you don’t eat, it follows that you don’t poop, either.”
    â€œMeow,” Chester said.
    â€œThanks for hanging out,” I answered.
    â€œI wish you felt that way about me,” Nick said.
    I swung around to see him standing next to my bookshelf, which was beside the computer, where I kept my sizeable collection of Damn Fool’s Guides . Unfortunately, there wasn’t one dealing with dead people—trust me, I’d looked the day before, when I stopped to get the Tarot tome, but Near Death Experiences was the closest thing—or crazy female stalkers, either.
    â€œ Now what?” I demanded, letting the kitty litter and the plastic box topple to the floor. I clutched the bag full of Lean Cuisines to my chest, like a shield.
    Nick was perusing titles. “The Damn Fool’s Guide to Dating,” he mused, running a finger along the spines. “Tantric Sex. Raising Ferrets.” He paused, looked me over closely, and with compassionate concern. “Ferrets?”
    â€œIt was a passing fancy,” I said, and started for the kitchen.
    He followed, of course, and so did the cat.
    â€œTantric Sex?” Nick pressed.
    â€œI’m single and over twenty-one,” I reminded him, jerking open the freezer section of the refrigerator and tossing in the week’s meals, bag and all. “And what are you doing here, if you don’t mind my asking?”
    â€œJust a friendly visit,” he said. Then he opened the cupboard, took out the Oreos and sniffed them. A look of pathetic longing crossed his face.
    â€œHere’s an idea,” I said, whacking the freezer door shut with the flat of one hand. “Go ‘visit’ your mother.”
    â€œYour attitude is very unbecoming, you know,” Nick said. With a sigh, he put the Oreos back in the cupboard. “What did my mother ever do to deserve this…rancor?”
    â€œWell, first of all,” I replied, ticking number one off on my finger, “she gave birth to you. Second, she stuck her nose into our business every chance she got. And third, she saw to it that I got bupkis in the divorce.” I paused. “Oh, and then there’s the way her head sprouts snakes at the most unexpected moments.”
    â€œYou don’t like her,” Nick said, sad and surprised.
    â€œDon’t take it too hard, but I don’t like you very much, either.”
    â€œIf you knew the trouble I have to go to, to keep a charge,” he replied, quietly stricken, “you wouldn’t be so rude.”
    I grabbed the coffee carafe, poured out the stale stuff I’d never gotten around to drinking earlier and cranked on the faucet. The pipes rattled. “If that little illusion gives you consolation, Nick,” I said, “you just go with it. And while you’re at it, why don’t you tell me what the hell you want? As long as it isn’t sex, I’ll give it to you, and you can move on to the next plane of existence, or whatever it is you dead people do.”
    Any self-respecting spook would have been insulted enough to vanish, but not Nick. He grinned, pulled back a chair at the table and sat down. “No sex, huh?”
    â€œNot on your—life,” I said.
    â€œBummer,” he sighed.
    â€œDon’t you have something to do? In the train station or whatever it is?”
    Another sigh. “I’m stuck in the depot until I deal with you,” Nick said, and he looked just earnest enough to be telling the truth.
    A clear indication that he was lying through his perfect teeth.
    â€œAre you sleeping with that biker?” he asked.
    â€œThat comes under the heading of None of Your Damn Business.” I sloshed the water into the top of the coffeemaker, spooned some Starbucks into the basket and jammed the