“Yeah, I thought about that. I don’t think they wanted or expected him to live.” I shivered.
“Can you think of anyone who might have had it out for your brother?”
This list of people who had said the words “I’m going to kill you” to Teddy was long, and mostly populated by female names. But the threat had never been much more than vocalized frustration at Teddy’s typical inability to care for a woman the way she wanted to be cared for.
“I’m not sure I’d know where to begin, except with women he’s . . . dated.”
“Cliff might already be on that trail,” Jerome said.
Cliff. I still hadn’t spoken to him. I really needed to track him down.
“I’ll ask,” I said. He was probably more interested in who killed Norman Bytheway, which was how it should be. But maybe the killer and the person or persons who beat Teddy were somehow tied together.
“Good. Now, this ghost, this Pony Express rider. You said he doesn’t know what happened to him?”
“That’s right.”
“Believe it or not, I remember hearing a story about a missing rider who was from Broken Rope. They never found him. I can’t remember his name offhand, but I remember something about his story. His wife abandoned their small family and spent the rest of her short life looking for him.”
“Astin Reagal?” I said.
“Yes, I believe so,” Jerome said. “You’ve heard of him? Is that your ghost?”
“Only recently. And he’s claiming not to be the same one.”
I gave Jerome more details regarding the two Pony Express riders who had simultaneously entered my life.
A cloud rolled over the sun as I finished sharing the information, and Jerome was momentarily shadowed in a little darkness. Even that small amount caused him to become more real and I caught an expression that surprised me: an intense focus. On me, on my words, perhaps.
“What?” I asked.
“I’m not exactly sure, but there’s something more I know about Astin Reagal. I can’t quite seem to remember it at the moment.”
“You said memories are coming back right now. Maybe it’ll become clearer.”
“I hope so,” Jerome said as the cloud moved on and the sun came back.
“You don’t by chance know what he looked like?” I asked.
“Not at the moment.”
“Let me know.” My phone buzzed. “It’s Jake. He has some more information for me. He obviously doesn’t know we’re right outside his back door.”
“I like Jake. Let’s go talk to him.”
• • •
“Hi, Jerome!” Jake said to the space beside me. He cleared his throat and looked at me. “Is it okay to be happy he’s back?”
“Yes, of course,” I said.
“I saw you,” Jake said to the space. “I recorded your image.”
“How’s that?” Jerome asked.
“Jake has a camera that’s meant to pick up ethereal signals. I thought it was a gimmick, something fake, but he got a picture of you,” I said.
“That seems impossible,” Jerome said.