Free 14 Christmas Spirit by K.J. Emrick

sooner rather than later.  Megan was telling them they were running out of town.
    "Whatever you say, Mister Police Officer," JoEllen said.  She was trying to sound tough, but Darcy saw the look of relief in her eyes.  "Me and the kid will just sack out on your couch and watch some TV until you get home."
    "Good.  Fantastic, even," Jon said, shaking his head and standing up.  "I'm going to regret this, aren't I?"
    "Not on my account, you won't."  JoEllen stood up with Jon, and held her hand out to him.  "I promise."
    They shook hands, and something passed between them that might have been mutual respect.  Darcy smiled.  It was good to see JoEllen and Connor again, no matter what the circumstances were.
    Jon was right, though.  The timing of this couldn't be worse.  They had to find one killer already, in order to give Megan's spirit some peace.  Now they would have to find and stop another killer to help JoEllen and her son.
    To top it all off, there was one more thing to worry about.
    Her mother was coming for Christmas dinner.

Chapter Six
     
    "Couldn't she just track the guy down who is coming to kill her and kill him herself?"
    Darcy slapped her hand against Jon's shoulder.  "Cut her some slack, will you?  She's trying.  I can't imagine how hard it is to be a career criminal and then give it all up for your child."
    Jon was just parking the car at the curb in front of a tiny house nestled between other tiny houses on Lavine Street.  It was as small a house as Darcy had ever seen, painted white with pink trim around both the windows and the front door.  Once upon a time, a lot of care had been put into the place to make it neat and tidy and, well, pretty.  Now the paint was peeling and the little garden plots under the front windows were overgrown with dead weeds sticking up out of the snow.
    This was Blair Clinton's house, the home she had shared with Megan Bortchowski for a while.  Before Megan had gone missing, and wound up dead.
    "Do you want me to stay out here while you talk to Blair?" Darcy asked.
    "No."  Jon pulled the keys from the ignition and twirled them around in his fingers.  "I'd actually prefer the company.  Blair might be more comfortable talking to a woman, for one thing.  For another, I want you in there in case Megan's… um, you know… shows up and tries to talk."
    Darcy knew he meant Megan's ghost.  He was as comfortable as anyone in her life when it came to talking about her abilities or asking her to do things like go into a communication.  Still, ghosts made everyone a little nervous, if they were being honest with themselves.  Jon loved her, and accepted her, but she couldn't expect him to shed his very rational fears of the afterlife just because he was going to marry her.
    An involuntary smile came over her with that thought.  March twentieth, she would marry Jon Tinker.  Just three months from now.  Not a lot of time to plan a wedding.  They would have to wait until after Christmas to even think about that stuff, though.  They had to plan the holidays now, plus solve this mystery for Megan Bortchowski.
    And help JoEllen stop a killer.  Let's not forget that, she reminded herself.
    That sort of wiped the smile from her face.
    "About JoEllen…" Jon said.
    "Yes?"
    "You really think she can change her life just like that?"
    Darcy didn't just say yes right away.  JoEllen had made her living by committing murder for years.  Could she just turn her back on that?  "I think so," she said with a confident nod.  "She has her son now.  Family changes a lot of things."
    "Like Grace and her baby," Jon suggested.
    “Well, sure.  Or me and you.  You know, this Christmas dinner we're planning is a time for family to be together."
    "Darcy, I know what you're going to say.  Can we not talk about it right now?"
    "Your mother is your family, Jon."  Darcy hadn't given up on this yet.  "She should be a part of our life."
    "She's my stepmother," he reminded her, "not my real