Free Call On Me by Angela Verdenius

Ghost.
“Hey, Ghost.”
    “Matt.” Ghost
eyed the ambulance thoughtfully. “Tell me, do you have ghosts in
there?”
    “I haven’t
picked any up tonight,” Matt replied easily.
    “Just
thinking.”
    “Coming from
you, that’s intriguing.” Matt leaned back against the side of the
ambulance. “Thinking of writing about a haunted ambulance?”
    “Hey, don’t
laugh. It’s said ghosts haunt places they die. People die in
ambulances.”
    “Well, true,
but we try not to allow that to happen.”
    Not at all put
off, Ghost studied the ambulance. White with a green patterned
stripe and dark windows, an idea started to stir in his head.
Hmmm…
    “So, what are
you doing out and about this late at night?” Matt glanced at his
wrist watch. “Or should I say, this time of the morning?”
    “Ghost
hunting.” Ghost took the nozzle from the fuel inlet and hung it
back into position.
    “Catch
anything?”
    “Not a thing,
though Ali did have a close encounter of the snake kind.”
    Matt’s brows
rose. “Seeing as neither you nor Lori are upset and are both still
standing here, I’m thinking she’s all right.”
    “Rattled, but
fine.”
    Matt’s gaze
flicked past him, a small smile curving his lips. “More than fine,
I think.”
    Turning, Ghost
looked over the top of the van to see Ali chatting to a bloke. From
the distance he couldn’t see who the bloke was and he wondered at
the identity. What was certain was that Ali was entertained,
because she laughed, the sound clear in the early morning darkness.
The man was medium height and lean, but he seemed to be amusing
going by her laughter.
    “Who’s that?”
Ghost queried as Lori moved up beside him.
    Lori glanced
over briefly. “New mechanic.”
    “What’s he
like?”
    “Seems
okay.”
    Matt moved up
on Lori’s other side and they all watched as Ali and the new
mechanic shook hands.
    “Getting
chummy,” Matt observed.
    “Hopefully he’s
better than her last idiot date.” Ghost glanced down at Lori.
“What’s his name?”
    “Chris.”
    “Chris
what?”
    “Chris
Smith.”
    “You are
kidding me.”
    Lori
shrugged.
    Ghost looked
across at Chris Smith. “What do you know about him?”
    “Just moved
into town.”
    “And?”
    “That’s it.”
Lori moved around him and started towards the service station. “Is
that cash or card, Ghost?”
    Pocketing the
car keys, Ghost closed the distance easily between himself and
Lori, falling into step beside her. As they neared Chris and Ali,
he looked at her to find her smile genuine and her eyes sparkling.
Whatever Chris was saying to her, she was enjoying it. He wondered
what the new bloke could possibly be saying to amuse her.
    He only managed
to catch a glimpse of Chris as they passed, politeness stopping him
from turning and walking backwards to stare at him. He had dark
hair and his profile seemed okay, kind of hawkish, if that was the
kind of thing that turned on Ali.
    Entering the
small office off the main service station, he paid for the fuel,
all the time casting furtive glances out the window at Chris and
Ali. Geez, didn’t the man have a job to do? And besides that…“How
come you have a mechanic here at this time of night?”
    “He’s not
working” Lori handed him his change.
    “So what’s he
doing here?”
    She levelled a
readable look at him. “Minding his business?”
    Lori had a
sharp tongue when she decided to use it, he’d give her that, not
that it deterred him one bit. “Huh. Odd time to be around.”
    “You’re
around.”
    “I’m on
legitimate business.”
    “Matt?” Lori
looked behind him.
    Ghost
obligingly moved aside to find Matt grinning at him as he handed
over the card used for the ambulance fuel-ups. “What?”
    “Nothing,” Matt
replied. “Nothing at all.”
    “Hey, she’s a
good friend. I’m just looking out for her.”
    “Sure you
are.”
    “What’s that
supposed to mean?”
    “You’re like an
old mother hen clucking around when a stray fox comes into