Page 37 of A Dark and Stormy Night

"Well, yes," Kateri said. "We have our share of eccentrics. But I believe you've had an encounter with our town ghost."

Areila gave a spurt of laughter. "A haunted park? You're pulling my leg." She looked around at Garik, back at Kateri, and her laughter died. "You're not pulling my leg."

"According to my foster mother, Margaret Smith, he's been there a long time," Garik said.

"Since he's wearing a WWII uniform, I would guess he's been there about seventy years," Areila snapped.

Kateri grinned. "Unless he died at a costume party."

Garik and Kateri chortled before Kateri realized Areila was appalled at their insensitive joke.

That was the trouble with being a police officer or a public servant. You saw so many tragedies, laughter was the only thing that kept you from crying, and civilians seldom understood.

Kateri leaned back in her chair. "Have you ever seen the ghost, Garik?"

"Never have. You?"

"Once. After the tsunami."

Areila's glance sharpened. "Now I remember your name. You were the Coast Guard commander. The tsunami picked you up and . . ." She stopped abruptly.

"Yes. I lost my Coast Guard cutter and was . . . badly hurt." An understatement. "After all the surgeries, I was determined to walk again, but to try I had to take pain-killers, a lot of them. It got dark. I decided to go through the park. I was pretty whacked out, on the point of collapse. And there he was in his WWII uniform, reaching out a hand to help me. Or get me." Kateri shivered at the memory. "I didn't know which. I didn't care."

"What did you do?" Areila asked.

"I discovered I wasn't on the point of collapse after all. Next thing I remember was slamming the door of my apartment behind me." Kateri put a hand on her racing heart; even the memory still scared her. "What about Walt? Has he ever seen the ghost?"

"Who's Walt?" Areila asked.

"The groundskeeper for the Virtue Falls parks," Kateri told her. "You've seen him, I'm sure."

Areila shook her head. "Is he new?"

"No, he's been in town for about a year. He says he's never seen the ghost. But he is . . ." Garik hesitated.

"Boring?" Kateri suggested. "Ordinary? None too bright?"

Garik looked surprised. "How do you really feel?"

"He comes to the library with his wife and checks out cozy mysteries. He likes to discuss them when he brings them back." Kateri leaned forward. "Ad nauseum. And by the way, he always tells me who the killer is."

Garik winced. "He shovels and salts the sidewalks, picks up the downed branches after a windstorm, and mows the lawn in the summer. He doesn't have to be Mr. Excitement."

"Nor does he have to be a combination of Mr. I-Can-Put-Her-Into-A-Coma and Sir Spill-the-Beans-on-the-Ending." Kateri realized Areila viewed them both as if they were a little odd. Maybe they had wandered off topic . . .Kateri said, "Personally, I avoid that damned park all the time. I avoid it at nighttime in particular."

Areila frowned. "But I . . . I work down in the canyon monitoring the geological sites."

"Crappy job in the winter," Garik said.

"Amen," Areila agreed. "Yet it's a great opportunity, and I was lucky to get the position. The park is on the edge of town and the easiest way to get from the canyon back to civilization."

Garik and Kateri knew all that; the geological study had been going on almost thirty years, and as the seasons passed, they had seen interns come and go.

Garik asked, "Could you get any of the other geologists to walk with you?"

Areila looked disgusted. "In this cold, I can't get any of the other geologists to do anything but sit in front of their warm desks to input the data I bring them."

"Yeah . . . being low man on the totem pole is a bitch," Kateri commiserated. She ought to know; she had gone from Coast Guard commander to a survivor of the worst earthquake and tsunami in Washington state history to underpaid librarian of an underfunded library.

---