Deadly Chaos by Annette Brownlee Page A

Sitting, Chaos instinctively grabbed a red pillow beside her and clutched it to her chest. “Sage like the herb?”
    “Yes, it’s used to cleanse a person or a space of bad energy. It’s a Native American ritual. I grow it in the back yard so it’s extra fresh and potent. I’m Linda, by the way.”
    Speaking of Native American, she thought, where did that guy go? She wouldn’t mind getting a peek at him again. Looking around, Chaos held out her hand and Linda took it. “Nice to meet you. Does it work, the sage?” Damn if all she had to do was burn an herb to get rid of Dead Bill. Then she’d happily smell like pot for the rest of her life.
    “It does work but I imagine it’s not strong enough for what you’re dealing with. Please,” she said, taking a seat in an armchair next to the couch. “Start from the beginning.”
    Chaos picked at the pillow. She didn’t know where to start. How did you tell someone you murdered another person who was now haunting you and you wanted to banish their ghost in hell where they belonged?
    “I guess you are dealing with something then, aren’t you?” Linda said.
    She smiled a kind smile and Chaos couldn’t help but notice her teeth were a little yellowed. For some reason it made her like the woman just a little bit, despite the fact that she could read her mind and she’d just essentially confessed to murder.
    “You don’t look like you are capable of murder. I suspect it was self-defense. Am I right?”
    “He tried to rape me. In my own home.” It was the first time she’d said the words. They almost overwhelmed her. “I didn’t know him. I didn’t invite him in. I hit him over the head with a lamp. The glass broke. I used a piece of glass to protect myself and accidentally cut his throat. I didn’t mean to kill him but I’m not sorry.” Chaos closed her eyes. She’d relived the night’s events so many times now she felt like she spent half her time lost in thought. She heard the knock on her door. She saw her hand go for the doorknob; she'd stopped yelling at the image of herself knowing full well she could do nothing to change the night's events.
    Chaos saw herself cracking the door. She saw the door fly open and her own body as it stumbled backwards. She saw him storm in with lust and rage on his face. She saw each blow to her face as traumatic as it had been at the time she'd become numb to the scene. She saw him yank her shorts down. She saw her hand reach for the lamp cord. The lamp tumbled to the ground. The shade fell off. The light bulb broke. She saw her wrap her fingers around a shard of glass and slash at him with it. She witnessed the moment it struck his jugular and all the blood. She couldn't stop the blood. Hadn’t even tried. She pushed to her feet and watched as the life drained out of him. Then the image went black. Nothing was left except Dead Bill standing there next to her with a ghostly sneer on his face. Stalker in life, stalker in death.
    “I have no doubt that you did the right thing. You were protecting yourself.”
    “Yeah, thanks.” Chaos exhaled slowly, releasing all of the tension that had built up inside her. It was weird being able to tell someone what had happened. She hadn’t been able to do that until now.
    “Where’s the ghost’s body?”
    Chaos studied the woman’s face, looking for signs of trouble. She didn’t see any. She had honest eyes and a friendly face. Then again, she could be a really good actress.
    “You’re safe, Chaos. Everything you tell me is confidential.”
    There weren’t any guarantees. The woman could take what she said and turn her into the police without batting an eye. But Chaos didn’t know what else to do and she had to trust someone. “Someone took care of it for me. I don’t know where Dead Bill’s body is and I don’t want the people who helped me to get into any trouble.” Chaos paused. Linda watched her, calmly waiting for her to finish her story. “The next night I smell