A Stripper Named Candy Rein

Audra woke up in the B&B and finally took the time to open her suitcase and unpack. It was the third time in the last five months that she'd made a hotel in a strange town her home. She hung her suits in the closet and lined her shoes against the wall under them.

She neatly stacked two weeks of fresh bras and underwear in the drawers along with several of her favorite nightgowns and workout clothes. She took note that other than those, she had nothing to wear between working and sleeping, reminding herself again to shop for casual wear.

She took a quick shower and pulled on her yoga pants and a t-shirt before clipping the specter shield back onto her arm and heading to the dining room for breakfast. She was surprised to see that the dining room was full of day workers, most of them quite scruffy and a few who she noted needed to take a first, second and third shower. It was obvious that she was the only female in the B&B dining room.

"Hello, nurse!" a young man called as she worked her way out of her deer-in-the-headlights pose at the door. She walked in and smiled brightly, breathing shallowly.

"Good morning, fellas," she said and continued to the buffet line, which moved quickly.

She found herself in front of the waffle maker and mentally calculated the number of empty carbs that were tempting her.

"At this rate I'll be as big as a house before the end of the week," she mumbled.

"More to love."

Hearing Ethan's voice made her smile as she turned to see him walking towards her.

He was remarkably well put together compared to the day before, with dark blue jeans, thick white tee, and a short-sleeved plaid shirt.

"I came to take you to breakfast but…" He indicated the buffet spread.

"Well, you could join me," she said with a smile as she tried not to think about the fact that her hair was in a careless ponytail and she'd skipped on the makeup.

"I don't think the owner/operator would appreciate me mooching the breakfast buffet."

"We can share," Audra offered. "I'll make a tray and we can take it back to my room."

Audra rolled her eyes as a very pre-adolescent murmur went through the room.

"Anyway…"Audra picked up a tray and piled it with fruits, yogurt, and boxed juices. "Since you're a good cook, you can make us a waffle and meet me back at the room."

Audra exited to the sound of more immature murmuring. She used the time it took Ethan to prepare two waffles to comb her hair into a neat ponytail and quickly dab concealer over her face.

She spread the yogurt and fruit on the table and opened the curtains to catch the morning light. Ethan knocked on the door and she took a deep breath before opening it.

Ethan smiled, both hands full with carrying a plate filled with Belgian waffles.

"Big as a house," Audra muttered again and let him in. They sat at the table. Audra tried not to look directly at Ethan but it was hard.

"You put on makeup?" he asked.

"No, I didn't," she lied as she cut off a piece of waffle and put it in her mouth.

"Yes, you did," he countered. "You covered up your nose freckles. You combed your hair too," he laughed lightly.

"So, what?" she asked as she picked up a juice box and put the straw through the hole.

"You didn't say anything about my new threads," Ethan said.

"Threads?" Audra laughed. "Is that retro country slang?"

Ethan laughed. "No. But obviously, I'm way off my game."

Audra nodded. "I did notice your clothes, of course. You look good, Ethan Cole."

"Thank you Audra Wheeler. By the way, I love your nose freckles but I'm flattered you spiffed up for me."

Audra took a deep breath and looked into Ethan's big, beautiful hazel eyes.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," she replied.

"What are your plans for the day?"

"I'm going to see if I can find Candy Reign," Audra said. "I'm sure she's no longer in the business though."

"Right, twenty-five years is a long time to stay in the worlds oldest profession."

"Yes, it is. But she may be at the same address. Or the owner may be able to point us to a forwarding address."

Ethan nodded before digging into his waffle. "Yeah, I know where it is," he said with a full mouth. "This is good."

"So, you wanna come with me to find Candy Reign?"

"Where you lead I will follow," Ethan assured her with a wink.

Audra felt a strange confusion as she tried to compare the Ethan in front of her to the Ethan that she'd known in New York. "Country life has changed you."

"Losing you changed me, Rook," he corrected her. "I know what's important. I'm not going to let crazy regulations and rulebooks get in our way this time."

"After this is over, I'm going back to New York," Audra said. "My entire life is there, Ethan."

"What life, Rook?"

Audra looked stricken. "My career, my apartment, my life."

"Come on Audra, you can't fool me. When was the last time you actually caught a specter?"

Audra swallowed. "It's not always about catching them."

"Then what's the point? I've been away from the game long enough to see it for what it is"

"What is it?"

"A way to make us mark time and not think about doing something worthwhile."

"Solving Abigail's murder isn't worthwhile? Trying to figure out why my sister was attacked isn't worthwhile?"

"Of course those things are, but how many times have you been on a case that was even close to this important? And after what we've seen, it may not even be a specter that you're looking for. Isn't that what Gwyneth Miller's ghost told you?"

"What are you getting at?" Audra asked, annoyed.

"Maybe you should think about working with specters as opposed to against them. I'm looking for a deputy."

"Right," Audra smiled. "I'm going to move from New York to the middle of nowhere country to work with specters. Specters don't even belong here, Ethan. They need to go to whatever afterlife awaits them."

"Maybe this is their afterlife, Audra." She took a moment to think about that. "Specters don't kill," Ethan said softly. "They have no motive."

"You talked to the Candle Shop lady."

"Of course I did. And she made a lot of sense. What motive would a ghost have to kill anyone? What would they gain? They don't need money, they don't need food, they don't need anything. They only want to exist."

"Serial killers don't have any motive other than the feeling of killing. They enjoy it."

"Then why doesn't it seem more random and less personal? If I'm right, we're going to find that all of these young women are related. I'm sure they're all sisters Audra. And if your sister is related to them, this goes back further than even the first recorded specter appearance."

Audra breathed deeply. "Mackenzie told you about her chakra and energy theory?"

"No, she didn't." Ethan looked confused. "I went to her just after we found Gwyn. I asked her about the possibility of a serial killer specter and she told me it wasn't a logical option."

"Well, she read my palms," Audra recounted. "She knew about my sister." Audra gave him a questioning glance.

"When I talked to her I didn't even know that you were coming," Ethan said.

"Did she read your palm?" Audra inquired.

"She did, of course. I think it's her thing."

"What did she tell you?"

"You won't believe me," he said.

"Try me."

"She said this murder would dig up the past. It would bring someone important back into my life."

Audra smiled. "Did it?"

"It did."

They looked at each other for a moment. Audra wished she could read his thoughts. She knew it would be impossible to uproot her life and live in Specter, but she couldn't ignore the significance of being with Ethan once again.

"So, Candy Reign," she said, breaking eye contact with him. "We should go see if she still lives at her last known address."

"Right, I'll wait in the truck while you get dressed." Ethan seemed a little frustrated at her change of subject.

"I'll be right there."

Audra took five minutes to dress and put on a little more make-up before climbing into Ethan's truck and riding with him to the south side of town to find the apartment building that had once housed Candy Reign.

As he pulled into the parking lot, Audra was struck by the state of ill repair the building was in. She led the way as Ethan followed close behind. She walked into the lobby and found the manager's office right next to the entrance, a buzzer resting on the wall next to it. The unmistakable stench of urine and body odor burned her nose as she stepped closer to the door.

"You've got to be kidding me," she said as she covered her nose and mouth with her sleeve.

"You want me to get the manager to meet you outside?" Ethan asked as Audra fought hard against her gag reflex.

She quickly nodded and dashed back out the door, taking deep breaths of the fresh air. Audra took a look around and noted that the grass was dried out and patchy and trash was scattered around the building, including used needles and condoms. She felt her stomach turn.

Ethan burst back through the entrance pushing an aging man with greasy, unkempt, stringy hair in front of him.

"Okay, okay, okay Sheriff, take it easy," the man protested.

"Agent Wheeler," Ethan began, "this is Timothy Delluca, the manager of this eyesore. Agent Wheeler has a few questions for you."

"Mr. Delluca, do you remember a tenant of this building that went by the name of Candy Reign? This would have been about twenty-five years ago."

"I knew Candy," he said peaceably and Ethan let him go.

"She died about five years ago of an overdose," he informed them, "just before the building was donated to HUD."

"Oh, I see," Audra said and exhaled. "Would you remember Abigail Stevens?"

"No, I didn't know her. But I heard stories."

"Who owned this building before HUD?" Audra asked.

"The Shelley family," he said. "They owned a good bit of real estate in this town for a while until the elders passed, then they began donating and selling it off. When the young doctor died they put his life insurance into the new hospital and donated this property to HUD."

"So, HUD is responsible for this building now?" Audra asked.

"They are," Mr. Delluca confirmed.

"I'll be giving them a call to complain about the conditions here," she informed him sternly.

"What!" Mr. Delluca tried to take a step towards her, but Ethan was too fast for him, placing him in a headlock.

"You have a good day, Mr. Delluca," Audra said and headed towards the truck.

She barely heard the orders Ethan barked at him to get back into the building and call someone to clean things up. When Ethan hopped back into the driver's seat Audra let her head rest in her hands.

"That was a bust," Audra murmured as the truck was backed out of the parking space and they headed back to town.

"What do you want to do now?"

Audra sighed. She wanted to go back to New York and forget that she'd ever even heard of Specter, Georgia.

"Anyone can tell us anything at this point," Audra said. "Twenty-five years is a long time. I need to get a team on site. Communication, information, forensics, at least two more investigators and people who are not as personally involved. We need to ferret out informants, which means we need burn money." She trailed off as she noticed a strange expression on Ethan's face."

"You'll have to call Cordero for all of that. I'm not sure I'm quite ready for that reunion," Ethan admitted.

"Yeah, but didn't he suggest you move here?"

"It wasn't so much a suggestion as it was a comment while he was ripping me a knew one about my life choices up to that point. You know, how selfish I was for putting your career in jeopardy, and then how flimsy I was for wanting to leave the FBI. What a punk I had been for taking advantage of a rookie, how special you are for all that you had overcome and accomplished. If he were me he would take a relationship with a girl like you seriously, going back to his hometown, blah, blah, blah," Ethan trailed off.

"I see," Audra said, not truly knowing the depth of Cordero's concern and disapproval over their fling until just that moment. "Well, you're the sheriff now. I'm sure he'll be cordial and friendly."

Ethan smiled. "We'll see."