Haunted

  Adam was quiet as they moved down the path. “Do you feel as if you’re in any danger?”

  She stopped, staring at him. “Adam, you know that, sometimes, I experience the fear of what went on years before. And I’ve woken here shaken and frightened—but it’s nothing I haven’t lived with before, and I’m really determined now that I am on to something, that I can get to the bottom of this. I do believe that someone was murdered in that room. I’ve gotten snatches of what happened in my dreams. Several times. You understand how that works with me. I’m asleep, and somewhere in my mind, I know that I’m dreaming. But I also become that other person in a way, and see and experience the situation from their point of view—as it happened. I’ve slipped in to the past life of a woman in the room—and into the life of the man who came after her.”

  “Can you see their faces?”

  She shook her head. “Not yet. I’ve seen him reach the house. I’ve seen her as she’s been here, alone first, then realizing that he’s come.” She shrugged and let out a long sigh. “Last night, I saw him race up the stairs after her, and he was furious. He’s carrying a stretch or broken rein—long enough to wrap around her neck, which is what I believe he eventually does. But the dream eluded me before I could see the end of it. Or even make out faces.”

  “So you’re close.”

  “Very close.”

  “I should keep watch while you sleep,” Adam said.

  Darcy hesitated. She shook her head then. “I’m more frustrated than frightened. Honestly. I want to see this through. We should set up equipment, yes, and I probably should have done so a few days ago. But we’re not going to get anything on tape—maybe a little mist. I need to get to the bottom of the dream. I need for the entire sequence of events to play out for me.”

  “I understand you had a seance here.”

  “Yes, and there was definitely a feeling of spiritual presence—but not through the medium. The ghosts were probably laughing at us all that night. Except…”

  “Yes?”

  “The malignant presence. I felt it that night, as well. But someone was definitely playing tricks that night. Parlor games. Rapping on the table.”

  “Who did it?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Adam paused on the walkway. “Ah-huh!”

  “Ah-huh?”

  “We’re going to recreate the seance.”

  Darcy grimaced. “Adam, the woman who came was earnest and all that, but not a real medium.”

  “Don’t be silly. Your ‘medium’ will be here for the seance, of course. We need to recreate it with everyone present who was here that night. Except for this—you’ll be the medium this time.”

  “You’re going to try to figure out who was rapping on the table? I can tell you right now—both Clint and Carter can be pranksters. And Penny is so determined that Matt believe in ghosts that she might have done it herself.”

  “I’ll be watching for the table rapper myself,” Adam said. “To get to the bottom of the story with the ghost, we’re going to have to find the mischievous living soul first.”

  Darcy arched a brow. “There’s something not right. Most of the time, spirits just want us to tell what happened in the past—see the evil culprit named, the truth known. This is all so very strange.”

  “Let’s see what happens at a seance when you’re doing the communicating and I’m doing the watching,” Adam said. He turned back toward the house, then cast his face back in her direction again. “Enough of a walk for me,” he said cheerfully. “Come along. We’ve a lot of communicating with the living to do this afternoon.”

  “You want to have the seance tonight?”

  “Why let grass grow beneath our feet?” he cross-queried. “Sure. Absolutely. If it can be arranged, we’ll plunge right in tonight!”

  Matt hung up the phone, groaned, and put his head down on his desk.

  Naturally, Shirley chose that moment to tap, and walk into his office.

  “Matt?” she cried with concern.

  He lifted his head, shaking it, and lifting a hand quickly. “I’m fine. Just ready to jump in a lake.”

  “Oh?” Shirley was still frowning, disturbed.

  “It’s nothing. Adam Harrison has arrived, and wants to repeat a seance at the house tonight.”

  Shirley made a thoughtful face, taking up a perch on the corner of his desk. “What’s so bad about that?”

  “Shirley, you know that I don’t even believe that there is a ghost. I think I’ve got a real live person playing tricks around the place.” He scowled. “Serious tricks.”

  Shirley shook her head slowly. “Any reports back on the wood from the library?”

  “Yeah. Soda.”

  “What?”

  “They were weakened by soda. Some kind of cola spilled into them.”

  Shirley was silent for a minute. “Matt, sounds as if some kid was in the library and spilled a drink that they weren’t supposed to have in there in the first place.”

  “Yeah, that’s what it sounds like, isn’t it?”

  Shirley was silent. “Matt, do you think you’re protesting this a little bit too much?” she asked. “I mean, really, does what happened at the library have to have something to do with anything else going on at Melody House?”

  “No, it doesn’t.”

  “And yet you’re still convinced that it does?” Shirley asked softly.

  “Yep.”

  “Why?”

  “Hunch, I guess.”

  “Mm,” Shirley said thoughtfully.

  “What the hell does that mean?”

  “Let me ask you another question. I heard that your arrival at the library was incredibly opportune. You arrived just in time, before Miss Tremayne gave up her grasp on the wood. How and why do you think you arrived in just the nick of time?”

  He scowled. “I probably knew that Darcy was hanging around the library and just wanted to check up on her.”

  “Oh, Matt, come on. You went there on some kind of a hunch, too. And how is a lot of police work done? Hunches!”

  “Gut reaction, from what we’ve learned over years,” Matt corrected.

  “Ah, come on, you’re doing that Shakespearean thing, protesting too much.”

  “Shirley, please. You don’t believe in ghosts.”

  “I don’t know what I believe in,” she told him earnestly. “I certainly wouldn’t say oh, yes! There are ghosts, I know it. But I’ve seen far too many strange coincidences not to believe that there may be some form of ESP out there. Experts say we only use a very small section of our brains in our day-to-day lives. Maybe the human mind, or spirit, is capable of far more than the normal person ever gets to know. Hey! Can I come to your seance?”

  “Shirley, I’m really sorry. Adam Harrison wants to re-create the last seance we had down to the last man and woman, with only himself there as well, observing. But I tell you what—the minute I hear they’re going to pop out a Ouija board, your name is first on the invitation list.”

  By eight that night, all those who had attended the first seance had arrived at Melody House. David Jenner had his video set up, and Adam and Darcy had also arranged a small slew of instruments throughout the room, including a gauge to determine the temperature in different parts of the room, as well as an electrometer and magnometer which Adam explained were to measure electric and magnetic forces within the room.

  Matt had stayed late at work, hoping to avoid most of the hoopla. Still, it was his house, and nothing was going on in it without him being there. He managed to shower and change and be down for eight, just as Adam was arranging the table to his liking.

  Tonight, Darcy was to be the star of the show.

  He had tried to behave no differently toward her. After all, Adam was the one who had come to take things over. And he had been entirely earnest the night before in his efforts to understand just what made her believe in all that she did. Try as he might, though, by daylight, he couldn’t help but think that she was living in
a world of her own mind, no matter what results she might be able to achieve. He knew that he was offending her with his brief words and marked distance.

  But he didn’t like having the seance, and that was that.

  Elizabeth Holmes came to him and spoke softly but reproachfully. “Matt, I really did know what I was doing. I was close, so close. I wish you would have let me try again.”

  “They’re professionals, Liz,” he told her.

  Her eyes scanned him. “But you don’t believe in any of this.”

  “Lizzie, I brought them in to find out what was going on.”

  Mae strode up, giving him a kiss on the cheek. “Oh, Matt! I do thank you for having me again. This is so exciting.”

  “I had contact! I know I had contact!” Liz continued.

  Jason Johnstone was carrying a scotch as he joined their circle. “I admit I’m intrigued. Hey, Matt, it has been pretty different and amazing since Miss Tremayne arrived. I’m going to cover the ceremony when you bury poor Amy’s skull.”

  “Great, just great,” Matt said, trying not to sound aggravated.

  “See, Liz, you never found a skull,” Mae said.

  “But you were here! I did contact the dead,” Liz insisted.

  Carter sauntered on over, hand in hand with Delilah Dey. “Our councilwoman is a bit nervous,” he said.

  “So spooky!” Delilah said with a delicious little shiver.

  So asinine! He almost retorted. Somehow, he refrained.

  “Shall we begin?” Adam called out.

  They all began to gather.

  “Darcy, you’ll take the middle seat,” Adam said. “Clint…Carter, if you would take seats at her side. David, you’ll be filming. Miss Dey…Delilah, if you would sit at Carter’s side? And Matt, next to Delilah. Mr. Johnstone, we’ll put you next to Penny over there, who will be next to Clint. Matt…you and I will take the ends of the table down here, with Mae and Elizabeth down here, between us.”

  They all filed into the chairs as Adam directed. Penny jumped up then, though, to lower the lights.

  Adam remained cordial and cheerful throughout his instructions. Ever calm, casual, down-to-earth. He didn’t advise that the house be darkened to a point of shadow—evidently, the man wanted some light on the situation. Matt had to admit a tug of admiration for the old man, but then again, he knew that Harrison would allow for no charades.

  Wasn’t that why he had allowed Harrison Investigations in from the beginning?

  Not really, he admitted to himself.

  He’d hoped that Adam would show up, and immediately prove that there was a hidden mike in the Lee Room or some such thing. Something Matt just hadn’t seen.

  But then…

  He was a cop. A good one. He should have found any bugs by now.

  “If everyone will take hands, we’ll begin,” Adam said.

  Obediently, hands were held around the table.

  Matt wasn’t sure what he was expecting then. Adam speaking with a Vincent Price spookiness to his voice, maybe.

  But Adam was as casual as if they were gathering for a picnic on the beach. “Please remember to keep contact with one another, hands on the table at all times. If anyone should become really frightened, just cry out, and we’ll stop the proceedings.”

  “Oooh, I’m scared!” Clint teased, wide-eyed.

  “Me, too,” Carter said. “Thank God I’m hanging on to Delilah.”

  “Carter, you rake!” Delilah said with an appreciative giggle.

  “Really! However can we expect anything?” Liz demanded indignantly.

  “Oh, Darcy’s fine, whatever,” Adam said mildly. “But…are we ready?” He wasn’t really asking the crowd around the table. Just Darcy.

  Her eyes were on his. She was as casual as she might be herself, in an attractive green blouse and jeans. She certainly didn’t look like a medium.

  “Darcy?” Adam said.

  She nodded imperceptibly, and lowered her head.

  Silence reigned for several long seconds, then Adam said. “Is Josh with you?”

  “He’s calling to me, but says that he can’t enter,” Darcy said.

  “Why can’t he enter?” Adam asked.

  “He doesn’t know exactly why. The spirit within is too strong now, the emotions remaining are almost overwhelming. There’s terror…and mistrust.”

  “Tell Josh to be himself. Gentle, kind.”

  They waited. Darcy shook her head, and once again, there was silence.

  “Ask the spirit itself to speak with us,” Adam directed her.

  She nodded, moistening her lips. “Please, we’re here for you,” she said. “We don’t understand, but we’re here for you. We need to understand.”

  Jason Johnstone shuffled his legs. Penny frowned. They all stared at Darcy.

  Matt didn’t know what to expect next.

  What did come caused the hair to rise at his nape.

  “Help.”

  It was Darcy who spoke the word, but it wasn’t really Darcy at all. The voice wasn’t hers. Her eyes were closed, her head was slightly lowered. Her lips moved, and sound came from them, but the voice that spoke wasn’t Darcy’s at all.

  “I never thought…as bad as it got…a killer, my God, a killer. That he could do such a thing…”

  Penny gasped softly. Adam frowned at her sternly.

  “Do what? Who are you, please? We can’t help if we don’t—”

  “Oh, my God!” Darcy suddenly called in the strange voice.

  “What, please?” Adam said.

  “Can’t, can’t…can’t breathe, don’t you see…the danger is…here, danger is with us, oh, God, you must see, must see, must…”

  “Who are you?” Adam inquired again softly.

  There was silence for a minute. Penny’s grip on Matt’s hand was so hard that it threatened to break bone. Her eyes were open, her mouth was formed into an O. Mae, too, was just staring at Darcy, jaw slack with amazement. Clint and Carter were trying to appear skeptical, yet Matt was certain that his cousin was feeling a jolt of fear.

  And as for himself…

  Yes, he felt the sense of fear, too. A deep, strange unease. He didn’t want to believe. Logically, he couldn’t believe. And yet he felt it. Something very eerie. Something that created a chill, deep in his bones.

  Elizabeth Holmes, the ex-medium of the moment, was simply gaping. And Delilah Dey looked as if she would cry out at any second.

  Then a scream sounded. Gasping, high-pitched, rising to a shriek loud enough to shatter glass. It was Darcy, and yet, it wasn’t Darcy at all.

  They all jumped.

  “Maintain your handholds!” Adam directed, and he spoke to Darcy. “Please, we’re here, trying to help you.”

  Darcy shook her head wildly.

  “Why are you so afraid?” Adam asked.

  “Here, here, here…” Darcy mouthed.

  “But we’re here, to help you.”

  “No!” The voice that wasn’t Darcy’s, but coming from her lips, cried out.

  “Please, we need to know—” Adam began.

  “No, no!” The voice cried again in terror and anguish.

  Once again, the sound of the scream shattered the night.

  “Help me, God help me, help me!”

  And then, something worse. Choking, gasping, a desperate struggle to breathe. Sounds so terrible, and so real.

  The sounds of a murder…

  The sound of death.

  11

  This time, it was too much for Delilah Dey. She jerked free from the handholds around the table.

  “My God! That’s horrible! Please, turn on all the lights, please, make this stop!”

  To Matt’s amazement, he felt the same way himself.

  Hands were released. Darcy’s eyes were wide and on Adam’s again. She had a questioning look in her eyes.

  “We have to give it up tonight,” Adam Harrison said, staring at Darcy.

  “Drinks!” Penny gasped out. “Drinks. Would you
all like drinks? I know I want one!”

  She leapt up. The circle was definitely broken. Delilah was shaking like a leaf blown in autumn. Jason Johnstone was white. Even Clint and Carter were looking unnerved.

  Matt found himself staring hard at Darcy. Still so beautiful. Something inside him had to deny her, though. Deny what he had seen.

  It must have been…theater!

  A sham, all a sham. She was beautiful, smooth, cool, dignified…and a charade artist. Or half-crazy herself. How the hell had she done the voice? Because it was good, oh, hell, yes, he had to admit, it was good, really good, he had goose pimples rising on his own arms.

  Dead was dead. He had seen the dead too many times. The dead did not come back to life.

  No matter what he had seen, heard. No matter hints of something more played with his mind.

  She knew. Although Adam had locked his gaze with hers, Darcy knew that Matt was looking at her. She turned to him. Distant, challenging, cool, and even contemptuous. As if she knew he was a liar. All the gentle words and tenderness he had offered were false. He might be madly infatuated with her elegant beauty and sensuality, but he was the one who was a sham. He couldn’t handle it.

  He was angry with himself, angry with her. He never gave away anything with his expression that he didn’t mean to. He was a sheriff; he’d been a cop too long. But Darcy could see right through him.

  She turned away, dismissing him. She rose as if she hadn’t been speaking in a different voice, as if she’d never let out a scream that had just paralyzed an entire room.

  “Penny, let me help you. I’d love a drink, myself.”

  “I’ll help, too!” Delilah said quickly.

  Adam looked at David Jenner. “You got it all on tape?”

  “Yes, Mr. Harrison.”

  “I think I’ll take it to my room,” Adam said. He looked around at the others. “If you’ll excuse me.”

  No one actually answered him. He took the tape from David, and left them.

  “I think I should go home,” Mae said, still just sitting, staring blankly in front of herself. “Oh. I didn’t bring my car, Delilah picked me up.” She focused then, looking at Matt. “I…well, I’ll just have a drink, too, then.”