“She can’t hear you, either, can she?”
“No. You are the Speaker.”
“Being the middleman sucks.” I looked at the spot behind me where the Hindered had last spoken. “Are you haunting your sister?”
From the other side of the room, a pile of papers from my desk flew in all directions. “Yes!” the voice howled.
I stood up. “Cut that out! My room is messy enough. If you want me to help you, stay in one place and don’t mess with my stuff.”
“You tell her!” Alden said with a smirk as he lay back on the floor with his hands behind his head like he was watching a movie rather than a ghost mediation.
“It’s a good thing she can’t hear you.”
“It’s a good thing you can. Where does the sister live, what does the necklace look like, and where is the rightful owner?”
I faced the desk. “Okay. Where does your sister—”
Alden tugged on the leg of my jeans. “Lenzi. Let her in. Save yourself time and irritation. She’ll give you all that and more if you let her in. I’ll get the information too. I can talk to her while she’s sharing your body. We both can.”
I lowered myself onto the floor next to him. “I was really hoping to do it without the soul-sharing thing. Do I have to?”
“Yep. Sorry.” He propped up on his elbow. “We have less than three hours. An interview could take all night. We need these points before the meeting tomorrow. Please, Lenzi. I’d do it for you if I could.” He reached over and touched my hand.
That was incentive enough. “Okay, come on in. Tell it to me quick; we’ve got a deadline.”
I wasn’t sure whether the entrance of a soul was becoming less painful or if I was just getting used to it. Before long, the Hindered named Georgia had filled me in on the details of the theft of the family necklace and its whereabouts in her sister’s house. I listened as Alden quizzed her, which was weird, because it was my body Georgia was using to draw a map and write addresses.
“Are you okay in there, Lenzi?” Alden would ask occasionally.
Once Georgia had spilled the whole story about her sister, Karen Black, I gave the okay for Alden to help her soul out. I expected to see Georgia when she exited, like I’d seen the Malevolent and Suzanne, but there was no trace of her.
“Where’s Georgia, Alden?”
You only see them if they are moving on. She’s probably hanging around to see her promise fulfilled.
“Oh.” That made sense, I supposed.
You asked about our marriage. Want to see a memory?
Unexpected lotto win. “Yes!”
A vision of the two of them, Rose and Alden, standing at a church altar getting married, flashed through my head. Rose was in a white dress with gauzy sleeves. The front of the dress bloused loosely. Her waist was so tiny, it was obvious she was wearing a corset. Her hair was piled on the top of her head under a multitiered veil. Alden had short hair and sideburns. He was wearing a black suit, a white, stiff-collared shirt, and a white funny-looking tie. He reminded me of Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice. There were only a few people in attendance. I recognized Maddi and Race, but the other guests were unfamiliar. Rose was beautiful. Jealousy surged through me.
Wait, there’s more, Alden said as the image fast-forwarded to the point after they walked out of the church. Rose looked up at Alden. “Remember, we are only doing this for the sake of convenience. You are a marvelous Protector. If this will make it more convenient for you, then it is the right thing to do. Don’t get any ideas, Alden. This is a marriage in name only. Anything else would make you less effective. We will never be more than business partners in this lifetime or any other. Are we clear?”
“As crystal,” Alden said as he touched his lips to hers in a light, platonic kiss.
I was furious with Rose. The frigid witch.
Seen enough, Lenzi? Does that answer your question?
“Yes.” I reached over and touched his body on the shoulder. “I’m ready.”
I was so shaken by Rose’s words, the sensation of his soul’s exit didn’t even faze me.
Alden’s eyes burned to life and he gasped a breath of air. He smiled. “It gets easier, doesn’t it?”
I was determined not to cry. “Yes.” I stood up. “Alden, I—”
He put his finger to my lips. “Shhh. If this is about the memory you saw, don’t. Don’t react to it yet. An emotional response would be wrong. Think about it first. Rose was right: anything more would have made me less effective. More importantly, it would have made her less effective. I promised to follow her dictate. Your dictate.” He traced my lips with his finger. “There’s a lot at stake here, Lenzi. I think you’ll see her side if you just think about it.”
“Why did you show me that right now?” I asked.
“Because you were coming on to me earlier. Because you’re . . . making me crazy.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
He took my face in his hands. “I have lifetimes of memories you don’t have. I know more about you than you know about yourself. I have an unfair advantage, so I’m trying to level the playing field—the field you used to control. The rules state that I must follow the Speaker. You must lead. I want you to know where you’re going, Lenzi. That’s why I showed it to you.”
He hugged me to him. I wrapped my arms around his waist, glad to finally be in his embrace, whatever the conditions.
Alden glanced at his watch. “We’ve got to get moving. We need to break into this house as soon as possible.”
“Break in?”
“Whatever it takes.” He grabbed the map and addresses and shoved them into his pocket. “Don’t worry, Lenzi. This first trip is just to check the place out. You’ll stay in the car with my body while I go in alone.”
“You’re going in without your body?” I stopped short at the top of the stairs. He climbed back up and pulled me down by the hand.
“Yes, Lenzi. She’ll never know I’m there. I’ll be like a Hindered . . . only not dead. Gawk later. Let’s go. Call Georgia. We’ll need her for this one.”
I stared at Alden’s body in complete disbelief. Part of his soul was out there somewhere, breaking into a house to steal a stolen necklace. The whole thing was crazy. He had exited about fifteen minutes ago, leaving his body seat-belted in the passenger seat. He’d given me instructions to drive straight to his house if something happened and to use his phone to call the IC to report a problem for Speaker 102 and Protector 438.
The street was a cul-de-sac. Karen Black’s home was four houses from the cross-street. Alden had parked on the opposite side of the street several houses away, leaving the car windows cracked open about an inch. I blamed the cool night air for my trembling hands. Rifling through the glove box, I searched for something to fold, but the Audi owner’s manual was the only paper in his car. I clamped my hands between my knees. What was taking him so long?
Alden’s body came to life with a gasp at his soul’s return. “I got the alarm code and the location of the necklace.” He appeared proud of himself, keyed up. “Plus, we lucked out. She’s leaving in half an hour for the store, in case we have to steal it.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked. “Where’s the necklace?”
“It’s in a drawer that has a false bottom.”
“Why didn’t you get it?”
Alden furrowed his brow. “It’s hard to pick stuff up when you don’t have hands, Lenzi.”
Moron Club president for life. “Oh, duh.”
“Yeah, duh.” He ruffled my hair. “Before we break in for real, let’s see if she’ll hand it over willingly.”
I liked this better when I thought that Ghost Alden would handle the hard stuff. “I guess so. Do you think she’ll give it to us?”
He shrugged. “It depends on how sick she is of being haunted by Georgia.”
What if the woman had a gun or something? I grabbed his hand, and he shot some calming current my way. My fears dissolved when the tiny
elderly lady opened the door. She was wearing a pink and yellow floral print housecoat with her hair in a style that looked like it took a lot of hair spray to maintain. She squinted at us from behind her oversized gold-rimmed glasses.
Alden smiled politely. “Miss Karen Black?”
“What do you want?” she grumbled.
“Georgia sent us.”
She slammed the door in our faces. Alden scowled and knocked on the door. “Please, Miss Black. We just want to talk to you. Georgia will go away if you give the necklace back.”
“I don’t know anyone named Georgia,” her wavering voice called out.
“Yes, you do. We know the entire story. Give the necklace to your niece, and this will all be over.”
“Never!” she shouted from the other side of the door. “Never. It should have been mine. I’m the oldest. I’m going to be buried in it. It’s mine.”
Alden groaned. “Come on, Miss Black. Georgia made a promise to your dying mother. She can’t move on until she fulfills that promise. That’s why she’s haunting you. She’ll go away if you do the right thing.”
“Get off my property, or I’ll call the police.”
“Obstinate old bag,” he muttered as we walked back down the sidewalk. A neighbor to the east of Miss Black’s house peered out her front window at us. Alden opened the driver’s side door before he walked around the front of the car and slid in the passenger side. I stood in the middle of the street, looking at him through the open door.
“Drive us to my house, Lenzi.”
“I don’t have a license.”
“I don’t care.”
Other than driver’s ed, I’d never even been behind the wheel of a car. “I don’t really know how to drive very well.”
He laughed. “That’s a problem, because you’re going to be driving yourself back here.”
“Where are you going to be?”
“In your body. We’re leaving my body at my house. We need to do this together in case we get caught. Two souls are better than one.” He put on the passenger-side seat belt.
Get caught? Oh, great. I leaned over to get a better look at him. I really didn’t want to drive his snazzy car and smack it into something. “Why don’t we just do it from here?”
He heaved a theatrical sigh. “Because someone might find my soulless body, resulting in my discontinuance by the IC. The objective is to stay alive.”
“If the objective is to stay alive, then you don’t want me to drive.”
Alden shifted in his seat to face me. “Lenzi, listen to me. We have less than two hours before your mother gets back and less than fourteen hours before we meet with the ICDC representative. We need this resolution. Not obtaining it will be far more deadly for both of us than a car wreck. Besides, the car is insured,” he added with a smile.
I studied him for a moment, letting his words sink in. “Will they kill us if we don’t succeed tonight?”
“Our situation is unprecedented. I have no idea what they’ll do. You emerged five days ago. An experienced Speaker, which is what you’re supposed to be, should average twenty points a day. Fifteen is low-range acceptable. Tomorrow will be day six. You should have at least ninety points by noon tomorrow. We only have forty points right now. This one is worth twenty-five. We’ll still be under the average, but I think that will be enough to satisfy them. We need this, Lenzi.”
I slid into the driver’s seat, shaking. “Why can’t you just drive using my body?”
“Because part of my soul remains in my body when we soul-share. Only a complete soul—a dead person—can control another body.”
“And why do I have to drive now instead of just driving us back here?”
“It’s a practice run. I thought it would make you more comfortable. And if you suck as bad as you say you do, I can take over and we’ll call a cab for the return trip. I’d rather not do that because it’s just one more witness.”
As much as I hated it, that made sense. I held my breath and turned the key in the ignition. At least the Audi was an automatic.
After averaging around twenty miles an hour, I finally pulled into Alden’s driveway, managing not to take out the mailbox in the process. Go, me.
“Maybe we’d be faster walking next time,” Alden kidded as he got out and opened my door. “Mom’s at a conference, and Dad’s working the ER shift tonight, so Aurora is home with Izzy, who should be asleep if we’re lucky.”
“Aurora is the woman you left her with earlier.”
“Our housekeeper. She spends the night when my parents are out of town or on call. She won’t give us any trouble.”
I followed him into the entry hall. “Wait here,” he whispered.
I could hear his warm, rich voice as he spoke with Aurora from somewhere in the back of the house. He apologized for coming home late and told her that he would see her in the morning. Then he grabbed my hand and ran up the stairs, dragging me behind him. After he closed and locked his door, he grinned at me and took off his shoes. “Exciting, isn’t it?” He slid under the covers of his bed.
It certainly could be. “Uh, yeah,” I murmured. “Exciting.” What in the world was he up to?
He held out his arms. “Come here, Lenzi.”
Now, this looked promising. “What do you want, Alden?”
“What I want and what I’m going to do are two different things. I need to transfer my soul to your body. Take my hands so it won’t hurt as much.”
When I grabbed his hands, a jolt of energy surged from him through me—not the calming kind of energy. He was feeling the same way I was. Warning or no warning, I leaned down to kiss him. Before my lips touched his, his soul entered my body.
Stop, Lenzi. I told you to think first.
“Ow! That hurt . . . and I did think.”
Obviously not. What you were about to do was impulsive and emotional. We don’t have time for that right now. Miss Black will be leaving in less than five minutes. Climb out the window. There’s a trellis that’s easy to climb. I do it all the time.
I slid the window open and peered out. I crawled onto the sill and poked around with my foot to explore the vine-covered wall for the trellis he had mentioned. After some fumbling, I managed to climb down the side of the house without hurting myself. The dense vine left my hands sticky. I wiped them on my pants.
Alden gave me driving pointers the whole way to Georgia’s sister’s house, which was beyond irritating. Driving was traumatic enough as it was. His backseat driving from inside my head made it a nightmare.
“Now what?” I snapped as I turned the car off.
We’re going to break in.
“Fantastic. My mom will be so proud.”
Let’s hope Georgia’s right about the spare key under the back doormat.
I crept around to the back of the house and lifted the mat, knocking over a ceramic bowl full of water that had GOOD KITTY painted on it. I pulled out the key. “Now what?”
Unlock the door. When we’re in, I’ll give you the alarm code.
I entered the code he gave me on the keypad inside the door. All the lights were out, but from the faint light coming in through the windows from the streetlights, I could tell the house had been ransacked. Paper was everywhere, and the smaller pieces of furniture were overturned. “What happened in here?” I whispered.
Georgia, most likely. She’s here somewhere. If you call her, she’ll come.
“No, thanks. One disembodied voice is enough right now. Where’s the necklace?”
In her bedroom. Third drawer down in the tall dresser by the window. It has a false bottom. The necklace is underneath.
The hardwood floor groaned under my tennis shoes as I tiptoed down the narrow hallway toward Miss Black’s room at the back of the house. The silence was painful. The only other noise was the rhythmic ticking of a clock somewhere in the house. I found myself creeping along in rhythm.
Tick-tock, creak. Tick-tock, creak.
The phone rang, causing me to ju
mp and nearly wet my pants. I flattened against the wall and held my breath until it finally stopped ringing. My skin was prickly all over, like bugs were crawling under the surface. I closed my eyes and tried to calm down enough to get a full breath. I wasn’t sure whether Alden could feel my panic while we were soul-sharing. But if he could and my fear really turned him on, he must have been having a great time.
Once my legs weren’t Jell-O, I continued down the hallway to Miss Black’s bedroom.
I wrinkled my nose when I entered. The small, cramped space smelled like mothballs, hair spray, and Chanel No. 5.
I crept to the tall dresser and gave the third drawer a pull. It was stuck. Why couldn’t something be easy just once? After a couple of sharp tugs, I cracked it open just enough to slip my arm inside. I shoved the folded clothes aside and found a lift hole in the center of the bottom. I pulled it up and felt around with my trembling fingers. Stupid drawer. I would have been out already if it had opened all the way. Ah, cold metal.
“I’ve got it!” It was an opal pendant on a heavy gold chain. Hard to believe one little thing could be the cause of so much trouble. I needed to pocket it and get out before the old woman got back. I shoved the drawer closed and folded the chain in my hand.
“Yes! That’s it. It belongs to my daughter.” Georgia’s voice from behind my shoulder freaked me out so much I almost dropped the necklace. It took a moment for me to stop shaking enough to cram the necklace in my pocket. Now, I just needed to get out and drive to Alden’s house without totaling his car. Piece of cake.
I reset the alarm. Almost out.
As my fingers wrapped around the door handle, blue and red lights pulsed and flashed through the windows at the front of the house.
Cops! “Oh, no, Alden . . .”
Don’t panic, Lenzi. Call out for Georgia, I need to talk to her.
I couldn’t control my trembling. This was bad. As bad as it got. My mom was going to ground me for all eternity.
Lenzi. Concentrate. We need Georgia.
I called her, and through me, Alden explained the game plan. She was supposed to scare Ms. Black before she ever got out of her car—like, really freak her out. That was fine with me if it worked, but who knew if it would?