Say as little as possible to the police, do you understand? Don’t answer a single question; don’t even give them your name. I’ll prompt you from in here. Try not to act schizophrenic because I’m in here. This is why we did it this way. If I had come in my own body, they would have separated us. This way, we stay together.
“I’m scared, Alden.”
I know. I’m sorry. It’ll be okay. Walk out the back door and down the driveway. Move slowly and keep your hands visible. Do everything they tell you to do, but don’t answer any questions.
I took a deep breath, stepped out onto the driveway, and without incident found myself, along with Alden’s soul, sitting in the back of a police cruiser, trying not to break down, hoping to heaven that Mom didn’t find out I’d been arrested for burglary.
NINETEEN
Handcuffs are the most uncomfortable contraptions ever. I’d been in the back of the police cruiser for what felt like a lifetime. Through the window, I watched Miss Black’s neighbor talking to the police officers. The woman gestured wildly as she spoke, causing the belt on her lime-green bathrobe to come untied repeatedly. She would jerk it back in place and go right back to talking and flapping her arms like a giant, green flightless bird. She was the woman I’d seen peering out the window at us earlier. Probably the one who’d called the cops.
It appeared the police were waiting for Miss Black. This was going to be bad. Alden had nearly given the old woman a coronary when he hassled her through the door. She would love to see us locked up.
“My mom’s going to kill me,” I moaned for the millionth time.
She’ll never know it happened. If we’re lucky, my plan will work. If not, the IC will have it cleared up in no time.
“Are they going to lock me up?”
No. This kind of thing happens all the time to Speakers. The IC has a great relationship with the police. We’ve helped them solve several highprofile murder cases in this city over the past two years. So, even if we get taken to the station, nothing will happen to you.
“Wait a minute. You said the whole Speaker-Protector thing was a secret.”
I said it was need-to-know. We have a symbiotic relationship with upperlevel law enforcement, sort of like a paranormal secret service. Most cops don’t have a clue. We’ll call the IC if we get taken in, and they’ll know who to talk to and will clear it up. Please trust me. I won’t let anything bad happen to you.
“Too late. You did, Alden! I’m sitting here in handcuffs like a criminal. You let something bad happen to me!”
Lenzi, calm down, or they’ll think you have a mental illness. From their perspective, you’re sitting here alone, remember? Get control of yourself.
“That’s easy for you to say. You’re not the one going to jail.”
You’re not going to jail, either.
Miss Black pulled up in front of the house in her old-model Cadillac. The two police officers abandoned bird lady and strolled toward her car. Before they got to the curb, though, the old woman, who was still behind the wheel, began waving her arms over her head as if fending off a swarm of wasps. The lights inside the car flickered as the windows rolled up and down.
Atta girl, Georgia! Alden cheered from inside my head. Maybe the plan would work.
Her car rocked back and forth as if being pushed by an invisible force. Miss Black covered her ears and screamed while the radio cranked an elevator version of an Elton John tune at full volume.
It was a full-on multisensory bogeyman boogie, courtesy of Georgia, who didn’t hold anything back, including flashing headlights and a blasting horn. If I hadn’t been just one policeman’s phone call away from the longest grounding in history, it might have been funny.
The cops stopped a few feet away from the car, unsure of what to do.
As quickly as it started, the craziness came to a halt. Miss Black sat panting behind the wheel for a few moments until one of the police officers ran around to open her door and help her out. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but she pointed at me repeatedly.
After a few tense minutes, in which I was positive my heart would stop beating, Miss Black signed a paper on a clipboard the officer handed her. He then gave her an envelope and walked over to lean against a tree while he finished filling out the piece of paper. The other cop opened the back door of the police cruiser.
“Well, young lady, it appears this was all a mistake. You should have told us you were Miss Black’s niece and that the necklace was yours. I guess that makes sense, considering you knew the alarm code and everything. Why didn’t you tell us?”
“I was scared,” I answered honestly.
“Well, you are free to go. Please turn your back to me so that I can remove the handcuffs.” The officer unlocked the metal cuffs from my wrists. He handed me Alden’s car key and my cell phone, but not the necklace they’d taken at the same time when I was arrested.
Ask him where the necklace is, Lenzi. We need to get it back, Alden prompted.
“Um, sir? Where is my necklace now?”
The officer put the cuffs in a holster on his belt. “We just released it to your aunt.”
Oh, no! This is bad.
“Hush! I know it’s bad!”
The officer studied me. “I beg your pardon?”
I made a show of rubbing my wrists where they’d been cuffed. “Oh, um. I was talking about my wrists. I said, ‘They hurt bad,’ that’s all.”
“Sorry about that,” the officer said, turning my wrists over to examine them. “They look okay to me. You’re free to join your aunt now. Stay out of trouble, okay?”
“That’s my goal.”
“Oh, and be sure your aunt gets that car checked out. Looks like it has an electrical short or something. Probably not safe.”
“I sure will. Thanks.” I stepped onto the lawn and watched with relief as the two police officers got in their car and drove away.
I can’t believe it worked! Alden said.
The neighbor in the green robe crossed into the yard and spoke with Miss Black conspiratorially behind her hand. Miss Black shook her head and struck out in my direction, leaving the gossipy neighbor behind.
“Now I just need to get that necklace back in the right hands so Georgia will move on,” I muttered, hoping Miss Black was calmer than she looked.
“Out! I want her out of my life and gone. I don’t care what it takes,” Miss Black said.
“She has it. She has the necklace. You must get it. You must give it to my daughter, Cindy. Then I can rest. It belongs to Cindy!” Georgia nagged.
“Oh, shut up!” I shouted.
Miss Black’s jaw dropped in surprise.
Oh, great. Now I’d done it. “I was talking to the ghost, not you.” I shifted my weight from foot to foot. “Sorry. Georgia’s being a pain. Miss Black, I’m really sorry about all of this. I’m not here to judge what happened years ago—I just want to help Georgia make good on her promise. I want her to move on. I know that you do too.”
“Darn right I do. I’ve had enough. Where is she?” Miss Black asked. “I want to talk to her.”
“Georgia! Where are you?” I called.
“Here,” Georgia responded from behind her sister’s shoulder.
Miss Black looked around nervously. “Is she here? Where is she?”
“She’s right behind you,” I said.
Miss Black jumped and looked behind her. She shook her finger as she spoke. “I want to talk to you, Georgia. You and I need to settle this.”
She can’t hear her, Lenzi. Either you need to interpret or let Georgia talk through you. I can clear out, so that Georgia can come in.
“Oh, no you don’t, Alden. You stay right where you are. I don’t want you to be floating around out there where I can’t see you. It’s bad enough when dead people do it.” I tapped Miss Black’s shoulder. “Miss Black. She can’t hear you. I’ll have to speak for you.”
The tiny old woman wrinkled her face. “Well, you tell her that I’m going t
o give this necklace to her daughter, not because of what she’s done to my house or my car, but because it’s what Mama wanted. If Georgia had asked me properly, instead of being so pushy, I’d have given it to her when she was alive.”
“Georgia, Karen says she’s going to deliver the necklace to your daughter in keeping with your mother’s wishes.”
“You tell Karen that she’s a hard-hearted old bat and she’s lucky I didn’t tump that car over on her thieving hide.”
It was a good thing that Alden was soul-sharing with me right now so that I didn’t have to allow Georgia to speak through me and screw everything up. If I’d gone through all of this for nothing, I’d be royally pissed. “Georgia says she appreciates it, Karen.”
“I said no such thing.”
Miss Black stomped toward her car parked in the street. “Well, tell her she can go away now and leave me alone.”
“Don’t let her leave. She’ll do something sneaky like she always does,” Georgia shrieked.
It was hard to understand Alden because he was laughing so hard in my head. Are we having fun yet, Lenzi?
“It’s not funny, Alden. What do I do to get a resolution out of this?”
Well, you’d better learn to drive a little faster, because she’s almost out of sight.
I sprinted to the car. “Stop laughing, Alden. Come on, Georgia, we’re going to follow her.”
As if driving while listening to Georgia rant about every crappy thing her sister had done since birth wasn’t stressful enough, Alden decided to use the high-speed pursuit as a teaching tool for my continued driver’s education. The old woman drove like a NASCAR racer in her tank of a Cadillac, and by the time she came to a screeching halt in front of a one-story brick house with colorful flowers in planters on either side of the door, I was ready to scream.
Stay in the car for a moment, Lenzi.
“But Georgia can’t hear her. I need to speak for them.”
Georgia can see her. Just relax for a moment and see what happens. It’s better if the daughter isn’t clued in to what’s happening. If it goes bad, we’ll act.
Miss Black tromped up the sidewalk and rang the doorbell. A woman in her thirties opened the door.
“That’s my daughter, Cindy! Isn’t she beautiful? She looks just like our mama,” Georgia said.
A little girl who was maybe three years old peeked around Cindy’s legs to smile at Miss Black. While the women talked, the child picked a flower from the planter on the porch and gave it to Miss Black. After leaning down to hug the child, Miss Black handed the necklace to Cindy. Cindy gestured to the open door and Miss Black followed her into the house after turning around to smile and wave at me.
“Well, I’ll be darned,” Georgia whispered from somewhere in the backseat. “I guess that’s it. If anyone can turn that mean old hag around, it’s Cindy. I guess I’m done, huh?”
“Yeah, I guess so,” I said. “Is there anything else you need, Georgia?”
“Will you tell Karen thank you?”
“You bet.”
Georgia became visible in the backseat. She was a small woman with huge glasses perched on her narrow nose, wearing a velour pantsuit. She had the same weird bluish luminescence Suzanne had. “Thank you, Lenzi,” she said before she closed her eyes and disappeared in a shaft of white light, leaving behind the faint scent of floral perfume.
It was over. Almost. I placed a note on Miss Black’s windshield that said, “Thank you, sister. Love, Georgia.”
This resolution was every bit as gratifying as Suzanne’s, and I enjoyed a heady rush the entire way to Alden’s house.
Alden remained silent until I pulled the car into his driveway. Great job, Lenzi. You were amazing.
I was amazing. The same word he used to describe Rose. Amazing.
His words made me feel like I could fly. Unfortunately I couldn’t, which meant another climb on the trellis. After struggling up the side of Alden’s house, I practically fell into the room through the window. I stumbled to his bed and sat next to his empty body. Climbing through windows and ninja stuff was not my forte. Relief washed over me as I wiped the sticky vine sap on my jeans. I hadn’t been arrested, I hadn’t wrecked his car, I hadn’t screwed up the entire resolution, and Alden said I was amazing. Now I just needed him to listen to me.
Well done, Lenzi. Grab my hand so I can exit.
I folded my arms across my chest. “No way. I want you to stay where you are so that I can talk to you without being distracted. It’s easier if I can’t see you.” I glanced at the handsome seventeen-year-old boy lying peacefully on the bed next to me. Sheesh. He could even distract me when he was unconscious. I turned my back to him and stared at Joe Bear instead. “You and I need to talk about Rose.”
This isn’t fair, Lenzi. We should talk face-to-face, Alden complained. I’m at a disadvantage.
“Well, Protector 438, according to you, you’re the one with the unfair advantage. I’m simply, to use your own words, ‘leveling the playing field.’ Listen to what I have to say, then you can get out.”
He didn’t respond.
“Okay, Alden. We need to get something straight here. You showed me images of some woman from your past—a woman I don’t know. You’re holding her words against me. I’m not Rose, Alden. I’m Lenzi. The fact she didn’t want anything outside of the Speaker-Protector relationship doesn’t mean I shouldn’t. I’ve wanted to kiss you from the minute I met you. If that makes me weak, ineffective, or less productive, then so be it. Quit holding her words against me. I’m not Rose.”
I stifled a scream as Alden’s soul left my body and entered his own against my will. Before I could catch my breath, he pulled me to him and kissed me so passionately, I was certain I’d be joining the ranks of the Hindered any minute.
TWENTY
“This is wrong,” Alden said as he sat up. “I’m so sorry, Lenzi. It’s wrong.”
I lay on his bed, trying to catch my breath, waiting for the punch line. “What are you talking about?”
He walked over to the window, leaned against the sill, and brushed the hair out of his eyes. “Lenzi, we can’t do this.”
I laughed. “Wait a minute. You started it!”
“I know. That’s why it’s wrong.”
I joined him at the window and put my arms around his neck. “Okay, then, I’ll start it this time.”
He grabbed my wrists from behind his neck and held me at arm’s length. “No. Stop. We can’t do this. It’s not fair.”
“Fair!” I jerked my wrists away. “Since when is kissing someone not fair? What rule book are you playing by?”
“The IC Rule Book. Life’s rule book.”
He had to be kidding. No way could he get me all hot and bothered and then pull this. I walked back to him and hooked my finger through his belt loop. “The IC Rule Book says that I have to lead, so follow me!” I stood on my tiptoes to kiss him. He ducked and retreated to the other side of the room.
“I can’t let you do this. You don’t know what you’re doing.”
“You’re absolutely right, Alden, but I bet I’ll figure it out.”
“Enough!” He grabbed me by the shoulders and forced me into his desk chair. “I’m supposed to protect you. We can’t do this. I’m so sorry, Lenzi. Forgive me.”
I gripped the arms of the chair. “Forgive what, Alden? Kissing me? That’s what I want you to do.”
He slumped into a chair in the corner. “You have no idea what you want.”
“I know that I want you.”
He leaned forward in his chair. “You met me what? Five days ago? Lenzi, I’ve known you for lifetimes. This isn’t right.” He ran his hands through his hair. “You’ve always forbidden a sexual relationship. You made it clear it was absolutely off limits. If you get your past-life memory back, I’m toast for what I’ve done already. Any further and you’ll probably have me discontinued.”
I turned my head so he wouldn’t see that I was crying.
He wal
ked over and knelt next to my chair. “Lenzi. Wait until you know what you want.”
This was totally unfair. I was being held back by someone else’s wishes. “I’m. Not. Rose! When will you hear me?”
He pulled me off the chair and into his arms. “I hear you all the time. I listen to your soul every minute. I love you. I always have.”
“You love Rose, Alden, not me.”
“I love you. Whatever you choose to call yourself. Despite your desperate attempt to deny who and what you are, your soul remains intact. Timeless and perfect.”
I pulled away enough to look in his eyes. I could hardly see him through the blur of my tears. “Fine. Whatever.”
“In past cycles you were very clear. I’m just asking for time until this all sorts out.”
I wiped my tears away with the sleeve of my sweater. He was right . . . again. “Okay.”
He kissed my forehead and then stood. “We need to get you home. We’re almost an hour late.”
I jumped to my feet. “Mom’s going to be so mad!”
Alden slipped on his shoes. “Not as mad as she would have been if she’d seen you in handcuffs an hour ago.”
Mom met us at the door and decided not to ground me after Alden took all of the blame for bringing me home past my curfew. She almost changed her mind, though, when I broke out in uncontrollable giggles after she told me that she was so worried, she had almost called the police.
Right after Alden drove off, Zak pulled into the driveway. My stomach sank when I realized I had forgotten to call him. I hadn’t even turned my phone back on after the cops returned it. This was going to be bad. I slipped out the door and ran down the steps to the lawn.
“I’m so sorry, Zak,” I said as he jumped out of his car.
“Save it, Lenzi!” he said, storming toward me.
I took a couple of steps back.
“You lied to me,” he shouted.
I shuffled back even further. “Zak, I—”
He stopped a couple of feet from me, and I moved out of arm’s reach. “I saw him. He dropped you off. You told me you were studying. What were you studying, Lenzi? Human anatomy?”