Chai stood behind the sofa and held out his hands, not touching her but close enough so that when he began to generate heat it wrapped around her like a gentle wave. I could feel it from where I was sitting, and it was more than welcome.
“I’ll be all right, if I can just get something to eat and something warm to drink inside me.”
I stuffed a sandwich in her hands and she began to devour it. Halfway through, she slowed, a relieved look spreading across her face. By the time she finished off the sandwich, the kettle was whistling. I hustled into the kitchen and made a pot of tea. As I carried it out on a tea tray, along with cups and saucers, Tonya had moved on to the cookies. Chai was doing his best to help her finish them off.
“Save one for me!” I held out my hand after I set the tea tray on the coffee table. They handed me the bag, Chai giving me a scolded-puppy look. “Oh stop that, I know you’re not sorry. I know how much you love Oreos.” Turning to Tonya, I asked, “Are you up to telling us what happened?”
She let out a long sigh and nodded. “If I could get a cup of that tea, yes.”
Chai poured tea for all of us. I found it amusing to watch the seven-foot djinn gracefully handling china cups without breaking them. He was extremely graceful and somehow managed to get tea to all of us without spilling a single drop. After she had managed several sips, Tonya set down her cup and leaned back, shrugging the throw tighter around her shoulders.
“While I was using my crystal ball, I was dragged into a very dark place. At first, I couldn’t see anything around me. Then a light appeared and I realized I was in the kitchen of Mary’s house. I saw her standing there, crying as an angry man loomed over her. As she pulled her hands away from her face I could see that she had a black eye. I wasn’t sure what the man was angry about—I couldn’t hear them. But he raised his fists, and I had the feeling he was threatening her. And then the scene changed. I was seeing a bedroom, and she was sitting in a chair, holding a baby to her chest. The child was crying and she seemed to be trying to get him to stop, patting his back as tears poured down her face. The same man was there. He pointed at the child and said something. Mary shied away, looking like she was trying to shield the baby. Again—this was all silent, like some silent movie.”
“Ten to one, it was her husband you saw.” I had a very bad feeling about how this was going to end, and the look on Tonya’s face did nothing to calm that feeling.
“Oh, I’m sure you’re right,” she said. Her voice was tired, and she stared down at the cup and saucer in her hands. “You know, sometimes I hate having the Sight. Sometimes I hate being able to peer into business that’s none of my own. I feel like a peeping Tom, or voyeur. And half the time, I don’t want to see what I’m forced to. But I can’t help what I am, and if I can help put someone to rest or calm someone’s fears, then I feel I have no choice.”
Chai left off playing heater and joined us on the sofa. He reached out and softly brushed Tonya’s shoulder and right then, I knew that he was falling for her. There was something about his touch—a gentleness that I had never seen in him before. He was gentle with me, but in a brotherly way.
“You do what you have to do,” he said.
She nodded. “I know, and that’s why I forced myself to stay, to watch. Mary was still holding the baby—and oh, she looked so much younger there, and so fragile. The man suddenly yanked the child out of her arms. She began to scream, but he turned and . . . and . . . he shook the baby so hard that even in silence, I could see that he snapped the child’s neck. Mary fell to her knees, still screaming, as he dumped the child in front of her on the floor and barked some sort of an order. I think he was ordering her to get rid of it.” She spoke so flatly that at first the words didn’t register, and then I realized what she’d said.
“He killed their baby. I wonder if that’s what sent her over the edge? Why didn’t she call the police?”
Tonya shrugged. “My guess is he threatened that if she did, he would tell them she was the one who killed the baby. Back then, nobody believed the woman. I’m not sure exactly whether that was what broke her, but I have a feeling we’re going to find out. When Mary saw the bones, I could see the look of recognition cross her face—as if she were waking up from a dream. I think we have to be very careful. This may drive her over the edge, and who knows how powerful a spirit she really is?”
“I think you’re right.” I picked up the cookie bag and shook out the last three into my hand. As I bit into one, the chocolate filled my mouth, but it couldn’t take away the sour taste that Tonya’s revelation had left in it. I knew how cruel people could be; I grew up with cruelty. But I wanted to believe in goodness, and I wanted to believe that there were parents who loved their children. Tonight had shaken both hopes.
Chai seemed to sense my mood, and he patted the seat next to him. As I slipped in beside him, he wrapped his arm around me and I leaned my head on his shoulder, finishing the cookies. He held out his other arm and Tonya stared at him for a moment, then slid into his embrace as well, leaning against his other side. We sat that way for a long time, still as statues, unspeaking, as the tea cooled, and the flash of police lights flickered through the front window.
CHAPTER 15
It was ten A.M. before Yugi rang the front doorbell. By then, Tonya had taken a shower. She was wearing down, exhausted from the night. I was still running on adrenaline, although I had the feeling I would go to sleep early—perhaps even sleeping a full seven hours. Chai was cleaning house. He knew how much a clutter-free environment helped me think.
I ushered the officer in. He glanced at the aquarium against the wall and smiled softly. “That’s quite a setup you’ve got there. I take it you like fish?”
I gave him a soft smile. “I’m particularly fond of jellyfish. But yes, I love everything to do with the ocean.” I wasn’t sure if he was aware that I was a dragon—a water dragon at that—but chances were good that Chase had told him. “Please, have a seat. Would you like some coffee or tea?”
He shook his head. “No, thank you. I have to get back to the station. I just wanted to let you know that we’ve gone through the house. You’re right, it’s extremely creepy and I have to agree that it’s haunted. Of course, that won’t go in my official report but I will be sure to tell Chase about it. He should be in the office by the time I get back there. I also had one of my men do a little research while we were waiting for the coroner. It appears that the house actually belongs to a distant relative of Mary Smith. I have her name if you would like it. Elena Johnson lives in Maine. Her mother was Mary’s niece, Cordelia. Cordelia passed the house on to her daughter. Elena has never been out to claim it. She pays the property taxes but she said that every time she thought about selling it, something bad happened to one of her family members. I have a feeling she thinks it’s cursed.”
“In a sense, she’s right. Please do leave us her name and number. I think my friend Tonya might be interested in talking to her.” I paused, trying to think of how to phrase my next question. “What happens next? Who claims the body of the child? Did Mary have any other relatives around here?”
“That, I don’t have an answer for. At least not at this point. You should ask Chase later on, if you want to know. Or you can call me in a few days and I might be able to give you more information.” He stood, and with a bob of his head added, “It’s been nice to meet you, Shimmer. I wish it were under better circumstances. And now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to headquarters.”
I ushered him out the door, watching as he walked down the sidewalk to his cruiser. As I closed the door and turned back, pressing my back against it, Tonya appeared in the living room, a terry-cloth robe wrapped around her. She was carrying Snookums, who was draped over her shoulder, looking extremely relaxed. Tonya, on the other hand, just looked tired.
“I have the name of the person who owns Mary’s house. If you’re really interested . . .” I let my words drift off. While I was excited at the thought that she migh
t move down to Seattle, I didn’t want to seem pushy.
“Yes, but first I have to figure out if I can clear the house and land. And I need to check my e-mail before I turn in for the day.” She moved toward the table holding her laptop. Chai popped out of the kitchen, another tray of tea in hand. He cleared a space on the table and carefully set the tray down. Then, without a word, he returned to the kitchen and I heard the sound of dishes rattling as he filled the dishwasher.
Tonya fired up her computer and I sat beside her.
“Bette will be heading toward the community center soon.” I glanced at the clock. “I believe her class starts at one P.M. I just hope she’s careful. The doppelgänger is terribly dangerous.”
“What is Bette?” Tonya typed in her password.
I had forgotten that Tonya didn’t know. Bette hadn’t been with us when we were up in Port Townsend. And apparently she hadn’t had time to fill Tonya in on her background.
“Bette is what is known as a Melusine. She’s a Greek water spirit and can turn into a water moccasin. Melusines are extremely sensuous and can turn the head of just about any human. But I think there’s more to her than meets the eye. She won’t talk about her past. Or, at least, she never has to me. In fact, I kind of get the impression she’s not really sure about her past. In a sense, we have that in common.”
“She and Alex were a couple at one time, weren’t they?” Tonya brought up her Smart Mail account and clicked on the inbox.
“Yes, they were, but it was quite a while ago. They’re pretty much best friends at this point. In fact, that was part of the problem with Glenda, Alex’s ex. Glenda was jealous of Bette.”
But Tonya wasn’t listening. She was staring at an e-mail. “Crap. I can’t believe he wrote to me again.”
Another moment and she gasped, then turned her laptop so I could see what she was looking at. There was an e-mail there from Jack Skelton. The only thing in it was an image. The picture was graphic, the colors heightened. It had obviously been Photoshopped, but that didn’t make it any less disturbing. It was a picture of a woman lying on her back, naked with a knife stuck through her heart. She was bleeding and obviously had been stabbed multiple times. And the woman’s face had been replaced with an image of Tonya’s face.
As I stared at the picture, a wave of anger swept over me. How dare someone do this? What right did he think he had?
Tonya was shaking as she raised one hand to cover her mouth. “Why is he doing this? What does he want from me?”
“I don’t know, but I’m calling Ralph and getting him over here right now to take a look at this.” I jumped up and headed into the living room, where I had left my cell phone. As I pulled up my contacts and tapped on Ralph’s name, I decided that one way or another, we were going to find Jack Skelton and put an end to this.
* * *
While Ralph examined the e-mail, I headed into the living room, where I picked up Elena’s number. After a moment, I decided that I might as well give her a call. Tonya didn’t have to buy the house, but we might as well know what the terms would be. That is, if Elena would even sell, considering she had decided the place was cursed.
After three rings, a woman’s voice answered. It was a pleasant voice, light and tinkling like chimes. “Elena Johnson speaking, how may I help you?”
“Hi, my name is Shimmer. Officer Yugi gave me your number. I live in the house across the street from Mary Smith’s house. My friend is visiting from out of town, and she’s taken an interest in the property. We were wondering if there was any chance you might be willing to sell?”
There was silence on the other end for a moment, and I half expected her to hang up. But then, in a slow voice, Elena said, “I’m not sure. The house has been in the family for a while, but none of us have ever lived there. Not since Mary owned it.” A pause, and then she added, “Can I assume you know the story behind the house?”
“If you’re asking if I know what happened regarding Mary and her family, yes—actually I do. And so does my friend. But the house has great potential, and it’s on a very pretty lot. There’s a lot that can be done with it.”
“I’m sure there is. I’ve never seen it in person, but I’ve seen pictures.” Another pause.
I had a sneaking suspicion of what she was trying to say, without actually saying it. I decided maybe I could make things easier for her. “Just in case you’re wondering, we do know that the house is haunted.”
Elena let out a little laugh, but it sounded strained. “I wasn’t sure how to approach the subject. In some states you have to declare whether a house is known to have ghosts. I’m not sure if Washington is one of those states. But the fact is, we tried to rent it out several times. Or rather, my mother did. Each time the family left abruptly and refused to go back. I believe there were three leases broken in the first two years. Finally, my mother gave up trying to rent it.”
“Trust me, there’s a reason they left.”
She let out a soft laugh. “I don’t know if I believe in ghosts, but I know that our renters did and they were so scared that they were willing to fork over the remainder of the money to get out of the lease. We didn’t ask them to—we released them without penalty. But each time, someone in my family got terribly ill. I don’t know if there’s any correlation, but I suppose that I am superstitious enough to be wary.”
I bit my lip, unsure how to answer her. “The house is definitely haunted. But my friend and I believe there’s a lot more to the story. Things about Mary that nobody else knew. We think . . . we believe that she had a rough life. In fact, to be honest I think the demons she thought were haunting her were very real and very mortal.”
“What you mean?”
“We have reason to believe that she may have suffered terrible abuse from her husband. Some of the things we’ve seen and found corroborate that. It’s nothing that we could take into a court to clear her name, and the truth is, I think that she actually did murder her husband and three of her children. But we think that something happened to drive her over the edge. You see, early this morning we discovered the skeleton of her missing baby on the property.”
“That’s what Officer Yugi told me. It’s hard to believe that after all these years they found him.” Elena sighed. “I suppose I can’t just ignore that the house exists. As much as I’d like to pretend that that blot on our family name never happened, I guess I have to deal with it. If your friend wants to buy the house, have her call me and we’ll talk numbers. Maybe it’s time to clear away the past. I’ll be home all day, as well as tomorrow.” And with that, she quietly said good-bye.
* * *
I returned to the kitchen to find Ralph chugging down a mug of coffee. His drink of choice was Flying Horse—an energy drink that was so caffeine rich it made espresso look like Kool-Aid. But I never kept any around because I didn’t like the taste of it, so he’d have to make do with old-fashioned caffeine.
“I just talked to Elena, the woman who owns Mary’s house. She might be interested in selling and I think it would do her family good to get rid of that place.” I had already made up my mind that whether or not Tonya bought the house, it was time to clear out the ghosts. And if she didn’t want it, I thought I might buy it. We could clear the land, fix it up, and rent it out. In fact, if Tonya didn’t want to live there, I could use it for a second income property.
Ralph was mumbling to himself. He took another swig of caffeine and set down the mug on the coaster. “There’s nothing I can find out about this except that yes—he did alter the photo. One of the problems is that Tonya doesn’t remember anyone taking a picture of her recently.”
“But it’s just your face. Would you recognize where this picture was from?”
Tonya gingerly pointed to the earrings that she was wearing in the photo. “I bought those a week and half ago. I haven’t had a picture taken of me since, and I’m not in the habit of taking selfies. So somebody else had to take this picture.”
I realized what they
were saying. “Jack took it, didn’t he?”
“Yeah . . . He took it all right.” Ralph sounded furious. “I can’t stand these freaks.”
“What do we do now? Is there a way we can have him arrested?”
“Well, this e-mail is as good as a threat. I’m going to call the police in Port Townsend and see if they’ll pick him up for questioning. Stalking laws are still nebulous, and it all depends on where you live and whether the authorities take it seriously. I also suggested to Tonya that she have a friend go over and check on her house. Stalkers can get pretty freaky when the object of their obsession vanishes. And since Tonya just took off, there’s no telling what Skelton might do.” Ralph cast a pointed look at Tonya.
“All right, all right. I hear you. I’ll call Patrick. He and I’ve been talking a lot since you guys cleared out his bed-and-breakfast. I’ll call him tonight and ask him to go over and check. I’d ask Alice, one of my friends, but I don’t want to put any other women in danger. It seems safer to ask a vampire to go check. And you’re right, I think it’s time to talk to the police. I was hoping that this would all turn out to be my imagination—that I would be exaggerating things. But I guess I’m not.”
“It’s so much easier to think it might be our imagination. By the way, Elena wants you to call her if you’re interested in the house. And if you’re not, I might be.” I explained my reasoning.
“Well, either way then, I guess we should call her.” Tonya paced around the dining room. “You know, when I went home, after I had climbed down from my high horse that sent me careening over to Aberdeen, I hoped that my mother and I could pick up our relationship without too much of a problem. I was pretty naïve, expecting her to just ignore the fact that I had walked out on her and cut her out of my life. It took a while but we became friends again, but it was never the same. I hurt her pretty badly.”