“Hold up, Beverly,” Midas said. “Let me take the lead with the thermal.”
“Definitely a strong presence here, Midas. Definitely male.”
I walked beside him, alternating my view from his thermal to my video recorder. We approached the basement door, and the air and atmosphere had obviously changed now. All the lights were off, as we’d requested, but the darkness felt deeper, like the background of a black velvet painting.
“Cassidy, open the door.”
I swung the door open with a shaking hand, and Midas stood on the top step, focusing on the stairs in front of us.
“Why don’t you try to communicate with her? She likes you, I think,” Beverly encouraged him. I didn’t think it was such a good idea, but what did I know?
“Vita? Are you here? My name is Midas. I think we met yesterday. Was that you who took my hand on the stairs here?” He eased down the steps, pausing just once where he’d experienced the last encounter. But he didn’t appear to feel anything else.
We got no immediate response, so I decided to walk down too.
“Let’s do this carefully. One at a time,” he said.
“All right,” I replied, keeping him in focus on the viewfinder. Suddenly I was tumbling down the steps, the camera crashing first. I heard the glass crack and felt pain shoot up my arm.
“Cassidy! Are you all right?” Midas ran to me, put the thermal down beside him and reached for me.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I mean, I think I’m fine.” He dug a flashlight out of his pocket and waved it in my face. “And now I’m blind.”
“Whoa, you scraped that arm up pretty good.”
I groaned as I wiped the dust off my arm. “I think I broke the camera. Sorry.”
“I don’t give a damn about the camera.”
Beverly walked up beside me. “What happened?” I couldn’t help but hear the fear in her voice.
“I tripped. Nothing paranormal. I was watching Midas instead of looking where I was going.”
“Can you stand up?” he asked as he reached his hand out to me.
“Sure, I think so.”
Beverly walked around the dark basement. I could hear her footsteps. “Guys, we’re not alone in here.”
I gave Midas a look, and he nodded. I got the feeling we were of one mind on this—bringing a psychic on the investigation hadn’t been the best idea.
I stood up and dusted off my clothes. I didn’t hurt anywhere specific, just all over. That had to be good, I guessed. I picked up the camera and the pieces of glass I’d left behind. Why were we always breaking things down here?
“Shoot, she’s right. Look, Cassidy! By the door, the exit door over there.” I scurried to his side, and sure enough I saw him, the figure of a tall man with square shoulders. He was walking out the door, and I had every intention of following him.
“Cassidy, wait,” Beverly cautioned as she grabbed my hand.
I wasn’t Cassidy anymore. I was Cole McCaskey, and I was standing by the pool, watching the most horrible thing I’d ever seen.
My poor Vita. Dead. Dead forever….
“No!” I screamed again, clutching the sides of the fence. My brother officers would not let me in, but I wanted to hold her one last time. It wasn’t to be.
And then I saw him—Myrick. That crooked grin on his face, his lips red, his cheeks flushed with excitement. He wore his typical linen suit, but his hair was wild and uncombed and his shirt unbuttoned and undone. He looked like the devil himself. He didn’t say a word. Tyrell shoved me back as they escorted Myrick from the pool area. As he passed me in handcuffs, he laughed and hissed at me, “I guess she’s not yours anymore, Copper. She’s mine, McCaskey! She’ll always be mine—forever!”
And that’s when I knew what I had to do.
I was going to kill Don Myrick. Yes, I would shoot him dead. He would have no more sway over my Vita, not even in death. I would avenge her.
No matter what—no matter the cost, I would be her avenger. But how? How would I do it? He was in custody now, surrounded by my brothers. In the courtroom! I could get him then. Nobody would be the wiser! My mind raced with murderous thoughts while my precious Vita lay just beyond. Then I heard someone scream…it was Myrick, screaming like an animal! He had gotten free from his handcuffs somehow. What fool had cuffed him in front? Yes, he was out of his handcuffs and reaching for the stupid cop’s piece. In two seconds, he had snatched the gun out of the rookie’s holster and was aiming it right at me.
Then I was dead.
“Cassidy! Cassidy! Snap out of it!”
“Oh no, Midas. He killed him. Don Myrick murdered Cole. Why did they hide it? Why did they keep it a secret? He feels betrayed…feels like he doesn’t matter. Cole is alone, and he can’t find Vita.”
I laid my head on his shoulder and allowed the grief to settle in. And then it was gone. He was gone, but not too far. Cole lingered, but he was hopeful. “We have to go talk to Sierra. I need her help.”
Beverly said, “I can help you, Cassidy.”
“Sierra needs to do this. Please understand.” I didn’t wait for permission from Midas. I went back up the stairs and walked to the pool. It was now or never.
Chapter Sixteen—Midas & Cassidy
Cassidy said in a shaking voice, “Sierra, I need your help. Cole is here. I saw him. Myrick murdered him the same day he murdered Vita, and the cops covered it up. Nobody wanted the world to know that a detective was killed here at the Blue House. He needs our help.”
She pulled Cassidy close and hugged her. “Sure, we can do that. Are you okay?”
Fat tears rolled down her cheeks. “Yeah, I’m okay.” I had a thousand questions, including why Beverly wasn’t doing this, but I didn’t feel this was the right time to ask. The psychic hung back, frowning at the encounter while I kept my arm around Cassidy’s shoulders.
“All right, let me give it a try. Erma, can you hear me? It’s me, Sierra. I have news about Darren. I think you already know, but just in case you missed it…your Darren is alive and well. Peaches took him away, Erma. You didn’t do anything wrong, and he never stopped loving you. You were special to him, and he never forgot you.”
I thought I heard a rustling, like a patch of leaves moving nearby. But there were no leaves, only a forlorn-looking palm tree and a few bare garden patches. “Erma, you don’t have to wait for Darren anymore, but I need your help. Vita and Cole need your help. They are stuck here…they need to step over. They want to be together. Can you help them?”
As if he were sent by Erma herself, Josh sprinted out of the house. “Something is happening in the basement. Pete is stuck down there. Didn’t you guys hear me?”
“No,” I answered as we followed him. The house sounded deadly quiet now. The basement door was firmly shut and wouldn’t come open no matter how much Josh tugged on it. “Is it locked?”
“How could it be? There’s no lock on this door,” Josh said in frustration.
Cassidy grabbed my hand. “Let’s check out the other door.”
I ran after her, through the patio area and down the side stairs that led to the outside basement door. The door stood open, but Pete was nowhere to be found.
“Pete!” Cassidy whispered into the darkness. I heard a moan coming from the other side of the bar, and we ran inside. Pete was obviously in distress, but before we could get there the door slammed behind us so hard that the wall shook. Cassidy gasped and said, “Midas, your flashlight!”
I dug it out of my pocket and flipped it on. Pete was lying on the floor behind the bar. His head was bleeding, and a broken bottle lay next to him. It looked like someone had hit him on the head with it. “Pete, can you hear me?”
He moaned an answer, but we couldn’t make sense of it. I said in a rush, “We have to get him out of here. He needs medical care.”
“Agreed,” she replied, but that didn’t solve the problem of how to do that. She ran to the door and struggled with the doorknob. Josh was shouting at us through the do
or, but we couldn’t understand him. Suddenly everything began to spin. Cassidy was shouting too, but I couldn’t understand her either. When the room stopped spinning, everything had changed.
***
“You look beautiful tonight, Vita. My perfect angel!” A man was there, a man with a smooth voice and an almost handsome face. I knew his name for some reason. “Thank you, Cole,” I said softly. As we danced, we swirled in front of a mirror and I could see myself in it. Yes, there I was. I was Cassidy Wright, but that was not my face. It was Vita’s. I was Vita! And Cole wasn’t Cole—he was Midas. My Midas!
“Cassidy? What’s happening here?”
“I don’t know…just play along. We have to figure out what these ghosts want.” The basement was not the way we left it. It was full of partiers. Jazz music blasted from the brass band and piano, and people were everywhere. Some greeted us by name, as if they knew us, while others merely glowered at us. They clearly didn’t want us there spoiling their good time. More than one whispered the word “Copper” at Midas, and I clung to him, praying to whoever would listen for help.
“Oh my God, that’s Pete! Look! But he’s Don Myrick. Oh God, he’s going to kill you, Midas!”
Pete walked toward us; one minute his face was his own, and the next it was Myrick’s. It was confusing and frightening to see. Was Myrick trying to possess Pete, or was this an optical illusion of some kind? “Oh no, Midas, he has a gun. Myrick—I mean, Pete—has a gun! Pete, don’t do it!”
I began to cry. “We have to get out of here. We have to get away from Myrick. He’s going to kill you, Midas. I can’t watch it happen! It can’t happen. I love you, Midas! I can’t lose you!”
Now that I knew it was Midas for sure, he didn’t look like Cole anymore. I hoped I was myself again too, but I couldn’t be sure. “Please get us out of here, Midas.”
“I’m trying, but we need help!”
I took a deep breath and said, “I have an idea. Trust me, okay?”
“Yes, I do trust you.”
“Erma! If you’re down here, please come forward. I need your help.” And then she was there, the older woman with the silver hair and brown skin. She smiled at me, a peaceful look on her face as she waited for me to continue. “I need you to talk to Cole and Vita. Tell them that they can go. They can go and be together. They can finally be free of Don Myrick! Forever!”
I watched as she spoke to someone invisible; in fact, she was nearly invisible herself. I couldn’t hear what they said, but she smiled and in a flash, the room changed. Erma had saved us. Cole and Vita were free. Midas and I saw our faces in the mirror behind the bar—they were normal. We clung to each other, and I cried with relief knowing that at last Cole and Vita could be together.
But the basement wasn’t done with us yet. Myrick was still there. Pete was on his feet, his head bleeding, and in his hand was a gun. “You don’t get to keep her, Copper. She’s mine. She’ll always be mine!” He pointed the gun at Midas, but his hand shook horribly. “No! No! I won’t do it! Leave me alone! Midas, Midas, you are my brother! I am sorry! Please forgive me, Midas. Forgive me, please!”
“Pete,” I screamed at him, “you don’t have to do this!”
Suddenly, Beverly was in the basement with us, half invisible, as if she were a ghost too. Her voice wavered in and out. “Don Myrick! You have no power over that man! Release him!”
To my surprise, the snarling face of Don Myrick disappeared from Pete’s face, and he lay on the ground again for a few seconds. He was slowly crawling across the floor, trying to get to Midas. “Help me, Midas,” he said pitifully. His head was bleeding from his earlier wound. “Please, brother,” he cried now, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for Sara. I’m sorry for everything.”
Midas picked him up and held him. “I’ve got you, brother. I’ve got you.”
Then Myrick was there again; his face and shoulders manifested at the end of the bar. And I couldn’t believe it, but he had a gun in his hand. He pointed it at Midas, and I heard a scream—it was my own. Suddenly, Pete’s eyes flew open, and he saw Myrick too. Quick as lightning, he shoved Midas to the ground as the gun went off. Pete fell back on the floor, and the smell of gunpowder filled the room. I screamed and cried as Beverly began burning sage to clear the room and Sierra prayed for protection. I fell down beside Pete, but Midas was already there crying.
“Is he breathing? Is he alive?”
We wasted no time getting him out of there, and now the doors opened perfectly. Racing to the car, we put him in the back of the SUV, tore down Winter Place and headed to the nearest hospital.
About three in the morning, the doctor came out to tell us that Pete had a concussion from the broken bottle but he could find no bullet holes, no indication that he’d been shot.
“That’s impossible, doc. I know he was shot. I was there. He took a bullet for me,” Midas said, shaking his head in disbelief. “I know what I saw.”
“He has no bullets in him; he hasn’t been shot.”
“Can I go see him?” Midas asked.
“Are you his immediate family?”
Without hesitation, Midas answered, “Yes, he’s my brother.”
“Come on back. You can see him now.”
Midas reached his hand out to me and led me back with him. We traveled down two long corridors and walked into a semi-private room. Pete looked like hell. Midas stood beside him, and I stood on the opposite side of the bed.
“Pete? Brother? Can you hear me?”
He nodded and then opened one eye and smiled painfully. “Yes, and I heard you call me brother.” He smiled again.
“You are my brother, Pete,” Midas began to sob. “What you did for me, I can’t ever repay you. You shouldn’t have done it.”
“Yeah, I should have. I need to do something brave and good, at least once in a while. You know, just to show you that I can do it.” Midas hugged his neck, and Pete put his arms around him. I couldn’t do anything but cry. “I’m sorry, Midas. I am so sorry.” He cried some more. Midas cried too.
“Dumbass. Taking a bullet for me. I don’t care what the doctor says…I know you did that. Thank you, Pete, for saving my life.”
“That was one helluva investigation, Midas. What’s next?”
“I’m not sure. You plan on sticking around?”
“You inviting me?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
“Then I’m staying.”
“Sounds good.” Midas smiled at him and hugged me close.
“You two make quite a pair,” Pete said, and we all laughed. “The house…did you tell Helen I was okay? You know she worries over her favorite nephew.”
“Nephew?” I said.
“Yeah, she’s my aunt. Midas didn’t tell you? She’s going to be thrilled to know that place is cleared. It was sure enough haunted. Go ahead, Midas. Admit it and be done with it.”
“I agree Dixie House was haunted. What a wild investigation. Your aunt Helen will certainly be happy to hear that she can rest well at night.”
I had to ask, “Is there a chance Myrick will come back to Dixie House? I mean, he didn’t get Vita.”
“I don’t think so…Vita is gone now. He only stayed because he sensed her there. His warped loved kept him there, his hatred for Cole kept him there. They are gone, so he has no choice but to move on. I think we did a good job.”
“And what about Beverly?”
“Beverly has a strong ability and is a valuable resource, but I’m not sure how to best utilize that gift yet.” He turned back to the hospital bed and said, “Get some rest, Pete. I’ll be up to see you tomorrow. We’ve got a lot to catch up on.”
“Looking forward to it.”
“Night, Pete.” I smiled at him as I left the hospital room with Midas. I felt completely tired but satisfied that all was now right at Dixie House. Erma was gone on to wait for Darren. Cole and Vita were together, hopefully somewhere nice. And if there was any justice, Don Myrick was reaping his just deserts.
All in all, not a bad night.
“Well, sir. I’m ready to go home. My place or yours?”
“Mine. It’s closer.”
“I have to say something to you, Midas.”
“Yeah? What’s that?” He looked questioningly at me.
“I love you, Midas Demopolis.”
“I love you, Cassidy Wright.”
We kissed as the emergency room doors opened and closed. We got in the SUV and kissed there too. We kissed at every red light and stop sign. Then we kissed in his yard, and in his driveway. We kissed in his hallway, and finally, we kissed in his bedroom.
And now I had no doubt. I was exactly where I was supposed to be. This was my life, and I was going to love and live it to the fullest.
Nobody is promised tomorrow, so you have to make the most of each day.
And night.
Epilogue—Cassidy
Peeking through the peephole, I blinked. I couldn’t believe who stood on the other side. Why is he here? What does he want? As if he read my mind, he said, “Cassidy, I’m here because of the visions. I know what they can do to you. Please open the door so we can talk privately.”
I opened the door, probably looking like a sight with my black eye and skinned arm. I’d taken quite a tumble down those basement steps a few nights ago. I closed the door behind my Uncle Derek and latched it tight. I was on edge tonight, and not because of anything happening at Dixie House or what we’d done there.
It was because of what I felt in my building. Beverly was right; the ghosts knew I could paint. They were coming to me, and they wanted to be heard. And I didn’t know how to stop them. Yet they were there, and there were many of them hovering in some unseen realm. At any moment, I would open the door to them and they would all come piling in on me. Or at least that was how it felt.
Strange that Uncle Derek would mention this now. I’d never told him about my visions, nor had he ever asked me anything about painting. Period. To him, I was the screw-up daughter of his dead brother, nothing else. I’d only recently freed myself from his complete control by insisting that I not have to meet with him every time a disbursement from my parents’ estate was scheduled.
Haunted on the Gulf Coast (Gulf Coast Paranormal Trilogy Book 2) Page 20
