by Bella Falls
Georgia chuckled. “Looks like my distillery and tasting room is gonna get an upgrade. Maybe I should build it out. Include a gastropub as well.”
Dash smacked the headrest of her seat in play, and the two of them shared a laugh. The tension in the car lessened a little with their banter.
“I’ll need something personal of his to connect with if I can’t see or sense the ghost outright,” she explained.
I cursed myself for not having my purse with me that still had Zach’s drawing of a demon in it. “I know he loved his drawing pad. His little sister keeps it hidden in the same spot he did, in the tree house out back.”
“That could work. If that is somewhere he felt safe or liked to hang out in, it’s possible he might even be tethered to it,” Georgia said.
I glanced over at Dash. “Maybe we don’t have to talk to Zach’s father at all. We could just sneak into his backyard.”
He thought about my suggestion. “If I’m trying to counter the claims that Lucille and Max are making about me, then I can’t trespass. I need to talk to James and ask his permission.”
“Max isn’t playing by the rules. He’s cheating,” Cameron pointed out. “I don’t see why you can’t do the same.”
“Because it’s important that I don’t,” Dash said with more force in his tone. “I may be taken down tomorrow, but I want to know that when it happens, I did the best I could. And my best includes trying to talk to James directly and explain what it is we want to do.”
“Plus, Zach’s ghost might not even be attached to the tree house at all. It’s more than likely we’ll need access to the house, especially his bedroom. So, playing nice with the dad will be more helpful,” Georgia added.
Cameron slowed down and waited to make a left turn into a neighborhood. “We’re getting close.”
As we drove down the residential streets, I leaned into Dash, needing the solid strength of his presence to bolster me for what came next. I thought through the whole crazy interaction at the warehouse.
“What did Max whisper to you when you were shaking hands at the end?” I asked.
He rested against me. “Nothing that needs to be shared. Since he’s known me all my life, he’s well aware of what could cut me the deepest. I think he was trying to rile me emotionally into attacking him or something, which would have only supported his cause.”
“Well, if you know that’s why he said what he did, then you know it isn’t true,” I said in an attempt to comfort him.
The car slowed down as we approached the house. “That’s the problem.” Dash’s body tensed for what was coming. “It absolutely was the truth.”
I didn’t have time to ask him what he meant. With Max’s confrontation over, Lucille could come home at any time. We needed to convince James to let us try to contact his dead son’s spirit before she arrived.
When we emerged from the SUV, headlights from the end of the street flashed us three times before going out. “Mom says she and Davis will be on the lookout for the family minivan and will shoot me a text when they spot it,” Cameron said.
“Do me a favor and stay here in your car,” Dash instructed. “If this doesn’t go well, we’ll need to leave quickly.”
He led Georgia and me up the sidewalk and onto the small porch. Letting out a deep sigh, he rapped his knuckles on their front door. My heart pounded in my chest as we waited.
The handle of the door rattled, and we heard the voice of Zach’s father muffled on the other side. The deadbolt unlatched, and the light from inside spilled out onto us as the door opened.
James stood in front of us with Sammy clutching his left leg. I wiggled my fingers at her in greeting.
“What are you doing here?” her father asked, worry furrowing his brow.
“I just came from the warehouse where I saw your wife,” Dash explained.
James’s face fell. “I’m sorry I couldn’t stop her. Things have been…not good since…you know.”
The alpha nodded once. “I know, James. And she has her right to her grief and her opinions. It turns out that someone I’ve trusted with my life has been poisoning the well for quite some time.”
James glanced at Georgia and me. “I can’t comment on that. All I’ll say is that I don’t agree with everything she claims. If that’s all, I’d like to ask you to leave.”
He started to close the door, but Dash slipped his foot in so it couldn’t close all the way. “That’s not all. We need you to ask us inside.”
Sammy, who’d been watching the grown-ups speak about things she didn’t understand, tugged on her father’s pant leg. “Daddy, you always tell me if we know the person to be polite and let them inside.”
James patted his young daughter’s head. “I know, Peanut.”
She pointed at me. “But that’s my friend. She was up in the tree house with me.”
I forced my face not to grimace, sure that her comment wouldn’t help our cause. He shot me an irritated look.
Dash kept pushing. “Look, I’m here to help. But I can’t do that if you won’t let us inside.”
James maneuvered his body so that his daughter was hidden behind him. “Is that an order from my alpha?”
“No,” Dash reassured him. “It’s a request. If you really want us to leave, then we’ll go.”
The father looked conflicted. He glanced back at his daughter behind him who peeked out at me and giggled. “Fine,” he surrendered. “But you’ll need to make it quick.”
Dash allowed Georgia and me to enter before he did. Sammy bolted around her father and approached me with a big grin. She took me by the hand. “Daddy made me a cup of hot cocoa while we waited for Mommy to come home. He said I could only have five marshmallows, but you’re a big girl, so I bet he’d let you have more.”
“That’s so sweet of you to offer, Sammy,” I said, glancing over at Georgia and wondering how we would explain things to the father with the little girl present.
“Samantha, why don’t you go sit at the table in the kitchen and finish your drink while we talk,” her father suggested.
The little girl pouted. “But I want to spend time with my friend. She lets me actually talk about Zachy and doesn’t get mad when I do.”
Guilt flooded her father’s face. “I’m sorry, Peanut.”
I took Sammy by the hand. “I’m happy to sit with her while the three of you discuss things.” I nodded at Dash and Georgia, leaving them to do the heavy work.
Zach’s little sister dragged me with her into the kitchen. The modest wooden table had four place mats on it. Sammy sat down in front of the plastic one that had drops of hot chocolate spilled all over it. I searched for a paper towel, and after I found one, I helped wipe up the mess.
Sammy pointed at the chair next to her. “You can sit in Mommy’s place. Nobody sits in that one. That was my brother’s place.” She glanced at the chair across from her. “I miss him.”
I sat down in the seat she’d suggested and scooted it closer to her. “I totally understand that. You know, I lost my mother and father when I was young, too.”
She glanced up at me with big eyes. “You don’t have a mommy or daddy?”
When dealing with kids, I thought it best not to treat them like they couldn’t understand. The truth would work just fine, although I could soften it a bit.
“I do. They’re just not with me anymore where I can see them. But I carry them with me always right here.” I touched my chest over my heart. “As long as I remember them and their love, they’re never gone.”
Sammy imitated me and tapped the spot over her heart. “I’ll always keep Zachy here then. But sometimes, it hurts to think about him.”
I brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear. “It’s okay to be sad and to miss him. The hurt just shows how much you can love others, and that’s a really good thing. It’ll heal over time.”
“Does it hurt you not to have your mommy or daddy with you now?” she asked with great sincerity.
Alth
ough I’d grown accustomed to not dwelling on my loss, it didn’t take much for me to regret all the time I didn’t get to spend with my parents. “It does now and then. Like when I do something I wish they could see. So, I like to think that they actually can, and I live my life in a way that would make them proud.”
I heard her father raise his voice in the other room and guessed that Dash had just revealed the real reason we were here. Sammy’s head turned in that direction.
“Hey, remember when you showed me your brother’s drawings?” I asked.
She whipped her head around and nodded with enthusiasm. “Yep.”
“Is there anything else he really liked? Maybe something he always wore or an object he thought was really special?” Having been a little sister myself, I took a chance on her knowledge of her brother’s life.
Sammy frowned a bit. “I don’t know.”
“That’s okay,” I reassured her, pushing her tiny mug with her sweet drink closer to her. “My older brother sometimes wouldn’t let me play with the things he really liked. He’d tell me I would get them dirty or break them, so he’d hide them away so I wouldn’t think to try and play with them.”
“Oh yeah!” she exclaimed and jumped down from her chair.
Before I could stop her, she scampered off on her tiny feet. A little uncertain of what to do, I followed behind her as fast as I could without making too much noise. For such a tiny being, Sammy could move fast. I was halfway up the stairs when she reappeared at the top, holding something.
“This is Zachy’s stuffed manimal,” she declared, shaking the toy at me.
I did my best not to laugh.
“It’s a wolf, and he liked to sleep with it. I was never allowed to play with it, and he would hide it somewhere so I couldn’t find it. But I know he kept it with him every night ‘cause I saw it,” she explained.
I sat on a step near her. “Does it have a name?”
She sighed as she sat down at the top right by me. “Wolfy,” she sighed. “Zach got him when he was really little, and I don’t think he could name things really well. I told him he should have named him Balto like from that movie I like. Mommy found him and put him on top of Zach’s bed. Sometimes she goes into his room and hugs Wolfy when she cries.”
Kids were way more observant about things than adults gave them credit for. It was like we took some amnesia pill when we became adults and forgot all the things we saw and learned as we were growing up.
“Samantha, what are you doing?” James asked from the bottom of the stairs. “You need to put that back where you found it before your mother comes home.”
Dash and Georgia stood right behind him, and from the look on their faces, their talk did not go well.
Sammy pouted. “I was just showing her Wolfy. She asked if Zachy had anything he really liked.”
Georgia stepped forward. “Mr. Owens, if you would just allow me to—”
“I will not,” he interrupted.
Taking a chance, I put out my hand in front of the stuffed animal and asked Sammy for permission to hold it. She gave it up with a little reluctance mixed in with her confusion. I walked it downstairs.
“I’m so sorry for your loss. I was telling your daughter about how I lost both of my parents when I was younger and how hard it was.” I spoke as I got closer to the bottom. “But the one thing I didn’t tell her is that if there was any way I could connect and speak with either of them, even for a brief moment, there’s nothing I wouldn’t try.”
James remained quiet while he considered my words. “I’m not sure.”
“All it would take is a few minutes for my friend to try. If nothing happens, then you’ve lost nothing but a little bit of time.” My eyes flashed to Dash to receive his approval of my tactics.
Zach’s father hesitated, but in his exhaustion, he bowed his head once in agreement. I handed the stuffed animal to Georgia. “This is Wolfy. From what Sammy told me, Zach slept with him every night.”
“Since he was in the crib,” James admitted, wiping his finger under his eye.
Georgia took him from me with gentle care. “I promise to treat him well.” She closed her eyes for a moment and bent her head.
“What is she doing?” James hissed at Dash, who held up a finger to get him to wait.
Georgia spoke in a low, breathy voice. “He’s here.”
James jumped back. “Where?”
She shook her head. “Somewhere close. He has suffered great trauma, and that keeps him close.”
James hiccuped a sob. Sammy rushed by me and threw herself at her father. “Daddy, what’s going on?”
He picked her up and buried his face in his daughter’s hair. “Stay with me, Peanut.”
Georgia’s eyes flew open. “He wants me to go outside.” She pointed toward the back of the house.
We heard two women arguing outside of the house. I panicked, recognizing Cameron pleading while the other lady yelled. Keys jingled in the lock, and the front door swung open.
“James, what are these people doing here?” Lucille bellowed.
Sammy’s lower lip trembled. “Why is Mommy mad?”
Georgia frowned. “I need y’all to quiet down if this is going to work.”
Lucille pointed a finger at Dash. “You need to get out of my house right now.”
He held up his hands. “None of us are here to hurt you. You need to let Georgia work.”
“I need to get all of you out of my house!” she shrieked. When she spotted Georgia with her son’s stuffed animal, her anger became palpable. “Give me that!”
Lunging forward, she tried to yank the toy out of my friend’s hands. Dash prevented her, which caused James to jump in between them.
“Please don’t make me force you to submit,” Dash pleaded. “I swear to you on everything in me, we’re here to help.”
“I’m going to lose him,” Georgia gritted, her face scrunched up with all her effort. She shifted the stuffed wolf into her left hand. “Charli, grab ahold of me. I think I can boost the signal for just a second.”
I took her hand in mine. A zing of power ran through me, and I tried not to throw up any barriers of protection between us. Closing my eyes, I willed my own magic to magnify hers.
“Mom? Dad?” a thin voice spoke.
All the arguing stopped. When I blinked my eyes back open, I saw the faint outline of something hovering in front of us.
“I’ve gone mad,” Lucille uttered.
“No, you haven’t,” Dash reassured. “This is why we’re here.”
Georgia gritted her teeth. “I don’t know how long I can hold him here. Ask your questions now.”
More magic surged through me, and I knew how much it was taking from her if she needed that much of my own powers.
The image of a young man came into focus where the fuzzy space in front of us floated. James uttered his son’s name, and Sammy whimpered a little.
“Did you find the files?” the spirit asked. “The ones from work?”
“What files?” Lucille questioned. “Zach, baby, I miss you so much.”
“If you’re talking about the phone you hid, then yes, we found it,” Dash said.
Zach’s image shimmered in and out of focus. “Then you’ve stopped him?”
“Stopped who, son?” James asked.
“My boss, Mr. Max,” the ghost replied. “He’s been doing some shady things for a long time. Forced me to keep my mouth shut by threatening all of you.”
Lucille emitted a high-pitched squeal and covered her mouth.
Zach continued. “He was distributing drugs from all of his construction sites. Check the shipping containers placed there. They all hid supplies of that stuff.”
Dash stepped forward. “We will investigate. Thank you for sharing this information.”
Georgia groaned. “I can’t hold him like this for much longer.”
“Zachy, baby,” his mother crooned.
I risked the opportunity to be more direct. “Do yo
u know how you died?”
The figure nodded once. “Mr. Max forced me to take the drugs again. Said if I didn’t do it, then he’d kill all of you. I didn’t want to bring any more trouble into our home.”
A wave of fury beat against me, and I struggled to keep it from interrupting the flow of magic between me and Georgia. Dash growled low in his throat.
“Are you saying Maxwell Fletcher killed you?” James’s voice cracked as he asked his question.
“Yes,” the ghost of his son confirmed. “He told me my death would fix the pack.”
Lucille crumbled to her knees. “I didn’t know,” she repeated again and again.
The aura around the spirit changed colors to a serene blue. A bead of sweat rolled down Georgia’s temple. “Zach, I can help you get to the other side if you’re ready.”
“I need to say a couple more things,” he begged. “Mom, Dad, I’m really sorry that I screwed up. I never meant to hurt you.”
“You didn’t, son,” James choked out. “I feel like we failed you. But you were doing so well, and we were so proud of you. I’m sorry we couldn’t protect you better.”
Zach’s figure turned to face Dash. “I appreciate all you did to help me, Mr. Channing. Your faith in me helped me try to be better.”
Dash cleared his throat once. “You did good, kid. I promise that we will make things right.”
The ghost nodded and then called out to his sister. “Hey, Peanut?”
James put her down on the ground, and she walked over to stand right in front of him. She sniffed. “Hey, Zachy. Are you here to stay?”
He crouched down so he could look at her at eye level. “I’m sorry, I can’t. But I’ll love you forever.”
She touched her finger over her heart. “You’ll always be with me because I’ll remember you and keep you right here.”
He gave her a pained smile. Standing, he addressed Georgia. “I think I’m ready to go.”
“Give me a moment,” Georgia insisted. She gripped my hand even tighter, and we shared in our growing exhaustion. “Zach, look around you. See if there’s some sort of opening that’s there. A window or door or something.”
