2 The Ghosts Upstairs

by SUE FINEMAN

  “Didn’t I tell you? Kayla is psychic. There are at least two ghosts in the house, Maggie and her mother, Eleanor Goodman.”

  Sarah asked, “Is that how you found the missing boy in time?”

  Donovan nodded. “That kid owes his life to Kayla.” He turned to Billy. “Time to go, son. I’ll go first. I want you to leave at your regular time, in case he’s watching the house.”

  Kayla was sure he’d been watching, otherwise he wouldn’t have waited to ring the bell until after Billy came home last night.

  Donovan spoke with the detectives in private and then left.

  Kayla walked Billy to the door. “Scared?” he asked.

  “God, yes. I don’t care if he is a relation, that man gives me the willies.”

  Billy wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. “I wish I could stay with you.”

  “I’ll be okay with those detectives here.” She said the words, but she wasn’t so sure she meant them.

  He pulled back a little and kissed her gently on the lips. “I’ll call you later, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  He kissed her again and walked out the door, leaving her alone with those two detectives.

  These people were drawing that awful man into a trap. What if he had a gun? What if Benton found a way in and those detectives didn’t find him in time?

  What if they didn’t catch him and he came back while she was here alone?

  Chapter Six

  Kayla watched Billy drive away and wondered what it would be like to live a normal life with a man who went to work every morning and came home to her every afternoon. One who brought home a regular paycheck. A man who didn’t sleep with other women and then try to convince her it was her fault.

  She’d long ago decided there was a curse on the women in her family. Granddaddy cheated on Granny, Daddy cheated on Mama, and both Kayla’s husbands cheated on her. Granny lived the rest of her life without a man, but Mama jumped from boyfriend to boyfriend. Did they cheat on her, too?

  “Kayla, do you need help carrying something upstairs?” Bob asked.

  “Yes, thank you.”

  It took three trips to carry all the cleaning supplies up to the third floor. The attic floor. Bob helped, while Sarah stayed in the family room with the radio, talking to the officers down the street.

  The middle of this floor was like a big, open attic, with a wrap-around padded bar in one corner. A home theater with a huge screen had seats for at least twenty people. Down a short hallway on one side of the open space were four bedrooms and two bathrooms, complete with spiders and dead flies. These weren’t suites like the rooms on the second floor. They were just regular bedrooms.

  The toilets had so much mold floating in them, she wasn’t sure they’d ever come clean. She flushed, poured in some of the blue stuff, and let them soak. Standing water, no matter how clean, turned skuzzy if left too long.

  The floors looked like someone had been roller skating on them. The scratches were too deep to buff out like she’d done in the ballroom. The wood floors must have been pretty at one time, but they were ruined now. They’d have to be sanded down and refinished.

  Starting with the dormers in the open space, she opened the windows and pulled down the drapes. They were not only rotten, they were filthy.

  When she pulled the bedding off one bed, her fingers went through the rotten mattress. The sheets were rotten, too, and the bedspreads were so faded, they were no good either. Unlike the nice furniture in the rest of the house, this stuff looked like cheap motel rejects.

  It took her a good hour to scrub both bathrooms and the bar. She washed out the drawers and polished the cabinets. She ran the vacuum cleaner on the floors and in the theater, wiped the worst of the dust off the bedroom furniture, and called it quits. Why clean any more when the floors had to be sanded? Everything would just get dusty again.

  She carried the garbage cans down to the second floor and put them by the kitchen stairs. It was so quiet downstairs, goose bumps popped out on her arms. Knowing she should tell those detectives she wasn’t on the third floor anymore, she walked on down to the kitchen. And came face to face with Benton Ainsworth. Her heart slammed against her ribs and she could barely breathe.

  His mouth smiled, but his eyes didn’t. “Hello, Kayla.”

  “Benton, what are you doing here?”

  “Billy changed his mind. He gave me a key and told me I could move in. Didn’t he tell you?”

  “No, I guess he forgot.” She looked around him. “Did you let the dog in?”

  “What dog?”

  “If you hurt Buford—”

  “I didn’t touch your damn dog,” he snapped, and all pretense of pleasantries vanished.

  “Get the hell out of my way.” She tried to shove past him, and he grabbed her arm and twisted it up behind her. Where were those cops when she needed them?

  “Where’s the safe?”

  “What safe?”

  “Honey, if you want to play games—”

  “Police, hold it right there,” Sarah yelled from behind them.

  Benton’s grip on Kayla’s arm tightened. “Ow! Let go of me, you sorry son-of-a—”

  Buford growled. The dog was so good natured he never growled at anyone, but he was growling now.

  She stomped on Benton’s foot and tried to squirm out of his grasp. “Let go of me.”

  Buford snarled and sank his teeth into Benton’s leg. The man let go of Kayla to fight the dog, and in that instant, Bob burst into the kitchen from the family room and the two police detectives grabbed Benton Ainsworth the Third and shoved him against the wall by the kitchen stairs. They cuffed him and read him his rights.

  Still shaking, Kayla dropped to the floor and hugged Buford. “You’re such a good dog.” He slurped her across the face. Leonard might not love this dog, but she did.

  More police officers arrived and took their fast-talking prisoner to jail. He was trying to talk his way out of trouble, but nobody was listening. Kayla breathed a big sigh of relief. No wonder Billy didn’t become a cop like his daddy. The stress of a job like that would do her in in no time.

  Donovan came by and changed the code on the gate to 1210 and called a locksmith to come and rekey the locks. He hung around, and she knew he didn’t want to leave her there alone. “Kayla, is there anything you need help with?”

  “Yes, sir, there is.” She took him up to the attic and showed him the rotten mattresses and old furniture. “What do you think?”

  “I think it all needs to go to the dump.”

  She nodded. “That’s what I thought.”

  “I’ll send the boys over after school. They can help Billy carry this junk downstairs.”

  After Donovan left, she walked through the bedroom suites on the second floor looking for Maggie, but she didn’t show herself. Neither did Eleanor.

  She heard Billy call, “Kayla, where are you?”

  “Upstairs. What are you doing home so early?”

  “I got a substitute for the rest of the day.” He ran into the room and hugged her. “I was worried about you. Dad told me what happened.”

  “It’s my fault for going downstairs. Did he tell you Buford bit that guy?”

  “Yeah. He’ll probably sue me over it.”

  “Or me. He’ll probably take my inheritance, whatever it is. It couldn’t be money.”

  “Why not?”

  “Look at the condition of this house. If Eleanor had money, she wouldn’t have let it get this rundown.”

  “Of course she would. She didn’t want to leave me a house in good condition.”

  “Did she really hate you that much?”

  “I can’t remember a single kind word from Maggie or Eleanor. Every time they saw me, they let me know in one way or another they didn’t just hate me, they regretted me ever being born.” He held up his hand. “I don’t want to talk about them. Just tell them to get the hell out of my house and out of my life. They didn’t want me around when th
ey were alive, and I sure as hell don’t want them around now that they’re dead.”

  “Billy, they can’t hurt you now.” But his hurt had never stopped, and it never would unless he could find it in his heart to forgive them.

  He made tuna sandwiches for lunch, and his brothers came over after school. While they took the furniture from the attic to the dump, Kayla made a batch of brownies to thank them for their help.

  The guys made three trips to the dump that afternoon, and when they finished, Billy handed his brothers each a hundred-dollar bill.

  “You get a raise or something?” Charlie asked.

  “Or something. Andy, I took your drawings to an architect, Marvin Klein. He’ll be here Saturday morning to meet you and take some measurements. Ten o’clock. He asked if you were looking for a summer job.”

  Andy pumped his fist. “Yes!”

  Billy grinned. “That should keep you out of Mom’s hair for the summer.”

  Kayla watched the interaction between Billy and his brothers and regretted not having any siblings herself. There was so much love in his family, and the only family she had left was a mother she’d only seen three or four times since she was four years old. A mama who put more value in her acting career than in being a mother.

  Maybe it was just as well she couldn’t have kids of her own. She wouldn’t know how to do it right.

  Billy took Kayla out for dinner that night. They went to a little place overlooking the river and watched the sunset.

  She smiled. “I can’t remember the last time a man took me out for a nice dinner.”

  He’d brought Laura here the night she dumped him. He thought about proposing to her that night, but something seemed off, so he waited. When he took her home, she told him she was in love with another man. It crushed his ego. What guy liked hearing that? But they weren’t right together. In many ways, Laura reminded him of Maggie, and after they broke up, he realized he was looking for Maggie’s love, not Laura’s. If they had married, they both would have been miserable.

  He smiled at the pretty woman across the table from him. She’d worn a short black skirt that showed off her long legs and a peach-colored, short-sleeved sweater that hugged her luscious breasts. She had a stunning figure. Her hair was loose around her shoulders, and she’d worn a little makeup tonight, but she didn’t need much. Her natural beauty shone through, and several men in the room kept glancing at her. Billy felt like the luckiest man in the room, because he was here with Kayla.

  One of these days, she’d get her inheritance – whatever it was – and return to the little town near Memphis, and he’d be alone again.

  “Why are you looking at me that way, Billy?”

  “You’re the most stunning woman in the room.”

  “Me?”

  “You. I want to take you home and eat you for dessert.”

  Their eyes locked in a smoldering gaze that left his body fully aroused, then a man walked over to the table. “Billy, nice to see you again. And Kayla, isn’t it? We met at the club in Memphis last month. I’m Steve Sullivan.” He scanned her body and smirked. “You probably don’t remember my name.”

  Billy watched Kayla’s face and realized she was embarrassed to see this guy here. He cleared his throat. “Kayla, Steve and I went to college together.”

  “Oh, that’s nice. I’m sorry I don’t remember you, Steve.”

  “Sure you do. I untied your… uh…”

  “Excuse me.” Kayla bolted out of her chair and raced to the restroom.

  Billy asked, “What was that all about?”

  “I met her in a topless club. She’s got the most amazing set I’ve ever seen. When you get finished with her, send her my way.”

  Angry heat flooded Billy’s face. He stood and leaned close to Steve, a guy he’d never much liked, and said, “If you don’t forget you ever saw Kayla, your wife will find out about your extracurricular activities.”

  Steve’s eyes widened. “You wouldn’t do that to an old college buddy.”

  Lifting his chin, Billy stared him down. Seconds later, Steve left the restaurant. He had a woman with him, and she wasn’t his wife. Billy felt like following him out to the parking lot and punching him in his fat gut. Instead, he took several deep breaths and tried to calm down.

  When Kayla returned to the table, he paid the check and took her home. She’d grown quiet. Did she really show her breasts in a room full of leering men? Was that the kind of woman he wanted in his life? What would happen with his job if his principal learned of this? The River Valley Academy was the most prestigious private school in the city. Every employee went through a rigorous screening before they were hired. They’d made it clear they didn’t want teachers with moral issues.

  He wanted to make love to Kayla, but did he want to risk his job over a woman who’d be gone in a month? No one would have to know, that little voice in his mind whispered.

  But he’d know, and he was a lousy liar.

  <>

  Benton called his mother from the River Valley jail. “I’m in a bit of trouble here, Mother.”

  “Oh, Benton, what did you do this time?”

  “It’s a long story, and it’s not my fault. I need bail money.” He lowered his voice. “And I need money to get out of town before that man from Atlanta finds me.”

  “The one who framed you last time?”

  “Yes. He stole a bunch of jewelry at a party we both attended, but he’s accusing me. If they send me back there, I’ll go to prison for something I didn’t do.”

  A man’s voice came on the line. “No bail money. I got a call from the bank in Cleveland yesterday. They said you got a loan on your mother’s house and then defaulted on the loan. Or should I say two loans.”

  “Oh, Benton,” his mother said in her I’m-disappointed-in-you voice. “Did you put my antiques in storage?”

  “Not exactly.”

  The conversation went downhill from there. Mother cried, and her husband told Benton to face the consequences like a man. Then they hung up on him.

  “I need an attorney,” Benton told the cop who locked him up again. “And a doctor. My leg hurts where that disgusting dog bit me.”

  If his mother wouldn’t help him, he’d find an ambulance-chasing attorney who would. He’d sue Billy-Boy and the slut who owned that vicious hound. When he was finished, he’d own that house and everything in it.

  <>

  Kayla thought things were going really well at the restaurant until Steve came to their table. She remembered him all right. He was the rudest, crudest creep in a room filled with them. Norma was pregnant, so her breasts were huge. Like Kayla, she’d worn the lace-front bodice loosely laced. Customers weren’t supposed to touch the waitresses, but Steve did. That crooked cop stood by leering while Steve practically ripped Norma’s top off.

  She was ashamed of herself for staying at the club after they went topless. She knew she’d hate it, but the boss said if she was too uncomfortable, she could just leave her laces loose and show a lot of cleavage. Since she’d been showing a lot of skin all along, that didn’t sound so bad. But she had her limits. She wouldn’t dance nude, she wouldn’t date the customers, and she wouldn’t show her nipples.

  The men teased and pulled at her laces that night, but she managed to laugh it off and scoot away. Then Steve reached inside and pinched her nipple. So she dumped a beer over his head. It brought a laugh from everyone else, but Steve grabbed her, ripped her bodice open, and put his mouth on her. Before she could get that bastard off her and cover herself, the cops raided the club, and she was handcuffed and taken to the police station with her boobs hanging out and the feel of that man’s mouth on her breast. She’d been through a lot in her life, but she’d never been as humiliated as she was then.

  The tips were good that night, but that dirty cop emptied her apron pocket before he took her to the station. He copped a feel, too, and with her hands cuffed behind her, there wasn’t a damn thing she could do about it.

&nb
sp; Billy had shut down, and she knew they wouldn’t make love tonight or any other night. He didn’t want to be with a woman like her. Granny would have been ashamed of her for working in a place like that, and Billy was, too. She could feel it in her bones.

  There was nothing she could do but finish out the week and move on as soon as Billy paid her. She’d go back home and pray she could find another job where that cop couldn’t find her. Norma would need help when her baby came. She was alone, too. Her boyfriend kicked her out when he found out she was pregnant.

  For about a minute, Kayla thought she’d found a man who’d treat her right, but this man didn’t want a woman who’d bare her breasts in a club filled with drunken men.

  She said goodnight to Billy and went to her rooms. Alone.

  When she came here, she thought of herself as an heiress. Now she felt like a stupid fool. She’d fallen for a guy who thought she was beneath him.

  Billy sat in the library mentally kicking himself. He should be in bed with Kayla right now, and here he was, sitting alone, thinking about how he could keep his job and Kayla at the same time. But he knew the makeup of the board of the academy, and he knew what they stood for. The students had to adhere to a strict moral code, as did the faculty. No revealing clothes, no swearing in public, church every Sunday, and no association with people of bad character.

  When he was off work, he paid little attention to the school’s moral code. He went to church every other month or so and tried not to swear in public. But the no association with people of bad character was a tough call. By whose definition were people bad? His own brother was in trouble more often than not. Should he not associate with Charlie?

  Should he not associate with Kayla because she’d worked as a topless waitress?

  Steve wouldn’t tell anyone about Kayla because his wife could find out, and they were a long way from Memphis. What were the chances someone else here in River Valley would know Kayla? Who’d know if Billy slept with a woman of questionable character?

  “I’ll know,” he said to himself.

  Jobs weren’t easy to come by these days, especially for a teacher without a reference from his previous employer. If his principal told another potential employer Billy was fired over a moral issue, he’d never teach again.