Ghostly Fears

by Lily Harper Hart

  Jared was already halfway out of bed. “We’ll get dressed and meet you at the front door in ten minutes. I’m guessing this is not a good development.”

  Zander’s expression was wry. “What was your first clue?”

  8

  Eight

  Harper’s hair was still wet when they headed toward the main house. Jared frowned when he realized she’d merely pulled it back, away from her face, rather than drying it.

  “You’re going to get sick,” he chided. “We could’ve waited ten minutes for you to dry your hair.”

  “It’s fine.” She waved the comment off in a haphazard manner. “You don’t really get sick from anything other than germs no matter what anyone says.”

  “Oh, that’s not true,” Zander countered, walking several paces behind them with Shawn at his side. He’d obviously been listening to the conversation. “Don’t you remember that time when we were kids and my feet got wet while we were building that fort outside and I spent the next two weeks in bed with pneumonia because of it?”

  Harper slowed her pace and shot him an incredulous look over her shoulder. “Not really. I’m pretty sure that didn’t happen.”

  Zander made a protesting sound that reminded Jared of a squawking bird. “It most definitely did happen. I was in bed for two weeks. I could’ve died.”

  Harper slowly shook her head. “No, that’s not what happened. I heard my parents talking. Your mother was being overprotective and got angry because your feet were wet and told you that you were sick. You weren’t really sick ... and you didn’t get pneumonia. You just spent two weeks in bed watching television for no good reason.”

  Zander’s expression turned dark. “No. I think I would remember that.”

  “And I think I would remember if you got pneumonia and almost died.”

  “No.” Zander’s expression was plaintive when he turned to Shawn. “I was sick. I swear it.”

  Shawn looked caught. “I’m sure you were.”

  “See.” Zander was haughty when he glanced back at Harper. “Shawn knows me second best and he thinks I was really sick.”

  Harper fought the urge to roll her eyes ... and failed. “Oh, come on. He’s just saying that because he loves you and doesn’t want to get in a fight when there’s a missing woman to worry about. I bet he really agrees with me that your mother convinced you that you were sick and you’ve turned it into a big thing in your head when it was actually nothing.”

  Zander worked his jaw, incredulous. “I was at death’s door!”

  “Shh.” Shawn put a finger to his lips and shook his head as they approached the front door. “Now is not the time for this discussion. A woman is missing ... and that’s on top of another woman being missing for ten years. I don’t think now is time for the great pneumonia debate.”

  “Fine.” Fire filled Zander’s eyes. “Just know that I will be putting a reminder in my calendar so we can pick up where we left off once we get home.”

  “I think we’re all looking forward to that.” Shawn briefly held Jared’s gaze before scowling. “It’s not funny.”

  “It’s kind of funny,” Jared argued. “I can’t tell you how glad I am that you’re in our lives now, man. Before, that fight would’ve turned into a screaming match and I would’ve had to feed Harper ice cream all day to get her out of her funk. Now you’re here to do the heavy lifting. It’s awesome.”

  Shawn rolled his eyes. “Let’s just see what the big deal is, huh?”

  “Absolutely.”

  THIS TIME THEY DIDN’T KNOCK, instead pushing open the front door and stepping inside without drawing attention to themselves. Harper wasn’t sure if it was planned — if it was, it was an ingenious idea on someone’s part — but they ended up slipping into the front foyer and playing witness to an argument without anyone realizing they’d arrived.

  “I think we should call the police,” Evangeline argued, her hands on her hips. “I don’t think this is something we should be messing around with.” She seemed agitated, which surprised Harper because the older woman had been so muted the night before.

  Standing across from her, George was the picture of bored understatement. “She’s probably at the salon or something ... or online shopping. Heck, for all we know, she could be hiding in a closet because someone said they would play Hide and Seek with her and she’s too stupid to realize everyone else already quit the game. There’s no reason to get worked up.”

  “She’s missing,” Evangeline pressed, her jaw tightening in profile. “Don’t you find that odd? We’re all here to find out what happened to Jennifer, who went missing, and now Madeline is missing.”

  “We’re all here to watch Byron go through a mid-life crisis in slow motion,” George countered, his tone dismissive. “I told him months ago that he was going off the deep end when he insisted on hiring that private investigator to search for Jennifer. She’s been dead since the start of this and everyone knows it. He simply refuses to see it.”

  That was interesting, Harper internally mused. George was convinced his granddaughter was dead. Evangeline, however, seemed to have hope. How much hope was the question ... but there was definitely hope.

  “It doesn’t matter if Byron is going off the deep end,” Evangeline snapped. “What matters is that Madeline is missing. I think there’s something wrong with that scenario ... like really wrong. Maybe we should call the police.”

  “And tell them what?” George was exasperated. “Do you think they’ll race out here to start looking for her because she’s feeling petulant and wants some attention? I’m guessing they’ll tell us we can’t even file a report for twenty-four hours.”

  Harper was about to open her mouth and tell them that Jared could answer that question when he took the opportunity out of her hands. Jared cleared his throat, causing both of the elder Jessup family members to jerk their eyes away from each other and toward the door, and offered a strained smile.

  “I don’t want to interrupt, but I’m with the Whisper Cove Police Department,” he explained. “I might be able to help you.”

  Evangeline looked relieved at the news. “Oh, well, good.”

  George was another story. “How can you be a police officer and a ghost hunter? I thought you needed to pass a mental fitness test to be issued a service revolver. Did you lie or something to get through it?”

  Jared’s eyebrows drew together. “Not last time I checked,” he said dryly. “I’m not a ghost hunter, though.”

  George’s lips twisted into something akin to a sneer. “You’re with the ghost-hunting contingent.”

  “I’m with Harper,” he clarified. “She’s my fiancée.”

  “Oh, so basically you’re acting as her chaperone.” George’s disdain was evident. “That’s probably wise because this entire weekend is going to turn into a psych experiment before it’s all said and done. The fact that you’re a cop is beneficial, though. My daughter-in-law is missing. Go ... find her.” He extended his fingers and wiggled them, as if giving Jared a menial order.

  “How about I get some information first?” Jared countered, his smile never wavering. There was danger in his eyes, though. Harper recognized it. His patience was wearing thin and George would be wise not to push him too far.

  George obviously didn’t recognize that. “What more information do you need? She’s not here this morning. We’ve looked everywhere. Obviously something has happened to her.”

  “I’m not sure how you jumped to that conclusion,” Jared shot back. “I would like to talk to Byron, though. Where is he?”

  “In the parlor,” Evangeline replied, effectively cutting off her husband before he could say some other ridiculous thing. “Follow me.” She led the small group through the house with ease and precision, nodding to a few staff members as she passed. It struck Harper that Evangeline was essentially the lady of the house even though the title should’ve belonged to Madeline.

  “When was the last time anyone saw Madeline?” Harper asked.r />
  “I’m not sure,” Evangeline replied. “My understanding is that it was sometime last night, when everyone was upstairs ... perhaps hanging around Jennifer’s room.”

  Harper exchanged a quick look with Jared. That meant they could’ve been the last people to see Madeline. Did that mean something?

  Byron sat on a small settee, the newspaper open and his primary focus when they invaded the room. Margot, Delphine, Richard, and Bertie were also present ... although they’d wisely scattered across the room and were not crowding Byron.

  “I see you finally decided to join us,” Byron said dryly, snapping the newspaper before folding it and placing it on the table. “I believe I need your services.”

  Initially, Harper believed he was talking to her and was confused. Then she realized Jared was standing directly behind her, his hand on the small of her back, and Byron was talking through her. It was as if she didn’t even exist.

  “You need my help?” Jared queried, unsure. “May I ask why?”

  “My wife is missing.”

  “That seems to be the word spreading through the house,” Jared acknowledged. “How do you know she’s missing?”

  Byron blinked several times in rapid succession and Harper was convinced he had a snarky response on the tip of his tongue. He managed to hold it back, though. “Because no one can find her.”

  Jared wasn’t deterred by the answer. “And where have you looked for her?”

  “Everywhere.”

  “Everywhere?” Jared hiked an eyebrow. “I very much doubt you could’ve searched everywhere in this house in the space of an hour or so. When did you realize she was missing?”

  “About forty-five minutes ago,” Byron replied. “The kitchen staff pointed out she didn’t appear with a menu this morning — that’s part of her regular routine — and when I checked her room she wasn’t in there.”

  Something occurred to Harper and she blurted out a question before she could think better of it. “You guys don’t share a room?”

  Annoyance, fast and hot, took over Byron’s features. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I cannot sleep if there’s any noise or light in my room. I need complete and total darkness, silence. That means I have to sleep in my own room. It’s not a big deal. Many couples have the same arrangement.”

  “Okay, well ... .” Harper licked her lips and risked a glance at Jared. He was obviously thinking the same thing she was. “I think we should search the house,” she said. “We need to get everyone together and go through every inch of the house. We can’t leave one room unturned.”

  “You do that,” Byron suggested, reclaiming his newspaper and focusing on it. “If you find her, tell her breakfast is late and I’m not happy.”

  Harper’s mouth dropped open, but Jared pulled her away from the uninterested man before she could put him on blast. “Not now,” he murmured, dragging her with him despite the token protests she put up. She really did want to give Byron a piece of her mind. “It’s not worth it.”

  “He doesn’t even care.”

  “I’m starting to think none of these people care about each other. It doesn’t matter, though. We need to search for Madeline. She’s our primary concern.”

  “Then we should get to it.”

  ULTIMATELY THEY BROKE INTO VARIOUS teams. Harper and Jared tagged Richard to go with them because they needed someone familiar with the house. Shawn and Zander teamed with Evangeline. Everyone else — minus Harris, who was apparently nursing a hangover and dragging — paired off with various staff members.

  Harper was still fuming about Byron’s refusal to join in the effort to find his own wife when they hit the third floor twenty minutes later.

  “I know he’s your father, but he’s a jerk,” Harper raged as she followed Richard through the quiet hallway. “I mean ... a real jerk. A total and complete jerk. He’s king of the jerks.”

  Jared pinned her with a quelling look. “You’re talking about Richard’s father, Harper,” he prodded gently.

  “No. It’s okay.” Richard was blasé as they wandered down the hallway. He didn’t look especially happy about being dragged along for the search but wasn’t particularly sour about it either. He seemed more curious than anything else. “My father isn’t the easiest person to deal with.”

  “That’s an understatement,” Harper muttered under her breath, determined to be mindful of Richard’s feelings. She understood a little too well about having a difficult parent. Even though Harper found her mother intolerable at times, she remained loyal to the woman. She couldn’t fault Richard for doing the same.

  Instead of being offended, Richard slid her a small smile. “I remember you,” he noted as he opened the first door to allow Jared entrance. He explained the bulk of the rooms on the third floor were not currently in use so he had to retrieve a set of keys from Bates before they headed up. “From high school, I mean. I remember you.”

  “You do?” Harper couldn’t hide her surprise. “You were two years ahead of me. I thought for sure I wouldn’t be on your radar.”

  Jared kept one ear on the conversation as he checked beneath the bed and inside the closet. He saw no reason to interrupt, though. Harper was good with people. She knew how to draw out information. He figured it was best to let her do her thing while they searched.

  “People told stories about you in whispers,” Richard explained. “People said you could see ghosts. I heard a few people talking about it one day when you walked by and someone explained that you found some girl’s body after a car accident. People were saying it was a miracle you pulled it off or something.”

  Harper wet her lips. She was familiar with the girl in question. “Yeah, well, that was a long time ago.”

  “You don’t have to be uncomfortable,” Richard offered quickly as he locked the door and led them to the next room. “I thought it was an interesting story. I’m sure you got grief about it from other people, but I was never one of those who thought you were a quack.”

  “That’s reassuring,” Harper offered. “Er, well, kind of.”

  He chuckled at her expression. “You were also famous because of your relationship with Zander. He had a certain reputation, and because you refused to separate from him, you did as well.”

  “I don’t really want to talk about Zander,” Harper warned. “If you’re going to say something that’s going to tick me off ... .” She left the threat hanging.

  “Why would I say something about Zander that’s going to tick you off?”

  Harper held out her hands and shrugged. “You would be surprised at the heinous things people say.”

  “I’m sure. I happen to like Zander, though. He sat next to me at dinner last night. He’s very funny.”

  “Yes, he should have his own comedy show,” Jared intoned as he finished up another room. “Next.”

  Harper opted to take advantage of the conversational lull to ask Richard about his stepmother, who was technically two years younger than him. “How come your father isn’t worried about Madeline? I mean ... I get that they’re not close. I saw them interacting last night. It was ... not pleasant. It was so not pleasant I’m thinking about instituting a rule that Jared and I can never sleep apart once we get married because I don’t want to risk whatever happened between your father and Madeline happening to him and me.”

  Jared reached over and snagged her hand, giving it a solid squeeze. “That’s never going to happen, but I’m fine with the rule.”

  “I don’t think you two need to worry about that,” Richard offered. “No, seriously. I know I don’t know you very well, but I’ve watched you together since your arrival. You’re in tune with one another, attracted to one another, and constantly seeking out the other. That’s the exact opposite of Dad and Madeline.”

  “Were they always like that?” Jared asked as Richard showed them into another room.

  “Pretty much,” Richard confirmed. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I think my father enjoyed having sex with he
r at some point. How else would they have ever gotten together, right? He never loved her, though. He loved my mother and her death almost broke him. Since he couldn’t marry for love again, he decided to marry for stature. Having a young woman on his arm made his business associates talk … and he liked that. Unfortunately, he didn’t like Madeline.”

  “Yeah, Harper and I were talking about that last night,” Jared hedged as he dropped to his knees again to stare under a bed. “I’m assuming your father forced Madeline to sign a pre-nup before they got married. Why would she stick around now given the way he treats her?”

  “You’ll have to ask her that,” Richard replied. “I never understood why she married him in the first place. I always assumed he made some sort of promise to her, that if they made it to a certain point, he would tear up the pre-nup and she would be able to inherit. I’m pretty sure that never happened, though.”

  “How sure?” Harper queried.

  “Well, I heard Madeline screaming at him before you guys all arrived yesterday. Apparently he puts her on an allowance. She’s only allowed to spend so much a day ... and then she gets an extra amount per month for big purchases, but if she makes a big purchase she can’t make another for three months.”

  Harper was horrified. “No way. That’s ... ridiculous.”

  “That’s my father.” Richard locked the room and pointed toward the last one in the hallway. “I don’t mean to tell you your business, Detective Monroe, But Madeline is known for taking off for several hours — even days sometimes — and then coming back after a trip to the spa or mall. She always denies doing it for the drama, but we all know that’s how she rolls.”

  Jared wasn’t surprised by the tidbit. “I figured last night that she has a dramatic side. It also doesn’t surprise me that she’ll get attention any way she can. She seems starved for it. Given the situation, though, we have to look for her. I mean ... it’s too weird not to.”

  Richard held up his hands in capitulation. “I get it. I’m not telling you how to conduct your search. I just don’t want you to beat yourself up if we don't find her. Odds are she’ll show up when she thinks Dad is more likely to buy her something extravagant.”