by Flynn, Mac
He grinned back and tipped his hat. "That's my job, miss." It proved to me that you never really knew a person until you needed them.
We were taken to Ashley's home and promptly guided up to her bedroom. Most of the officers remained at the cemetery, but a few were outside the house keeping watch. They still suspected kidnapping was involved with both our disappearances, which technically was true. I almost laughed at the idea of them protecting us from a phantom. It wasn't going to work; bullets and manpower wouldn't stop a ghost.
Mrs. Stefan personally supervised our getting out of those torn, tattered clothes and into some nice clean ones. Even though we were just tired and not sleepy, she tucked Ashley into bed and got out a sleeping bag and air mattress for me.
Ashley protested this coddling. "We're fine now, Mom, we don't really need to go to sleep," she scolded her mother.
Mrs. Stefan stood at the side of Ashley's bed and put her hands on her hips. "I don't know what you've been through, but I don't intend to let you go wandering off again for at least a decade," she replied.
Ashley faked astonishment and horror, a sure sign she was feeling better. "But I'll be thirty by then!"
"Yes, and hopefully more careful." Mrs. Stefan glanced around at both of us. "Now I expect to hear some log sawing in a few minutes or I'm coming back in here with a hammer and knocking you both out." She left us to obey her command to sleep, but with the sun out and our minds now waking to the memories of last evening sleep wasn't going to happen anytime soon.
Ashley leaned over the side of her bed and looked at me. Her voice was low enough nobody outside the room could hear her. "You know, I really can't remember what happened out there, or even how I got there," she told me.
She was worried and wanted me to allay her fears. Amnesia was a harsh reality to face. I shrugged. "Maybe you went for a walk and hit your head. That could have made you wander far enough to get into that crypt, especially since it's only two miles from here."
"Yeah, maybe." She reached up and touched the bruise on her forehead. Then she frowned and leaned in closer to me. "So how'd you even find me? It's not like I would've left a trail of breadcrumbs to follow."
I had to think fast. "I-I guess with so much happening around the cemetery, maybe you'd wandered over there for a look at the trouble."
Ashley looked at me like I was the one who'd lost her mind. "Are you nuts? Why in the world would I go in there? You know how much I believe in that phantom."
I sheepishly smiled and shrugged. "I guess I wasn't thinking much." I saved myself by faking a yawn that I covered with my hand. "But maybe we can get talking about this later. I'm kind of tired."
My friend slipped down into her covers. "Yeah, I guess you're right," she agreed. "Probably a good thing I don't remember much; otherwise I'd probably have nightmares."
I didn't reply, and in a few minutes my friend allowed the exhaustion to lull her into sleep. I lay awake staring at the ceiling and thinking about Eric. Though I'd only known him for a short time, I missed his warm presence in my body. It was comforting having someone so close to you, but heartbreaking to let them go. I wondered at the light he'd walked into, and how maybe one day I'd see that light, too. Well, if I was a good little girl, that is.
I fell asleep thinking about my lost love. Mrs. Stefan woke us up for some lunch and later in the day I was given my own bedroom, a guest one down the hall at the end of the house. Officers Sandoval and Perkins also came by later to get our statements about the incident. Unfortunately, that pair was back to their normal, annoying selves. We sat on the couch and answered their questions, but we weren't all that helpful.
"So you can't remember a thing?" Perkins asked Ashley for the tenth time. He didn't want to believe it.
She closed her eyes and shook her head. "No, I'm really sorry. All I remember is going out on the porch and looking out towards the woods. Then, well, nothing until I woke up beside Jess against that coffin."
Perkins turned his attention to me and glanced down at his notepad. He'd taken down my statement and reread it to me. "You said you were driving by when you thought you saw something in the cemetery."
"No, when I thought maybe Ashley had gone in there out of curiosity," I corrected him. I think he was trying to trip me up, but I stuck to the lie I'd told Ashley earlier that day.
He raised an eyebrow. There was disbelief in his voice. "So after everything you've been through in there, including leaving Brent behind, you just drove in there and started looking around for her. You also didn't think to bring a flashlight with you."
I nodded at Mrs. Stefan who stood not far off. "I thought I'd get one from Mrs. Stefan. Being out here on a farm I'm sure they have a lot of them."
"That's true, in case the power goes out," Mrs. Stefan agreed.
Perkins looked down at his pad again. "So you went into the cemetery and headed for the mausoleum, is that correct?"
"Yeah, I thought I saw something. I got to the door and noticed it was open. I could see Ashley lying down against the coffin and went in there to see if she was okay and get her out. That's when something bumped me on the back of the head." I reached back and gingerly touched the knob there. Eric did a good job of giving me an alibi.
All this questioning was tiring for Ashley, and my brain was stressed from keeping the big lie consistent. Mrs. Stefan came to the rescue to save us from the cops. "I think it's getting a little late. Perhaps you gentlemen could come back tomorrow and we'll see if Ashley remembers anything else."
Perkins pocketed his notepad. "Alright. We'll be by early in the morning to check on the other officers," he grudgingly agreed.
Ashley and I stayed on the couches while Mrs. Stefan escorted her 'guests' outside. When the door closed behind them, Ashley glanced at me. "You sure you didn't see anything weird around there?" she whispered to me.
I shook my head. "Not that I remember, but I just don't know. I just know I'm never going back to that cemetery." There wasn't anything left for me there, anyway.
My friend let out a nervous giggle. "Yeah, me either. I'll be lucky to get my mom to let me out on the porch ever again."
When night fell we were fed a sumptuous dinner and marched back to our rooms. We were placed on lockdown with Mrs. Stefan holding the keys. I didn't mind; it was a cozy room with a nice view of the fields. My only regret was I couldn't see the forest. Still, it was a nice night, so I took a seat on a bench in the windowsill and looked out on the rust-colored autumn fields. My eyes inadvertently glanced up at the stars that twinkled above the small house. They were so bright that they lit up the room.
Actually, I was a little off with that. The stars weren't the ones lighting up the room, it was something in back of me. I frowned and turned, expecting to see the door open and the hall light pouring into the room. My eyes widened and my face lit up with a smile when I saw Eric standing there in all his shining glory. He grinned and bowed his head.
"Good evening, my wife," he greeted me. His voice sounded like the twinkling of wind chimes on a cool summer's day.
I sprang off the window seat and wrapped my arms around his solid form. "What in the world are you doing here?" I scolded him.
"I thought perhaps I would ease your sadness every once in a while. Besides, what is heaven without my wife?" he countered with a wicked grin. I choked out a laugh through my tears and buried my face into his sweet-smelling shirt. He returned the hug and we stood there for a moment before I felt him chuckle.
I pulled back and frowned at him. "What is it now?"
That evil smile was still on his face. "What is it every night?"
I leaned forward and teasingly pecked his lips. "I don't know, you show me."
And he did that night, and so many more after that.
Want to get an email when my next book is released, or know when a sale is coming?
Sign up here
Other Books by Mac Flynn
(all titles available in discounted box sets)
Ph
antom Touch #1
Phantom Touch #2
Phantom Touch #3
Phantom Touch #4
Phantom Touch #5
Sensual Sweets #1
Sensual Sweets #2
Sensual Sweets #3
Sensual Sweets #4
Cabin Fever (Unnatural Lover #1)
Old Stories (Unnatural Lover #2)
Stalking Sensation (Unnatural Lover #3)
Research Questions (Unnatural Lover #4)
Delicious Nightmares (Unnatural Lover #5)
Separation Anxiety (Unnatural Lover #6)
Doppelganger Night (Unnatural Lover #7)
Mountain Mysteries (Unnatural Lover #8)
Permanent Changes (Unnatural Lover #9)
Welcome Home (Unnatural Lover #10)
Shadow of the Wolf (In the Loup #1)
Wolf Rising (In the Loup #2)
Heart's Strife (In the Loup #3)
Wolf Blood (In the Loup #4)
Clashings (In the Loup #5)
Evolution (In the Loup #6)
Sleepover (In the Loup #7)
Disloyalty (In the Loup #8)
Folklore (In the Loup #9)
Urgings of the Wolf (In the Loup #10)
Insatiable (In the Loup #11)
Reveal (In the Loup #12)
True Form (In the Loup #13)
Threatening (In the Loup #14)
Supremacy (In the Loup #15)
Wrap Up (In the Loup #16)
Office Duties Series: Books #1
Office Duties Series: Books #2
Office Duties Series: Books #3
Office Duties Series: Books #4
Office Duties Series: Books #5
Office Duties Series: Books #6
Office Duties Series: Books #7
Office Duties Series: Books #8
