“He sounds like a pretty normal teenager,” Rand said. “Sorry for your loss.”
“Yeah.” She sat in her chair with her hands between her thighs, staring off to the side through her dark sunglasses. For the first time, her energy seemed to leave her as she reminisced about her friend. “It really messed me up when he died,” she said after a few seconds. “Even though I’ve totally been a peace with the whole dying young thing… I don’t know. I guess when he passed it made my situation all more real.”
“I can’t imagine it was easy,” Rand said.
“But then he came back. Started visiting me in my room as a ghost.”
Rand leaned forward and folded his hands together on the table. “When does he visit you?”
“At night. Like, really late at night. Or early in the morning, whatever you want to call it. He wakes me up every time, which is kind of annoying, but then again he’s a ghost, so what does he care?”
“Does he speak to you?”
“Not really,” Georgia said. “He’s mostly just there. Watching. It would be creepy if it wasn’t Thomas. I try to talk to him, and it looks like he wants to answer, but I can’t hear anything. His mouth never moves.”
“What do you say to him?”
“Nothing much. Just ask him what he’s doing or if he’s okay. Once, I asked if it hurts being dead. I also tell him not to watch me shower and call him a pervert.”
“I see. What is he wearing when you see him?”
“The hospital gown.” Georgia wrinkled her nose. “Which is weird, because Thomas hated wearing those, and never did.”
Rand also found that strange. Usually ghosts appeared as they had when they were alive.
“And how do you feel when Thomas is present?”
Georgia looked at him and removed her sunglasses for the first time. “I don’t know. Curious? I mean, there’s a ghost standing in my room, so I, like, want to know everything about what it’s like to be dead. But he won’t tell me anything. Which, now that I think about it, is totally a Thomas thing to do. He could be such a punk sometimes.” She smiled.
“Does it bring you comfort to have someone watch over you?”
“Yeah. But if he was my guardian angel, then I figured he would be more intentional about it. He just stands there and stares. Shouldn’t you be writing all this down?”
Rand tapped his temple. “It’s all up here.”
“You don’t think I’m crazy, do you? Everyone else thinks I’m nuts.”
“Not at all,” Rand said. “Encountering the spiritual world is a lot more common than you realize. It’s a special gift you should be proud of.”
That made her smile, although Rand had not been completely honest. Usually it was more of a dangerous liability, as it was in his case.
Georgia opened a flap on her black bag and checked her oxygen tank. “I’m low.”
7
When they returned to the room, Nick and Maria were sitting on Georgia’s bed, watching the news on television. They stood when Rand and Georgia walked in.
“Hey, now. I know these doors don’t lock from the inside, but you should at least hang something on the handle,” Georgia said.
“Come on, honey,” Maria said. “Not in front of guests.”
Georgia unhooked her cannula from the portable oxygen cylinder and reattached it to the wall fixture. She twisted the knob to get it flowing again.
“How was the tour?” Nick asked Rand.
“She’s a fantastic guide.”
“You can leave a tip,” Georgia said.
“It was great to meet you today, Georgia,” Rand said.
“Aw, leaving already? I thought we would watch TV. Or talk about ghosts some more.”
“I’ll come back,” Rand said. When he said that, Nick and Maria gave him a worried look.
“Are you sure I’m not crazy?” Georgia asked. “Do I have sanity problems on top of my lung problems?”
Rand laughed. “Of course you’re not crazy.”
“Tell them that, please,” Georgia said, nodding toward her parents.
“We don’t think you’re crazy,” Maria said. “It’s just… we’re curious.”
“Right,” Georgia said, smirking. “Is this the part where y’all go out in the hall and talk about me?”
“I actually think that’s a good idea,” Rand said.
Nick and Maria followed Rand out into the hallway. Before the door closed, Georgia shouted after him, “Tell them I haven’t lost my mind!”
Nick and Maria stood close to Rand in a small huddle, Maria with her arms folded across her chest and Nick with his hands in his pockets. They wore worried expressions, as if Rand was a doctor about to give them bad news.
“Your daughter is quite the character,” Rand said. His attempt to ease their tension worked, and they chuckled.
“Hope she wasn’t too much,” Nick said.
“Not at all. She has an amazing outlook, considering her situation.”
“She’s always been that way, thank the Lord,” Maria said. “No matter what comes, she’ll always find a way to smile.”
“She seems truly special,” said Rand. “And I want to help.”
“Do you think she needs help? With this… little problem.”
“First, we need to determine if it’s a problem at all,” Rand told them.
“Okay. And how do we go about doing that?”
“Georgia said that when the spirit visits her, she speaks with him and gets the impression he’s trying to respond, but she can’t hear anything. He is most likely responding, but she’s unable to discern it because of the divide between the realms in which they’re existing.” Nick and Maria gave him a blank stare. “I know it sounds far out there, but trust me. I’ve been doing this a while.”
“So what do you propose?” Nick asked. For the first time, he looked frightened.
“In my bag, I have an EVP recorder. That stands for electronic voice phenomenon. It’s the practice of using a device to pick up voices from the spiritual world. I hope to capture their conversation so I can know what the spirit is saying to her. From there, we’ll make the judgment call if its presence is helping Georgia cope with her situation, or if it’s harmful.”
Nick let out a long breath. “I have to say, this stuff is really weird to me. I almost can’t believe I’m having this discussion right now. But with all we’ve been through with Georgia, I guess nothing should surprise me anymore.” Maria put a hand on her husband’s arm.
“I know what you mean,” Rand said. “And I understand. But your mind is open to the possibility, and that’s good.”
Nick nodded.
“And another thing. I want to plant the recorder without Georgia’s knowledge. If she knows it’s there, it could alter the natural results.”
“Okay,” Nick said.
“I’ll come back tomorrow and check the recorder. If Georgia says Thomas didn’t appear, then I’ll change out the batteries and we’ll try again. I’ll keep coming as long as I have to until we get a positive recording.”
At that, Maria’s eyes widened. “I didn’t realize this would be such a process.”
“With the paranormal, we have to be flexible,” Rand said with a shrug.
“And uh…” Nick scratched at the stubble on his beard. “How much do we owe you for your services?”
“Nothing,” Rand said.
“What?”
“I don’t charge for what I do. I am happy to help.”
Nick leaned back and let out the large breath he’d been holding. “It’s just, with the hospital bills and the procedures—”
Rand held up a hand to stop him. “I understand. The last thing people need when dealing with the paranormal is having to worry about how they will pay.”
“Again, thank you so much,” Maria said.
“My pleasure.”
They went back inside, where Georgia had resumed looking at her computer and leaning against the many pillows on her headboar
d. “I hope you said good things about me.”
“Of course,” Rand said.
“I shot your daughter a text, by the way.”
“She’ll be excited to hear from you.”
Maria said, “Rand, would you like some of this cake? One of Georgia’s friends brought it by yesterday, but it’s so big we couldn’t finish.”
“No, thank you. Still full from the ice cream.”
“And there’s plenty more where that came from,” Georgia said, sitting up. “As long as Mrs. Eloise is working, that is. I have to pee.”
“Georgia!” Maria chided.
She removed her cannula and shuffled to the bathroom.
As soon as the door closed, Rand reached into his satchel, which he’d left on the floor near the room’s entrance, and pulled out the small recorder. He pressed the button on the side and double-checked the battery was full. Then he hit the record button and placed it under Georgia’s bed.
Nick and Maria watched him as he worked.
The toilet flushed. As she walked out, Georgia waved her hand under an antiseptic dispenser on the wall and it squirted some into her palm.
“I have to hit the road,” Rand told her. “It was a pleasure to meet you.”
“You too, Ghost Man. When are you coming back?”
“Maybe tomorrow. Or the day after.”
“Wow. I must need lots of evaluation.”
“I’m only in it for the ice cream.”
Georgia laughed. She plopped down onto her bed and placed the cannula into her nostrils. “I’ll see you then.”
Rand couldn’t help but smile. Georgia definitely reminded him of his own daughter. He quickly glanced toward the bottom of her bed where the recorder was hidden. The last thing this girl needed was to be bothered by a spirit who no longer belonged in the world of the living.
He found himself hoping, maybe even praying, that his findings would be benign.
8
Although it was an early fall morning, Rand felt no chill. The sun was bright and clear, warming him, and he reveled in the fresh air.
He reached the top of the rock hill he’d been chugging away at, a small amount of sweat soaking his grey t-shirt.
Forty years old and I’ve still got it. The hiking, along with a consistent gym routine, kept his body more muscular than most men his age. That and his thick black hair consistently made people think he was younger than he actually was.
When he turned, Libby was only halfway up, face buried in her phone. Her friend Bailey struggled, wavering side to side with each step, hands on her hips as if she had cramps.
“What’s going on?” Rand shouted down at them. “We’re making terrible time.”
Libby looked up and shielded her eyes from the sun with her hand. “What’s the rush?”
“This needs to at least somewhat resemble exercise.”
“Being on the volleyball team at school isn’t enough?” Libby asked, resuming her texting. “I don’t need to do anything extra.”
Rand sat on a rock and tightened the laces on his hiking boots while he waited for the girls to join him. Libby reached the top of the hill first, and Bailey struggled up a few minutes later.
“Y’all go on,” she said, panting and face beet-red. “Leave me here to die.”
“It’s not that bad,” Rand said. “Can you tell my daughter to get off her phone?”
“Libby, your dad says get off your phone.”
Libby ignored them both.
“Who is she texting?”
“Probably Justin.”
“Who the hell is Justin?”
Libby shot her friend a look. “Bailey!”
“You didn’t tell him?”
“Who is Justin?” Rand asked again.
“He’s no one,” Libby insisted.
“He’s her boyfriend,” Bailey said.
“Not a boyfriend,” Libby said. “We’re just talking.”
“Looks like texting,” Rand said. “Show me a picture of him.”
“What? No. Don’t be weird.”
“Come on, I want to see this guy.”
“Why?”
“Because I can tell everything I need to know just by looking at him.”
“You don’t need to know anything about him.” Libby turned her back, thumbs working furiously on the screen. Something in her texts made her smile.
Rand turned to Bailey. “Bailey.” He waved her over.
“Yeah, I’ve got him on Instagram.”
“Bailey!” Libby cried.
Bailey took out her phone, brought up Justin’s Instagram, and showed Rand. All he saw was a skinny kid with black hair that was too long, a bunch of pimples, weird glasses, and a guitar.
“He looks like a dweeb,” Rand said.
“He is not!” Libby said. “And no one says dweeb anymore.”
“Then why did I just say it?”
“Because you’re being rude. You’ve never even met him.”
“He really is nice, Mr. Rand,” Bailey said.
“Does he play football? Or do MMA?”
“No. Guitar.”
“Let me hear some of his songs.” Rand stood and led the way down the other side of the hill.
“I don’t think he has any.”
“Why does he bother playing guitar if he doesn’t record any music? What good is that?”
“Dad!” Libby shouted again.
The hill’s slope increased and Rand turned his body sideways to get better traction with his boots. He let momentum take him and jogged the rest of the way down the hill. “Lot of rocks down here, so don’t stare at the phone,” Rand called back to the girls.
“Here’s a good way to change the subject,” Libby said when she fell in beside her father. “You’ll never guess who just texted me. Georgia Collins.”
“Who is that?” Bailey asked.
“Yeah, she told me she did,” Rand said. “She’s a nice girl. Reminds me a lot of you. I think you two would get along.”
“She invited me to hang out with her at St. Mary’s,” Libby said. “That was quick.”
“She’s really friendly. You should go up to visit her sometime.”
“I asked you to take me when you went, but you refused.”
“Now that I’ve met her and assessed the situation, you can go,” Rand said.
“I don’t need your permission anymore. She invited me herself.” Her phone dinged with another message. “She calls you the ghost man.”
“Who is this girl?” Bailey asked again.
“Ah, she wants me to tell you she saw Thomas again last night.”
Rand halted. “Really?”
Libby froze too, sensing her father’s sudden change. “Yeah. See?” She held her phone toward Rand. He took it and read the message.
Tell your dad I saw Thomas last night.
“Who is Thomas?” Libby asked. Then comprehension dawned on her face. “Is that her ghost?”
“Yeah,” Rand said, handing the phone back. As soon as they finished hiking, he’d ride over to St. Mary’s and retrieve the recorder.
“Is this one of those haunting things you do, Mr. Rand?” Bailey asked. She waved her hands at him. “I don’t want to hear about it. Your stories always keep me up at night.” She trudged off down the trail.
“Is she okay?” Libby asked, squinting in the bright sunlight. “I mean… is Thomas a good ghost?”
“That’s what I need to find out.”
Something struck Rand hard on the cheek, just underneath his left eye, and he flinched. The rock that had hit him, about the size of a quarter, landed at his feet. “Ow!” He brought his hand up to the painful spot and felt warm blood trickle down his fingers.
“What the hell? Someone just threw a rock at you,” Libby said. They both looked in the direction it had flown from.
They were alone on the trail.
Rand inspected the red on his fingertips.
“Where did that come from?” Libby asked. “That looks b
ad.”
Rand looked around again, but there was definitely no one else in the area. Strange, since it felt like the rock was thrown from close range.
“Do you think it’s one of those weird things that happen to you when you’re doing a case?” Libby asked.
“Come on,” Rand said, ignoring her. “Let’s finish the trail.”
Around one o’clock, Rand pulled up in front of the huge house that belonged to Tessa’s new fiancé, Bill. Rand hated going there, but Libby and Bailey were going to stay with the couple for the rest of the weekend, so he had to drop them off.
“Dad, your face is still bleeding,” Libby said. “Come inside and put something on it.”
“I’m fine.”
“Don’t be like that. Come on!”
“I don’t want to go in there.”
“It’s a nice place, not a torture chamber.” Libby yanked on his arm as she opened the car door. Rand sighed and killed the engine.
Tessa greeted them on the porch before they could finish crossing the huge front lawn. When she saw Rand approaching, her arms crossed and her expression grew dark.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“Someone threw a rock at Dad and he needs help.”
“And why would anyone want to throw a rock at you, Randolph?” Tessa smiled.
“Hilarious.”
“Let me see.” Tessa grabbed Rand’s wrist and forced his hand away from the cut. He felt the sticky blood all down his cheek, and the gash still pained him.
“Yeah, that’s bad,” Tessa said. “Come on. I have some alcohol inside.”
“The medical kind or the drinking kind?” Rand said. Tessa gave him a look. “You don’t have to do this,” he added.
“Trust me, I know.”
Rand had never been inside Bill’s house before. He’d purposely avoided it. The man’s living room was the size of Rand’s entire home. Tessa sat him on a plush couch he would have happily slept on every night if he owned it.
The Tenth Ward Page 5
