“Are you sure you locked it?” Char asks.
“Maybe,” I say, and glare at her before turning back to Levi. “I already told you about the knife. Anna is angry. We can’t do the séance tonight. Help me get the thing out of the house.”
“Who’s Anna?” Georgia asks.
I shake my head at her, and she hurries to follow Libby to the back of the house. Seconds later, they pass us on the way to their cars. Georgia promises to call me soon. She’s running on her toes. Libby is hugging herself.
“We should call the police, but if you’re going to insist a ghost did it, they’ll probably arrest you just for the fun of it. You know they’re always looking for a reason to lock you up. I’ll get the wheelbarrow,” Levi says.
Together, we heave the thing inside. It’s probably close to a hundred pounds. Levi and Char take it out to bury it in the desert. I mop up the blood and use essential oil to chase out the flies and mask the smell. I also let rip more than a few choice words at Anna. Levi comes back to check the locks on the doors and all the windows. Char’s found a bottle of wine.
“What now?” Levi ask.
“I say we proceed with the séance,” Char says. “You can’t let the spirit take over. Obviously, the man has issues he needs to resolve.” She’s got a glass of wine in one hand and a smudge stick in the other and is walking around chanting.
“He, she, it wants to be called Anna,” I say. “She’s objecting to crossing over. I’m not sure I want to know why anymore. Pig offerings are demonic.”
“Ghost don’t shoot arrows,” Levi says.
Char’s laughing. “It wouldn’t be your first demonic offering. Would it? Either way, you can’t live with a pig killing spirit.”
I can still smell skunk pig. Levi’s looking around like he’s still trying to figure out how it got in the house. He goes to check the locks again. Char’s sitting at the dining room table drumming her fingers.
“You make a new enemy in town?” Levi asks, when he comes back.
“It was Anna. She’s not going anywhere. Even if the door wasn’t locked, it was shut. I know the pig didn’t open it.”
“What’s wrong with you? You’re not thinking straight. Char’s right. You can’t let her stay,” Levi says. “Let’s do this thing before she kills something for real. That would get you in some serious trouble. You sure you haven’t mouthed off to somebody in town? You know how you get sometimes.”
“I’m sure. Okay. Let’s try to contact her, but just to ask a few questions.”
Levi and Char exchange looks. If it was anyone or anywhere else, I would never consider doing a séance under these circumstances, but they’re both right. Anna’s out of control and this activity can’t go on in my home. Sooner or later the police will discover the bodies that I’ll have to keep burying behind the house.
Levi and me join Char at the table. I light three candles and ask the Great Spirit for protection. Then I take the pendulum and hold it tightly in my hand. “Ready?” I get two nods and clear my throat.
“Anna, we come here tonight to assist you with whatever problem you have that is keeping you from crossing over. We are here to listen to whatever you left unsaid in life. We ask that you come in peace and light in speaking your truth. We are here to support you in your soul’s journey. We ask that you honor us with your presence in joining our circle.” I stop and take a deep breath. “Please make your presence known to us.”
It’s dark inside and out. The crickets seem unusually loud. Mojo is sitting beside me, looking at the ceiling. I glance up and see nothing. Anna is silent.
“Anna, what you did to me and especially that pig was wrong and unnecessary. You have my full attention now. I understand that you have some unfinished business and aren’t interested in leaving quite yet. You’re dead though so you need to crossover and—
One of the three candles goes out. Levi reaches over and re-lights it.
“When the matter that is troubling you is resolved, I’ll help you crossover. You’re going to love the afterlife, but we’ll talk about that later. For now, let me help you.”
I raise the pendulum over the board. “Let’s start with your name. I know you want to be called Anna. Please tell me your last name so—
The pendulum swings in a circle then stops before spelling, KOWALSKI.
Char whispers, “Who’s that?”
“Okay, Anna Kowalski. Tell us what happened to you.” I say.
The pendulum hangs still. “Did you die in an accident?”
NO.
“Did you die from an illness?”
NO.
I look at Char then Levi. Their faces are distorted by the candles’ light. “Did you commit suicide?”
NO.
“Ask, already,” Char whispers.
“Were you murdered?”
YES.
“By a stranger?”
The pendulum swings to NO.
“By the FBI?” Char yells, and I kick her under the table.
NO.
“Okay, you knew the person. So tell us their name.”
The pendulum moves from one side of the board to the other before it spells LIBBY, and drops from my fingers.
Chapter Five
§
Levi’s up and pacing. Char’s gone to refill her wine glass. I’m putting away the Ouija board. For now, Anna has left me speechless. After the pendulum fell out of my hand, we tried to communicate with her again. When it sounded like the locked back door slammed, we gave up. Anna is taking the inquiry into her last living day badly.
“There are lots of people named Libby,” I say. “Libby Petry couldn’t kill a pig, let alone another person.”
“We should call Maybelle,” Levi says. He takes Char’s glass and empties it in one swallow. The man rarely takes anything in life too seriously, but after spending eight months in prison for security fraud– which he still blames on his ex-boss– he has a new respect for authority figures.
I remind him that my grandmother doesn’t do séances. He goes back to pacing.
“No wonder the FBI wouldn’t tell you anything. A murderer in our own circle of friends.” Char’s back with two glasses of wine. She hands one to Levi. “No wonder they gave you a fake name. It’s a cover-up. They’re probably watching us right now… or eavesdropping on our every word.” The three of us stop to look around for listening devices.
The two FBI men were at the house waiting for me when I got back from a job in Cathville, Arkansas. They knew I was back in town. They knew about the tarot card reading that Anna had scheduled with me. They knew I communicated with her using my computer. Did they know the name she used was Anna when she contacted me, or did I tell them? I don’t recall.
When I first saw them, I thought they were the men in black. Living so close to Roswell, I’m not the only one in town who gives men in black suits a second glance. I’m not sure now why I believed they weren’t alien investigators, other than the FBI card that one had given me. A business card is a bad reason to believe anyone is who the card says they are, especially if it says FBI. Without an entirely clear conscience, I wasn’t thinking fast enough to ask to see a badge.
“Wait. Anna showed up before Libby even moved to town. The name is just a coincidence. I overreacted.”
Char’s pointing her finger at me. “We know nothing about that woman except that she’s an oddball and has really weird hair.”
“Didn’t you say the FBI took your computer?” Levi asks.
I was thinking the exact same thing. I’ve done multiple searches on the name the men in black gave me— Neil Franklin. Now that I think about it, I remember they didn’t ask me any questions about the man. All they wanted was to take my computer. I gave it to them because they had a warrant, which they could have easily downloaded from any number of websites.
They could be tracking everything I do. What have I done on the computer since they were here? In my line of work, more than I want them to know about me. They coul
d have put a listening device in the computer. Maybe a camera. That’s unfortunate. For them.
“They could be listening to our conversation right now,” Levi says. He heads to my office.
“Forget listening to us, they could be planting thoughts in our brains,” Char says. I have to agree.
After Levi got out of prison, he briefly considered becoming a private investigator since no one would hire him. Then he got a job in cyber security. He’s hoping to become a Silicon Valley millionaire. I still have no idea what he does, but figure he knows more than me about what’s going on with my computer.
Char and I follow him to my office. I’ve never seen the black screen with the cryptic code that Levi’s staring at. I move away so it can’t see me.
I google Anna Kowalski on my laptop. Even if the FBI has a way of connecting my computer and laptop, I still have to find out something about the woman. “They couldn’t connect my computer and laptop, could they?” I ask Levi.
“Probably not,” he says.
Probably is not good enough, but I click anyway. Then I click again and again. There are over a half million hits on the name. “None of the Anna Kowalski results on the first three pages say anything about murdered or FBI,” I say.
“Put quotes around murdered and FBI,” Levi says.
“Is that safe? What kind of murders does the FBI investigate?” I doubt it’s safe, but I add quote marks. “Nothing,” I shout.
Levi and Char exchange looks. Easy for them to smirk. They aren’t the ones who found a dead demon skunk pig in their dining room or men in black in their driveway. I start to search for demon offerings and stop myself.
“Let’s get pizza,” Char says. “I thought Georgia was bringing food so I didn’t eat dinner.”
“Wait a minute. When Anna emailed me for a tarot card reading, she asked me if the authorities would find out something.”
“So?” Char says. She’s on the phone ordering an extra large sausage pizza and a bucket of wings and trying to sweet talk them into bringing a bottle of wine.
“So? She was the one who was in trouble. If she was innocent, she would have wanted the authorities to find out.”
“Drugs,” Char says. “Libby is some kind of gangbanger dealer and Anna didn’t pay up. No. No gangbanger has hair like hers. She should try shaving her head. It might grow back less frizzy and not so orange. I would die if my hair looked like that.”
“The dead don’t lie,” Levi says. Now the screen on my computer is green and the print is black.
True. The dead don’t lie. Anna Kowalski has been wiped off the face of the earth, but her spirit is going nowhere until she tells her side of the story. Maybe the men in black knew that all along.
The agent who returned my computer acted nervous. I had a gut feeling that a copy of my hard drive was turned over to some government run paranormal group. And Libby’s way too interested in my psychic abilities… and me. No, the woman couldn’t kill. I think.
I google spirit animal and skunk pig. I’m relieved to find none, so I check out the meaning for the pig. “The pig indicates opportunity, a lucky star, and abundance,” I say.
“I’d die if the pig was my spirit animal. Mine’s a deer,” Char says. I know it isn’t.
“I don’t think the pig was a spirit message. If it wasn’t a poacher, it was a demon offering,” Levi says.
I can’t argue with the man. I don’t feel lucky at all. “Oh wait, I found it. The peccary spirit animal represents tough hide, adaptability, loyalty, and the ability to defend oneself.”
“That sounds like you, all right. But defend against what?” Char asks. “In your condition, you’re in no position to defend yourself against anyone.”
“I’m in no condition,” I say, and glare at the woman. She laughs too loud.
Two hours later, we’ve finished off the pizza and wings, and Levi announces that there is nothing lurking or listening on my computer.
Char says to keep a smudge stick burning and tells me to call her if I find anymore dead animals in the house. “Night Anna,” she yells as she walks out the door.
“Now what?” Levi asks.
“All I can do is try to convince her that I’m here to help her. I’m not sure what to make of this. The pig was a little extreme. I seriously doubt Libby is involved. The name– what?” Levi was staring at me and now he’s staring at everything but me.
“I could stay here.”
“For what?”
“Protection against a demon.”
“Anna’s been living here for six months now. I’m not happy about the pig, but I’m not afraid of her. She needs my help. I don’t know why the FBI is involved, but I can help her resolve whatever trauma she suffered. Heavens, do you think they tortured her? Or do they just do that in the movies? What if she was a double agent or is that just the CIA? I overreacted when she said Libby. What?”
Levi’s back to staring at the walls and out the window, which is too dark to see out.
“What, already? Spit it out. You know I’m not afraid of spirits.”
“What Libby said. Are you?”
“Am I…. No, I’m not pregnant and couldn’t be without divine intervention and won’t be. Got it? Not that it’s any of your business anyway. That’s what you’re asking, right?”
Levi grins and nods. We’ve already had the conversation about Maybelle’s vision message of my unborn son. It was a few months ago that she summoned me to her house to inform me that she’d gotten a message from him. She claimed he’s waiting for me to pop him out onto mother earth. Then she called Levi to make it happen.
“That’s not my fault,” he laughs. “Yeah, I should probably go.” I walk him to his car. “Demons aren’t ghosts you know?” he says.
“I do. I don’t really think Anna’s a demon. I think.”
“A ghost couldn’t put a skunk pig in your house. You probably just didn’t lock the door, and it found its way inside after it was shot by someone messing around with a bow and arrow. Still, you might want to think about any run-ins you’ve had with folks lately.”
I watch Levi drive away. I’m about to go inside when I notice the flag is up on the mailbox. I’d blame it on kids, but my house is the only one on this end of the road, and I have a reputation in town that keeps most troublemakers from driving out this far.
“Has someone been out here?” I ask Mojo. He’s sniffing the air, but isn’t interested in the mailbox.
“Anna, if you put a dead cat in that box, you and me are going to have a serious problem.”
I pull the handle a few inches and sniff. I don’t smell anything dead, so I open it all the way. There are too few stars in the sky and the light from the porch doesn’t help me see inside even a little bit. The box looks empty to me. I decide one brave kid ventured down the road to mess with the flag. I’m about to shut it and go back inside when I see a flash. I stick my head in and see a key.
“What’s this Anna? The key to your mind?” I walk back to the house and stop to look at it under the porch light. Roswell International Airport #13.
Chapter Six
§
My ringing phone is what wakes me the next morning. I stayed up late trying to communicate with Anna last night. Actually, I was up late talking to myself since she wasn’t listening. It seems she’s said all she thinks she needs to say for now.
After I went to bed, I was still up and down all night with every noise I thought I heard, but probably didn’t. Then I decided I needed to get a security system with cameras and was up searching the internet for one that fit my budget. Since I haven’t had a job in almost three months, I didn’t find one in my price range.
I’m reaching for my phone to shut it off when I remember my nine o’clock call with Ellen Boshears. I can’t believe I forgot about the woman or the job. Now I can’t believe I have to talk to a potential client after a few hours of sleep and no coffee. As soon as I say hello, I can’t believe I agreed to talk to her at all.
&nb
sp; The first words out of her mouth are, “Listen to this.” I’m out of bed and headed to the kitchen. “Herman Hotel Haunting.”
I really need to get instant coffee for days like this.
“Haunting,” she yells again, and I have to pull the phone away. “The Herman Hotel has reopened after being closed for fifteen years. The hotel was the gruesome site of a triple murder on the thirteenth floor. Guests on the haunted floor report hearing doors slamming, running in the hallway, and the screams of the victims. An employee of the hotel confirms that the thirteenth floor has been bolted shut. The entire article is a lie.”
I can tell Boshears is pacing then I hear a crash.
“Bolted shut? That’s not even possible. How would you bolt shut an entire floor? And no guest of mine reported hearing any of those things. Whoever wrote this nonsense will be screaming when I sue them. I’ve already fired three of my staff this morning. I knew those security guards couldn’t be trusted. They all looked guilty when I shoved the article in their faces. Until I find out who is spreading lies to the reporters in this town, I’m ready to fire the entire staff. Now what am I supposed to do?”
“You might want to put an ad on Craigslist. I’d avoid the newspapers.” My voice sounds like I’ve been eating sawdust. My head is throbbing, and Boshears is breathing too loud.
“Listen to me. I left a lucrative medical practice in California. I’ve used a substantial amount of my own money to reopen the hotel. This place is going to have more than three dead bodies to brag about if I lose everything. I want you on a flight to Taw Ridge by this afternoon. I’ll tolerate your doing your little ghost investigation work, but I want the signed certificate that there are no ghosts in this hotel within eight days. I plan on making a mockery out of these sabotagers. Do you understand how critical this situation has become?”
What’s critical to me is my empty coffee mug. I just want the water to finish dripping through the grounds. Only one of us is going to get what we want. “Did I just hear you threaten to murder people?”
The Taw Ridge Haunting Page 3
