This time the pause held no static. Laura heard Mike’s breath over the phone and smiled again.
“Laura?”
“Yes?”
“I love you.”
“And I love you.” The words seemed to warm her completely – it felt good to finally say them to Mike. “Night.”
Laura woke the next morning in an extraordinarily good mood. Even the addition of four new inches of snow overnight didn’t faze her. Everything is going so well, she thought. Most nights she slept well, felt more energetic during the day and, even though her cravings still lurked right on the edge of her consciousness, she felt better able to deal with them. The house seemed quiet and the furnace stayed on. And Mike? “He loves me,” she gave a little shrug of her shoulders and hugged her arms to herself. “He loves me.”
Anubis came in and rubbed against her ankles, purring loudly. Laura picked him up and held him, spinning around with him. “Everything’s going to be all right,” she whispered into the top of his head. “We’re going to be fine.”
The cat door clicked open and Laura shivered, feeling a cold draft on her legs. “Or we will be, once it gets a little bit warmer around here and stops snowing. And I can get that damned draft taken care of.”
She set the cat down on the counter, opened a can of cat food and scooped some out into Anubis’ bowl. Then she started the coffee and absently watched the water drip into the pot. Once the machine had finished, she poured herself a cup and went to the living room, turning on the television to the weather reports. They were predicting a warming trend later on in the week.
Cassie came out of her room and poured herself a cup of coffee, sitting down on the edge of the couch. “More snow?”
“Yeah, can you believe it?”
“No. I’m just glad I don’t have to go out driving in it. Thank the gods for working from home. How about you? Are you scheduled to go in today?”
Laura nodded and took a sip of her coffee. “Fortunately, I can walk to work. Of course, that was the whole purpose of working there.”
“You need a new job, Laura.”
“Yeah, but this will do for now. I’m just trying to keep myself busy enough so that I forget what I really want to do.”
Cassie ducked her head and stared into her coffee cup. “I know how that goes. I hope it works for you.”
Something in her tone of voice triggered a warning in Laura’s mind. “Cassie? Are you using again?”
“No,” Cassie’s answer came quickly – too quickly Laura thought – her voice sounded angry, defensive and her words, rushed. “Of course not. Where would I get it?”
Anywhere. Temptation is everywhere and for a price anything can be gotten. But Laura didn’t feel the need to get into this with Cassie. She wasn’t responsible for Cassie’s actions – she wasn’t her mother, her sister, or her counselor.
“Okay,” Laura said. “I was just asking. Speaking of which, Mike and I will be going to a meeting early this evening. You’re welcome to join us.
“I’m sort of busy today, so probably not.”
“Okay. But I can bring dinner home if you want.”
“Sure, that’d be great. Do you mind if I do some laundry today?”
“Help yourself,” Laura said. “But I thought you didn’t like to go down into the cellar.”
Cassie laughed nervously. “I was being silly. You said that yourself and you were right. I was too much into withdrawal to know what was what. I’m better now. There’s nothing wrong with the cellar. Or with this house.”
Laura finished her day at work and stopped by the store’s deli counter to get sandwiches for her and Cassie. She’d tried to call the house all afternoon to find out what Cassie would want to eat, and when she’d gotten no answer, Laura assumed she was working either online or on her cell phone. She decided to get two meatball hoagies and two salads.
On the walk home, she noticed there were signs of warming weather, the ice that had piled up in sheets at the sides of the roads now formed a gently flowing stream of thawed water. Even though it was only mid-November, Laura couldn’t help feel the sort of anticipation she got with the approach of spring. And with that thought came thoughts of Mike. She smiled as she approached her house. Maybe the girls were right. Maybe he would be proposing marriage soon. If he did, would she say yes?
“You bet your boots I will,” she said to herself, opening her front door. “Cassie,” she then called, “I’m home. With dinner.”
Laura walked into the kitchen and set the food bags down on the counter, opening them up and pulling out the contents. “I got you a meatball sub,” she called, a little louder this time. “It’s still nice and hot.” Her voice seemed to echo.
That’s odd, Laura thought, the house feels so empty. But Cassie’s car was in the driveway – she had to be here. Taking two plates out of the cabinet, Laura shivered, feeling someone move up behind her, catching a glimpse of movement out of the corner of her eye.
As if from a great distance she heard Cassie’s voice, thin and reedy, but still recognizable as her voice.
“I was right the first time.”
Laura relaxed. “There you are, Cassie. Right about what?”
But when she turned around, no one was there.
“Cassie?” She called out louder now, hearing a small note of panic begin to creep into her voice. “Cassie, are you here?”
She put the plates back down on the counter and walked down the hallway. Cassie’s door was open; her laptop computer lay on the bed. Laura glanced down at it, an astrology program was running in the background and an instant message window was open. The last message on the screen said, “I’ve got to get the laundry – brb.”
Laura nodded. She remembered now that Cassie was going to wash clothes today. Obviously, she must be in the basement.
Relieved, Laura went to the cellar door – she didn’t hear the washer or dryer running, but thought maybe Cassie was down there folding her clothes. “If so,” Laura said quietly, “she’s a braver woman than I.” Then she chuckled to herself and opened the door. The laugh died in her throat.
Cassie lay at the bottom of the stairs, her head resting in a puddle of dark liquid. Clothes were scattered everywhere on the stairs and on the floor around her. She wasn’t moving.
“Oh, God,” Laura ran down the stairs and bent over the woman. The liquid was blood. She reached down and gently touched the pulse spot on Cassie’s neck. Nothing. She took her wrist and checked again. “Oh, God, Cassie, I’m so sorry.”
As Laura ran back up the stairs to call 911, she thought she heard a faint, mocking laughter follow her up.
Chapter Nineteen
Laura sat on the steps, holding Cassie’s cold hand – it didn’t seem right to just leave her lying there alone. When the paramedics showed up, Laura turned Cassie over to them and slowly climbed back up the stairs, holding back her tears. She sat down in the living room feeling distant and numb. One of the paramedics came up and spoke to her, something about the police…
Mike arrived a few minutes later, still in uniform, with two other policemen; she took one look at Mike’s face and burst into tears.
“I’m actually off duty now, babe, but when I heard the call I came over without changing.” Mike held her for a while, stroking her hair and rocking her gently back and forth. She never wanted him to stop, but unfortunately there were questions to be answered. Mike led her over to the couch and sat down next to her, his arm around her shoulders.
She didn’t know how much time had passed before one of the other policemen reappeared. Mike nodded at the other man, gave Laura a firm squeeze, then rose to speak with him quietly on the far side of the room. He returned a few minutes later, sat down, and put his arms around her once more.
“Laura, they need to ask you a few things.”
She took a deep breath, nodded, and looked up to the policeman who stood nearby.
“This is Johnny Brewster; he’s one of the officers on the case. Johnny
, this is Laura Wagner.”
Johnny nodded and extended his hand. “Pleasure to meet you, Ms. Wagner. I mean, I’m sorry it is under such sad circumstances, but… Could you tell me how you found the body?”
“I came home from work with some sandwiches and called out for her. Her car was here, she wasn’t in her room, so I thought she was downstairs doing her laundry. I went down there and…” Laura began crying again.
“Are you related to the deceased?”
Laura cringed inwardly – such a terrible term – the deceased. “No, we’re just friends. She was staying here until she could find a place of her own.”
“Do you have next of kin information? And identification?”
“It’s probably in her wallet. That’s her purse over there.” She pointed to the huge red leather satchel Cassie always carried. The man rooted through the bag, and when he pulled out her wallet, a bottle of pills fell out. He picked them up, read the label and handed them to Mike.
He, in turn showed them to Laura. She nodded. “You know, I thought she might be using again, although she denied it. That’s her sister’s name on the bottle; I guess she took them.”
Johnny nodded. “Those alone might be reason enough to fall down the stairs. Add that to the huge basket of laundry she carried, and it’s an easy accident.”
“Easy?”
“Well, I didn’t really mean easy. Understandable is probably a better word. She got high and fell. Happens all the time.”
Laura noticed his tone changed when he found the drugs. Addicts don’t get sympathy, apparently. This jerk probably thinks she deserved to die.
Better off dead.
She shook her head slightly. No need to start in thinking those sorts of thoughts.
“Well, ma’am, this is obviously an accidental death. I mean, the coroner will have to rule on that eventually, but for now… We are getting some pictures before…well, the paramedics will be removing the body soon and then we’ll be on our way.”
Mike cleared his throat. “Do you need anything else, buddy?”
“No, uh…” Johnny shook his head. “We’ll give the sister a call from the station.” The young policeman abruptly murmured a “thank you” and excused himself.
Mike stood up. “I’m going to go down to help while they finish up.” He reached down and touched her cheek. “Are you going to be okay?”
“Yes, I think so. What’s that guy’s problem anyway?”
“You have to forgive Johnny. He’s brand new and this is his first death of any sort. I suspect he’s terrified of it all.”
“So am I.”
“It’s going to be okay, Laura. It was just a horrible accident.”
“I know,” whispered Laura. At least, I hope I know. Despite her fear, she managed a small smile.
Mike kissed her forehead. “Be right back.”
“Oh, no,” Laura said, jumping up from the couch, “that reminds me. Cassie was in the middle of an instant message chat when she left to go downstairs. When I went to look for her, I saw it on her laptop screen. I should probably let that person know that she won’t be back. Ever.” She started to cry again as she rushed down the hallway, careful not to look through the open door and down the stairs.
Laura felt uncomfortable using Cassie’s computer, it was almost like reading someone else’s mail. But she didn’t want whatever friend Cassie’d been chatting with not to know. She sat down on the bed and pulled the computer over to her. The other person seemed to have signed off or left the keyboard, but the window was still open. Laura typed in “Cassie’s had an accident. Call me.” She added her name and number and hoped that would be good enough, then closed the machine with a sigh.
The warming trend continued and on the day of Cassie’s funeral, it began to rain. The world seemed a dreary, soggy mess to Laura; the past week had gone by in a teary blur. She longed for something to take the edge off her misery – a drink, a pill, anything. Mike had been working nights, and Laura days, so she hadn’t even had him for company. With only Anubis around, she felt engulfed in an overwhelming atmosphere of sadness. When she dropped off to sleep at night, she thought she heard rustling and whispering and stifled sobbing along with a faint mocking laughter – all of them right at the edge of her hearing threshold, like the sound of a television set with the volume turned down to near silence. None of it was really concrete enough to make her believe she heard it and didn’t dream it. Mike, those few times he’d been to see her, heard nothing. So she chalked it up to nerves. And the lack of drugs, most especially the Valium, still playing havoc with her system. She didn’t allow herself to think “What if?”
Cassie’s funeral was sparsely attended. Laura offered her condolences to the sister and her husband; they gave no response other than a nod. She assumed they were still in shock. Or she thought, observing their serious but emotionless expressions, maybe they’re angry. Angry at me or at Cassie or at the world in general. Laura could tell from this brief meeting why Cassie had not spent much time with her sister – the two of them were like night and day.
As she walked back to the cab she’d hired, a soft male voice called her name. She turned and saw a youngish man, thin and lanky, with scraggly brown hair. “Laura?” he said again and she nodded.
“I’m Dennis. We talked the other day, remember?”
Laura nodded. Cassie’s friend from the internet. She extended her hand. “Yes, of course I remember. Hi, Dennis. I’m pleased to meet you – it’s just too bad it had to be in this situation.”
“Yeah.” Dennis shifted slightly. “I wanted to ask you a favor and I hope you won’t be offended.”
“Ask away,” Laura smiled, “I’m not that easily offended.”
“Cassie always talked about your house. About the presence or presences she felt there. Do you think I could come over at some point and see for myself? She was more into astrological charts and tarot cards than supernatural occurrences. I, on the other hand, well, I’m a sort of paranormal investigator.”
Laura thought for a moment. Do I want a total stranger traipsing through my house? Do I want to hear what he has to say? Why would I want to give credence to the belief that my house is haunted by an evil presence? “I don’t know,” she said finally. “I’m not sure I believe in any of this stuff. The house is odd, yes, but most or all of it has a rational explanation, I think. So you’ll probably be wasting your time.”
“Understood. But I don’t mind.”
Laura shook her head. “I think I’m going to decline the offer, Dennis. Things are better left as they are.”
Dennis gave her a sad smile. “Cassie said you were a stubborn little thing. Always clinging to the belief that the world is a rational place.”
Laura laughed at that. “I’m not so sure about that. But maybe that’s what I seemed like to Cassie. I miss her.”
“Yeah, me too.” His voice broke a bit and he blinked back tears.
His sadness, so lacking in the others there, touched Laura. What harm could he do? “Tell you what,” she said, “I’ll think about your offer and let you know. If you don’t hear from me in a week or so, please call me.”
“Thanks so much. Is that your taxi? I could drive you home if you’d like.”
Laura shook her head. “The driver would kill me. He’s been waiting all this time.” She extended her hand again and they shook. “I’ll call you. Take care.”
With the warmer weather and the steady rain, the snow melted quickly, so much so that green started to show in Laura’s front yard. That sight of green might have cheered her, but the continuing downpours were depressing. She called Mike as soon as she got home.
“Gallagher here.” He answered the phone as he always did, but it never ceased to bring a smile to her face.
“Hey,” she said, “I’m home. Want to come over for dinner when your shift is done?”
“Sure. Are you cooking?”
Laura gave a snort of amusement. “Doubtful. I was thinking along the l
ines of some sort of take-out.”
“That can be arranged. How’s the funeral go?”
“Sad.” Laura sighed. “Cassie’s sister seemed completely unconcerned. But I met a paranormal investigator who wants to check out my house.”
“You told him no, right?”
“Of course.” She wondered to herself if she should have taken Dennis up on his offer. What harm could it have done?
“Good. The last thing in the world you need after all of this is to have some stranger getting you all upset over nothing.”
“Yeah.” Laura paused and noticed that Anubis sat directly in front of the cat door. His ears were flat up against his head and he meowed at her. “Hold on a second, Mike. Bonehead wants something.”
“Silly cat,” she heard Mike say affectionately as she put the phone down on the counter.
“So what is it, cat? Box needs changed?” Laura reached over to the door, clicked open the locks and peered down the steps. The light shone strangely on the floor, making the concrete seem glossy. Then she noticed a few pieces of clothing floating. “Oh, shit. I can’t believe it.”
“What is it, Laura?” Even with the phone on the counter some distance away, she could hear the concern in Mike’s voice. She shook her head and closed and relocked the door. “I’ll put a box for you in the bathroom up here, kitty. I’m sorry, I know you don’t like to get your feet wet.”
Laura picked the phone back up. “Mike? I’m fine. But the cellar is completely flooded. It must be almost eight inches deep already. Maybe there was too much water, with the melting snow and rain, for the sump pump to take care of it. Or,” she dreaded the thought of having to spend more money for house repairs, “maybe I need a new sump pump. Or something.”
“How about a new house?”
Laura gave a humorless laugh. “That’s sounding more and more like a good idea with each passing day. But for now, I guess I’d better call someone and see if they’ll come over. This should qualify as an emergency.”
“I’d think so. Just stay out of the cellar until I get there, okay?”
Modern Magic Page 16
