by Yvonne Heidt
Gina hadn’t been the first missing person she’d been assigned to, but Jordan had gotten so emotionally involved with the runaway that when she appeared to have dropped from the face of the earth, Jordan felt something inside her break and shatter. A piece of her soul was gone, missing the same way the child herself was.
Jordan entered the hall and heard voices in the stairwell. It was after eleven, and most people were usually in bed at that time. She recognized Steve’s voice first, then Agnes’s, but wasn’t close enough yet to make out the third or what they were saying. She rounded the landing and resigned herself to making small talk.
Steve’s door shut, and Jordan was relieved to see no one between herself and her apartment. She was tired and hungry, and wanted nothing more than to eat her takeout teriyaki and kick her feet up in private.
The laundry basket with her neatly folded clothes sat in front of her door, reminding her of what happened earlier in the basement. She juggled her food with her keys and kicked the basket into the apartment. She took a quick shower before heating her dinner in the microwave and settling on the couch. She had just flipped the television on and had the first bite to her mouth when she heard the knock on her door.
“Are you flipping kidding me?” Jordan stalked to the door and swung it open. “Seriously? Do you know what time it is?” The words were barely out of her mouth before she was stunned by the sight of Sunny standing in front of her, holding on to the door frame, her eyes glassy. A microsecond later, her eyes rolled back and she swooned. Jordan barely managed to grab her arm before she fell to her knees. Steve rushed out of his apartment.
“What is it with you, Jordan?” Steve asked before sweeping Sunny up in his arms and pushing past her into the living room. “Do you kiss them and make them cry too?”
“He’s right, dear.” Agnes entered and patted her arm. “You made me faint as well.”
Jordan followed, then stood next to the couch. Once again, she felt like she’d been dropped into the middle of a play already in progress and she had no idea what her lines were.
“Here she comes. Where’s your whiskey?” Agnes asked when Sunny opened her eyes and looked around warily.
Sunny laughed weakly. “Water is fine.”
Jordan fled into the kitchen to get some for her. She had been imagining Sunny flat on her back, but this scenario certainly wasn’t how she’d got there. When she returned, Sunny was sitting up with Steve and Agnes on either side of her.
“Are you okay?” Jordan handed her the glass and, feeling stupid just standing there, sat on the coffee table. “What happened?”
“You opened the door.”
“I usually do that when someone knocks.”
“Okay, I was surprised to see you standing there. I didn’t know you lived here.”
“The sight of me made you faint?” Jordan asked, incredulous. She tried to find her bearings, and answering questions with another question was second nature to her and usually gave her more time to think.
“I did not faint.”
Agnes looked back and forth between them. “You two know each other?”
“We’ve met,” Sunny said politely before meeting Jordan’s eyes. “Could you both please excuse us?”
“But…” Steve looked puzzled. “What about…”
“Just for a few minutes. If you could wait over at your grandmother’s, I’ll be along. When Shade and Tiffany get here, just tell them to wait until I get back to start setting up.” She smiled and flashed her dimples. “Thank you so much. I appreciate it.”
Steve beamed back at her and then stumbled over his big feet on his way to the door, nearly tripping Agnes, who was close behind him. Jordan snickered, then shut the door in his face before he could ask her any questions.
Now what? Jordan thought. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach. In spite of her fierce attraction, she had already made the decision not to seek Sunny out after convincing herself that one, she came from a different planet than she did, and two, she was so far out of her league that Sunny was in another stratosphere from Jordan. She looked around the small apartment and couldn’t help but compare it to Sunny’s home, filled with rich things and cats. Don’t forget the cats, she told herself; you hate cats.
Every single argument flew out the window when Sunny looked at her. Her hair was mussed and her full lips were parted slightly, begging for a kiss. Jordan moved across the carpet toward her. She felt heavy and sluggish, but the need to get to her was almost overwhelming.
She dropped to her knees in front of Sunny and leaned in. She heard Sunny’s sharp intake of breath and stopped when their lips were separated by only a few inches.
“Jordan. Stop. I have to tell you something.”
“Mmm.” Stop? Hell no. She was going to take her right here on the couch. Pin her and take what she wanted. She was going to wrap her hands around her delicate throat and squeeze until she begged for her life. And she was going to like it.
“Jordan!”
“What?” Jordan looked down at her hands gripping Sunny’s shoulders. Oh my God, what had she just been thinking? Sunny’s eyes were wide and she looked frightened. Jordan was mortified and jumped to her feet.
A chair scraped along the linoleum in the dining room and they both jumped.
What was wrong with her? Jordan’s ears were ringing and her hands shook. Sunny approached slowly, almost cautiously. Rage bubbled in Jordan’s veins and she snapped. “I suppose you’re going to tell me that was a ghost.”
“Excuse me?” Sunny looked surprised. “What just happened here?”
“Are the Jacksons in on this too?” Jordan began to pace back and forth. “Who put you up to this?” She was livid. The last thing she needed was someone else messing with her head.
“I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t give me that innocent look.” She pointed at Sunny. “I want an explanation for all of this right now.”
“Agnes called me to come over and investigate the activity here and help her to get rid of it.”
Jordan acted as if she hadn’t heard her. “What I can’t figure out is how you people got into my apartment to move shit around while I was in it.”
“You people?”
“How much did that bitch Lynn pay you—all of you—to drive me completely over the edge? And why?”
“Again, Jordan. I don’t know—”
“I’m not stupid!”
“I never thought—”
“How much did you take the old lady for? You and your con artist witch buddies.”
“That’s enough!” Sunny stood and advanced toward her. “I will not stand here and let you insult my friends and their integrity. I will not tolerate it, do you hear me?”
Jordan stopped pacing. As suddenly as it appeared, the anger ebbed and left her feeling foggy and unsure. What had they been arguing about? The last thing she clearly remembered was thinking how pretty she looked. “But—”
“But nothing. I don’t owe you any explanations. You’ve just stood there throwing around accusations about something I have nothing to do with.”
Jordan desperately tried to remember what she’d said to piss her off.
“And another thing, Officer Lawson.” She spat the title out sarcastically. “Don’t flatter yourself. I didn’t faint at the sight of you.” Sunny turned toward the door. “I fainted because the demon that lives here was standing behind you.” She smiled wickedly and slammed the door.
What did she just say? Jordan’s pulse skipped and she turned to look over her shoulder. Did she just say demon? She flashed back to the age of twelve and her first foster parents who forced her to go to church. She could still see the priest, spittle flying from his mouth as he prayed over her for the sins of her mother. She had been terrified of him and the church’s vision of hellfire and brimstone reserved just for her kind—children of junkies, who were evil just by association. As if she ever had a choice in the matter, as if she didn’t smell the alcohol
on his hypocritical breath. Jordan was never good enough for them, and they always found some fault with her—some reason to lock her in her room. They would roll their eyes and beg God for her deliverance from Satan and his minions. She’d been there less than a year when she ran away for the first time. When the state caught up with her, she was sent to a different foster home.
A worse one, where the so-called demon was an-all-too human and particularly sadistic foster brother. Jordan broke herself free of the memory. She was an adult now, and she didn’t believe in their evil fairy tales any longer.
A cupboard flew open and slammed shut in the kitchen as if to mock her.
*
Sunny’s adrenaline had her practically flying back to Agnes’s apartment. “Just me and my broom,” she said out loud to the night. “That’s all I need.”
She had absolutely no idea what Jordan was talking about, but she had been willing to be patient and try to find out. But to let her tirade include Tiffany and Shade was never going to happen. Not while there was breath left in her body.
She didn’t get mad very often, but Jordan had infuriated her and made her say something to intentionally scare her. Who did she think she was anyway? Sunny could practically feel the sparks standing her hair on end. She refused to acknowledge the small guilty teeth that nibbled at her conscience.
Tiffany took one look at her and her eyes widened. “What—”
“Not now. Let’s get this party started.” Sunny bumped past her and ran straight into Shade, who stopped her.
“Whoa.”
Sunny ground her teeth. “I just want to do this and go home. Don’t ask me, don’t peek into my head, just step away, please.” She felt the tears gather behind her eyes and looked down so they wouldn’t be seen.
Shade put her hands up in surrender. “Okay.”
Tiffany grabbed her arm and pulled her into the bathroom. “Breathe,” she said and forced Sunny to sit on the side of the bathtub before placing one palm on her heart and the other on the top of her head.
Sunny felt some of the anger ebb.
“Again,” Tiffany ordered. “You know the drill, in through the nose, out through the mouth. Repeat.”
Sunny felt the first tear slide down her cheek, then another, but complied. Her throat wanted to close around the lump of frustration and hurt in it. She hated to cry when she was mad. It made her feel weak and vulnerable, even though she knew the process was a cleansing one.
“That’s it. Let it go,” Tiffany soothed her. “Let it drain down your legs into the floor.”
A few moments later, Sunny felt almost normal, if a bit depleted from the experience. “I’m okay now. Thank you.”
“Wow, where did you pick up this dark energy?”
Sunny instantly made the connection. If she hadn’t been so mad, the entity wouldn’t have been able to push her buttons so easily. Which, of course, could be an excellent explanation for Jordan’s explosive reaction and strange behavior.
Now that she was calmer, she felt some shame at how she’d blurted to Jordan there was a demon in the apartment. It was against her code of personal honor to use her gift in that way, to scare or harm someone. “Oh, Tiff, I was awful.” She covered her face with her hands. “I told her there was a demon in her apartment.”
“Who?”
“Jordan.”
Tiffany looked confused.
“Hot lady cop from a couple of weeks ago. Officer Lawson.”
“Ah.”
“I ran into her again the other night.”
“And?”
“Tiffany, she confuses me. She brought me home after I twisted my ankle, and I could have sworn there were major sparks. If my mother hadn’t shown up, I’m pretty sure we would have followed up on them. I’ve dreamt of her almost every night, and it’s driving me crazy. Anyway, after I did the walk-through of Steve’s apartment, the door across from him looked off to me. I was drawn to it even as I felt I should be running. I knocked, Jordan opened the door, and I was so surprised and happy to see her, I didn’t feel the wave of darkness until it hit me and I went to my knees.”
Tiffany leaned closer. “Then what happened?”
“It all happened so fast. I was sitting on the couch ready to warn her about the entity in the apartment when she dropped to her knees. I thought she was going to kiss me.”
“And that pissed you off?”
“No, that’s when I realized she didn’t look right. Her eyes were a little glazed, and she grabbed me.”
Tiffany stiffened. “That bitch hurt you?”
“It wasn’t her, Tiff. There’s something in that apartment, and it’s ugly. It seemed to take control of her. Then something moved a chair and she turned on me, yelling about how we set this up to drive her crazy. She said some horrible things about us and I lost my temper.”
Tiffany smiled. “A rare occurrence.”
“My emotions are all twisted up. I don’t know what Jordan is really feeling, and I hate that I care so much. I mean, really, I’ve only seen her a couple of times. I have no idea where this is all coming from.”
“That surprises me. You usually always know what others are feeling. Why do you think that is?”
A light tap on the door saved Sunny from answering. Shade poked her head in. “Everything okay?”
Sunny soaked up the concern and love in the small space. “Yes, it will be. I just got blindsided by some dark energy in an upstairs apartment. I’m fine now.”
Tiffany patted her hand and left her alone with Shade, who pulled her to her feet. “We okay here?”
Sunny met her gaze. “Always.” She let Shade drop her arm around her shoulders and lead her to the table where Steve, Agnes, and Tiffany waited. “Sorry about the meltdown.”
“It’s okay, dear. Do you want some whiskey?”
Sunny let her amusement wash the last of her agitation away and declined the offer.
“Do you want me to set up the equipment?” Shade asked.
Sunny thought about it for a second. “Not just yet. After what just happened upstairs, there’s more to this than I was aware of. It’s late, and I have a feeling it’s going to take more than one trip.”
A little moan came from Agnes, and her face went white. “Crap! I was hoping we could just get rid of them.”
Sunny hated to disappoint Agnes, but she made the decision to exclude her from the investigation itself. She hadn’t anticipated there being so many souls here, and she certainly hadn’t expected to run into Jordan or the dark entity in her apartment. It had thrown her off. Sunny realized she’d become too complacent and comfortable, since she’d been able to handle every other client case over the last year with ease. If she had been on top of her game, she wouldn’t have been caught unawares by the black energy. This was going to take much more preparation than she’d done this evening, and she was still shaken from the experience itself.
“Agnes?” Sunny said. “Honey, you can’t be here when we do our investigation or communicate with the spirits. We’re going to have to come back, and I would like for you to be somewhere else, okay?”
“Oh, sweet baby Jesus, thank God! I was trying to be brave, I really was, but this shit scares the hell out of me.”
Sunny laughed. “Well, okay then.” She was relieved. Sometimes clients argued the point and wanted to be there no matter the consequences, and truthfully, that only put more pressure on her and her team. Steve looked disappointed, and she hastened to reassure him that they could still use his help. She’d seen his electronic setup earlier, and the complex was large enough that he could assist somewhere out of the way.
Tonight, they would cleanse Agnes’s apartment, but Sunny knew it was a short-term solution and more for the landlady’s peace of mind than to fix the hauntings themselves. She looked over to Tiffany and nodded.
Shade picked up a case of equipment to bring back to the van and left. Tiffany grabbed her large tote bag and unpacked some crystals and loose sage leaves to spread in the c
orners while Sunny lit her sage stick and burned the whole thing, inviting only positive energy to stay.
“That smells like wacky tobaccy.” Agnes looked almost hopeful. “Is it?”
“No, Grandma, it’s not marijuana.” Steve pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Oh,” Agnes said. “Pity.”
Chapter Eight
A piece of loose gravel from the parking lot stuck in the bottom of Jordan’s boot, making a horrible screeching sound on the cement of the path to her building. She stopped at the door and kicked her foot against the frame to dislodge it before stepping into the dark foyer. The lightbulb must have burned out. Yeah, but on all three floors? The total blackness above showed there were no lights on the landings above her either. She felt along the wall to the staircase and began ascending, a tread for each beat of her heart.
The higher she climbed, the heavier her body felt. She really hated the dark and wished she’d been in uniform because then she would have had her gun and Mag flashlight within reach. She moved as quickly as caution allowed her.
Jordan.
The voice whispered directly in her ear, sending cold fingers along her neck. Jordan swung her fist and connected with—nothing. Her throat constricted, and she reached for the revolver she wasn’t wearing.
“Who’s there?” Her voice sounded strange, muffled in the heavy darkness. She reached the top of the stairs and took the five steps to her front door, fumbling in the dark to get her key into the lock. A high-pitched giggle came from behind her. Jordan startled and dropped the keys. She dropped to her knees and ran her hand along the carpet, panic making her movements jerky. A bead of sweat slid from her forehead, down the side of her face.
“Steve?” She found the keys and quickly stood so she could place her back against the door. “Not funny, asshole.” She spun around, unlocked the door, and barreled through it. Jordan reached for the light switch and flipped it. Of course, it didn’t work. She hated this place. She really, really did. It might be time to look for somewhere else to live.
Her flashlight was in the bedroom. Keeping her back along the wall, she sidestepped to the doorway. The drapes she’d just hung were open and she adjusted her eyes in the glow of the streetlight. It was so quiet, the hideous buzzing of the vapor bulb pricked at the nerves under her skin.
