Uncharted Territory (An Angela Panther Mystery Book 3)

by Carolyn Ridder Aspenson

  "I'll call you tonight to set up that drink," Aaron said to Mel. Then he pointed at me. "Drive safe, please."

  I saluted him. "Yes sir."

  We waited until Aaron was out of earshot and then both busted out laughing.

  "You are on fire, woman."

  "I'm kind of hot, huh?"

  A soft, warm orange glow framed her and I made a mental note to find out what that color aura meant. "Did you ever think otherwise?"

  "When your husband cheats on you with a younger, prettier version of yourself, your self-esteem gets sucked down the toilet."

  "He'll regret that one day and I bet he comes crawling back with his tail between his legs."

  "God, I hope he does."

  "Really?"

  "Hell yeah."

  "Would you?"

  "Would I what?"

  "Duh, take him back."

  "When hell freezes over. Whadda you think I am, crazy?"

  I raised my hand in surrender. "Just wanted to make sure."

  "I'd slam the door into his face so fast he wouldn't know what hit him. And I mean I would literally slam the door into his face." She slapped her knee and laughed. "Might make his nose better, too."

  "Ouch."

  "Oh come on. His nose is huge and you know it."

  "It's not that big." I lied.

  "It's twice the size of his wiener."

  "It is not."

  "I'm totally serious."

  "How come you never told me this before?"

  "Guess it never came up. Or when it did, it was too small to notice."

  "Wow. I feel bad for him."

  "I'm the one you should feel sorry for. Sex with him was like searching for that illusive needle in a haystack."

  I cringed. "It couldn't have been that bad. What's the saying? It's not the size of the boat, it's the motion in the ocean."

  "Yes, but when the ocean's had two kids and no episiotomy trust me, you need a big boat."

  "Discussing the size of your vagina isn't part of the friend contract. I'm changing the subject."

  We rehashed everything we knew about Tiffany from my dream to her brief appearances and sketchy hints and her connection to the Saunders family.

  "The angel statue is the kicker. Why would Alo show me that in a dream if it meant nothing? More importantly, why would Tiffany tell me she was with Caroline and near the angel if she wasn't?"

  "Maybe she was and Saunders moved them."

  "I don't get how he could do that. It'd be impossible to take one body out of a tomb but two?"

  "Well someone did it so I guess it is possible."

  "Unless they weren't moved," I said.

  "They're not in the tomb, Ang. You were there. You saw the same thing we all saw."

  "What if they weren't in the tomb to begin with?"

  "But Tiffany said the walls were stone and that she's with Caroline, near the angel so she had to mean the tomb."

  I tapped her purse on the car seat. "Price gave you his business card, right?"

  "Yeah, why?"

  I pulled my phone from my purse and handed it to her. "Call him."

  ***

  "File says he lived in a rental. I'm guessing his sister hasn't had a chance to clean it out yet. Lemme see if I can get the name of the property owner. I'll call you back," Price said.

  "I appreciate it," I said and ended the call.

  "Do you really think Saunders had them at his house?" Mel asked. "That's really messed up."

  "He abducted his niece, Mel. I'd say he was pretty messed up to begin with."

  "Okay fine. So let's say you're right. Saunders took Tiffany and stashed her in his house somewhere but what about Caroline? That still doesn't explain how he got her out of the tomb, through the cemetery, and to his house without someone seeing."

  "I don't think she was ever in the tomb."

  "What? Why do you think that?"

  "Call it my spidey sense, I guess, but I don't think I'm wrong. Caroline never made it to Oakland Cemetery."

  ***

  I dropped Mel off and rushed home to get Josh to lacrosse practice. I knew I'd run into Pam Ryan, and would have to come up with an excuse for blowing her off the other day, so I decided to just get the whole thing over with and called her.

  After a minute of useless small talk, I went for it. "I'm sorry about blowing you off the other day. My life's been crazy lately but I'm free during lacrosse practice so I thought I'd see if you and your friend could meet tonight."

  "I'm sure she'll change her plans for you. I know this is really important to her. My house is only a mile from the park so you can follow me from there. I'll call her now and see you in a bit."

  "Sounds great," I lied.

  I made it home in record time, hitting every green light from Mel's house to mine.

  Josh was waiting for me outside. "I can't find my cup."

  "The kind you drink out of?" I kidded.

  Josh refused to wear a jock strap, so we got him compression pants and a plastic cup that made his private area seem ridiculously large for a kid his age. He and his father thought it was hilarious but I refused to look. He was my baby after all and just, ew.

  "My cup for my junk, Mom."

  His junk?

  "I washed it the other day with your uniform. Did you check the bushel of clean clothes that's sitting on the floor in your room? You know, the one I asked you to put away a few days ago?"

  "Yeah but it's not there."

  "Did you actually physically remove the clothes and check? It might be under something."

  "Uh."

  I shook my head and rolled my eyes, the double whammy expression of frustration. "Run up and check please. And hurry, I gotta meet Pam Ryan and I wanna get it done and over with."

  Less than a minute later he was in the car.

  "Go ahead," I said.

  "What?"

  "Tell me I was right."

  "Not sayin' it."

  "Aw come on. Just say it once."

  "Nope. Not sayin' it."

  "My other boy would."

  "You don't have another son."

  "Fine but admit it. It was in the bushel."

  "Maybe."

  "I'll take that as a yes, Mom. You were right."

  I drove to the park while Josh pleaded his case to purchase new lacrosse gear. Lacrosse terminology brought out the middle school boy in me and I couldn't help but giggle as he spoke.

  "My shaft is bent, Mom," he said.

  I giggled.

  "Stop it. It is. It curves to the right and my aim is off."

  I giggled again.

  "Mom."

  "I'm sorry," I said between giggles. "I'll stop."

  "Really, it's affecting my shot. And something's wrong with my head. I don't know if it's wrapped wrong or what but it's too soft. The butt's fine but if I'm gonna get a new shaft and head, I might as well get a new butt too. I saw this cool black one online. It's some new kind of rubber and is supposed to be really hard."

  How was I supposed to keep a straight face?

  I gently reminded him that the entire stick, head, shaft, and butt, was less than three months old and cost over two hundred dollars. Jake could restring the head and if necessary, I could make sure it was hard. Okay, so I didn't tell him that part but I thought it. I turned on my satellite radio and Billy Squier's "The Stroke" came on. I laughed at the irony.

  Pam was already at the park, waiting for me. "Hey there, Angela. Follow me. Kristin's already at my house."

  "Sounds good." I blew Josh a kiss as he got his gear out of the car. "Good luck."

  He ignored me. I felt loved.

  I didn't want to do what I was about to do but Mel was right. The universe needed me and wasn't going to toss me to the wolves, even wolves dressed in pink tennis skirts and Tiffany jewelry. I had to trust that this was the route they planned for me and Pam and Kristin would zip their lips and keep them zipped. I planned to make that clear when I got there, too.

  I sp
ent the rest of the mile drive to Pam's house internally talking to the woman Josh saw at the movies, hoping she'd make her appearance quickly so I could get back to the park and watch Josh's practice.

  A Mercedes, a BMW, and a Lexus filled one side of Pam's driveway. The other side had a pickup truck and one of the new Volkswagen Bugs.

  "Great. She invited the whole damn town."

  "Ah Madone," Ma said, popping into the front seat with me. "She did not. It's three friends, that's all."

  "The driveway is packed, Ma. She's got more than three friends in there."

  "She does not. I was just in there. Her daughter and son are home so probably a few a those cars are theirs. What's the biggie? You go in, you talk to a few spirits, you leave. It ain't rocket science or nothing for cryin' out loud."

  "You knew didn't you?"

  She jutted her chin. "You betcha. You want I should mention those rules again? You know, the ones you keep tryin' to get me to break?"

  "Rules, schmules. And it's not like you haven't broken them before."

  "But I don't no more. I gotta be extra careful seeing as I'm gonna be a spirit guide and all."

  "A little hint would have been nice. Maybe I could have been a little more prepared."

  "You're prepared enough. You knew it was comin' anyway so quit complainin'. Chillax. Take a chill pill. YOLO." She made rapper signs with her hands.

  "YOLO?"

  "You got to go with the flo', 'cause you be in da know. It's yo destiny, so don't be questionin' me. Talk to da dead an tell people what dey said. You know you can do it when you put your mind to it. Be fly like me, 'cause like I said, it's yo destiny."

  "You seriously just rapped me a pep talk, didn't you?"

  "Yah, you like it? I've been practicin'. I think I'm gettin' good, too. I'm gonna try it out on Shoe Pack, see what he thinks."

  "Tu Pac."

  "Whatever. Now get outta the car and go in there."

  "This is gonna spread like wildfire. I'm screwed."

  "Ah Madone. You think the people you've helped haven't been tellin' all their friends already? You think they've kept it secret?"

  I hadn't really thought about that. "Yes?"

  She guffawed. "You gotta lot to learn. Nothin' ever stays secret. People that come to you, they want, they need answers. They want closure. They wanna believe you really can talk to their loved ones and when you do, they can't keep that to themselves."

  "You really think they're telling other people?"

  "I don't think it, Ang. I know."

  "But no one's ever said anything. This is the first time I've been asked to do something like this. That doesn't make sense."

  "Not everything makes sense, ya know."

  "I guess." I was surprised at my reaction. The old Angela would have panicked when she realized the people she'd helped were sharing their stories with others but the new Angela was, like my mother said, chill. "Okay. Let's do this. You're coming, right?"

  "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

  ***

  She was right, there were only three women inside. Pam offered me a glass of Riesling and I gladly accepted, knocking it down in a few gulps. The women watched me closely, probably thinking I was some crazy, alcoholic fake.

  "Pam, can we talk privately for a minute?" I asked.

  She eyed the other women in the room. "Oh, sure. Ladies please help yourself to some snacks." She pointed to the shrimp cocktail and crab dip on the table. "We'll be right back."

  "Is everything okay?" Pam asked.

  I understood that the universe had plans for me. I got that my gift was changing and that I'd need to change along with it. I knew most of what happened with my gift was beyond my control but that most didn't include Pam Ryan lying or manipulating me. Nothing yanked my chain more than a liar. "Actually Pam, no. Everything is not okay. I told you I'd help your one friend, not three. I also said it was important to me to keep my gift on the down low and from the looks of things, I've kept my end of the bargain but you haven't. I don't like being lied to or manipulated."

  Pam's expression switched from casually concerned to completely shocked. Her left eye twitched. "I'm sorry. I didn't think it would be that big of an issue. I'll tell them to leave." She pivoted on her heel and headed toward the other room.

  "Wait," I said.

  She flipped around and stared at me.

  "They're already here, it's fine if they stay."

  She smiled. "Oh that's wonderful, thank you."

  Every inch of me wanted to call a spade a spade. To tell Pam Ryan that I knew she'd banked on me feeling pressured to let the other women stay. Tell her what I really thought of liars and manipulators. I took two quick strides toward Pam, ready to give her a piece of my mind but a spirit shimmered in and thanked me for being there to help her daughter. I knew it was the same spirit Josh saw at the movies and that whatever message she wanted me to give, it was important enough for me to put up and shut up. "Do you have the ability to make copies of something?"

  "Yes, on my printer."

  Please get me four pieces of paper and four pens," I said instead.

  "Happy to," Pam said.

  I walked back into the room with the women, Ma and the other spirit floating by my side. "Ladies, Pam is going to give each of you a pen and paper. I'd like you to write down a guarantee that you'll not discuss tonight with anyone and then date and sign it, please. This isn't something I do on a regular basis and I'd like to keep my gift private. If you think that might be a problem for you then I'm respectfully asking you to leave now."

  Pam handed out the paper and pens. "Who should I give the fourth one to?"

  "That's for you."

  Her eyes widened. "Oh."

  I rubbed the palms of my hands together. "Okay then, since you're all still here, I'm assuming you understand the importance of keeping this between us?"

  Each woman glanced up from her paper and nodded.

  "That's wonderful," Pam said. "Let me introduce you to everyone." She spit out their names along with a brief introduction. "And of course you already know about Angela." She glanced at me. "How would you like to start? Do you want me to light some candles or something? Kristin is the woman I talked to you about. Maybe you could begin with her?"

  Ma chuckled. "What's with the candles? Why's everyone think we need candles to get us to talk?"

  "We should start with Kristin, yes. I think there's someone here for her already."

  Kristin handed me the paper and said, "Is it my mother?"

  The spirit's head bobbed up and down. "That's me."

  "I've never done something like this before. Usually I go to people when a spirit asks, not the other way around. So you gotta bear with me, okay?"

  Kristin and the spirit nodded.

  "What's your name?"

  "Kristin."

  I shook my head. "Oh, I'm sorry, not you. The spirit."

  "Oh, yeah. What was I thinking? You already know my name."

  "She gets nervous easily," her mother said.

  "Your mother said you get nervous easily."

  The other three women said a collective, "Oh."

  "I'm Mrs. John Henry Livingston."

  "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Livingston. May I have your first name, please?"

  "Oh goodness, yes. Of course. I am Elizabeth but my friends called me Liza."

  "Nice to meet you, Liza."

  "Yes. Please tell my daughter she needs to get to the doctor immediately."

  "I'll definitely let her know that but first I think we need to establish that you're really here. Is there something I can tell her that will validate your presence for her?"

  She gave me a few options and I picked one. "She said you were a fat baby and she nicknamed you Chubby."

  "She's here?" She took in a quick breath and scanned the room. "Mom?" Tears dribbled down her cheeks.

  "I'm over here," her mother said, waving her hand from across the room.

  "She can't see ya," Ma said. "She d
on't got the gift like my kid. My Angela, she's special."

  Kristin's mother's face twisted into a frown. "My daughter is special too."

  "Oh, I don't mean she ain't. I just mean mine is extra special. She gets it from me. I'm gonna be a spirit guide. I can speak Bateri now. What about you? You got any special powers? I'm working on holding stuff, and I'm real close too."

  "I uh…I haven't really tried," the spirit said.

  "Yah, probably you don't have specialness yet."

  I held back a laugh. "Liza, what's the message you've got for Kristin?"

  "Tell her she needs to get to the doctor. Tell her that I know about the lump and she needs to get it taken care of before it's too late."

  That was a doozy. I glanced at my mother hoping she'd have something to offer, like maybe that the lump was nothing but she just shrugged. "Okay, Kristin. Your mother said she really wants you to get that lump examined."

  The women in the room gasped. "You have a lump?" Pam asked.

  Kristin nodded.

  "Oh, Kristin, I'm so sorry," Pam said.

  I knew the news would spread like a wildfire once we left the room.

  Kristin's face turned white. "Is it cancer?"

  Her mother didn't respond.

  "She can't say if it is or not," Ma said. "The rules, remember?"

  "I'm sorry, I don't know. Spirit doesn't really tell me much about the future, and I don't even know what they know but I can tell you she's very concerned."

  "Didn't your mother pass from breast cancer, Kristin?" Pam asked.

  Kristin nodded. "But my lump is so small."

  "Tell her that doesn't matter. Mine was, too," Liza said.

  I relayed the message, and Kristin cried harder. "I just thought it wasn't a big deal."

  "Oh honey," Pam said. "It is a big deal. If you want, I'll go with you to the doctor."

  "That would be nice."

  I searched the room for Liza but she'd disappeared.

  "Guess she's still got business here," Ma said.

  I had a feeling the business was the lump but didn't say anything to Kristin. "She's gone now."

  The tears continued to flow for Kristin so she excused herself. "I'll be back in a minute, please go on."

  The next woman up was Sue Woodmeyer. Sue was a stick of a woman and an obvious runner. Her lean legs were a nice golden color but not tan enough to hide the spider web shaped varicose veins sprouting along her calves. I empathized with her. I read somewhere that happens to women as they age and that running made it worse.