“Greg,” she said, nudging him, “there’s someone waiting for you.”
“Huh? Emmanuel! What a pleasant surprise,” he replied, towing Anna and Wendy across the lawn.
“Surprise?” the man said, sunlight glinting off his bald head as they climbed the stairs to meet him. He was short, broad, and muscular, dressed in a jacket and tie with jeans. “Did you forget our appointment?”
Greg’s eyes widened. “I’m such an idiot! I did forget. I’m sorry. I hope I didn’t keep you waiting long.”
Greg’s friend nodded. “About twenty minutes. I was just about to leave.”
“How stupid of me. Please accept my apology.”
The man smiled at Anna, the folds of his swarthy face lifting. “You must have been distracted by your lady friend.”
Greg turned to her with a smile. “Of course. This is a business associate of mine. Emmanuel Cabrero.”
“Pleased to meet you, Anna,” Cabrero said, holding out his hand. Anna smiled and shook it. His grasp was warm and strong.
“I’m so sorry, Anna,” Greg said, taking her hand when Cabrero released it. “Emmanuel commissioned some artwork for a catalogue he’s producing, and we were going to go over the proofs this afternoon. We’ll have to reschedule our sitting. You will forgive me, won’t you?” He looked genuinely disappointed, and Anna felt touched that the sitting meant so much to him.
“Sure, not a problem. We can do it any time.”
“Thanks for understanding,” Greg said, kissing her hand.
“Nice dog you got there,” Cabrero said. Anna turned to notice her dog sniffing the man’s crotch.
“Wendy, stop that!” she commanded, tugging at the leash and pulling her pet away. “Sorry,” she added to Cabrero.
He shrugged and clasped his hands together. Anna noticed how thick and meaty they appeared. “What can you do? Dogs will be dogs.”
“Thanks for understanding,” she said with a smile. He nodded. “I’ll see you later, Greg. Nice meeting you, Emmanuel.”
“Bye,” Greg called after her as she and Wendy climbed down the stairs and cut across the yard toward the sidewalk. Anna sighed. It looked like she was going to spend the afternoon making chili after all.
Chapter Eighteen
Anna drowsily half-opened her eyes. Something had woken her, but she couldn’t remember what it was. The room was dark; it was the middle of the night. She could hear Wendy’s gentle breathing coming from the floor beside the bed, so whatever it was that had woken her hadn’t disturbed the dog. She turned her head to glance at the green display on the clock radio: 2:47 a.m. She sighed and rolled over, hoping to drop off again quickly. A flash of lightning brightened the room, however, and the curtains fluttered in the breeze. She had left the window open a couple of inches to let in some fresh air. Was a storm brewing? Too groggy to get up and close the window, Anna decided to ignore it and shut her eyes.
She was drifting off to sleep again when she heard a noise, a high-pitched sound just loud enough to be annoying. Must be the wind rising. She sighed and snuggled down under the covers, cozy in her little cocoon. But the noise grew louder, and Anna stiffened, suddenly wide awake. It wasn’t the wind she had heard; it was that song again. The same creepy old tune that she had heard on the night of the séance. Anna sat up in bed with the sheet wrapped around her waist, her eyes fixed on the window. The music was coming from outside.
With her heart rate accelerating, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up. Wendy, immediately awake, got up from her pillow and shuffled over. Anna stroked the dog’s sleek head before forcing herself to creep across the room to the window. Reaching for the curtain, she flicked it aside and peered out at the front lawn.
Half-way up the grass, a woman stood, motionless. A fork of lightning streaked across the sky, illuminating her and making Anna squint. The woman was draped from head to toe in a shapeless black dress that billowed in the wind, her face covered by a hood, her arms hanging loosely by her sides. What had summoned her to Anna’s front yard in the middle of the night?
As Anna stared, the woman lifted her arms and began to move in time to the music, revolving in the slow circles of a ghastly waltz. There was something odd about the way she moved, and Anna strained to see better in the darkness. The graceful creature swirled up her lawn, and as she drew nearer, Anna suddenly saw what was wrong. She moaned in fear. The woman’s feet hovered an inch or so above the ground, treading on air.
Abruptly, the woman stopped in mid-turn, even though the tinkling music played on. She had seemed oblivious to Anna’s incredulous eyes, but now she swivelled to face her. Slowly reaching up, she pulled the hood down from her head, and Anna’s mouth dropped open. Where there should have been a face, there were only smooth waves of silvery hair tossing in the wind. The creature revolved once more, turning her back as if to spite Anna, and a bone-white, gleaming face appeared, the neck twisted brokenly over the back.
Anna gasped and covered her mouth in horror. The woman’s unblinking eyes gazed at her from her awkwardly-angled head, her mouth gaping open as if to speak. While Anna watched, the ghost raised her arms and started drifting up the yard toward her.
Anna shrieked and dropped the curtain. She grabbed the telephone from her bedside table and scrambled over the bed, putting it between her and the window. Her trembling fingers scrabbled over the number pad, trying to find the right buttons in the dark. Finally, she managed to punch in “911.”
“Fire, police, or medical emergency?” a calm voice inquired.
“Police!” Anna shouted. “It’s Anna Nolan at 84 Wistler Road. There’s this thing out on my front lawn. She’s headed straight for the house. Please, send someone over right away.”
As she paused to listen, something scratched on her window screen, and a voice whispered, “Anna . . .”
She screamed and dropped the phone while Wendy erupted into a frenzy of barking. Bolting from the room, Anna tore across the hallway for the bathroom, where she slammed and locked the door. She fumbled for the wall switch. The lights blazed on, blinding her. Bursting into tears, she grabbed a towel from the rack and pressed it against her mouth, stifling her sobs. She collapsed onto the toilet and began to rock back and forth, terrified of that appalling thing with the broken neck and staring eyes. She paused, shivering. What about Wendy? What if that horrible creature came through the window and got Wendy?
Clutching the towel to her chest, Anna rose and pressed her ear to the door. She tried to listen, but all she could hear was Wendy’s barking and the sound of her own breath rasping in her throat. With her trembling fingers reaching for the knob, she unlocked the door and pulled it open a few inches. The hallway was empty. Taking a deep breath, she stuck her head through the opening and croaked, “Wendy!”
Fear had strangled her vocal cords, making her inaudible. Anna swallowed the lump in her throat and tried again. “Wendy!” she managed to shout. “Wendy, come here!”
Miraculously, the dog stopped barking and trotted out of the bedroom. Anna nabbed her by the collar and hauled Wendy inside, slamming and locking the door once more.
“Good girl,” she whimpered, squatting down on the cold tiles and cradling her pet. Wendy squirmed in her arms and tried to lick her face, her nails accidentally scratching Anna’s foot.
“Lie down,” she ordered, pushing her pet onto the floor. The dog settled beside her and panted, her warm body snuggled up close. Anna tried to calm down enough to listen. The dreadful music seemed to have stopped, thank God, but maybe she just couldn’t hear it over her chattering teeth?
Wendy cocked her head and clambered to her feet, breaking Anna’s hold. Had she heard something? Dear God, please don’t let that thing be in the house! But then Anna heard someone pounding on the front door and shouting her name.
She jumped to her feet and opened the bathroom door. The dog burst through the opening, barking, and Anna raced down the hallway after her. Reaching the front door, she peered through the pee
phole, slammed back the dead bolt, and flung the door open.
“Steve!” she shouted, throwing herself into his arms and bursting into tears.
She clung to him as Steve rubbed her back and murmured, “It’s all right, Anna. Don’t cry. Everything’s all right.”
Chapter Nineteen
Attracted by the cruiser’s dazzling lights, Betty and Jeff appeared at Anna’s door and waited in the living room with her, huddled in a blanket, while Steve searched the house and checked the property in the driving rain. When he couldn’t find any trace of the intruder, her neighbours took Anna and Wendy home for the rest of the night. Jeff even plied Anna with brandy to help her sleep, and she managed a few sips before shutting herself in their guest bedroom and lying awake for hours with Wendy nestled on the bed beside her.
Anna made it to work on time the following morning, but she acted like a zombie all day, still consumed by her nightmarish memory of the night before and trying to make sense of what had happened to her. The problem was, she couldn’t make any sense out of it at all.
In the evening, she called Charlie. He was in his third week of a murder case in Swift Current, Saskatchewan, where he hoped to wrap things up soon so that they could see each other again, or at least before Christmas. Anna didn’t like to disturb him during an investigation because she knew what long hours he put in, but tonight she simply needed to hear his voice. He was so calm and brave and sane, plus he had a deep baritone voice and a posh British accent that she always found sexy.
She tried him at the station first; he had given her the number to his direct line. He answered on the second ring.
“Tremaine.”
“How’s it going, hot stuff?”
“Anna!” he said, dropping his official tone. “What an unexpected pleasure. I was just thinking of you.”
“You were?”
“Yes. I had to arrest a minor today, and his mother hit me over the head with her purse.” He chuckled, and Anna’s face broke into a smile for the first time that day.
“Very funny. How’s the investigation going?”
“Not too badly. I don’t think that there’ll be any surprises. But with the murder victim being a retired army general, the press are ready to pounce on us, so we’re dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s. How are you doing, my darling girl? You sound tired tonight.”
“I am, Charlie. There was a ghost on my lawn last night, and it woke me up.”
“I beg your pardon?”
Anna started her story at the beginning, telling Charlie all about Sherman Mason and his wife, the séance, the attack on May, and the ghost dancing on her lawn the night before.
“Did Steve Walker examine your yard in the light of day?”
“He told me that he would, and that he’d call me at work if he found anything. I haven’t heard from him, so I guess that he didn’t.”
“No, probably not. Whoever did this to you had plenty of time to remove the evidence and get away while you were locked in the bathroom.”
“So, you don’t believe that this had anything to do with supernatural forces?”
“No, of course not.” He paused before asking, “Do you?”
“I didn’t before last night. I was sure that Tiernay and Greg had faked the séance. The attack on poor May wouldn’t have been difficult to pull off, but that thing on my lawn last night seemed so real. I’m just not sure anymore,” she said, her voice trailing off.
“I’m sure that it must have seemed real, darling. It woke you from a sound sleep, after all. You must have been groggy. I’d have loved if you had been able to turn on the outside lights and sic Wendy on the so-called ghost. I’ve seen you in action with a bat. You can be pretty terrifying, too.”
“I wasn’t in any shape to do that last night.”
“No, of course not, love. I hate to think of you all alone in your house with this nonsense going on. Is that where you are now?”
“Yes.”
“You’re not going to stay there alone tonight, are you? There’s not much the police can do. They won’t put a car out front and just wait for something to happen. You’ve had your scare ‒ hopefully the lunatic behind these pranks will move onto someone else. Meanwhile, why don’t you stay next door with the Hillers for a couple of nights? I know you ‒ you won’t be able to sleep for worry tonight.”
“I like the Hillers, but I think Betty would drive me crazy if I stayed another night with them.”
“Right, she is a bit of a chatterbox. How about asking Ben to sleep in for a couple of days? He could commute back and forth to school with you.”
“I don’t want to put him out, Charlie. He’s got mid-terms. But don’t worry, I’ll figure something out.”
“If I weren’t in the middle of a case I’d come myself. Promise me you won’t stay alone for the next few days. Even if you have to check into a hotel.”
“I promise, Charlie, and I’ll stay in touch and let you know what’s happening.”
“Good. Even if you can’t reach me on the cell, I always check my e-mail.”
“I know. Don’t worry about me, hot stuff. I was nervous before, but I feel better just talking to you. Go catch some bad guys so I can see you again soon.”
“I will. I love you, Batwoman.”
“Me too, Charlie. See you.”
“Bye.”
There was a knock on Erna’s door. When she opened it, she discovered Anna and Wendy on her doorstep. Anna had an overnight case and a heaping shopping bag full of dog paraphernalia at her feet.
“Can we stay with you?” she asked.
“What happened? Of course you can. Come in, come in,” her friend replied, and Anna kicked the shopping bag into the foyer and shut the door behind her. A few minutes later, she was sitting on the floor with her back propped against the couch May lay upon, telling them the whole story. Erna sat on the recliner beside them, while Wendy lay on the floor next to Anna.
“I’ve had a talk with Charlie, so I feel better now, but I still can’t get that thing’s face out of my mind,” she murmured, staring straight ahead. “It was all bony, and the eyes were sunken. It stared at me sideways, like this,” she said, demonstrating. “It had to, because the head was on backwards, and the neck was broken. But it was Evelyn. I recognized her from the family portrait in Sherman’s living room. Not as she was then, but the way she must have looked when they found her.” Anna shuddered, and Erna and May exchanged a worried glance over her head.
“And the music ‒ that horrible music we heard at the séance. Remember?” Anna hummed the two lines. There was silence in the room when she finished. “Someone did a really good number on me. But enough of that,” she said, changing the subject. “What exactly did you see on the stairs the night you fell, May?”
May sighed. “I’m not sure. It was dark. I couldn’t see very well. I remember the shroud going into my mouth, though ‒ that was terrifying ‒ and the horrible smell. Like something rotting.”
“Do you believe that it was a ghost?” Anna asked.
“Yeah. The way it suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The terrible smell. It was too real to be a trick.”
Anna nodded and looked at Erna. “What do you believe?”
“I think that something truly evil frightened the two of you.”
Anna held her gaze for a long moment. “What do you think we should do?”
“I don’t know,” Erna replied.
“I do,” May said. “We’re going to swallow our pride and ask Tiernay for help. It’s all happening like she said it would, isn’t it? Evelyn wants us to avenge her death, but we don’t know how. Sherman doesn’t know how, either, and now he’s disappeared and we don’t know where he is.” She told Anna about her conversation with Sherman in the hospital.
“And he hasn’t contacted you since?”
“No. I called Gerry this morning to see if Sherman had been by the store, but he hasn’t seen him.”
“Maybe Sherman’s gone to stay with one
of his sons,” Anna suggested.
May threw up her hands. “I don’t know, and I’m worried about him, but it looks like we’re going to have to do something about Evelyn without his help. I don’t want to wait for her to show up here.”
Anna groaned involuntarily, and Erna murmured, “May!”
“Sorry, sorry. Didn’t mean to upset you, Anna. I’m sure nothing bad is going to happen to us here. We just won’t let Evelyn inside. We’ll sprinkle some herbs around the house or something. Plus, Wendy will protect us.” The dog thumped her tail, and Anna petted her. “So, are the two of you going to go talk to Tiernay, or what? I can’t go like this.” May held up one of her crutches to remind them of her infirmity.
“I still don’t believe that you and Anna encountered a real ghost, but. . .” Erna said, holding up a finger to ward off May’s interruption, “I don’t think that we should wait for another attack, either. It’s time we took the initiative, and I’m willing to try anything. Let’s talk to Tiernay and see what she suggests. May, don’t open the door to anyone while we’re gone.”
May shook her head. “Don’t worry, I won’t even get up off the couch. Just give me the TV remote and the phone, and I’ll be fine.”
“Good.” Erna checked her watch. “It’s almost seven thirty. If Tiernay has a massage tonight, she’ll still be at the store. We’ll try there first. If she’s not there, we’ll try her house. Let’s take your car, Anna.”
When they arrived at the store, however, it was locked and the lights were out, so Anna drove them to the Raes’ house. The porch light was turned off as they made their way up the lawn, but they rang the doorbell and waited for a response, anyway. Anna took that moment to tell Erna that Tiernay and Steve were seeing each other.
“Oh dear,” was all Erna had time to say before the front door opened.
“Anna! Erna! How nice of you to drop by. To what do I owe the honour, ladies?” Greg asked, a smile of welcome on his face. “Don’t tell me that you’re both here to pose for me?”
Town Haunts Page 12
