The Ghost Who Wanted Revenge (Haunting Danielle Book 4)

by Bobbi Holmes

  “If you’re positive the will Stoddard put into probate wasn’t a fake, then yeah, it appears that way.” Ian took a swig of his beer.

  “I really don’t care who gets Isabella’s money,” Danielle said as she picked up a slice of pizza. “All the possible beneficiaries are sleazy in my book—Darlene and Earthbound Spirits. I’d just like to know if any of this has something to do with Stoddard’s murder. It must mean something, but what?”

  “You think Renton is a true follower of Earthbound Spirits?” Lily asked.

  “More than likely he’s getting some sort of payoff,” Ian suggested. “We already know he’s not exactly ethical.”

  “That’s a major understatement,” Danielle scoffed.

  “That pizza looks good,” Walt said as he watched them eat. Danielle, the only one who could hear him, glanced briefly in his direction.

  “I’m sorry you had to go all the way to Salem for nothing,” Lily said.

  “It was interesting,” Ian told her.

  “When was the last time I ate something? What has it been, almost 90 years? I remember hearing about pizza when I was alive. A friend of mine from New York told me about it. I always meant to try some. Apparently he was right, it must be good, considering the commercials I’ve seen on television promoting it and the amount of times you seem to eat it.”

  “It’s just an easy meal,” Danielle said.

  Ian looked over at her. “What?”

  Suspecting Danielle’s comment was directed to Walt, Lily began to giggle.

  “What’s so funny?” Ian asked, looking from Lily to Danielle.

  “Don’t mind Danielle,” Lily said. “Sometimes she thinks aloud.”

  “Yes, I was just thinking about how pizza is an easy meal,” Danielle lied.

  “You mean it doesn’t taste that good?” Walt asked.

  “Sure it tastes good,” Danielle replied.

  “I see what you mean.” Ian chuckled. “I confess there have been a few times I thought Danielle was talking to herself. Not sure if I should be concerned or relieved to know Lily considers it’s the norm.”

  “There is nothing normal around here,” Lily said.

  Danielle’s startled gasp was not in response to Lily’s comment about there being nothing normal around Marlow House—yet it was fitting. Stoddard had taken that moment to show himself, appearing outside the kitchen window, pressing his face against the glass pane while howling silent screams.

  “He’s back,” Walt said dryly.

  Ian looked toward the window where Danielle stared. He saw nothing out of the ordinary.

  “You okay?” Ian asked.

  “I’m fine. Just thought I saw something. My imagination,” she lied.

  A few minutes later, Danielle had a fairly good idea why Stoddard was back and making himself known. Will had returned from Portland. He walked into the kitchen with a cheerful hello, oblivious to the fact an angry spirit hovered just a few feet away, cursing his presence.

  “How was your afternoon?” Lily asked.

  Will walked to the table. “It was nice.”

  “Want some pizza, a beer?” Ian offered.

  “I already ate, thanks. But I will take a beer.”

  “In the fridge, help yourself,” Danielle said.

  Will grabbed a beer and started to sit down in the chair occupied by Walt.

  “Damn, I hate when that happens!” Walt cursed, jumping up from the chair. Annoyed, he walked toward the window. Danielle and Lily exchange glances, both aware the spirit of Marlow House had just lost his seat at the table.

  “What are you looking at?” Walt asked of Stoddard. They stood just a foot from each other—the glass window separating them.

  Stoddard pointed to Will. Walt glanced to Will and then back to Stoddard.

  “So what’s the deal? You don’t like cowboys?” Walt asked. Stoddard responded by shaking a fist at Walt.

  “Idiot,” Walt muttered and then closed the blinds.

  Ian jerked his head up and looked to the window. “That blind just closed.”

  “It does that sometimes,” Lily said, taking a bite of her pizza, trying to suppress her giggles.

  Ian stood up from the table and walked to the window.

  “I guess I shouldn’t have done that,” Walt said with a sigh. He watched as Ian toyed with the window blind. Ian reopened the blinds and then fidgeted with the pull, to see if the blind would fall down again.

  Sadie woke up and lifted her head. She spied Stoddard standing outside the window looking in the house, making contorted facial expressions, while pounding on the glass. She jumped up and raced to the window, barking.

  “Sadie!” Ian shouted. She continued to bark.

  “Sadie, enough,” Walt snapped. The dog stopped barking and sat down, still looking out the window. She began to growl.

  “Maybe you did see something out there.” Ian scratched his head.

  “Why don’t you shut the blind,” Lily suggested. “Something outside is bothering Sadie.”

  “Maybe I should go out there and see what it is,” Ian said. “Considering what happened the other day.”

  “I’ll go with you.” Will stood up.

  “Guys, sit down,” Danielle said. “It’s nothing.”

  “I’m going to check,” Ian said stubbornly. He and Will went out to the side yard, taking Sadie with them.

  * * *

  The sun was just starting to set. Will and Ian stood in the side yard of Marlow House, with Sadie. They glanced around the yard, trying to determine what had upset the dog, yet Sadie no longer seemed agitated and sat quietly by their side.

  “Go back to where you came from, Bobby!” Stoddard shouted at Will. Instead of barking or growling, Sadie stood up and walked to Stoddard, giving him a little sniff. Neither Will nor Ian paid attention to what Sadie was doing.

  “Get away from me, you stupid dog,” Stoddard ordered. Sadie walked to where he stood. Stoddard looked down. The golden retriever appeared to be standing in his legs. “Get out of there!” Instead of abiding by Stoddard’s command, Sadie squatted and started to pee.

  * * *

  Danielle stood at the window and started to laugh.

  “What is it?” Lily asked.

  “Sadie just peed on Stoddard. Well, not on him exactly, but as close as possible considering he no longer has a body.”

  Walt took a drag off his cigar and then exhaled. “Smart dog.”

  Danielle continued to look outside. “Until Sadie peed on him, looked like Stoddard was still railing against Will.”

  “Do you still think Stoddard is confusing Will with someone else?” Lily asked.

  “Stoddard thinks I’m the one who shot him, so he’s not exactly a reliable witness.”

  Walt stood by Danielle and looked out the window. “He definitely thinks Will is someone he knows,” Walt said.

  “But who?” Danielle asked.

  “But who what?” Lily asked with a frown.

  “We were wondering who Stoddard thinks Will is. It’s obviously not some old friend.”

  “Looks like they’re coming in,” Walt said.

  Danielle returned to the table with Lily and sat down. Will, Ian, and Sadie walked back into the kitchen. Before Ian shut the door, Danielle could hear Stoddard shouting at Will, telling him to leave Frederickport.

  “I guess she just needed to go out,” Ian said when he sat back down. If Stoddard were looking in the window again, Sadie wouldn’t be able to see him, since Danielle had shut the blinds.

  “So you guys didn’t find anything out there?” Lily asked, glancing over at Danielle with a grin.

  “No. But I have to admit, something about your backyard is…well…makes me feel uneasy,” Will confessed.

  “It’s probably just because of what happened in here the other day,” Ian suggested.

  “Maybe.” Will glanced over at Danielle. “Has that man come out of his coma yet?”

  “No. And he may not.” Danielle looked at W
alt.

  “What?” Walt asked, slightly offended at the scowl Danielle flashed his way. “The man was going to kill you. A thank you would be nice.”

  “I can’t believe Samantha was involved in all that.” Will had been interviewed by the police earlier, since he was one of the last people to see Samantha before she disappeared. “She seemed like such a nice woman, offering to show me the sights.”

  “It was her idea?” Lily asked, trying to sound casual.

  “More or less.” Will shrugged.

  “So when you lived here, you didn’t know Stoddard Gusarov, the man who was murdered.” Danielle said.

  “I knew who he was.” Will sipped his beer. “His family was well known back then.”

  “Did you know Stoddard’s niece, Isabella or Stoddard’s sister?” Lily asked.

  Will set his beer can on the table and looked over at Lily. “I knew his sister. But I never met his niece.”

  “Did you ever meet Isabella’s father? His last name was Strickland,” Lily asked.

  Will shook his head. “I never met a Strickland. So why all this interest in what appears to be ancient history?”

  “Someone killed Stoddard, tried to frame Danielle. And then tried to kill Danielle and Joe,” Ian said. “We’re just trying to figure out who in Stoddard’s life would want him dead.”

  “I imagine anyone who ever met him,” Will said.

  “Why do you say that?” Danielle asked.

  Will shrugged. “I just remember from when I lived here. I didn’t know him well but when I talked to people who did, they all seemed to agree on one thing. He was a jerk.”

  “Someone thought he was enough of a jerk that they wanted him dead,” Danielle said.

  “Who runs the company now?” Will asked.

  “Stoddard’s right hand man. Chuck Christiansen.”

  “Christiansen is still with the company?” Will laughed.

  “What’s so funny?” Lily asked.

  “Christiansen was such a little weasel back then.”

  “So you knew Christiansen?” Danielle asked.

  “Sure. Not well, but enough to know he was always looking out for himself. He’s actually running the company now?”

  “From what I understand,” Danielle said. “He has been for a long time.”

  “While I really didn’t know Stoddard, I knew his parents. They started the company. Even back then, Christiansen was trying to worm his way into management. I guess he got everything he always wanted.” Will downed the last of his beer.

  “Do you think Christiansen would have a motive to kill Stoddard?” Danielle asked. “If he’s as conniving as you say.”

  Will set his beer can on the table and looked at Danielle. “Did he stand to inherit anything if Stoddard is out of the picture?”

  “No,” Ian said. “We’ve looked at the wills, and Stoddard left his estate to his wife and a trust, with his wife getting the lion’s share.”

  “Then no. I can’t see why he’d kill him if he weren’t in line to inherit anything. I’d assume he’d want to maintain his status quo,” Will said. “But then, I’ve been away for years. My money would be on the wife.”

  “You mean for the killer?” Lily asked.

  “Yes. If she’s the one who inherits Stoddard’s estate, sounds like she’s the one with the best motive.”

  “I agree. Unfortunately, Darlene seems genuinely devastated over losing her husband.”

  “Over losing Stoddard?” Will shook his head in disbelief. “This Darlene is either a very stupid woman or a very good actress.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  “Look who just walked in,” Cleve Monchique told Peter Morris. The two men sat at a back booth of the Pearl Bay Restaurant.

  Sipping his merlot, Peter glanced in the direction of Cleve’s gaze. It was Darlene Gusarov. She was alone. “Do you think we should go over and introduce ourselves?”

  Cleve laughed at the suggestion. “That would be interesting.”

  * * *

  Darlene admired her recent manicure. Black nail polish has a certain dramatic flair—especially for a widow. Smiling, she sipped the apple martini and glanced at her watch. Chuck would probably be angry that she had already started drinking, especially if he found out this was her second cocktail.

  When he had called her an hour earlier, asking her to meet at the restaurant so they could discuss business, he sounded serious. While he would want her sober for such a discussion, she preferred conversing with Chuck while slightly buzzed.

  “Drinking alone?” a male voice asked. Darlene looked up to find Brian Henderson standing over her. Instead of his uniform, he wore dark slacks and a gray dark shirt. She wondered if he was at the restaurant with a date.

  “No, I’m waiting for someone.” Darlene ran a finger over the rim of her martini glass.

  Brian looked down at her black nail polish. “I never figured you’d go for the Goth look.”

  “It’s not Goth. I’m in mourning.” Darlene picked up her drink and took a sip.

  “I can see that,” he said dryly. Without asking, Brian sat down at Darlene’s booth.

  “What are you doing?” Darlene glanced around.

  “I’m sitting down, talking to an old friend. After all, you’re the one who started this.”

  “I didn’t start anything. But you have to leave. Chuck Christiansen is meeting me here.”

  “Christiansen?” Brian raised a brow.

  “It isn’t like that. Get your mind out of the gutter. He does run my business. We have important things to discuss. You have to leave. Now.”

  “I never pictured you as a corporate head. More like someone who needed a man to take care of her. Or is that it? Is Christiansen taking Stoddard’s place?”

  “Don’t be crude. Chuck is my employee. Nothing more. He works for me. I call the shots.”

  “Is that why you’re so anxious for me to leave? Why do you keep looking around as if Christiansen might appear at any moment? So afraid to have your employee see you with me?”

  Darlene leaned toward Brian and hissed under her breath, “That isn’t it and you know it! People can’t see us together!”

  “Why not? What does it matter now?”

  “It’s complicated, Brian.”

  “It may be complicated, but it was just the other day you begged for my help.”

  “I didn’t beg.” Darlene glared at Brian.

  “What would you call it? You even tried resurrecting those old feelings.”

  “I was distraught, vulnerable. I thought that woman had murdered my husband, but I guess I was wrong.”

  “And you needed me to make sure she was punished for the crime?”

  “You are a police officer. It’s your job.”

  “I should have known that’s all it really was. Hell, I did know.” Brian sat there a moment, staring at Darlene.

  “Why are you looking at me like that?” Darlene shifted nervously in the booth’s seat.

  “I’m just always amazed how a woman can be one thing one moment, and then transform into something entirely different the next. I suppose it’s just in a woman’s DNA to be manipulative.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I need you to leave.” Darlene gulped the rest of her martini.

  Brian leaned across the table and snatched Darlene’s right hand, holding it tightly. He glared at her.

  “You’re hurting me!” Darlene hissed under her breath. She looked around to see if anyone was watching.

  “Did you kill Stoddard?” Brian refused to release her hand.

  “Of course not!” With a quick jerk, she pulled her hand from his grip. Pouting, she began to rub her free hand. Darlene glared at Brian.

  “I’ve done a lot of thinking these last few days. I didn’t want to believe you could do something like that. That I could be such a damn fool…again.” Brian leaned back in the booth and studied Darlene.

  “You know me, Brian. You know me better than anyone.
You can’t believe I’d do something like that.”

  “Do I know you? Did I ever? Why did you really want me to make sure Boatman got what was coming to her? So you could get away with murder?”

  “How can you even think I would do something like that?”

  “For one thing, you basically kidnapped Lily Miller.”

  “It wasn’t me! It was Stoddard! I had no idea it was Lily Miller and not Isabella. You know I was never close to Todd’s niece. I didn’t see her at the hospital, and when they brought her to the estate, she was partially bandaged. She was in a coma, and Stoddard hired round the clock nurses to care for her. I had no reason to visit her.”

  Brian shook his head. “I find that hard to believe.”

  “How can you say that? Even Joe Morelli thought Lily was Isabella. Why would you expect me to tell the difference if he couldn’t?”

  “You were living in the same house with her. I find it hard to believe Stoddard didn’t confide in you.”

  “Todd kept his own secrets. He was trying to protect me. There was no reason for me to know what he was up to. He didn’t want me to worry. Before he died, Todd made a sworn statement declaring I had no prior knowledge of the crime.”

  “Yes, I know. I was there when he came in to make the statement. I agree; he was trying to protect you. I’m just not certain he was telling the truth.”

  “And if he wasn’t telling the truth, what would any of that have to do with my innocence or guilt regarding Todd’s murder?

  “It just makes me wonder what you’re willing to do to get what you want. And it isn’t just about Stoddard; did you hire Smith to kill Joe and Boatman? Joe’s one of my best friends.”

  “How would I even know how to find a hitman?”

  “You’ve always been a resourceful woman.”

  “Why would I kill Todd after all this time? Why? I chose him over you. Is that why you’re so angry now, why you’re making these ugly accusations, because I chose to stay with my husband?”

  “The other day you insisted I was the one you really wanted. Of course, at the time you wanted something from me. Yet now, well, now you don’t even want to be seen with me.”