“Wait a minute, someone lied to me? Who?”
She shrugged. “That I don't know. I just know that someone did and that you needed to know that for your own safety.”
“What do you mean?”
“You have to be careful. If this person starts to realize that you may know they lied, or even suspect, you could be in danger.”
“Is this person the killer?”
“I don't know that either.”
“For the love of…Could you be a little more vague?”
“I'm sorry, Killian. That's really all I know.”
“How do you know?”
“How?”
“Yeah, does someone-” I paused, then finished, “come to you?”
“Someone? Like who?”
“Someone who is dead?”
“No, it's not like that at all. I just…know. Sometimes it's a dream, sometimes it's just something I have a strong urge about, sometimes it's just someone that I know beyond any doubt. It's rarely detailed or exact and it isn't anything I can control. Why did you ask if someone comes to me, does this have something to do with what you said earlier when I asked you of Amalie was the first ghost you've seen?”
I opened and closed my mouth a few times, then decided that if anyone would understand then Judy would. Besides, hadn't Seth told me to talk to her? I nodded.
Her eyes widened. “Someone comes to you?”
I nodded again.
“My God! Who?”
“Seth.”
“Adam's son?”
“Yes.”
“He comes to you? How? In a dream?”
“I don't know really. At first I tried to tell myself it was just a dream, or maybe my imagination, but I don't know. I really don't think it's like that. I think he actually comes and talks to me, but only when no one else is around. He says he can't come whenever I want him to, only when I need him.”
“This is…I don't know if I've ever known anyone this has happened to. How did it start? When did it start?”
“He just suddenly started appearing a few weeks ago and talking to me, giving me advice on my love life mostly.”
“On your love life?”
“Yeah. He's kind of a busybody.”
“This keeps getting more and more bizarre. Why on earth would he do that?”
“I asked him that too. He said because…because he loves me.”
“A love that reaches beyond the grave. This is just incredible. He gives you advice on your love life, huh? Does he tell you anything else?”
“He's about as vague as you are,” I told her. “He said to be careful of Amalie, but he couldn't tell me why.”
“Is that why you panicked when we were upstairs?”
“That and it is pretty scary you know.”
“Are you scared when Seth comes to you?”
“Strangely enough, no, not at all.”
“Maybe not so strangely. He's probably a different sort of entity than Amalie.”
“Actually he said something like that.”
She nodded.
“He also said you have a lot of gifts and that I should talk to you about being sensitive, except he didn't use that word.”
That seemed to surprise her. “He said to talk to me?”
“Yup.”
“About being a sensitive?”
“He said you'd explain it.”
“What's to explain? It seems pretty self explanatory to me.”
“Well, you've already explained it some earlier, but I guess I do still have a few questions.”
“Well ask.”
“Why am I sensitive? Where does it come from? Are you born that way?”
She laughed. “That's like asking are you born gay. I'm not really sure, although often that gift does seem to run in families. You should ask your mom some time if anyone else in the family ever had a reputation for being psychic or anything.”
I made a face. “That's not the sort of thing that you bring up casually, at least in my family. Can we go back to that whole somebody lied to me thing?”
“I told you all I know. Someone you've talked to lied to you. Why don't you tell me who the major players are and what they said that could have been a lie?”
“Well, let's see. Where to start? There's Nadine, she was the dead guy's girlfriend. She had a fight with him that night but that was nothing new, they fought all the time. The neighbor saw her leave. She could have conceivably come back later, but we don't have any reason to really think that. All she really said to us was that they fought and she left and he was in one piece when she left. We know that's all true so it couldn't have been her that lied.
“Then there's Phillip Zaranski. Ira, the dead guy, worked for him at this sleazy motel. Turned out Ira was blackmailing Zaranski. He was secretly taping people's, er, escapades at the motel. So he had a strong motive for wanting Ira dead, but several witnesses placed him at the motel around the time of the murder. I don't think he did it. He seemed a little too weaselly to actually chop somebody up with an ax.”
Judy lifted one eyebrow. “Don't ever underestimate the depths a person will go to protect their skin, especially someone who is already morally corrupt.”
“He was never really a serious suspect, even Novak agreed.”
“So who was?”
“The neighbors.”
“The ones who saw Ira's girlfriend leave after the fight?”
“No, that's Mrs. Fields. She's a sweet old lady. The neighbors on the other side, Terry and Becky Haynes. They aren't from here. They had a baby that was killed by an abusive babysitter. They moved here to try and get away from the memories and moved in next door to an abusive father. They kinda took Caleb, that's Ira's son, the kid Asher is sorta with, under their wing. They tried to help him as much as possible but there wasn't much they could do. They took Caleb in after he was released from police custody. They are definitely strange and I guess they have a motive of sorts, but I can't think of anything they might have been lying about.”
“Ok. Who's next?”
“Um, I guess next would be Caleb.”
“Is he still a suspect? I thought you provided him with a get out of jail free card.”
“Well, I did, but it was on the testimony of this kid named Finn. And if somebody was lying to me and it was essential to the case, it makes sense that it was one of them. Of course, Caleb never told me anything. Nothing helpful anyway. He was almost hostile.”
“Hostile? And yet he asked you to help clear him?”
“He didn't ask me; Asher did, remember?”
“That's right,” she said thoughtfully. “I was there the day he called. I had forgotten that he was involved on a deeper level than just being involved with this Caleb boy. We'll get to that in a minute, but first what did the other boy tell you that got Caleb freed. What was his name? Flynn?”
“Finn, short for Finnegan. He's definitely an odd duck. Even his fellow schoolmates call him eccentric. The day I met him he was wearing a kilt. Not that that means anything. Anyway, he told me that he and Caleb were having an affair of sorts and that the night of the murder Caleb was at his house the whole night. He was willing to go to the police with that statement even though it meant his parents would find out he was gay.”
“Oh, really? And have you talked to him since that startling revelation took place?”
“No, I haven't.”
“A visit with Mr. Finn might be in order.”
“But if he was lying what did he have to gain from that lie? Caleb is with Asher now, not him.”
“I don't know, a visit might ferret that out. Who else is there to have lied to you?”
“No one.”
“What about my dear nephew?”
“Asher? Are you serious?”
“Why not? If he had feelings for this boy, and he obviously did or he wouldn't have insisted on you taking the case, then he had a lot at stake. Is there anything important that he's told you that could be a lie?”
“I…I don't know. Maybe.”
“Tell me.”
“Well, he said that he didn't hook up with Caleb until after Caleb was released from jail, but if it was before then Caleb was either messing around with two guys at once or Finn was lying. But then two people would have been lying and you just said one was.”
“I didn't necessarily say that, or if I did I didn't mean to. There are lies surrounding this case, how many or who told them I don't know. Obviously the most destructive lies may have come from Finn. If what he told you was lies then the rest crumbles like a house of cards. If Caleb wasn't really with him that night, where was he? Killing his father? And if he didn't, then who did? And why? These are the questions that still need to be answered.”
“But why do I have to be the one to answer them? Why can't the police do it?”
“Because you started the job and now you have to finish it. Follow through on what you start, love. It's an important lesson.”
I couldn't help but feel she was talking about more than detection. Was she trying to tell me something else in that mysterious way of hers? Before I could think further on that, Steve and Micah came back in, each loaded down with blankets, pillows and sleeping bags.
“That was fast,” Judy said with a broad smile.
“At your service,” Micah said with an answering grin. “Where do you want these?”
“What room was Amalie's? Do we know?”
“Well, we know which one the master bedroom was,” Steve answered, “Whether or not Amalie actually slept in there we have no way of knowing.”
“It'll do, let's set up house in there.”
We all followed Steve up the stairs to the bedroom and made up our beds. That done we went back down and had a snack of chips and salsa that Micah had brought along. We chatted for awhile about everyday stuff and then Judy announced that it was time for bed. As we started up the stairs once more Micah grabbed my wrist and pulled me behind. We stopped on the landing and he slipped his arms around my waist.
“Mmm, I've been dying to do this all night,” he said as he gave me a gentle kiss.
“Interesting choice of words,” I said softly and he gave an ungentlemanly snort. “So is it all you hoped it would be?”
“Well, it's been interesting, I'll give you that. I had kinda hoped to see her for myself.”
“Trust me, it's not all it's cracked up to be,” I said pointedly.
“Still, I'd like to experience it for myself, at least once.”
“How about if I give you my next experience for free? You think they're transferable?”
“You seem pretty confident you'll have a next experience.”
“Well, apparently it's inevitable. I'm a sensitive, remember?”
“Ah, yes. Killian the Great, Seer of Wonders, Friend of the Dead.”
I stuck my tongue out at him.
“Hey, at least we get to spend the night together for the first time,” he said and waggled him eyebrows.
“With two chaperones,” I added.
“It's a start.”
I smiled. “Yeah, it is that.”
I leaned in for one last kiss before we followed Steve and Judy upstairs when a thin low sound made a shiver run up my spine. I jerked away like I'd been shocked.
“Did you hear that?” I whispered.
“Hear what?”
Before I could answer, it came again, louder this time and unmistakably the sound a baby crying.
Chapter 29
As the chilling sound of the baby's wail washed over me I felt as I was rooted to the spot. Micah seemed similarly affected since he didn't move so much as a muscle. Our frozen state was broken by the sound of footsteps clattering down the stairs from above us. My first thought was that it was Amalie. With a yelp I broke away from Micah and threw myself down the staircase. In my haste I missed a step and slid down the last few on my posterior.
I was sitting on the floor in no small amount of pain as Judy came flying into view. Her eyes were wide and she looked for all the world like a dog straining to hear where a noise was coming from.
She stopped when she reached Micah and grabbed his arm. “Do you hear that?” she asked urgently. He nodded and she released his arm and continued her descent at a breakneck speed, nimbly hopping over me at the bottom.
“Come on, Killian,” she called. I stared at her retreating back and wondered for the hundredth time what I was doing here. I pulled myself painfully to my feet and limped off after her. I found her standing in front of the basement door staring at the knob as if willing it to open on its own accord. I wasn't about to open it so we both stood there listening to the crying that was definitely coming from behind the door. I don't know how I was so sure, it didn't seem any louder from here; in fact, it was just as loud from almost anywhere in the house. But as I stood there in front of the door I knew without a doubt that we had found the source of that unnerving sound.
With a sudden flash of movement, Judy reached out and threw open the door. Immediately the crying stopped. I looked at Judy who was still staring intently down the dark stairs.
“I don't want to go down there.” I said shakily.
She glanced over at me and shrugged. “So don't,” she said as she snapped on her flashlight and started down the steps.
I let out a ragged sigh that somehow came out as more of a whimper and started after her. She pulled the chain at the foot of the stairs and the dim bulb came on, swinging eerily and not doing anything to really dispel the gloomy darkness. It was enough to show that nothing had changed since we'd been down here earlier. There weren't even any scuff marks in the dirt except for those we'd left before. Despite the normalcy of the appearance, there was a tightness in my chest that threatened to choke me.
“Can we go?” I managed to squeak.
“You feel it too?” Judy asked.
“Feel what?”
“That oppressive heaviness.”
I nodded and eased myself onto the first step.
“Something here is connected to the cupola stairs,” she said slowly, “The pain feels familiar but I can't feel anything definite, just a sense of…fear and…helplessness. It's hard to put into words.”
“You don't have to, I feel it too. Please, can we go?” By now I had worked my way about halfway up. Judy gave a curt nod and started up the stairs. I gratefully spun around and took the last stairs two at a time. Micah was waiting in the hall.
“Anything?” he asked.
I shook my head.
“Nothing concrete,” Judy answered as she shut the door carefully. “Just some almost indescribable emotions. It's hard to put them into words.”
“So what do we do now?”
Judy smiled. “We go to sleep just as planned. I'm hoping I'll get some messages in my dreams. The planes tend to converge in your dreams.”
“I don't think I'll be able to sleep,” I said. “And I'm not sure I want to.”
Judy slipped her arms around my shoulder and steered me towards the stairs. “You'll be fine, sweetie. You're doing great, you're being so brave!”
“I don't feel brave,” I mumbled as I glanced over my shoulder to make sure Micah was following us. He was. “I just feel scared to death.”
“Bravery doesn't mean a lack of fear,” Judy said.
“I know. Adam's always saying that bravery means being scared out of your wits but doing what you have to do anyway.”
“Exactly.”
“I don't really like being brave. I think I'd rather be a coward and run off and hide, like Kane.”
She laughed. “Kane isn't really a coward, but I have to admit he's a little lacking in the bravery department. In his defense, he is still very young.”
“I was confronting a murderer at his age.”
“Yes, I know. I was there, remember? And as I recall you very nearly became one of his victims.”
“So that just proves that bravery isn't always the smartest course.”
“Maybe not, but it'
s often the best course.”
“What's often the best course?” Steve asked as we entered the bedroom. I wondered why he hadn't joined Judy in her flight down the stairs but before I could ask he went on, “And where did you go in such a hurry?”
“Bravery is often the best course, and you didn't hear the crying?”
“Crying? The baby was crying again?”
“Yes, even Micah heard it.”
“I didn't!”
Judy turned to Micah. “Are you a sensitive?” she asked him.
“Not that I know of,” he answered.
“I heard it before!” Steve wailed. “Why didn't I hear it this time?”
“I don't know,” Judy said thoughtfully, “Maybe you weren't listening, or maybe you're just tired so you aren't as receptive.”
“If you hear it again, tell me so I can see if I hear it.”
“Ok, from now on we'll all announce anything out of the ordinary that occurs. That way there can be at least two people to witness it if at all possible. Now, I suggest we get some sleep,” she rushed on as I opened my mouth to comment, “or at least try to get some sleep.”
Steve had set up four makeshift beds on the floor, spaced evenly around the room. I was in no mood to be stuck off by myself in one corner so I drug my bedding over next to Micah's and crawled into them without a word. Micah gave me a smile but no one else commented. Steve stood by the door until the rest of us were all tucked in, then he turned the light off. Then, using his flashlight as a guide, made his way to his own spot and settled in. When his flashlight flicked off and complete darkness settled over the room like a blanket, I reached out my hand and fumbled for Micah's. His strong hand slid into mine and I instantly felt comforted. Almost without thought I found myself snuggling into his chest. His arms wrapped around me and much to my surprise I soon felt myself dozing off.
* * *
My dreams were filled with strange and disturbing images for the rest of the night. When I awoke the next morning only two if the strange visions remained with me, however. In the first I found myself standing in the yard of the huge house, except the yard was very different. The trees around the house were much smaller and the forest surrounding the property was much deeper. It was night and a wispy white mist swirled through the trees and over the water of the creek. I watched while a small rowboat made its way up the stream. Its sole occupant was wearing a heavy hooded cloak that made it impossible to see his face. I was certain, however, that it was a man. He tied the boat up to a rough dock and ran towards the house, which was dark except for a dim light in the cupola. For some reason I felt a sense of dread in the pit of my stomach.
All Things Lost Page 33
