Once Molly was out of the room, Lucian quickly grabbed his phone. He had put it on vibrate last night but could hear it rattling on the dresser. He had three messages and they were all from Cecily. Lifting his phone, he punched in his code and listened to them.
“Lucian, it’s me, Cecily.” She sighed. “Can you meet me, I have something to tell you.”
“Right,” he murmured. “I bet you do, Bitch.” He skipped the rest of the message and listened to the next one.
“Lucian, you can’t avoid me forever,” she whined. “I have to tell you…”
“Yes, I can.” He skipped past that message as well.
“Lucian, pleassse…” She was begging now.
“Not happening.” He hit the end button and took a breath. He didn’t want or need to listen to anymore of her lies. “Fuck you,” he grumbled at the phone and shoved it quickly back in his jacket pocket. Swiping his hands over his face, he stood up and got dressed.
♣
Molly stepped back out of the bathroom after a few minutes. She had talked to Rodrigo. He was her right hand and assured her he had everything taken care of for the finale so she could go and do whatever she needed. She told him she owed him and Rodrigo had jokingly said, “You bet your sweet ass you do.”
She didn’t take offense, he always joked like that and she didn’t mind one bit. If he wasn’t married she probably would have dated him. He told her on more than one occasion that Dan wasn’t good enough for her. At first, she would get upset, but now she knew he was just looking out for her.
As she crossed the room, much to her chagrin, she noticed Lucian had gotten dressed. She sighed. There went her heated fantasy right out the window. Sitting back down at the table, she set her phone next to her breakfast plate and then lifted her cup again.
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah, its fine.” She took a sip of her coffee.
He gave her a strange look but didn’t say anything else.
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
Keys to one of the golf carts dangled in her fingers as Molly made her way down the stairs of the hotel and out the door. It was a gloomy day. Gray, fat bellied clouds pressed down from the sky. It looked like it was going to rain. She wasn’t too awful worried about that though because in the mountains, rain never usually lasted that long. Still it was a chilly day and she rubbed her arms, wishing she had a jacket. She was wearing a pair of faded blue jeans, a t-shirt and a pair of converse.
Lucian was across the parking lot standing near his bike. He was talking to someone on the phone. At the sight of him, her stomach made an involuntary flutter. She let out a low whistle, appreciating the view. He definitely had it going on, there was no doubt about that. However, even though he made her heart go berserk just about every time she saw him, she couldn’t help the little nagging feeling she also got when she saw him. She didn’t even know if he liked her, really. Sure, they had hooked up while they were both drunk but he hadn’t tried anything while they were in bed together or this morning. And now she was starting to wonder if it was because he just didn’t like her in that way or if he was just being respectful. Now that, was the million-dollar question.
Lucian spotted Molly and quickly got off the phone. “There you are,” he said cheerily, walking towards her with a smile.
“Here I am.” Molly held out the keys to the golf cart.
Lucian took them. “I take it we’re using another golf cart.”
“Yeah, I thought it would be easier to carry all our jewels.”
Lucian gave her an odd look. Not because of what she said but because he could swear he saw someone else standing behind her, and that someone was the girl he had seen in the picture at the mine, the one named, Rebecca. A trick of light, or perhaps another guest had stepped into his periphery, which would have made sense, but he also thought he saw her last night, in the room, with Molly, while he was lying awake in bed. He had chalked that sighting up to the residual effects of too much whiskey. But what was his excuse now? he had to wonder. He shook his head to clear his vision and once again, she disappeared.
Molly couldn’t help but notice the play of emotions crossing his face. “You still want to go to the mine?”
“Of course.” He rubbed his forehead as an uneasy feeling gathered in the pit of his stomach.
“Is something wrong?”
“No. Nothing.” He dropped his hand and stared blankly over her shoulder.
“Lucian…” Worry creased between her brows. “Are you ready?”
His eyes stayed focused on something over her shoulder.
Molly turned to see what Lucian was looking at but nothing was there.
The ride to the mine was nothing like the day before. Yesterday while riding with Lucian in the cart, Molly had felt a mixture of shyness and exhilaration. Now though, she was feeling more dread than anything else and couldn’t quite figure out why.
Lucian turned the cart into the mine and pulled up in front of the gray clapboard building just like he did the day before. This time the chairs weren’t rocking out of time with one another but remained still. Almost too still, he thought, considering the way the wind was whipping. Trying to ignore the trepidation he was feeling, he got out of the cart and followed Molly up the stairs.
“The mine isn’t open today?” Lucian asked as Molly pulled keys out of her pocket to unlock the door.
“No. Not today.”
“How’d you get the keys?”
“I know the owner,” she evaded and averted her eyes to the task at hand. Once she unlocked the door, she held it open for Lucian to walk inside.
Just like the day before, Lucian immediately noticed how dim it was inside and the musty closed up smell of the place. There were still tracks in the dust on the floor leading to the door to the mine, which somehow added credence to the strange eerie vibe he was feeling.
Molly shut the door and it clicked softly in place. “What would you like to do first?”
“Can we go to the museum?” Lucian didn’t know why but he felt a pull to go there.
“Um, sure.” Molly frowned and headed towards the double doors leading to the mine. She was thankful she had on jeans this time since the place was pretty dusty, even more so then she remembered from yesterday.
It almost looked like someone had spilled talcum powder or chalk on the floor. She couldn’t figure out why that would be but chalked it up figuratively and literally to the guests who walked in here before and after the wedding yesterday. It was weird though, there were no footprints on the floor this time. She could have sworn they were there yesterday. She made a mental note to tell her father to get a cleaning crew in here before the mine opened to the tourists again in the spring and then grabbed the handle to the door. She immediately ripped her hand away—it was freezing.
Lucian noticed the over-abundance of a chalk like substance as well that covered the floor, but he was feeling so queasy at this point, he didn’t mention it. His need to see the museum was increasing and he just couldn’t seem to figure out why. He took three steps and stopped. His eyes widened as he saw the girl named Rebecca, standing on the other side of the doors. Her ghostly image reflected in the glass. His tongue felt heavy in his mouth and his breath came out in ragged gasps as Rebecca’s image passed through the doors. He felt like he was suffocating from within.
Molly screamed.
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
Lucian couldn’t help wondering why Molly was screaming. He wanted to tell her it was all right but for some reason he couldn’t seem to make his mouth form the words.
Molly tightened her hold on his waist and used her shoulder to keep him upright. He was dead weight.
“Lucian!” She was freaking out. His head listed to the side and his eyes rolled back in his head. Was he having some kind of seizure?
Reaching around with her right hand, she grabbed her phone out of her back pocket and punched the key code with her thumb. She kept hitting the wrong numbers.
�
�SHIT!”
He slumped against her, making her lose her hold on her phone; it clattered to the floor at her feet. “No! No! NO!”
Using all her strength she propped him back against the counter while extending out her foot to drag her phone back. She knew if she let him go he would surely fall and crack his head open. With another burst of exertion, she pushed him upright.
Giving up on her phone, she turned towards him and patted his face gently. “Come on,” she urged. “Wake up.”
Lucian jolted and his eyes opened.
“Oh my God, Lucian. Are you all right?” She pressed her hand against his chest.
He got a strange look in his eyes. It was as though he was seeing someone else, standing in front of him and not Molly. She didn’t know why she was thinking that. But that is the way she felt. “Lucian,” she repeated. “Are you all right?”
Shaking his head, Lucian cleared his vision and the image of Rebecca disappeared and was transposed by Molly’s—her face ashen, worried. “You okay?”
“Am I okay?” Molly looked at him like he had three heads. “What is wrong with you?”
Lucian shirked her off, feeling clammy and cold suddenly. “I don’t know.” And he didn’t. It was like his brain took a vacation from his body and he had no idea where it went.
“We are leaving.” Molly turned to go.
He grabbed her arm, freaking out. “No!”
“Lucian,” she said in a calm voice, looking him in the eyes. “I want to take you to the hospital. I think you had a seizure or something.”
“I didn’t, I mean, I don’t know. But I can’t leave, not yet.”
“Why?” Her brow creased in concern.
“I have to do something.”
“What?”
He rubbed his forehead, trying to alleviate the pain gathering behind his eyes. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“Well,” she snapped, not meaning to. “If you don’t, we are definitely leaving.” She was already planning to leave anyway but wanted to know what the hell had just happened.
“I saw Rebecca.”
“Who?” She frowned more severely.
“The girl from the picture,” he muttered, barely audible.
“What pic…” Molly trailed off as the realization of what he was saying hit her. “You mean…” she swallowed hard, “the, Rebecca?”
He nodded.
Her mouth opened and closed like a fish. “When?” she finally managed.
“Just now, I mean, not right now but before when …”
“When you almost passed out?” She gaped at him.
“Yeah, I guess.” He shrugged and shoved his hands into his pockets.
“We should get you to the hospital…”
“You said yourself this place is haunted,” he defended.
“Yeah, but I wasn’t serious. That’s just what we’re told to tell the tourists.”
“But it has to be based on some truth, right?”
“How the hell am I supposed to know? I just repeat the stories, to make this place sound more interesting.”
He gave her a look of disbelief. “I thought you said you believed…that you watched the shows…”
“Well, I did watch the shows, that is. But that doesn’t mean I believe…” She saw his expression and took a breath. “Fine…” She exhaled trying to keep it together. “If what you say is true…”
“I saw her,” he was adamant.
“Okay,” she said. “Okay,” she repeated. “If I am to believe that you saw Rebecca…”
“I did see her and I have seen her more than once.”
“When did this start?”
“Since I saw the picture.”
“How many times?”
“Four but with this last time it is five.”
Molly braced herself on the glass display case and took a deep breath. Her heart was pounding and her hands were shaking. She felt like if she didn’t hold on she would surely fall on her face. What the hell is going on? She exhaled, getting herself back under some semblance of control. “Where did you see her exactly?”
“At the hotel and here.”
Molly remembered how he looked in the parking lot. “What is she doing when you see her?”
“Mostly she just stands there and sometimes she gives me a sad smile, but this time she came through the door right past you.”
Molly reflexively took a step back and looked at the chalk like substance on the floor and not surprisingly, there was still only one set of prints leading to the door—her own.
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
“Fine. I’ll stay. But I swear if you do that seizure crap again, we are out of here. Got it?”
Lucian made the sign of the cross over his chest. “I swear.”
“Assuming you aren’t having some kind of episode and you really have seen this Rebecca…” Just saying her name filled Molly with dread. “What do you think she wants?”
“I don’t know but I feel like I need to go there…” He pointed up.
“What?” Her eyes widened.
“I mean upstairs.”
She put her hand over her heart and leaned over. “Oh, thank God.”
“What did you think I meant?”
Molly stood back up. “I’d rather not say. It might jinx you.”
Lucian caught her meaning and his eyes widened. “Oh. Yeah, let’s not say that.”
“So, do you think this has to do with her dad or the emeralds or something else?”
“I don’t know but I have a feeling we are about to find out.”
“Let’s hope.”
After Lucian drank some water and rested for a moment, Molly grabbed one of the brochures for added information and walked over to the door. She put her hand on the knob and was relieved it wasn’t freezing this time.
Opening the door, she stepped through onto the platform and waited for Lucian to follow her through. The door closed with a resounding thud, as they made their way up to the museum on the top floor.
Passing by several glassed cases filled with variations of stones that had been dug from the mine and put on display, they finally made it to the top floor.
Inside was filled with old pieces of equipment for the mine and household items like dishes, a chair, musical instruments, like horns, an accordion and also an old china cabinet that now stood empty save for a large bee’s nest inside without the bees.
Lucian gave Molly a curious look. “What happened here?”
“Got me. It was like that when I started working here.”
And over in the far corner was the piano, her piano. Lucian had a vision of Rebecca sitting there and playing a tune while passerby’s watching from the street of an old town with clapboard buildings lined up on either side. “This was hers,” he said.
Molly stepped up to his side. “Yes. It was.”
“Can I get closer to it?”
The piano as well as the other items were behind a glass wall. A lone door stood off to the side.
“I guess so.” The last thing Molly wanted to do was open that door but at this juncture she didn’t think she had much of a choice. Reluctantly, she pulled the key out of her pocket and walked over to the door. “You sure?” She looked at Lucian over her shoulder.
“Yeah.” He nodded.
“Here goes nothing.” She held her breath, not sure what to expect. She unlocked the door and then pushed it open. There was no resistance like she would have thought for a door being closed for so long—it didn’t even creak.
“Has anyone been in there recently?” Lucian asked, voicing her thoughts out loud.
“Not that I know of.”
As soon as the door opened all the way Molly felt an icy chill. In fact, it was so cold suddenly, her expelled breath was turning white.
“She’s here?” It was a statement.
Lucian looked over her shoulder beside the piano where Rebecca had just materialized. “Yes.”
Molly felt like icy fing
ers were crawling over her skin. She stepped purposefully away from the door and the feeling subsided instantly. “What is she doing?” Molly was looking at Lucian. She was afraid to look in the room.
“Nothing,” he said. “She is just standing there, waiting for me.”
“Wait?” Molly did a double take. “What?” Her heart kicked into high gear.
“It’s okay,” he said, stepping forward. “She doesn’t want to hurt me.”
“What does she W—want?” Molly chattered.
“Don’t know.” He shrugged. “I guess she’ll let me know when I go inside.” He took another purposeful step forward.
Molly jumped in front of him.
It didn’t even faze him. His eyes never wavered from the glass.
“Maybe this isn’t such a good idea. I mean…” she lowered her voice, “what if she is… bad?”
His eyes lingered on the glass wall but slowly drifted down to Molly’s upturned face. “It’s okay,” he tried to assure her.
Molly felt sick to her stomach. Everything in her was telling her this wasn’t right. That something awful was going to happen. She threw her arms out and wrapped them around his waist. “Don’t go.”
“I have to.” He tried to push her arms down.
Molly held tight. “No. No. No.” She shook her head. “Lucian, let’s just think about this for a minute… okay.”
“She wants me…”
Molly searched his face. His eyes were glassy, unseeing. She pushed against him but he wouldn’t budge. “Lucian.”
He wasn’t listening.
Getting desperate, Molly looked for something to use to stop him but she wasn’t close enough to anything. Not having any alternative, she did the only thing she could think of.
She reached up and kissed him soundly on the lips.
At first, he was unresponsive but she kept kissing him until he opened his mouth.
Then everything changed.
Reaching up, he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her back. But it wasn’t a normal kiss. It was full of heat and promises of what was to come.
His Wicked Ways Page 12
