Renee would never leave someone like Lorna. Or maybe it would be more accurate to say she would never leave Lorna. Yes, this was all new, and she was basking in the afterglow of incredible sex. The problem as she saw it was that she understood the difference between casual hookups and meaningful sex. Theirs had been the latter. Lorna didn’t need to verbalize a thing; it was in her touch, her sighs, and her comforting arms as they both drifted off to sleep. A casual hookup it was not.
Yes, whether they liked it or not, there was far more between them than a simple roll in the hay. The thought made her heart sing. With not a clue how it would all shake out, she nonetheless felt happy. For the moment, it was more than enough. She would settle for happy and the rest would take care of itself.
She rolled out of the bed, grabbed her clothes, and snuck down to her own room. A nice warm shower and some clean clothes would be the crowning glory to her perfect night. Twenty minutes later, she was heading toward the smell of coffee. One thing about staying here, the coffee was always on in the morning, hot, black, and wonderful. She could get used to this.
Lorna and Jeremy were sitting at the table talking in low voices when she walked through the door. Both of them snapped around to look at her as she came in. “Hey,” she said in greeting, hoping at the same time she wasn’t interrupting something, because that’s sure what it felt like.
Lorna’s face took on softness that warmed Renee’s heart and banished any worry that maybe she should have backed out of the room. She had a hunch the same sort of look crossed her own face. Jeremy glanced first at her and then at Lorna, and it occurred to her that it might have been better to try to rein her emotions in. Lorna might not want her brother to guess what happened between them.
Jeremy raised his eyebrows and smirked. “Anything you ladies want to tell me?”
So much for her attempt to throw off suspicion by looking innocent, because it appeared Jeremy could see right through both of them. It was too late, and she really hoped it wasn’t a problem for Lorna.
Didn’t seem to be when Lorna turned back to Jeremy and cocked her head. “What?” she asked with a sly smile.
“I asked,” he drew out the words slowly. “If there’s anything you or your pretty friend here would like to share with me?”
She wasn’t about to say a word and so she didn’t. This was one minefield she intended to stay out of. Instead, she walked to the kitchen counter, grabbed a mug, and filled it with coffee while keeping her back to the other two. Or was it more like keeping her head in the sand? Either way, it worked for her. Maybe she should go check on her mother.
“Don’t know what you mean.”
Jeremy’s laughter was hearty and good-natured, the sound easing the tension bunching up her shoulders. “Really, Lorna? You don’t think I know you well enough to figure out when you’ve been bed hopping? Oh, my dear sister, you are so terribly transparent.”
Lorna blurted, “Jeremy!” at the same time Renee started to laugh, which made her spit out the coffee she just sipped. That made her laugh even harder.
“Oh, come on, you guys. I wasn’t born yesterday. And besides, why tiptoe around and pretend? Personally, I think it’s great. No offense, sis, but the nun thing just doesn’t suit you. Ever since you and Anna broke up, you’ve been a real downer. I like this Lorna a whole lot better. It’s my sister coming back to the land of the living and the loving.”
A flush raced up Lorna’s face, and it was all Renee could do not to laugh again. If Jeremy kept this up, they’d be doing CPR on Lorna any minute. Perhaps she should have kept that CPR card current. She took her coffee mug and headed back toward the door. This seemed like a private sibling discussion to her.
“I’m going to check on Mom.”
She wasn’t sure, but she thought she heard Jeremy say “chicken” as she walked out the door.
Chapter Twenty-one
“All right, you big brat! If you must know, yes, Renee and I hit it off.”
“As opposed to hitting it?”
Lorna threw a spoon at him. It bounced on the table in front of him. “You are such an—”
“Don’t say it. Mom wouldn’t like it.” He was smiling broadly. “Seriously, Lorna, I think it’s great. You’ve needed someone in your life, and not someone like Anna. She wasn’t right for you. Face the facts, my dear sister, she was a bitch. Not true of Renee. There’s something about her that brings out the good in you. Give it a chance. You never know where it might take you. She could be the one.” He winked.
Her heart warmed. God, how she loved her little brother and she hoped he was right. “Thanks, I appreciate that. I like her a lot too. Now that you’ve chased her out of here and embarrassed the crap out of me, maybe you can finish telling me why you don’t think either one of us is crazy.”
Jeremy smiled his I-have-no-idea-what-you-mean smile. “Oh come on, Lorna, a guy has to take his fun where he can. Besides, you opened the door for me. You want to try to convince me you didn’t jump Renee’s bones last night? You can try. It won’t do you any good. I know you, and your face is an open book. I like that about you because it gives me the opportunity to tease you and watch you squirm. Big fun.”
“I didn’t jump her bones.” Her protest was weak even to her own ears. Except she didn’t think of it like that. What they’d shared last night was a whole lot more than mere sex. Almost scary more, but she wasn’t going to delve too deep into that right at the moment. A smart woman would only put one toe at a time back into the pool, and she liked to think she was a smart woman.
“Yeah, you did, but really that’s your business. The only other thing I’ll say about it and then I’ll shut up is, I like her. She’s a real bright light. I think you’ve traded up.”
His simple words warmed her heart. Whether she wanted it to or not, his opinion did mean so very much to her. They were family, and she didn’t want a woman to come between them. She’d already lost her parents; she wasn’t about to lose her brother over a woman.
“Thanks, Jer, I appreciate that.”
“I calls it like I sees it.” He was smiling big.
“So get on with it already.” She wanted to know what he was thinking in terms of the visions plaguing her. The fact that he didn’t believe she was going around the bend eased some of her worries. Oh hell, who was she kidding? It eased a lot of her worries.
“It’s this house,” he said simply as he waved his hands as if to encompass the entire structure. “My educated opinion is that it’s haunted or maybe even cursed. In fact, the more I think about it, cursed seems the more likely scenario.”
She was this close to buying into the idea that the house was haunted. Tiana McCafferty seemed to be reaching out from the grave as if she wanted to tell Lorna something important. The thing was it didn’t feel dangerous or evil, just important. Cursed didn’t seem to fit for her.
She shook her head. “I don’t think it’s cursed.”
He was holding the spoon she tossed at him and tapping it on the tabletop. “Well, maybe not in your case, but it sure as hell seems that way to me every time I close my eyes.”
“Your dreams?” A good look in his eyes and she could see how deadly serious he was. “Tell me about them.” A sick feeling settled in her stomach.
“Nightmares, my dear sister, nightmares.”
He’d always been a dreamer, and through the years recounted some doozies. He was one of those people who dreamed every night and actually remembered most of them. To say he was having dreams really didn’t mean much. Usually, they were quirky and funny. He hadn’t had scary dreams since he’d been a little boy. So when he said nightmare, he had her undivided attention.
He held up a hand before she could say as much. “These are not my normal midnight movies. These are specific and mean-spirited. Not just that, Lorna. They really are only happening when I’m here. When Merry and I were back in Spokane—nothing. The first night I come back to this place, and all of a sudden I’m evil incarnate.”
“Like?”
She opened her eyes and looked at him. “I don’t know. We know that Tiana McCafferty killed herself. We know that she did it right after Catherine Swan disappeared. We know that her father was an asshole. We know her mother pretty much ignored her. But there’s a thread of something else in there that we’re missing.”
“Like why you and me?”
“Exactly.” It occurred to her as Jeremy was telling her about the nightmares that for some reason, the McCafferty family was touching hers. Or maybe it would be more accurate to say bitch-slapping hers. But why? Renee essentially grew up in this house, and none of the voodoo was happening to her. Jolene had been here for decades and nada. So why was it targeting her and Jeremy?
Merry walked in as she and Jeremy sat in silence staring at each other and pondering. “Good morning,” she said cheerfully.
“Morning,” Lorna mumbled, her mind still a thousand miles away.
Merry stopped next to Jeremy and kissed him on the lips. Then she stood straight and stared from one face to the other. “Earth to Jeremy and Lorna. Hellooooo.”
“Uh.” Lorna turned her head toward Merry. “What?”
She laughed and hugged Jeremy, kissing the top of his head this time. “I don’t know what you two have been doing down here, but you are both in la-la land. What have you been doing that has you so distracted?”
That was a loaded question. After Lorna filled her in, Merry sipped on a glass of orange juice and said, “I have an idea. Let’s go on a scavenger hunt. I say we dig through the attic and all the paperwork your aunt left and see what we come up with. Maybe we can find the answers there, or at the very least, a clue. We’ve dug up what we can from outside sources; why not begin again only this time start from home?”
Lorna smiled. “See, now this is exactly why I said you two need to be here. Apparently, solving mysteries takes a minimum of three heads.”
*
Sitting cross-legged on the floor of the attic with a dusty hat, circa 1920s, on her head, Renee read with deep interest. She was going through a steamer trunk full of ledgers, diaries, and one old Bible, the kind where a family member dutifully kept track of births, marriages, and deaths. It was fascinating on so many levels.
After she’d checked on her mother and made sure she was comfortable, she’d gone in search of Lorna. All she’d found in the kitchen where she’d left them half an hour earlier were abandoned coffee mugs and an empty room. With her best detective skills, she followed the low murmur of voices until she located Lorna, Jeremy, and Merry in the attic.
The attic was incredible, something found in movies but not in real life. Spanning the entire length of the house, it was a massive open area broken up by supports of unfinished pine. The floor was, like the supports, unfinished hardwood deeply colored by age and the ever-present dust. Scattered throughout the space like forgotten pieces of history were furniture, trunks, boxes, and discarded clothing spanning multiple decades. She was all in before Lorna even told her what the game plan was for the day.
“I found something. I think.” She picked up her glass and took a big swig of white wine. Jeremy was right. He’d brought the bottle up around four saying it was from a local Spokane winery, Nodland Cellars, and it was one of their best. He was so correct. She loved it.
Now, the Bible in her lap, she stared down at the faded handwriting crisscrossing the pages like a spider web. She’d been staring at it for at least ten minutes making sure she was seeing what she thought she was. It didn’t change, and a very interesting story just revealed itself to her. If she was a betting woman, she’d lay odds that Lorna and Jeremy had no idea about this little twist.
“What do you have?” Lorna said, standing up and stretching her arms over her head. Her shirt slid up as she stretched, and her smooth stomach was revealed, as was the small tattoo of a skull Renee had discovered last night. The sight sent shivers through her body. All she could think was how that stomach felt against the palm of her hands and the tip of her tongue. Or how many times she placed kisses against that tiny skull. She shivered just remembering.
She brought her thoughts away from the feel of Lorna’s body and back to the Bible. Tapping the page, she told them, “You need to come and see.”
Like Renee, Lorna wore a hat. Hers was a straw version complete with white tulle gone gray with time and ribbons that she thought might have been blue once upon a time. Undoubtedly, it had been someone’s Easter bonnet. Renee smiled as she looked at her, the hat so out of place with her jeans and fleece pullover.
Merry came over and sat next to her on the floor. She’d wrapped herself in crimson brocade coat she’d found hanging on a tall carved coat rack. It was a style at least a century old, and it hung to the ground when she was standing and pooled around her like a lake when she sat on the floor. Made to go over the full dresses of an era long gone, it dwarfed the diminutive Merry.
Not to be left out, Jeremy snagged a bowler hat as he crossed the room from where he’d been digging through a box of old ledgers. She hated numbers, and it would have taken a death threat to get her to even open one of those things. Jeremy was, in her opinion, a weirdo on that front. When he grabbed that box, he’d been like a little kid with a brand new toy box declaring spreadsheets, ledgers, and flow charts to be fun. She had one word for that: ick. She much preferred the Bible and it’s tale of intrigue.
Renee glanced down and then back up, doing a double take as Jeremy walked toward her. For a second, when he twirled the hat and then popped it onto his head, it was as though the face she saw was not his own. When the shimmering visage faded, his aura became clear and the black streak was back in force. Thick and dark, it almost pulsed. She shook her head. Obviously, she’d spent too many hours sitting up here staring into boxes and reading old books. Top it off with wine on an empty stomach, and it was possible she was making something out of nothing. Usually, she’d just get sick when she drank on an empty stomach; today it was minor hallucinations. Or not, and that’s the part that was scaring her.
“Okay, what do you have for us?” Lorna asked when they were all clustered close to her.
Renee looked up at Lorna and winked. “Wait until you see this.” She opened the Bible to the pages she’d marked with scraps of paper. “Ta da…the McCafferty family history.” She ran her finger along the edge of the paper with the intricate family tree.
Starting with the first page of the family tree that went back to Drogheda, Ireland, the history of the McCafferty family began to unfold for them. Like she’d done earlier, she showed them the names as they tracked down through the generations. It recorded all the births, the marriages, and the births of the subsequent generations. The deaths were as one would expect: some of old age, some tragically young. On the faces clustered near to her own she could see the same curiosity she’d experienced when she’d first come across the Bible. She had found it interesting but didn’t expect anything beyond that until she came to the last page, and that’s where everything changed. There was John McCafferty, and recorded next to him, his marriage to Susanne. There was the birth of Tiana, followed by the birth and death of her younger brother. Then came Tiana’s far-too-early death. Susanne was the next to pass, some five years after her daughter. John, however, did not follow his wife and daughter for fifteen years.
None of that was a big surprise or even particularly interesting. They pretty much knew all of it from their visits to the libraries. What did surprise them was what came next. By all rights, the family tree should have ended with the death of patriarch John McCafferty. That’s what Renee expected. That’s what they all expected. For at least a full minute, no one said a word.
Jeremy broke the silence, rocking back on his heels and exclaiming, “Son of a bitch.”
*
The crash of thunder brought his eyes heavenward.
Rain began to pummel his head, yet he did not move. Tonight was it. The lights had been on in the attic for hours, and whatever they had touched inside that room had opened the door to the other world. Like a snake waiting for a chance to strike, he was stepping through. Lightning sliced across the sky, and the storm raged its fury preternaturally strong, as well it should be. This was not a storm born of nature.
He was out of time. They were out of time. It all came down to this night. If she did not see and act, once more, he would fail in his promise. The gates of heaven would remain closed to him, and the souls of the two lost women would remain lost.
The evil one had returned. His strength had grown as it had in life, until now, the Watcher feared he could not stop him. Each time he returned, he grew stronger and more malevolent. If she failed to stop him now, how long would it be before another would come? He did not want to think about it. She had to defeat him this time. She had to.
Thunder crashed again, and this time he looked up at the windows of the attic. The lights still glowed, and he prayed they would find what he’d left for them. If they read and if they understood then perhaps they would have a chance. If not? Tears streaked down his massive cheeks.
His eyes strayed to the wet expanse of grass that ran along the bluff. In his mind’s eye, he could see them standing there hand in hand, the light of the moon shining off their hair. Love had radiated around them like rays of sunlight. Truth had a way of doing that. So did true love.
Evil turned their precious light to darkness. He’d tried to save them, but he’d been too late. All he could do was give them his promise that he would one day make it right. He was in danger of failing once again. He’d done all that he could from his world of exile. It all rested in her hands now. With his eyes turned once more heavenward, he quietly prayed:
Twisted Echoes Page 20
