Spiritwalker

by Siobhan Corcoran

  “I'll let you do your job. But the minute you find out anything I want you to tell me first. Deal.”

  “I’ll think about it” Anna said. She had no intentions of telling him first. Morley would be her first port of call when she had information. Ian relaxed slightly.

  “I just want her back.” He said softly.

  “We'll get her back. I won't give up until we do.” Anna promised.

  Chapter twenty eight

  It was close to seven-thirty when Anna was finally able to go to her room and get ready for her dinner date with Inspector Morley. She had butterflies in her tummy, something she hadn't felt in a long time. She scolded herself not to be so silly that it was only a casual date. She warned herself not to read too much into it. Still she couldn't help thinking about Gary and caught herself with a ridiculous smile on her face in the mirror. Eva had noticed the subtle change in her guest and had asked her outright who she was dining with. Anna had blushed and told her. She explained to her about Morley’s sister being married to her cousin. Eva had smiled wickedly at her, obviously sensing that Anna was hoping it could lead to something more. The two women had grown very close in the short time since they had first met and each of them had the greatest respect for the other .

  At eight on the dot, Morley arrived at the door.

  “He seems keen.” Eva whispered to Anna as she wished her a lovely evening. Anna opened the door and was immediately greeted by a low appreciative whistle as she emerged.

  “I feel a little under dressed now.” He said as he took in her the way the material of her dress hugged her figure in all the right places.

  “You certainly scrub up well too.” Anna replied noting that he had had a recent haircut. His shirt was crisp and white under a charcoal two piece suit. “You look like you’re going for an interview.” she teased him.

  “Maybe I am.” He smiled at her. “Would you give me the job?” He was flirting with her.

  “Brad Pitt eat your heart out. He's not a patch on you.” She flirted right back. He held the door open for her as she sat into the car.

  “Afraid the transport isn't of the highest quality. Can't afford a Porsche on my salary.”

  “It’s great.” Anna said sincerely. “So where are you taking me.”

  “The best restaurant in Canterbury. Actually a good mate of mine owns it. We were in school together. The only way to get reservations there on short notice is to have contacts. It’s very popular.”

  “I feel honoured.” Anna said. They drove to Canterbury chatting comfortably together as though they had known each other all their lives. As they stopped at traffic lights a blue Ford Escort rocketed straight past them at speed breaking the red light and narrowly missing a car that was turning legally at the junction. Morley frowned and muttered something that Anna couldn't make out. The car screeched to a halt, smashing into a bollard. Morley braked hard, and they both reacted swiftly jumping out of the car and rushing up to the crashed vehicle. As they ran they could hear police sirens in the distance. Up ahead they spotted the doors of the car open and two men got out and began to run.

  “Police, Morley shouted. Stay where you are.” He knew from experience that the only reason these two were trying to abscond was due to the sirens he could hear in the distance. Behind them horns were blaring. Drivers trying to get Morley to move his car which was still parked in the middle of the road.

  “Anna, would you mind moving my car and telling the police when they get here that I'm chasing two suspects.”

  Anna nodded and watched as he took off after the two men. Within seconds a police car with the sirens blaring was stopped at the crash site. Anna had pulled Morley's car in to the side of the road and went over to them. After explaining what had happened and that Inspector Morley was in pursuit, she returned to the car and sat in. Within seconds she was out of her body and hovering above the streets and searching for Gary and the two men. It didn't take her long from her vantage point to locate the two men. They were ducking and diving down the back streets trying to evade Morley who was pursuing them. It was easy to identify him in semi-darkness, his aura gave off its own signature glow. It was as familiar to her as that of any of her friends or family. She followed the two men closely, they were totally unaware of her presence. Then it happened, an elderly woman was in the ally, putting rubbish into her wheelie bin. The two men rounded the corner into the alley and almost careered straight into the elderly lady. One of the men grabbed her and pulled her back, dragging her through her back garden and pulled her in back door of her house, the other man followed and slammed it shut behind them. Anna watched in horror as the old woman tried to struggle free. She saw her being slammed onto the couch and ordered to shut up. She looked absolutely terrified. There was nothing Anna could do but watch helplessly as the two men made themselves at home, waiting for the police to give up the search. The old woman was whimpering and asking what they wanted. She told them she hadn’t any money. Anna admired her, terrified as she was she was trying to stand up for herself. Seeing that the woman wasn't in any immediate danger Anna left and went in search of Morley. She was fairly sure that he hadn't seen where the two men had gone. She was hoping to find a way to tell him. She spotted him two streets away standing, puffing and panting. He was looking up and down the street hoping to catch a glimpse of where they had gone. He pulled out his mobile and rang someone, she couldn't make out what he was saying but gathered that it was probably the police he was talking to. Sure enough within moments the two officers she had spoken to earlier spied him and hurried over. Then Anna saw him, a scrawny looking mongrel was watching warily from a distance. He had been foraging nearby for food, now he was crouched behind a bin, waiting for these humans to leave. Anna went over and whispered in its ear. The dog whimpered but went obediently over towards Morley and began whining and barking at him. The three men stopped talking and looked at the stray not understanding. Anna tried again she whispered to the dog. It obeyed and tried pawing at Morley’s pant leg. He still didn't comprehend and shooed it away. She had never told him that dogs could sense and hear her and nearly always did her biding. Even if she had it might not have clicked. She gave up and whispering to the dog to follow she went back to the old lady's house. She made a mental note of the address where the two men had hidden themselves. Satisfied that she had it correct she went back to check on the old woman. She was still on the couch but she didn't look well. She had a cut over her right eye and it was bleeding profusely. She was doing her best to stem the flow with a handkerchief. Anna stayed with her, cursing the men, one of them had surely hit her over the head with something while she was absent. Anna sat beside her and whispered softly to her. She knew that the woman wasn't aware of her presence but hoped that on some subconscious level she might hear and be comforted.

  Anna was torn from the woman's side by the urgent calling of her name and returned to her body, to find Morley shaking her gently. She opened her eyes and before he could say anything she gave him the address of the house and explained that they had an old woman held hostage. He looked at her amazed, it took him a moment to digest this information but to his credit he believed her, and immediately he got out of the car ran up to the two officers who were just getting into their squad car. He explained that he had just received information about the men they were searching for, He told them to call for back up. They did and within minutes two more cars had arrived and the police had surrounded the house, the two men startled by the sudden unexpected arrival of the police tried to escape out the back door. They were immediately captured and arrested. An ambulance arrived and the old lady was taken away to have her injury looked at and to spend the night in hospital.

  “You're better than any blood hound.” Morley said as he sank into the driver’s seat beside her. “Sorry about that. Once a policeman always a policeman. I had to act.”

  “That's okay, if you hadn't I’d be worried.” She assured him

  “Do you still want to go for dinner.�
�� he asked looking at her hopefully.

  “Of course, I'm hungrier than ever now.” She replied indignantly.

  At the restaurant they settled gratefully into their seats. Morley explained to the head- waiter the reason for their tardiness. The place was jointed but their table had been held for them. They were assured that it was not a problem and he handed them menus.

  “They had barely time to open them when they were approached by a man dressed in a chefs whites he stopped at their table.

  “Morley you sly old dog, where have you being hiding this beautiful creature. Morley grinned and stood up.

  The two men embraced and shook hands. To Anna he said

  “May I introduce my old school friend? Geoff Huntley.” and to Geoff he said this is a dear friend, Anna Cotter.”

  Anna stood up to shake his hand but was roughly pulled into a bear hug by the chef.

  “It's great to meet you Anna, I'd watch this one if I were you, he's a dark horse” he said with a twinkle in his eye as he released her.

  “It’s very nice to meet you. Don't worry I'll be on my guard.” She laughed.

  “I'll leave you two at it. Don't want a gooseberry hanging around. Enjoy your meal. I'm the chef tonight so you'd better. Anna if you get tired of this guy, give me a ring.” He winked at her and went back to the kitchen whistling to himself.

  The waiter came and took their order and they settled easily into conversation.

  “Tell me about yourself Anna Cotter.” Morley said gazing at her across the table.

  “I think you know most of it by now.” Anna laughed.

  “I think I've only reached the tip of the iceberg.” he replied fixing his blue eyes on hers.

  “Okay then but it’s not that interesting. I'm twenty seven years old. I have two sisters both older. One, Aileen lives in Australia and is married with two children a boy six Adam, and a girl four, Bella. I think my sister called her that because she loves the Twilight films so much. My other sister Aoife is a nurse she's married to Jason but they don't have any kids yet. They live in Dublin. My Mum and Dad live in Dublin too. Dad's retired he was in the army, loved every minute of it. My mum still runs her own business jointly with a friend. She's an antiques dealer, they have a small shop in the city centre. They do very well there. What about you?”

  “You already know my sister Andrea, then there's my baby sister Cara, she's a teacher. I believe you've spoken to her also. That's it just the three of us. My parents are both dead, they left us an equal share in our home. Andrea signed it over to me and Cara. We both still live in it. I have a feeling that Cara would like it all to herself though. She keeps trying to fix me up on blind dates.”

  “Is that so bad.” Anna laughed at his grim expression.

  “It is if you saw the people she thinks are suitable. One of them was a colleague of hers. She invited her to dinner one night. I'm still convinced it was a man. I didn't wait to find out. I legged it as soon as we'd eaten. I warned her not to spring surprises like that on me again.”

  “I'm sure she means well.” Anna laughed

  “She should bloody well date them herself then. If she knew I was out with you tonight, she'd have us as an item before long.” He looked at Anna, both of them wondering the same thing.... Would that be such a bad thing?

  “Anyway” Morley broke the silence. “That was amazing tonight. I'm still trying to get my head around it. How do you do it?”

  “I suppose its second nature to me now. I can leave my body any time. It’s called astral projection, I just need to be somewhere quiet, undisturbed. I just kind of float out and I can see and hear everything around me. Just as I do now. I can't do anything about it if I see trouble....like tonight. I just have to return to my body and sort it out in person. Except sometimes I can get animals to help.....like tonight. Do you remember the dog?”

  “The dog?” He asked puzzled, then it dawned on him. “That dog....that was you?”

  “Well not exactly, the dog was real. I am able to get them to follow simple commands. For some reason dogs are aware of me. Cats too but they just run off terrified if I whisper to them. Dogs are more aware and more trusting.”

  “Wow, that's amazing. It never crossed my mind it might be you trying to tell me something. I was too engrossed in finding the suspects.” He was truly surprised. “How does that work?”

  “To be honest I don't know myself. I suspect that it’s to do with the way dogs have a heightened sense of awareness, or at least people think they see more than we do. They just seem to sense me. I remember when I was younger, around seventeen and I had told my family about my abilities. Of course they didn't believe me at first but it didn't take long to convince them. I used to spy on my sisters it worked for a long time. Until they discovered that Brandy our retriever always knew when I was out of body and spying on them. They used to bring Brandy along if they wanted to be alone. He always barked and wagged his tail when he sensed my presence. It was a pity. I couldn't sneak up on them any more after that. It was almost midnight before they became aware that they were alone in the restaurant. All the other customers had gone and the staff were cleaning up around them. “I'm so sorry” Morley said to the waiter and he asked for the bill. “We lost track of time.”

  “Not a problem sir, there is no charge. Compliments of Mr Huntley.”

  “Oh no he can't do that, is Geoff still here?” Morley inquired.

  “I'm afraid he's gone sir. He said to tell you he would talk to you in the morning.”

  “But I have to pay the bill, I can't leave without paying.” Morley insisted

  “I'm afraid you will get me fired sir if I charge you anything for your meal. Mr Huntley was most insistent.”

  “Very well, Robert.” Morley conceded looking for the first time at the name plate on the waiter’s waistcoat. “I wouldn't want to get you fired. Thank you so much for a lovely evening, I'm sorry we kept you so late.” He took out his wallet and left a fifty pound tip on the table. “He can't fire you for getting a tip now can he?”

  “No sir.” The waiter said gravely.

  They walked out of the restaurant with Anna giggling softly to herself. When they were safely out of earshot Morley burst out laughing.

  “He was a bit drool, wasn't he” He laughed as he imitated the waiter’s serious tone.

  “Yes sir.” Anna agreed. Mimicking the waiter.

  They reached the car. “Are you okay to drive?” Anna asked.

  “Perfect. I only had two glasses of wine all night. I don't care that much for it. I prefer beer.”

  “Oh no, you must think I'm an alcoholic. I must have drunk the rest. I didn't realise you weren't drinking.” She was slightly embarrassed.

  “Not at all.” Morley said as he started the car and drove out of the car park. “I just don't drink and drive. Next time we'll get a taxi.”

  “Next time?” Anna enquired hopefully.

  “I know I’d like to.” Morley said suddenly serious as he glanced at her. “Would you?”

  “Absolutely” Anna replied instantly and a wave of heat surged through her that had nothing at all to do with the amount of wine she had consumed. “I'd love to.”

  A half an hour later Morley drew the car to a halt outside the Westhall's home. It wasn't until that point that Anna realised that she had forgotten to tell Morley about the events of the previous night.

  “Gary. “ Anna said looking at him as the moon peeped out from behind a cloud and lit up his features. “I almost forgot to tell you about my...... for want of a better word......experience last night. I was hoping you could throw some light on it.

  “Go on.” He could see she was bothered by something. “What happened?”

  “Well, last night I was awoken by a woman. She was young, Asian, really pretty. She told me that Jane wasn't dead. That I had to hurry, she said that Jane didn't have much time.” Anna stopped and looked at Morley wondering how best to continue.

  “Who was she? Did you get her name? Di
d she come here?” Morley was looking at her confused.

  “I'm not explaining this very well.” Anna stammered. “She was dead, a spirit.”

  “A spirit, I thought you weren't that kind of psychic, didn't see spirits?” He looked more confused than ever.

  “I don't....Didn't. This was different. She came to me, I was asleep, and she drew me out of my body. It's never happened like that before. I never see ghosts.”

  “Are you sure you weren't dreaming?”

  “Certain. She was as real as you are… except she was a spirit.”

  “Okay” Morley said trying his best to get his head around what Anna was trying to tell him. Trying to keep an open mind. “Tell me exactly what she said.”

  “Okay, she said her name was Simi. She said, they will say he killed me, he didn't. She said that Jane was alive but might not be for much longer. She said, he is afraid of me. That I'm the only one that can stop him.”

  “Sounds very cryptic. Are you sure she was talking about Jane Turner?”

  “Yes, I'm sure. I'm afraid it does seem very cryptic. She seemed to be trying to tell me everything she could as fast as she could. Cause seconds later she vanished. Sounds unbelievable even to me. What do you think?”

  “Honestly Anna I think you were dreaming. This case has been on your mind so much and after everything that has happened it wouldn't be beyond reason to assume it was a dream.”

  “But I know I wasn't dreaming. I know she was real.” Anna said obstinately.

  “I'll look into it, but I've never heard of her, Simi was it?” He didn't want to argue with her but he was certain that she had dreamt the whole thing.

  “Would you? That would be great. I'm sure Jane is still alive. I feel it. But I also feel that we are running out of time.” She felt better after telling him. She hoped he wouldn't start thinking she was unbalanced. “Thanks for tonight. I had a great time.” She leaned over meaning to kiss him on the cheek but he had turned his head and their lips met. As they kissed tenderly, any reservations Morley has vanished. He knew he would do anything to keep this woman safe.