by Becky Durfee
She sat on the porch swing, rocking slowly back and forth as guests came and went. She enjoyed the quiet as she reflected back to a time when the visits to this house hadn’t been wrought with such sadness. She remembered sitting on that very swing with her father when she was a little girl. He told her all about the adventures he used to have around the house when he had been a kid. A half-hearted smile graced Jenny’s lips as she embraced the bittersweet memory.
As she stood up to stretch her legs, a car she didn’t recognize pulled up, parking along the road with the multitudes of other cars that aligned the street. A man got out of the car, heading toward Jenny on the porch. As he approached he began to look vaguely familiar, but she didn’t think he was family. Not even distant family. She couldn’t figure out where she had seen this man before.
He nodded and smiled cordially at Jenny as he walked up the steps, reaching for the doorbell. Before he pressed the button, he turned back toward Jenny and remarked, “You’re Brad’s sister, aren’t you?”
Jenny smiled, still unable to place the face. “Yes.” She extended her hand. “Jenny Watkins. And you are…?”
“Elijah. Elijah Murphy.” He shook Jenny’s hand. “I was Brad’s roommate in college.”
“That’s right,” Jenny said. “I knew you looked familiar, but I couldn’t figure out from where.”
“Well, it’s been about ten years. And a few pounds. And a little bit of hair…” He rubbed the top of his shaved head.
“It happens to the best of us,” Jenny replied with a polite smile. “It’s nice of you to come out here.”
“Well, I live close by,” he said. “And Brad was like a brother to me, once upon a time. Listen, I’m really sorry to hear about your dad.”
Looking solemnly at her feet, Jenny replied, “Thanks.”
Elijah looked around. “What brings you out here by yourself?”
“The cats,” she explained. “I’m deathly allergic to them, and my grandmother has four.”
Elijah made a face. “Cats? I just might be spending more time out here with you than in there with Brad.”
“You too, huh?”
“It’s getting worse with age. I never used to be allergic. Now I’m finding I can’t be in the same room with a cat.”
“Well, I’ll save a seat for you,” Jenny replied sitting back down on the porch swing, leaving half of it empty. She patted the bench with her hand. “It’s all yours when you need it.”
“It probably won’t be long,” Elijah replied. He gathered his strength, drew a deep breath, and added, “I’m going in.” Soon he disappeared into the house.
As promised, Elijah returned a short time later, his eyes red and teary. “Phew,” he said. “Do you mind if I grab that seat?”
“It’s got your name on it.”
Jenny got a funny feeling as Elijah sat down next to her, but his words distracted her. “So, Jenny, what have you been up to for the past decade?”
“Well,” she began with a half of a smile, “I went to college, got an elementary ed degree, got a teaching job, and got married.”
“Sounds like you’ve been busy.”
“Oh wait. I’m not done.” Jenny let out an embarrassed laugh. “In the past six months, I’ve moved from Kentucky to Georgia, left my husband and quit my teaching job.”
“Oh my.” Elijah didn’t share in the laughter. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Don’t be,” she remarked. “The last six months have been the best of my life...until now, of course.” As she spoke, the funny feeling returned with a vengeance, taking Jenny by storm. She placed her head in her hand, unable to say anything else.
“I’m sorry,” Elijah said uncomfortably. “I guess I shouldn’t be asking how you’re doing at a time like this.”
“No,” Jenny muttered, “that isn’t it.” A female voice echoed in her brain, seeming nothing short of frantic.
“Are you okay?” Elijah asked.
Jenny nodded with her head in still in her hand. “I have to ask you, though,” she began. “Do you happen to know anyone named Lena?”
Chapter 2
The expression on Elijah’s face reflected his shock. “Lena Christova?”
Jenny shrugged. “Maybe. Does that name mean anything to you?”
“Yeah,” he replied, still dumbfounded. “She was a Russian girl who went to my high school.” He swallowed, leaning forward, placing his elbows on his knees. “She was murdered half way through our senior year.”
Suddenly things made sense to Jenny, but Elijah only seemed more confused.
“How do you know about her?” he posed.
Jenny swallowed, realizing she was about to disclose something to her brother’s friend when she hadn’t even told her own family. “I hear her name,” Jenny whispered softly. “Inside my head.”
Elijah didn’t answer.
“I have a gift,” she went on. “I-I-I can hear messages. From the deceased.” Jenny looked at him out of the corner of her eye, trying to gauge a reaction. There wasn’t one. “And right now she’s screaming her name. All I can hear is Lena, Lena, Lena over and over again. She’s positively desperate to communicate.”
“Wow,” Elijah remarked. “That’s…incredible.”
“Were you friends with her?” Jenny asked.
“Not really. Nobody was, to tell you the truth. She pretty much kept to herself from the moment she moved here sophomore year.”
Jenny found it odd that Lena was reaching out to Elijah so anxiously if they hadn’t been close. “Was her murder ever solved?”
Elijah shook his head. “Nope. To this day we have no idea who did it.”
“That explains it,” Jenny reasoned. “She wants justice.” Realizing that Elijah knew far less about this than she did, she elaborated. “If spirits are at peace they cross over. If they have an unresolved issue of some kind, they linger, just waiting for someone like me who can hear them.”
“Is she saying anything else?”
“A ton,” Jenny replied. “And she’s speaking a mile a minute. The problem is it’s not in English, and I have no idea what she’s saying. All I know is I feel panic. Urgency. She really wants you to know something.”
“I bet she does,” Elijah remarked. “I’m a homicide detective.” He looked Jenny square in the eye. “And I inherited her case last year.”
At that moment Isabelle walked out the front door onto the porch. “Oh there you are,” she said to Jenny. “I wondered where you’d gone.” Picking up on the intensity of the moment she’d just interrupted, Isabelle straightened her posture and pursed her lips disapprovingly. She held out Jenny’s cell phone. “This has been beeping like crazy in there. It says you’ve missed a call from a fellow named Zack.”
Jenny stifled a smile as she took the phone. “Thanks, ma.”
“Well,” Isabelle said as she glanced back and forth between Elijah and Jenny. “I guess I’ll let you two get back to…whatever it was you were doing.” She spun back around and headed into the house.
Jenny rolled her eyes. “Sorry,” she said with a giggle. “My mother isn’t exactly the most subtle person in the world.”
“I see that,” Elijah said. “I thought she was going to tell you that you were grounded for talking to me.”
“It’s my fault,” Jenny explained. “I haven’t told her about any of the new developments in my life. She expected me to show up here with my husband Greg. We actually separated a few weeks ago, and she didn’t even know we were having problems. And Zack,” she held up her phone, “is a business partner in a business she doesn’t know I’m in. But I’ll straighten it all out later. However, I do need to find out what this call is about, if you don’t mind. Don’t go anywhere. I’m not done talking about Lena.”
Elijah sneezed into the crook of his arm. “I’ll be right here.”
Jenny walked to the other side of the porch and played Zack’s voicemail. Hey Jenny. I just checked out the house, and it seemed great. There were
a couple of stains in the carpet and a few missing shingles, but other than that it was in really good shape. I just wanted to double check with you and make sure you’re okay with me putting a bid in without you looking at it first. Give me a call when you get a chance. Oh…I hope you’re doing okay up there. Um…bye.
Jenny giggled at his awkwardness. Given her eagerness to talk more with Elijah, she sent Zack a quick text assuring him she trusted his opinion. She walked back over to the porch swing, where her empty seat was still waiting for her.
“So tell me about what happened to Lena,” she said.
Elijah let out a sigh. “There was a party our senior year. It was hosted by my best friend, actually, when his parents went away for the weekend. Half the graduating class was there, including Lena. Her presence surprised everybody because she had never really associated with anyone before. Not only that, but I can honestly say she was one of the most beautiful girls I’ve ever seen. Every guy in the school was in love with her, even if it was just from afar.
“The thing was, she showed up at the party alone, and no one saw her leave. No one knows who she left with, or when she left…all we know is that she didn’t make it home. She was found dead on the side of the road the next morning. She’d been shot. There was no sign of sexual assault or any injuries other than that single gunshot.” He shook his head. “It was such a shame.”
“Do they have any suspects?”
He grunted. “Only everyone at the party.”
“Including you?” Jenny asked.
“No. I wasn’t there.”
“I thought it was your best friend who threw the party.”
“It was,” Elijah confessed. “But I had the flu that night. I was home with a hundred and three degree fever.”
“Well that was a blessing in disguise,” Jenny noted.
“Yes and no. I mean, it takes me off the suspect list, but I can’t help but wish I had gone. I would like to have seen who was there and how they were acting. I feel like being there would help me with my investigation. As it stands I have to rely on the testimony of a bunch of drunken high school seniors, and I guess I don’t have to tell you that’s not exactly reliable.”
“But wouldn’t you have also been one of those drunken high school seniors if you have been there?”
“Most likely,” Elijah admitted. “But maybe I could have seen something that would have been a game changer.”
“Well,” Jenny said in an optimistic tone. “Maybe I’ll see something that’s a game changer.”
Elijah only looked at her.
“In addition to voices, I’ve also been known to have a vision or two. So far, with the help of my visions, I’ve got seven solved murders under my belt.” Jenny made a face. “Although, it was only two killers.”
“That’s still pretty impressive,” Elijah noted. “Seriously, I would love it if you could solve her case. This thing has haunted me since I was eighteen years old. It’s the reason I went into criminal justice, you know. I wanted her killer found and punished like the animal he is.”
Jenny heard the front door start to open. She quickly turned to Elijah and whispered through clenched teeth, “My family doesn’t know.” Brad emerged a second later.
“Mom told me I’d find you two out here. Why so antisocial?”
“This is the cat allergy club,” Elijah stated. “But if you’re lucky we’ll let you hang out with us for a while.”
“Oh yeah,” Brad said to Jenny. “I forgot about your allergies.” He shook his head. “I swear you have always been the oddball of the family. You are the only artist, the only one with allergies. I think you got switched at birth.”
Jenny just raised her eyebrows and smiled. Perhaps her biological father had allergies.
“And you,” Brad continued, turning to Elijah, punching him in the arm. “You’re just weak.”
“I’m not weak; I’m sensitive,” Elijah countered. “It bodes well with the ladies.”
Jenny playfully rolled her eyes.
“Except for maybe Amanda,” Elijah continued. “It certainly didn’t inspire her to stick around.”
“Well, that was her loss,” Brad assured him. “We all know that. So how old is Samantha now?”
“Five.”
“Five. Holy shit. Time flies, huh?” Brad noted before adding, “Dude, I hope she doesn’t look like you.”
Jenny furrowed her brow and shook her head. Men were so simple. And odd.
“No,” Elijah noted. “She got her mother’s looks and my personality, so it’s the best of both worlds.”
“Well,” Jenny began, “I should let you two catch up. I’m freezing anyway. I’ll see if I can hack another round in dander world.”
“Hey,” Elijah remarked, “I’ll come find you before I leave. We can exchange numbers or something.”
Jenny shifted her glance to Brad, who looked dumbfounded. With a wordless nod she headed into the house, but not before hearing Brad remark, “Dude, that’s my sister.”
“Mom,” Jenny said as they took their seats at the restaurant. “Are you sure you want to be here?”
“Of course I do.”
“But the whole family was having dinner together.”
“I know,” Isabelle said, “but I need a break from them. I mean, it’s great to have the family together, but it’s a little overwhelming. Every time I’d get my mind off things, someone else would come over and hug me and tell me how sorry they are. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the kindness, but I can’t keep focusing on how sad I am. Although.” She looked sympathetically at Jenny, “I guess this isn’t going to be the most pleasant dinner conversation either, is it?”
“I’m doing okay, ma. Really.”
“So what’s happening between you and Greg?”
Jenny didn’t even know where to begin. With a sigh, she said, “You know how Greg and I bought that old house with the intent to restore it?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, when we moved in there, I started hearing voices.”
Isabelle lowered her eyebrows.
“Not schizophrenic-type voices,” Jenny replied. Softening her tone, she added, “Spirit voices.” She looked at her mother who, like most people, said nothing upon hearing the news. “It turns out I have a gift. I can receive messages from the dead.”
“Is this some kind of a joke?”
“No. It really isn’t. I swear it’s true. The voice I was hearing belonged to a man named Steve O’dell, who had been murdered sixty years earlier. He led me to his killer.”
Isabelle continued to look concerned. “Honey, are you feeling alright?”
Jenny laughed. “Ma, I’m fine.” At that point the waitress came by and took their drink orders.
Once the waitress left, Isabelle said, “You know, they’ve made some wonderful advances in the pharmaceutical field. I’m sure with the right medication …”
Jenny grabbed her mother’s hand to silence her. She hadn’t planned on bringing up the topic until later, but it seemed now was the time. “I’m not crazy. And in fact…I can prove it.”
Isabelle leaned back in her seat.
“Last night,” Jenny began delicately, “in the hotel. Dad contacted me.”
“Are you sure that wasn’t just a dream?” Isabelle asked.
“Well, you’re going to have to tell me.” Jenny gathered up her courage; she felt as if she was having an out of body experience. “I saw you and Dad sitting at the kitchen table at the house. You were having a pretty serious discussion.” The words were even harder to say than Jenny had imagined. “You were talking about what you should do…about your pregnancy. With me.”
Isabelle’s posture stiffened.
Despite her efforts to prevent them, tears pooled in Jenny’s eyes as she said, “I know I wasn’t Dad’s.”
Speechless, Isabelle covered her mouth with her hand.
“I’m not mad, mom. I promise,” Jenny continued. “I’d just like to know a little more about it,
that’s all.”
The waitress returned with their drinks, asking if they were ready to order. Jenny politely sent her away.
“Oh my God,” Isabelle whispered. “This is insane.”
“I know, right?” Jenny said cheerfully, wiping the tears from her eyes as she tried to lighten the mood. “Your daughter’s a psychic.”
Isabelle started to say three different sentences, only to have nothing more than a little sound come out each time.
“I’ll tell you what, mom. I’ll keep going with my story, now that you believe me, and we’ll get back to you later. Is that okay?”
Isabelle nodded her approval.
“Okay, so I started hearing Steve O’dell’s voice in the house, and I wanted to pursue it. I knew Steve was trying to tell me something, and I was dying to figure out what. I didn’t have a whole lot of time to do it, either.” Jenny took a sip of her water. “Do you know who Elanor Whitby is?”
Isabelle shook her head. “No,” she said, still somewhat dazed. “I don’t think I do.”
“She was the founder of Choices magazine. She actually grew up in the house Greg and I bought. It was her boyfriend who had been killed, but she didn’t know that he was dead. All she knew was that he disappeared one day. I wanted to be able to provide Elanor with some answers before she passed away. She was very close to death when I met her, so I knew I needed to work quickly. I devoted a lot of time to solving that case.” Jenny looked down at her lap. “I will admit I spent less time on the renovation than perhaps I should have, but Greg was disproportionally furious about that. He gave me a very hard time about pursuing the investigation, even though it meant the world to me.”
“Is that what caused the problems between the two of you?” Isabelle seemed to be coming around.
“Actually, no,” Jenny replied. “I have since learned the problems between me and Greg had been there from the start. This just called attention to the problems.”
The waitress returned, and the women agreed to just split a pizza.
“So what problems do you think were there from the beginning?”
Jenny sighed. “The relationship had just always been about him, that’s all.” Jenny cited multiple examples of the inequity in their relationship, some as early as the first few months they were together. With each story Isabelle seemed to be more understanding of Jenny’s plight.
