Office Heretics (A Coffee & Crime Mystery Book 2)

by Nan Sampson

  The pressure on her wrist increased until it was painful.

  And then, as quickly as it had happened, it was gone. From behind her, Ellie heard Kate ask, "Ellie? Are you okay? Who are you talking to, hon?"

  Ellie spun, found Charlie and Kate staring at her, looking concerned. She rolled her eyes, inwardly cursing Lacey. "Fine. Just fine. Can we go home now?"

  Charlie raised his eyebrows at her then shrugged. "Yup. Car's that way, though." He pointed behind him. "You need us to stop at Starbucks on the way out of town?"

  Ellie scowled at him. "I only had one beer, McCallum. I'm fine."

  "That's why you were talking to yourself and staggering down the sidewalk?"

  She started to walk in the appropriate direction, brushing past Charlie, deliberately bumping him aside as she did so. "I'm fine. Let's go."

  Not waiting to see if they followed her, she headed towards the parking garage with a pace even six foot two Charlie might have trouble keeping up with.

  Chapter 10

  Ellie and Kate sat across from one another at the kitchen table at Chez McCallum, steaming cups of coffee in front of them. It had been nearly nine o’clock before they’d gotten home and Ellie could tell Kate was tired. Hell, she wasn’t any fresher, and having had to spend all that time in the city had worn Ellie’s nerves to a frazzle.

  “I can’t believe it,” Kate muttered over the rim of her cup. "None of those people there had anything nice to say about her."

  Ellie sat across from her, nursing her own cup. Charlie, thankfully, had disappeared to the basement. "Hardly surprising." Ellie was too wrung out to cushion her words. "Lacey was always manipulative and ambitious."

  Kate pursed her lips and gave Ellie her disappointed mom look. "I don't know why you always say that about Lacey. I didn't find her manipulative at all."

  Ellie's temper flared. "Always with the rose-colored glasses. Jesus, Kate, open your eyes once in a while. She spent four years pushing us around, arranging our lives to satisfy whatever it was she wanted. Remember how we wanted to wear simple white robes for our circles and she insisted on black and stopped eating for a week until we agreed? Or the time we were going to head up to Circle Sanctuary for Samhain but she didn't want to camp in a tent so she rented that RV? She complained for weeks afterward about how much it cost until you and I felt so guilty we practically emptied our bank accounts to pay her back? Or when we wanted to go see The Foo Fighters and Lacey didn't want to go, so she only pretended to buy the tickets, then at the last minute told us she hadn't been able to get them for us?" Ellie wound down, but her face was hot and her temples throbbed. "Any of that ring a bell?"

  Kate stared at her silently for a long moment. "Those are spiteful things to say. I'll admit, some of that was aggravating. But there were reasons she did what she did, good reasons. Lacey had troubles with crowds and the heat. You probably didn't know that, you never took the time to really understand her."

  "I what? I never took the time?" She stood abruptly, nearly knocking the kitchen chair over. "Since when did you start hanging around with her and inviting her over for Christmas dinner?"

  Kate stood too. Ellie had never seen her best friend's face that red. "Since you dropped her like a hot potato senior year. She was devastated when you cut ties with her, Ellie. She loved you."

  Ellie thought about a handful of moments, the obsidian tarot card box event, a disastrous weekend trip to the Dells, a particular night on a cruise they had taken the summer of sophomore year. "The only one Lacey loved was Lacey. The rest of us were just means to an end."

  Kate gaped. "I can't believe you said that. I don't believe you mean it."

  Ellie knew she should back down, but anger and resentment bubbled up in her like poison. "You have no idea what she was capable of, Kate. How dangerous she was. How toxic she was."

  She watched Kate's hand clench into fists. Just as Kate opened her mouth to respond, Charlie walked into the kitchen.

  "Hey ladies, what's up? Since none of us got dinner, I thought..." His voice trailed off as he looked back and forth between them.

  Kate pushed past him then ran up the stairs. A moment later, they both heard a door slam upstairs.

  Charlie looked at the stairs, then leveled a fierce gaze on Ellie. "What on earth did you do to her?"

  Ellie scowled at him and pushed past him as well. "I just told her the truth for a change." Racing up the stairs, she bolted into the guest room and slammed her own door. Somehow it didn't make her feel as good as she thought it would.

  Chapter 11

  Even though it was late, Ellie didn't feel like sleeping. Once up in the little room with the sunshine colored walls, she set out her portable altar, cast a circle of protection and sat for over an hour in the middle, trying to ground and center and talk to the Goddess. It took her longer than usual to slide into a meditative state. Her thoughts were scattered, jumping from one thing to another. She had just about decided to give up when she heard a loud thunk.

  Her eyes flew open. The ladder back chair in front of the little antique secretary lay on its side on the floor. Now how had that happened? She glanced around, saw nothing, but as she stood slowly, she felt the hair on her arms stand on end. There was energy in the room.

  She put out a hand, felt something pushing at the bubble of protective energy she'd created when she'd cast her circle. Something dark and angry.

  The light on the dresser flickered then went out.

  Ellie pushed imaginary roots from the bottoms of her feet down through the first floor of the house, down through the basement and into the earth beneath, looking to connect to the Goddess. When she felt completely plugged in, she reached out her left hand, her receptive hand, and tried to sense whatever lay beyond her circle of protection. Immediately, she felt anger and pain and an image of Lacey came into her head.

  Ellie almost relaxed her guard, now knowing at least the source of the energy. "Pissed, are you?" she asked the spirit.

  An object came flying at her then skittered around the edge of her circle and slammed into the wall behind the head of the bed with an enormous bang. Ellie was shocked. She'd never met a spirit that had been able to manifest itself enough to affect physical objects. Lacey must be both furious and powerful. That scared Ellie a little - it was no secret to her that Lacey had dabbled in darker forms of magick. Doing her best to keep the fear from her voice, she crossed her arms over her chest. "You don't scare me, Lacey. I'm sorry you're mad, but I only spoke the truth and you know it."

  The lamp on the dresser flickered back on again, just in time for Ellie to see a faint ripple in the air, like a heat wave. There was a sense of pressure on her protective circle and then a sensation in her gut of something snapping or popping. Frigid air suddenly surrounded her and she felt herself being blown back and off her feet. She fell against the end of the bed, caught herself, pulled herself upright with the help of one of the bed's posters. The force of the attack frightened her, but backing down was not an option, ever, with a spirit. "You still don't scare me. If you have something to say, then just say it. Otherwise, I command you to leave. You’re done hurting me and you’re definitely done hurting Kate."

  There was a flash of movement, something she couldn't quite focus on, and a second later the painting of a seaside cottage that hung on the wall by the door suddenly crashed to the floor. The glass over the print shattered, spraying her feet and legs with needle sharp splinters.

  There was a sound out in the hall, and Ellie heard someone say, "What the hell, Gooden?"

  Ellie muttered a curse. "Stay out. And keep Kate out." She had to protect her friend - whether she appreciated being protected or not.

  The door to her room flew open just as the alarm clock from her nightstand flew towards her, nailing her in the shoulder.

  Charlie stood in the doorway, eyes wide. "Jesus wept!"

  An icy gust of air swirled around Ellie and then a vase of flowers from the dresser hurtled towards her, catching her on the s
ide of the head.

  "Damn!" She dropped to one knee, felt warm blood on her fingers. Pulling up energy through the soles of her feet, she envisioned glowing light surrounding her then she extended the bubble of protective light to Charlie. Feeling as protected as she was likely going to be, she turned to face the seething mass of angry energy that raced around the room like a spiritual cyclone. "Get out, Lacey! You don't belong here anymore!"

  An image flashed into her mind, an image of Lacey grappling at her own throat with long fingers, her eyes bulging, her mouth open as though gasping for breath. Was that how Lacey had died? Strangled?

  Ellie faced the energy squarely. "You want me to find out who killed you. Yes, I get that. But being a destructive bitch is not the way to get me to help you. You tried to manipulate me when you were alive, and I stopped playing by your rules. I'll do the same now if you keep this up. If you hurt me, or Kate, or anyone I care about - even him -" and she jerked a thumb in Charlie's direction, "I won't do anything for you. Nothing. In fact, I may even call in a priest to have you exorcised."

  The swirling gusts of chilled air slowed then coalesced into a pulsing cloud in front of her.

  Ellie took a breath. She hadn't been sure that would work, and if it hadn't she wasn't sure what she could have done. She'd never dealt with a spirit with the power to manifest this fully on the physical plane - she was no medium no matter what her Gran O'Neill had said.

  "Lacey, do you know who killed you? Can you tell me?"

  The lamp on the dresser flickered again. There was a pop and the room was plunged into darkness. From somewhere else in the house there was a shout and then a curse and Ellie felt the coldness dissipate. She glanced towards Charlie but couldn't see him - the whole house was now dark. Whatever Lacey had done, she'd managed to blow the circuit breakers.

  "Ellie?" Charlie's voice quavered a bit.

  "Yeah?"

  "You okay?"

  She felt her forehead. "I'll live. You?"

  "Um. What was that?"

  "That was Lacey. Pissed off."

  "Okay." He didn't sound convinced. Or happy.

  There were heavy footsteps in the hall and she heard Dan's voice just as she saw the beam from a flashlight. "You guys okay? Looks like a fuse blew."

  Charlie stepped into Ellie's room. "Yeah, we're good, bro. Need help?"

  She could almost feel Dan shudder. "No. Not at all. You’re a smart kid, Charlie, but last time you tried to help me fix something I had to call in an electrician to the tune of six hundred bucks."

  Charlie chuckled. "Yeah, didn't think so." Katie okay?"

  "She's sound asleep. Can you go if one of the kids wakes up?"

  "Sure."

  Dan moved off. Charlie waited until they heard Dan open the door to the basement, then closed the bedroom door. Ellie could sense his energy - confusion, concern and more than a little anger or frustration. "What the hell, Gooden?"

  Ellie felt her way to the through the darkness, grabbed a couple of tissues from the box on the nightstand and dabbed her bleeding forehead. It was tender and she winced. She was going to have a lovely bruise tomorrow. "I told you. It was Lacey."

  She heard him moving around, felt him sit down next to her on the bed. "No, really. How did you do that?"

  "Do what?"

  "You know. The alarm clock. The vase."

  The lights suddenly came back on, and Ellie blinked at the brightness. Then she looked at Charlie. "I didn't do it. I told you. It was Lacey."

  "Ellie," he began, his voice gentle, "Lacey's dead."

  She rolled her eyes. "Duh, McCallum. Hence the poltergeist tricks."

  He opened his mouth then shut it. She could see him rationalizing, trying to come up with a logical, mundane explanation for what he had seen. Watched him look at the broken alarm clock, the fallen picture frame, the shattered vase, and fail.

  She felt a brief moment of pity. "Don't feel too bad. I've spent more than one evening being visited by spirits, but this was one for the books. I’ve never seen a ghost this powerful, or able to affect the physical world like this. Lacey is really strong. And really pissed off."

  "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe it. I'm still not sure I believe it. The other option is that you set this up. Or you have more witchy mojo than I thought - and frankly that is just as unbelievable. At this point I'm not sure which is worse - the knowledge that ghosts are real or that you are an actual "Charmed" kind of witch." He took the tissue from her hand and dabbed gently at her forehead. "You didn't set it up, did you?"

  She winced then shook her head. "No."

  They fell quiet for a moment as Dan clumped up the stairs and knocked softly on Ellie's door.

  "Come," she said quietly.

  Dan poked his head in, paused for a beat as he saw Charlie sitting next to her on the bed, then said, "You guys okay?"

  She wondered how he didn't see the broken vase or the busted alarm clock, then realized they were both on the far side of the bed from the door. And unless he looked sideways, he wouldn't see the fallen picture either. She gave him a smile. "Fine. Thanks, Dan."

  Dan glanced at his younger brother. "Um, the big bang earlier..." He cleared his throat, looked away. "That was you guys?"

  Ellie made the connection Dan had apparently made and was mortified. The man thought they'd been having sex. Charlie just grinned. "Sorry, bro. We'll try to keep it down."

  Dan just shook his head and with a little wave, closed the bedroom door and went back to his own room. Ellie slugged Charlie hard on the arm. "Keep it down? What the hell, McCallum? Now he thinks we're..."

  "Better he think that than some crazed dead woman is terrorizing his house." He gestured at the mess. "We need to clean this up. After that, you're going to tell me why you think Lacey is so pissed off that she would attack you and why you think Kate is in danger. I thought the three of you were friends."

  Ellie sighed. "Fine. I'll tell you, but we clean first."

  He chuckled again. "I’ll hold you to that. Don't think you'll distract me either." He caught her gaze. "Promise?"

  She frowned. "Damn it, Charlie."

  "Promise."

  "Fine."

  He gave her one of his patented McCallum grins. "A votre service, Mademoiselle."

  She ignored him and went downstairs to fetch a broom, a dustpan and a garbage bag - and hoped she wouldn't wake anyone up in the process.

  Chapter 12

  They sat together on the old, nubby couch in the basement when the cleaning was done. Charlie had his feet up on the coffee table and cradled a mug of cocoa on his chest. Melted marshmallow foam decorated his upper lip and he was grinning at her, daring her to say something.

  Her own cocoa sat untouched on the coffee table. She was too tired, too wrung out to kick back and enjoy it. She sighed and tried to glare at him. "Am I supposed to chastise you for your feet on the table or the marshmallow mustache?"

  He licked his lips. "Whichever floats your boat. But after you've disciplined me," he waggled his eyebrows suggestively, "which, I have to admit might be kind of fun, then it's time you told me the tale you promised me."

  She ignored his overture. She refused to let him bait her this time. "It's not much of a bedtime story."

  "I promise not to be very discerning."

  She shook her head. "And if I reneg?"

  "You won't."

  She glared at him. "You seem awfully sure."

  He slurped more cocoa. "I am. See, you're one of those unusual people with integrity. You made a promise and you'll keep it. Whether you like it or not."

  She sat forward, picked up the mug of cocoa, took a sip and tasted nothing. "You think you know me, McCallum, but you don't. You don't know me, you don't know Lacey... I wonder if you even really know Kate." She felt him tense beside her, but for a wonder he didn't respond. "Oh, hell. I didn't mean that the way it sounded. You know the Kate your brother married. She's matured a lot over the years. She's still sweet and kind and w
onderful, just like she always was, but there was a day when she was vulnerable and gullible too. Lacey took advantage of that, of Kate's willingness to trust and to always see the good in people. Hell, she even took advantage of me - and I've never been a pushover."

  In her mind, she was already back in the past. Not so much a specific time and place, but feeling the helpless, anxious, sick to her stomach kind of way she'd felt a lot back then. Never knowing when Lacey would turn from fun friend to icy, frightening bitch. Or when she'd play the poor, pitiful me card so well that even Ellie felt as though she couldn't say no.

  The words, the memories spilled out of her - all the times Lacey had maneuvered them into doing things her way. All the times she'd slighted Kate without Kate ever realizing it. All the times Ellie had tried to protect Kate from the subtle and sometimes not so subtle ways Lacey had tried to cut Kate out, so Lacey could have Ellie to herself.

  Her hands shook as she spoke. At some point, Charlie took the mug she was clutching, set it on the table then kept one of her hands wrapped in his. It was, to her surprise, oddly comforting. She glanced over at him, found his iceberg blue eyes locked on hers, his expression calm and sincere, not a whiff of disbelief or amusement in it.

  "Then there was the cruise." She had to look away. She had never told anyone about what had happened that night. Maybe it had all been in her imagination. Maybe her ego had grown so huge that she had ascribed sinister motives to Lacey's actions because she somehow secretly wanted Lacey to be in love with her, to want her bad enough that she'd consider doing something so heinous and unforgivable.

  Charlie gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "I can't read your mind, Ellie. Not yet at least. You're going to have to say the words aloud." He gave what she imagined he thought was an encouraging smile. He still had cocoa at the corners of his mouth and it made him look like a clown.

  Without thinking, she wet the thumb of her free hand with her tongue and wiped off the cocoa. His look of surprise and the ridiculousness of the act gave her the emotional break she needed to carry on. She sat back, but didn't remove her hand from his loose grasp. "It was the third night out. I met this guy the first night at dinner, and that night, he asked me to have drinks and go dancing."