The Return (Haunted Series Book 21)

by Alexie Aaron

  Murphy tapped his axe in agreement.

  Varden reached up to Lazar.

  “He’s had enough of me, evidently,” Mia said. “I don’t blame him. Go and play with the boys.”

  “Varden’s not ready for poetry, I fear,” Lazar said. “Although, I suspect if I were to read some Homer…”

  “Iliad,” Mike said. “Varden will love it.”

  “If you two give him nightmares, you’ll have to answer to me,” Mia said, getting up. “I think we better return to the meeting. I’m already on the soon-to-be-replaced list by Burt. I don’t want to make it to the top.”

  “He’d never replace you,” Mike argued.

  “Oh, don’t be too sure,” Mia said, leaving the room.

  Murphy stayed and put the poetry book back on the desk. He smoothed the comforter on Dieter’s bed. A teenage boy didn’t need to know his mother had entertained men in his room while he was gone. Even if it was just poetry.

  ~

  Don Braverman pulled into the driveway. “Looks like the culvert is blocked up again. I’ll see to it this weekend.”

  Susan looked down at the water that had settled in the ditch and shrugged. “It doesn’t look too bad, unless rain is forecast.”

  “Not that I know of, but my head’s been elsewhere. There’s a sale at Cranes Appliance Store. You could have that refrigerator you’ve been eyeing.”

  “The one with the freezer in a drawer at the bottom?”

  “Yes.”

  “The dual icemakers?”

  “Yes.”

  “Can we afford that?” Susan asked, adding up her monthly bills, and the hospital deductible she would have to pay, in her head.

  “Like I said, a sale.”

  Susan looked over at Don and smiled. He was a man of few words, but she liked the ones he chose to use. He had managed to make a living for his family by commuting into Chicago five days a week. Don had lost his job when the tractor company relocated overseas. It looked like they would have to move from Big Bear Lake, but he managed to find a job closer to the city than the quiet town. “Let me try commuting,” he had said. “I’m not promising anything, but I really don’t see us moving.” The commute added two hours to his eight-hour day, but Don just took it on like he did everything else, with as few words as possible.

  Susan was surprised to see how neat and tidy her kitchen was. She started to thank Don, but he shook his head.

  “Deputy Chambers took care of it.”

  “Well, I owe that boy a homecooked meal,” Susan said, perusing the pantry for ideas.

  “No,” Don said, directing Susan to a chair. “You heard the doctor. You’re to rest for a few days.”

  “I can’t, Mia…”

  “Mia has already made arrangements. The younger boys are going to spend time with Ted’s parents if they have an investigation. As far as she can tell, anything PEEPs is doing in the next few weeks should keep her pretty close to home.”

  “I can’t just sit around the house, Don. I’ll go stark raving mad,” Susan complained.

  “Tell you what... I’ll take a few days off, and we’ll work on that basement together. Give it a once-over. Or the yard, it could use a smarting after this last winter…”

  “The two of us working together? You’ll go mad before I will,” Susan said. “Stay home with me today, and then I’ll release you to into the wild.”

  Don laughed. “Alright. How about we catch up on the shows Tom taped for you?”

  “Deal.”

  “First, a nap,” Don insisted. “You couldn’t have gotten adequate sleep in the hospital.”

  Susan yawned to prove Don’s point. “I surrender. To bed I go.”

  Don tucked in his wife before he changed his clothes to head outside to do something about that blocked culvert.

  The lapping noise of a piece of litter hitting the inside of the culvert was driving Cindy insane. It wasn’t rhythmic enough for her to practice her cheers. “Defense, defense… De… Oh I give up!” she said and tried to move away from her tether. She could only get a few feet, which still left her in the darkness of the clogged pipe. The trophy had been dragged into the darkness by last night’s rainstorm. Unfortunately, once the large onslaught of water had subsided, the weight of it made it settle, base down, midway under the Braverman’s driveway. She tried to move upward, but the rusted pipe just bounced her back hard.

  During times like these, most ghosts would contemplate the events that had made them ghosts in the first place, but Cindy’s mind didn’t work that way. She saw the culvert as just another obstacle keeping her from the fame of being the only cheerleader to survive a four-level indoor pyramid. The realization that she should not have raised her arms where they accidently connected to the gym lights, she had to deal with. But fortunately for the rest of the squad, her two holders let go when they heard the first crack of the glass. Unfortunately for Cindy, it caused her to hang from the fixture as it roasted her in front of a horrified crowd.

  Lesson one, study geometry so you can figure out the height of various gym ceilings. The junior college only had one story of bleachers, so the ceiling was only regulation height to play basketball safely.

  Lesson two, don’t let two skittish prom court princesses lift you to the fourth level.

  Lesson three…

  This is where Cindy’s ADD kicked in; she started to stretch for her split in the next routine.

  Cindy had been rather old for the college squad. But since the junior college had no rules about the age of its students, there wasn’t an age clause for the squad, only an ability one. No one could find fault with Cindy’s abilities. Why a woman pushing forty would want to be on a cheer squad was beyond the understanding of most of the other participants. Cindy didn’t look forty unless she was standing right in front of you, according to the two males of the squad. She was fit without being too heavy which made her a perfect person to be a third-level lift. The forth level was just plain arrogance on her and their part.

  Don managed to drag out most of the debris from both sides of the culvert. He lacked the right tool to get to the clog in the middle. Maybe the Martins had something he could use. Tom mentioned that Ted had many gadgets hanging around in that large barn. Surely something could be adapted. He pulled out his phone and called.

  “Martin Farm, Mia speaking.”

  “Hello, Mia, this is Don Braverman.”

  “Is everything okay? How is Susan?” Mia asked.

  “She’s tired but fine. The reason I’m calling is…” He proceeded to tell her of the clogged culvert.

  “How about a telescoping tree trimmer?” she asked. “With a duct-taped hand cultivator on the end of it, or maybe a mechanical hand Ted could rig up.”

  “Sounds good.”

  “I could drop it by. I’m heading over to pick up some cleaning from town.”

  “I’d really appreciate it. I’m supposed to be watching Susan.”

  “It’s no problem. I’ll see you in thirty minutes,” she said and hung up.

  Don pocketed his phone. He started raking the leaves and trash out of the ditch. In this day and age, to see so much litter saddened him. When he and Susan were kids, this town was pristine. People took pride in their lawns, and you wouldn’t see anything that wasn’t biological on the side of the road. Roadkill, yes, fast-food wrappers, no.

  Chapter Nine

  Mia dropped off the makeshift culvert clearer to Don and continued on to the lake. She drove slowly by her peninsula, tempted to stop and explain herself to Burt. But part of her wasn’t in the mood for a confrontation. Also, she didn’t have all the facts yet. Mia turned around and drove south around the lake to where the rich had their summer homes.

  Big Bear Lake was fed by several natural springs. Its water came from deep below the surface. The water tended to be a bit colder than other lakes in the area, but that had more to do with how deep it was at the center. Mia’s high school science teacher told the students to think of an upside-down
Stetson hat to describe the topography of the lake. The edges were shallow enough to swim on the sandy side and, on the rocky side, fish, but the center was deep and cold. It was named Big Bear Lake more for the bears who had inhabited the region when the lake was named than the shape. Mia’s peninsula was formed by shifting rocks and the gradual deposit of soil over many hundreds of years.

  The large summer homes were built on the sandy eastern side of the lake. The homeowners loved the sunsets and the privacy the mass of blue water gave them. As a youth, Mia had never been invited into one of these homes. The first time was when Wyatt Wayne, also known as Altair, asked her and Orion in. His old but stately home was bought by the Leightons - who made a killing by selling their inherited property near Wolf’s Head Lake - and renovated into a facility for returning veterans who needed more time adjusting to their prosthetics and for those who were locked-in like Mark’s father was.

  The next home Mia had visited was her grandfather’s home. Orion had bought a smaller mansion and was still working on it to make it a comfortable home for Audrey and their baby, Luke.

  Mia hadn’t been any further down the private road than the old Wayne mansion. She noticed that the next properties were fenced in by large trimmed hedges. She saw a recent break in an arborvitae hedge and a rough dirt track leading to the lake. A clever little sign was jammed in the ground. Mia read, “Rock Bottom.” She fought the urge to laugh at Ethan Aldridge’s ironic wit but gave in. She turned her truck and navigated the track to a quaint one-story cottage.

  Ethan heard the approach of a truck. He turned around from fiddling with the jeep’s engine to see Mia approach. Ethan fought the tears that wanted to fill his eyes. He hadn’t realized how lonely he was until this moment. He wiped his hands and walked quickly to the truck, opening the door and scooping up the startled woman.

  Mia’s instinct was to fight him, but the overwhelming emotions that flowed from this abandoned child quieted her, and she let him hang on to her and cry. When his sobs had subsided, she gently untangled herself and took his hand.

  “Ethan, I’ve been there. Please let me show you,” she said, putting her hand on his forehead. Mia played every difficult memory of her teen years for the boy. She let him into her vulnerable heart, and finally, she let him see how opening herself up to the PEEPs had saved her.

  This rush of sharing her life had weakened Mia, and she sat down in the muddy drive. Ethan sat down beside her, and the two held on to the other until the waves of emotions abated and a breeze cooled the heat caused by the hated memories.

  “I think,” Ethan started, “that I thought only I had this grief to bear. I would have never accepted that anyone else could have been brought so low. I’m stunned that you would do this for me, Mrs. Martin. I do not take lightly what it cost you to open yourself up to me.”

  Mia looked sideways at Ethan. “I honestly had no intention of ever doing that again. Sometimes my impulses kick me in the ass.”

  Ethan laughed. “Your candor is refreshing. Come on, let me get you something to drink. Sorry, the best I have are soft drinks.”

  “Anything with caffeine will be fine. I’m exhausted.”

  “Got just the thing,” he said, leading her to the cottage.

  Mia stopped, smacked off some of the dried mud on her bottom, and took off her boots at the door and left them to dry on the porch.

  “You don’t have to do that. This place hasn’t seen a broom in some time,” he explained.

  “I’m trying to develop better habits,” Mia said as she walked into what was a guest house of the mansion next door. She looked at the large stone fireplace that dominated the north wall and sighed. “That’s beautiful.”

  Ethan walked out of the kitchen and handed her a Monster Energy drink.

  Mia looked at it first before she took a drink. “Whoa. K. I think I’ll have to get some of these for my over-caffeinated husband.”

  “Ted doesn’t seem jittery, Mrs. Martin.”

  “It’s amazing considering his brain runs on sugar and caffeine. Ethan, drop the Mrs. Martin. Mia is much simpler.”

  “I didn’t want to presume,” he said, flopping down on the couch.

  Mia worried about the amount of dirt she still had on her behind, so she sat on the floor.

  This caused Ethan to laugh. “You can sit up here with me. I’m not trying to seduce you, Mrs. Robinson.”

  “Oh, grow up,” Mia said, visibly embarrassed. “I’m filthy. I was thinking more of your furniture than… Well, am I doing something I shouldn’t?” she asked aloud.

  Ethan hunched his shoulders. “I was pretty surprised to see you show up here.”

  The realization came over Mia quickly. “I came to ask you why you changed your mind about returning to Sentinel Woods.”

  “I was talking to Mark. He was talking about facing his fears about never being able to hold a normal conversation with his Dad. Then I started thinking of my own fears. I see her in my sleep, Mia. Those glowing eyes and pointed teeth… I was supposed to die in there.”

  “It was your sharp wits that determined that water is her Achilles heel. You saved yourself.”

  “Yeah, sure, I was so smart that I ran into quicksand. Tom saved me.”

  “I heard that you saved Tom.”

  “Not before he saved me,” Ethan corrected. “He knew he was dying, but he kept going to get me to safety. It’s that kind of dedication that I’d like to understand and maybe develop. Mia, I was raised by nannies. I’m not fit to be anything, let alone a responsible person.”

  “Going back into those woods isn’t going to change anything,” Mia warned.

  “I know those woods, and I can guide your group safely. I can be of help,” Ethan insisted.

  “You’re going to revisit the horrors of what happened to Jason and Keith. It wasn’t pretty. If their spirits are still there, they won’t be pretty. I’m not sure it’s worth it. Burt is mad at me because I spoke up with my concerns. I can’t help but think someone is going to get killed. Murphy can’t help us there, Ethan. That thing, she sucks energy from ghosts. I can’t in good conscience allow him to participate.”

  “I didn’t think you could control Murphy.”

  “Oh, I can’t. He has his own mind. Stubborn asshole. He’ll go because he thinks he can protect me. Like you’ll go because you think you can guide us safely. What is it with you honorable effing idiots!” Mia pounded the floor hard. A level of dust rose off of the Indian rug.

  “I’m not sure what surprises me more, your language or you calling me honorable,” Ethan said. “All I know is that I left two friends in those woods. Yes, they were horrible people, but they were my friends. I need to make sure they aren’t still there.”

  “K. We’ll go in then. But I’m going to bitch the entire time we’re in there, so get used to the language, baby boy.”

  “I’ll do my best to suppress my disgust,” Ethan said. “Hey, do you know anything about engines?”

  “Some.”

  “I can jump the jeep to get it started, but it won’t hold the charge.”

  “Did you get a new battery?” Mia questioned.

  “Yes.”

  “Then it may be your alternator. What year is the jeep?”

  “Don’t know. It’s been the caretaker’s second vehicle. I found it in the garage here and claimed it.”

  Mia got up. “Let’s go and take a look. I’m betting it’s the alternator…”

  Ethan followed Mia out of the house. He helped balance her as she jammed her feet into her boots.

  “I’ve got a toolbox in the truck. Could you get it for me? Oh, it’s not the box with the rosary wrapped around it. It’s the other box,” she specified.

  Ethan hopped up in the bed of the truck and opened the back. Half the contents were what he imagined were ghost-hunting gadgets, and the other half were ordinary tools. “You lead an interesting life, Mia.”

  “Stop jawing, I think I see the problem,” Mia said, her back to Ethan. “It
’s not the alternator but the serpentine belt. I think a trip to the auto shop is on the agenda. By the way, this is a 2004 Jeep Wrangler.”

  “Imagine that. Is it going to cost me?”

  “Not more than twenty-five dollars. I’m going to stop at a friend’s and borrow a tool that will come in handy when we reinstall the belt.”

  “I’ll go and get changed.”

  “Um, why?”

  “I’m a mess,” Ethan said.

  “Listen, princess, wash your hands. You look fine. You’re fixing your car, not attending prom.”

  Ethan turned red.

  Mia almost felt sorry for him, but she needed to toughen this kid up. “The auto store guys expect us to be filthy.”

  “I’ll lock up and grab my wallet.”

  “I’ll be waiting,” Mia said. She pulled out her phone. “Ted, I’m going to be out for a while. Ethan and I are going to play The Graduate.”

  “No, you’re not. You didn’t shave your legs,” Ted observed.

  “Actually, I’m going to teach him how to change the belt in his jeep.”

  “I’m jealous. You never play mechanic and helpless nerd with me anymore,” Ted teased.

  “You’re giving me ideas, Teddy Bear.”

  “Keep them. I’m going to go look for my pencil protector for later.”

  “You do that.”

  Cid looked over at Ted and shook his head. “The level of innuendo has increased. I’m impressed.”

  “Genius is the ability to up one’s game. Speaking of genius, what are you working on?” Ted asked, looking over Cid’s shoulder.

  “It’s a portable seismic-activity device. I’ve taken the Rem-Pod and backed off the sensitivity to read deep-ground activities. This will give us advance warning before the ground falls in on us.”

  “Clever.”

  “What have you been working on?”

  “A Murphy shield,” Ted said, holding up what looked to Cid to be layered Plexiglas. “See this honeycomb of wires? This is iron. It should make it hard for the creature to suck Murphy’s energy away. It will work as long as it gets between him and her. I’m thinking Mia should work with our axeman and teach him how to use a shield.”