Robin lifted an eyebrow. “Gabe was there?”
“Yeah.” She sighed. “He and his son were cleaning all the burned shingles and insulation out of the driveway so I wouldn’t have to walk through it.”
“That was really nice.”
Monica propped her chin in her palm. “He is nice, especially now that he’s not as skeptical about the psychic thing. I can tell it’s still a little weird to him, but he’s dealing with it. And he walked through the house with me and gave me a handkerchief when I was snotty and crying.”
“An honest-to-goodness handkerchief?”
Monica nodded.
“Lumberjack red?”
“Just plain white cotton.”
“Classy.”
“Yeah. His lips look like they kiss well.” She tapped her fingernails against her own lips. “I wanted to kiss him.”
“And you didn’t because…?”
“Ghost arsonist. Innocent girl caught in the middle of messy family history. Emotional overload at my destroyed house.”
Robin nodded. “Fair points. That said—”
“Yes, Robin. Once we catch the ghost arsonist and banish the bad ghost, I will make an effort to kiss Gabe Peralta and test the competent-lips thing.”
Robin shrugged. “I’m just saying it’s kind of for science.”
Monica couldn’t stop her laugh.
She didn’t find any pictures she could be sure were Corbin Sanger, but she did find an old map of Grimmer and a newer hiking guide that mentioned several trails near Carlisle Creek.
Three hours after she got to the library, she headed back to Robin and Mark’s house with a bundle of papers under her arm and a stack of copied photographs. She had no idea if any of it was helpful, but at least the stack of papers made Monica feel like she’d accomplished something.
She walked in just as Mark was opening a bottle of wine. “How did you know?”
He smiled. “Robin called. She and Val are on their way home. Apparently the trip to Bridger was successful.”
“So she got a picture of Corbin Sanger?”
Mark blinked. “Was that what was she was trying for?”
“Yes?” Shit. Had Robin not told Mark about the new creepy ghost? “I mean, it’s just a theory we had.”
Mark looked a little pissed. “Do we need to banish another ghost?”
“Think about it this way—at least this one isn’t in your wife’s family home.”
The knife Mark was using to slice cheese seemed to need a lot more concentration all of a sudden. “You know,” he said, “it’s not that she has this ability. It’s part of who she is now. But she has the biggest heart and she thinks the best of everyone. I worry one of these days she’s going to…” He set down the knife and took a deep breath. “It’s hard caring about someone who always puts other people’s needs first.”
“You wish your wife were more selfish?”
“Maybe.” He picked up the knife again and shook his head. “Maybe a little more self-preservation, you know? Last winter she almost got killed by an Olympic sharpshooter.”
“So did you.”
Mark took a long drink of red wine. “I was looking forward to an active retirement, but I’m not sure I was prepared for this.”
Monica walked over, refilled his glass, and poured one for herself. “What do you think Gil would think about all this?”
He smiled. “I was just thinking about that the other day. He’d be so in. He’d think all this was awesome.”
“Because he was an adrenaline junkie.”
Mark shook his head. “That guy had no fear.”
She sat at the counter and watched Mark slice cheese. “What do you think of Gabe Peralta?”
“Don’t know him well enough.” Mark shrugged. “Seems okay. Sully likes him.”
“Yeah. And Sully doesn’t like that many people.”
“So… that’s worth something.” He glanced up. “You like him?”
“I’m attracted to him. I think I like him.”
“Hmm.”
“Do you think I’m being—?”
“You better not mention Gil.” Mark spoke quietly, glancing up at Monica. “Just don’t.”
Mark and Gil had been friends, close friends, for over twenty years.
He took a deep breath and braced his hands on the counter. “Gil’s gone. And I can’t tell you whether he’d approve of you dating or not. No one thinks about that shit, you know? And honestly, it doesn’t matter. It matters what you want.”
“Would you want Robin…?”
“I guess, if I think about something happening to me, I’d want Robin to find someone again. Someone who made her happy and was good with the kids, you know? I wouldn’t want her to be alone.” He picked up a knife. “Not unless she wanted to be because I’m such a kick-ass husband that no one could compare.”
“I mean, obviously it would be that.” Monica raised her glass and Mark toasted her. “Thanks.”
“For?”
“Wine. Dude wisdom.”
He put a hand over his heart and gave her a small bow. “I do what I can.”
“Now give me cheese.”
He handed over the plate. “Yes, ma’am.”
Monica was reading in bed when her phone rang. She glanced at the old-fashioned clock on the wall. Who was calling her at ten o’clock?
There better not be anything else burning.
“Hello?”
“Hey.” Someone cleared their throat. “This is Gabe.”
“Oh. Sorry, I didn’t recognize the number.”
“I’m calling from the house. We still have a landline because… not important. Do you happen to know if Jake has Logan with him? I know he doesn’t live with you anymore, but I can’t get ahold of Jake, and the number—”
“Logan is with Jake? I thought they were working on the boat tomorrow.”
“I thought so too, but Logan came in earlier tonight and said that Jake was back at Russell House and he needed a hand with something. I didn’t think much of it—I was kind of happy, to be honest. At least he’d be getting out of the house, you know?”
“Okay.”
“But it’s almost ten and he’s not home. And he’s not answering his phone. I don’t know if the reception out at the boathouse is bad.”
“It’s not.” Monica sat up. “Let me try calling Jake. Maybe he doesn’t recognize your number either.”
“Right. Call me back.”
Monica hung up and immediately called Jake. The phone rang four times, then switched to voice mail.
Weird.
She got up and walked out to the hall. She tapped on Robin and Mark’s door, waiting to see if they were still awake.
Robin came to the door, her reading glasses sliding down her nose. “What’s up? You need something?”
“When you were at the hospital earlier, did Jake mention working on the boat tonight?”
Robin frowned. “I don’t think so. He was staying till the end of visiting hours, then heading home. So like… eight o’clock? He might have just gotten home.”
So Jake hadn’t called Logan. So Logan was lying to his dad or Jake had changed his plans about staying with Kara.
“He’s not answering his phone, but Gabe called and supposedly Logan went out to Russell House because Jake called him for something.”
Robin pursed her lips. “Okay, your boys were good kids who told you everything. Mine was not. Is Gabe sure Logan isn’t out with some other friends? He might have just told Gabe he was going to be with Jake because Gabe would be less likely to ask questions.”
Mark opened the door wider. “What’s up?”
Monica was already calling Gabe back. “Gabe can’t find Logan.”
“He’s eighteen? Nineteen?”
“Sixteen.”
“Oh.” Mark’s voice got serious. “And he was hanging out with Jake?”
“He’s been teaching Logan about the boat engine.”
Gabe picked up
on the first ring. “Monica?”
“Jake’s not answering for me either.” She started back toward her room to put her shoes on. “Is there anyone else he might have gone out with?”
“I don’t think so. And I used the Find My Phone feature on his mobile and it shows that he’s at Russell House. But no one is answering.”
“Did you call the front desk?” Andrew, the night manager, should have answered.
“I didn’t. I didn’t want to bother them.”
“I’m getting shoes on. I’ll drive out.”
“I don’t want to ruin your evening because my kid—”
“My kid isn’t answering his phone either,” Monica said. “And I can’t play the Find My Phone card with him anymore. He’s got his own plan.” She waved at Mark and Robin as she walked toward the front door. “I’ll meet you there. I’m sure we’re being overly cautious, but let’s make sure everything is okay.”
“Okay.” He sounded relieved. “I’ll meet you there.”
Not five minutes later, as she was pulling into the driveway to Russell House, her phone started buzzing. It was Andrew. Monica heard the sirens turning off the highway as the words spilled out of his mouth.
“Monica, he’s going to be okay, but someone hit Jake.”
“What?”
“I already called 911. There were all these lights on down here, and one of the guests commented that the boathouse door was open, so I walked down to ask Jake to turn some of the lights off and that’s when I found him and he’s going to be okay. I know he’s going to be okay.”
Monica’s foot hit the pedal. “Andrew, where are you?”
“I’m at the boathouse with Jake. He’s kind of awake but also kind of falling asleep.”
“Keep him awake. Is Logan there?”
“Logan? Chief Peralta’s son?”
“Yes.”
“No.” There was a shuffling sound. “I wonder if that’s whose phone this is. I thought it was weird Jake had two. He doesn’t usually carry two.”
“Logan’s phone is there?” She hit the gravel and swerved a little before she raced across the arching driveway and parked as close to the boathouse as she could. She leaped out of the car and sprinted across the lawn.
“Jake!”
Andrew came to the door and held up a hand. “He’s awake, but he’s still groggy. He says Logan hit him!”
Her mind was racing. What if the next person this ghost possesses is a big burly guy and not a girl who barely comes up to my shoulder?
Gabe had been right. Rosemarie hadn’t gone after another delicate woman. She’d gone after a kid. A big kid who probably had no idea what he was doing or why.
Chapter 26
Jake was sitting up and holding an ice pack to his head by the time Gabe arrived.
Gabe’s eyes were wide and terrified. “Where’s Logan?”
Jake shook his head a little. “Chief, I have no idea what is going on. I got back from Bridger and I saw his truck out front. I thought he was maybe wanting to hang out or wanting some advice. See, there was a girl—”
“Girl’s not important right now, sweetie.” Monica stroked a hand over Jake’s cheek. “Logan was in the boathouse?”
Jake frowned. “Yeah. It was weird. He… What did he have?” Jake’s eyes went wide. “It was a can of lighter fuel. The stuff we use for the firepit. And like a…” He frowned. “I think they were blankets. The blue ones like Kara…” Jake’s face went pale. “Mr. Peralta, is Logan taking any medication right now?”
Gabe was too distracted to answer clearly. “He had lighter fuel? And blankets?”
Jake nodded. “And he was getting on one of the quads.” Jake pointed over his shoulder. “The green-and-orange one. So I came in the door and asked him, ‘Hey dude, what’s up?’ All casual-like, right? No biggie. I thought maybe he wanted to hang out, but I was super tired from being at the hospital all day.”
“Did he say anything?” Gabe took Logan’s phone from Andrew’s hand. “Did he say where he was going?”
“No.”
There was shouting on the driveway and Andrew rose, handing a phone to Monica. “I think those are the EMTs.”
“Drew, dude, I didn’t need an ambulance.”
The night manager’s eyes went wide. “You’re joking, right?”
“You were out cold. Do not complain about an ambulance,” Monica said. “Think, Jake. Did he say anything? Give any hint where he was going?”
“I don’t think…” He frowned, then winced. “Something about two wrongs.” Jake closed his eyes. “‘Sometimes you need two wrongs to make a right.’”
Monica looked at Gabe, whose jaw was clenched. “We’re going to find him.”
His dark eyes turned to hers, filled with bone-chilling panic. “How?”
“I have maps. We have pictures from Kara.” She rose and took his hand. “Let’s get back to Robin and Mark’s house. We need to find that cabin.”
“I’ll call Sully.”
“Wait.” Jake lifted the ice pack from his head. “You guys are leaving?”
The EMTs came rushing into the boathouse and surrounded Jake.
“I’ll call you when we know something,” Monica shouted over the rising noise. “But right now we need to find Logan.”
Both Monica and Gabe walked to Monica’s minivan without a word. Gabe put the phone to his ear.
“Sully, I—” He bit back what he was going to say. “Not right now, man. Logan is gone. He hit Jake Velasquez over the head with something at Russell House, took some lighter fluid and a quad, and now he’s gone.” Gabe’s voice caught. “I’m with Monica. We’re going to Robin and Mark’s house. We’ve got to find him.”
Rosemarie, what are you doing now? Monica tapped Robin’s number. “Robin?”
“What is going on? Is Jake okay? I heard more ambulances heading toward—”
“Rosemarie has Logan.” Was it by her house? Had the ghost found Logan there? He’d been hanging out in the forest by Monica’s house. “You need to call Bethany. We have to find out where that cabin is. I think that’s where she’s taking him. Tell Bethany we know about Corbin. Tell her we know he’s still there.”
“I’ll call her.” Robin’s voice was soft. “Are you coming back here?”
“Yes. I have Gabe with me.”
“I’ll ask Mark to make coffee.”
Gabe was biting his fist, his teeth digging into the flesh so hard Monica thought he might make himself bleed. She reached over and grabbed his hand, taking it in hers.
“We’ll find him.”
She could not even imagine the terror he was feeling. Her son probably had a concussion, but he was alive. He had all his senses. He had control of his own mind.
“You found Kara,” Gabe said. “Can you find him?”
“I can’t just turn it on or off like that.” Monica turned left onto Mark and Robin’s street. “I wish I could, but I can’t.”
“Can you try sleeping?”
“There is no possible way I’d be able to sleep right now. And if I force it, I’ll get nothing. Our best bet is Robin talking to Bethany and maybe Val reading Logan’s phone.”
Gabe nodded, keeping the phone clutched in his hand. Then he thought better of it and dropped it in the center console. “Evidence.”
“Yeah. Kind of.” She squeezed his hand. “But remember, he hasn’t done anything yet. He’s in danger, but it took months for Rosemarie to control Kara enough that she lit a fire. We are going to find Logan before he lights a fire.”
Gabe nodded, but he didn’t say anything. He didn’t say a single blessed thing until they reached Mark and Robin’s house.
Monica came to a rolling stop and Gabe was out. He plucked the phone from the console and held it with two fingers while he charged toward Mark and Robin’s front porch.
“Hold on, cowboy,” Monica muttered, but she couldn’t blame him. She parked the van at the bottom of the hill and climbed up the walk to the front door.
> Mark was opening it, and Gabe was inside.
“Hey.” Mark held out his arm and squeezed Monica with a one-armed hug. “You girls will find him. Sully is on his way with Val.”
“Okay. I got some maps from the library today. Did Robin—?”
“Already found them. They’re in the kitchen along with some survey maps I found online and printed out.”
“Has Robin tried calling Bethany?”
He nodded toward the back porch. “Why don’t you go out with her and I’ll spread everything out on the dining room table?”
“Sounds good.” Monica walked through the house and out the french doors to the back porch where Robin was sketching silently with her eyes closed.
Four fat white candles were burning at the corners of the table, and Monica saw sprigs of lavender sprinkled around.
“Lavender’s blue, dilly dilly,” Robin sang. “Lavender’s green.”
“When I am king, dilly dilly,
You shall be queen.”
Robin sang the familiar lyrics that Monica also knew, not the more disturbing version she’d heard Rosemarie singing in her dreams.
“Who told you so, dilly dilly,
Who told you so?
’Twas my own heart, dilly dilly,
That told me so.”
Monica felt something in the air shift, and the candle flames rose for a second before they settled down.
Robin raised her head, looked to the corner of the porch, and smiled. “Hi, Bethany.”
Where is your batshit-angry sister, little girl?
“I know you like that song. Your sister sang it to you, didn’t she? Rosemarie sang it to you.”
It was always weird watching Robin have a conversation with a ghost.
She nodded. “The words I know are a little different.”
Monica didn’t want to wait, but she knew the child ghost was already shy.
“I think you know the reason I called you.” Robin set her sketchpad to the side. “We found our friend, the one that Rosemarie had visited. She’s okay, but now there’s a boy missing. He would be around Rosemarie’s age. He’s sixteen and his father is very frightened. No one knows where he is, but we think Rosemarie might have told him to go somewhere.”
Psychic Dreams: A Paranormal Women's Fiction Novel (Glimmer Lake Book 3) Page 19
