CRIMINAL CHRISTMAS: A Set of 8 Holiday Suspense Stories, page 29
He didn’t remember his friends’ mom being evil, but then that was almost forty years ago. If a ghost had been rattling around inside a house for decades, who knew what she’d become.
Tina’s voice was shaky. “She’s driven everyone away, everyone who ever lived there.”
“Did she get inside your head?” He had to know.
“No. I just felt her.” Tina seemed so small in his arms. “She’s furious that she can’t get into the house now. And she hates Pops. She set the fire, she did all those things, the rats, the phone calls.”
“How?” Could a ghost drift across a field and set a fire?
“Through Amy.” Tina said. “She possessed Amy and put the rat poison in the food. She took control of Amy to leave rats at Pops’ door, to set the fires. She controlled that poor girl.”
Jamey should have seen something, but when it came to spirits, he’d had trouble before. Just couldn’t feel them. Tina was better at that. Maybe that’s why his ability to intuit what Amy was up to had been blocked. She’d been possessed. He remembered another ghost who’d fooled him in the past. “Damn.” He rubbed his wife’s back. “But you’re okay, right. Not under the influence?”
“I’m okay.”
“Chocolate chip cookies…?”
“Go better with milk,” she said absently.
This was Tina.
“How about Max? Did Edna get in him too?”
“Not that I can tell. The third floor is Amy’s home office. Maybe that’s why.” Tina drew back and stared at the house across the snowy field.
“The handwriting wasn’t Amy’s,” he mumbled to himself.
“Probably Edna Clancy’s,” Tina said. “Let’s go. I’m freaked out. I want to hug my baby.”
Jamey had to think that if the ghost couldn’t get past the door, Tina was safe from possession, but he had to ask once more. “She didn’t come through that door and get in you, right?”
Tina took his hand and looked at him, wide-eyed. “No. I felt her trapped on the other side of the door. She can’t get to anyone. But Jamey, watch me tonight, okay?”
He nodded. “We need to get in touch with an expert in ghosts.” Then he smiled at her. “I might have to tie you to me tonight just to be safe.”
“That’s not as funny as it seems.” Tina wasn’t smiling.
They jumped the fence to Pops’ property. Before they entered the house, Jamey spoke. “Amy might not have any conscious knowledge of all this. And if so, she isn’t really guilty. Edna Clancy is.”
How would he explain that to the Carnation Police Department?
****
When they’d finally convinced the twins to go to bed and Elizabeth had left for Mercer Island, Tina and Jamey tromped up the stairs behind Pops’ footsteps. After checking one last time on the twins, who were still too wound up to settle down, Tina couldn’t wait to get into bed. The relief of figuring out who was terrorizing Pops was overshadowed by the doubt that she was clear of the ghost’s influence.
Having the ghost’s thoughts inside her head, for even a brief moment, had shown Tina that the woman Jamey had once known as a neighborhood mother, was not the horrid presence she’d felt tonight. Tina peeled off her clothes, put on the new nightgown the twins had given her for Christmas and joined her husband in bed. Kai was snoring in the crib near the door. “When you were in there before, there weren’t boards nailed to the door? You went up to the widow’s walk, right?”
“I did. The boards are new.” Jamey wrapped his top arm around her torso and pulled her in to him, like two matching spoons. “Which makes me wonder if Max or Amy suspected a ghost. Max seemed kind of fascinated with the idea ten days ago.”
“It looked like they boarded the door quickly.”
“Agreed.”
“We have to go to the police station in the morning.”
Jamey buried his face in her hair and she felt him take a deep breath. “I’ll get a few hours’ sleep and then go talk to Max. See how much he knows.”
“Can we tell the police that we’re willing to let her go if she gets psychiatric help?”
“I think so. They haven’t charged her with anything and they need us to co-operate to arrest her.” Jamey absently undid two buttons on her nightgown and his hand wandered up her tummy to a breast. He cupped it while his thumb found her nipple. “But that ghost has to go.”
Tina felt a warmth down below and pressed her buttocks into Jamey’s crotch. “Or no one can ever open that door again.” She could feel his interest in her through the flannel against her bottom.
“What were my girls thinking, giving my wife a big, heavy nightgown like this?”
They both chuckled.
“I’m sure they weren’t thinking of sexy nightwear but it’s cozy for Carnation,” Tina said.
“And that’s where we’re leaving this thing when we go back to Maui.” Jamey helped her pull the yards of flannel over her head. “Looks like something my great grandmother would wear.”
She snuggled in to Jamey, skin against skin, their breath warming each other. She needed her husband tonight, the closeness and reassurance. “Merry Christmas, James Dunn.” Tina kissed his warm lips. “Never a dull moment with you.”
“You’re welcome.”
****
Even though the woman he’d made love to was all Tina, Jamey didn’t want to take a chance. When he started to feel drowsy around three, he tied a jingle bell on a ribbon around her foot in case she got out of bed.
When Tina woke at seven and wondered about the bell tied to her ankle, he shrugged. “Like a cow, Darlin’. I wanted to know if you wandered off.”
Tina almost laughed at him. “You can take the boy out of the country but not the country out of the boy.” She got out of bed, pulled the big flannel nightgown over her head and took off the bell. “Let’s make coffee. I know you’ve been lying there all night watching me.”
When they got downstairs, Pops was already up, had taken Harry for a walk, and was sitting at the kitchen table like the room’s one wall wasn’t completely boarded over. The kitchen was cold but the work Jamey did yesterday seemed to keep out the worst of the chill. Before going to bed last night, they’d hung a tarp over the door from the kitchen to the hall to keep in the heat from the rest of the house. Pops had the space heaters fired up and soon it would take the chill off. Tina found her down-filled coat and made a bottle in anticipation of Kai waking soon.
“Pops,” Jamey had to ask. “Why did Edna Clancy dislike you?”
Pops looked up from his coffee and shook his head. “She didn’t. We got on okay.”
“Last night, we went next door and Tina got a clear reading from an evil presence at Amy and Max’s house. And sensed she had it out for you.”
Tina sliced pieces of her banana bread and put them on a plate in front of Pops, remembering that Pops hadn’t known they’d gone next door last night.
“I can’t believe you two,” he said. “Breaking and entering.” Pops looked disappointed in both of them.
Tina sat down beside him to try to explain. “Something just wasn’t right over there. You say Amy is so sweet, and she appeared that way to us, even though I suspected she was doing bad things. We needed answers.”
He looked up from his coffee. “And?”
Jamey spoke. “It looks like there’s a ghost. And she possessed Amy, these past weeks. We think the ghost is Edna Clancy.”
Pops let out a long breath. He bent over to scratch Harry’s head, then straightened and looked at Jamey. “See? I told you Amy couldn’t do this.”
Jamey almost smiled. “I’m headed to the police station in a minute to talk to Max. Last night, we saw that they boarded over the stairs to the widow’s walk. Tina felt that the ghost is trapped.”
“There’s always been talk of a ghost, you know that. I heard rumors about the last people too. I remember when Max and Amy moved in and they showed me around the house. Max asked about the ghost and I said if they were worried, he should board up that very door.”
Jamey caught Tina’s eye. “That must be it.”
Pops’ brow wrinkled. “What?”
Jamey took this one. “If you advised them to shut out the ghost, that’s probably why she went after you.”
Pops shrugged. “Max asked if I knew anything and I told him there was talk about a ghost on the widow’s walk. Another time, when Amy sounded scared, I simply said to put her mind at rest, Max should nail some boards against the door. I even took the boards over there. I didn’t really think that would keep out a ghost. Can’t those things walk through walls?”
“Apparently not,” Jamey said.
Tina shook her head. “The ghost is furious to be shut out, but powerless now.” She looked at Jamey. “This is not our area of expertise, Jamey.”
He agreed. But where in hell would you find a ghost hunter in the little town of Carnation? Especially during the Christmas holidays?
Chapter 10
Amy and Max were exhausted when Jamey picked them up from the police station. He’d dropped off the twins at Carrie’s house to prevent inquiring minds from asking questions that couldn’t be answered, with the excuse that Carrie wanted to see them for one night. Then he drove over to the Carnation Police Station to spring Amy. He’d told the police that they weren’t pressing charges if Amy got professional help. The police were mystified, but let her go.
Walking in Pops’ house, Max and Amy looked like they wished they were in a bad dream. And when they heard that Jamey and Tina suspected the ghost on their third floor was behind all the poisoning and fire-lighting, Amy let the tears fall down her cheeks. “Max nailed the door shut when he saw me wandering around last night. We thought I’d been sleepwalking.” She held her husband’s hand like it was her lifeline from drowning. “Last week he found me scratching on the wall in the room to the widow’s walk, saying ‘let me go.’”
“Last night,” Max said, “I found her coming back to bed at three o’clock. She said she didn’t know where she’d been. That’s when I boarded up the door, mostly so she wouldn’t go out there while she was sleepwalking. But also, just in case there was a ghost on the widow’s walk. Then Amy saw the fire and the firetrucks. We were going to lend a hand, but by the time we got ready to come over it was out and you came with the police.”
Amy looked to Pops. “I’m so sorry if I’m the one who did this.” A whole new flood of tears started. “I wish it was just sleepwalking now.”
Pops shook his head, his eyes taking on that kind fatherly look. “It wasn’t you, Kiddo.” He tried to make eye contact with Amy. “You aren’t responsible. We think the ghost used you to do all this.”
Jamey addressed Max. “We need to get that ghost out of the house so you two can live there.”
“This is almost unbelievable,” Max said. “But she’s had so many blackouts, and sleepwalking, and strange things happening, I’m ready to believe just about anything.”
Amy looked to Tina. “You felt her. Do you think she’s in me now?” She was visibly shaking, but hadn’t taken off her coat.
“No.” Tina touched Amy’s cold hand. “But I’m not an expert.” They’d already told Max and Amy that Tina had felt the ghost’s presence, but nothing more about her abilities. “We need to find someone who specializes in this sort of thing. Someone who can help you.”
Pops tried to reassure his neighbors. “Jamey’s got a call in. We thought we’d better get you out of that police station, tell you what’s going on.”
“I’m afraid to go home,” Amy said, looking at Max.
He shook his head. “We won’t.” He looked to Jamey. “Should we hang out here while you wait for the call? Then we’ll get a hotel room nearby for tonight.”
All three agreed they should stay close. Max and Amy could get some sleep in the guest room. It might be a long night if they were going to the Clancy house later to look for a ghost.
When they went upstairs, Pops looked sad. He hung his head and quietly admitted that Amy reminded him of Jamey’s mother when she was young. “When she smiles,” he’d said wistfully. ‘There’s something about that smile.”
This fact wasn’t lost on Jamey, although he didn’t see the resemblance. But it did explain the fondness and looks he’d seen Pops give the young neighbor over the last two weeks. He sure hoped that his father wasn’t still harboring any feelings for his mother who’d deserted them all so long ago, but if he was, maybe in some way, his relationship with Amy was helping Pops work through the anguish he’d felt over the years.
****
Mrs. Moody came highly recommended by an organization in Washington State called Paranormal Phenomenians. The man who spoke with Jamey on the phone joked that anyone who could actually say their name the first time, could join. But in truth, it was an elite group of investigators who sought out ghosts, and had an admirable track record. Mrs. Moody was one of their finest, she lived half an hour away, and just happened to be available.
“I’ll make this a priority,” she said on the phone in a whispery voice that suggested a long black gown and crazy long hair. “I prefer to meet with the home owners first and if all goes well, we’ll investigate tonight,” she said.
When Jamey got off the phone, he looked at Tina and Pops who’d been listening and they all shook their heads in wonder.
“The weird poop just keeps getting weirder,” Pops said.
Tina agreed. “This’ll be a first.” She fed Kai in the high chair and thought about Amy and Max sleeping in the guest room upstairs. She had to trust her instincts that Edna Clancy couldn’t inhabit Amy now that the ghost was behind the boarded door.
****
Mrs. Moody, did not look like either her name, or her profession. She stood almost six feet tall, had spiked red hair, several facial piercings, and wore a stylish business suit with leopard print lapels. Tina wasn’t sure what she expected, but not the woman who got out of the small Austin Healey in the snowy driveway.
“Thanks for coming so quickly,” Tina said, reaching to shake her hand. “Come in. We’ll tell you as much as we know.” They climbed the stairs and entered the house.
“This house feels clear,” Mrs. Moody said, just inside the door, taking off the red scarf from around her neck. She tilted her head to Tina in question.
“The ghost is next door.”
“It doesn’t take a psychic to know there’s been a fire,” Mrs. Moody said, wrinkling her nose.
Tina led Mrs. Moody to the main room where the Christmas tree dominated the front window. She made the introductions to Jamey and Pops, Max and Amy. The twins had gone to Gavin’s house tobogganing with their cousins. Soon they all sat around the crackling fireplace.
Mrs. Moody zeroed in on Amy immediately. “You’ve been inhabited,” she said, not yet privy to the story.
Amy nodded and took Max’s hand.
“But you’re clear now.” She nodded emphatically.
After general questions about the Victorian house and the events of late, Mrs. Moody had enough to declare she’d be back at two in the morning. “I will want you,” she looked at Amy, “to come over there with me. But not you two.” She looked at Pops and Max. “She won’t appreciate either of you if you shut her out and we don’t want to make a ghost mad.”
Jamey interrupted. “Tina and I want to come too.” When Mrs. Moody paused, he continued. “We need to be there.”
****
Mrs. Moody arrived just after two a.m. By the look of her, Jamey wasn’t convinced she was capable of handling what they had coming. For one thing, she talked about measuring electro-magnetic fields but didn’t seem to have anything with her other than a tiny polka dot purse. Tina looked skeptical too and she was the one with all the intuition these days. And for another thing, Mrs. Moody appeared to be a little tipsy, like she’d been drinking before she arrived. Her words were just slurred enough that before they left the house, Pops looked worriedly at Amy and said “Good luck, Kiddo.” Max stayed behind with Pops.
The Austin Healey was nowhere to be seen and they drove to the Clancy house in Pops’ truck. A large white van waited, engine running. Jamey assumed this was Mrs. Moody’s paranormal team. Introductions were made to a large man named Wayne, and a twenty-something Asian woman in ripped jeans and a leather motorcycle jacket named Vera.
Wayne opened the back of the van to reveal a stack of what looked to Jamey like stereo equipment. “We’ll go inside first,” Mrs. Moody said to Wayne. To the others, she explained that first they needed to see if the equipment was necessary to catch the spirit. “They won’t just hop in a jar and let you close the top.” She said close the top like it was one word.
Jamey glanced at Vera when Mrs. Moody slurred her words. “She’s drunk?”
Vera whispered, “It helps her summon the spirits if she’s under the influence,” and nodded like this was highly technical. “They bond with her better.”
Tina’s glance suggested she worried they’d called the wrong person, but she followed Mrs. Moody inside the house. They all did.
“No lights,” Mrs. Moody said. “They interfere.” From the pocket of her black wool coat, she produced several pairs of night vision goggles. Once everyone secured them, they followed her upstairs to the third floor. Tina held Amy’s hand.
No one spoke while Mrs. Moody hummed a children’s song and sniffed around the third floor. Finally landing at the boarded door, she turned to Tina who stood with Amy by the stairs. “You both, over here, please.” She motioned for them to join her. With hands on the door, Mrs. Moody closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Edna? Edna Clancy. Are you there?”
Jamey felt nothing. Damn. Why did ghostly spirits totally bypass him?
Tina laid her hands on the door and nodded at Mrs. Moody. “She’s in there.”
