The Cursed

by Heather Graham

  “I think he likes you best,” Kelsey said drily.

  “Shut up, Kelsey. Try anything and sweet Valeriya dies,” Bentley said. “And you know I’ll do it. I’ve killed before. I won’t blink at doing it again.”

  Hannah noticed that Hagen and Melody had materialized by the kitchen door. Hagen looked furious, as if he would have ripped the man in two if he could. He strode angrily toward Bentley—then walked through him.

  Bentley, however, felt something. His grip on Valeriya tightened, and Hannah flinched as she saw the necklace of red at Valeriya’s throat darken.

  Bentley’s eyes narrowed. “What the hell is going on in here?” he demanded.

  “The ghosts,” Hannah said.

  “What?”

  “Melody and Hagen. They really do haunt the house.”

  Bentley smiled and shook his head. “Amusing, Hannah. As always, I do like you best,” he told her.

  Kelsey shrugged. “It’s okay with me. But you should let Valeriya go. She’s useless. And if you have to worry about anybody, it’s me, so you should have that knife at my throat.”

  “Hannah, check your cousin’s pocket. I’m betting you’ll find some of those plastic zip-tie cuffs. Am I right, Kelsey?” When she nodded, he smiled.

  “Bentley, you weren’t listening,” Kelsey said calmly.

  “I heard you. But you’re going to try to save the day. So you need to be cuffed. Much easier for me than trying to hold on to you,” Bentley said.

  “You want something from me, Bentley,” Hannah said thoughtfully. “And I don’t believe you want to kill us. So why don’t you tell me what you want and I’ll help you if I can.”

  “Aren’t you nice, Hannah. Yeah, right. In real life, what do you see? The big sweaty construction guy next door. Well, Hannah, you know what? You’re right. I don’t want to kill you. I’ve made mistakes because of you. And it will hurt me—it will haunt me—if I have to kill any of you. But I will if I have to. Kelsey, make things easy. Give her the cuffs.”

  “So it will be easier for you to shove me to my knees and shoot me in the back of the head?” Kelsey asked.

  “I told you, I don’t want to kill you. I just want the treasure. I know you know what’s going on. The Wolf wants the treasure, too, but he wants me to find it because it’s cursed. But I don’t believe in curses. I have a way out. I just need one particular piece. And I really want to leave you alive. So come on, help me out here.”

  Kelsey produced the cuffs from her pocket.

  “Put them on her,” Bentley said to Hannah. “And be sure they’re tight enough. You don’t have to hurt her, but make sure she can’t slip out of them.”

  “How on earth do you think this is going to work out?” Hannah asked. “I don’t have the treasure chest. You’ve worked in this house long enough to know that. And Dallas and Logan will be back soon, not to mention there’s a policeman out in front. He’ll be in here—”

  “No,” Bentley said quietly, “he won’t.”

  Hannah felt a horrible chill.

  Hagen said, “The bastard killed him. Why didn’t we know it was him? He was right next door!”

  “I didn’t know, either,” Hannah said.

  “Who are you talking to?” Bentley demanded. “Your ‘ghosts’?” He laughed. “Handcuffs. Now. And cell phones, while you’re at it.”

  Kelsey nodded and told Hannah, “Pull them on. It’s easy. They’re like garbage bag ties.”

  Hannah looked at her worriedly but did as she was told.

  “Cell phone this pocket,” Kelsey said.

  Hannah got out Kelsey’s phone and then her own. She saw that she had missed five calls from Dallas.

  He would come save her, she thought.

  “Bentley, you need to get out now. Dallas and Logan—”

  “Can’t possibly get back here in time to do you a damn bit of good,” he said smoothly.

  “You can’t know that! They’re close,” Hannah said.

  “I’m afraid not. The medical examiner has found another body,” Bentley told her. “The Wolf,” he added quietly, “makes sure of all things.”

  “What can we do?” Melody asked. She was trying to shove Bentley, but needless to say, he wasn’t moving.

  He felt something, though, Hannah thought. He just didn’t know what it was.

  “Nothing,” Hannah said.

  “Don’t do that—just don’t, Hannah,” Bentley said. “I’m not one of your ghost-tour guests.”

  “It’s a history and legends tour,” she corrected. “And the spirits are real, Bentley. Not to mention there are more of them. Melody and Hagen are here now, but Jose Rodriguez is around somewhere. So is Yerby Catalano. They’re both pretty bitter. Let Valeriya go. Make me your hostage. I’m the one you think has what you want.”

  “I don’t believe in ghosts any more than I believe in curses. Get that straight. And, by the way, you definitely have what I want.”

  “How can you say that?” Hannah demanded. “You’ve been in this house more than almost anyone.”

  “As a matter of fact, I actually know the house better than you do,” he told her, suddenly thrusting Valeriya away from him. Sobbing, she fell to the floor in front of Hannah, who instinctively reached down to help her.

  When she looked up again, Bentley had slid the knife back into a sheath at his calf and was holding a gun. She didn’t know what it was, but it certainly looked lethal enough.

  “Now, Hannah, where is it?”

  “If I had it, I’d give it to you!” she shouted.

  He stepped toward her, so she backed away, holding Valeriya, who was trembling and trying but failing not to make any noise as she sobbed.

  Then she realized he wasn’t coming toward her, he was heading for Kelsey.

  Kelsey saw him and lunged, kicking out viciously. He grunted in obvious pain when she connected, but he didn’t stop.

  He used the gun to crack Kelsey hard on the side of the head. Hannah heard the impact of the gun against her cousin’s skull.

  Melody rushed over and tried to catch Kelsey as she fell, and Hannah thought maybe she did soften the impact slightly, but Kelsey still went down in a heap.

  Hannah let out a cry of protest.

  “Shut up! I didn’t shoot her, did I? Do you want me to?” Bentley demanded.

  “You’re going to kill us, anyway. You’ll have to.”

  “I plan to be long gone before you can sic your cop buddies on me. Now for this one.”

  He reached for Valeriya, who promptly fell to the floor in a dead faint.

  “Now, where is it?” he asked Hannah. He held the gun on her, the muzzle never wavering, as he bent down by Valeriya, pulled his own set of plastic cuffs and bound her wrists.

  “Human life means more to me than any object, Bentley. Don’t you think I’d give you what you want if I had it?”

  “Then you’d better think quickly and figure out where it is,” Bentley said. “Because in a minute I’m going to start motivating you. I’ll start by slicing your cousin’s fingers off.”

  “Do you see a treasure chest anywhere?” Hannah demanded desperately. She realized that she was shaking. There was no way out of this. She should have thrown herself at him the second he released Valeriya. She would have died, but maybe Kelsey and Valeriya would have made it. Kelsey had been trained in combat skills and could have taken advantage of the distraction. She had no idea how to fight.

  All she had was the instinct to survive.

  “Hey,” Hagen said suddenly. “Someone’s coming.” He raced toward the back of the house.

  Hope revived her spirit as if she had grown wings. Suddenly Hagen returned and rushed upstairs.

  “Hang on!” he shouted over his shoulder.

  “Tell me w
hy you think I know where it is and maybe I can help you,” Hannah said desperately to Bentley.

  “There was a letter. Your uncle left a letter,” he told her.

  “To me?” she asked, stunned.

  “I’m surprised you never found it, but I did, and I read it. He said he’d figured out that the treasure was here and where it was hidden. He wouldn’t write it down. He planned to tell you.”

  “He never said a word. I know it’s not in the house. And I don’t see how it can be in the yard—everything was all dug up for the pool and the patio.”

  Bentley looked stunned. “He really didn’t tell you?”

  The timing couldn’t have been more perfect.

  She heard a noise from the rear of the house. Bentley heard it, too. He grabbed her and spun her against his body as he trained his gun on her skull.

  “Come in, Fed. Come on in!” he called.

  “I’m not armed!” Logan said as he walked into the room. He saw Kelsey on the floor and, ignoring Bentley, hunkered down next to her. “She’s breathing,” he said quietly, staring at Bentley. “You’re lucky.”

  “Oh, really? Or you’d kill me?” Bentley demanded.

  “In a heartbeat,” Logan assured him evenly.

  Bentley eased the gun away from Hannah’s head and leveled it at Logan.

  “I don’t need you. I already have plenty of leverage to keep Hannah doing whatever I ask,” Bentley said softly.

  Oh, God, Hannah thought. He was going to do it. He was really going to shoot Logan.

  But just as that thought came to her, she heard thunder on the stairs. Bentley tried to swing the gun around. Too late.

  Dallas was there.

  He fired, and the bullet winged Bentley’s arm, sending him spinning. The gun flew from his hand. Hannah screamed and tried to wrench free, but he went down, dragging her with him.

  And there was Kelsey’s gun, just inches from Bentley’s outstretched arm.

  He reached for it, but Hannah scrambled desperately, got free and grabbed it herself. She was just a foot from him.

  Dallas was racing down the stairs, and Logan was on his feet, but then Bentley pulled his knife again, ready to stab Valeriya.

  Was it too late to save her?

  There was something cold in Bentley’s icy-blue eyes. Something that meant he intended to go down fighting. He was big and powerful, and she gasped as he raised the knife over Valeriya.

  “Drop it!” she commanded him.

  He didn’t.

  She squeezed the trigger firmly, just as Kelsey had taught her. The gun recoiled in her hand. She felt the force almost bending her wrist back.

  And she saw the red stain appear on Bentley’s shirt.

  She saw his eyes as he died. They weren’t so cold or so icy now. They held a look that she could have sworn was relief....

  And then there was nothing in them. Nothing at all.

  * * *

  “Go figure,” Kelsey said. She was lying in a hospital bed, wearing a stupid hospital gown with little blackbirds all over a field of blue, but with the way her red hair framed her face she seemed especially beautiful to Hannah.

  The confusion that had reigned after she’d shot Bentley was at last over. It had seemed like forever, yet it had happened so fast. Armed men had burst in through both doors and down the stairs. Dallas had taken the gun from her, turned her face to his and asked, “You all right?”

  She had nodded and murmured, “Not a scratch.”

  He’d had to leave her then to reconnoiter with Liam and his men, and then the paramedics had arrived. Soon the parlor was being cordoned off and Liam had taken over her phone. She tried to get to her feet and found she couldn’t stand, but then Dallas appeared from somewhere and helped her up. She was happy to see that Kelsey was already groaning and protesting the need for an ambulance.

  Dirk Mendini arrived. “Hell, I’m trying to get you up to my office to see if you can identify one corpse and instead you offer me another,” he told Dallas, who wasn’t amused.

  “Nobody else?” Dallas asked worriedly.

  Liam was the one to answer. “Not so far,” he said. “Officer Hannigan—he was on duty in the patrol car when Bentley made his move—is hanging in. He may not make it through the night. He’s a tough old bird, though, and Bentley missed the artery.”

  “Thank God,” Hannah whispered.

  By then the paramedics were ready to take Kelsey and Logan away. Hannah insisted on going with them, but she was torn, worried about Valeriya.

  Valeriya was going to be okay, though she was still terrified. She’d overheard some of the cops talking and kept saying that the Wolf was out there and coming to get her. Liam was working on calming her down, promising that two of his best officers would take her and her family to a safe house, then stand guard through the night.

  Just as she was getting ready to go with Kelsey, Liam walked over to Hannah and stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. “Sorry,” he said, “but you can’t go yet. You have to give a statement.”

  She looked at Dallas, a little dazed, then followed Liam to a relatively quiet spot and started answering his questions. The whole time she was aware of Dallas standing nearby and watching her with a concerned expression.

  As soon as she’d finished and signed, he strode to her side and took her to the hospital to visit Kelsey.

  She understood why he was so worried.

  She had killed a man. A man she had known most her life. She knew that even policemen had to get psych clearance after killing someone, and she would probably need help, too.

  But all she felt right then was numb.

  And grateful that everyone who mattered to her was still alive.

  The hospital wanted to keep Kelsey overnight to watch for aftereffects of the concussion she’d sustained, so she was all set up in a private room by the time Hannah and Dallas arrived.

  “Here I am, a Federal agent, and there’s my cousin the innkeeper bringing down a hired killer before he could claim another victim. You okay, cuz?” Kelsey asked with a stern look.

  Hannah nodded, aware that Dallas and Logan were watching her as intently as Kelsey was. “He was going to kill Valeriya,” she said. “I didn’t have a choice.”

  “You didn’t,” Logan said. “But killing a man, even when it’s a righteous shoot...it’s never easy.”

  “You all need to stop looking at me like that,” Hannah said. “I’m okay. I’m fine. Really.”

  “He was our friend, but you and he were especially close, with him working for you and all,” Kelsey said.

  Dallas slipped his arm around her shoulders where she sat at the bottom of Kelsey’s bed and pulled her against his side. “You handled yourself remarkably well,” he told her.

  They stayed a little while longer, and Hannah told them what Bentley had said about the letter. “He couldn’t believe Ronin never told me.”

  “Are you certain he didn’t say anything? Anything at all?” Logan asked.

  “I’m pretty sure I’d remember if he’d told me the location of a priceless treasure,” Hannah said, too drained to bother hiding her sarcasm.

  “He died unexpectedly,” Kelsey said. “He dropped dead of a heart attack.”

  “So maybe he meant to tell you,” Dallas said to Hannah.

  She nodded. “Maybe. But at least now we know he was sure the treasure is on the property somewhere. And I swear it’s nowhere in the house.”

  “Then we start digging tomorrow,” Kelsey said.

  Hannah laughed. “If we start digging up the whole yard, I’ll need a treasure to put it all back when we’re finished.”

  “Whatever it takes, it needs to be done,” Dallas told her.

  She met his gaze, and she knew then what he was thinking.


  They had survived Machete.

  But the Wolf was still out there, and he had to be thinking of revenge. One way or another, they’d cost him six of his men, four in custody and two dead, not to mention he still didn’t have the treasure.

  “We’ll dig up the yard,” she said. “And worry about fixing it afterward.”

  They stayed at the hospital well into the night.

  Katie led the ghost tour again—with Liam and David watching over her.

  Dallas and Hannah kept tabs on Kelsey while Logan went to eat something, and then they grabbed a meal there themselves. To Hannah’s surprise, the food tasted delicious.

  Because I’m alive to eat it, she thought.

  They didn’t return to her house that night. The hospital was in Marathon, and they just didn’t feel like making the long drive back.

  They took a little room at a mom-and-pop motel just a few blocks away on the beach. Their room opened out to the sand. Hannah asked Dallas if they could just walk out and sit by the ocean. She lay back and felt the dampness of the sand against her, relaxed at the sound of the water washing onto the shore. The sky above her was beautiful, a perfect Keys night sky, shrouding the world in black velvet and shining stars.

  “It’s hard to believe Jose and Yerby didn’t show up for any of this,” she murmured.

  “I doubt we’ll see them tonight,” he told her. “They don’t know where we are.”

  She smiled. “That’s a little sad, isn’t it? They’re ghosts, but they don’t get to be omniscient.”

  “No,” he agreed. “If so, Hagen and Melody would have known that Bentley was out there watching.”

  “Just bad timing, I guess,” she said.

  “They were there when we needed them today,” he said. “Logan and I had our entrances planned, but thanks to Hagen I knew what was happening when I made it from the widow’s walk into the attic.”

  “They are wonderful, aren’t they? They don’t have the ability to fight physically, but they make their presence known.”

  It was beautiful by the water, but with his arm around her, she found herself wanting more.