Case One ~ The Deceit (Trudy Hicks Ghost Hunter Book 1)

by Lori Zaremba

  My Dearest Vanessa,

  I am sad to be leaving you and Chase and going back home. My heart is very heavy, and I know it will never entirely heal the loss of Carlson. The two things that keep me going are that I now have the daughter I always wanted and the best gift of all, my beautiful grandson Chase. Please do not delay visiting us, as I want you to know that no matter what, you are family.

  With much love,

  Hanna B. Holland

  Trudy flipped through the dwindling pages where she found that Vanessa made lists and lists of plans for the house. First on the list was to improve the plumbing, and Trudy found several bids to put running water throughout the house. She also noticed proposals to replace the stairwell in the servants’ quarters, as well as build a woodshed out back.

  No problem. Trudy imagined twenty million would buy a lot of plumbing and many, many sheds.

  Theodore’s wedding to Gloria was the last page of the journal.

  “Today is about beginnings. Closing the chapter on the past and writing the story for the future.”

  Theodore and Gloria became husband and wife on the twenty-first day of June 1925. Vanessa wrote that the wedding was spectacular. The bride arrived in an elaborate white carriage pulled by Theodore’s finest horses. The ceremony was moving and the reception the epitome of class and wealth. Gloria had very close relatives who were all but royalty in France, and with several of the cousins present, the conversations alternated between English and French.

  One cousin who was very interesting was Nathan Petit. He recently moved to Chicago from Paris. Vanessa had the pleasure of sitting across from him at the reception.

  Nathan is wildly handsome with classic features, jet black hair, and dark, flashing eyes. I felt his eyes on me throughout dinner, and I knew his intentions. When the music began, couples filled the dance floor. I watched him gracefully walk around the table, and I started quivering. He asked me to dance. It’s been a long time since I have been in a man’s arms.

  Tonight, I am not a widow, a victim, a mommy, or a provider. Tonight, I am just a beautiful woman.

  Trudy was disappointed when she flipped the page and it was blank. Trudy wanted to know what happened next. Looking at the time on her cell phone, she sighed, realizing she only had enough time to shower before heading downstairs to set up for tonight’s investigation. She tidied up the loose papers and tucked them back into the journal. She would hand it off to Dana to examine. She stood stiffly and looked longingly at the bed before grabbing a change of clothes from the dresser drawer.

  Trudy thought about Vanessa, and her thoughts quickly turned to Jason. Vanessa had described what she had felt when Nathan came to ask her to dance. Trudy’s heart did a flip-flop because she had felt that same way in this very room when Jason had pulled her into his arms.

  Tonight, I am not an ex-cop, a survivor, a single mom, or a provider. Tonight, I am just a beautiful woman.

  Chapter 13

  Trudy headed down the stairs to where Patrick was showing Ryan and Jason how to use some of the ghost hunting equipment. From there, they directed them to check the cameras and to put new batteries in all the devices.

  Needing to grab a few extra battery packs from the control room, she was surprised to find Leslie there watching the monitors. Without saying a word, Trudy wrapped her arms around Leslie and gave her a gentle squeeze. Leslie gave her back a couple of pats as Trudy turned away. Leslie and Trudy pissed each other off a lot just because they could be so different in their opinions, but neither could remain mad at the other for very long. They needed each other too much. Trudy felt much lighter as she headed up to the third floor. She couldn’t do any of this without Leslie.

  While she was doing an EMF sweep of the third-floor library, she felt Jason’s eyes on her. She turned with a questioning smile to see what he needed. “What are you staring at, buddy?” It took him a few seconds to realize she was speaking to him. He shook his head.

  “I think we may have a problem here.” He nodded at her t-shirt.

  She looked down at the Pittsburgh Penguins logo with a bit of confusion. She lifted her eyes back up to him, taking in his close-fitting jeans that fit snuggly on his muscular legs, then up his torso, and she noticed the logo on his red t-shirt.

  “Detroit Redwings,” she exclaimed, trying to hide her mirth. After a moment, she teased, “No problem at all. Thanks for the Stanley Cup.”

  “Right back at ya.” He gave her a competitive smack on her derriere.

  She shrugged and turned away to hide her smile. She felt his hands on her shoulders and squealed with laughter.

  He said softly in her ear, “No matter what happens or how hard you try, I will never be a Penguins fan.” To prove his point, he gave the logo on her shirt a phony punch. She retaliated with a not so fake punch to his muscular bicep.

  Trudy continued with her work while he stood there rubbing his arm with a bemused look on his face.

  Once the rooms were ready for investigating, the group gathered in the kitchen for a bite of food before they went lights-out.

  Tonight, she, Ryan, and, surprisingly, Jason would investigate together with Patrick following along filming. Dana and Leslie would watch the monitors. They started in the second-floor library. Trudy wanted to once again do an EVP session. Hopefully, she would be able to call out and communicate with one of the spirits. She placed her voice recorder on the coffee table. The group sat in various seats around the room.

  Trudy was the first one to speak. “Is there anyone here with us? Vanessa, can you hear me?” She paused, waiting for a noise. “Carlson, can you say hello?” The only response was absolute silence.

  Jason then spoke up. “I want you to know I don’t believe you’re here, so if you want to prove me wrong, make a noise.”

  From the hallway, they heard what sounded like a slight giggle. “Shhh.”

  Ryan padded toward the sound. “Vanessa, was that you?” He scanned the door to the hallway with the thermal imaging camera.

  Trudy once again asked Carlson if he was here as well. They heard what sounded like footsteps near the door. Again, Trudy called out, “Carlson?”

  “I’m not Carlson,” a detached voice growled, making Jason jump out of his seat. Picking up his camera, he started snapping pictures.

  “If you’re not Carlson, then who are you?”

  They waited and heard nothing. After a bit, the group got up and made their way out into the hallway. With Ryan leading the way, Dana spoke on the walkie-talkie from the control room. “Trudy, we saw a shadow leading into the second room on the right.”

  Jason started heading that way. “That’s my room.”

  The team followed. Jason opened the door cautiously and stepped through the entrance, all the while snapping pictures. Trudy entered behind him with an EMF recorder, expecting to see a person standing there. Instead, they walked into frigid air. Jason held up his arm, showing how the hair was standing straight up.

  Trudy looked at the temperature gauge on the device and was shocked at how fast it was falling. “We’re down to sixty-one…no, make that sixty degrees.” She added, “Whoever you are, speak to us and tell us why you’re here.”

  They stood silent.

  Trudy picked up her walkie-talkie. “Dana, did you get a read on who is in here with us?”

  Dana’s voice was breaking up, but they heard, “It’s Douglas.”

  “Why would Douglas be here?” Jason wondered.

  Dana replied, “He’s looking for his son. This was Chase’s room when he grew out of the nursery. Before his death, this room belonged to Carlson.”

  “So, I guess Douglas found out that Chase was his son.” Just as Ryan spoke, there was a crash in the corner.

  Jason quickly went over to see what had happened. It appeared that a picture of Vanessa and Chase had fallen off the wall. He held the broken frame in his hand looked up. “Apparently.”

  Trudy came over to take the picture from Jason’s hand. Looking at th
e photo, which must have been taken when Chase was around two years old, Vanessa held in her arms a giggling baby with chubby cheeks and hair a shade darker than his mother’s.

  “So, if Douglas found out about Chase, perhaps the story at some point took a much darker turn,” Trudy mused, looking at the men. “Beverly researched and learned that after Vanessa’s death, Chase went to live with his grandparents, and that makes me curious as to what may have happened to Douglas.”

  Tomorrow, she would go with Leslie to the library and do some research.

  “Maybe he returned to England,” Ryan offered, still studying the photo.

  “Then how would he be here now?” Trudy asked.

  The team heard a door slam in the distance. The group tried to figure out which door. They opened and closed doors all around the second floor, but they couldn’t recreate the sound. Jason used his two-way radio to call his guy who was watching the monitors in the garage and was informed that there was nothing on the cameras.

  The team took a short break just before midnight. Trudy poured coffee in a thermal cup before once again replacing batteries in the devices.

  They gathered their equipment and started down the hall to the nursery, hoping Douglas or Carlson would be there.

  Thump, thump, thump…the sound of footsteps…thump, thump, thump.

  “It sounds as if someone is dancing.” Trudy listened as the pattern became clearer. “Tap dancing?” They stopped, listening. They heard the pitter-patter again and realized the footsteps were above them.

  “How do we get to the attic?” Trudy spun to look at Jason.

  “This way.” He led them to a doorway at the end of the hall. It groaned open, and they found themselves in a very creepy hallway. Dust bunnies hung from the old lanterns that at one time illuminated the corridor with candlelight. Wallpaper hung from the walls, and dusty, gossamer cobwebs set traps all along the hallway. The smell of dust and mold was overwhelming.

  “Paul and Beverly said they have never gone up into the attic,” Jason said as he navigated around trash and stored furniture that filled the path.

  Trudy was fascinated. She didn’t know this part of the house existed. It was like taking a trip back in time.

  He stopped suddenly. “Listen,” he whispered. They could hear the murmur of voices, male and female…then the footsteps again. The group quickly reached the bottom of the steps that led up to the attic.

  Ryan drew his gun from a holster tucked in the back of his pants. He signaled Trudy ahead of him. She climbed the steps silently with him inches behind her. Putting her hand on the doorknob and testing it, Trudy gave him a nod. She stepped aside and turned it, giving him room to push inside. The voices stopped their conversation. Ryan checked every corner, while Trudy and Jason illuminated the room with their flashlights.

  There was no one there.

  Trudy realized the room must have been Connie’s living quarters. Her eyes swept over the space, and she was amazed that everything appeared to be in the same spot as when the nanny lived here. There was a four-poster bed in the corner with a faded quilt still on it. Beside the bed was a small table with a dusty photo of a smiling Connie with someone who was more than likely her sister, based on the resemblance. A trunk stood at the end of the bed. There was also a dresser, a wardrobe, and a rocking chair in front of the window. Considering the size of the house, she was surprised Connie would want to sleep up here. Then she felt that the woman probably enjoyed a place that she could retreat.

  “A little space to call her own.” A potbelly stove took up a good portion of one corner of the room. Trudy noticed an old discarded teapot lying upside down beside it. She walked over to a large wooden crate near the center of the room. Curious, she lifted it and was surprised to find the pulley system for the massive chandelier that hung below in the foyer. She was amazed by its small size and that it could hold all that weight.

  The team investigated for a few more hours but didn’t get much response, nor did they see anything else. They decided to wrap it up a bit early that night, for which Trudy was grateful, as she was feeling pretty spent.

  Showing Ryan to the door and thanking him for helping out, Trudy smoothed her hair back from her tired eyes.

  “That was very…interesting,” Ryan said, pulling on his jacket. “I would love to go over the evidence with you.”

  Trudy nodded; she appreciated the help.

  He ruffled her hair. “Get some sleep, and we’ll talk tomorrow,” he said before walking out into the night.

  She and Jason climbed the stairs to their rooms on the third floor. She willed her exhausted body to make it those last few steps. Trudy wondered how a pregnant Vanessa did that, probably several times per day. She also wondered why there was no elevator listed on that house to-do list of Vanessa’s.

  Jason walked her to her bedroom. She felt like he wanted to tell her something but instead placed a sweet kiss on her cheek that slid gently to her lips. He bid her goodnight as he turned and walked across the hall to his room. She watched him sleepily and blew him a kiss as he waved before shutting his door.

  Trudy crawled into bed and looked at the clock. It was now 2:05 a.m., early for their usual investigations, which usually went until dawn. She slipped between the sheets, sighing as her body melted into the memory foam mattress, her thoughts on Jason, then of Vanessa and the exciting Nathan Petit. She fell to sleep as soon as she closed her eyes.

  Tonight, I am just a beautiful woman.

  Chapter 14

  Vanessa

  Images misted around her. She could see a sparkling chandelier and hear the clink of ice in glasses. In a sea of round, white linen-covered tables surrounded by beautiful people dressed for a special event, a band played music that was a bit foreign to her while laughter encircled her.

  Raul had designed the dress Vanessa wore to complement her new curves. Two years had passed since she gave birth, and it took almost the whole two years to get her waistline back to its tiny size. Her bosom was a bit fuller and filled out the loose bodice of the dress. Vanessa was all grown up now.

  Nathan Petit, cousin to Gloria Petit Wilcox, didn’t take his eyes off her. Vanessa could feel him watching her throughout dinner. She would glance up, and he would hold her with his gaze, nodding to her with silent appreciation. When the music started, and the ushers signaled it was time to dance, her heart skipped a beat. Vanessa watched as he came slowly around the table to hold out his hand to her. Her hand quivered slightly as she placed it in his.

  Vanessa realized that her knees were weak, and her heart was fluttering. She had to hold on to him to keep from falling. It had been almost three years since a man held her like that. He pulled her closer than the reasonable standard for dancing, and when she looked around the room, she noticed a few raised eyebrows.

  Mr. Petit was very witty indeed, and several times she threw her head back and laughed huskily at some of the epic stories he told. He would whisper sweet nothings in her ear in his native French, and she would pretend she didn’t know what he was saying, as some of his sweet nothings were quite suggestive. When the evening was over, Mr. Petit asked if she would accompany him to one of the after-hours clubs, but she politely declined. She did give him her address and accepted an invitation to dinner and a show later in the week.

  The next morning after a night of sweet dreams, Vanessa received two dozen red roses from Mr. Petit with the card which merely read, “Until we meet again.”

  On Monday morning, Vanessa set out on a shopping spree, realizing that the past few years she invested in Chase’s needs and not her own.

  She purchased new lingerie at the Madame Anne Boutique downtown where the Madame herself selected pieces that were so delicate and fine, and some so risqué it made Vanessa blush.

  She then paid a visit to Raul’s shop where she gave in to temptation, ordering dresses from his new collection and a few more that he would design just for her.

  The two of them searched through bolts and bolt
s of fabrics in every color of the rainbow. She selected a dark purple lace, a silver satin, silk in an unusual shade of teal, and an elegant black. She told Raul to surprise her with the rest. He promised that he would have an exclusive design in the purple lace ready for her date. Vanessa dazzled him with a playful smile.

  He pulled her into an embrace and swung her around. “It’s about time!”

  Her date with Mr. Petit was for Friday evening, and the new dress had arrived from Raul’s shop that morning. It was a stunning, creamy beige silk with the dark purple lace overlay that gave the illusion that one was nude underneath the lace. She thought that might drive Monsieur Petit wild. The style accentuated her slender figure. She filled out the square cut bodice a little more than was the current fashion, but Vanessa refused to wear the latest contraptions to flatten her bosom.

  Vanessa finished her ensemble with a beautiful amethyst and diamond choker that she splurged on earlier that week, as it matched the dress perfectly. She clasped it around her neck and stood before the long mirror of her dressing room and looked at the results. Elegant and sexy.

  Connie handed her a wrap and her reticule. “My beautiful girl,” she sighed. “Monsieur Petit is waiting for you downstairs.”

  She handed Vanessa a little jar, and inside was a sponge soaked in olive oil. Vanessa wrinkled her brow in confusion.

  “You are not ready for another baby.”

  Vanessa blushed, but she tucked the little jar in her bag.

  The look on Nathan’s face as she made her way down the grand staircase to greet him told her everything she needed to know. Taking her hand, he bent to brush his lips across her knuckles. She smiled and let him lead her out the door to his waiting car. Sitting in the back seat with her, he rapped on the window so the driver would know they were settled and ready to go.