The smile in her mother’s eyes as they thumbed through the photos was a reward in itself, but when Cheryl managed to repeat a few words, Paige’s chest filled with joy. Mom would be visiting the speech clinic a couple times a week for the afternoon, but it was important to support the efforts of rehabilitation.
An hour passed like it was just ten minutes, the two of them sitting close in the dim room while the screen glowed with colorful pictures. They were nearing the end of the photo file when the screen went black.
Immediately it flashed back on, showing the same school picture of Aubree that had appeared in the news reports. Her mother jerked back, her mouth working to find words. Paige clicked the mouse, hit the escape key and even tried shutting the laptop down but still the screen showed the cheery little girl missing a front tooth in a lopsided smile.
The laptop had frozen. Paige’s heart leapt into overdrive seeing the haunting image. How the hell…
She looked over at her mother. The alarm in her mother’s face shot a bolt of fear through her chest. It wasn’t just that that image had just shown up out of the blue. There was more to it.
“You know about this girl? Aubree Smith?” She peered into her mother’s eyes.
Her mother nodded and then pushed the laptop off to the side. Her hands rose to cover her face.
Paige looked at the laptop, now showing just a dark screen. That shouldn’t have happened! It wasn’t the news article, it was just Aubree’s photo!
‘Dammit, Aubree! That’s not fair. Pick on me all you want, but my mom had a stroke for God’s sake!’ Paige’s annoyance with Aubree faded quickly; the child had been murdered. But still… it wasn’t fair.
She looked over to her mother. Of course Mom must have heard the news about the murders the day she had the stroke. The poor woman had tears in her eyes as she tried to get up. That photo really shook her up.
“Mom. Wait. Let me help you.” Paige rose and held her mother’s elbow walking her to her bedroom. A couple times her mother faltered in her step. This had upset her more than Paige would have thought. But her mother was a softhearted person. Still…
Paige wasn’t sure who she was trying to comfort more, herself or Mom, when she spoke. “My computer has been acting strange. I’m going to have it looked at when I get your tablet.”
When her mother paused beside her, Paige looked over to see her mouth moving but no words coming out. Her face was flushed and her eyes squeezed tight in frustration.
“It’s okay, Mom. I’ll get you settled in bed and then if you want, I can get a pen and paper. Don’t worry that you can’t say the words. Maybe you can write them, okay?” Her mother’s eyes closed for a few beats and she nodded.
They passed the spare bedroom at the end of the hall. Paige wasn’t surprised to see the light once more peeking out from under the door. But her mother didn’t seem to notice, which was just as well. The poor woman was upset enough as it was.
Any thought she’d had of telling her mother that she had played a part in the murder by representing Cory, vanished. Her mother wasn’t strong enough for that. Especially considering what she’d just seen, the turn in her behavior when that photo had popped onto the screen.
She helped her mother undress and get a nightgown on, all the while singing softly, “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray.” It was the song that Mom used to sing to Paige when she was a little girl getting ready for bed.
It seemed to help bring some ease to her mother. The tension left her brow, and she even managed a smile. When she was tucked in bed, Paige went to the kitchen to get a glass of water, the meds and a notepad. Although the therapist had stressed that in order to strengthen and regain verbal skills, they should avoid writing as a method of communication, just this once, it wouldn’t hurt. They’d focus on speaking skills again the next day. Right now, her mother was sad and frustrated. She needed to tell her something.
After her mother swallowed her meds, Paige gave her the notepad and a pen.
“Here, Mom. Try to write what you want to say. I won’t tell your doctor. I know we’re kind of cheating, but…” She smiled and pulled a chair closer to the bed, waiting while her mother wrote.
Come home. Live here.
Paige read the words and then looked into her mother’s eyes which once more welled with tears. “I’m staying here, Mom, for as long as you need me. Don’t worry about that.”
It wasn’t a lie, but it also wasn’t the whole truth. She had a career in Albany. Although after Aubree’s and Noele’s murders the passion she’d once felt for the job had waned. She wasn’t sure if she could do it anymore, or if she even wanted to.
Chapter 23
CORY threw another piece of wood into the woodstove. Outside, the wind and rain lashed the walls of the wooden cabin and pelted a steady thrum on the metal roof. It was enough to drive a man to drink.
After an afternoon taunting the wildcats, he’d had to call it a draw when the rain started. He’d barely got the fallen branches cut into chunks before the skies had really opened up. Dinner consisted of beans and mac ‘n cheese. Both the can of beans and box of mac ‘n cheese had been covered in dust; but the pickings around the cabin were getting pretty slim.
This sucks. I can’t stay here. The old man has put me here to die. He doesn’t care. Just so long as his life doesn’t go off the rails. Cory pictured his father’s house, a mansion really, with all the comforts of money. Too bad the old prick wouldn’t die. There was a fortune there, and he was the only heir.
He huffed a fast sigh. But how could he claim any of that with the police looking for him? Maybe that fancy lawyer could defend him again. She was smart. If anyone could get him off, it would be her. Grilling Noele, she’d made his ex look like a crazy liar.
Should he chance it? Count on her saving his ass?
A picture of the lawyer defending him before a judge and jury played in his mind like an episode of Law and Order. He lost himself to the movie in his head, the smart lawyer praising him as a concerned father who’d fled in shock and grief when he discovered the bodies of his only child and wife.
A pain shot through his bowels making him jump, jerking him out of the fantasy. Another searing bolt gripped his lower stomach.
The baked beans. The can was so old it was probably bad or something!
Shit!
He grimaced. That was it exactly it.
A bead of sweat glistened on his forehead while his intestines gurgled in knots. He’d have to go out in the rain, the dark, and that damned storm to use the outhouse. When the most intense cramp, yet, struck he leapt to his feet and grabbed his jacket. He’d be lucky if he got there in time. These were his only pants!
The door banged shut behind him and he almost slipped in the muck before he fished his penlight out to light the way. The outhouse was ten feet away, the entrance like an open mouth with the door hanging askew. Rain plastered his hair to his forehead and rolled coldly down the back of his neck, but he didn’t even notice. The pain in his gut was white hot, searing through him. He stepped into the narrow hut and almost dropped the penlight into the pit in his haste to peel his pants down. He sighed a deep breath of relief sitting there.
But it was far from over when another cramp punched through his lower body. He panted, trying to catch his breath. He shivered from the cold creeping up his back. His hands shook when he floundered around for toilet paper. God almighty, he was weak as a kitten. This was definitely food poisoning.
The pain continued. What the hell? There was nothing left in him after sitting there for what felt like ten minutes.
A snarling howl, the cry like a banshee pierced his ears. Oh no! It was that lynx, and it was right beside the outhouse! He stretched forward and grabbed the handle of the door, yanking it shut.
Immediately the door shuddered. The sound of claws ripping at the wood, and another howling snarl followed. But that snarl had come from behind the outhouse. It was the two of them, ba
ck for revenge!
His face tightened. That wasn’t the way that wildcats were supposed to act. Cats hate storms and getting wet. They should be hunkered under some rock overhang or something. What the hell was with these two?
With his heart hammering fast, his fingers fumbled in the pocket of his jacket. Damn! He’d taken that knife out and left it on the table. His cell phone was inside the cabin too! He was stuck out here in this smelly box, his bowels turned to water while those two cats stalked him.
“Get lost! Go away, you stupid cats!” He yelled as loud as he could, but the only answer was another screeching snarl.
A thud on the door was hard enough to shake the plywood structure. He felt it in his knees and feet. He waited for another, barely breathing. The pain in his guts was forgotten in the rippling shot of fear going through him. What if they managed to knock the outhouse over? That had to be the two of them that had leapt at the door.
CATS DON’T DO THAT!
They claw. They swipe. They even bite, but they don’t act like linebackers tackling a wooden structure!
What the hell was with these two? They weren’t acting right.
Rabies? Rabies can make an animal do crazy things. They had to be rabid. That had to be it.
He could wait them out. Like he had a choice?
The loudest snarl and scream yet was followed by a thud on the roof. Cory shone the penlight up to the rippled green plastic where four dark paws splayed. Oh my God. The roof wasn’t even metal or wood. That hard plastic was old. It could crack from the weight and then what? He’d have a lap full of snarling teeth and razor claws.
He watched in horror as the cat burrowed and tore at the plastic, the scratching sound was loud, even drowning out the rain and wind.
It was just a matter of time before it fell through. Cory scrambled to his feet yanking his pants up and zipping them. If that monster came through, by hell he wasn’t going to be caught with his pants down.
The building teetered to the side when the cat pounced to the ground. Cory threw his weight to the tilted floor slamming it back into place.
He crouched there, watching the roof for any sign of the cat. It was the most vulnerable part of the small structure. A steady drip of rain caught him in the eye and he jerked back. The roof had cracked! That damned cat had broken it! If it jumped up there again, it was bound to come through.
But there was no sound of the cats outside. Not even a rustle of leaves or footsteps. Only the rain pattering down and the whine of the wind through the trees.
Maybe they’d given up. If he didn’t hear them again in ten minutes or so, he’d make a run for it, back to the safety and warmth of the cabin. He could do it.
One thing was for sure. If he made it back to the cabin, he was going to call his father. There had to be some place else to hide out that wasn’t infested with rabid animals, or food that was poison.
‘The old prick is trying to kill me.’ His eyes narrowed at the thought. His lips curled in a grim smile as he pictured smashing a tire iron into the old man’s skull. He could take the car and be in another state in no time.
Chapter 24
THE NEXT DAY WHEN PAIGE GOT BACK from grocery shopping and visiting the electronics store to buy her mother a new tablet, it was close to noon. Karen had stayed with her mother all morning but had a dental appointment early afternoon. They were like ships passing in the night when Paige came into the house.
She helped Karen with her coat. “Have dinner with us tonight. My specialty, lasagna and salad. Thanks for helping with Mom, this morning.”
Karen patted her cheek gently. “You don’t have to thank me. I love both of you. I’ll bring dessert. That is if my mouth isn’t still frozen from the dentist.”
When she opened the door, she looked back at Paige. “You’ve got company!”
Paige edged by her. Sure enough Melanie’s red Ferrari was tucked in behind the Honda and she was just getting out. She carried a basket of fruit wrapped in cellophane, her smile tentative seeing Karen. In the sheepskin jacket, jeans and sneakers, she was more like the Melanie Paige remembered.
“Well if it isn’t Melanie Walker! I haven’t seen you in years.” Karen gushed over Melanie who broke into a grin.
“Karen Stearns. It’s nice to see you.” She leaned past Karen handing the basket of fruit to Paige.
“I hope you’ll stay, so I get a chance to see you later, but for now I’m off to the dentist.” Karen fluttered her fingers and then left the two young women.
“Good timing. I just got here myself from shopping.” Paige closed the door when Melanie stepped inside. “Mom’s in the kitchen. She was happy to hear you’d be visiting.”
“Wouldn’t miss it.” Melanie winked and then slipped her jacket off to hang it on a hook.
Paige followed Melanie into the kitchen and set the basket of fruit on the table next to her mother.
“Cheryl! It’s been too long. I had to come over to see you after I heard. But, I must say you’re looking pretty good.” Melanie patted the woman’s hand and took a seat across from her.
Paige watched her mother’s eyes widen watching Melanie. “What’d I tell you, Mom? It’s hard to believe this is the same girl I used to hang around with.” She smiled at her friend. “Thanks for the fruit, Mel. That was kind.”
Melanie leaned closer to her mother, “I hope you like the fruit, Cheryl.”
Her mother’s mouth opened and closed a few times trying to speak. Seeing the frustration in her eyes, Paige jumped in. “Her speech was affected by the stroke, Mel. But I know she appreciates the gift. Look, I have to put these groceries away, but after that, you’re staying for lunch, right?”
Melanie smiled and started to get up from the table. “Absolutely. Do you need help with that or—”
“No. Just relax. Visit with my mom. I’m sure she’d love to hear what’s going on in your life since you left Madison.”
Melanie took a deep breath. “It’s been such a long time, where to start? Oh my God, I can’t believe that it’s been years since I left work at the library here. You were away at state college while I was learning library science at CalTec. That was another life.”
Paige nodded at the memory. “A lifetime ago, huh?”
Nodding back, Melanie then turned to Cheryl. “I remember when we were little. You made the best brownies in the world, by the way. You always were so patient, especially when I slept over, talking and giggling late into the night. You must have felt like a zombie at work the next day.”
Paige glanced over to see her mother smiling at Mel. “Those were crazy Friday nights all right.”
Melanie continued. “I hope if I ever have kids I’ll have that level of understanding.”
Cheryl nodded with a smile.
Melanie continued. “For now, I’m doing a lot of traveling. I inherited a pile of money, so I’m seeing the world.”
She looked over at Melanie when something else from the day before popped into her mind. “So what about this Seth you mentioned yesterday? Is it serious?”
Melanie’s face lit up again. “Seth Peterson. Remember him from high school? He was a senior while we were only freshmen, so if you don’t remember him that’s understandable.”
Paige’s mouth had drifted open as Melanie spoke. “Seth Peterson? Of course I remember Seth Peterson! He was the star quarterback, smokin’ hot! Everyone knew who Seth Peterson was.” As odd as it was for “Mealy Mel”—her nickname in high school— to be with the high school jock, something else occurred to her. “Did you start going out before or after you became rich?”
“Jeeze Paige! Before! We dated occasionally, but there was always something special between us after I came back from college.” She got up and plugged the kettle in to make tea. Her voice became a soft whisper. “He stuck with me through those tough times, okay?”
“Tough times?”
Melanie glanced over to Cheryl before urging Paige to step into the hallway. When they were out of Cheryl
’s earshot, she whispered, “Yeah, hard times. Look, besides the exorcism I told you about, I was in a mental ward, and he visited every damn day.”
Paige’s mouth dropped open. “A mental ward?”
Melanie nodded. “For a month. I was sent there right after that thing that happened with my friends.” She leaned into Paige, keeping her voice low. “When they couldn’t do anything for me, I was put up at a convent for another month.”
“That’s where they did the exorcisms?”
Melanie nodded. “Seth could only visit one afternoon a week then.” She let out a sigh. “That man…” Shaking her head, she added, “He didn’t even know about the money my friend Dara left me.”
“Does he now?”
“Oh yeah. I had to tell him. He was worried how my insurance would pay for all this. He said we should get married and I get on his health plan.” She waggled her eyebrows. “He’s a fireman, you know.”
Paige giggled. “That sounds hot!”
Melanie chuckled at the pun and rested her hand on Paige’s arm. “He’s good to me. He won’t leave his job and become a ‘kept man’ no matter how much I nag. She cocked an eyebrow at Paige. “This is kind of weird,” she added, keeping her voice down.
“What do you mean?”
“C’mon. One minute I’m bragging about my love life with a buff fireman at the same time I’m recounting my experience in demonic possession.”
Who nodded. “Yeah. Weird.”
“I’m okay, now, Paige.” She glanced around the kitchen taking in the room. “Maybe all of that was meant to be so I could be here.” She shrugged. “I mean, who else do you know you can tell your crazy story to, huh?”
“You sure you’re up for this, Mel?”
“Never better.”
Paige nodded. “I believe you. “You went through a tough time, Mel. I’m glad you’re better.” Taking Mel’s arm, they stepped back into the kitchen.
The Haunted Reckoning Page 10