Now that the evil spirit possessing him was gone, we had to deal with Nathan himself. He was starting to show signs of regaining consciousness.
“I don’t think you’ll need that anymore,” I told Kane, who was still pointing a gun in Nathan’s direction.
“I think I’ll keep it just in case,” he said.
I carefully approached Nathan. With Mike’s help, I helped him into the chair again.
“What just happened?” He asked, touching the growing bruise on his head. And then it seemed to dawn on him because he started to sob uncontrollably. “What did I do? What did I do?” He kept repeating.
I kept my distance just in case. Jenny was close by, trying to comfort him, but her ghostly hands went right through him.
“It wasn’t you,” I said. “You were possessed.”
He looked at me not like I was crazy, but like he was surprised that I knew the truth. The deep dark secret he’d been holding in for so long.
“I was aware of what was happening the whole time,” he said when he’d calmed down some. “I tried to stop him, tried to regain back control, but it happened so fast. What he did to Jenny. What my hands did to Jenny. After that, I just gave up and watched. I could hear him mocking me in my mind. He was telling me about all the other women he was going to hurt. How he’s been waiting such a long time to come back.”
“Jenny said that you’ve had nightmares since you were a child,” I said. “Can you tell me more about that?”
His eyes went wide as soon as I said her name. I shouldn’t have been surprised, but sometimes I took for granted that I was the only one who could actually see the ghosts that were right there with us.
“Jenny? You knew Jenny?”
“No, but she’s here with us now,” I said. “She’s standing right there.”
Nathan looked around frantically, but of course, he couldn’t see anything. Then he looked at Kane, who still had a gun pointed at him.
I motioned for Kane to put it down, and thankfully he did, though he didn’t holster it.
“I’m Meredith Good,” I said. “I’m a ghost hunter. These other people with me,” I pointed to the ghost hunter team, “they’re ghost hunters as well. I just got rid of the parasitic spirit that had taken over your body. But he’s still out there. He could hurt more people if you don’t help us.”
“Tell her I’m sorry, please tell her I’m sorry,” Nathan said between sobs.
“She knows it wasn’t you,” I reassured him.
He looked at his hands then. “Then why is her blood on my hands?”
Before he could be lost in grief about what happened, I tried to bring him back to the present. To the real threat that was still out there.
“Does the name Rochester Bailey mean anything to you?”
“It sounds vaguely familiar,” Nathan said. “Maybe an old relative? A family friend? It was so long ago now. Are you saying he’s the one who did all this?”
I nodded. “That’s the name he gave me,” I said.
“I heard him,” Nathan said. “But I really don’t know for sure who he is or was. How is any of this possible in the first place?”
I gave him a crash course in ghosts and hauntings. “Of course, it’s extremely rare for something like this to happen. He must have haunted you for years before he finally managed to take over.”
“All those nightmares I’ve had over the years. All those times I woke up in strange places. It was him all along, wasn’t it?” He asked me.
I nodded. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”
He looked at his hands again. “I’m sorry Jenny was there when he took over…”
“Tell him it’s not his fault,” Jenny said to me. “Tell him there’s nothing to forgive.”
I relayed the message again. And that made Nathan sob harder.
“I have to turn myself in,” he finally said. “I have to make this right.”
“But you didn’t do this,” Rachel said. She’d been quiet all this time, observing and recording. “That doesn’t sound fair, does it, Meredith?”
“But I did,” Nathan said. “I was there when he did it, in the background. Maybe I’m just crazy. Either way, I need to be locked up. If he ever manages to take over again…”
“Just make sure you always carry salt in your pocket,” I said, handing him some right then and there.
While Kane and the others helped prepare Nathan for the ride to the local police station, I turned my attention on Rebecca.
“Are you okay?” I asked her.
She snapped out of the reverie and looked at me. “I…I don’t know,” she finally said.
“I know it’s a lot to take in. But at least we have a name now. I’ll call Gregory tomorrow and see if maybe he was a suspect and then we can see what exactly happened to him.”
Rebecca nodded, but she wasn’t all there just yet.
We went back to our respective vans. Nathan rode with us, with Jenny in tow as well, and we were on our way.
The small police station in Glenscreek only had one police cruiser out front. I was surprised it was open at all.
It was decided that Nathan should go in alone.
Of course, Jenny and Rebecca accompanied him.
A few excruciating minutes later, Rebecca came back alone.
“He confessed,” she told me. “Jenny decided to stay with him. To be there for him through what’s ahead.”
“Nothing good,” I muttered under my breath.
And then we were finally ready to go back home. It was a long night.
The next morning, or around eleven o’clock in the morning to be exact, I called Gregory Slater. When he answered, he sounded about as groggy as I felt. It had been a long night, and we had gotten home later than expected.
“Does the name Rochester Bailey mean anything to you?” I asked.
“It sounds vaguely familiar,” he said. “Let me check.”
I impatiently waited for a few minutes, my stomach already growling. I didn’t even have time to eat anything. This was that important.
Rebecca was close by, but she didn’t say anything. She just waited. Which was all I could do as well. Kane was in the kitchen making scrambled eggs.
Then Gregory finally came back on the line.
“Yes, I have it right here. He wasn’t actually one of the suspects I had in mind,” Gregory said. “In fact, he was one of the police officers I interviewed about the missing women.” I heard him rummaging through papers. “Glenscreek. It’s a few towns over,” he finally said.
“I know. We just came from there,” I said.
“Dare I ask how you heard this officer’s name? And why you think he might be the killer? According to my notes, he died in a car accident a few years after I interviewed him.”
I thought about holding back, but Gregory already knew all about me being able to see ghosts. So I told him about Nathan and the possession and the fact that Rochester Bailey’s ghost was out there right now, looking for his next victim.
“That’s…that’s a bit hard to take in,” Gregory said after a few awkward moments of silence.
“Believe me, I know how crazy it all sounds, but it’s true. In fact, it should be all over the news right about now. Nathan turned himself in last night.”
I heard Gregory turn on his TV then.
“You’re right,” he said. “You’re actually telling the truth, aren’t you?”
“Why would I lie?” I said.
“There’s a bunch of kooks on the TV, though, taking credit,” he said.
“What? What are you talking about?”
“Channel two,” he said.
I turned on the TV and saw Rachel and Mike on my TV screen. I turned up the volume.
“It was incredible,” Rachel was saying. “He was actually possessed by a spirit. And our good friend, Meredith Good, helped exorcise it from him! We have video proof, and we will share it as soon as possible.”
Then it returned to the news ancho
rs in the studio.
“Our producers have seen the video in question. They’re trying to authenticate it now. But one thing is for certain. Nathan Grant has turned himself in for his girlfriend’s murder. There will be justice for Jenny Summers. Back to you, Stacy. How’s our weather looking?”
I turned the TV off in disgust.
“I’ll have to talk to you later,” I said to Gregory. “I need to have a word with a few people.”
“Remind me not to get on your bad side,” Gregory said. “Have a good day, Meredith.”
I practically ran into the kitchen to tell Kane about what I just saw on the TV. I also quickly added that Rochester Bailey was a cop back in the day.
“I don’t know what to say,” Kane said. “Didn’t you especially tell them not to do anything rash? And didn’t all of you sign that agreement promising not to do exactly this?”
“I don’t think this violates that agreement,” I said. “It happened in Glenscreek, not Silver Bells.”
“That’s at least one silver lining, I guess?” Kane said. “The eggs are done. Ready to eat?”
I wanted to say that I’d just lost my appetite. That I was too angry to think about food right now. But my stomach growled again and I sat down and ate anyway. The ghost hunters could wait. By the time I was done with them, they might become ghosts themselves.
Eighteen
“What the hell?” I said as soon as Rachel opened the door to her room at the inn.
“So you saw?” She said. “We didn’t look too crazy, did we? Mike thinks that I went a bit overboard, but I just got off the phone with a producer and they thought this was brilliant. We just have to make sure it goes viral. So far, it’s only small-town news. Imagine if this thing went national, or even international? We could all become celebrities!”
“I’m not interested in being a celebrity, Rachel,” I said as I came inside and closed the door behind me. “I already had my brush with fame and it wasn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”
“But just imagine how much more work you could get if people actually knew you were responsible for catching a serial killer?”
“Nathan only killed one person, technically speaking anyway,” I reminded her.
“Yeah, but now that Rochester or whatever his name is out there, we’re going to hunt him down, aren’t we?”
“You’re not listening to a word I’ve said!”
“Meredith, just embrace it. Go with the flow.”
I wished I could be as nonchalant about all this as Rachel, but I just couldn’t.
“You can’t use that footage,” I finally said. “You don’t have my permission to use my likeness in any capacity.”
“Meredith, think about it. You won’t have to live in this crummy little town anymore. You’ll be able to move back to the city. Isn’t that what you’ve always wanted?”
Rachel had hit a nerve. I did move back to Silver Bells Cove because living in the city was too expensive, but now that I was here, I actually liked being close to family.
“And that car of yours that barely runs?” She said. “You could get yourself a new car!”
“Look, Rachel, I understand where you’re coming from, but until Rochester Bailey is gone for good, you can’t use that footage. Maybe when all this is done, but not until then.”
Rachel sighed. “Fine,” she said, though it was clear she didn’t agree with me at all. “We’ll hold back on airing the footage. Maybe it’s for the best anyway. It’ll certainly help our ratings when the show finally airs. Now we just have to make sure to actually stop that Rochester guy from killing any more people. That’ll make a nice tidy ending for the episode, don’t you think?”
I rolled my eyes. “Could you stop thinking about your damn show for one second? People’s lives are at stake.”
Rachel calmed down a bit. She took a deep breath before speaking. “I know that, Meredith,” she said calmly. “But we need this. Jobs have been drying up and our accounts have been emptying faster than we can refill them. You said you were having problems too, didn’t you?”
“Yeah,” I reluctantly admitted. “Business hasn’t exactly been booming lately but it’ll pick up again soon. I’m sure of it.”
“Are you really?” She asked. “Because if it doesn’t, do you have a plan B, something you can fall back on?”
I didn’t have another plan. My ghost hunting business was all I had. Rachel was right, no matter how much I hated to admit it.
“Just hold off on releasing any footage for now, okay?” I finally said.
“I will,” she said. “We will. I promise you that much.”
I wasn’t sure if I believed her, but it would have to do for now.
“Where’s Chloe and the rest of your crew?”
“Mike and Jacob are in their room editing the footage from last night. Chloe is downstairs having tea. She said this was all too much for her.”
I said my goodbyes and headed downstairs. Chloe was sitting by a window, sipping her tea, looking out at the world outside. She seemed miles away.
“Care if I join you?” I asked.
“Oh, not at all,” she said. “I assume you saw the news? I’m so sorry. Mike and Rachel insisted. They wanted me with them, but I just couldn’t.”
“I understand. You’re not like the others,” I said. “You’re like me. To them, what we do is something cool, something that should be shown off. But if they were in our shoes, they’d understand why we don’t like the limelight.”
“That’s exactly it,” Chloe said, a weak smile on her face. “I just keep remembering all the times I was called a freak as a kid for knowing things that I shouldn’t.”
I nodded in agreement. “I know what we do is different, but if you want to talk about all this with someone who’s a bit more like you, I can give you her number.”
Chloe raised her eyebrows, obviously interested.
“Callie Ranger is her name,” I said. “Her psychic gift is quite powerful. Maybe she could give you some tips?”
Chloe took the number and promised she’d think about it.
“You don’t have to keep doing this ghost hunter thing if you don’t want to,” I told her.
“I wouldn’t dream of leaving the team,” Chloe said. “I might not agree with everything they do, but I do love them. They’re my friends. They’re my family.”
“Good,” I said. “Just try not to let them push you around too much, okay?”
Chloe nodded. “Thanks,” she said.
“Anytime,” I said.
I drove my barely running car to my office. Kane was already looking at anything he could find out about Rochester Bailey. I decided to update some of my files and look into it more. Rebecca was waiting for me there. She had decided to go on ahead. She needed some time alone, she had said.
But she wasn’t the only one waiting for me. I saw Jonathan’s police cruiser parked in front of Gran’s bakery. He spotted me as soon as I got out of the car. Before I had a chance to lock the door behind me, he burst in.
I went back to sit behind my desk.
“What’s your problem?” I finally said, pretending like nothing was wrong.
“Really?” He said, the veins on his forehead practically ready to burst.
“Should I?” Rebecca asked, ready to put her ghostly hands through his body.
I shook my head. “It’s fine.”
“It’s really not,” Jonathan said, not realizing that I was addressing Rebecca. “What were you thinking going with those people to that town? Didn’t I explicitly tell you to stay out of my investigation?”
“You didn’t share information with me,” I reminded him. “Plus, Glenscreek isn’t in your jurisdiction, the last time I checked.”
“That’s just a technicality and you know it. How could you do this to me? You made me look like a fumbling fool.”
“I don’t think anyone is thinking about you here. Nathan confessed to his girlfriend’s murder. Isn’t that a good thing?”
>
“You have an answer for everything, don’t you?” He said, looking ready to storm out of there.
“Rebecca is my friend and you withheld vital information from me, Jonathan,” I said.
“Like you haven’t done the same,” he reminded me.
“This is different,” I said. “This case is personal for me. But I do have a name for you. Rochester Bailey.”
“Who’s that?”
“He killed Rebecca and the other hitchhikers,” I said. “He was a cop in Glenscreek. He died a long time ago. You’re welcome.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because I’m leaving the regular police work to you this time,” I said. “You’ll have to find proof that he was the one that killed those women. I’ll focus on the more immediate threat.”
“And what threat is that?” He asked.
“Nathan didn’t just kill his girlfriend out of the blue. He was possessed by Rochester Bailey. He’s a relative of his, I think. Anyway, this Rochester Bailey got away before I had a chance to help him move on to the next world. He’s still out there, Jonathan. And it’s only a matter of time before he possesses someone else and starts killing again. I plan on stopping him before he can hurt anyone else. Any more questions?”
“Just one. Do you know how crazy all this sounds?” He asked, looking genuine this time.
“Yes. But that’s my life, Jonathan,” I said. “And if you don’t like it, you know where the door is.”
I pointed to the door for good measure.
“Stop playing cop, Meredith,” he said. “Because one of these days you might actually become a victim. And what will I tell Sarah then?”
“You can tell her that I was never your responsibility to begin with, for one.”
Ghostly Endings (A Ghost Hunter P.I. Mystery Book 5) Page 12