He sighed. “What do you want me to say? I remember that happening. I was told the importance of being your lock, because without me, you’d be hurt.”
“And in mine, she said I had to stay with my lock, because I kept you from being hurt.”
The enormity of the words slammed down on me as I turned to Tim.
“Maybe what’s inside of you is my fault. Could it be that leaving allowed it to happen?”
I hoped to hell Tim would reassure me, but he simply shrugged. “I don’t know. I wish I did.” Then he reached for my hand, squeezed it, and smiled at me. “But I do know that it doesn’t matter, because you’re back now.”
I pushed up and away from the table. “How can you say it doesn’t matter?”
He gave a sad smile. “What’s inside me isn’t important.”
“That’s bullshit and you fucking well know it!” I stalked to where he was sitting and grabbed his arm. “Get your ass up.”
He quirked an eyebrow but stood. “Now what?”
“We’re going out.”
He followed me to the car, opened the door, and slid into the driver’s seat. “Where are we going?”
“Back to the diner. I’m going to talk to the girl. She has the same marks on her neck that the boy in my vision—dream, whatever—had. If that’s what’s inside of you, then I want to know.”
“No.” He said it so calmly that it took me a minute to realize he was telling me I couldn’t go.
“Why the hell not?”
“What happened the last time? It was just a day ago, so I’m sure you remember. You could have died.”
“But I didn’t. And, if I’m being honest, I would die if I could save you.”
He snarled and grabbed my hair. “I don’t ever want to hear you say something so fucking stupid again.”
I pulled away, certain I’d lost a few hairs in the process. “Why is it okay for you, huh?” Now I was pissed off. “You keep saying it doesn’t matter what happens to you. Who the hell do you think you are?”
“I’m the man who fucking loves you! Do you get it?” He sat there, huffing. His eyes were wide, and his nostrils flared. “I lost you once, and if I had died, I wouldn’t have cared. You tore my heart out, and dying would have been preferable to the pain. Every night I’d lay in bed, wondering where you were, and every night I hoped I could die just so I’d have a chance to see you again. When you left, you took my world with you.”
Before I could speak, he rushed ahead.
“Yes, I threw myself into work. Yes, I made good on something. But without my best friend there, it meant nothing. And I get you had to go, and I know I’m a selfish fucking prick, but….” He leaned forward, resting his head on the steering wheel. “Having you home brought me back to life. Why do you want to take it away from me again?”
My heart ached at the rawness of his voice. “I don’t. I want nothing more than to have a life with you. It’s all I’ve ever wanted, ever since I knew what it meant to care about someone. And that’s what you have to understand. I’m doing this for us, because I’m not willing to give you up either.” I reached for his hand, happy when he let me take it. “I need you, and if this is what I—we—have to do, we’re going to do it. Understand?”
He turned a watery grin in my direction. “Don’t try to be butch now.”
“I’m not, trust me. You can still own my ass until the cows come home, but this one thing is nonnegotiable.” I grinned. “This key needs his lock.”
Chapter Eleven
THE LIGHTS in the diner finally went off a little before midnight. Tim and I sat in his car, watching as the cook switched the sign to closed, then wandered toward the back. A few minutes later, a light went on upstairs. We could see two silhouettes come together, one of them dropping down to the floor. Just as things were starting to get good, the light went off.
“He’s getting lucky.”
Tim glared at me. “And we’re Peeping Toms.”
“Please. I just wanted to be sure they were out for the night and the place was closed. I have no interest in whatever they’re doing up there.” I grinned, even though Tim couldn’t see me, and nudged him with a shoulder. “Wanna bet it’s hot?”
He sighed. “Let’s get this over with.”
“Do you have everything you need?”
He’d actually made a checklist, and we had to run to the store before we came out.
“PowerBars, Gatorade, orange juice, honey—”
“You know you don’t need all that, right?”
He tightened his grip on his pack. “What was I going to do if I handed you a PowerBar and you said, ‘I don’t like those’? I needed a variety just in case.”
Well, hell…. Could he be any sweeter? “Thank you.”
“For what?”
Well, duh. Like I had to spell it out. “Taking care of me.”
“Someone has to look out for you. I mean, since obviously you’re not going to do it for yourself.”
The argument hadn’t abated. Tim was still telling me he didn’t want me to do this, and I remained adamant that we needed to.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Do you think that the waiter saw anything?”
I remember the look on Noel’s face. Open, happy. No one could have seen that girl and not been affected. “No. I’m sure it’s just me.”
“Good.” He sighed. “I really don’t relish the idea of having too many people know what we’re doing.”
That was a subject for another time. “Come on. Let’s go.” I opened the door and slid out of the car. “Bring your stuff.”
He muttered something too soft for me to hear, then got out of the car and slammed the door. He stalked over to where I stood and got in close. “What now?”
“Now I have to see if she’s around and willing to talk to me. It shouldn’t be that hard, since she was trying when we were here last.”
We walked across the street, which didn’t have a lot of traffic. Surprising considering the college wasn’t too far away.
“I’m going to see if I can get her to come to the park. It should be close enough for her to reach.”
“Okay. I’ll go over there and wait.” He turned and started walking away.
I knew he was still upset, but at least he was here. “Tim?”
He didn’t turn around. “Yeah?”
“Love you.”
I didn’t have to see his face to know he was smiling.
“Let’s just get this done, okay?”
He sauntered off to the park, and I walked over to the door of the diner. I peered in the window and was rewarded when I saw her standing there, eyes wide. I could feel the fear coming off her in waves. I tapped lightly on the window, and she jumped. When she looked in my direction, I gestured to her. Her steps were hesitant, but she came closer, walking through the door of the restaurant.
“Sir? Can you help me? I don’t know where I’m supposed to be, and I’m afraid.”
I bent down, wanting to seem less imposing. She got close enough for me to reach out and touch, but I wasn’t ready for that just yet. “My friend and I want to help you.” I gestured to where Tim stood, watching me like a hawk. “Can you come with me and we’ll see what we can do?”
She followed beside me, nibbling on her finger. When we got to where Tim stood, I reached out and took his hand. He gasped.
“Can you see her?”
“Yeah. She’s so… young.”
I drew in a breath. “I’ve seen younger.” I gave the girl a smile. “What’s your name?”
“E-Elizabeth. Mommy was supposed to pick me up, but I waited and it got dark.” Her lip trembled. “I don’t know where she is, and I’m scared.”
“It’ll be okay.” I reached out to take her hand, and white-hot pain slashed through me. I gritted my teeth to contain my scream, but even still, it was a close thing….
He stood over me, grinning. “Mommy was never coming back for you, y
ou know. She never loved you. It’s why you were lucky I found you.”
My cheeks were hot from the tears, and my heart was pounding. It was so dark, and I was scared. I knew I wasn’t supposed to go with strangers, but I was afraid. I reached out and took his hand and let him take me home with him.
His house was big, and I was in awe of it. He showed me to a room that was decorated in a sea of varying shades of pink and purple. It was the prettiest room I’d ever seen. For dinner that night, we had spaghetti and for dessert, a big piece of chocolate cake.
He was a nice man, but I still missed my mommy. I cried every night, wanting her to come and get me. Through it all, he kept telling me it was just the two of us, and he would take care of me. Eventually I accepted it was true and started to think of him as my father.
Then one night, on my eleventh birthday, he made me my favorite dinner—chicken tenders and fries. After we ate, he brought out a cake with a princess on top. He sang “Happy Birthday” to me, and we laughed and ate until we were so full, I thought I’d be sick. Then he gave me a pretty dress. I’d seen it in the shop once and thought it was the most beautiful thing in the world. When he gave it to me, I was so happy.
“My beautiful girl deserves to have pretty things.”
That night he walked upstairs to my bedroom. As we went, I thought about all the things he’d done for me and knew what I had to say to him. “Thank you… Daddy.”
For a few moments I found myself pulled out of the scene, and was watching as a spectator instead of a participant. I wanted to scream, to tell her to get away from him, but I knew this was just a memory.
Then I noticed his red hair and pale blue eyes, and I got confused. He didn’t look like he did before, and I had no idea what that meant. Before I could think about it, I was dragged back into the scene as it unfolded.
I knew I’d made him happy, because he smiled at me. It was the first time I’d called him Daddy, and it felt right to do it. He stroked my hair and said of all of them, I had been his favorite. I didn’t understand what that meant, but then he reached out and wrapped his hands around my neck and squeezed. I hit at him, more terrified than I’d ever been, but that didn’t stop him. He kept squeezing harder and harder. I couldn’t breathe, and I didn’t understand what I’d done to make him angry.
Then he smiled at me, and I thought maybe he’d been playing. But he tightened his grip, and I knew I was going to die….
Tim pulled me back, and I fell onto the ground, shaking like a leaf. He held the bottle of juice to my lips and tipped it while I gulped it down. Then he grabbed a PowerBar out of the bag, tore open the package, and started feeding it to me. My stomach churned and I tried to turn away, but Tim held me in place.
“Eat the damn thing. I swear to God, if I have to cram it down your throat, I will.” He let me go at my own pace, nibbling slowly, until I’d finally eaten it all. He tugged me into a sitting position and wrapped his arms around me, using one of his hands to stroke my chest. “Are you okay?”
I nodded. “No wonder she’s so scared. Someone she trusted, someone she called Daddy…. God, it’s so fucked-up.”
“Who does that to a child?”
“You saw?”
“Every bit of it. It was like I was watching a movie, but I couldn’t turn it off. I saw you and her, and then just her.”
“I think I was her. Somehow I relived a bit of her life and her moment of death.”
When I was strong enough to look up, I found Elizabeth standing there, biting her lip. “Thank you.”
“For what?” I’d done nothing and had no idea what I could do to help her.
“He buried me in a place full of trees. There are other people there too. I think… I think they’re all kids.” She started to fade. “Do you think I’ll be able to see my mommy again?”
“Sweetheart, I guarantee it.”
“I hope that the others have moved on.” She reached for me, and my first instinct was to draw away, but I forced myself not to move. Her hand was still cold, but there was a strange warmth to it too.
When I recalled what I’d seen, I had to ask. “Elizabeth, what year is it?”
She gifted me with a quirky grin. “1902, silly.”
It was that moment when all the pieces started coming together.
“I—we—wish you well, Elizabeth. I know your mom will be happy to see you again.”
She smiled then, and warmth spread throughout my body. “Thank you for listening to me. I’m not afraid anymore.”
As she faded, Tim tightened his arms around me, giving me warmth against the pervasive chill. He leaned in close to my ear. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“This? What you did? It’s a good thing. I had no idea it was like that.” He kissed my neck. “Thank you for doing it.”
I was so glad he understood now, but there was something that he didn’t know and I hated the thought of telling him. Still, it had to be done.
The question was, how would he take it?
BY THE time we pulled into the driveway, it was almost three in the morning and we were both dragging. I was still exhausted, but with Tim’s care, I wasn’t unconscious and waking up in the hospital again.
I opened my door and tried to get out, only to have my legs give way. Strong arms grabbed me from behind, keeping me from falling on my face.
“You need a keeper.”
I looked up into his twinkling eyes. “Are you applying for the job?”
He hefted me to my feet, slid his arm around my waist, and let me lean on him as we moved for the door. “I’m the only applicant.”
He’d said this was a good idea, but now I had to wonder how long before he got sick of it. Would he one day be like my dad and say he was tired of the freak show?
“Tim, I—”
“Whatever is going on in your head, it can wait until we’re in the house. You need food and lots of rest.”
I was about to say it might be easier if he just carried me, but knowing Tim, that’s exactly what he’d do. I might put up some token resistance, but I wouldn’t object.
He held me up as he slipped the key into the lock, and I grinned at the analogy. He was what kept me on an even keel.
As soon as the door swung open, he hauled me to the couch and sat me down.
“Is it wrong I’m enjoying your manhandling?”
He grinned, then pushed me down, resting my head on a throw pillow. “Close your eyes. If you can sleep, do it. I’ll get you something to eat.”
“Oh, I don’t need anything.” I tried to sit up, but the room wouldn’t stop spinning. “Okay, maybe it’s not a bad idea to relax a bit.”
“Yeah, thought you might see things my way. You’re too pale, and you’re shaking.” He stepped away for a few moments, then came back with a bedspread, which he put over me. “I’m going to make some soup, because I don’t want to give you anything heavy right now, okay? It’ll be a bit before food is done, so try to rest.”
I think I nodded, but the way everything was moving, I couldn’t be sure. “I have to tell you something….” Tim needed to know.
“We can talk later. Rest or I’ll tie you up and gag you.”
“Ooh, talk dirty to me, Daddy.”
He didn’t so much as crack a smile.
“Seriously, we have to talk. I think…. No, I’m sure I know what’s inside of you.”
That caught his attention. He lifted my legs, sat down, and then lowered them onto his lap. “Go on.”
My vision was swimming and it was hard to focus. “Elizabeth…. She was another one of his victims, I think. She was strangled, just like the boy I saw. A lot of this is guesswork, but I think he’s got a thing for children with blond hair and blue eyes. The thing is, when I was standing there and he was strangling me? It didn’t look like the guy who killed the boy, and it looked nothing like what came out of you.”
He crossed his arms and pinned me with a not-so-subtle glare. “So what are you saying?”<
br />
I swallowed hard. “I could be wrong, but I think that this ghost? He somehow enters a body and drains it of energy, making it more susceptible to his influence. Once he has control, I think he’s going out and killing these kids. When the host gets caught or dies, he moves on to another person.”
Tim’s eyes were like saucers. “But you said ghosts couldn’t leave an area they died in.”
True, I had said that. “But your mother did it. She used all her energy to get to me so I could come to you. What if she knew there was something there, trying to take control of you? What if, when she died, she felt his presence in you, and that’s why she didn’t move on? What if—”
Tim’s expression told me he wasn’t buying my theory. “That’s a lot of what-if.”
I scratched my cheek. “I don’t have any definitive answers. A lot of what I know—or thought I knew—came from watching ghosts out of the corner of my eye while still trying to avoid them. They develop a pattern in their lives, and I always thought they stayed where they died. Maybe it’s more that they’re reenacting their last moments of life, or maybe they’re kind of stuck in a loop.”
“Huh?”
“Mr. D goes to work every day at the same time. He’s done it for thirty years. One day, as he’s heading into the office, an Acme safe falls on his head and kills him. Maybe Mr. D, who left a stack of unfinished paperwork on his desk, now follows his habits, walking to work every day, doing his paperwork, and then heading home, where he curls up in bed, his cat sitting on his chest, until his alarm gets him up to start the cycle all over.”
“How can a cat—”
I frowned at him. Leave it to Tim to take something that could be life or death and make light of it. “Seriously? From that entire conversation, you focus on that?”
He shrugged. “I like cats. If I know Fluffball is going to be able to still love on me after I die, I’ll consider getting one.”
With a sigh, I shifted a little, trying to sit up.
“Just lay there.” He grabbed a foot and started rubbing it. God, it was amazing. His strong hands were good for so many things. “So why do you think it’s inside me now?”
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