She was scared.
That was an understatement. In her life, she had faced down terrifying things. Now, she didn't know how to keep herself safe.
At the door to their room, he pushed it open and hustled her in. Kane and Christina were already there, and when they saw them, the smiles vanished.
“What happened?” Kane asked, knowing it wasn’t good. Julian’s face was etched in stone and Tori was pale.
“I don’t know what happened,” she replied.
Julian caught them up to speed. When they both stared at him like he had to be kidding, he shook his head. “I’m serious.”
Okay, Christina could rationalize all of it. “It’s not hard to find out Bethany’s name. We all knew it. Maybe Beverly is a con woman and is up to something.”
“And the piano?”
She shrugged. “It could have been rigged.”
Tori finally spoke. “It wasn’t. I heard the music. It was the piano playing. I could hear weeping. I couldn’t move. I’m screwed up from the war, but when I black out, there’s war and death. Not music and weeping.”
Christina tried to rationalize it. “Okay, well with PTSD, your mind is more susceptible to certain things. Maybe that’s it.”
Yeah, that wasn’t reassuring, at all.
Tori needed to stop talking about it. She didn't want to believe that she was crazy and slipping back into the mess. Therapy and Julian had saved her, and since he was the one here, she would lean on him.
Literally.
Julian held her against his body, knowing that she was scared. “What did you two find?”
They told him everything.
“We also re-walked the hidden passage and found more openings. It seems to be a main one. The only thing I couldn’t find is a way to your room. This one,” Kane said, pointing at their wall, “it leads somewhere else.”
Yeah, well he wasn’t following it any time tonight. One spectral run in was more than enough. In fact, he was ready to call it quits and head home. It was one thing to face dangerous people. They were all used to that, but what was happening to Tori, that was just plain scary as hell.
Then, Kane told him about Leroy White and what they had overheard. “It didn't sound kosher.”
He had to agree. Julian knew exactly who would be handling it too.
“We’ll regroup tomorrow after the ride. While we’re gone, you two can come in here and check out the passage way, since the house will be pretty empty. Then, you’re on journal duty.”
Kane was good with that. He had to admit, he was a little nervous about what Julian had said happened. He didn't like the ghost messing with their team.
If it was a ghost.
“We’re going to pay a little visit to the sheriff. He’s going to get the information that you found, and he can do the interview. It should scare Leroy out of his mind.”
“Good idea,” stated Kane. “We better get back to our room. The guests downstairs will be heading to bed soon, and we can’t get caught in here.”
They agreed.
Once they slipped out the door, Julian locked it and faced his wife.
“It’s okay, honey. I’m here,” he whispered. Crossing to her, he began stripping her down. She simply stared at him, and that made him worry.
“Am I crazy?” she asked softly.
He was appalled. “No, and we’ll figure out what’s going on here. I swear. For now, let’s just get through this, okay?”
Tori nodded. What she really wanted was to just feel safe. “Please, can we go to bed?”
Julian would give her whatever she wanted, just to help abate some of the fear in her voice. “No one’s getting you, Tori,” he promised. At one time, he wished the demons of war would stop chasing her. Now, he’d rather have them haunting her than this.
All of this was a little too much.
“Let’s go, honey,” he said, pulling her toward the bed. When she climbed up and waited for him, Julian stripped down to his boxers and joined her. Pulling his t-shirt over her head, he hoped that it would act as some armor, giving her peace. Then, he had an idea.
“Where’s your jewelry?” he asked.
She pointed to the armoire.
Julian hopped out of bed and dug through her things, until he found what he was looking for.
Moving back to her side, he held the necklace his father had given him, and that Julian had passed on to his wife. Maybe it wouldn’t help, but they both felt more secure with it around her neck.
Tori lifted her hair as Julian fastened the clasp. It laid on top of his t-shirt and gave them both peace.
Curling up together, Julian couldn’t miss how she clung to his body like a second skin.
Yeah, she was scared.
Julian murmured reassuring words to his wife, all the while changing his prayer. For now, he wanted them out of there, before whatever was chasing Tori stole her away. “We’ll get through this, Victoria. I promise.”
“I believe you,” she replied without hesitation.
Closing his eyes, he knew there wouldn’t be sleep, but it didn't matter.
Tonight, he was on watch.
Nothing was taking his wife from him.
Nothing.
Chapter Nineteen
Nineteen Fifteen
She could hear her child crying, and her body was jolted from sleep at the sound.
Someone was after her son!
Racing from her bed, she scared the man sleeping beside her. He, too, followed, hearing the child’s wailing.
At his bedroom door, she flung it open only to see the curtains whipping around viciously. Their wispy tendrils were inches from her precious child in his crib. Running toward them, the protective instinct had her ready to do battle.
With bare hands, she ripped them down and tore them to shreds. It was one thing to go after her, but her child was off limits.
From the doorway, her husband stood there. The look on his face was one of stone.
“DO YOU SEE?” she practically yelled, going to her child. “Something is here! I’m not crazy!”
Again, he said nothing.
At the crib, she pulled her baby into her arms. Immediately, she began cooing to him as she whispered in his ears. “I don’t care if you hate me, if you throw me out, or divorce me,” she stated. “Our son is staying with us!”
The man moved out of her way as she stormed past him.
Maybe he had been wrong to force her to put him in his own room. After all, he had witnessed the curtains whipping around. Walking to the window, he placed his hand by the frame. It was closed, and no air was getting in.
The alarm began to rise as did the bile.
Reaching into the crib, he grabbed his son’s blanket and headed back to their room. In the hall, the staff waited, awoken by the child’s screams. It wasn’t uncommon in the house for the servants to hear the howls.
“You can go back to bed,” he stated, walking past them. He couldn’t look any of them in the eyes. For years, he had dismissed his wife as crazy.
Apparently, he too was out of his mind.
Back in their quarters, he found her sitting in the bed as she held their little boy against her body. He was clinging to her, watching his father with very familiar eyes. He’d seen them every day when he stared into the mirror. Only his were haunted with so much pain, and his son’s still held the glimmer of innocence.
Moving toward the bed, he took his place beside them. Instead of the iciness that once held his heart, he felt something different.
Here, the woman who gave him a child wouldn’t even look at him, and he couldn’t blame her. If he could take it all back and fix it, he suddenly would.
It had all been a mistake.
This was his fault.
“I’m sorry,” he admitted. “For all of this.”
She glanced over at him, unsure what to say. This was the first time in four years that he ever spoke to her with anything but animosity.
This was new.
She would take the chance. “It’s okay.”
Joseph moved closer, tucking their child between them and pulling the blankets over their bodies. Finally, he spoke once more. “We’ll get through this. I promise. You don’t have to be afraid anymore.”
Cherie prayed that she could believe him, and that there could be a chance for her family.
Clinging to her child, and the man who helped create him, she closed her eyes.
Joseph stared at the door, refusing to sleep.
Tonight, he had much thinking to do.
In fact, he had a great deal of penance to begin paying, and it started now.
In this moment, it would all change.
It was time to own up to his many sins.
* * *
Sunday Morning
As Tori began to stir, she could feel her body safely against her husband. All night, whenever she would wake, he was there soothing her. She wasn’t quite sure if he was holding her for protection, or to offer himself some sort of reassurance. It didn't matter either way as long as Julian was by her side.
“Morning,” he whispered, leaving feather light kisses across her forehead.
Tori snuggled closer. “You didn't sleep well,” she said, staring into his eyes. There was exhaustion there, and Tori knew why.
“No, not really. I was worried the entire night as I took care of my beautiful wife.”
Tori ran her hand down his chest and across her name tattooed there. “I’m going to be okay, Jules. I swear.”
“Why us?” he asked, the animosity present in his voice. “Why is she haunting us?”
Tori thought about it. “Maybe she needs help.” She had dwelled on it most of the night. “Christina said that I’m more susceptible, so maybe she’s using that opportunity to get our attention.”
Julian thought back to the Ouija board and what it had spelled out. “She asked them to find her.”
Glancing up, she looked confused.
“While you were MIA, they asked her how to give her peace, and she told them to find her.”
“Then, we have to do it.”
He was well aware. “It’s not easy to find a body that has been gone that long. I don’t even know where to begin looking.”
Honestly, she didn't either. Sitting up, she took a chance. “Bethany, if you want us to find you, then show me how.”
Julian put his hand over his wife’s mouth. “Are you insane?” he hissed. “We don’t need you running around possessed by the ghost of a dead woman.”
That made her laugh. When she bit the inside of his hand, he let her go. “Julian, everything in life happens for a reason. We fall onto these paths, and fate leads us. If the man I was going to marry didn't die, I never would have met you.”
He really hated when she talked about him. Deep in his gut, he loathed that he was jealous of a dead man, especially one who died serving his country.
Yet, it was there, brewing in his soul as it ate at him. When she called his name in the dead of the night, it tore vicious holes in his heart.
“Don’t stir her up. It was freaky enough last night,” he said. “I get that she’s trying to find peace, but I don’t want a repeat performance of the other night. It’s like cheating on my wife.”
Ahhhh, so now it came out.
“Jules, you didn’t cheat on me. I trust you with my whole heart, and what happened between us, while creepy, was still us. That was my body and yours. Nothing more.”
Yeah, she could keep saying that, but it still weirded him out. He wasn’t entirely comfortable with a sister-in-law who had precognitive dreams and a wife who acted as a vessel for the dead. What ever happened to simple cases where they investigated fraud?
“If this is our path,” she began, “at least we’re on it together.”
Okay, that was a valid point.
“You seemed to miss last night, so here’s my initial impression,” Julian stated. “We need to find out more about Bev and her husband Richard.”
“Why?”
“That performance was a little too professional. It was like someone was making a Hollywood movie. The Ouija board, the robes she was wearing, and the slamming piano. If it looks off and it smells off, then it’s likely way off.”
“We could talk to the sheriff. He has the ability to run people, while we can only Google them. That’s not going to tell us much.”
“Yeah, well he needs to dig into Leroy White’s life too. The man needs money and desperate people will do crazy things, especially if there’s a bookie on his ass.”
Tori agreed.
As Julian’s phone rang, he knew who it was by the Marine ringtone. “Hey Justin,” he said, answering and putting it on speaker.
“Hey bro! How are you and my Tor doing?”
She grinned at the nickname. They were a really close knit family, and she loved every minute of it. Since getting married, her brother-in-law had mellowed and relaxed. Vivian was good for him, and they loved her for it.
“We’re surviving. How’s our business? You didn't bury it yet, have you?”
He started laughing. “Come on! Between Vivian and me, we’re a super team. We closed two more divorce cases, got the money, and filed the paperwork. Lena is bitching,” he stated. “You know how she loves to do my paperwork.”
“Don’t torment her, Justin,” Tori warned.
He laughed even more. “Yeah, I’ll get right on that.”
Julian knew that was never going to change. “Okay, what do you need? If the business is running well, and you’re doing good, then what’s the deal?”
“Well, two things.”
Tori could hear the nerves in his voice. If anything, he was exactly like his brother.
“Shoot,” Julian stated.
“We need more employees ASAP. We just got buried in nine more cases, and we can’t keep up.”
Julian was well aware, but you didn't just walk up to someone and offer them a job. It wasn’t easy to find a valued employee who would do the job right. It took a special kind of person to be a private investigator. Plus, their name was on this, and that mattered. It had always been his dream to make his father proud. Julian knew he was watching them from the happy hunting grounds.
“We’re working on it.”
“Okay, and secondly,” he began, and then paused. “I’m sorry guys, but I didn't want do this over the phone, but I need to tell mom.”
“What’s wrong?” Julian asked.
Justin bit the bullet.
Anyway that this came out was going to hurt the people he loved. The only thing that he could hope for was they wouldn’t carry the wounds for too long. “We’re expecting. Vivian is pregnant. We just found out yesterday, and I didn't want you to hear the gossip from the family. You’re my best friends and my other half, Jules. I’m so damn sorry.”
Tori took his hand in hers. “Oh Justin! That’s terrific,” she gushed, even though it was all fake. Inside, it was just one more blow to her heart. From the look on Julian’s face, he was hurting too.
“Wow! I’m so damn happy for you, Justin! I can’t wait to get home and hug you both!” Julian knew that he couldn’t let his brother feel unhappy when sharing this kind of miraculous news.
“I really wish…”
Julian cut him off. “I appreciate why you’re hurting over this, Justin, but stop. This should be one of the happiest moments of your life. What kind of brother would I be if I didn't share in the joy with you?” he asked.
“I love you, Jules,” he said.
“I love you too, and I’m glad you told me.”
Tori chimed in, “We get to have a double baby shower now for Vivian and Christina. I can’t wait to throw it.”
Julian watched his wife as her voice gave nothing away, but her eyes filled with tears. Yeah, they were both hurting on this one.
“I love you, Army,” Justin said, knowing her better than she thought. “We both do,” he added. “You’ve got this,” he reassured. “I know d
eep down that you’re going to get through this, and if not, this soldier will carry you every step of the way.”
Emotion swamped her. “Marine, I’m proud of you and your little swimmers.” In her heart, this confirmed it. If Julian’s identical twin was able to get his wife pregnant, it wasn’t their issue.
Tori had to be broken.
Justin changed the topic fast, sensing the sadness. “How’s the case doing?”
Julian wasn’t in the mood to talk about it. Suddenly, he was feeling the need to get off the phone and help his wife. “It’s going, Justin. Same as they always do, but we’ll be home soon, I’m sure.”
“When you arrive, we can head back to the Rez. I want to have a family BBQ.”
They were good with that. Tori and Julian missed Wakanda and Weeko. “Absolutely, bro. We have to head out, Justin. I’ll text you later,” stated Julian, picking up his phone. “We love you,” he said. “Congrats,” he added once more.
“Bye, Justin,” Tori stated.
“Love you both,” he said, before hanging up.
Staring at his wife, he knew she needed his strength, more than he needed to be sad. “Come here, honey,” he said, opening his arms.
Without hesitating, she threw herself against him and the dam broke. As Tori sobbed, she tried to not feel like a huge failure, but it was so hard. Now, everyone around them was pregnant, and she didn't want to begrudge them their happiness, but her heart was broken.
“We’re going to be okay, Victoria,” he stated. “I swear to you that we’ll figure this out and handled it like everything else in our life. We’re stronger than this.”
Funny, once more in her life she didn't feel strong. Only this time, it had nothing to do with death, and everything to do with life.
Tori took it back.
Fate was a miserable bitch, who had no clue, and she hated it.
* * *
The night ended rough, and basically began the same way. Julian only hoped that somehow, it all turned around. It was probably a good thing that they were heading out on a ride. What they could both use was some time on a horse.
Lost & Broken (LIttlemoon Investigations Book 2) Page 29