The Shadow Box: Paranormal Suspense and Dark Fantasy Thriller Novels

by Travis Luedke

  They called him many things. Ghost. Specter. Spook. Spirit. Labels like that didn’t matter. He knew who he had been. Who he still was. Marcus VanDemere. Only he looked nothing like himself when he looked in the mirror like he did now.

  Right now he looked like a woman. A pretty woman. He traced her pretty jaw with her pretty fingertips. Touched her pretty lips. Fingered the strange pendant that hung around her neck. Then he stepped back from the mirror so he could admire her naked breasts. He caressed them with her own hands, tweaked the nipples, and reveled in the dual pleasure of feeling them and feeling with them.

  Otto Dolan may have dragged VanDemere out of eternal sleep against his will, but he found he liked this new way of living—if that’s what you called it. The ability to possess a living person’s body had come to him as instinctively as a newborn nuzzling at his mother’s breast for a first taste of milk. Only a few minutes after arriving on the mortal plane, he had known everything about what he could accomplish here. A strange and instant education. But as quickly as he became aware of his place in this plane, he forgot about the one he had left. He realized this was only right and natural. One could not exist on two planes of existence at the same time, even in memory. Which made it all the easier to want to stay on this side. He had no recollection of what his existence was as a spirit beyond the veil. It could have been paradise or eternal suffering. Either way, he would not be going back. He had decided that for certain the moment he slipped into his latest body.

  Pretty little Kate.

  He slid her hand down to the thatch of hair between her legs. How would it feel to give her an orgasm? God, the possibilities. Dizzying. So much so, he almost forgot what had brought him back to this plane in the first place.

  Millie.

  He clenched Kate’s teeth. Dolan had somehow used her grief over her loss of VanDemere to drag him here. How he had loved Millie. She had put up with so much from him. His clinical depression. His gambling habit. But she always forgave him and did everything she could to help him.

  She hadn’t been able to help him outrun the depression.

  Amazing. He could remember his own death when he thought about it. He could remember the noose around his neck. The slick feel of the oak chair under his stocking feet. That last minute worry that he might mess the living room carpet after he kicked the chair away.

  He wondered if he had.

  He snapped himself out of the reverie. Looked his new body over in the mirror once more, then began dressing. He had to get to Dolan before Dolan found a way to send him back. After that, VanDemere would have all the time he needed to experiment with Kate’s body. When he was done with her, he could find another male body and try reconnecting with Millie. Or maybe he could keep Kate’s body and convince Millie to love him as a woman.

  He noticed a dampness between his legs and smiled. So that’s what it felt like for a woman when she got wet.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Lockman adjusted the new Desert Eagle tucked under his shirt at the small of his back. Marty had given him a hard time about losing the first one. After that, Lockman had made a point not to mention he’d lost everything else when he abandoned the duffel in the trunk of the rental car at the cemetery.

  He rang the doorbell and took a step back to give Rodriguez a view of whoever answered the door. No doubt the man was watching him now through Ms. Betty’s scope. Ms. Betty was one of the few pieces of gear that did not come from Marty—a M107 .50 caliber sniper rifle Rodriguez claimed he never left home without.

  Despite Lockman’s hopes, Alec answered the door instead of Kate. He thought he might have a better chance convincing Kate to come with them than Alec. He could tell from the look in Alec’s eyes he had not expected Lockman to show up on his porch again.

  “You.”

  “Yeah, me.”

  Alec stared at him a moment, sighed through his nose. “Come in.”

  “Really?”

  That didn’t get an answer. Alec turned and walked into the house, leaving the door open for Lockman to follow if he wanted. He looked over his shoulder. He could see Rand’s car across the street. He didn’t know where Rodriguez had set up, just that he was out there somewhere. He nodded, letting them know he was good so far, then went inside.

  Alec continued on into the kitchen and Lockman started to follow but stopped as Kate came out of the hall, nearly running into him.

  She backed away, bumped into the wall, fear obvious in her eyes.

  “Easy,” Lockman said and held up his hands. “Just me.”

  “Yeah,” she said. She pressed her lips together and took a deep breath through her nose. “Sorry. You just startled me.”

  “You’re okay?”

  “Sure, yeah.”

  “Did they hurt you?”

  Her eyes shifted back and forth, lips parted slightly. “Um.”

  “We’re fine,” Alec said coming out of the kitchen with a gun in hand at his side.

  Lockman looked at the gun, then at Alec. “You much of a shot?”

  “I can hit what I’m aiming at.”

  “That’s all that matters.”

  “What are you doing here?” Kate asked.

  “Getting you out of here. I don’t know why Dolan didn’t hang onto you or why he doesn’t have a whole squad parked around the house, but we can’t assume we’re going to stay so lucky.”

  “We’re fine, though. Right, hon?” She turned to Alec and rested a hand on his arm, but it looked forced.

  Lockman wondered if there was trouble with the relationship and couldn’t help but find himself hoping there was. He pushed the notion out of his mind. Not only did he not have time to entertain such a ridiculous idea, what were the chances she would want him anywhere near her when she learned who he really was?

  Alec gave Kate a brow-furled look. “I think he’s right.”

  “You do?” Kate and Lockman asked in sync.

  “He knows what’s going on. He obviously has a plan. And he probably has Jessie. Am I right?”

  Lockman watched Kate when he answered. “Yes.”

  Kate hesitated a second. She looked as if she was fighting some urge inside. “Oh, thank goodness.”

  What the hell was wrong with her? Had Dolan done something to her? Worked some kind of mojo on her? Maybe that was the piece they were missing. Dolan’s secret ace. “Did Dolan give you anything when he had you, Kate?”

  “Like what?”

  “Make you drink anything? Or eat? Even had you inhale something?”

  Alec moved closer to Kate. “Why are you asking that?”

  “I guess I could ask you the same thing. Neither one of you are acting normally.”

  “Hey.” Alec stepped into Lockman’s personal space. He was built, but nothing close to Lockman’s size. The gun probably helped his bravado. “Our daughter was taken from us. Then we were kidnapped. There’s some crazy shit going on and we don’t have any answers. What do you expect?”

  Everything after Our daughter didn’t even register in Lockman’s ears. The idea that this stranger claimed fatherhood over Jessie rankled so profoundly, he had to fight to keep from grabbing him by the throat and crushing his windpipe. “You have garlic with dinner, ‘cause I can smell your breath this close and I’m not about to kiss you.”

  Alec’s eyes bore into Lockman’s. “Give me one reason why I shouldn’t shoot you right now.”

  “Because you’ll miss. And I’ll make sure you wish you hadn’t.”

  “Enough,” Kate shouted. “This isn’t getting us anywhere.”

  “We need to go,” Lockman said without looking away from Alec’s challenging stare.

  “Then let’s go,” Alec said.

  Lockman glared at Alec. Alec glared back. One of them would have to back down, or they would stand there all night. Lockman knew it should be him. Take the high road. But he couldn’t fathom letting this prick think he had won. Jessie was his daughter, and he had loved Kate first. As irrational as he knew tho
se thoughts were, they possessed him as strongly as the specter had possessed Jessie’s poor boyfriend.

  Kate waved a hand between their faces, giving them both an easy excuse to break the stare-down. Almost in unison, they turned to her. “We don’t have time for this,” she said. “A terrorist has threatened my daughter more than once. Craig, if you know a way to get to him, then we’re coming with you.”

  She sounded like she wanted to strangle Dolan herself. Understandable. Not that Lockman would let her get anywhere near the likes of him. He would be damned if he put Kate and Jessie in jeopardy again.

  Chapter Forty

  Jessie stood on the front porch and watched the black cargo van and Rand’s Dodge Charger roll up the driveway, spinning dust into the air from under the tires. Her heartbeat quickened. She felt like she did before an algebra test, all swirly stomach and jittery hands. She chewed on her lip and held back from leaping down the steps and running to meet them.

  Craig had called ahead and Mr. Creed had shared the news—Mom and Alec were okay and on the way.

  It felt like decades since she’d seen them last. How would they react when they saw her? Would Alec take his usual pose as the disappointed dad, arms crossed and eyebrow lifted? Would mom start screaming the instant she stepped out of the car? How could you do this to us? Was a question Jessie could imagine coming out of either of their mouths.

  She had rehearsed a dozen different reactions of her own after Craig’s call. Take the offensive and accuse them of driving her away so she had to search for her real dad. Beg forgiveness and admit she had made a dumbass mistake. Silent treatment while they pounded on her for how irresponsible and thoughtless she was. She never expected to feel like she did as the pair of vehicles pulled to a stop. The tug in her gut. The wetness in her eyes.

  Then the back doors to the cargo van flung open and her mom stepped out.

  “Mom,” Jessie said through a sob-clogged throat. She jumped off the porch, skipping the steps altogether, and sprinted toward her mother.

  Her mom saw her coming and stopped short. She didn’t look angry, but she definitely didn’t look happy to see her either. A strained expression passed over her face for an instant. Then a smile replaced it.

  Jessie plowed into her mother and wrapped her in her arms. Her mom let Jessie squeeze, but she didn’t immediately respond to the embrace until Alec came over and wrapped his arms around them both. Only then, as if taking a cue, did Mom hug Jessie back.

  She had to be in shock was all. Maybe she had run into some freaky shit like Jessie had. Vampires or ghosts or whatever. At least she wasn’t screaming.

  Alec kissed Jessie on top of her head. “My girls, back together at last.”

  Nothing like Jessie had expected. She hugged her mom even tighter, then wrapped an arm around Alec to include him. She cried like a girly-girl, but she couldn’t hold it in. She had her family back. It was all that mattered.

  Alec rubbed her back. “Easy. It’s okay.”

  Her mom said nothing, felt a little stiff in Jessie’s embrace.

  Jessie pulled back and looked in her mom’s eyes, dry as toast. “Are you mad at me?”

  Mom smiled, shook her head. “Just glad to see you again.”

  Jessie wiped her eyes with her sleeve and sniffled. “I’m so sorry. I should have never took off to California like that. Dumbest idea ever.”

  “No argument from me,” Alec said. “But what’s done is done. Let’s put it past us, okay?”

  Jessie couldn’t believe how nice Alec was being to her. He seemed to like her more than her own mother. Maybe not strange for some stepdads, but sure as heck strange for hers. “Okay.”

  The others had filed out of the vehicles by now and stood around pretending not to notice the family reunion on the front lawn, though Rand couldn’t hide his big grin. Craig stood by the van, the only one openly looking at them. She gave him a small wave. He answered with a two-fingered salute. His eyes were pinched, though. He looked like he was thinking about a better time.

  Mom straightened and turned toward the group, a scowl on her face. “I want to find the motherfucker who threatened my family. Where do we go from here?”

  Jessie tried to swallow, found she couldn’t. She had never heard her mom—not ever, ever, ever—use the F-word. What the fuck was up with her?

  “Something’s wrong with Mom,” Jessie said.

  Lockman leaned in the archway connecting the kitchen with the living room, listening to Creed and Rodriguez argue over strategies to infiltrate the factory building Tanner had given up during interrogation. Lockman had some ideas of his own, but he let the two men bicker a bit because they used to do it all the time back in the day and Lockman knew they were reliving some of those glory days now. They’d had a lot more men and resources back then, though.

  Lockman turned to Jessie. “What’s that?”

  Jessie glanced toward the kitchen table where everyone had gathered, Kate included. She stood looking over the map of the area Creed had pulled out and spread on the table, her arms crossed, gaze focused as tightly as sunlight through a magnifying glass.

  “Can we talk?” she whispered.

  Lockman backed out of the kitchen. He strode through the living room and out the front door. Jessie came out with him and he closed the door and took a seat on the porch steps.

  Jessie sat next to him. “Something is wrong with Mom.”

  “You noticed, too?”

  “What’s going on?”

  He looked up at the blue sky full of thick, clean clouds. The humidity had abated some, which made the heat bearable in small doses. “I’m not sure. I’m worried Dolan might have done something to her when he had her.”

  “Like what?”

  “Who knows? The way he plays with mojo it could be anything.”

  “No.” She grabbed his arm. “I just got her back. I’m not going to lose her to some…anything. We have to know what he did.”

  A knot tightened in Lockman’s chest at the sight of Jessie’s desperate look. “Might be she’s just shaken up.”

  “You don’t believe that.”

  “You know me by now. I like to stay cautious.”

  “Then how do we find out what’s happened to her?”

  Lockman craned his neck and looked off toward the barn. “There’s one person might know.”

  Jessie watched him slip into the side door to the barn and close it behind him. She tried to imagine what kind of setup they had in there. All she could put together came from bits and pieces of television shows and action movies. Tanner tied to a chair, a gag in his mouth. A metal tray with instruments that belonged in some mad dentist’s office.

  She squeezed her eyes shut and shook away the images.

  Back inside, she stood where Craig had when she pulled him aside. Mom still stood at the table with Creed, Rodriquez, and Rand. No sign of Alec, though. Rand tapped on the map with a thick finger, now part of the debate between Mr. Creed and Rodriguez. Mom’s gaze followed the argument as it bounced back and forth between the men. She looked obsessed. A suburban housewife suddenly interested in military strategy with an eye toward vengeance.

  A toilet flushed down the hall.

  Jessie looked toward the sound.

  Alec came out of the bathroom and started down the hall. He jerked to a halt when he saw her. His eyes widened. He put a finger to his lips.

  That’s when Jessie noticed the gun with the long barrel in his other hand. She realized the barrel was so long because he had a silencer or suppressor on it. She opened her mouth to shout, but he grabbed her by the hair and pulled her into the hall.

  He pressed the gun barrel against her forehead, leaned close to whisper in her ear. “I plan on sparing you and your mom. Don’t make me change my mind.”

  She gaped at him, her brain scrambling to make sense of what was happening. Moments ago he was acting nicer toward her than Mom; now he held a gun to her head.

  “Nod if you understand what I said.” />
  She nodded even though she didn’t understand any of it.

  He let go of his grip on her hair and put an arm around her shoulders to guide her back down the hall and into the bathroom. “Sit,” he whispered and pointed at the closed toilet seat.

  She sat, her arms cold and crawling with gooseflesh. Her throat pumped in time with the beat of her heart. “Why are you doing this?”

  “Not another word.” He bent and opened the cupboards under the sink, rummaged through the contents, knocking over plastic bottles of mouthwash, rubbing alcohol, and peroxide. Unsatisfied with his findings, he stood, not bothering to clean up or close the cupboards. He stared at Jessie for an eternity, though he didn’t look like he saw her at all. “I don’t have time to find something to tie you up. So here’s the deal. You stay right there, keep this door shut, and don’t make a sound no matter what you hear, I’ll let your mom live. Got it?”

  The tears welled up despite her efforts to hold them back. She had done so much crying, had spent so much time being afraid. She was sick to death of it. Couldn’t take it anymore.

  Maybe she didn’t have to.

  If she had managed to focus her mind and make Tanner shoot himself, she could do something similar with Alec.

  “Got it?” Alec repeated.

  She nodded.

  He eyed her like he didn’t believe her.

  She stared right back and let the tears roll free. Her fear, her anger, her confusion—she could use it all to power her own magic.

  What about the blood?

  No. She didn’t need blood. She believed if there was wicked magic, there must be good, no matter what Craig might think.

  Finally Alec came to some internal decision. He left the bathroom and closed her inside.

  Okay, focus.

  Unlike Tanner, Alec didn’t have a gun with no safety tucked in his pants. She didn’t know enough about guns to imagine a scenario where his weapon could malfunction in a way that would hurt him. Something else, then. Make him trip and fall. Before he had a chance to take the others by surprise.