Talking with the Dead

by Shiloh Walker

  Drifting down from the ceiling, she started to circle around Jake and he flinched, letting go of Sandy and scuttling away. He cowered in the corner as the misty white form moved closer.

  “Nonononononono!” he screamed harshly, swinging out with one hand. It seemed like he had forgotten he was even holding the gun, just slapping out blindly in terror.

  “I screamed that, didn’t I? How often did I beg for help? Beg you to stop? You laughed. You wanted me to scream—now it’s my turn.” Tanya’s voice rose and fell, getting louder and louder until it echoed off the walls.

  Michael sat there, listening to that terrifying voice with dread. She continued to taunt her killer, her voice low and full of hate. The rage and anger spiraling inside her. It flooded the small confines of the cabin. All that emotion was going to explode and the results were going to be ugly and scary as hell.

  She was pulling herself back into this world, too completely. Too entirely. Leaning over, he put his mouth to Daisy’s ear. “Get the girl loose. Got a knife?”

  Daisy gave a slight nod and started to inch away, moving backward until she could press her back to the wall. Once there, she circled around the room, watching Jake carefully. Jake never once looked her way. He was too focused on Tanya. Nobody else in the world mattered to him.

  Michael waited until he saw Daisy kneel by Sandy’s side before he spoke to Tanya. “Is he worth it?”

  Tanya barely seemed to realize he was talking to her. She was too busy whirling around Jake, her laughter high, a wicked edge to it that made his skin crawl. “Scream for me!” And her voice sounded just a little more solid. Long plumes of misty white trailed from her as she tormented him, making her seem larger than she really was.

  Michael focused—it was harder now than ever before. All that wild manic energy that she drew in with her was scrambling his brain. “Tanya!”

  The whirling white form seemed to settle a little and she turned, staring at Michael. “Go away now,” she said quietly.

  Shaking his head, Michael said, “I can’t. You said you could feel something odd, something inside you changing. Rage is taking a hold of you, Tanya. Ghosts and rage don’t mix well. Ghosts and rage—you let rage settle inside you, Tanya, you’ll never move on. Being stuck here, is that what you want?”

  She stilled. “I want him to pay.” Hatred filled her eyes and she stared at Jake malevolently. “I want him scared and begging for his life.”

  Tanya looked back at Jake and Michael cursed under his breath as she started to scream at Jake again. She reached out, her arms long, much longer than a human’s, and grabbed him. Michael dove across the floor as she flung Jake across the room. “This makes him pay—but you pay as well. Don’t punish yourself for his crimes. You don’t want to be trapped, Tanya. Let it go. I’ll take care of him.”

  “I…I don’t think I can do that.”

  Michael closed his eyes as her anger began to pulse within him—getting too strong. Too out of control. “Are you ready to make us suffer with him?”

  Daisy crouched in the corner with Sandy huddled against her. There had been an old, rough blanket laying on the floor and Daisy had given it to the younger woman, but Sandy was still trembling. Soft little mewls of fear kept rising in her throat and she stared sightlessly at the wall. Her entire body was shaking,

  She was going into shock. Daisy had to get her out of there but she didn’t know how. She sure as hell couldn’t carry Sandy back to the car. It had been a good mile hike to get here and a rough one, at that.

  It didn’t help that the very air around them felt heavy, icy with terror. It was like the way the air felt thick and humid right before a summer storm broke open right over your head, but instead of thick, muggy air, when Daisy breathed in, it was chills and fear that clogged her lungs.

  Closing her eyes helped a little. Forcing her breathing to level while she counted to ten. No—twenty. Twenty was a little better. She’d prefer a thousand, but she really needed to figure a way out of this mess.

  Her mind raced. This sure as hell hadn’t been covered in training years ago, and it wasn’t anything she’d ever picked up through experience either. Part of her knew she needed to get Sandy someplace safe, someplace where she could get medical treatment.

  The other part didn’t want to do a damn thing that would draw Tanya’s attention away from Michael. And yeah, she wanted to hear more about this us suffering with him part.

  “I won’t hurt anybody else—just him.” Tanya’s voice was low and angry and there was a sadistic look in her eyes that made Daisy’s skin crawl.

  Michael cocked his head, staring at the incorporeal form as though he was talking to somebody on the street about the damned weather. “But you already have—you scared her earlier, didn’t you? You already told me that. You can keep it to where only he can hear you, but you’re losing control. The anger is taking control.”

  Chills ran down Daisy’s spine as she watched the emotions that flickered on Tanya’s face. She seemed to getting more and more solid with every passing moment. That really really bothered Daisy—because she also sensed a wariness about Michael. Not in the way he held himself, or even the way he talked.

  She doubted that Tanya sensed it at all.

  But he was worried. Very worried.

  “Listen to me, Tanya. If that anger takes over completely—if you let go, you’ll lose yourself. And passing on, you will never be able to do it. You’ll be trapped here, nothing more than a thing of anger and rage that nothing short of God’s intervention will stop. I won’t be able to help you.”

  Okay, now that sounded bad. Images of the movie The Grudge began to roll through Daisy’s mind. Before she realized she was going to say anything, she heard herself speak, “He’s not worth that, Tanya. Anger wasn’t something you had use for in life. Remember how I always held grudges? You never did. Said you were too lazy, but it wasn’t that. You just didn’t have any use for anger. Not then. Don’t let it take over now.”

  Seconds later, it was like the storm just rolled away. The terror was gone. Daisy was no longer trembling and Sandy finally stopped whimpering in mindless terror. Daisy squeezed Sandy’s shoulder and then looked to Tanya.

  Or tried to—Tanya wasn’t so easy to see any more.

  “You always had the most annoying habit of being right, Daisy,” Tanya said. Her voice sounded distant, like it was coming from down a well. The wind whipping through the cabin stopped—there was a soft sighing sound and then just silence.

  “Tanya?”

  Michael glanced at her. “She’s gone.”

  Daisy gaped at him. “That fast?”

  That crooked grin appeared for the briefest second. “Sometimes, it just takes the right words. You had them. I didn’t.” Then he blinked. As he looked away, she had the briefest glimpse of his eyes. That look was going to stick with her a long, long time.

  “I have to take him in, Michael. And we have to hurry. She’s going into shock.”

  Michael looked away from Jake for a moment. Jake was still huddled on the floor, his arms over his head. Of the four of them, Jake still seemed to be suffering the after-effects of whatever Tanya had been doing. He was bawling like a baby. A disgusted sneer curled Michael’s mouth and then he looked at Daisy. “Prison’s too good for him.”

  As he moved toward Sandy, Daisy thought that danger had been averted.

  Obviously not.

  “She’ll sleep now,” Michael said less than a minute later as Daisy was slowly, carefully approaching Jake.

  Daisy looked back at Sandy. “Damn it, shock victims aren’t supposed to sleep!”

  His eyes met hers very briefly. “She’s not in shock any more.”

  Daisy tried to block him from Jake, but he merely moved around her with that easy, effortless grace, crouching in front of the fallen man. He watched Jake for the longest time with that piercing, glowing gaze. “Tanya’s gone.”

  Jake yelped at her name and looked up. Whatever he saw on Michael’s fac
e didn’t set him at ease. He cringed away. Daisy suspected if he could have disappeared into the wall, that’s exactly what he would have done. “Get away from me,” he whimpered, sounding more like a child than a grown man.

  Michael nodded. “I will. They want you more than I do anyway.”

  “They…?” Jake whispered timidly, his eyes wheeling around the room.

  Daisy glanced around, too. Holy hell. Please, not more. She couldn’t handle anything else weird tonight. Maybe never. She might be ruined for ghost flicks for life. But there was nothing else in the room. Nobody else. Just the four of them.

  She looked back to the two men in time to see Michael reaching out. He held nothing in his hand, yet Jake screeched in terror. “No! Don’t fucking touch me!”

  Michael did, though. Something odd happened when he touched his fingers to Jake’s temple. There was a glow—a faint echo of the blue glow she saw in Michael’s eyes. And for the briefest second, Jake’s dark brown eyes glowed blue.

  A keening wail escaped the deputy. He buried his face in his arms. “No—make them stop. Don’t…take it away, please please please!”

  Michael stood up, turning his back on Jake without a word.

  Daisy continued to stare at Jake with wide eyes, watching as he slowly started to rise, batting at thin air. His eyes were desperately searching the air for something, and he kept shouting out, screaming at something that Daisy couldn’t see.

  “What did you do?”

  Michael’s face was weary. “Giving the rest of them peace. They just want to know why.” He stopped in his tracks, staring at her.

  Daisy shook her head. “But there isn’t a why. Men can’t always explain why they kill,” she said softly, watching as Jake continued to spin around, staring into the air and swinging his arms as though he was trying to fend something, or someone, off. “Are…are they all trapped?”

  “No. Just—at unrest. Most of them have moved on, but they can still see him, feel him. Each time he kills, it leaves a mark on them. When he’s gone—”

  Daisy shook her head. “Gone? No. No gone. He’s going to prison.”

  Michael looked at her, a sad smile on his face.

  “What?” she demanded. “What do you know?”

  “They won’t let him live that long.”

  Before she could puzzle that one out, Jake took off running. At some point, he’d dropped his gun and Daisy breathed out a sigh of relief as she went after him. Chasing somebody with a gun was something she’d planned on leaving behind her when she left Louisville Metro.

  Jake ran east, heading for the lake. She hit the button on the flashlight and followed after him. Branches slapped at her face, tangled in her hair and she could feel leaves, twigs and mud sliding under her boots as she ran. “Just let me stay on my feet,” she prayed silently.

  The path curved and she struggled to close the distance between her and Jake before he got around the bend. She lost sight of him, though as the path continued to weave in and out of the trees. Blood pounded in her ears and her heart was racing so fast that she couldn’t hear anything else.

  “Damn it, where in the hell are you?” she muttered.

  “Am I wasting my breath if I tell you that you don’t need to chase him?”

  Hell. She hadn’t even heard Michael leave the cabin. Slowing to a stop, she stared ahead. “Go back and stay with Sandy. And yes, you’d be wasting your breath. Get Sandy to the car—I assume you know how to use a radio. Call for back up.”

  Michael sighed and she felt his hand brush down her hair. “You’ll find him in the lake. I’ll wait until I hear from you to call for back up.”

  Spinning around, she glared at his retreating back. “Damn it, I said…”

  Distantly, she heard a splash. Sound carried on the water. And the lake was close now. A few hundred feet away. That was a big splash, too. Turning back to the trail, she started to jog, and then run. The trees broke open around her and she made her way to the dock, shining the flashlight around warily. Jake was nowhere to be seen. “Wait until you hear from me to call for back up,” she muttered, shaking her head. Damn his stubborn hide.

  An owl hooted and Daisy jumped.

  “Oh screw this,” she said furiously. She’d go back and call for back up.

  But even as she turned, her flashlight flickered off the lake, reflecting light back at her. Michael’s words echoed through her mind. You’ll find him in the lake.

  In the lake. Daisy swallowed. Not on the lake. Not by the lake. In the lake. Dragging her tongue over dry lips, she walked over the weathered boards of the dock. The heels of her boots echoed hollowly with every step. A fish jumped somewhere and the splash made her jump yet again. “I swear, I’m sleeping with the lights on every night for a month,” she breathed softly as she edged closer, shining the flashlight’s beam out over the surface of the water. Jake wouldn’t try to swim to the other side at night, would he? Easier to get away just by making his way around the lake’s shore. Hell of a lot safer, too.

  She reached the edge of the dock and scowled. “Damn it.” She let the light fall to her side but as it did, it shone on a pale face. Eyes wide. A hideous death mask.

  Daisy screamed. Clapping a hand over her mouth, she stared down into the water at Jake’s still face. “Oh, dear God,” she whispered quietly.

  It hadn’t even been ten minutes since he had taken off running from the cabin. Maybe four minutes since she had heard the splash.

  And now—

  They won’t let him live that long.

  Chapter Seven

  It was late the following night when she finished the official report.

  Officially, Jake Morris’ death was an accident. He’d tried to run when Daisy attempted to arrest him. Why was she out there? A wonderful standby—an anonymous tip. And since Jake wasn’t around to lawyer up and have her worry too much about him getting out of prison on technicalities, she felt safe using it.

  Officially, the report looked very cut and dry. Probably one of the neatest little wrap up jobs on a major case in history. No question of his guilt, not with everything they’d found in the cabin and no need to worry about him getting off on some technicality at the trial. All nice and tidy with no loose ends.

  Unofficially—it was the most bizarre night of her life. The most terrifying. One that was going to be the source of nightmares for some time, she had no doubt. It was definitely one that she hoped never to repeat again.

  Yet as she finished printing the report out, she couldn’t help feel a little bitter.

  Michael was going to leave.

  He had stayed here only because there was a ghost who couldn’t move on. And now that Tanya had moved on, he would, too.

  A few days. A handful of days, she’d known that man. She didn’t know much of anything about him, other than the fact that he had the saddest blue eyes, a smile that melted her knees—and he was too damn spooky to describe. But she desperately wanted him to stay. There were men in this town she’d known off and on all her life and she wouldn’t miss any of them if she up and decided to move back to Louisville. Not that it would happen, but Michael, she was going to miss him. She already did.

  How had he come to mean so much in such a short amount of time?

  Sighing, she propped her elbows on the desk, rubbing at her eyes with her fingers. Chances are, he was already gone. They’d spoken briefly at the hospital. Michael had told her that Sandy wouldn’t remember a lot of what had happened. Vague memories of Jake grabbing her, and nothing else.

  She was rather curious about that, but he’d just given her that small, mysterious smile of his. And that was all the answer she would get. Daisy could fill in the blanks though. If he could make Sandy sleep, do something to keep her from going into shock—wiping a few memories away was probably just another talent.

  A part of her cringed at the thought. Memories were personal—should Sandy’s have been touched? But every time Daisy closed her eyes, she remembered what happened at the c
abin. Sandy would have enough bad memories just from Jake grabbing her, just thinking about what might have happened. She didn’t need memories of ghosts on top of it.

  “You should be at home. You’re exhausted.”

  Daisy jumped. Looking up at Michael, she slammed her hand down on the table and snapped, “Don’t do that!”

  His eyes softened. “I’m sorry.” He closed the door behind him and leaned back against it, studying her. “Were you able to sleep any today?”

  Daisy shook her head. “No. I’ll sleep tonight. Maybe. Then again, it may be a few days before I can sleep.” She paused, looking down at the report in front of her. It was done. All she had to do was sign it. “Almost done here.” A knot formed in her throat as she saw the bag over his shoulder. “You’re leaving.”

  The thick fringe of his lashes drooped, shielding his eyes. “My job here is done,” he said quietly, lifting his shoulder restlessly.

  He looked back at her, his gaze resting on her mouth for a brief second. Then he met her gaze and forced a smile. “So it’s time to go.”

  It wasn’t the first time Daisy had thought about it, but now, she looked at him and wondered, really wondered, just how deep the loneliness inside him ran. “You ever get tired of just the job, Michael?” she asked softly.

  “It’s all there is for me.”

  Slowly, Daisy rose from her desk, moving around it. She held his gaze as she drew nearer and hoped the knot in her throat wasn’t going to choke her before she could finish saying goodbye. “Is it that way because you want it to be? Or because you don’t think you can have anything else?”

  He had no answer. Daisy forced a smile. “Maybe you don’t know. Think about it.” Rising on her toes, she pressed her lips to his mouth gently. “When you know—I’d be interested in hearing the answer. Because if you think it’s the second one, I’d like the chance to prove you wrong.”