White Spirit

by Amy Ravenel

  “You’re changing the subject on me?” McKenna jutted her chin out. Her eyes flashed.

  “Mac, I’m going to keep ignoring it like I’ve always ignored it.” He stuffed his clothes from yesterday into the open bag. “Now, Dr. Cameron.”

  McKenna stared at him, an expression of disbelief evident on her face. Her mouth drew a thin line as she ground out her reply. “Ask him to come to your apartment tonight. Maybe he can reach Lily and send her on.”

  “Thank you.” He stalked up the stairs to change.

  Footsteps pounded behind him. “Oh, no, you don’t.” McKenna grabbed his hand and held on tight. “I won’t let you give up on this.”

  He whirled on her. “Why do you care? Is it so you can avenge your brother’s death faster? What?”

  The slap was quick and sharp, a loud pop in the quiet room. Tristan stumbled back, his mouth slightly open. McKenna’s eyes were blue ice. She turned away from him and marched back down the stairs.

  He swore under his breath as he cradled his stinging cheek.

  McKenna gritted her teeth. Last night had been a mistake. The whole thing had been a mistake. She had shared all of herself with him, trusted him as she wanted him to trust her. But it wasn’t meant to be. He couldn’t even trust himself and his power. She yanked the wheel to the right, narrowly missing her turn.

  The ghost can have him, she thought. The angry part of her wanted to turn the car around and head back to her apartment. If he didn’t want to help her, then why should she help him?

  A memory of her brother chasing her through the woods near their childhood home sprang into her mind. She wasn’t doing this solely for Tristan. Condemning the other men in that apartment because she was pissed off wasn’t the answer. Her grip tightened on the steering wheel. One selfish untrained psychic wasn’t going to stop her.

  She focused her attention on the upcoming interview as she pulled into Sarah Bell’s driveway. She gathered her things, straightened her back, and climbed out of the car. So much more was going on than her relationship with Tristan. She had spent the whole drive stewing and her shoulders tightened painfully as a result. She rolled her head back and forth.

  “Forget about him,” she mumbled. “You’ve got more important things to do.”

  Mrs. Bell’s house was bigger than she imagined. It was a three-story cottage that hung off the side of the mountain. A clear view of Grandfather Mountain added to the breathtaking beauty of it. The shape of a nose and a beard in the distance was visible even on a cloudy day.

  McKenna knocked.

  A short woman with chopped, chin-length dark blonde hair greeted her. Her hazel eyes shone as she led McKenna inside. “Welcome!” she exclaimed as she introduced herself. “Let’s sit in the sunroom.”

  McKenna relaxed as she followed Mrs. Bell through the organized and neat house. She felt like she had stepped into the pages of House Beautiful. Pictures of family and paintings of the mountains lined the short hallway. Mrs. Bell made a left turn, and McKenna found herself in a room full of windows. The Blue Ridge Mountains spread out before her.

  She gasped. “This is amazing.” Her fight with Tristan was forgotten.

  “Thank you.” Mrs. Bell beamed. “I designed it myself.”

  McKenna sat in a cushioned white wicker chair. A pitcher of sweet tea rested on the small coffee table in front of her. Mrs. Bell took the other chair.

  “I have to say I was rather surprised when you called.” Mrs. Bell poured a glass of tea. “I haven’t thought about Lily in years. That must make me a terrible friend.” A hint of sadness settled over McKenna as the older woman held the glass out to her. “Would you like some?”

  “Thank you.” McKenna drank some before placing it in front of her. “And, no, I don’t think it makes you a terrible friend.”

  Mrs. Bell chuckled. “I hope not. I spearheaded most of the searches after she disappeared. We never did find any evidence of what happened to her.” She stared out at the mountains, the melancholy hovering in the air.

  McKenna leaned on the arm of the chair. “Do you remember anything about the day she went missing, Mrs. Bell?”

  “Please, call me Sarah.” She took a deep breath. “As if it were yesterday.” Sarah fiddled with the end of her dress. “Lily had been depressed for a couple of weeks. She wouldn’t talk to me or go to class. I threatened to make her see a counselor. She ignored me.” A corner of her mouth curved up. “But that night, she seemed to come alive. She had a piece of paper in her hand, and she was dressed and ready to go. I had a part time job at K-Mart at the time and was coming in from my shift. All she said was, ‘Bye,’ as she ran out the door.”

  “Did anyone find the piece of paper?”

  “No. I didn’t even know where she was going. She was just gone.” Sarah raised her hands helplessly.

  McKenna sipped more of her tea, letting the information sink in. It was clear Lily was meeting someone that night, but who? “Did she ever mention a boyfriend?”

  Sarah smoothed her skirt. “She told me she met someone over the summer while she was taking summer classes, and that it was a big secret.”

  McKenna leaned forward. “Did she tell you his name?”

  “No. Apparently, I wasn’t allowed to know the secret. But she said she was going to marry him, and they were going to live happily ever after.” Sarah’s eyes found the mountains again. “I tried to get her to tell me, but she wouldn’t. Said she would when we graduated.”

  “Was she ever scared of anybody?”

  Sarah fidgeted in her chair. Unable to stay still, she walked to the window. “You’re asking the same kind of questions the police did years ago.” She turned. “What new information have you found? Why is an investigator interested in a twenty-year-old missing person’s case?” The color drained out of her face as her fear smacked into McKenna. “Oh, God. Did somebody find her body?”

  “No.” McKenna joined her at the window, projecting calm. “It’s nothing like that.” The truth was on the tip of her tongue. A laptop with the footage sat in her bag, waiting to be shown. But feeling Sarah’s devastation made McKenna hesitate. What good would it do to share footage of a soul who wasn’t her best friend anymore? It would be cruel.

  She chose a different tactic. “There’s an apartment building near the Blackwood campus. It was built in the woods where everybody used to hang out.”

  Sarah nodded. “I remember them building it.”

  “Well, someone found a bow that might have belonged to Lily on the ground.” McKenna stumbled through the lie. Even though she knew it was wrong, she projected as much trustworthiness as she could.

  Sarah’s shoulders relaxed. Her face beamed. “Evidence that she didn’t run away?”

  “Possibly.”

  “But why are you here instead of the police?”

  Good question. McKenna nibbled on her bottom lip. “I’m…I’m one of the investigators. Like I told you on the phone.” Thank goodness she hadn’t told Sarah she was a paranormal investigator. There were times to tell the truth and times to omit it. She changed the subject. “Sarah, what do you remember about Lily’s personality?”

  Tears pricked the corners of Sarah’s eyes. “Lily was great. She was wild, open, friendly. Funny.” She laughed a little. “I was the shy one, always wanting to stay in my room. Lily wouldn’t let me. We spent three years tearing through campus like we didn’t have anything to lose.”

  With Sarah back on topic, McKenna went back to her original question. “Did anyone scare Lily? Make her nervous?”

  “You mean, did anyone want to hurt her?” Sarah sat back down and rested her hands in her lap. Her brow wrinkled as she tried to remember. “A week after we started our senior year, she did seem jumpy. She was happy about the guy she was seeing, but flowers came to our dorm, and they didn’t seem to be from her mysterious boyfriend. They were never signed.”

  “Anything else?”

  Sarah shook her head. “That’s about it. I’m sorry. We didn’t
talk that much the last year.” McKenna recognized regret coming from the older woman. “I wish I had made more time.”

  McKenna held out her hand. “Her disappearance wasn’t your fault. I hope you know that.”

  “I know. I only wish I’d had more time with her.”

  McKenna shook her hand. “Thank you for your time, Mrs. Bell.”

  Sarah led her back to the door. “Let me know if the evidence leads to something. Twenty years is a long time not knowing what became of your best friend.”

  Why did she have to push? Tristan groused, replaying the conversation in his head. He had a tentative grip on his sanity as it was. He’d been lucky to come back the last few times. What if this vision shoved him over the edge?

  Find out more about Lily and her affair at the college? Sure. Pay attention to any psychic images that might push their way through? Yes. But trying to will a picture of the past and letting everything in at once? No. He wasn’t going to try again, not after the last time. His ability was too erratic.

  The look of disappointment on McKenna’s face almost did him in. He wanted to be with her, to touch her, to have her believe in him, to turn those beautiful blue eyes his way. He wouldn’t let it cost him his sanity, though, and that was a problem.

  He rubbed his cheek. It was still red from where she hit him. He deserved that, and he wished he could take back those words. He let out a breath. Maybe starting something with McKenna was too much. She wanted a part of him that he couldn’t give. Maybe it was the only part of him she cared about. It would probably be easier to say good-bye once all of this was over.

  Tristan ignored his fight with McKenna as he tracked down Dr. Cameron. He found the department head settling into his office. Thank God the man was back. If he was connected, he might be able to stop Lily. And then Tristan could put both the ghost and the empath behind him.

  “Dr. Cameron?”

  Cameron glanced up from his desk. He smiled when he saw Tristan standing in his doorway and waved him inside. His eyes had dark circles under them, but he seemed to be in better spirits than he was several days before. “Mr. Johnson, what can I do for you?”

  Tristan stepped inside and closed the door. His heart pounded in his ears. If Cameron didn’t recognize the bow, then he was out of leads. And he had to find a way to stop The White Lady before she killed her next victim. He slid into the chair in front of the desk, sucking in a deep breath.

  “I need to ask you something, sir.” Tristan retrieved the yellow hair bow, placing it on the desk between them. “Do you recognize this?”

  The air in the room went completely still. Cameron rubbed a hand over his face as he studied the hair accessory. Tears shone in his eyes. He picked it up, turning every angle to the light.

  Tristan didn’t know what to say. He had never seen such a tender expression on the older professor’s face. His legs bounced under the desk.

  Cameron glanced at Tristan. “Lily Comer.”

  “You knew her?” His legs stilled as he straightened.

  “I did.” Cameron sat back in his black leather chair. “I forgot all about this. Where did you find it?”

  Tristan sank back into his seat. “In my desk, sir.”

  “It was locked in a secret space in one of the drawers. I remember now.” Cameron shook his head. “I should’ve come back for it, but life got in the way.”

  Tristan chose to stick to the lie. “The drawer kept rattling and I got curious.”

  Cameron heaved a sigh. “Lily was one of my students. She was bright, beautiful, had such a future ahead of her. Even though I knew it was wrong, I fell in love with her the summer before her senior year. We started meeting out in the woods, right in the area where they were building Hidden Forest. At night, hardly anyone went near the construction site, so it was perfect. It would’ve been bad for both of us if someone had seen us. Teachers and students aren’t supposed to have affairs.

  “Then as the weeks went on, we became more daring. Started meeting in the classroom that became your office. Everything would have been fine if Dr. Knight hadn’t caught us. He was working late that night, and tore into me. Said it wasn’t professional.” Dr. Cameron’s fingers caressed the hair bow. “He was right, of course.

  “I begged him not to tell anyone. My career meant the world to me, and if Lily could just hang on, we could go public when she graduated.” He set the bow down. “I broke it off with her. Told her to wait until graduation. She was so angry, said she never wanted to see me again.” Cameron’s eyes were solemn.

  “I heard she disappeared.”

  Cameron ran a hand over his face. “I heard that, too. One day, she stopped coming to class. No one could find her. Her stuff was still in her dorm room so I don’t think she left school.”

  Tristan shifted. He ignored his nerves and asked the direct question. “Do you know what happened to her?”

  “No.” Cameron shook his head. “I kept expecting the police to show up at my door at any minute to ask questions, but they never came. She must have hidden our secret well.” He wiped his eyes. “I loved her and would have made her happy.”

  If McKenna had been there, she would be able to tell if he were lying. But Tristan was there alone. He didn’t expect Cameron to come out and say he killed her, but part of him wanted to believe the man was telling the truth.

  “Thank you for telling me.” Tristan cleared his throat and launched into the next part. “You’re going to think I’m crazy, but I think Lily is The White Lady of Hidden Forest.”

  Cameron lifted an eyebrow. “The ghost the students tell stories about?”

  “Yes, sir. You might be able to help stop her.”

  “Mr. Johnson, I don’t think…”

  “At least meet the paranormal investigators who are looking into her. We could use your help.” Tristan winced. It sounded crazy even to his ears.

  Cameron touched the bow one more time. He was silent so long that Tristan gathered his bag, preparing to be thrown out. The older man lifted his hazel eyes. “Fine. I’ll hear you out.”

  22

  The end was near. Tristan felt it in his bones. If this worked, and he really hoped it worked, The White Lady would be gone forever. No more random deaths. The tenants living in the building ten years in the future wouldn’t have to worry about a murderous ghost. Best of all, he could put all things supernatural behind him, and possibly let McKenna go.

  Activity buzzed around the apartment as the sun set outside. Drew set a tripod, a camera nestled on top of it, in the middle of the living room. He said that he wanted to catch the moment the ghost moved on. Aaron and Tabitha checked and rechecked their handheld EMF readers, ready to take measurements of the activity. Dr. Cameron told McKenna about his history with Lily.

  The older man hunched his shoulders as he spoke. “I knew better than to pursue her. She was a student. I was a teacher.” He beamed, lost in the memory. “But there was something special about her.”

  “You didn’t know what would happen to her when you let her go, Dr. Cameron.” McKenna sat on the end of the couch, her hands folded in her lap.

  “That’s the thing.” Cameron rubbed his face. “I should’ve never let her go.” He scooted to the edge of his seat. “Don’t get me wrong. I love my wife and my children. They brought me back from the black period I went through after Lily disappeared. But so many things would be different.” He laid a hand on McKenna’s shoulder. “If all of this is true, your brother would still be alive.”

  McKenna started. “How did you know?”

  “Tristan told me.”

  McKenna narrowed her eyes at Tristan. “Some people should mind their own business.” The fading light outside gave her a golden halo. Her smile was warm and genuine, but her expression went cold every time she caught Tristan looking at her.

  Tristan pulled his gaze away from her and went back to helping Drew and Kayla set up the equipment.

  Drew glanced from his best friend to his co-worker. “What did yo
u do to her, man?”

  “I didn’t do anything.” Tristan stuck his hands in his pockets, feeling like a heel.

  “You did something. I’ve never seen Mac this pissed.”

  Kayla glanced from the laptop screen. She studied Tristan for a few minutes. “Stop being a dumbass and apologize.”

  “It’s not my fault.”

  She sighed. “That doesn’t matter. It’s always your fault.”

  Tristan clamped down on his temper. “Let’s just worry about this, okay. The sooner it’s over, the better.”

  Drew arched an eyebrow as he snapped the camera into place and turned it on. “Ready!”

  Cameron stood and wiped his hands on his pants. “I don’t even know what I’m supposed to do.”

  McKenna touched his arm. “Just be yourself. Tell her everything you wish you’d had the chance to tell her.”

  “You’re going to be fine, sir,” Tristan added as he crossed to them.

  Aaron moved to the left side of the room. “Start talking whenever you’re ready.”

  Tabitha nodded as she took the right side of the room. She tossed a small bag of salt to each person. “Stay calm. Use these if things get out of hand.”

  Cameron cleared his throat. McKenna nodded encouragement, and he addressed the air. “Lily, I don’t know if you can hear me or even if you’re really here.” He walked around the coffee table, his hands in his pockets. “I don’t even know what happened to you the night you disappeared. All I know is I shouldn’t have let you go.”

  The lights blinked.

  McKenna gave Cameron’s arm a squeeze. “Keep going.”

  “When I first met you in the hall, I thought you were the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen.” Cameron’s voice gained strength. “You didn’t look like anybody else, and I loved that about you. I probably shouldn’t have approached you, shouldn’t have asked to see you after class, but I couldn’t help it. I had to know you.” He kicked out his foot and sauntered to the center of the room.