He briefly closed his eyes. “Becca, part of being in a relationship means being honest with each other.”
I squirmed. “I know. It’s just ... I thought I could handle it. I didn’t think he was actually in the house. Everything was locked. And I thought Mia was just hearing things. Plus, we’re going to get the locks changed and an alarm system put in.”
“That’s the smartest thing you’ve said yet,” Daniel said. “Who did you call?”
“I haven’t called anyone yet,” I said, but the words were hardly out of my mouth before Daniel was pulling his phone out of his pocket. “We’re getting this taken care of today,” he said. “At the very least, the locks. And if they can’t come today, I’m sleeping here on the couch until they do.” I opened my mouth to tell him that wasn’t necessary, but the set look on his face made me close it. Besides, a part of me felt a little better, with how protective he was being.
He paused, meeting my eyes. “We’re going to get through this, Becca. We’re going to get to the bottom of it.”
God, I hoped he was right.
Chapter 17
There was something I was missing. Something I had forgotten about.
But what?
I padded through the darkened house, trying to remember. What was teasing my memory? What had I missed? It was right there at the tip of my tongue.
Maybe a cup of tea would help. A cup of tea helps everything, or at least, that’s what my Aunt Charlie would say.
“Tea won’t help you now.”
I blinked. I was in the kitchen with Aunt Charlie. We were both sitting at the table. “You always said a cup of tea cures everything.”
She smiled, but it was a tired, worn-out smile. “That was before.”
The kitchen was dark and full of shadows, but somehow, I could see Aunt Charlie clearly, lit up from the light of the full moon. Her skin was grey, and her wrinkles stood out in stark contrast.
“Took you long enough,” another voice said. I turned and saw Jessica, also sitting at the table, examining her nails.
“Jessica, you’re here.”
She shrugged. “Where else would I be?” She looked exactly the same as she did the night of the party, right down to her frilly pink top. Forever sixteen.
She sighed, shaking her head at the state of her manicure.
“But ... aren’t you upset with me?”
Her lashes flickered up at me. “Why would I be upset with you?”
“Well, uh,” I wasn’t sure if I could say it, if I could say the words, because it’s my fault you’re here. Instead, I said, “The last time you showed up in my dreams, you were a corpse telling me more would die unless I remembered.”
She gave me a “duh” look. “And you did remember. So what’s the problem?”
“But ...”
Jessica stopped picking at her nails and stared at me. “But, what?” she asked impatiently.
“But ...” oh God, she was going to make me say it. “But it’s my fault you’re here.”
She rolled her eyes. “Becca, stop feeling sorry for yourself. And stop being so melodramatic. We’ve got work to do. You’ve managed to get yourself into one hell of a mess.” She glanced at my aunt. “The living. How can you stand it?”
“She’s doing her best,” Aunt Charlie said to Jessica.
Jessica shook her head and went back to her nails. “Whatever.”
I still didn’t feel right. “But ...” I tried to say, but Jessica interrupted me.
“Becca, really. There’re other things you need to focus on. Like protecting yourself from the evil that was done.”
I felt a cold draft trickle down my back.
“It’s here,” Aunt Charlie said gravely. “The evil. You must protect yourself.” She reached out and pushed a green stone closer to me. The jade. It glistened in the grey moonbeams. “The stone. It will protect you. Did you find it yet?”
I remembered my previous dream, when Aunt Charlie held the same stone. “What are you talking about? Was I supposed to look for one?”
Aunt Charlie leaned forward, the light shifting on her face, illuminating the skull beneath her grey skin. “Find it.”
“Don’t be an idiot like I was,” Jessica said. “Listen to your aunt.”
“Wait,” I said to Jessica. “We know what happened to you. There was no evil involved. What are you talking about?”
Jessica’s lips stretched into an empty grin. “Are you sure you know what happened to me?”
“But ... I ...”
“What happened to my body?” Her lips continued stretching, opening, until, with a shock, I realized she too looked like a hollow skull. I recoiled from both of them.
“I don’t know. CB won’t tell me,” I said. “He won’t tell anyone.”
Her mouth seemed to widen. “Maybe he isn’t telling because he doesn’t know.”
CB doesn’t know? “But, he helped cover up what happened. How could he not know?”
Jessica shrugged. “Sometimes things aren’t what they seem.” She clicked her jaw together, looking more and more like a grinning skeleton.
My mind was reeling. “I don’t understand. What happened to you?”
“Never mind that,” Aunt Charlie said, now a skeleton herself. “All will be revealed in time. Right now, you need to find the jade. Protect yourself. Before it’s too late.”
I awoke with a jerk, finding myself back in my bed, the sun just barely peeking over the horizon, filling the sky with oranges and pinks. Next to me, Oscar yawned, displaying an impressive mouthful of razor-sharp teeth.
I was shocked I had slept at all, much less as long as I had. As exhausted as I was when I had finally fallen into bed last night, I had been sure I would be up tossing and turning, unable to sleep, haunted by all that had been happening to me. Instead, I fell asleep almost immediately, and slept deeply.
Daniel had spent most of the day with me, helping me get the locks changed, insisting the locksmith add additional security features to all our doors and windows, and sitting in on my meeting with the alarm system people. He also did a careful search of the house inside and out, checked my windows, the basement, garage, and more.
There were no obvious signs that anyone had been in the house.
“Keep in mind that it’s possible,” Daniel had said early in the evening, as the three of us sat outside, Mia and I with wine and Daniel with a beer. Chrissy had volunteered to make dinner and was busy in the kitchen. “It’s possible it was all done remotely.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Well, it’s possible your computer was infected with a virus at some point. You clicked on a file you shouldn’t have, and now your computer is infected. That virus could have deleted the emails.”
“So, the good news in that case would be that no one has been inside the house,” Mia said. “The bad news though, is that whoever sent the virus could have accessed anything on your computer.”
I shivered even though the day was warm and humid. “Not particularly reassuring.”
I thought about how Mia was hearing footsteps. Clearly, she was already having difficulty sleeping. I struggled to find the words, not wanting to make light of her worries about her personal safety.
“I still don’t understand how that could happen though,” I said. “I don’t click on spam.”
“It may not have looked like spam,” Daniel said. “It could have been disguised to look like something from someone you know.”
“This is just getting worse and worse,” I said. “Someone has been watching me that closely to know what I would click on?”
“It doesn’t have to be that close,” Daniel said. “Take a look at your social media networks. What you’re posting. Who your friends are. It wouldn’t be that difficult.”
I rubbed my eyes. “I’m never posting on social
media again.”
Daniel half-smiled. “Too late.”
“God.”
A yellow chickadee flew into the bird bath, splashing around and causing Oscar to sit up and take notice. A monarch butterfly perched on a marigold. The beauty and peace surrounding me was so at odds with my life that I felt almost disoriented, as if I were observing past events through a hall of mirrors.
“So. What do I do now?” I asked.
Daniel shrugged. “Nothing. At the moment. The locks are changed, the alarm system should be installed within a few days, and the technicians are looking at your computer as we speak. We should know more shortly.”
Great. The waiting game. I was never very good at that.
But after a good night’s sleep and watching the sun light up the sky, I realized I was feeling a lot better about the situation. With any luck, the technicians would be able to track down whoever was emailing me, which would both exonerate me and put Ellen’s killer behind bars. A win-win. And, with better security, hopefully all of us could sleep better.
Oscar hopped off the bed and meowed at me. Breakfast time. And coffee. I pulled on a pair of yoga pants and headed out of the room.
After feeding Oscar and pouring myself a cup of coffee, I pulled my phone out and every one of my good feelings leeched out of me. My mother had left me another text. I had better call her back. It was an hour later in New York. Plus, she had always been an early riser, so she would be up.
But ... where to go? I didn’t want to call from the kitchen. Mia and Chrissy could come down any minute, and I still hadn’t even told them about my mother’s ultimatum. With everything else going on, the last thing I wanted was for them to overhear my mother say something.
So the kitchen was out. The backyard? I peered out the window. The only things I could make out in my garden were a couple of rabbits munching on my flowers. Maybe that would work. I could pretend I was looking around the property.
I slipped on a pair of flip flops and headed out the back door, locking the door behind me. I didn’t want to take any chances.
“Rebecca, finally.” My mother sounded relieved. “When can we expect you?”
“Well, that’s what I’m calling about,” I said. “You see, I’m in a bit of a pickle, and I sort of can’t leave.”
“Oh Rebecca.” My mother’s voice fell. I could hear the disappointment practically drip from her words. “No more games. This is it.”
“No, you don’t understand,” I said. “There’s a woman here, her name is Ellen, and she went missing about a week ago ...”
“None of that has any bearing on you,” my mother interrupted, her voice firm. “Either you’re back home by Sunday, or you’re no longer welcome.”
“But she was found murdered ...”
“Murdered? Heavens! What sort of town are you living in? You should leave this afternoon!”
Never mind how many murders there are in New York, I thought, but didn’t voice. It wouldn’t have mattered. “I can’t leave though, because I was the one who found the body.”
“You what?”
“I found the body,” I said. “The cops have already told me I can’t leave. Not yet.”
“How ...? What ...? Where ...?” my mother’s voice sputtered. “I don’t understand. How did this happen?”
“I ...” This was the part I hadn’t figured out yet. There was no way I was going to explain the full story to her, but how much should I tell? “I thought I was meeting someone, but as it turned out, I was set up. And instead, I ended up finding Ellen’s body.”
“Who would tell you to meet you where there was a dead body?”
“Well, that’s what the police are investigating.”
“But why, Rebecca? Why would you agree to meet someone who could do such a thing? You could have been killed.”
I closed my eyes. “I was tricked.”
“You were tricked?”
“It’s a long story. I really don’t want to get into it on the phone,” I said.
My mother was silent. “Oh Rebecca,” she sighed. “You’ve never had any sense. Even when you were a child, you were always too trusting. Too easily fooled. I never should have let you spend time with my sister. She took advantage of you.”
Just like that, I was ten again, and my mother was reprimanding me about my choice of friends, my choice of hobbies. She never approved of anything I wanted to do, from painting to spending time in Redemption. For years, I had tried so hard to win her approval—to have her be proud of me.
“Do you see now why you can’t stay in Redemption?” she continued. “Because you make poor choices. Clearly, you can’t be trusted. This is why you need to move back here, as soon as possible, so your father and I can help you. This is why I’ve insisted on you coming home. Look what happens when your father and I aren’t there to guide you.”
I wanted to protest. I could feel the words rising in the back of my throat, hot and bitter. This wasn’t my fault. I was trying to do the right thing, to clear my name. It’s not my fault that someone is stalking me and deliberately setting me up.
But even as I thought it, I knew I couldn’t say it. She would twist my words so that they proved her point—that I wasn’t competent enough to live my life on my terms.
The worse part? I was starting to suspect she was right.
“The cops have told me I can’t leave right now,” I said, changing the subject. “At least not until they finish the investigation.”
“How long is that supposed to take?”
“I don’t know. They didn’t say.”
My mother let out a huge, disapproving sigh. “I guess all we can do is wait then. You promise me you’ll let me know the moment they’ve cleared you and you can leave. I expect you to book the first flight you can out of there the moment this nightmare is concluded.”
“I’ll let you know,” I said. “I have to go. I’ll keep you posted.”
I hung up quickly, not wanting to let my mother have the last word. I didn’t want to end up in a position where she forced me to make a promise I wasn’t prepared to keep.
Admittedly, though, my leaving appeared to be the best option. I mean, even if I were completely exonerated, how could I stay here? Louise obviously wanted me gone, and there was certain to be others who would feel the same way.
I was facing an uphill battle, trying to carve out a home and business and life in Redemption. Did I really want to do that to myself?
Still, every time I thought about leaving, I felt a tight, hard lump in my chest. Could I really leave Mia and Daphne? Not to mention Daniel.
Especially Daniel.
Well, I didn’t need to make any decisions right that moment. I needed to focus on getting my name cleared and finding out who was behind everything going on.
I headed back into the house. Once I got some more coffee and breakfast into me, I could maybe start making a few phone calls.
As quietly as I could, I unlocked the back door and made my way into the kitchen, only to be greeted by Mia, eyes wild, hair a tangled mess, brandishing a knife.
“What the ... crap ...” Startled, I spilled coffee over myself. “Mia, you scared me. What are you doing with a knife?”
Mia dropped the knife, put her hand on her chest. “Becca, you scared me! What were you doing outside? I thought you were still asleep.”
I shook my head and went to the sink to mop off my shirt. “I called my mom. Figured I would do it outside and not bother anyone.”
“You told your mom what was going on?” She knew my relationship with my mother was strained, but I hadn’t gone into all the details.
“She’s been texting, so I felt like I had to tell her something. I didn’t say much.” I focused on refilling my coffee as I found I couldn’t look at Mia while sharing that white lie. Well, it wasn’t really a lie, I re
asoned. More of an incomplete truth. But, regardless, I still felt slightly sick speaking it. I knew I should tell her I was contemplating moving back to New York, but on the other hand, did I really want to add to the uncertainly and chaos of the moment? There was already a big unknown with the police investigation. Should I really worry her further?
Somehow, my justifications didn’t make me feel any less sick to my stomach.
“That must have been a tough conversation,” Mia said sympathetically.
“It was.”
I finished pouring my coffee and turned to her, trying to hide my shock at her appearance. She looked dreadful. The circles under her eyes were even darker than normal.
“So, what do you have you planned for today?”
She groaned, rubbing her eyes. “Work. Of course. But, starting next week, I’ve got more time off. I decided to take your advice and get some rest before the school year started.”
“Good plan,” I said, sipping my coffee and wondering if I should broach the subject of her appearance. “Did you sleep better last night knowing the locks were changed?”
“Yes,” she said, but she didn’t meet my eyes, and I got the feeling she was telling her own incomplete truths. “Talking to Daniel helped, too. I’m pretty sure all I’ve been hearing is just normal creaks and groans of the house. No actual footsteps or whispers.”
Whispers? A line from Mad Martha’s journal popped into my head. The house is whispering to me again. My arm froze midair, coffee halfway to my mouth. “What did you say?” I asked, my throat suddenly dry.
“That you’re right. I was just hearing normal creaks and groans.”
“No, I thought you said something about whispers.”
Mia laughed self-consciously. “Oh, right. Yeah that must have been a dream. The house whispering to me.”
Slowly, carefully, I lowered my arm and put my coffee on the counter. I didn’t trust myself not to spill it. “What was the house whispering about?” I asked, trying to make a joke about it.
“Oh, who knows? I don’t really remember,” Mia said, glancing at her phone. “Oh, look at the time. I better go get ready.” She took another swallow of coffee, topped it off, and quickly left the kitchen, careful not to look at me.
Secrets of Redemption Box Set Page 82