Requiem for the Living (The Reanimation Files Book 2)
Page 14
“I’m relieved to see you are well,” he said, and he genuinely sounded relieved. “I was very worried about you, I thought that the Rot…”
“It hasn’t gotten me yet.” I couldn’t tell Andrew about the treatment of course, so I’d have to keep reminding myself not to let anything slip out.
“I do not like the idea of you dying,” Andrew said, his face serious.
“Who are you telling,” I said lightly. I didn’t want the conversation to get all deep and serious. “So, what have you cooked up for me?” I headed behind the bar to make myself a drink. Being here wasn’t only tense because I was around Andrew, it was tense because the last time I’d been here I’d had a faceoff with Larry while he’d been in Ethan’s body, and came across Andrew’s massacred body in the bathroom. If Andrew found it unnerving to still be occupying the place he’d been murdered, I couldn’t tell. Then again, he’d had a couple months to come to terms with it. Something told me that Andrew’s joy at being able to hang around trumped anything else.
“It’s a surprise,” Andrew said. “But I know you will enjoy it.” He came behind the bar as well and poured himself a scotch neat. We took our drinks around to the other side and sat down. I had strategically placed my handbag at the edge of the bar and left it open. Now that we were sitting, I reached for it and did a pretty convincing job of seeming to accidentally knock it over, which caused everything, including my bag of runes, to spill to the floor. Andrew immediately started to help pick everything up.
“Clumsy me,” I said. I concentrated on picking up everything but the runes, which Andrew started to gather up and return to their pouch.
“Still forgetting to take your runes out of your handbag I see.” His lips twitched in a smile.
“You know me. I figured this way I would never forget them, and even though I haven’t been working with a lot of clients lately, I hardly remember to take it out from this bottomless pit I call a bag.”
Andrew finished packing up the runes, and I had gathered everything else. I quickly put the bag of runes in a position where I could see it and jostled the right rune to the top while making it seem like I was trying to put things in order. The dark green rune streaked with black was the one I wanted to focus on. I had already activated it, and when Andrew touched it he’d provided it with his energy. That was all I needed for this exercise. I put my bag on my lap. Mission accomplished. Damn, I was good.
Well, best to not pat myself on the back yet, I still had to get answers out of him without rousing his suspicion. I took a slow sip of my drink as I thought about how to go about this.
“You know Selene, I am not a fool.” I almost jolted but managed to keep myself calm, though my eyes did widen. Was he on to me? I thought I had put on a good performance with my bag falling. Great performance, actually.
“What are you talking about?” Thankfully my voice did not come out shaky.
“I know about my potential to become an anchored beastie, and I know Tielle has pushed you to get close to me.” He didn’t seem to have any strong feelings about this knowledge, he just sat there sipping his scotch and looking at me with a small smile on his lips.
“Um, well…”
“I’m not upset,” he said. “You have all right to follow her advice, but I am not foolish enough to think that you would want me…like this.”
“What are you talking about?” I was frowning slightly but I also saw an opening. “Your unfinished business only revolves around wanting me, right? So that means I sort of have to…want you.”
“Right,” Andrew said. “My unfinished business is the beautiful Selene.” The rune stone I was focused on started glowing, which meant there was more the ghost had left unsaid. My suspicions were confirmed, but now I was even more curious about whatever the hell else Andrew had going on.
“Winning a woman over while I’m a ghost, quite the unfinished business, wouldn’t you say?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah. Definitely.” Andrew had more than me on the brain, which was good because it wasn’t solely on my shoulders to keep him from turning into a beastie, but that didn’t mean the threat was gone. I also had no idea how much other unfinished business he had. Was it one thing or was it half a dozen things? And what were they?
“Well, this is awkward,” I said. “I mean you essentially know that I’m only here to play a role.”
“And it is a role I am more than happy to let you play,” Andrew said, covering my hand with his. “I don’t care why you’re here Selene, I just want you here. I want you near me all the time. It’s enough for me, for now.”
There he went again. The way he said “for now” and the way he said “like this” a few minutes ago gave me pause but I couldn’t try to delve deeper into it. Just then Andrew’s phone vibrated, and he picked it up to check his text messages. When he put the phone down he had an unhappy expression on his face.
“Looks like brunch will have to be delayed for a short while,” he said. “I have to get the rest of Cecelia’s things packed up. She’s sending someone to get them.”
“I’m surprised she still has things here.”
“Well, she didn’t have time to grab much after I tossed her out.” Andrew got up and walked toward the bedroom, so I finished my drink and trailed behind him.
“Tossed out? I thought she left on her own. I mean why would she want to stay with the ghost of her cheating husband?”
“Because it’s better than being on her own with no money,” Andrew said, glancing at me over his shoulder. “The prenup left her with nothing, and since no lawyer knows how to deal with a divorce case where one of the parties is a ghost, things aren’t really going anywhere positive for her.” He smiled, and I grimaced at the coldness of his words. There was the Andrew I loathed. Cecelia was no friend of mine, hell the memory of that slap in the face was still strong, but Andrew didn’t need to treat her so callously. It wasn’t like he’d been a stellar husband. I knew very well the role I played in that.
“Cecelia was willing to stay and help me navigate life as a ghost,” Andrew said. His tone was mocking as though he was quoting her. “But I told her she wasn’t the one I wanted around, and she could either leave or be thrown out. She chose the hard way.”
“You told her you wanted to be with me, didn’t you?”
“It’s nothing she didn’t already know,” Andrew said, shrugging. “Anyway, the last of her things should be out of here today. Maybe you’d like to help me?”
“I guess.” I wasn’t enthused about going through Cecelia’s crap, but I didn’t have anything else to do. Once we were in the bedroom, Andrew opened one of the walk-in closets, yes there was more than one, and I saw that there were a few packed and taped boxes inside, but there were also empty boxes as well as a variety of Cecelia’s belongings to fill them with.
“I’ll start packing the rest of her clothes, do you mind packing up the things in the vanity over there?” There was an elaborate vanity at the back of the closest that was cluttered with cosmetics. I guess it took a lot of make Cecelia look decent. The mirror was even the kind that had light bulbs around it. I don’t know why anyone would want to see their face in such harsh light.
I picked up a box and headed to the vanity where I swept my arm across the top and dumped everything into the box. I then opened the drawers and dumped out the scarves, jewelry, and broaches that were inside. One of the drawers had several worn novels as well as a few journals. Normally I would have been tempted to snoop, but I wasn’t really interested in reading Cecelia’s most intimate thoughts.
The box I’d brought over was full, so after I stacked the books on top of the vanity, I went looking for another box to put them in. When I came back, I tossed it onto the vanity, but doing so knocked the books to the ground. As I bent over to pick them up, the first book I grabbed was an address book, which had fallen open. I scanned the names, figuring if it was already open then it was OK to read. Andrew wasn’t paying attention to what I was doing anyway.
“Selene?” Andrew’s voice brought me out of my thoughts, and I quickly closed the address book as I turned to him.
“All done over there?”
“Yup,” I said. “Just about.”
“Good. Then let’s move the boxes to the living room, her moving guy should be here soon.” He picked up a couple boxes and left the closet, but I remained standing there for a few moments. I looked through the address book again, more carefully, but didn’t see any other names I recognized. There was no Marcus Trent or anyone with the last name Trent.
Was this a coincidence or not? My tendency to go for leaps and bounds was trying to get me to think that maybe Cecelia could be involved with stashing bodies around me, but I couldn’t jump to that conclusion based off seeing the Rye’s name in her address book. But other than the earring wearing man from the surveillance footage, this was the only other clue I’d picked up, so I was reluctant to dismiss it even though I had no idea how to follow up on it. Unless I could speak to Cecelia. Maybe I could see if Andrew knew where she was, although I couldn’t tell him why I wanted to know. I put the address book in the box and headed to the living room with it. After Andrew and I had made a couple trips back and forth carrying boxes, I ventured to ask.
“So, where is Cecelia anyway?” To my dismay, Andrew shrugged, and his demeanor looked like he could really give a crap.
“I’ve not the slightest clue where she’s gone; she didn’t forward me her change of address. It seems she’s decided she now wants nothing to do with me.” He sounded amused, and I was discouraged.
Just then the intercom buzzed and Andrew went over to answer it.
“It’s her moving man,” he said. “Do you mind grabbing the last box while I let him in?”
“Sure.” I headed back to the bedroom, frowning as I wondered what to do next. It was giving me a headache trying to puzzle over this because there wasn’t much to puzzle over and that was frustrating as hell. Cecelia being connected to the Ryes could have nothing at all to do with Isabelle’s body being left near me so I could create an anchored ghost. Or it could.
No use over thinking it. I’d either figure out something to do or I wouldn’t. Maybe when Micah was back from dropping Ethan off I could talk to him about it and hear what he thought we should do. For now I would have to try and not get ahead of myself. I picked up the last box and headed to the living room.
When I walked into the room, Andrew was opening the door for a tall man dressed in faded jeans, a T-shirt, and a baseball cap. When I saw him I almost dropped the box and retreated back down the hallway with my heart feeling as though it was in my throat. I put the box down and slowly edged toward the end of the hall, peering around it. I had to make sure what I saw was what I thought I saw. The man stood near the door talking to Andrew, and I had a clear view of the right side of this face. Specifically his ear, where there was a row of earrings from cartilage to tip.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Unbelievable. This was no coincidence. I stole a glance at the moving guy again. Other than the earrings, he had the height and build of the man in the footage. I was excited, here was something concrete. Cecelia’s moving man was the same man who had taken Isabelle’s body from LIJ, and Cecelia was also acquainted with Isabelle’s family. As much as I was excited, I was also shocked. Cecelia was the last person I would have suspected, though I had to admit the woman had more than enough motive to want to fuck up my life.
I stayed hidden until the man took the first box down while Andrew started taping up another. I brought out the box I was holding and put it down next to Andrew.
“Thanks,” Andrew said. “You can wait here, the men will do the heavy lifting.”
It irked me that he thought I was good enough to carry a box from room to room but not downstairs, but I didn’t really expect anything different from Andrew. I nodded, and he picked up a box and left the apartment.
I had an opportunity here that I could not pass up. Andrew didn’t know where Cecelia was, but if I followed the moving guy then he would take me directly to her. Then I could return the favor of that slap she’d given me a while back. And then some. I just had to get out of here without Andrew suspecting anything. And without the guy seeing me because I didn’t want him to warn Cecelia. I wished Micah was here. I didn’t want to call him in case he was driving, so I sent him a quick text message telling him I had a lead I was following and to call me as soon as he could. Then I retreated back into the hallway and waited for Andrew and the man to come back, which they did a few minutes later.
“This is the last of it, James,” Andrew said after they’d made two more trips. There was one box left, which James picked up. Now was my chance. As soon as Andrew closed the door behind James, I left the hallway and picked up my handbag.
“Hey, Andrew, I need to step out for a minute, but I’ll be back.”
“Is something wrong? Where are you going?”
Damn it why did he have to question me? “I need to get tampons.” Nothing shut a man up quicker than talking about feminine products.
“Oh, um OK… Of course.”
Sure hope he hadn’t thought we were gonna have anchored ghost sex. Because eww.
James was in the elevator so I took the stairs. When I got to the lobby I saw James exit the building so I caught up, making sure to stay a good distance behind so he didn’t see me. His truck was parked on the other side of the street while mine was a block away. I ran to it and waited until James had loaded up the last box. Once he drove off I followed, keeping a few cars in between so he didn’t realize he was being followed. Here I was in another car chase, except this time I was the pursuer. I hoped this one didn’t end up anything like the last one though.
What would I do once I faced Cecelia? I was sure I could overpower her, but would I be able to bring her to Tielle and tell her what she’d done? I wasn’t sure Tielle would believe me, but I did have the address book and hospital footage as evidence, and if I could get James rounded up to confess, Tielle wouldn’t be able to dismiss this.
James drove out of Manhattan into Queens, and as I followed him I became more and more anxious about confronting Cecelia. I could hardly believe that all this bullshit stemmed from her. I just didn’t peg her for the criminal mastermind type. Then again, she had been ballsy enough to drive to my house and slap me. Guess she was also ballsy enough to go into the anchored ghost business.
James parked in the middle of a residential street that was a far cry from the Upper East Side neighborhood and loft apartment Cecelia had previously occupied. I parked at the end of the street and ducked down in my car to watch as he walked up to a house and rang the bell. He turned away without waiting for it to be answered and got one of the boxes from the truck. By the time he was walking back, Cecelia stood on the porch watching him with her arms crossed over her chest. She was probably struggling with the fact that the last of her things arriving meant Andrew had washed his hands of her for good. Well, now she’d have to deal with me.
After several trips, James got all the boxes into the house. Cecelia of course, did not help. She did appear to give him money though, then he got into his truck and drove off. Cecelia went back inside and slammed the door like there was someone there to give a crap about it.
I sat there and stared at the house for a while. What should I do? I was alone and unarmed, but I was feet away from the person who was fucking with my life. I needed this to be done and over with. I’d checked surviving the Rot off my list, now I could check off this whole affair with people getting buried in my backyard.
I had to confront her. I got out of the car and approached the house.
I headed
to the side of the house and looked through a window that was partly open. The boxes James had brought were stacked in here, but Cecelia was nowhere in sight. I moved toward another set of windows but these were shuttered. I moved back to the first set of windows, simultaneously trying to be stealthy but not look suspicious to anyone who might pass by.
After checking that the coast was clear, I hoisted myself up and pushed the window open further, cursing every time it squeaked. Once I’d eased into the room I crouched behind a sofa to catch my bearings. The room was pretty nondescript. The sofa was the only surface to sit on, there was an old rug on the floor, and the stack of boxes. The place had a musty smell to it, and the floor, walls, and ceiling were stained and dingy.
All right, time to confront the bitch. I slowly stood up and turned around, prepared to skulk through the house until I found her, but it became immediately apparent that that wouldn’t be necessary. Cecelia was standing in the doorway between this room and the kitchen, with a smile on her face and a gun pointed at my chest.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“You’re a stupid, stupid woman, Selene.” Cecelia had always been a thin woman but she seemed even thinner; her jeans and blouse were a bit too loose on her frame. Her blonde hair was pulled back tightly from her unremarkable but well made up face, which was currently fixed in a very nasty expression. She moved into the room, and I took a few steps back.
“Don’t move! Hands up!”
OK, best to listen to the shrieking woman with the gun. I raised my hands, all the while cursing myself for not having my own gun. With everything that was going on in my life why wouldn’t I think keeping a gun handy at all times would be necessary?