“What is it?”
“You’ll be here when I get out of the shower?”
He placed his hand on her cheek. “I’m not going anywhere else tonight…not unless I take you with me.”
****
A half hour later, they were both dry and sipping coffee on the lower deck of the restaurant. He’d found a can of the special blend the restaurant used to serve and made them a full pot. Enough coffee for a whole restaurant. Courtney thought she might drink it all. Her toes were still freezing. When they had pulled their first cups, they’d gone outside and parked their butts in side-by-side rockers, finally pushing back and forth in synchronicity.
It was time to tell him what happened. Courtney took another sip of the steaming brew to stall for another second or two. “I finished reading Victoria Hamilton’s diary.” She stared straight ahead over the rim of her cup, not quite ready to gauge his reactions. “Then I lost it in the creek.”
“Humph. Is that why you went for a swim?”
“Yeah. But…” The memories swarmed her again, and tears swelled in her eyes.
He reached over and took her hand in his. “Hey, take it easy. Tell me what was in the diary.”
She turned and smiled at him. The encouragement in his voice warmed her all the way down to her still cold toes. Maybe she wouldn’t have to drink a ton of coffee after all.
“It was mostly Victoria talking about how miserable she was and how much she missed John and how she wished he’d come find her. She didn’t like the way Alfred had treated his first wife and their child. She felt sorry for Esther and Pearl.”
“Pearl Hamilton. Tori’s grandmother. So that makes Esther her great-grandmother?”
“Yes.”
She swallowed another sip. The coffee warmed her freezing fingers. Strange she still felt chilled even in the balmy night air. She turned sideways in the rocker and stuck one foot beneath the other leg.
“Okay, I could tell you everything I read and everything that happened, but it might be faster to tell you what I think.”
“Okay, you have my attention. What do you think?”
She liked it that he wasn’t weird about listening to her opinions. Jared had never wanted to hear what she thought about anything. How many times had he called her stupid? She was certain that she had been much smarter than Jared Crenshaw. She’d at least finished high school with a fairly decent GPA. Jared was a drop out.
“Alfred divorced Esther and left her and her child without any way to live. I’m not sure how they survived. Victoria didn’t say. But Esther would bring Pearl to the house and demand that Alfred see his child. She wanted him to give her a little money to take care of Pearl. After a while, Alfred told his butler not to let Esther back into the house. Don’t you think that would cause a lot of resentment for Pearl, resentment that could turn into hatred and anger?”
She caught her breath and continued. “That’s all in the diary if you read Victoria’s words carefully. Now… Here’s my speculation. I think Esther hated Alfred and Victoria enough to kill them, and I think that Pearl either knew or suspected her mother had murdered her father. That would be enough to twist anyone’s mind. Right?”
Shaw nodded, a light of intense interest gleaming in his gorgeous amber brown eyes. She stared at him a moment, soaking in his undivided attention. Fell a little ways into his gaze.
“I don’t know. Cutting someone’s throat… That’s a hard way for a woman to kill someone. She would have had to be very strong or someone would have had to have helped her.”
She took another sip of the steaming coffee before continuing. “Okay, I get that. Then there’s this other thing… Somehow Pearl ended up owning Victoria House. That house was built for Victoria. So how did Pearl get it? Did Alfred leave it to her in his will? Victoria seemed to think Alfred had disowned Pearl.”
“I found an archived copy of Alfred’s will today. The house was bequeathed to Victoria and her heirs. I’m not sure if he knew she’d had a child with another man, but he wanted to make sure Victoria had some place to live if something happened to him. He must have changed his will right before he died. Everything else he left to Pearl.”
Courtney leaned back in her chair, stopping its rocking motion. “You’ve been doing research on this today?”
He nodded. “That and other things.”
“Maybe that’s what got her stirred up.”
“Who?”
“I took the diary down to the dock with me to watch the sun go down. I was hoping you’d be back soon because I wanted to tell you what I’d read.”
An apology formed on his lips. She could see it in his eyes and placed a finger over his mouth. “It’s okay. You’ve apologized enough. I understand you had law stuff you had to do.”
“That is my job.”
Move on, Courtney. “I think the spirit that’s attached to the diary is Pearl’s. She tore it out of my hands and threw it into the creek.”
“Really?”
Courtney leaned forward. This was the good part of the story, the part she really wanted him to hear. “I asked Pearl if she wanted me to put the diary back where I’d found it.” She stopped for effect. “She said no.”
Shaw’s brow pinched. “You talked to the spirit of Pearl Hamilton?”
She nodded.
“Is that what freaked you out?”
“Oh, no. All that I can handle.”
He waited with an expectant look on his face, as if well aware she’d gotten to the creepy part of the story. The moon had popped into the night sky. The air had stilled without a breeze. Their breath seemed to hang in their throats.
“I dove into the water, and when I came up with the diary, there was a dead guy with a skeleton riding on him.” She stretched to ease the tension that had formed in her shoulders, removed her numb foot from beneath her leg. “It’s like this whole county is full of ghosts. Why do they want to haunt me?
Courtney stopped. The memory still creeped her out. Even then, she wanted to scream. Her knee began to bounce. Without removing his stare from hers, he reached over and placed a calming hand on her leg. The nerve quit bouncing.
“That wasn’t a ghost, Courtney. That was the body of Terrance Phelps, and I believe the skeleton was what was left of Jeremy Haskins.”
“No wonder the skeleton looked at me that way.”
Shaw laughed. “The skeleton looked at you? How?”
“Don’t laugh at me. You know weird stuff happens. I have the blood of Haskins running through me. Maybe Jeremy’s bones could smell it in me. Maybe he hates me.” Nausea rolled in her stomach. “You know, I was almost one of his victims.”
“Victims.”
“Date rape. Do you know how many girls in this county can’t name him as their baby daddy because his father paid them off?”
Shaw nodded. “Sounds just like his old man.”
His simple assessment threw her back in her chair. “Like my mother was one of Fred’s victims. The only thing…Did Jeremy know he was hitting on his sister?”
“I don’t think so. I don’t think Fred realized you were his daughter. How could Jeremy know?”
His assertion made her feel a little better. “Maybe now he knows.”
Shaw studied her, a serious expression on his face. “Who knows how much an intelligent haunting knows or can learn after death? It’s a mystery.”
“You do love unraveling mysteries.”
He smiled. “You figured that out about me, huh?” He set his cup on the deck. “You need some rest.”
“So do you.”
“You more than me.”
She wasn’t sure about that. “I can’t sleep.”
“I’ll stay with you.” He rose from his rocking chair, and it rocked back and forth for a while without him. “Tomorrow…I’m not going anywhere without you. I don’t think I should leave you here alone. You get into too much trouble by yourself.”
She smiled and stood next to him. “Maybe you should keep me out of tr
ouble.”
“Maybe I should.” He took her hand and led her toward the stairs.
Chapter Twenty
Courtney spread butter over a piece of toast and raised it to her lips.
“Thought you weren’t a morning person.”
Shaw’s husky first-thing-in-the-morning voice startled her, and she nearly dropped the bread. She twisted and leaned her back against the counter to gaze at him. “You said we weren’t going to do that again. Apparently, exercise tires you out and you need to sleep until…” She glanced at the clock on the oven. “It’s almost noon.”
He grinned. “A guy can change his mind.”
She was glad he had. Last night was… Well, he was stuck with her until he told her plainly she had to go. If it was her decision to make, she wasn’t going anywhere. Being with Shaw was the sweetest thing she’d ever experienced in her life. If all they were going to have between them was hot sex… No, she wasn’t willing to settle for that. Where Shaw was concerned, she wanted the whole package. The intimacy. The sex. The companionship. She wanted it the way it was supposed to be.
No more comparing him to Jared.
Shaw had gained the right to be his own man in her eyes. Comparisons to another man were highly unfair. She didn’t want her feelings for Shaw to be tainted by her past with Jared. Besides, it took all her strength of will to forget he was a stinking cop.
As if he could read her mind, something he seemed to have the uncanny ability to do, he raised her chin with his finger and kissed her.
Her lips tingled, and the sensation spread all over her. She smiled sweetly. “Don’t you have work to do? Half the day is already over.”
Should she remind him he’d promised not to leave her alone at the Landing again?
The grin dropped from his lips. “Yeah, I do. But I guess I needed the rest. I can’t function well if I have no energy.”
“Sorry I used up all your energy last night.” No, she wasn’t really sorry.
She was surprised he’d had any energy left over to give her. When they’d finally settled down last night, it hadn’t taken the man long to fall asleep. Actually, she hadn’t stayed awake much after that either.
And she hadn’t dreamed at all.
Shaw was good for her. Really good.
“I’m going out to Victoria House today. I want you to come with me.”
She tensed. Her memories of staying there were still hard to think about. “Why?”
“I want to see if there are any other documents in the house that might tell some of the Hamilton’s history. If Pearl hid the diary, she might have hid other things as well. I promised Gray I would try to clear up the mystery surrounding the house so Tori can live there. I don’t want to leave you here by yourself while I’m over there.”
That made sense.
“Tori and Clark are coming with us.”
Tori she understood. The woman was Pearl Hamilton’s granddaughter. “Who’s Clark?”
“He’s supposed to be my partner, but we’ve had to divide and conquer lately.”
She blinked at him. “Oh yeah, the guy that got beat up in Cooley’s shed.”
The man had looked like death warmed over. Maybe he had recuperated fully but she doubted it. Shaw had been concerned the man had a concussion, if she remembered correctly.
“He’s been out at Laurel Heights supervising the excavation where Cooley’s lab exploded. I’m hoping we eventually locate his body. I would like to make sure he’s really dead.”
“Me, too.” If he wasn’t already dead, she’d be tempted to kill him herself. The thought scared her. It sounded too much like a Haskins kind of thought. “Will Gray be there?” Thinking of Haskins always made her think of Gray.
“No, Tori and Gray had a monstrous public argument, so they’re staying away from each other.”
“Oh no. Poor Gray.” The two of them seemed so happy together, despite Gray’s massive problems.
Shaw smiled. “They were pretending.”
Good.
Another thirty minutes and they were on the dock. Shaw yanked on the starter and the outboard revved to life. He turned toward her. “What happened to your bike? I remember leaving it in Grayson’s neighborhood.”
“I asked Brett Duncan to give it back to Stan Kershaw. That’s who Jared took it from.”
Thankfully, he asked no more questions. Sometimes he knew when to leave well enough alone.
He held out his hand, and she took it while he helped her into the boat. Before they left the dock, she settled into the seat and glanced around the creek, recalling the horrid scene that had unfolded there the pervious night. She shivered a little and silently cursed Jeremy Haskins.
As if Jeremy had read her mind, his skeleton bobbed out of the water and bumped against the boat. She screamed and Shaw flipped off the engine switch to the motor in a heartbeat. He reached out to grab the skeleton.
Courtney yanked his arm back from the bones. “What are you doing? Don’t touch him.” Her breath left her in anxious puffs.
He reached for Jeremy again. “We looked all over for his bones last night.”
She pushed him back with both hands. “Whatever for?”
Shaw leveled a firm gaze on her. “Because his disappearance is an open missing person’s case, and I’d like to close it.”
“Is closing it more important than my mental stability?” she spat through clenched teeth.
He glanced toward the skeleton as it floated downstream a ways before sinking beneath the water once again. “It’s gone.”
“Good.”
“Courtney…” He’d adopted his patient tone. “I want to give those bones back to old man Haskins so he can bury his son. Maybe if I do that, Jeremy will rest in peace. He’s obviously restless because Gray buried him under a rock in the creek instead of allowing his father to plant him six feet under where he belongs. If he could rest in his family’s plot, then maybe he might leave you and Gray alone for the rest of eternity.”
“Oh.” She studied her ragged nails. “That makes sense. I guess.”
He pointed downstream toward the lake. “Can we go now? I would really like to finish what I started. Then maybe old man Haskins might leave you and Gray alone too.”
She nodded. But she wanted to be mad. His explanation sounded too much like a reprimand.
Once again, he seemed to read her mind. “I was just explaining. I realize his bones freak you out…after what happened. Please, believe me…I’m on your side about everything.”
She believed him, and she allowed her face to show it, gracing him what she hoped was a dazzling smile. By the look on his face, her peace offering must have worked.
****
Once Courtney had shown him where she’d found Victoria’s diary, Shaw had searched the small recess and pulled out even more documents. He had them spread out over the top of the antique bar in Alfred Hamilton’s abandoned speakeasy in the basement of Victoria House.
Clark stood next to him, sorting through half of the paperwork while Shaw perused the rest. Tori and Courtney kept their distance on the basement side of the bar. Shaw suspected both of them were poised to make a run for it if necessary. Tori was still spooked from picking up Celeste Standridge’s diary. Courtney was no less freaked out from her experience with Victoria’s.
“Look at this.” Clark handed him a letter and then glanced around the basement. “This place has the feel, Shaw. I felt it the minute I came through the front door.”
“What do you feel?” Tori asked, curiosity shining on her face.
Maybe she didn’t want to touch anything, but she was curious about what had caused the paranormal disturbances in her house.
Clark rubbed the back of his neck. “Nothing dark like I felt at Laurel Heights. If there was anything sinister here, it’s gone now. I can kind of sort of feel the lingering leftovers from someone’s dark essence. Whoever it was they were angry and filled with hate, but they’re not here anymore.”
“Pear
l Hamilton,” Courtney offered, interpreting his comments.
Shaw couldn’t argue with her assessment. She was more than likely correct in her assumption.
“There are two spirits here. They seem to be more upset with each other than with anyone living.”
“Victoria and John,” Courtney whispered. For some reason, the woman seemed to get sentimental when talking about the tragic couple.
Shaw scanned the letter. “George Standridge claimed to be Victoria’s heir.” He read a little more. “He didn’t demand Pearl give up everything. He offered to split it fifty/fifty with her.”
“Well, that didn’t happen,” Tori replied. “Pearl was almost fanatical about maintaining the family legacy.”
“What happened to her? Why did she leave?” Courtney asked.
Tori moved around the bar and stood next to Clark, reading the letter over his shoulder. “No one knows for sure. She left one day, scared out of her wits, and never came back. She wouldn’t tell us what happened.”
“I’m guessing the ghost of Victoria Hamilton finally got to her.”
Shaw had to agree with Courtney again. Her insights seemed to be spot on.
Tori took another letter from the stack. “This is a later one from George.”
She read it, holding it carefully. The paper was fragile and the ink faded. A strange look came over her face, and she closed her eyes.
“He’s angry. She offered him two hundred thousand dollars to go away and leave her alone. To never tell anyone of the family connection. He told her that they were stepsiblings, and he’d never forget what she’d done to him as long as he lived. He told her to keep her blood money.” Tori looked across the bar at Shaw. Held the letter out to him.
He took it. What she’d just told them hadn’t been written in the letter. “Did you just hear something?”
She seemed to snap out of her trance. Tears welled in her eyes. “This is so hard. I don’t like it.”
Shaw patted her back. “I know. Thanks for doing this.”
“I want my house back.”
Clark held another document in his hands, one that appeared to be old legal paperwork. “This is a deed to Laurel Heights. The Hamiltons used to own the property. At some point, Pearl must have deeded the Standridge place over to George.”
Shaw's Landing (Haunted Hearts Series Book 4) Page 22