Julian detected the sarcasm, but Sheila didn’t.
“Excellent! See you then!”
With that, the door closed.
“What the hell, Tori?” Julian asked trying not to laugh. He was holding two glasses of nearly finished wine in his hands, and he was feeling it. Skipping breakfast and binge drinking didn't go hand in hand.
“I figured you were going to need those.”
“Why?”
The curtains behind her began waving in the breeze. She didn't think it was all Bethany. Tori could feel them watching, and it creeped even her out.
“Wait! What do you mean by that?” he asked.
“I’m going to need to check out for a little bit,” she muttered as the sensation rolled through her.
“Honey, are you okay?” he asked, getting worried.
It had been a while since she’d done this, and frankly, he didn't miss it. Dropping the glasses on the desk, he moved to her side.
“Is Bethany here?” he asked.
Tori could hear the music playing in her head. She could fight it, or she could go speak to the woman. It looked like now was the time.
“We’re definitely not alone,” she stated.
He looked around.
“Be right back,” she muttered, allowing it to take over her body.
Then she felt like she was falling.
Julian caught her as she began to drop. Swinging her up in his arms, he carried her over to the bed and placed her on the soft mattress.
Tori was already gone, and the only thing Julian could think about was how much he hated this.
To his core.
* * * L i t t l e m o o n * * *
Beau was washing dishes in the prep room when he could hear people talking outside the door. It was the big blonde woman on her cell phone. The conversation was apparently one sided.
Carefully and quietly, he shut off the water, wiped his hands, and moved toward the door.
As he stood there eavesdropping, he listened to the woman talking, and it was a telling conversation--if he did say so himself.
“I can’t meet you tonight,” she said.
There was a pause.
“We have guests arriving. You know that,” she added.
More silence.
“I want you too,” she whispered, her voice barely over a hiss. “You know you’re the only man who gets me off. I know! It’s just for sex. I get it.”
Beau rolled his eyes.
“I’ll see what I can do,” she finally said. “Okay?”
He started back to the sink and the stack of glasses. It appeared that Pearlie wasn’t the only piranha in the winery pool. This woman was making a date.
It appeared to be a booty call of sorts.
As he made it back to the counter, he returned to his task at hand. He was curious, and when Cordell returned to the room, he had to know.
“There’s this woman,” he began, describing her.
“That’s Pearlie’s step-mother. She’s the boss’s wife. I’d keep your distance if you want your job.”
He looked appalled. “No, I’m not interested. I just saw her and was curious. I didn't get to meet her on the tour. She seems way too intense.”
“Well, she’ll eat you up and spit you out,” Cordell teased. “She makes Pearlie look like a saint--if you know what I mean. You’d think there was a contest between the two of them to see who could bag more dicks.”
Well, that said it all.
Cordell grabbed the tray of glasses. “Wow! You did a good job,” he stated. “There’s not a spot on them! The boss loves when the glasses look like this. You have a gift.”
Beau laughed.
What he had was years of working in the military. If you did it half-assed, you were on latrine duty.
No one wanted that, so it was perfect the first time.
“Thanks.”
“I hope you stick around for a long time,” Cordell added.
“Why?”
“I hate doing glasses.”
The two men laughed.
When Cordell walked out, Beau finished his work. As he was washing and rinsing the dishes, he felt a breeze across his neck. It tickled his flesh, just subtly letting him know something was there.
He’d heard the men at the agency talk, and it looked like he was having his first run in with a spirit.
Where were his sister and Julian when he needed them?
Beau was nervous.
Looking around, there were no windows, so his initial suspicions had to be right.
Then he heard children laughing.
His heart began pounding in his chest. There was no way there would be kids running free in a winery.
Right?
Standing very still, he felt someone touch him. It was light and on his arm. It was like a finger was tracing some of the lines in the ink.
He was afraid to move.
It was when the apron ties around his waist began moving, like someone was pulling on them that his breathing became erratic.
That’s when he saw it.
His breath was visible in the once warm dishwashing room.
He didn't move. Instead, he watched the dissipating puff of breath float up into the air.
Chills crisscrossed his body as more fingers found the flesh on his arms. This was worse than Pearlie pawing at him.
As one sleeve slid up, revealing the tattoo there, he heard more laughter.
What the hell?
There was a tug at his waist. Beau glanced down at the mesmerizing sway of the apron strings.
Then they stopped.
Slowly, they slid out of the knots and the black apron fell around his feet.
Holy shit!
Something had untied his apron.
There was more laughing.
“Who’s there?” he whispered, trying to see something in front of him, but there wasn’t anyone around. Beau had to be imagining things, right?
He didn't just see an invisible force untie his apron, did he?
As he went to move, there was more laughter, and then pain as something slid down his arm.
Beau glanced down in horror as three scratch marks appeared out of nowhere.
They were vicious and red.
They were ominous.
His heart thudded in his ears. This was the first time in a long time that his adrenaline had been spiked this high. Beau’s instinct was to bolt the hell out of there.
Instead, he thought about his team.
“Who are you?” he asked again.
There was no reply.
“Are you a ghost?” he whispered, right before he was tapped on the shoulder.
As he turned, no one was there.
Then the glasses began exploding around him. Shards of glass flew, and he got the hell out of there.
He needed to see his sister.
They had one hell of a problem.
They didn't have someone trying to tank Darkwood Monastery winery.
They had a spirit haunting it.
CHAPTER Four
Tori let the dark take her.
She was well aware who would be waiting for her on the other side. As soon as the blackness went to a light gray, and the room swirled in reverse, she found herself right there in her room, only without Julian. Bethany was there, and she was humming as she waited patiently.
“I’ve missed you, Victoria,” she stated, hopping off the desk to move toward the woman. “You’ve been hiding from me. I don’t like that game. It makes me feel like you don’t love me anymore.”
Tori wanted to laugh at the absurdity of all of this. Before the case in Kentucky, she never had to worry about a dead girl popping into her brain.
She didn't have to worry about upsetting her.
Great.
She had a dead stalker.
“We’re a team,” Bethany said sincerely. “You know…you look for the bodies, and I keep the angry ghosts from bothering you.”
Tori guessed sh
e had no choice.
This dead girl had become part of her life, and whether she liked it or not, she was here to stay.
“Well, this is still new for me, Bethany. As time passes, I seem to be getting stronger. I can ignore the buzzing and fight the pull to black out.”
Bethany stood in front of her. She looked exactly the same, only she was playing with her mop of brown hair. This time, it had red ribbons.
Blood red ones.
“Yes, you can, but then I’ll have to come to you, and that freaks your husband out, doesn’t it? He might start to see me zipping around him. When you wake up, and I’m standing at the foot of your bed, he may really hate that.”
Okay, that wasn’t a good idea.
While Julian was open to all of this, he was still on the edge. There was no point tormenting him.
“Let’s not do that.”
She shrugged.
“I will not be blackmailed by a dead girl, Bethany. I have an exorcist on speed dial.”
“Hrumpft.”
That said it all.
“We’ll have to compromise.”
“Well, then you need to listen to me. I don’t pop in for laughs, Victoria.”
This was comical.
Bethany was standing there, hands on her hips and lip out, much like a spoiled child would pout.
Yeah, while that worked on her once living lover, it didn't work on Tori. She wasn’t going to cave to those kind of antics.
“What do you want, Bethany?” Tori asked, taking a step back. It wasn’t that she was afraid, but she still liked her personal space, and sharing it with the undead creeped her out.
Hey!
Sue her.
She was human, and this was weird.
“I miss talking to you, that’s all. Why can’t you pop in and say hello to me? It makes me feel used when you only show up when you’re working.”
Tori leaned against the foot of the bed. “Yeah, I’ve seen you from my peripheral. I know you’re around.”
“I like to make sure you’re safe. It’s kind of my job, you know?”
“I understand. I’ll check in every day, okay?”
The girl smiled. “Thank you.”
“Now, is that all?” she asked. “I have a bit of a problem here at the winery, and I don’t have time to visit. As soon as this whole thing is over, I’ll make sure you don’t feel neglected.”
This was insane. She was trying to appease a ghost in her head. What the hell happened to her normal, military and FBI life? It all seemed to be going crazy.
Bethany snapped her fingers, and she was across the room and in front of the window looking out. “You have more than a bit of a problem, Tori. You have another huge one.”
She watched the dead woman. “And it would be?”
“There are dead here, and they need your help. That’s also why I’ve been trying to get your attention. They’re not happy, and you’re the only one who can help them.”
She stared at her.
Surely, she was joking.
“What?” Tori knew there were some ghosts haunting the winery, but she didn't think it was going to be this bad. Why the hell did they need her help? There weren’t any other mediums lying around?
Seriously?
“They know about you,” she stated. “There’s a spirit roaming around telling everyone that you’re special. He’s drumming up business for you and that sexy man of yours.”
Tori didn't really want to hear this.
Once Julian heard this, he’d flip out.
“Why? Who is it?”
Bethany shrugged her young girl shoulders. “I have no clue. All I can tell you is that he whips around and is angry. I can’t get close enough to him. The others, well, they’re doing it because they can communicate with you. This isn't common. Most of the time, people might feel us watching, but they don’t see or hear us. You do both. Once they know you’re able to communicate, they’re going to come for you.”
Well, holy shit!
That little detail should have been given to her in a manual when she got this crazy gift.
“Why does that sound bad? Why does that make me want to freak out?”
Bethany shrugged. “It’s probably because you’re human. You don’t have to worry, Victoria. I won’t let them hurt you. I promised you that, didn't I?”
She did, and Tori was hoping the woman meant it.
“Who’s here now?” she asked, feeling them before she actually saw them.
Bethany didn't even flinch.
“The energy in the room just changed. I know we’re not alone.”
It had gone from light and familiar to dark, creepy, and heavy. Bethany had been right.
This wasn’t going to be fun.
Tori said a little prayer and hoped that she made it back to Julian.
“They aren’t pretty, Tori. Are you sure you want to see them?” she asked, moving to stand in front of her. “I’m keeping them away from you, but if you need to see what’s haunting this place, I can make them show themselves.”
“What choice do I have? You said yourself that they know about me. If I leave, will they follow?”
They both knew the answer to that.
If they found her, Tori had no choice but to help them. If she refused, they’d have angry spirits on their hands.
Who knew what would happen then?
This was getting worse and worse.
“They don’t have a lot of energy, and I can’t keep them here for long, so it’ll be fast. I’ll talk to them and try to get them to come through to you later, one at a time. Then you’ll have more time. They’re moving around together. Whatever happened to them, the three of them have found a common bond. That makes them dangerous. When one’s mad, they’re all angry.”
She wanted to laugh and cry.
Boy, she missed good old PTSD days where she’d just have a panic attack and pass out. This was more than she ever thought she could handle.
“Okay.”
“She’ll see you now, but no touching!” Bethany called to them, right before placing her body protectively in front of Tori and the baby. All the sudden the room exploded with screams, energy, and barely visible forms.
It swirled violently around them until Tori believed she wouldn’t be able to breathe. It was like being trapped in the swirling vortex of a storm.
She screamed.
It seemed to freak them out a little. Slowly, they pulled away, trying to materialize before them.
They were little.
They were clearly female.
As quick as they were there, they were gone, their energy vaporizing in a loud crack, much like lightning.
“Christ!” she muttered, feeling the energy exploding around them.
“I told you,” stated Bethany.
“Who are they?”
She turned and Bethany’s form was distorted, and no longer looked pristine and whole, like she chose to see. Now Tori saw her as she was in death. It was horrible, and a reminder of why she had agreed to help her months ago.
Death hadn’t been kind to Bethany.
It had been just as brutal as life.
It was hard not to gasp in horror.
“I know. I’m a mess, aren’t I?” Bethany asked, her small hand touching her face.
That was an understatement.
Half her head had been bashed in. Had Tori not been a Fed, the sight would have made her want to be sick. It never ceased to amaze her what man did to man in anger and violence.
“They’re children,” Bethany whispered. “They were murdered brutally.”
“How old?” she asked.
Bethany shrugged. “Younger than I am. I don’t think they’re more than early teens.”
“Where are they?” Tori asked, looking around. “Where are their bodies?”
Bethany wished she had the answer to that. “Here. Somewhere. He killed them, and they need to be set free. You have to help them, Victoria. They need you.”
<
br /> Tori closed her eyes.
She was torn.
As a soldier and Fed, she took an oath to help people. As a PI, they made that same vow.
“This is going to be like ‘The Killing House’ all over again, isn’t it?”
Bethany opened her mouth to answer her, but before anything came out, Tori was inundated with so much energy from the hidden spirits.
Then the screams began again, filling her ears and head until she swore her brain was going to explode from the power of it all.
That was answer enough. This was going to be just like that last case--if not so much worse.
‘JUSTICE.
JUSTICE.
JUSTICE.
Find us JUSTICE.’
It was all she had to hear.
Their chanting proved that she couldn’t let this go. Tori had to step in and help them. She had no choice in the matter. Their spirits weren’t at rest, and that meant setting them free. All Tori could hope was that when this was over, she didn't pick them up like she did Bethany.
“I heard that,” she said.
Tori ignored her.
She couldn’t help but be overwhelmed by the sadness in the room, and she was brought to her knees.
Literally.
The energy was too much for her. The last time she tried to deal with multiple spirits, she was sick.
Tori had to get away.
“Sorry, Bethany, but I have to get back. I don’t feel well,” she muttered, forcing herself back to reality and Julian.
Bethany held her hand as the room spun again, and she was pushed out of the vision and back into the real room.
“I’ll help you,” Bethany called, even as her voice got further and further away.
Tori had no doubt she would.
Only, that wasn’t her biggest obstacle. There was someone who wasn’t going to like this, and she had no choice but to tell him.
Tori prayed he’d stay calm.
* * * L i t t l e m o o n * * *
Julian considered himself a very patient man. Very few things in life could rattle him or make him truly upset. Since his heart belonged to Tori, she was the one sure-fire way to push him over the edge. Toss in their unborn child, and he was a raving madman.
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