Ghostly Liaisons (Ghosts)

by Spear, Terry

  Emily left the earlier world and returned to this one, the high school cafeteria, the fight between Michael and Daniel. Michael.

  Kevin and Michael immediately dove for the floor while Daniel still stood in an offensive stance, knife readied.

  “Not Michael,” Granny shouted, pointing to her grandson. “He’s not one of the bad kids.”

  “Drop the weapon!” several of the officers yelled at Daniel while two others hurried to cuff Michael and Kevin.

  Emily shook her head. “Not Michael!” But the words wouldn’t come.

  “He’s my grandson! He called in the kidnapping! Release Michael at once,” Granny hollered, her voice echoing through the cafeteria.

  “Drop the weapon!” an officer again yelled and moved in closer to Daniel while another tried to get closer with a stun gun.

  Another leaned over Emily’s body and held her wrist, then began calling in orders on his phone. Was her pulse normal? She couldn’t feel a thing.

  Daniel waved his knife, threatening the approaching police, but seemed unsure as to what to do next. Then one stunned him from the back. Daniel cried out and collapsed to the floor.

  The officers quickly tackled him and cuffed his wrists behind him.

  Paramedics rushed into the room to aid Emily’s lifeless form.

  She felt fine. A little fuzzy headed…well, really, really lightheaded, like her head was filled with helium. But no pain, just an overwhelming sense of release.

  An officer removed Michael’s cuffs, and he tried to get to Emily, but the paramedics wouldn’t let him.

  “Emily,” Granny coaxed. “Emily, come back to us.”

  Emily fought to reach out to Granny, to show her she was all right. Then as if a giant magnet drew her to it, she was drawn back into her body. Her lightweight, carefree being became solid again, aching, heavy, and terribly tired, cradled in Granny’s warm embrace.

  “Emily!” Granny said, then about squeezed the life out of her again. “You’re back!”

  Michael’s expression appeared pained. She thought she lifted her hand to his. He hovered over her for a second. But only for that brief moment in time.

  Then the brilliant cafeteria lights faded, faded, faded, and winked out.

  Chapter 19

  When Emily opened her eyes, she found herself tucked into her pink bed, gripping her spare pillow. The midday sunlight washed her room in golden rays. Had she only dreamed about Armando and the other boys?

  Her phone rang, jarring her nerves, but before she could answer it the line went dead. She tumbled out of bed and hurried to dress in jeans and a T-shirt.

  “Mom!” she hollered as she raced into the kitchen. “Why didn’t anyone wake me? I missed school!”

  “Whoa, Emily. After what happened last night, you ought to be out of school for the rest of the week. We hadn’t realized what a dangerous neighborhood this was.”

  “What?”

  “Kevin and Daniel were arrested for killing Armando and kidnapping you. The police found Roberta’s body and your car in the swamp just where Michael said the two of you found them.” Her mother tilted her chin down at her. “You know, when things like this happen to you, your father and I would like to be kept informed. Just because your boyfriend and his grandmother have special abilities like you, we don’t want to be left in the dark.”

  “Yes, Mom.” However, if she had a similar situation happen, there was no way she wanted to worry her mother, if she could help it.

  “Michael’s waiting to hear how you’re doing. He stayed home from school today, too.”

  Suddenly, panic set in. He wouldn’t be home from school also, unless something bad happened. “Is he all right?” She couldn’t contain her anxiety and wanted to bolt from the house to see him.

  “He’ll be fine. But he’s called seven times already.”

  “Can I see him?”

  “Are you feeling all right?

  “Yes, I’m just fine.”

  “Are you done with the ghosts, Emily?”

  “There’s a pirate one who’s bothering Granny.”

  Her mother frowned and pulled out her worry stone. “Oh.”

  “And there are a couple of bullies who ride the bus.”

  “But you don’t ride the bus anymore.”

  “No.” Emily hadn’t meant to mention that, but if Michael was right, she hadn’t dealt with the last of Red and his gang yet. “And we wanted to check out a ghost that frequents a restaurant.”

  “Only nice ghosts.”

  Emily hugged her mother and kissed her cheek. “I’ll tell them that’s the only kind I’m allowed to play with.”

  “I sent over a fruit basket for Michael.”

  “Fruit basket?” Emily’s heart shifted into high gear. “He was hurt?”

  “Only slightly, Emily. Just be gentle with him.”

  “I will.” She ran to the front door and dashed outside. The school bus rolled along the road, returning from school, and she turned to look at the occupants. Red and Rocky hung out the window, their deadly glare a warning.

  Red mouthed, “You’re dead.”

  She curbed the urge to do something totally childish, like stick her tongue out at them. Then she decided what the heck and did it anyway.

  She ran up Michael’s sidewalk, but before she touched the knob the door opened. “Granny, is Michael all right?”

  His grandmother gave her a warm embrace. “I’m so glad you’re fine, dear.”

  “And you?”

  “Tip-top shape, dear. But that blasted pirate Roberts fellow has got to go.”

  Gritting her teeth, Emily frowned. “Have you had more troubles?”

  “Turned on my sprinklers while I was trying to dry my bath rugs on the clothesline. Well water will leave rust stains on fabric. He ruined all my rugs.”

  Emily kissed her cheek, feeling like she had adopted Michael’s grandmother. “We’ll work on him next, Granny.”

  They walked toward Michael’s bedroom. Was he a slob, or a neat nick?

  “He’s neat, but things are kind of a mess because of hastily changing last night.”

  Emily stopped her. “He’s not too mad at me for leaving without him, is he?”

  Michael hollered, “You better believe it!”

  Emily and his grandmother laughed. “I can see his hearing isn’t affected, Granny.”

  “I’ll leave the two of you alone.” His grandmother gave her another squeeze and padded back down the hallway.

  Peeking into the room, Emily hugged the doorframe. Michael rested in bed, a dark green comforter tucked under his chin. “Are you okay, Michael?”

  “I could use a shave and a shower.” One dark brow lifted, devilish like.

  “Can’t help you there.”

  “You could give me a sponge bath.” His mouth twitched in a smile.

  “Yeah, I bet you’d like that.”

  A dark chuckle escaped his lips. “Yeah, well, if you’re not willing to do that, I could use a hug.”

  “I don’t usually hug guys in bed. It might hurt my reputation.”

  “You can make an exception with me. After all, I suffered wounds during battle just to rescue my girl.”

  Instantly worried, Emily edged over to the bed. “Daniel cut you?”

  “Not so badly I couldn’t use a good hug.”

  Her gaze shifted to his comforter. “Where?”

  “He nicked my arm in a couple of places. I thought if you were feeling up to it, we could go to Asheley’s for dinner Friday.” He eyed her slow movement toward his bed as if he were readying to pounce. “You sure are taking your time to get here.”

  “I suppose if the situation was reversed and I lay in my bed, you’d have tackled me already.”

  “Absolutely not. Code of honor. A girl can tackle a wounded guy and get away with it, but never the reverse. Just isn’t done.”

  “But you’re hurt, Michael.”

  “If I could use mind control like you’re able to do, I’d make
you come over here at a sprint.”

  She pressed her legs against the full-sized bed. When she leaned down to touch his cheek, he instantly pulled his comforter down to his waist, freeing his hands, and wrapped his arms around her.

  “Michael,” she squealed in surprise, stiffly leaning against his bare chest.

  His temple wrinkled in pain, and he groaned. “Emily, honey, my arm hurts. Quit struggling and give me an embrace like your lion-hearted warrior deserves.”

  She wrapped her arms around him and laid her head against his chest. His heart beat steadily. “The heart of a lion,” she murmured.

  “Hmm, you smell like roses.” He kissed the top of her head and ran his hand over her arm.

  “What happened exactly? I only remember bits and pieces. I walked outside of my home after I changed, and then someone hit me in the head.”

  “Yeah, I was still getting into dark clothes and neither Granny nor I knew what had happened. When I found the glass light fixture broken on your front porch, I wasn’t sure if they were waiting for you, or already had gotten to you. I’d hoped you would have stayed put until I got there.”

  “I would have had I had a crystal ball.”

  He shook his head. “You were supposed to wait for me. Anyway, then I had a premonition and saw they’d taken you in Kevin’s car and later, you were tied up in a brightly lit place. I was afraid Red and his whole gang grabbed you.”

  “I guess Red and Rocky didn’t have anything to do with Armando’s murder. Armando tricked the others into believing he wanted to kill me and if they brought me to him, he’d quit haunting Daniel.” She touched Michael’s chest with her fingertips, loving the feel of his warm skin against hers. “How did you know about the policemen’s arrival?”

  “We called them once I got your telepathic message saying where you were. I figured if we had to deal with Red and his gang we might need some more muscle.”

  “You…you read my mind?”

  “Something like that. I’m not sure, except you mentioned the school cafeteria and that was enough.”

  “I thought you were having a premonition about the police.”

  “No, I figured they’d be there pretty quickly and maybe Daniel would give it up. Otherwise, I was busy trying to keep Daniel from sticking me with his knife.”

  Emily lifted her head and touched Michael’s bandaged arm.

  “You can kiss it and make the hurt go away.”

  She kissed his arm gently. “I tossed Roberta’s necklace at Armando, but I don’t remember anything after that.”

  “Armando’s spirit was released. Granny said his cry of agony nearly made her pass out. She guessed he affected you worse because he’d already touched your soul.” Michael’s chest swelled beneath Emily when he drew in a deep breath. “The police crashed through the doors and threatened to arrest the whole lot of us, except for Granny and you. Granny held your head in her lap when they charged into the room. I hadn’t quite wrested the knife out of Daniel’s hands so they weren’t sure which of us the bad guy was. Granny quickly told them what happened.”

  “Not about Armando.”

  “Kind of. The version went something like this. Daniel had poisoned Armando then thought the dead boy’s spirit haunted him. If he sacrificed you to the imagined ghost, he believed he’d be set free from the haunting. Kevin went along with every word, trying to ensure Daniel took all of the blame. But both were arrested.”

  “And we’re not in trouble for breaking into the school?”

  “Daniel and Kevin broke in. They took you hostage. Granny and I ‘saw’ them do it, so we pursued you to rescue you.”

  “Oh.” Reaching up, she touched Michael’s stubble. “I still had it in mind we were going to break in. I guess their clobbering me still has me confused as to what happened.”

  He kissed her fingers, his eyes darkening at the same time. “They took you to the hospital to run tests, and your parents arrived soon after and returned you home.”

  “My mother scolded me for not keeping them informed.”

  “Yeah, your dad chewed me out. He said if I intended to go steady with you, I had to keep a tighter rein on you.”

  “He didn’t say that.”

  “He did. I swear it. So about Asheley’s…”

  “Yeah, Friday night sounds super. You know, Michael, we’ve got to take care of another problem, too.”

  “What’s that?”

  “The pirate Roberts.”

  “We need to sell the sailboat.” He ran his hand over her back while she intertwined her fingers with his free hand. When she didn’t respond, he tightened his hold on her hand and released. “Emily, we need to sell the boat.”

  “We need to get rid of the pirate’s ghost.”

  He ran his fingers through her hair. “I knew the first time I laid eyes on you, you were going to be trouble.”

  “Oh, yeah?”

  “Yeah. You held your hand out to me, and I knew if I accepted it, my life would change forever.”

  She took a deep breath. “For good or for worse.”

  He patted her shoulder. “For richer or poorer.”

  “The pirate’s treasure!” Emily jumped up from the bed. “The pirate captain wants his treasure! It was somewhere near where Roberta’s bones lay in rest.” She tugged at Michael’s good arm. “Come on, Michael. We’ve got to get rid of him so he won’t upset Granny anymore.”

  “But you said Roberta made it up—that it’s been stolen already.” He groaned. “I’ll get some clothes on. But I don’t think this is what your father had in mind when he said I needed to take good care of you.”

  “Yes, but maybe it really is there, buried in the muck. We have to see if we can find it.” She backed toward the door. “I’ll meet you in the swamps.”

  Turning, she ran into Granny and gasped.

  “I’ll keep her here, Michael, until you have a chance to get dressed.”

  “I already told my mother we had to take care of this ghost who was bothering you, Granny.”

  “I could just sell the sailboat, dear.”

  “Yes, you could. And the choice would be yours to make freely, not coerced by a rotten old pirate. Besides, what if selling the sailboat didn’t work? What if he remained behind, even angrier than before, vowing to get revenge any time you walked into the backyard?”

  “You’re right, of course.” They entered the kitchen. “Just be careful, Emily. The swamp holds many dangers.”

  “Yes, snakes and alligators.”

  “And ghosts.” Granny poured her a glass of orange juice.

  “Thanks for helping me with Armando.”

  “We work well together.”

  “Did you ever deal with ghosts much when you were growing up?”

  The older woman shook her head. “No, you seem to have a special way with them. I can see them, but try to avoid them.”

  “What was it like when you were growing up? I mean, with being able to read minds? Did you have trouble keeping friends?”

  “You bet. But the worst was when I had my son. I had the sweetest husband you could imagine. He was always proud of me. But my son, George, Michael’s father, hated that I had special abilities. When he married Jean, he poisoned her against me. For years, I barely got to see Michael. And then, well, I guess Michael told you about what happened to his girlfriend.”

  Emily nodded.

  “His parents wanted me to take care of him. I couldn’t have been happier. And I think he’s been pretty happy.”

  Emily knew he was. “What about your parents? Were they accepting of your abilities?”

  Granny took a seat at her breakfast table, a glint of mischievousness in her eyes. “Sometimes it came in rather handy.”

  “You didn’t use your powers to…”

  “Sometimes. I hated washing pots and pans. And dishes. I had an older brother who got away with doing very little. So when my mother wasn’t around, I convinced my brother to clean up the kitchen.”

  A
nd here Emily thought Granny was a totally sweet lady.

  Granny’s eyes sparkled with amusement.

  Michael snorted when he walked into the kitchen, dressed in gray running sweats and sneakers. “The doctor told me to get plenty of bed-rest today, but look what my steady has me doing instead. Chasing after ghosts in the swamps.”

  “Pirate’s treasure. Come on, hero of mine.” Emily grabbed his hand. “Let’s get rid of the male chauvinist ghost.”

  Chapter 20

  In the filtered shade of the trees, the dappled sunlight highlighted the swamps, making them appear even more deadly. Before, what they couldn’t see, couldn’t hurt them, but now every bubble that surfaced, every movement ever so slight made Emily realize some kind of creature created each of them. Snapping turtles poked their heads out of the water, whose sharp beaks could remove a toe with a twist. Venomous snakes slithered through the reeds, and leathery skinned alligators hid just beneath the sea-green scummy water, waiting for the unsuspecting.

  Emily held Michael’s hand tightly. “It seems scarier in the daylight.”

  “Not to me. Are you sure the treasure’s here?”

  They walked for some distance, trudging through the muck, the fish odor assaulting them. The police had had her Caddy pulled from the swamp, and she imagined Roberta’s bones were rescued, too. Now the place was just like in her nightmares, left to its natural state, a primitive jungle-like swamp.

  “Near here, yes.” She could see it just like in Roberta’s vision, past several mango trees clustered together like a pirate’s gathering, rallying over their hoard of gold. And then a raised level of earth, like an island, jutted into the swamp. Though Roberta’s bones had been in the water, Emily remembered Roberta standing on a raised mound of earth…next to the treasure.

  Michael helped Emily onto the dry ground.

  “Here was where it was, Michael. Right here.” She pointed at the spot, but except for a thick tangle of vines and reeds swaying at the edge of the bank, there was nothing.

  She closed her eyes and listened for any sound of the other pirates. She shook her head and opened her eyes. Michael watched her, his gaze full of concern while his jaw remained rigid and his dark brows knit together.