by Alexie Aaron
Mia’s face showed that she had a wisecrack in mind but canceled it after seeing the earnest look on Audrey’s face. “Sure, why not. We have to clear it with Burt first.”
“Why Burt and not Mike? Isn’t he in charge of this investigation?”
Mia drew her aside and looked over her shoulder before speaking. “In my brief experience with PEEPs, I’ve learned that Burt has your best interests in mind if it comes to danger, but not when he can get it on film. Mike will fight for you to be able to do the same work as the guys but will sell you down the road for ratings.”
“So we are dealing with danger that can’t be filmed, hence Burt.”
“You catch on quick, I’m impressed. It cost me a relationship and a few bruised ribs to learn this.” Mia looked at her, tapped her foot and said, “Go on ask him. I don’t have all night.”
Audrey turned heel and all but ran over to Burt and pled her case. He looked over at Mia, and she nodded her assent. He seemed to be giving Audrey a lecture on safety along with several gadgets including a mini camcorder. She came back twice as bubbly and a little wiser. “You’re not kidding about gathering video evidence, the man is a maniac.”
As they walked upstairs, she enlightened Audrey how Burt actually climbed a tree in a snow-filled forest in order to film the spirits of the Indians she and Murphy were being chased by. “Murphy ended up tossing snow balls at him until he gave up and got out of the tree.”
“I take it you two used to be an item.”
“Ted tell you that?”
“Yes, which I found quite refreshing. He had nothing but good things to say about Burt, but stressed that he, Ted, was the man for you.”
“I will have to warn you about my love, Teddy Bear. He is a gossip and a blatant eavesdropper. He doesn’t see anything wrong with this behavior. I think it’s cute, but if you have a deep dark secret, do not say it aloud. He’s always listening, aren’t you, dear?”
Ted’s voice came over both coms, “Yes, Minnie Mouth, I am.”
The women laughed like school girls until they walked into the library. “K, time to be professional. Audrey, I can’t express enough how dangerous this passage is, even for this cockroach.”
They climbed in the wall, and Mia took out her flashlight and walked in the direction of the T. She had to admit she was nervous. When she was with Murphy she was brave because Murphy was formidable in every situation. Without him, Mia had to trust her instincts to navigate safely. They reached the T and Audrey filmed the marker Mia had painted before they turned.
Mia climbed down the ladder and, to her relief, found the place as she left it. She and Audrey gathered the pictures and the books and loaded them in Mia’s backpack. Audrey also took out each drawer, emptied it and turned it over, looking for anything hidden in the chest. Mia pointed to a few devices of dubious use. “I wonder if those are cockle shells?”
“Can’t help you there, dear. Not my area,” Audrey said. “Help me upend the bed.”
Between the two of them they managed to turn the cot over and were surprised by the waxed-paper-bound package secured to the springs. Mia pulled out her Swiss army knife and cut the package free. She placed this in her pack saying, “Let’s not look at this here. I’m getting a bad feeling. I think we should seek out the nearest exit.”
The woman climbed out of the pit and retraced their steps. They managed the library in record time. Mia winced as once more faux Eleanor appeared over the desk. She stopped and asked, “Are you even here?” She received no answer. Mia picked up the library steps and put them under the apparition. She climbed up and turned the blackened face to hers and waited for Eleanor to make her move. Nothing. “Poor dear, this wasn’t even your idea was it?” Still nothing. “I talked to Hagan. He’s free of the demon, but he’s still going to spend his life in jail.” No response. “I’m sorry this happened to you. I’ll have the father pray for your soul tomorrow,” Mia said and got down.
“Something is touching me,” Audrey called out in alarm.
Mia looked over to see her standing in the doorway. Richard was standing behind Audrey caressing her hair. He was winding it around his finger, and then he pulled.
“Ouch, my hair!” Audrey called out in alarm.
“I told you to stay away from her. Audrey, drop to the floor, now.”
She heard the blast from Mia’s shotgun nanoseconds after she hit the floor.
Mia saw Richard’s smug look turn to terror as he was pelted with rock salt. He disappeared.
“I hope you brought an umbrella, because it’s raining indoors. Next time give us a head’s up or something, Annie Oakley,” Ted requested.
“Buffalo Bill, you know I have to draw, when I have to draw. I can’t be sending you a script every time I pick up my gun. Sorry, did I hurt anyone?”
“Nope, just looks like old Burt needs Head and Shoulders.”
Mia walked over and helped Audrey off the floor. The two of them walked and looked over the banister to see Burt dusting off his shirt. Mia ducked behind the banister before Burt could look up to see her laughing at him. Audrey was there by her lonesome. She waved shyly and, with the dignity of a royal, walked towards the staircase. This caused Mia to roll into a ball and laugh harder.
Ted passed Audrey on the stairs. He heard strange gurgling sounds from Mia. “There you are. Did you fall down?”
Mia continued to laugh.
Audrey suppressed a giggle as she walked past Burt and sat down.
“She save your life?”
“Oh yes, at least my virtue.”
“K, then I won’t fire her,” Burt said in mock irritation. “Did you get peppered?”
“No, Burt, it was salt, and I’m fine. Richard Bonner must be stopped. I can’t have the abused being abused,” Audrey demanded.
Ted looked down at Mia and decided to sit down with her until she regained her composure. She developed hiccups. He patted her on the back until they settled. Mia looked at him and smiled and said, “My hero.”
Chapter Thirty-eight
Dawn broke over the tall trees. Mia could hear the hum of the traffic participating in the morning rush headed into Chicago. She was walking the interior of the garden. Cid was on the outside. Mike was directing them from his perch at the library window.
“I found the X,” Cid called over the com.
“Mia, walk six paces to your right. Stop!”
Originally the team was looking for a weak spot in the wall to open up. The idea was to give Father Santos’s group an outside access to the garden. Mike asked if they could look and find the spot where Spinner Spazinski tried to pull him through the wall, the same spot they’d seen the whirlwind disappear through before that.
Cid ran his expert hands along the grout and examined the area to either side of the mark. “It looks normal to me.”
Mia, armed with clippers, started on the areas she could reach before using the ladder Ted found for her in the storeroom.
He stood behind her holding the ladder, determined Mia was not going to fall or be pushed off a ladder on his watch.
Mia pulled and pried until a large section of the ivy fell away. “Whoa, there appears to be a plaque, no, it’s a window!”
Mia pushed her sleeve up over her glove and used it to wipe the grime off of the thick glass. “Ted, hand me my flashlight. It’s in my calf pocket.”
Ted found the light and handed to her.
Mia shined the light inside and reared back. Ted’s hand to her back saved her a fall. “OMG, am I seeing this right? Ted, take a look,” she requested.
Ted only needed one step to put him even with Mia. He looked inside as Mia shown the flashlight. “Jesus Christ!” He turned to Mia and said, “It’s a face, or what’s left of one, looking out the window.”
“I’m coming down,” Mike told them.
“I’m headed over too,” Cid’s excited voice cracked in their ears.
“Burt, are you getting this?” Ted asked.
“Loud and cl
ear. I’m sending Audrey to you with a few visual aids.”
“Roger that. The private and I are going to stand down until the unit arrives, Sergeant.”
“Ted, I have no words, over.”
Mia climbed down the ladder and hugged Ted. They were still hugging when Cid arrived, yelling several derogatory remarks as he pushed a wheelbarrow full of excavation equipment towards them.
“Theodore, I fear the help has arrived,” Mia said ignoring Cid entirely. “Would you see to them while I file my nails and attend to other useless enterprises?”
“My lady, your wish is my command,” Ted said, breaking free from the warmth of their hug, reluctantly.
Mike arrived soon after Cid, and Audrey trudged over, trying to walk with the swing of the many cameras and mini cams, causing her to lose her balance.
Ted shook his head, looked over at Mia and said, “We got to get us a better class of Sherpa.”
“I told you at base camp that one looked a bit unbalanced,” Mia said dryly.
Mike and Cid took turns looking in the window. Audrey waited patiently for her turn. Before she climbed the ladder, Ted warned Cid to watch her back. Audrey looked in the window and reared back losing her balance. Cid caught her and placed her safely on the ground.
“I kept telling myself it was going to look horrible, but nothing prepares you for the real thing. Oh my lord, who do you think it is?”
“Mary,” the four PEEPs replied in unison.
“Are you sure? It doesn’t look male or female,” Audrey argued.
“It’s her. The question is, did she go into the wall willingly or did Richard put her there?” Mia asked.
“The family bible just lists their deaths as the same year,” Audrey told them.
Cid ripped more ivy away. The old wood took pieces of mortar with it. Mia picked up a few of the discarded branches and thought it was really a shame as the vine had already started to come back from its winter hibernation.
“I can’t see any way into this wall from here. Her little cubby hole has to have been accessed from the house. But where?” Cid asked.
The four of them looked up at the house. The library window was central to the garden. Mia trudged through the leaves along the wall. She reached the spot where the wall met the house. She pointed out the high windows of the basement. “These must be over the big stainless sinks. I don’t remember what’s in between there and the opening to the storeroom?”
“On my way,” Burt told them.
Mia wiped a spot clean on the window and watched as Burt limped over from the kitchen stairs and stood staring at the wall.
“How big is the opening between the outer and the inner wall?”
“Three feet at this point,” Cid informed him.
“I’m looking at a glass cabinet or what was formally glass before the jars burst. It looks connected to the wall and the other cabinets. Mia and Cid, come inside. Ted, you take over the com. I’m expecting Alan and Father Santos within the hour. Audrey and Mike will handle things out in the garden,” Burt coordinated.
Mia arrived minutes before Cid. Together they emptied the case of any remaining jars. Cid pulled on the shelves while Mia tested the case itself. She looked at the floor in front of it and kicked at some dirt that had settled there.
“Guys, look.” Mia pointed out a slight wear in the linoleum flooring at two places, five feet apart. “Dollars to doughnuts, this somehow rolls out.”
Cid used his strength pulling on the fixed shelves. All he did was rattle the cases to either side.
“Mia, hop on the counter and check that cupboard. I’ll look inside this one. What you’re looking for is some kind of latch or pin,” Burt instructed.
Ted walked in and grabbed the iPad control from Burt. He stopped a moment and pulled Cid away from the middle case. “If that pops open from the release of pressure, you’re gonna eat wood,” he explained. “Burt, do you want me to keep the coms linked with each other?”
“Yes.”
“Whoa, I found something,” Mia called out. “Burt, it’s a lever, painted white to match the interior of the cupboard. Look for yours about six feet up. That should match mine.”
Ted, although tempted to stay, realized the front of the house needed to be watched. He reached the top of the stairs as Burt’s exclamation of, “I found it,” came over the com.
Mia pulled her lever up and slid down the counter away from the case. Burt pulled the lever at his side, and a low mechanical grinding started. He too backed away, giving the mechanism room to move.
The cabinet started to move forward. A hiss of air escaping followed by a foul stench of rot and fungus assaulted their noses.
“Minnie Mouse, I’m blind here, tell me what’s happening,” Ted pleaded.
“The case is opening, and a foul odor is rolling out of the opening. The cabinet is still moving forward. Burt, watch it, I think as it clears the counter it will swing one way or the other,” Mia said as she climbed off the counter. “Ted, it’s, fuck, what is that at the window? Sorry false alarm, Audrey has the big cam suctioned against the window.”
“I’ve got you on film, but I still can’t see the… Mia, there is a black mass forming behind you!” Ted warned.
Mia spun around to see Two Tall Terry staring at them.
“Burt, Cid, we have Terrance in the basement between us and the stairs,” she warned. “He’s just watching us.”
“Mia, keep an eye on him. Audrey, get inside with the camera. Mike, keep an eye on Mary,” he ordered.
The cabinet stopped its outward progress, and another higher pitched sound started and it pivoted outward, nearly knocking Burt over as it swung towards him.
“Ted, I’m looking at several steps leading upwards. It’s dark and damp. Mushrooms are having a field day. I’m going to shovel them off before attempting to climb the steps.”
Audrey ran in from the garden entrance and put the large camera on her shoulder and tried to focus.
“Let the camera do it for you, Audrey. You just point it at the gang,” Ted cooed instructions at the nervous woman. “That’s better. Less Blair Witch, more PEEPs. Cool beans.”
Mike climbed the ladder and duct-taped a light disc to the window. The corpse inside was illuminated, but there was still a bit of a glare. Mike took the minicam and held it as close to the glass as he could, using his left arm to balance the camera. “Ted, check the mini’s feed?”
“God almighty, that’s an ugly old woman!” Ted exclaimed as the picture filled the right corner of the monitor.
“Don’t let Mia hear you…”
“Too late, Ted, we must work on our political correctness,” she teased. She turned to Audrey and exchanged nods.
Audrey’s expression changed. “I’ve got a cold blast of air behind me.” Mia looked over her shoulder and saw Richard emerge from the subbasement doorway. Bars and wood could not stop this apparition.
Mia looked at Terrance, and he narrowed his eyes and his teeth sharpened.
Richard grabbed Audrey. Burt winced as the camera crashed to the floor. Mia pulled out her shotgun but could not get a clear shot.
“Fucking hell, the corpse turned her head,” Mike shouted.
“I confirm, Mary is on the move,” Ted warned.
Cid backed up as a hollow scream pierced the air. It came from the opening in the wall. Burt moved to try to close the door, but Terrance pushed him away. He fell into Cid who was unprepared for the catch. They went crashing to the floor. Cid got to his feet and challenged the ghost. Terry picked him up and tossed him into Burt.
“Bloody hell. I’ve lost Burt and Cid. Audrey’s being dragged backwards, and I have Bloody Mary moving our way,” Mia reported as she hopped on the counter to try to get a better aim.
“RRRICHARRD!” a woman’s voice screamed from the tunnel. A black ooze flowed down the steps and pooled on the floor. Out of this blackness a woman formed. She was wearing widow’s weeds. Her lacey-black veil fell around her long black dress.
She had prayer beads wrapped around her belt, dangling against the satin of her skirt. She looked at Audrey and her husband and spat, “Even in death you defile our marriage bed. How many Roses must I endure? How many with full wombs must I plant in the earth before you stop?”
“Talk to me,” Ted’s voice hissed in Mia’s ear.
“I have two shots and three ghosts. I can’t get Richard, and Terrance is not threatening me. He just stands there. Mary is the only one stopping Richard from dragging Audrey into the pit.”
“Hang in there, help just arrived.”
“God, I hope it’s Murphy,” Mia said under her breath.
“No, but God is a factor,” Ted said.
“Please let me go,” Audrey insisted. “I’ve done nothing wrong.”
Richard pushed her away from him.
Mary looked at her and said, “Come here little rose, I won’t hurt you.”
“Don’t do it,” warned Mia. “The bitch killed in life, she can kill in death.”
Audrey paled.
“Go to Terrance,” Mia said instinctively. “Terry, don’t let Richard have his way again.”
The behemoth moved swiftly placing his mass between Audrey and Mary.
Mary turned and growled at her brother-in-law. “You’re useless. Your wife cried when Richard played with her. A little pinch here, a little strap there…”
Terry turned towards his brother. “Wasn’t it bad enough you kill me, but harm my widow?”
Richard yawned.
“Can ghosts yawn?” Mia asked Ted.
“Don’t know. Maybe the ones not at rest?”
Mia turned her head from one ghost to the next, trying to figure a way out of the situation.
“He beat your daughters. One got away, one didn’t,” Mary goaded Terry.
“And you watched, didn’t you?” Mia said, trying to give Audrey enough time to get to safety.
Mary turned her gaze on Mia who was crouched on the counter. “What kind of monkey are you?”
Mia, not one to take an insult from a ghost, stood up and repeated, “What kind of monkey are you, Mary? See no evil? Pah! Hear no evil? I think you heard all of their screams. Speak no evil? You kept silent. Yes, it is you who is the monkey.”