The Ghost Who Stayed Home

by Anna J. McIntyre

“That’s kind of…blurry.” Chris frowned.

  “Sometimes it takes a while for things to come into focus. At least that’s the case when you die. Yet, according to Lily, it was the same for her out-of-body experience. I remember when she showed up here—her soul, that is—it didn’t even dawn on her how peculiar it was that she was here—when she was supposed to be back in California at her teaching job. She forgot completely about her trip to Palm Springs—at least initially. But it came back to her. I suspect it will come back to you.”

  With a frown, Chris shook his head. “No. Not blurry like that. I remember sitting in the plane; we had just taken off. And I looked over at Carol Ann, and her head just dropped to one side, landing on Ed’s shoulder.”

  “Ed?”

  “Chief MacDonald.”

  “So now he’s Ed?”

  Chris shrugged. “Yeah.”

  “Go on…what about Carol Ann?”

  “I remember finding it a little amusing that she’d nodded off so quickly—I mean, we hadn’t been up in the air that long. I was going to say some smart-aleck crack to Ed about it, but then things got blurry, and the next thing I know I’m walking down some steps.”

  “Steps where?”

  “I don’t know. Everything was black. Not like I was in a dark room, but there was something wrapped around my head, like a scarf. There was someone on each side of me, clutching my arms, and then there wasn’t. But I was going downs steps, and someone was behind me, holding onto my shoulder and telling me to keep going. I sort of freaked and tried to pull away, and the next thing I know I’m falling—and then—well, I’m here.”

  “I don’t believe you just leapt from there to here. Try to focus—retrace your steps backwards from when you walked in here and asked me what I was reading. Concentrate.”

  Chris let out a sigh and closed his eyes. Leaning back on the sofa, he imagined himself standing at the door to the library. After a few minutes, he looked at Walt. “I remember something.”

  “What is it?”

  “I remember standing by the plane—but I wasn’t. I was lying on the ground—at least I think it was me. I had a blindfold on, and I really couldn’t see my face. But it felt like it was me. The pilot was there and another man. A large man I had never seen before. They were standing over me, yelling at each other. I told myself to get up, and then I noticed it…” Chris stood up abruptly and began pacing the room, his right hand absently combing through his hair.

  “You noticed what?” Walt asked.

  “The blood. My hair was soaked in it.” Chris paused a moment and touched his hair, searching for his head wound.

  “There’s no blood there now,” Walt told him.

  “Where’s Danielle, Lily, the rest of them?”

  “That’s what I want to know. As best as I can figure out, the plane and all the passengers went missing. The pilot you hired, he was found tied up. From what I gathered, you were kidnapped.”

  “Kidnapped?”

  Walt nodded and then went on to tell Chris about Evan’s visit and what he had learned when Brian and the FBI agents had showed up at the house.

  “After they left, I was able to visit Ian in a dream hop. Of course, he assumed it was a regular dream. But I managed to get him to tell me a little about what’s going on. They have the others locked up in some warehouse. He knew you had been injured—he’s even worried you might die. Focus, where did the plane land?”

  Chris shook his head. “I can’t remember anything but standing by the plane and looking at myself on the ground, unconscious—the men yelling at each other, and then the next thing I remember, I’m here—standing at the library door, watching you read.”

  “You must have wandered around first, seen your surroundings. Something that can help us find where they have the others.”

  “I’m sorry, Walt. I remember getting on the plane—watching Carol Ann nod off—everything getting blurry—waking up to darkness while I was being guided down some stairs—falling—” Chris winced and then said, “A hell of a pain on my forehead. There is something more—but it’s just beyond my grasp. It’s foggy…I can’t explain exactly.”

  “Focus, Chris! Focus!”

  Chris closed his eyes for a moment and tried to concentrate on what had happened after his mind stepped out of his body. When he opened his eyes again, he looked at Walt and said, “I was wandering around—trying to figure out where I was. But like I said, everything is foggy—out of focus. But I do remember wishing I was home, and then the next thing I know, here I am.”

  “Marlow House is not your home.”

  Chris frowned at Walt. “That’s not a very kind thing to say, especially considering my current situation.”

  “None of you would be in this situation right now if you hadn’t gotten that harebrained idea to rent a plane!”

  TWELVE

  THREE WEEKS EARLIER

  When Danielle opened the front door, she found Chris standing on her porch, a bottle of wine in one hand. He handed the bottle to her and then stepped into the house. Now holding the wine, she glanced down at the bottle’s distinctive red and gold chateau label and smiled.

  “Oh my, what’s the special occasion?” Danielle closed the door.

  “Does it have to be a special occasion?” Chris asked with a grin.

  “When you spend three hundred dollars on wine, one assumes it must be,” Walt said when he appeared a moment later, standing in the entry hall with Danielle and Chris.

  “Maybe it is a little bit.” Chris shrugged. “Plus, that is damn good wine. I have to thank Adam for introducing us to it.”

  Wine bottle in hand, Danielle headed for the kitchen, Walt and Chris trailing behind her.

  “Technically speaking, Baron Huxley introduced us to this wine,” Danielle reminded him as she walked into the kitchen. “You want a glass now?”

  “Definitely,” Chris said as he took a seat at the table with Walt and watched Danielle remove the bottle’s cork. Taking two wineglasses out of the overhead cabinet, she poured two glasses and brought them to the table. After handing one to Chris, she sat down.

  Instead of a wineglass in his hand, Walt held a thin cigar. He took a puff while leaning back in the chair, watching Danielle take her first sip.

  “This is the best wine,” Danielle said a moment later.

  “Well, Chris can afford it,” Walt said before taking another puff.

  “How’s the heating project going?” Chris asked.

  “They promise it’ll be wrapped up next week—finally.” Holding her stemmed wineglass in one hand, she swirled it slightly before lifting it to her nose and taking a deep breath.

  “Do you know what you’re doing?” Walt asked with a chuckle.

  Danielle laughed. “Not really. But it almost smells as good as it tastes.” She took a sip.

  “So what are your plans after they finish putting in your new furnace?” Chris asked.

  “An air conditioner,” Danielle reminded him. “This place is moving into the twenty-first century.”

  “So what are you going to do?”

  Danielle shrugged. “Our next reservation isn’t until the first week in May. I really don’t have any plans.”

  Lifting his glass in a toast, Chris said, “I think you should use the time to take a well-earned vacation.” He took a drink of the wine.

  “Yeah, Lily and I were talking about that. But it’s sort of late in the game to plan something now. I wish I would have thought of it earlier.”

  “What do you think about dude ranches?” Chris asked.

  “Dude ranches? Frankly I haven’t given them much thought, why?”

  “Oh, come on, don’t you like horseback riding, eating barbecue, sitting under the stars?” Chris asked.

  Danielle paused mid-sip and grinned across the table at Chris. “For some reason, I don’t see you as the cowboy type.”

  Walt rolled his eyes and mumbled, “Oh brother…”

  Shifting her glance to Walt, she
wrinkled her nose at him and took a sip.

  “Here’s the deal,” Chris began, setting his glass on the table. “A while back I bought tickets for this charity event. It’s to raise money to save wild horses.”

  “I like wild horses,” Danielle told him.

  “It’s being sponsored by a dude ranch in Texas. I have eight tickets. I never planned to go, but I was sorting through some of my papers at the office and I came across the information on the event and realized it’s later this month. And I thought, why not go? How about it?”

  Danielle set her glass on the table. “Are you asking me to go to Texas with you?”

  “First, a man asks you to go to California for dinner, and now Chris wants you to go to Texas with him?” Walt scoffed.

  “What’s wrong with Danielle going to Texas with me?” Chris asked.

  Walt glared at Chris. “Other than the obvious…you are not married.”

  Danielle chuckled. “Well, I’m not married either. So I don’t see what the problem would be.”

  Walt turned his attention to Danielle. Arching his brow, he said, “You know what I mean.”

  “Actually, I don’t,” Danielle muttered just as Chris started to respond.

  “If it makes you feel any better, it won’t be just me and Danielle. Did I mention I have eight tickets?”

  Danielle picked her glass up off the table. “Who were you thinking of inviting?”

  “Lily and Ian, of course. And I was thinking Adam and whoever he wants to bring.”

  “Adam? Seriously? I would have to spend…wait a minute, how long would we be gone?”

  “Four days.”

  “Okay…so I would have to spend four days with Adam?” Danielle groaned.

  “Oh, come on. You like Adam,” Chris teased.

  “Well…I don’t loathe him anymore. And he can be fun. But four days?”

  Chris flashed Danielle a rebuking glance.

  Rolling her eyes, she took a sip and said, “Okay, okay. Adam and a friend. I just wish Melony was here to go with him. I’m kind of afraid of what kind of woman he might show up with.”

  “Four days? You’ll be gone four days? What will Ian do with Sadie?” Walt asked.

  “I suppose she could stay here with you,” Danielle suggested.

  “I’m not sure Ian will be thrilled about that. It’s not like Ian knows about Walt,” Chris reminded her.

  “True, but I can pay Joanne to come over several times a day to check on Sadie and Max. We have the doggy door, so it’s not like she needs to come over and let her out. I think she’d be happier here than staying at a kennel.”

  “Maybe Ian would prefer leaving her with his sister,” Chris suggested. “Of course, that’s assuming he and Lily agree to go with us.”

  “I’ll see if I can talk him into leaving Sadie here,” Danielle said. “She’d be happier here.” And so would Walt.

  “You say you have eight tickets, who else are you intending to invite?” Walt asked.

  “I was thinking the chief and his girlfriend.”

  “The chief?” Danielle asked.

  “Yeah. I appreciate how much help he’s been, keeping my true identity out of the press. I think if Joe or Brian had their way, my true name would be common knowledge.”

  “That would be fun, but what would it cost for us to fly? I’m not sure the chief can really afford that, and I doubt he’d appreciate it if I offered to pay for his and Carol Ann’s ticket. I think he pretty much tapped out his vacation allowance with that trip to Hawaii this last October, and he mentioned to me he was saving money to take his kids to Disneyland in the summer.”

  “That won’t be a problem,” Chris announced. “I’m chartering a plane.”

  “Really?” Danielle asked.

  Chris nodded. “I hooked up with a charter service. After my last trip to New York, I realized how much I hate all the airport crap you go through when you fly commercial. I figured why not do what everyone else does in my position, charter a plane.”

  “No, Chris. I think most people in your position own their own jet,” Danielle teased.

  Chris shook his head. “No, thank you. I have no desire to own a jet.”

  “Are you seriously thinking of going?” Walt asked Danielle.

  She looked at Walt. “Why? You don’t think I should?”

  Walt studied Danielle a moment, ignoring Chris’s eye roll commentary on his question. After a moment of contemplation, Walt reluctantly said, “You would probably have fun. I think you should go.”

  Danielle wrinkled her nose. “Really?”

  Walt looked at Chris. “So what do they do at this dude ranch?”

  “I just glanced over the brochure. I know they have horseback riding, cookouts, line dancing, oh, and I saw something about a massage.”

  “Massage?” Danielle perked up. “I’m so up for that!”

  “Yes, according to the brochure.”

  Danielle looked at Walt. “I wish you could come.”

  Chris sat back in his chair and muttered under his breath, “That would be a little crowded.”

  “IT SOUNDS FUN,” Adam told Chris the next morning. “But there’s no one I’d want to take.” He handed Chris back the dude ranch brochure. The two sat together in a booth at Lucy’s Diner.

  “So come alone,” Chris said, tossing the brochure on the table.

  Adam smiled. “I’m really flattered that you asked me. But I don’t want to go along and be a fifth wheel.”

  “I told you Ian and Lily are coming, and I just talked to the chief. I’m pretty sure he’s going, but he needs to talk to Carol Ann first, see if she can get the time off from the hospital. There will be a lot of people coming with us.”

  Adam shook his head. “You mean couples. Thanks, Chris, really. But I don’t think so.”

  CHRIS STOPPED at Ian’s house after he left Lucy’s Diner. He found not only Lily and Danielle sitting at Ian’s kitchen table, but Ian’s sister, Kelly.

  “Hi, Kelly. I thought that was your car out there,” Chris greeted Ian’s sister as he took a barstool at the kitchen counter and looked down at the table.

  “Hi, Chris, they were just telling me about the trip you guys are taking, sounds fun.” Kelly had her brother’s eyes and coloring, and while there was a strong family resemblance, she was as feminine as her brother was masculine. “I offered to keep Sadie for him, but Danielle says she’s going to stay at Marlow House.”

  “She’ll probably be happy there with Max.” Chris flashed Danielle a quick smile.

  “I don’t have much of a yard, so you’re probably right,” Kelly agreed.

  “We need to buy cowboy boots,” Lily said.

  “Is that really necessary?” Ian asked with a chuckle.

  “Yes, it is!” Kelly insisted. “You have to wear cowboy boots when you ride. I mean, it would just be wrong to wear another type of shoe to a dude ranch. Especially if you intend to go riding.”

  Ian smiled at his sister and then looked over at Chris. “My sister is quite the horsewoman. Growing up, she had a horse and used to do the horse-show thing.”

  “Horse-show thing,” Kelly said dryly under her breath and then chuckled.

  Danielle looked over to Kelly. “I always wanted a horse when I was growing up.”

  Kelly smiled. “I love horses. You guys are going to have a great time.”

  “Then why don’t you come with us,” Chris said impulsively.

  “Thanks for the offer. But Ian told me you only have eight tickets.”

  Chris looked from Kelly to the others. “Adam’s not going.”

  “Why not?” Danielle asked.

  Chris shrugged. “He said he’d feel like a fifth wheel. There wasn’t anyone he wanted to take.” Chris looked at Kelly. “So the offer is still on. If you want to go with us, I have two other tickets.”

  Excited, Kelly jumped from her chair. “Oh really? You mean that?”

  “Sure.” Chris smiled.

  “Oh my god, I’ve al
ways wanted to go to a dude ranch! I haven’t been riding in years. I’m going to go call Joe and see if he can get the time off.” Kelly dashed from the kitchen, heading to the living room so she could make a private call on her cellphone.

  “Awkward,” Lily muttered under her breath.

  Chris looked at Lily and frowned.

  Ian chuckled. “I imagine Lily is referring to the fact Joe and Danielle once dated.”

  “Hey, it’s okay. Really,” Danielle insisted. “Joe and I are friends, and we only dated casually—very casually.”

  THIRTEEN

  When Sergeant Joe Morelli arrived at the station later that morning, he found Brian and the chief standing by the front desk. The woman who was normally sitting there was nowhere in sight, and Joe assumed she was either in the restroom or had left for lunch.

  Of the three men, Joe was the youngest, being in his thirties, while Brian was the oldest—old enough to be Joe’s father. Brian’s shortly cropped hair had already gone gray, while the chief’s brown hair just showed streaks of it. There was no sign of aging in Joe’s thick, wavy black hair.

  “I understand you and Kelly will be going with us to the dude ranch,” the chief greeted Joe.

  Brian laughed and shook his head. “The chief was just telling me about the trip. Damn, you guys are sure rubbing shoulders with the rich and powerful these days.”

  Joe flashed Brian a frown and then turned his attention to the chief. “I don’t know how I can go, but when Kelly called to tell me about it, it kind of threw me. I told her I would check with you and see if I can get the time off.”

  Edward MacDonald shrugged. “So why don’t you think you can go?”

  “For one thing, you’re going to be gone then too. We both can’t go.”

  “Why not? I checked the schedule. You’re already off two of those days. I’m sure you can find someone willing to switch shifts with you. In fact, I heard Gary talking the other day about wanting to swap days with someone so he can attend his high school reunion without taking vacation days.”

  “I don’t know…” Joe mumbled.

  Brian laughed again. “Sounds like you’re trying to wiggle out of this trip. What, you don’t want to be obligated to someone who you’d rather see locked up? I suppose I can understand that.”