Emma’s eyes popped open as she turned her head to the place where Granny had been planted, passing judgment on Emma’s kiss. She locked a stern look onto the spirit while speaking to Kelly. “Granny told you? How long has this been going on?” Granny turned this way and that to avoid Emma’s laser look. Pursing her lips, the ghost started whistling a silent tune and buried her hands in the deep pockets of her homespun skirt.
“I discovered I could hear Granny right after Grandpa George’s funeral.” Kelly was referring to George Whitecastle, Grant’s father, who had died from cancer just days before last Christmas. “I was crying, and she talked to me. But I couldn’t see her until after I returned to school.”
Emma kept an eye on Granny, who now floated about the clearing pretending to keep her eye on Quinn, who quickly realized he wasn’t the one who held Emma’s interest at the moment. He watched Emma’s eyes as they traveled the grassy area and kept half an ear on her conversation.
“And how often does Granny visit you?”
“Is Granny in trouble?” Kelly asked in a worried voice.
“It depends,” Emma answered honestly. “Is she interfering with your studies? Or making you uncomfortable around your friends?”
“No, Mom, nothing like that. Sometimes she visits when I’m feeling lonely. She tells me what’s going on at home and stories of Julian and Great-Grandpa Jacob.”
“And she told you what’s going on concerning Summer and Lainey?”
“Yes.” Another self-conscious pause. “And about Addy Ames.”
“Uh-huh.” Emma had wanted to keep Kelly from the dark side of the spirit world as long as possible. It didn’t bother her that Kelly was bonding with Granny. She’d half expected Kelly to develop such skills considering Elizabeth had them, too, but it did bother her that Kelly was learning so soon that ghosts could be killers. Although, Emma reasoned in a snap of clarity, Lainey knew, so why not Kelly? Kelly was a grown woman, and now that Emma knew she had the gift, she would have to guide and teach her about it as Milo had taught her. Casting her look from Granny to Quinn, Emma knew now wasn’t the time to begin Kelly’s lessons.
“So tell me about the job,” she asked her daughter.
There was no mistaking the excitement in her daughter’s voice as Kelly told her about the summer position one of her professors had secured for her. It was as an assistant to a brilliant and elderly historian, helping her to catalogue and sort her papers for her memoirs. Kelly would live at the woman’s large beach house in the Hamptons for the summer. Emma understood it was an opportunity of a lifetime and one Kelly couldn’t pass up.
Then Kelly said something that jarred Emma. “I was told you could come for a visit if you wanted. Phil, too. She said in my interview she’d really like to meet you. Doesn’t that sound like fun?”
Phil. His name coming from Kelly’s mouth hit Emma with cold, chilly guilt. Kelly said his name as naturally as if he were her father. Emma shot a glance at Quinn, then quickly turned away. “It does sound like fun, sweetie. And I’m sure Phil would like that.”
When Emma finished with the call, she found Quinn standing by the footpath, ready to leave. His backpack was slung over one shoulder, and in his hands was Emma’s jacket. He didn’t look at her as she approached but studied the bark on a nearby tree as if it were an ancient manuscript.
As Emma passed Granny, she pointed a finger at the spirit. “We’re going to talk about this later,” she said in a steady, stern whisper, “so don’t go disappearing on me for long.”
Granny shrugged and popped out of sight as quickly as she’d appeared.
When she reached Quinn, Emma took her jacket from him. “Sorry, Quinn, but Kelly had to tell me about her new job. I was going to drive up to Boston to visit her, but that’s off now.” Emma passed along the information Kelly had given her about the job.
“Wow,” he said, clearly impressed. “That summer job could open a lot of opportunities for her in the future.”
“That’s what I’m thinking. I’ll miss her over the summer, but I have to let her go sometime, right?”
Quinn made no move to start down the path toward the town but stopped studying the local foliage to look at her. “So, are you and Phil going to visit her in the Hamptons?”
Emma put on her jacket against the growing evening chill. “I don’t know. It’s a lot to process on the fly—Kelly’s job, Addy, Lainey’s safety…” She let her words drift off on the breeze that had picked up.
“And me?”
Emma met his look. It wasn’t challenging, but it wasn’t meek and submissive. Quinn’s eyes were brimming with the pain of decision.
“Look, Emma.” He reached out and stroked her upper arm. “I haven’t been so captivated by a woman in years.” A small, sheepish smile crossed his face. “In the past, I’ve not had much integrity when it came to poaching other guy’s girls, but for some reason I can’t be that guy. Not this time. Not with you. What I feel for you isn’t flirtatious sport.”
Emma eased away from him. “I’ve been seeing Phil Bowers for almost two years, and I love him deeply; I’m sure of that. During that time, not once have I been attracted to another man. Not once, until now. I’m not a flighty woman.”
“I know that. That solidness is part of what makes you so disarming and this so difficult. I’m not the sort to settle down, Emma, but you make me want to put down roots as deep as this tree.” He rapped his knuckles on the thick tree trunk next to him.
“We haven’t known each other very long, Quinn. We’ve been thrown together by this situation, and one thing led to another.”
His face turned dark. “Is that what you think this is? A passing road-trip fancy involving ghosts, goblins, and a little slap and tickle?”
“I don’t know.” Emma’s voice sharpened with frustration. “I just know I’m confused. I feel guilty one minute and don’t give a damn the next. I need time to process it.”
As Quinn reached for her again, the tinkling of a piano sounded from the cell phone still clutched in her hand. Emma didn’t have to read the display to know the caller was her mother. The piano was her mother’s personal ring tone. “That’s my mother,” she told Quinn, not taking her eyes from his. “It might be about Lainey.”
“Your family has remarkable timing.” He moved away to give her privacy as she answered the call.
“Hi, Mother, what’s up?” Emma’s eyes followed Quinn as he walked to one of the tables and dropped his backpack on it. His shoulders were tense and his jaw tight. He looked like a statue with clothes. She closed her eyes and turned away to concentrate on the call.
“It’s just awful, Emma,” Elizabeth gushed in tones of horror.
Forgetting her own dilemma, Emma went on alert. “Is it Lainey?”
“The story just broke on TV. We’re all in shock.”
“I’m nowhere near a TV. What’s going on? Is Lainey all right?”
“Physically Lainey’s fine, but we’re on our way back to Los Angeles.”
“Mother, what’s happened?” The fear in Emma’s voice caused Quinn to snap his head around in her direction.
“It’s Linwood Reid, Emma. He’s dead. Joanna’s been taken into custody for his murder.”
Before Emma could react to the news, Addy Ames appeared in front of her. Just behind her was the ghost of Edward Kelly. “You were right, Emma. It is time for me to move on.” Addy glanced back at her ill-fated lover. “Thank you for bringing me back to Edward.” She faced Emma again, her face smooth as alabaster. “And don’t worry about Lainey. She’s safe. I made sure of that.”
The hand holding the cell phone dropped to Emma’s side as she put her mother’s news together with Addy’s words of goodbye. From the phone came Elizabeth’s voice. “Emma, are you still there?”
On autopilot, Emma raised the cell to her mouth without taking her eyes from Addy’s face. “Let me call you back, Mother. Stay by the phone. It’ll just be a minute.” She cut off the call and stared at the spirit.
Quinn, seeing Emma’s distress, stepped quickly to her side. “What’s happening, Emma?”
“Linwood Reid was just murdered by his wife, Lainey’s mother.” The news caused Quinn to stagger back a step.
Emma asked the malicious ghost, “What have you done, Addy? Did you entice Joanna Reid to kill her husband?”
“I told you I didn’t need the ring to carry out my plans.” The ghost gave her a slow, smug smile. “Think of it as my final farewell to the Dowd family and an apology to Lainey.”
With those words echoing in Emma’s ears, Addy and Edward disappeared.
twenty-nine
Emma sat in the living room of a lovely and spacious beach house in Malibu. Across from her sat Joanna Reid. Beyond the glass wall that opened to spill onto a large deck seamlessly marrying the indoors with the outdoors, the Pacific Ocean sparkled like a field of teal taffeta. The house was set up on pilings. Looking out, one couldn’t see the sandy beach below, just the blanket of shimmering water. The great room of the house had several clusters of furniture arranged in conversational groupings but was dominated by a large white sectional sofa reminiscent of an uncooked crescent roll. It was situated on an area rug of looped wool in a natural shade. Anyone sitting on the sofa was rewarded with the grand view of the ocean. The house was furnished in a modern minimalist style, yet it didn’t feel sterile. Each of the furnishings was impeccable and appeared chosen specifically for the house. The home seemed more suited to Joanna than the sprawling mansion she’d shared with Linwood Reid and was even a better fit than the charming beach house she’d owned with Max Naiman.
“I love this house, Joanna. It’s perfect for you.”
Joanna looked around in a detached manner, almost as if seeing it for the first time. “It is nice, isn’t it? Lainey leased it for us until the trial is over. What happens then depends on the outcome.” The cockiness was gone from the former studio executive. She seemed smaller and softer, like an inflatable doll with a pinprick leak. She also seemed more at peace, even with a murder charge hanging over her head.
“I hope you don’t mind that I wanted to come by,” Emma told her, “but I wanted to see how you were doing. Lainey thought you might like the company.”
“Actually, Emma, I was thinking of giving you a call and inviting you for a visit, but it’s such a long drive to Malibu from Pasadena, and … well,” she hesitated and looked out at the sea. “I’m not going out in public much these days. Seems everywhere I go, people gawk at me like I’m some sort of sideshow.”
“I understand, Joanna. It was no bother at all coming to you.”
A maid entered with a tray of refreshments. It was Bonita, the maid Emma remembered from the Reid mansion. Emma gave her a smile of recognition. The maid returned it, seeming much more relaxed in her new environment. “Nice to see you again, Bonita.” Bonita smiled and offered Emma a glass of iced tea.
It had been a month since Linwood Reid was killed by two bullets to his chest fired from a gun held by Joanna. She was currently out on bail awaiting trial. Lainey was standing by her mother. She never went back to the condominium in Westwood. She and Keith Goldstein had patched up their relationship, and the two of them were living at the beach house with Joanna. The condo was up for sale.
“I understand Lainey and Keith are engaged again.”
Without looking at Emma, Joanna answered, “Yes, I am very pleased. He’s a nice young man and loves her very much.”
Joanna’s answers seemed stilted, making Emma wonder if she was under the influence of a mild sedative. As if in answer to Emma’s thoughts, Joanna turned her head and gave her a sardonic smile. Emma could see her eyes were clear and her mind unclouded.
“He loves her in spite of her crazy family,” Joanna said with amusement. “Can’t get much more loyal than that.”
Joanna took a sip of tea and replaced her glass on the tray set on the coffee table. She folded her hands in her lap, ready to move forward with purpose. “I wanted to apologize to you and explain what was going on.”
“You don’t owe me any explanation or apology, Joanna.” Emma was eager to hear Joanna’s side of things but didn’t want to push the issue. Lainey had filled her in on much of it, and some she’d learned from the media.
“Yes, I do. When I asked you to help me with Max’s ghost, I think I knew he was here for Lainey, but it seemed so farfetched. A father coming back from the dead to help his daughter? That’s the stuff that makes great Sunday night TV, not real life.”
From her throat came the sound of a small wounded bird. She cleared it and continued. “I was hoping you’d tell me it was all bunk, but instead you only confirmed my suspicions. And when it all started tying in with Lainey and Linwood, I was afraid you’d find out everything—that Lin was broke and had taken me down with him. I had nothing of my own but the income from my job, and now that’s gone.”
Emma felt embarrassment on Joanna’s behalf. The news media and tabloids had not been kind or subtle about the studio firing Joanna. “I saw that the studio let you go.”
“Yes, doesn’t matter that I’ve worked for them for sixteen years and championed many of their hit shows. They enforced the morals clause of my contract after I was charged.” Another sound, a half choke, half laugh, escaped her lips. “Considering the behavior of over half the executives at the studio, that was a real kick in the pants. Morals clause, my ass.”
Emma didn’t want to wallow in Joanna’s personal tragedy like the bloodthirsty general public was doing, but she wanted to know about the ring. “Joanna, did you tell your attorney about the haunted ring?”
She shook her head. “No. Lainey and I discussed that and thought we shouldn’t because it would make everyone think I was insane, or at least my attorney might want to use it to get me off on insanity. Besides, I didn’t have the ring when I fired the gun. The shooting falls squarely on my shoulders.”
Emma thought about Addy Ames. The ghost had alluded to having a hand in the shooting of Linwood Reid, and Emma knew Addy didn’t need the ring to cause mischief. Still, Emma kept quiet. Joanna was right; it would be viewed as crazy talk.
Joanna stood up and walked to where the room met the patio. “Did you know I was having an affair with Lin while I was married to Max?”
“Lainey told me when she was at Serenity.”
Joanna turned back to Emma. A small look of surprise crossed her face like a passing cloud. “She always was a smart girl.” She turned back around to stare at the sea. “When I decided I wanted to try and make my marriage work, Lin was very supportive and said we would remain friends, no matter what, and we did stay in touch as friends only. When I told him about our renewal of vows, he insisted on taking me to his favorite jeweler. He said he saw the perfect ring there for Max. And it was. Max loved that ring.”
“Did Lainey tell you that Lin and his family owned the ring a long time ago?”
“Yes. She told me what you found out in Pennsylvania right after we moved to this house. Quite a story. I wouldn’t mind producing a TV movie about it.”
Joanna pulled a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from the pocket of her loose linen trousers. She held the pack toward Emma in invitation, but Emma shook her head. “Should have known,” Joanna commented. “No one smokes anymore. I only do it when I’m nervous.” She lit one and blew the smoke out toward the ocean, then leaned against the sliding door.
Emma got up, picked up their glasses of tea, and crossed the room to Joanna. “Why don’t we make ourselves comfortable outside while you smoke?” Silently Joanna followed Emma to cushioned chairs arranged around a patio table.
“When did you realize Lin had a motive in suggesting that particular ring?” Emma asked as she placed Joanna’s tea in front of her.
“The pieces started falling together the day I visited you in Pasadena, when you told me the ring was haunted. I remembered Lin insisting that was the ring I should buy Max, then later insisting we give the stone to Lainey to use in her engageme
nt ring. When Lainey started having trouble, he suggested that awful facility in Cabo. As soon as I got home that day, I checked out what you said about that place, Emma, and it was all true.” Joanna took a drag from her cigarette and blew the smoke in the direction of the breeze so it would not reach Emma. “Lin was going through a great deal of trouble to kill off my family for their money, and I never realized it until then.”
With her free hand, she picked up her glass and took a long drink of her tea. “That’s why I killed him, because he was going to kill Lainey.” Her voice was being corralled into an even, disciplined tone by sheer will. “I overheard him talking on the phone to someone. He’d put a hit out on her as if she were a common thug. That’s why I called you so frantic about her whereabouts.”
Emma was horrified. “A hit? He contracted to have Lainey killed?” This was something neither Lainey nor the news had mentioned.
“That’s what it sounded like to me. Of course this will all come out in the trial.”
“Was it someone named Jamal?”
“Is that the yoga instructor from Serenity?”
Emma nodded.
“No, not him. Apparently he was hired just to keep tabs on Lainey. He really did think he was helping reunite Lainey with her family and had no idea what Lin had in mind. But using the information Jamal provided, the killer was going to slip into the facility and murder her.” On the last several words, Joanna broke down into a series of choked, choppy sobs.
Emma was horrified. “Joanna, you don’t have to tell me this if it’s too difficult.”
The distraught woman waved the comment off and continued. “The next day, I overheard him talking again on the phone. He thought I’d gone to the office, but I returned because I’d forgotten something. After talking to you the day before, I told him Lainey was back at Serenity. Jamal had told him she’d left a few days earlier. If Lin thought she was still gone, he’d have hunted her down. This way, I thought he could just keep thinking she’d returned, and she’d be safe wherever she was.” Joanna’s voice cracked through her tears. “But when I heard him again talking about killing her—telling this monster on the phone to make sure it looked like a suicide—I snapped.” She dropped her cigarette butt into a small crystal ashtray before burying her head in her hands. “That was my baby girl he was talking about!”
Gem of a Ghost: A Ghost of Granny Apples Mystery Page 24