A Medium Education (A Lost Souls Lane Mystery Book 6)

by Erin Huss

  Mike uses Russell’s phone to locate Elijah. He’s still at James and John’s house, and I make a quick U-turn—being sure to obey all traffic laws. It’s hard enough to be inconspicuous in a sports car, and the last thing we need is to get pulled over.

  “Now I’m worried about Connie’s initial statement that her family is in danger,” I say, keeping my eyes on the road.

  “Yeah, I was thinking about that, too. In my first vision you and Don were dead. Then Don and I were dead. Then Rose and I were dead. Then your mother was near death in a different vision, and now all I see is purple and the house with the boat, which are two different events. No matter how confusing it is to see multiple things happen at once, I am sure that I have never seen Elijah or Russell in any of my visions.”

  “What if they were in danger, but then they weren’t?” Profound statement, yes, I know, but I’m thinking out loud here. “It took a long time for Connie to process her death, and even longer for her to leave my room. During that time, do you think this killer changed his mind? Maybe he was going to go after Russell and Elijah then something happened? And what happened happened before you had your first vision, so we’ll never know what was supposed to happen because it all happened theoretically.”

  “Not following.”

  Me either, actually. I need my whiteboard. “We know that Don, Arturo, and Russell did not kill Connie. We know that a man with a yellow bandana came into the office and told Connie he wanted to make things right … make things right.” I churn this last bit around in my mind. Who else would want to make things right?

  “Turn here,” says Mike, and I do as directed. We’re in a neighborhood of modest single-story homes. Much like the one Mike saw in his visions.

  It is close to sunset.

  Although I doubt James and John are the killers. Unless their parents are. Although, why would they have reason to kill Connie?

  I turn onto White Street. Russell’s car is parked in front of a house with a shingled roof, brown stucco, desert-themed landscaping, and no boat. This is not the house from Mike’s vision although it does look similar. The home with the boat must be in this neighborhood.

  Russell has Elijah by the arm and is leading him down the driveway. Much to my relief, Connie is trailing behind them. I pull over and fall out of my car.

  “Wait!” I scramble to my feet and dust off the asphalt stuck to my palms. “Wait, Russell.”

  “That’s her,” Elijah says. “That’s the lady that came to my school today.”

  “You need to stay away,” Russell warns.

  I can see in Russell’s thoughts that he’s already been notified of the shots fired at Connie’s office. The police have asked him to come down to the medical plaza. They caught Don and arrested him. They asked Russell if he knew Mike or me. Russell has heard of the Handhoffs before, but he doesn’t know Mike. He told the police that I had stolen Connie’s phone, and now he’s convinced something terrible has happened to his wife and that I am the one responsible.

  Mike gets out of my car and comes around to my side.

  “You’re a Handhoff.” Russell releases Elijah and goes straight for Mike. “Mike Handhoff, right? The one the police are looking for.”

  Great! I sure hope there’s not another fight. Not when I don’t have access to a hose.

  Connie goes to reach for her husband’s arm. “Russell, calm down, babe. And why are you so wet?”

  “Dad?” Elijah whimpers. “What’s happening? Why do I hear mom but don’t see her?”

  “Nothing, sweetie.” Connie goes to her son’s side. “It’s going to be okay.”

  Elijah’s question snaps Russell out of his blind rage. I do feel bad for the guy. He’s so confused and scared and soaked, and his mind is reeling. He has no idea what to think about anything.

  “Talk to him,” I urge Connie. “Tell him what’s happening.”

  Connie wrings her hands. “I don’t know. I’m just going to make the situation worse.”

  “No, you’re not. Talk to him.”

  Russell is staring at me in disbelief. “You are wacko.”

  Oh, geez. If I had a dollar for every time someone called me a wacko, then I’d be able to pay for Jabba’s reward.

  “Russell,” Connie’s voice is barely above a whisper. “This is Zoe Lane, and she’s not a—”

  Russell storms off and tells Elijah to get into the car.

  “But I forgot my backpack,” Elijah says. “I left it in the house. I’ll be right back.” He runs inside.

  “Talk to Russell,” I say to Connie. “Please.”

  “I’m so sorry for leaving the quest,” she says to me. “I just couldn’t leave Elijah. I’m so worried about him. I just … I just … I think I failed as a parent.”

  “No, you didn’t,” I say. “Connie, you are so much stronger than you give yourself credit for. We found your phone. It was behind the dumpsters. Do you remember looking up the doll collection?”

  Connie gives a slow nod of her head. “Yes, I do … There was a beautiful collection available at an estate sale in … Fernn Valley …” Her face lights up. “I read about you, Zoe Lane. I saw the comment Great-Granny Batch left on your article. I found it fascinating. Not the new pharmacist. That was a bit drab. I’m talking about you and the Fernn Valley Strangler. I seem to remember Great-Granny Batch telling me about a medium in Fernn Valley who helped Willie MacIntosh.”

  “Exactly. You knew I was a medium. You knew that I solved murders. You knew that I saw dead people. You knew that I could help you if you were killed. You had the foresight to not only send an email to Elijah’s school giving me permission to pick up your son, but you also drafted an email with the description of the yellow bandana man. Maybe you had a panic attack initially when your killer first arrived, but who wouldn’t? Connie, I bet you left those donut crumbs on purpose. I know you sent those emails. I’m not entirely sure why the bathroom key was there, but that’s not important. What is important is that you are one of those women who take charge of a situation, and you can look danger in the face. You are one fierce woman.”

  “Who is dead,” she says.

  “Yes. When did you finally realize it?”

  “I think I knew all along,” she says with a sigh. “It wasn’t until I was following Elijah that I came to terms with the fact that I’m gone.” A single tear trickles down her cheek. “I thought that I’d died a coward. But you were right when you said that more details would unfold as we get closer to the truth. It’s as if someone has unlocked a part of my brain. I can now remember everything. I remember being so scared, but then I thought about Elijah, and I recalled a self-defense class I’d taken in college. We were taught that when held at gunpoint, it is safer to run than to go to a second location with the perpetrator. So I grabbed the bathroom key, thinking I would use it as a weapon since it’s attached to a wooden dowel. I ran back to Exam Room One, closed the door, and pushed a trashcan in front of it because it didn’t have a lock.

  “My entire body was trembling and my heart was racing. The man tried to push into the room, but I had my back against the exam table and my feet against the trashcan in front of the door. I tapped my Apple Watch. My fingers were shaking, and I accidentally hit the wallet icon instead of the phone icon. Maybe there is a way to make an emergency call, but the watch is brand new. So I tapped the text icon but got my personal email instead. My fingers are too big for the little screen. Mr. Fanster’s message was the first in my inbox. I remembered the article I’d read on you, and I thought it was worth a shot. I just didn’t know whom to trust in that moment.

  "I’d read the email about Russell sneaking around behind my back, and I’d had that meeting with Mr. Fanster that morning where he said my son was a bully but refused to give me details on the boy who accused Elijah of bullying him, but told me the family wanted my son expelled. After he said that, I didn’t trust him either, but I thought if I sent him a message regarding my son, then he’d have no choice but to have it
delivered. Then I replied to Dr. Smith’s email. She’s a pediatrician, and we have a mutual patient. I knew she’d see the email and call the police, but I don’t think I was able to hit send before the man was able to get into the room.”

  “He pressed the gun to my lower back and said that if I made one sound that he would go after Elijah and Russell next. So I went with him. I kept thinking about you, and the articles that I’d read. I’d never believed in life after death, but after reading about you, I started to question my belief on what happens to our spirits after we’re gone. And I thought that if I were going to die then I’d need to find you and you’d need to find my killer. There was still the donut package in my coat pocket, and I managed to sneak one into my mouth and spit out the crumbs along the stairs, hoping you or the police would notice.

  “When we got outside, I tried to attack the man with the key. It didn’t work. He grabbed the dowel and threw it. We traveled toward the embankment behind the dumpsters, and I realized that my phone was in my back pocket the entire time! I was so freaked out that I completely forgot. Typically, I leave it charging in my office all day, but I must have forgotten because I was so preoccupied.

  “I dropped the phone on the ground, thinking it would give you a clue as to where I was taken. I knew at that moment I was going to die, but I can’t remember anything that happened next. I don’t know who this man is. The last thing he said was ‘some people should never be allowed to parent.’”

  “'Some people shouldn’t be allowed to parent'?” I repeat.

  “Excuse me,” Russell gasps.

  I’ve been so preoccupied with Connie, that I didn’t even notice Mike had Russell in a headlock.

  “Mike, what are you doing?” I ask.

  “He tried to punch me,” he says. “I let him go. Then he tried to punch me again.”

  “Russell,” Connie says with a roll of her eyes. “When did you become such a hothead?”

  “Let me go,” Russell wheezes.

  “Only if you stop coming at me,” says Mike.

  Russell’s entire head is tomato red. “What did you do with my wife?”

  “Nothing,” I say. “It was someone who questioned her parenting … who wanted to make it right …” I roll these statements around in my head. Make it right … Got it! “The parents of the boy that Elijah is bullying! Except, Becca couldn’t possibly have hurt you since she is a woman and she was at school. The timing doesn’t work. What about his father?”

  Mike releases Russell, and he gasps and coughs and rubs his neck.

  Connie flickers. “You don’t think this little boy’s parents would kill me over this. Do you?”

  “I didn’t bully anyone.” Elijah drags his backpack down the driveway. “I’m so sick and tired of being blamed for this. Dylan Woodson is making it up. I have never touched him. I swear over my life he’s totally making this whole thing up so that I get in trouble.”

  “Woodson,” Mike and I say in shock, both thinking about the security guard. Although Connie would have recognized him when we were at her office building … except, she wasn’t with us when we watched Woodson’s exchange with Rose. Did the security guard kill Connie?

  “Yeah, Dylan Woodson,” says Elijah. “He totally lied about the whole thing, and his mom totally believes him. It’s not fair.”

  He’s telling the truth. At least, he’s telling his truth. I can see it. I can feel it. He’s never touched Dylan Woodson. However, he does not like Dylan and never has. He thinks Dylan is weird. On the few occasions Dylan tried to befriend him, Elijah blew him off.

  But if Elijah didn’t touch Dylan, where did the black eye come from?

  “Elijah, let’s go,” Russell says. “We need to get away from these people.”

  “Wait, Russell.” I throw myself in front of the driver’s door of his car. “Don’t you see what this mean? It’s making more sense now.”

  “Move,” he says firmly.

  “Does Dylan’s dad work as a security guard?” Mike asks Elijah.

  Elijah shrugs.

  “I think he might,” says Connie in bewilderment. “I seem to remember seeing the last name on our monthly rental statement. He’s in charge of the security for the building. I’ve never met him … or have I?”

  “We left a message with Becca this morning to tell Elijah to be careful,” I say.

  “I didn’t get no message,” says Elijah.

  “Exactly.”

  “Did you get the message that I would be picking you up from school?”

  “No,” Elijah says slowly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Exactly!” I know Mr. Fanster didn’t kill Connie. I would have seen that in his thoughts. He must have asked Becca to deliver the message. Oh, my gosh! “Do you know what this means?”

  I don’t wait for a response from Russell because he looks as if he’s either going to faint or fight someone. “Connie felt that her family was in danger when she first appeared. Then I called Becca pretending to be Connie. That is why you and Elijah were no longer in danger. You were in trouble. Becca must have warned her husband.”

  “Dylan’s parents are divorced,” says Elijah. “And where did my mom show up? What are you talking about?”

  “You’re telling me …”—Russell points his finger at my nose—“What are you telling me?”

  I blow out a breath. This is even harder than I imagined it would be. “I’m telling you that Connie—”

  “Haaaa-yooo!” Mike shouts for no apparent reason.

  Connie pinches the bridge of her nose and mumbles something about ADHD.

  “Yo-yo.” And now Mike is doing something weird with his hands. I’m not sure if he’s trying to impersonate a 90s rapper or doing one of those Tik dances or if he’s … oh, I got it.

  Mike doesn’t want me to say anything about Connie’s death in front of Elijah.

  Good call.

  “Where does Dylan live?” Mike asks Elijah.

  Elijah shrugs.

  “What about his dad?” I ask.

  Elijah pulls out his phone and starts tapping a text. We all wait.

  “Lucy says his dad lives one street over from here,” he reads from his phone. “The house has a boat.”

  A boat! Not sure who Lucy is, but she’s very helpful.

  “Haaaa-yooo.” Connie waves her arms to get my attention. “I do not want my husband and son going to this man’s house. Please, Zoe. You have to stop them.”

  “Stay here,” Russell says to Elijah. “I’ll be back.”

  “No.” I plaster my back against his car door.

  Russell picks me up by the shoulders and moves me out of the way.

  “You can’t go, man,” Mike tries.

  Russell gets in the car and cracks the window. “I don’t know who you two really are, but I need to find out where my wife is.”

  He starts the car and slams on the gas leaving Connie, Elijah, Mike, and I there to watch him drive away.

  Eighteen

  And just like that, we’re following Russell in his white sedan, again. Except this time it’s easier to keep track of him since we’re driving one street over. Connie is in the back seat begging me to go faster. So I do. I put the car into sports mode and go from 25 MPH to 60 MPH. Not exactly a safe speed in a residential area, but this is a matter of life or death. Russell is in a fighting mood, and there is no telling what he’ll do when face-to-face with the man who killed his wife.

  Russell is straight ahead.

  I zoom around him and cut him off. He lays on the horn and slams on the brake before he smashes into me. We all get out of our respective cars and meet in the middle of the street.

  “Connie is dead,” I get the words out before Russell can say anything. “We believe the security guard at Connie’s building killed her. We think he’s the dad of Dylan Woodson. According to Mr. Fanster’s thoughts, Becca was very upset and wanted Elijah expelled and she was upset that you didn’t show up this morning. She didn’t thin
k you and Connie were taking it seriously. We think Woodson—for whatever reason—decided today to kill Connie. We think he wrapped his head in a yellow bandana and abducted her at gunpoint. We do not know where he took her, but we do know that she was killed. We think he was going to kill you as well, but that plan was put on hold because I called the school pretending to be Connie after she had died. That must have spooked him. Connie is here. She is standing right beside you. Please calm down and concentrate. I promise you’ll be able to feel her presence.”

  Russell is completely flabbergasted—as one would expect. That was a lot of information to digest.

  Mike comes up behind Russell, ready to restrain him in a chokehold if need be.

  “Talk to him,” I tell Connie. “Find your voice and talk to your husband.”

  Connie puts her mouth up to his ear. “Russell, Zoe is right. I am dead, but I am not gone. I am right here. Please don’t confront this man. You are clearly not in the right frame of mind, and we cannot risk Elijah losing both parents right now.”

  Russell stares straight ahead. Goose bumps erupt down his arms. “I feel her.”

  “Good,” I say with a smile. “Stay here. Mike and I will make sure this is the right man. What you can do is call the police.”

  Mike hands Russell his phone.

  “You had my phone, too?” he asks. “How?”

  “That’s not important right now,” I say. “Call the police and stay here.”

  Mike and I leave a stunned-looking Russell and walk side by side down the street. “Is there any way possible that I will be able to convince you to let me handle this?” Mike asks.

  “Is there any way possible that you can read this guy's mind?”

  He responds with a groan.

  Two minutes later, Mike and I are standing in front of a modest single-story home with a two-car garage and a big boat under a white cover. In the driveway a truck is pulled in backwards. The tailgate is down, and there is Woodson piling boxes into the bed.

  “That’s him,” Connie says into my ear, and I nearly jump out of my skin. I did not hear or feel her coming.