Of Ash and Spirit: Piper Lancaster Series

by D. G. Swank

  “What if she can see demons too?” Hudson said.

  “Or . . . ,” Rhys said, leaning forward, “what if the Guardians knew a Lancaster girl would become a demon fighter, so they decided to snuff both of you out before you could become capable of it?”

  I stared at him in disbelief. “But they didn’t try again,” I said. “They tried to kill both of us and didn’t try again. Why?”

  They both gave me blank expressions.

  “I don’t know,” Hudson finally said. “We keep finding more questions instead of answers.”

  “You look exhausted,” Rhys said. “How much sleep did you get when you got back home this morning?”

  I ran my hand over my head. “Uh . . . not much. I tried, but I kept thinking about Gill.” I dropped my hand to my side. “We don’t even know how Gill was killed.”

  “I covered that one,” Hudson said. “I know someone who knows someone in the police department. He was slashed multiple times and bled to death.”

  I thought about the scars on Jack’s back and felt sick to my stomach. Jack said the demon had prolonged his agony. What if it had done the same to Gill? Why had I sent him back into that house? Why hadn’t I paid attention?

  “You need to go to bed, Pippy,” Hudson said. “You need sleep. Wearing yourself out isn’t going to help.”

  “I’m scared to go to bed alone,” I admitted. “I’m scared to go to sleep.” I felt like a baby saying it out loud, but hearing about the little girl from Manteo had set my nerves on edge. She wouldn’t be a little girl now, I realized. She’d be a grown woman, two years younger than me.

  Rhys reached into her bag and pulled out a pill bottle. “This is Ambien. It’ll help you get to sleep instead of dwelling on stuff you can’t control. It’ll help you be fresh to deal with the Williams family tomorrow.”

  I reluctantly took the pill bottle as Hudson stood. “I’m kind of scared to go upstairs and sleep alone too. How about I carry one of the mattresses down and we can have a slumber party in the living room. You girls can sleep on the mattress, and I’ll sleep on the sofa.”

  “You need sleep too,” I protested.

  “This works for tonight,” Hudson said. “If we want to do this again, we’ll figure something else out.”

  “Personally, I’m liking this plan,” Rhys said. “I want to stick close to you.”

  “Me?”

  “You’re the ghost-whispering demon hunter,” she said with fear in her eyes. “I’d rather be close to you if one of them comes ’round.”

  “I’m far more likely to get you killed,” I said.

  “I’ll take my chances.”

  “Okay,” I said, too tired to even decide if I wanted to argue. Maybe it was selfish, but I needed them with me. “I’ll go upstairs with Hudson to change and get some bedding.”

  We started up the stairs, but I stopped a few steps up and leaned over to catch a glimpse of Rhys.

  “The little girl,” I said. “What was her name?”

  “Elinor,” Rhys said. “With an i instead of an ea. Just like Elinor Dare, wife to Ananias Dare.” The look on her face said she saw the significance too.

  Well, shit. It seemed likely that my distant cousin was a curse keeper. One of the fools who’d opened the gate to the underworld.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  I woke to a pounding on the front door. I’d fallen asleep like a log but had woken up around three after a terrible nightmare. Rhys had left her pill bottle on the coffee table we’d shoved to the side to make room for the mattress, so I’d taken another pill and had fallen asleep fifteen minutes later. But taking two pills so close together made me feel like my head was stuffed with cotton, and I was slow to rouse.

  Thankfully, Hudson didn’t have my issues. He’d hopped off the sofa, and looked out the side window to check out the front porch.

  “This doesn’t look good,” he muttered as he opened the front door wearing a pair of pajama bottoms and no shirt.

  I squinted as light filled the semi-dark room.

  “I’m looking for Piper Lancaster,” a man said from the front porch. Unfortunately, I recognized the voice.

  “What do you want with Piper?” Hudson asked.

  “Are you her newest Tinder date?” Detective Lawton asked.

  “And what if I am?” Hudson asked, starting to get pissed. “Piper can sleep with whoever she wants.”

  “Look,” Lawton said, getting irritated. “She can have a damn orgy for all I care, and from what I’m seeing in there, I might not be far off, but I still need to speak to her.”

  “I still don’t know why,” Hudson said, his voice growing louder.

  “It’s okay, Hudson,” I said, getting to my feet. “I’ll talk to him.”

  “You need to call a lawyer.”

  He might be right, but I didn’t have time to mess around with getting one. “What can I do for you, Detective Lawton?” I said once I’d shoved Hudson to the side.

  “I need to know your whereabouts last night from eight thirty or nine until three this morning.”

  My heart skipped a beat. “Oh no.”

  The detective’s eyebrows rose. “You got something to confess?”

  I stared at him in disbelief. “What? No. I was here all night, from nine thirty or so on. Hudson and Rhys were with me.”

  “And before then?”

  “I had dinner with Father Owen from St. Philip’s church in a private room at Othello’s at seven. Then I took a drive with Kieran Abel from eight or so until he dropped me off at my car about nine fifteen.”

  “And where did you and Mr. Abel go?”

  I had a feeling this was going to bite me in the butt, but I wasn’t going to lie. “We were up at Helen’s Bridge.”

  I heard Hudson groan behind me.

  “And what, pray tell, were you two doing at Helen’s Bridge?”

  I was getting some of my wits about me, so I leaned closer and stage-whispered, “I’m not sure if you picked up on this little fact, but I’m a ghost hunter. It’s kind of my job.”

  “You were hunting Helen?” he asked, his cynicism obvious.

  “I wasn’t exactly hunting her,” I said. “More like chatting. She likes it up there. She’s looking for her daughter.”

  “And why did you bring Mr. Abel with you?”

  “I’d told him I could talk to ghosts,” I said. “He wanted to meet one.”

  “And if I give Mr. Abel a call, he’ll confirm this?”

  “I’m not sure if he’ll admit that he wanted to meet a ghost, but he’ll confirm we were together up there.”

  He jutted a foot out and shifted his weight. “Let me get this straight. You had dinner with a priest, then took a joyride to Helen’s Bridge with your hookup from the night before, then came home to this?” He gestured toward Rhys, who was sitting up on the mattress.

  “Got a problem with that?” I asked with forced innocence.

  “And this priest—”

  “Jack. Reverend Jack Owen.”

  “He’ll corroborate your story as well?”

  “Yes, and his sister, Becca, can too.”

  “She had dinner with you two?”

  “No, it was a private dinner. Becca served us. She and her brother Max own the restaurant.”

  His brow lowered so far I could barely see his eyes. “And do you happen to have Reverend Owen’s number?”

  “As a matter of fact, I do.”

  Hudson grabbed my phone off the coffee table and handed it to me. I had Jack’s number pulled up within a few seconds and rattled off the digits.

  “Are you planning on going out of town in the near future?” the detective asked.

  “I was considering a trip to the Outer Banks,” I said. “A little sunshine and the sea.”

  “Well, you’ll need to get your sunshine right here in Asheville, because you’re officially a person of interest in Gill Gillespie’s murder as well as the death of Theresa Billings.”

  My breath caught i
n my throat, and the satisfied gleam in his eyes told me he misunderstood my horror.

  “Someone else died?” I asked. I didn’t know her by name, but I was no less horrified.

  “Seems to me that you already know that,” he said as a grin spread across his face. “You and Kieran Abel.”

  Shit.

  “I’ll be in touch, Ms. Lancaster.” He spun around and whistled a happy little tune as he walked down the porch steps. But then he stopped and turned around. “I do have one other question.”

  “There’s nothing stopping you,” I said, but I was scared to hear it.

  “I’m just curious how you happened to stumble upon a car accident this morning less than two hours after you left the station.”

  “I don’t know,” I said. “Unlucky, I guess.”

  “I have two bodies directly tied to you, Piper. I’ll be looking for a link to the third.”

  “Well, you have a good day too,” I said, then shut the door behind me, trying to keep from freaking out.

  Unfortunately, Hudson and Rhys weren’t on the same page.

  “There’s been another death,” Rhys said, her face pale.

  I nodded.

  “You need to get an attorney,” Hudson said. “What about one of the guys at your dad’s firm?”

  “I’m planning on going in this morning anyway,” I said, pulling up Abel’s number. “I’ll talk to them then.”

  “Were you really planning on going to Manteo?” Rhys asked.

  “Seems to me if Elinor Lancaster is a distant relative of mine, then I need to talk to her. Especially if she’s one of the curse keepers.”

  “Yeah . . . ,” she said, but she still seemed flustered.

  “But I doubt she can do much to help me with our present situation. The trip can wait.”

  Rhys nodded, looking nervous.

  I sent Abel a text.

  There was another murder last night, and Detective Lawton considers you and me persons of interest. Just wanted to warn you before he calls.

  His message appeared seconds later.

  Don’t worry, Piper. All will be well.

  “All will be well?” I said, getting annoyed. “Who talks like that?”

  “Who did you text?” Hudson asked.

  “Abel. I thought it was fair to warn him.”

  “I heard you call him Kieran Abel,” Rhys said. “You found out his first name.”

  “Yeah,” I said, feeling distracted as I pulled up Jack’s number next. “Helen called him Kieran, and he confirmed it’s his name.”

  “Helen the ghost?” Hudson asked.

  I glanced up at him. “I told you both that we went to talk to Helen.”

  “Yeah. I know . . .” He grabbed the sides of his head with both hands. “This is just a lot to take in. We’ve been hearing stories about Helen since we were little kids.”

  I sighed and my tone gentled. “I know. I’m sorry.”

  He nodded and glanced at his own phone. “I need to go to work today. Are you going to be okay?”

  “Yeah. We’ll be fine,” I said.

  “I’m only a phone call away.”

  I threw my arms around his neck and held tight. “I know, and that means more than you know.”

  He headed upstairs to shower and get ready for work, and I sent a text to Jack.

  There was another death last night and the police are calling me a person of interest. This is a heads-up that Detective Lawton will probably call you to verify we had dinner.

  I headed into the kitchen to start a pot of coffee and Rhys followed.

  “What about you?” I asked as I put a coffee filter into the pot. “I’m sure you have classes today.”

  “I’m free this morning.”

  “You don’t have to babysit me, Rhys.” I grabbed the can of coffee from the cabinet.

  “I know, but this is big, Piper.”

  But what if something happened to her? I wasn’t sure I could handle it. My mountain of guilt would get so high it would probably topple and smother me. “It’s eight thirty. The law firm opens at nine, and I don’t have a work appointment until one.”

  “Actually,” she said. “The client we canceled on last night asked if we could come by this morning at eleven.”

  “Rhys . . .”

  “I know you’re overwhelmed with everything,” she said, “but there’s only so much research we can do, and it seems to me that the best way to figure out what you can do is for you to just do it.”

  “Yeah.” I suspected she was right. “Okay.”

  “But you can’t do it alone, Piper. You need backup. I’ll go with you this morning, but who’s going to the Williams house with you this afternoon?”

  I scooped the coffee into the filter while Rhys filled the pot with water. “Jack,” I said, “unless he changes his mind. Last night he asked if he could come.”

  “I guess a priest who performs exorcisms could work.”

  “In a pinch.” I grinned as I covered the container. “When I go to the law firm, I want you to stay here and dig into Kieran Abel. That man has a story. What guy in his late twenties makes enough money from antiques to pay for twenty-four-hour surveillance on someone he doesn’t even know? I think he’s older than he looks.” Maybe a lot older.

  “He sells antiques?”

  I leveled my gaze on her.

  Rhys shrugged. “Hey. I like antiques.”

  She was intrigued enough that I was positive she’d find out anything she could related to him. “Thanks for doing this.”

  “It’s a puzzle, and I love puzzles.” A serious expression washed over her face. “You’re in danger, Piper, because of something I pushed you toward. I can’t help thinking this is partially my fault.”

  I shook my head. “If Abel is right, then this would have fallen in my lap one way or another.”

  She didn’t look convinced, but she forced a more relaxed look on her face. “Hey, I never got a chance to dig into Okee either. Sounds like another demon, but we need to figure out who or what it is and why Abel doesn’t want it to know about you.”

  “Yeah,” I said, feeling overwhelmed again. “Good idea.”

  But first I had to deal with a human who wanted to lock me behind bars.

  The law firm had welcomed me with open arms after I took a year off from law school. They were used to seeing me. They’d given me a part-time job while I was in high school, and I’d worked there every summer during college. But I had always known their acceptance was partially forced. They’d believed I owned one-third of the firm. But now the two most important people in the firm—Dad’s old partners—knew I didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of complying with the demands of the codicil. As a result, they’d begun phasing me out over the last six months. While Nana thought I hadn’t been in because I was slacking off and focusing on the ghost business rather than “real” work, the truth was they had essentially thanked me for a job well done and shoved me out the door. If Nana found out, she would show up and raise holy hell. Better to keep it from her. Thankfully, my dad’s assistant still seemed happy to see me whenever I dropped in. Then again, Linda had always been the best part of Dad’s firm.

  She beamed when she saw me walk toward her desk. “Piper, I’ve missed seeing you, but I don’t think Bailey has come up with any new work for you.”

  “That’s okay,” I said. “I actually have another purpose for dropping in today.” I stopped next to her desk and lowered my voice. “Do you know if the firm sent someone to clear the files out of Dad’s home office after he died?”

  Her face screwed up in concentration. “No. All his files were here. Have you found some at your house?”

  “No. He had file cabinets in the attic, and I know he was working on a genealogy project when I was a girl. Maybe that was what he kept in those cabinets. All I know was that there were files there and now they’re completely gone.”

  She sat upright, deep in thought. “No one from the firm took anything from your
parents’ house.” Linda leaned forward a bit. “I had the house key, so I would have known.”

  “Is there a chance Dad could have worked on personal projects here?”

  “It’s possible . . .”

  “Where would he have kept the files?”

  “In his office, but as you know, we gave his office to Ted Wilson. I cleaned everything out myself. His cases were split between the other attorneys, and I put all his personal items in two boxes that I gave to your grandmother.”

  I blinked in confusion. “When?”

  “Twelve or thirteen years ago.”

  Nana had never told me. Did that mean she’d gone through the boxes and decided there was nothing of consequence inside?

  “I wish I could be more helpful.”

  I walked around her desk and sat in the empty chair behind it. “What was Dad working on when he was murdered?”

  She spun her chair around to face me, and her smile faltered. “Uh . . . he was working on that civil rights case. And a medical malpractice suit. A couple of insurance claims. Other than the civil rights suit, there was nothing inflammatory, Piper. Nothing that could have riled someone up enough to do what that man did.”

  “Did he seem off or paranoid?”

  She stared at me for several seconds. “Does this have anything to do with his codicil?” When I hesitated, she said, “I heard there were some strange requirements. Jim Murphy said you’ll never be able to meet them, that you’ll have to forfeit your father’s ownership of the firm.”

  “Nana wanted to try to have him declared mentally incompetent, but I don’t believe it. Do you think that he was out of it?”

  She sat back in her chair. “I haven’t told anyone any of this, Piper. And this isn’t the place or time to do it. I need to go to the office supply store. I’ll be there in about twenty minutes. How about I run into you there?”

  I smiled. “Thank you, Linda.”

  “You run along now,” she said. “We can’t look too suspicious.”

  “Actually,” I said. “I was wanting to talk to Bob Dunn before I left.”

  She looked wary. “Why?”

  “Turns out I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I’m a person of interest in two murders.”