Kaylyn shrugged, she wished she knew how to help her sister, or at least alleviate some of her stress. She’d worked with victims of paranormal attack on a regular basis for years, but she usually looked to Cole to lead in the “people” arena. Kaylyn was the fact-checker and schemer, but when it came to dealing with people, her mouth usually got her into trouble. She looked at Leon, who nodded in agreement, as Cole grabbed her things and headed out without another word.
Leon lifted his eyebrows as she passed, but didn’t comment on her abrupt and abnormal behavior. Instead, he continued with business at hand. “Give me a few minutes to tell Cassidy and Gina about the case and we can head over together.”
“Aww, just like old times,” Kaylyn drawled with a smile, even though, beneath the surface, her emotions were all over the place. Being alone with Leon again would give him time to ask questions, and he knew her too well.
Leon patted her shoulder and took a step back. “Get your stuff together and meet me in the lobby.”
As Kaylyn packed a small equipment bag with a few essentials they might need for the interview, her mind assaulted her with predictions of the questions Leon would have prepared for her as soon as they were trapped inside a vehicle together. She lifted her eyes to the ceiling and hoped that this time, all of his questions would be about the case.
Chapter 4
Cole slammed the black Mustang’s door and marched up to the front door of her future mother-in-law’s house. The only vehicle left in the driveway was Daniel’s work truck, so she charged through the front door and found her fiancé pacing around the island in the kitchen.
“What’s the emergency?” she snapped.
His head jerked up as if he hadn’t even noticed that she’d stalked into the room even though she couldn’t fathom how anyone could miss all the slamming doors. The fact that he had annoyed her even more.
“Sorry,” he grumbled, with mock sincerity. “Did I inconvenience you?”
“I told you that everything was taken care of. Nothing is here and nothing is coming.”
Dan scoffed. “That’s probably what you would have told me three weeks ago. We’ve been together two years and you’ve been lying the entire time.”
After the unexplainable fire in their old house and the disappearance of his brother, Cole had broken down and told him the truth. She’d hoped that it’d somehow ease his mind—as soon as he managed to wrap his thoughts around the concept that his fiancé was a paranormal investigator, but now she regretted the admission. It had only led to more fights and even more stress. “Dan, we’ve been over this a dozen times. I did what I had to do.”
“And next time you bring something home or your sister brings something over?” He threw his hands up in the air, his eyes gleaming with something Cole had never seen in them before. “You’re not supposed to be messing with this shit.”
“I never realized you were so superstitious.” She tried to stop the vindictive comments before they slipped out, but so far, nothing that she’d said had even made a difference in his negative attitude toward her work. Part of it was deserved, she considered since she had been lying to him. Even before the fire, she’d weighed her options dozens of times, always believing that it was better that he know as little as possible and hoping that if one day she had to tell him, it’d be on her terms when she was sure he’d be able to understand it all.
“Superstitious?” He slammed his hand on the granite counter.
Cole took a breath and backed away. These weren’t the ideal circumstances for discussing anything, but now they didn’t have a choice. Even so, Cole’s patience was wearing thin. She wanted to move forward, concentrate on healing and finding an answer, but Daniel wanted nothing to do with the possibility of finding an answer if it was at all connected with the paranormal.
“My brother is gone, Cole. Just gone and I have to live with not being able to tell my family the whole story. How is a memorial service is supposed to close doors after a mysterious fire and no sign of a body? You have no idea what happened to him, we should be notifying the police or trying to find him, not going back to business as usual.”
“I’ve explained and explained. Yet, we keep arguing. We’re going to do what we can to find answers, but the police won’t be of any help here. I don’t know of any better way to put it, but your brother is gone—body or not, he’s gone. Did you just call me back here to repeat the same damn conversation we’ve been having for the past few days?”
Dan pressed his lips together and shook his head. “Mom heard something last night. She said a bunch of stuff in the kitchen had been moved around when she came down this morning, and there were broken dishes.”
“And you think I—”
“No, Cole....” He paced across the room, shoving his hands in his pockets. “I don’t think you did it. What if something.... What if whatever came for Todd....”
“There is nothing here, Dan.” Cole sighed, pulling him toward her and taking his hands. “But I can have a team come in and investigate if it’ll make you feel better.”
“No. What I want is for you to stop. Leave it alone,” Dan’s voice wavered with his plea.
Love or the most important thing she’d ever worked for—the choice ate at Cole until she could feel it in her joints. She had to believe he’d come around. “I can find someone else to stay with so I’ll assure you I won’t bring anything back here.”
“Nicole,” Dan swung around, leaning his forearms against the counter as if he no longer had the full strength to hold himself up. “I don’t want to lose you, too. I can’t.... This is insane. I can’t know what you do and look the other way. I love you.”
“I know,” Cole whispered, placing her hands on Dan’s forearm. “I love you, too, but this is what I need to do. I protect people in a way others can’t. Whatever you think, someone has to do what I do.” With a sigh, she rested her chin against his shoulder. “I’d give it up for you, but you’re not seeing things clearly right now.”
“I think I’m seeing things clearer than ever.” He shook her off and stalked away.
“Give it a chance, Dan. What happened is far from typical. I’m sorry that’s how you found out. I need you, but I also need to do this.” She and Kaylyn had never been able to explain their far from typical interest in the paranormal. Even as kids, long before they knew such a profession could exist, they wanted to spend their lives investigating the things that couldn’t be explained by typical reason. Now she suspected that somehow, it had been fate—Kaylyn was always destined to find her way back to the Teague, and it was only their involvement with Aicil that saved her. Although they had also played a role in hiding her history—keeping her from discovering who she truly was in some messed up attempt to save her.
Cole needed her job, and more than that, she needed answers—answers about Dan’s brother and answers about her own sister.
Dan exhaled, turning his face away. “Explain what was here last night.”
Watching him walk through the kitchen and trying to keep up with his moods was like an extreme Ping-Pong battle. Did he want to know? Didn’t he? She didn’t know what to say that wouldn’t send him over the edge again. So she took a deep breath and approached it like she would with any client. “What was moved?”
“Everything in the dishwasher was dumped on the counter.” He gestured melodramatically at each location in turn, as he spoke.
“That must’ve caused quite a ruckus. It’s a wonder the rest of us didn’t wake up.” She tried to force away the cynicism in her voice. “Did Vivian come down and check on the noise?”
“No, she sent Dad down. He didn’t see anything.”
“And, did he return with a glass of water?” Cole sighed and slapped her palms against her thighs.
Dan threw up his hands and spun away. “I don’t know.”
“Well, Eugene left before I even got up, so how about we wait and ask him if he decided to fish through the dishwasher when he was sent hunting for a stra
nge noise in the middle of the night?”
Dan’s scowl deepened. “Is this what you do to clients?”
“Look for everyday answers? Yes. You’d be surprised how often that’s the solution. And most of the time, what we deal with isn’t what you think.” She took a deep breath and drew him closer. He hesitated for a moment then leaned his forehead against hers. “Either way, we’ll figure it out. However, I really have to go to an investigation. I’ll call you later.”
Dan rested his forearms on her shoulders, trailing his fingers through her hair. He closed his eyes and swallowed. “I don’t know how to do this.”
“Give it time, please. Let it sink in and think about it. I wouldn’t do this if it wasn’t important to me. And I wouldn’t intentionally put anyone in danger.”
He took a deep breath, and she felt the tension fade away. “Are we going to start looking for a new place?”
“Yes.” The last place she ever wanted to sleep again was in their old house—although living much longer with his family stood the possibility of changing that. She curled her hands around his arms and kissed his forearm. She thought about asking Jonah if he had any more connections, but if Dan found out it was connected to her job, that’d only send him into another tailspin. So, she kissed his lips and pressed her hand against his stubble-covered cheek. “I promise I’ll be safe, and eventually we’ll find the answers we need.”
Cole’s phone danced in the console as she turned onto Hellwig, but she ignored it. It was either Kaylyn or Leon and in three minutes, she’d be at the house anyway, making it pointless to answer and listen to their questions and inevitable scolding for being late. Nearly every house on the farm road looked the same and half of the mailboxes were so worn that the addresses were missing or illegible. All of the structures had seen better days—many looked as if they hadn’t been touched in decades. One of the houses looked dark and ominous because the paint had chipped away so badly it left a dark and brooding structure. When she was close enough, she finally spotted an address—only three digits off from her destination.
The next farmhouse on the opposite side of the road had been covered with fresh yellow siding, but the molding and roof showed that the minor facelift hadn’t addressed the deeper structural problems.
By the time she pulled up the driveway to the farmhouse, she had to assume Kay and Leon were already with the homeowner touring the house since Leon’s truck sat empty behind a blue Subaru hatchback.
With a sigh, Cole shifted the car into park and leaned against the steering wheel. It felt like a complete role reversal had taken place over the last week—now Kaylyn was the one who seemingly had her head on straight, and Cole was the one making smart remarks because she couldn’t think of anything else to say.
She pulled off her boots and threw them into the passenger seat, replacing them with dark dress shoes that wouldn’t make as much noise while walking around the house. Taking a deep breath, she climbed out of the car, the gravel crunched under her feet as she slammed the door, and headed toward the front porch.
The door was ajar, so she rapped the back of her knuckle against the solid wood and pressed it open. Kaylyn and Leon were standing with a tall, scrawny man dressed in a flannel shirt and jeans. He nodded and rubbed a hand through his sandy blond hair as Cole approached.
“Cole Anderson,” she said, holding out her hand. “Sorry for the delay.”
“Raymond Prescot,” he replied, clasping her hand briefly, “Please, call me Raymond.” He looked to be quite young, at most in his early thirties, but his hands were rough and covered in small callouses. According to the report, they’d only owned the farm for a month, and she wondered if he’d come from farm life, or if this was a recent change.
“Should we get started, then?” Raymond asked, glancing around at the three investigators.
Leon stepped aside with a nod and allowed the homeowner to take the lead.
“When we first moved in, there was a lot to get used to. You’d think that moving from the city to the country, we’d have to get used to the lack of noise, but the old house creaks and groans, and without all the outside noise, it’s hard to miss. We figured it was just an old house settling—subtle noises, but always strange in the dead of night. Then, they started getting louder, especially the ones coming from the attic.” He exhaled loudly and led them through the kitchen. “And the basement, it gets crazy warm for no reason even though it’s freezing outside.”
“Have you noticed any strange smells or objects being moved?” Kaylyn asked.
“Smells,” he drawled out the word. “Not really.”
Raymond started to walk away then turned back toward the investigators. “Actually... there is something—like a lightning storm, sometimes, while we’re in the living room. It seemed odd, and we even hired an electrician, but he said everything was fine. We still have problems with the TV in there. It tends to turn off on its own, but we thought it might have been damaged in the move.”
“Now you think differently?” Kaylyn asked.
Raymond shrugged. “It’s an awful lot of coincidence.”
“When was the last time it happened?” Leon asked.
“The TV was acting up yesterday while the kids were watching a movie.”
“You and your wife were with them?” Kaylyn asked.
“No. Sandy was cooking dinner and I was working in the basement. They ran into the kitchen a couple of times to tell her about it.”
Cole grimaced and looked at the TV. Two kids alone with a television—that could explain a lot. “And the smell? When was the last time that happened?”
“Oooh, that’s been a couple of weeks.”
Cole nodded and glanced around the living one more time before she stepped through the archway into the kitchen where the others were standing.
“There hasn’t really been a whole lot going on in here, but the door to the basement is here in the corner.” He propped the slatted door open and led them down a narrow flight of concrete steps. “You asked about the breaker panel,” he nodded to Leon and then pointed to a grey panel in the back corner.
A workshop filled with tools filled one side of the basement near the furnace. On the other side of the room was a washer and dryer set with a few baskets filled with laundry, while the corner nearest the stairs was littered with boxes, many broken down and stuffed into other boxes.
“I spend a lot of time working down here,” Raymond explained, “Sometimes, even when it’s been a while since the furnace has kicked on the temperature changes can be insane. It gets frigid and then very hot—as in breaking out in a sweat hot.”
Wonder if he makes a habit of working too hard down here, Cole thought. She stared off, mentally categorizing the tools to give her brain something to do. Then, she glanced at Kaylyn, who seemed to be concentrating on something near the opposite wall. Cole followed her gaze, but aside from the wall being a darker shade—as if there had been a water leak, she didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary.
“Kay,” she whispered, nudging her sister’s arm as the men headed back up the stairs.
Her sister’s gaze snapped up, “Yeah, sorry.”
Leon glanced back at them but didn’t bother to tell the homeowner that the girls were straggling.
“Does it feel a little wonky down here to you? Like the air is”—she grimaced—“not exactly heavy. The dampness and coolness seem normal for a basement, but there is something else.”
Cole froze. She didn’t want to disagree, especially after her skepticism alienated Kaylyn during their last investigation—and Kaylyn had been right.
But, if Cole was honest, all she felt was numb—physically, mentally, and spiritually numb. “I’m not sure.”
Kaylyn pressed her lips in a line. “We need to catch up, but are we okay?”
Cole sighed. Her distance had nothing to do with Kaylyn. “I don’t blame you for anything.”
“It doesn’t really seem like you want to talk to me either.”
“I don’t have much to say. Still in shock—and it seems that, for once, you’re the one with better coping skills.”
Kaylyn gave her a comforting smile. “I’m not dealing with a fiancé and his family. I have to keep going through the motions, and doing the only thing I know how to.”
Cole forced a smile then nodded toward the stairs. “We really should catch up before we miss something and our temporary boss cracks down on us.”
She wished it was as simple as going through the motions, but now she had a lump on her shoulder the size of Dan, and Kaylyn had warned her that the lies would come back and haunt her. Cole assumed that she had been doing the right thing by protecting everyone involved.
And, she wasn’t quite ready to admit it, but some small part of her had always feared Dan would force her to choose.
By lying, she wondered if she had already made that choice.
Chapter 5
Kaylyn followed her sister up the stairs. She felt like she was supposed to know what to say, what to ask, but she wasn’t a talker—she normally left the pushing and sharing to Cole.
So, what do you do when the normally open and often overly bubbly one shuts down and locks you out? she wondered, staring silently at her sister’s back.
They found Leon and Raymond chatting in the kitchen. Apparently, their absence had been noted, but neither of the men seemed concerned. The two were chatting about plans for the farm—work that needed done on the fields and structures by the end of the year, before Leon directed the conversation back to the details of the case.
“The only thing we’ve experienced on the second floor is the noises,” Raymond explained. “And they usually seem to come from the attic.”
Kaylyn rubbed her temple, feeling an oncoming headache that she desperately wanted to avoid. “You mentioned a lot of things you didn’t consider to be paranormal at first. Is there any way we can speak with the rest of your family? Maybe there are other clues we can work from.”
Beyond the Divide (Fractured Legacy Book 2) Page 3