Ghostly Charms

by Lily Harper Hart

  “That’s true.” Ezra rubbed the back of his neck, weariness positively permeating from every pore. “Lucas’s death changed everything for her, to the point where I started to wonder if she witnessed his death. I know I shut you down on that, but I thought that might’ve traumatized her.”

  “It’s possible,” Jared offered. “I still believe something happened directly to her, but we need her to confirm that. Right now, the most important thing is finding her. When was the last time you saw her?”

  “Before bed,” Ezra replied. “Like I said, she was angry because I didn’t believe her. She called me a lot of names and said she couldn’t wait until she was seventeen and didn’t have to do what I said. I’m used to her yelling stuff like that at me and ignore it, though.

  “She was still up in her room when I went to bed,” he continued. “She looked to be on her phone, but I didn’t pry. When I woke this morning, she was gone.”

  “What about her clothing? Or a bag maybe. Are either missing?”

  “I don’t know.” Ezra looked taken aback. “Do you think she voluntarily left?”

  “I think that’s entirely possible,” Jared admitted. “It makes sense for her to have taken off in a fit of anger. The thing is, it’s not safe for her to be running around ... especially if she took off to be with Andy Cornell. He’s bad news, and he could get her in even more trouble.”

  “And he’s one of the few people she knows here,” Harper mused. “She might think that rebel thing he’s got going on is appealing. Maybe they are together somewhere.”

  “If so, I doubt they’ve gone very far,” Mel said. “We need to come up with a list of places to search and get on it. The sooner we find her, the better.”

  “I want to help.” Ezra was insistent. “She’s my sister. That means she’s my responsibility.”

  Mel hesitated and then nodded. “You can help. If we find her with Andy, though, you have to let us retrieve her. I’m not saying Andy is dangerous for certain, but we’re looking in his direction for a series of break-ins and a potential murder. I don’t think she’s safe with him.”

  “Then we have to find her.” Ezra balled his hands into fists. “I keep failing her. One of these times I’m going to get it right.”

  “We’ll help you,” Jared promised. “We won’t let her fall through the cracks.”

  He had no trouble making the promise but, in hindsight, he realized that was easier said than done.

  15

  Fifteen

  “I can’t help but feel bad,” Harper admitted when they returned to Jared’s truck. “This is my fault, isn’t it?”

  He slid his eyes to her, surprised. “Why would you assume that?”

  “Because it makes sense. It’s my fault that she took off that way. I’m the one who upset her.”

  “Harper, you can’t blame yourself for this. You were trying to find answers, help a traumatized ghost. That’s who you are and what you do. Sure, maybe you got a little overzealous, but that’s not on you. That’s on Rain. She’s the one who flew off the handle for no good reason.”

  “Yeah,” Harper chewed on her lip, unconvinced. “I feel like I somehow missed the signs.”

  Patiently, he slipped a strand of hair behind her ear. “What signs?”

  “The signs that she’d been hurt somehow. I didn’t see them. You picked up on them right away, though. How come?” Her eyes shone with genuine interest.

  “Because I’ve seen the signs before.” He licked his lips, unsure he wanted to get caught up in a heavy story given everything that was going on. Finally, he heaved out a sigh and moved his hands to her arms so he could rub up and down. He was determined to soothe her before he had to take off and leave her. “It’s not important. Don’t worry about it. I’ll take you home and you can lock yourself down there.”

  She was incredulous. “Um ... that’s not going to happen.”

  He was afraid she would say that. “Heart, you’re not a police officer. You can’t be included in an official search.”

  “You brought me with you for an official interview this morning,” she protested. “Why was that okay?”

  “Did you see the way Mel reacted to me bringing you?”

  “Oh, so this is all about Mel. If I get him to agree, can I go with you?”

  He immediately started shaking his head. “No, because it’s not proper procedure and I have to be careful to follow the rules on this one for obvious reasons. You have to understand that.”

  Because she did, Harper realized she had no choice but to take a step back. “Fine.” She held up her hands in capitulation. “You don’t want me with you. I get it.”

  That didn’t mean she couldn’t guilt him a bit before they went their separate ways.

  “Oh, don’t do that.” Jared made a pained face. “I hate it when you use that tone.”

  “I’m glad you told me. That tidbit is going to come in helpful when we’re married and I want to win an argument.”

  She was deathly serious, but the statement made him smile all the same. “I can’t wait to marry you.” He pressed a kiss to the corner of her sulky mouth. “You’re not coming with me, though. I want you home where I know you’re safe.”

  Suspicion lit the depths of Harper’s sea-blue eyes. “Is that why you’re doing this? Because you want to protect me, I mean. I guess that makes sense.”

  “I will always want to protect you. That’s not what this is about. I wasn’t lying when I said that I wanted to make sure you were safe. That’s always my biggest priority.”

  “Why wouldn’t I be safe?”

  “Because Rain is off her rocker. She’s been traumatized. I’m more convinced of that than ever. We don’t know how she’s going to react. And, while I’m sympathetic to her plight, that doesn’t mean that I’m not leery regarding her intentions. I think it’s completely possible that she might want to lash out at you as some form of payback that we don’t understand.”

  He sounded so sure of himself that Harper had to ask the obvious question. “What aren’t you telling me? You know something. I can tell.”

  He hesitated ... and then sighed. She wasn’t going to let it go and he wasn’t going to lie. That’s not who he was. “When I was a rookie — this is when I was over on the west side of the state — most of my first cases were of the pedestrian variety. I’m talking actual pedestrians here. The first three tickets I handed out were to jaywalkers.”

  Harper bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing at his hangdog expression. “I still don’t understand what that has to do with Rain.”

  “I’m getting to it.” He dragged a restless hand through his dark hair and collected his thoughts. “The thing is, I didn’t even really want to be a detective back then. Oh, I always wanted to be a police officer, don’t get me wrong, but being a detective wasn’t high on my list.

  “I fancied myself driving around in a patrol car, eating doughnuts, pulling people over, and setting up speed traps,” he continued. “It’s cliched, but I was an idiot when I was younger. Then I met a teenager named Samantha Capshaw.”

  Harper sensed the story weighed on him so she didn’t push. She knew better than trying to wedge her way into his train of thought ... at least right now.

  “I was young, green, and I didn’t understand what was happening around me when a teenager walked up to the car I was sharing with my partner at the time and announced that a stranger had raped her in an alley,” he explained. “She was very together when she told us the story. There were no tears or hysterics. There was something about her, though. She seemed to be watching and ... judging us.

  “I checked the alley she indicated, found a homeless individual sleeping, and was instantly suspicious of her story,” he continued. “I don’t know why but there was something about her that set me off from the start. Still, we had to question the homeless man and get Samantha’s story down on the record.

  “The thing is, her story changed drastically halfway through the tellin
g and, instead of a stranger rape, she was describing something that had obviously happened to her by someone she knew. I could see the true horror, just glimpses of it, and knew she was lying about the homeless guy but telling the truth about something else.

  “I called her on it because I was determined to get to the truth. I wasn’t diplomatic in the least and basically called her a liar. She flipped out, started accusing me of coming on to her even though there were like three people in the observation room watching the interview, and she melted down and took off.”

  Harper rested her hand on top of his. The story obviously bothered him. “I’m sorry that happened. No wonder you were so calm when I told you what Rain did. You’ve been through it before.”

  “I don’t want Rain to end up like Samantha.” He was calm, matter-of-fact. “The thing is, Samantha killed herself that night. She hung herself in her closet and left behind a note. In that note, she told the truth. Her high school guidance counselor assaulted her and she knew nobody would believe her.

  “She said she was sorry about making the accusation, but she actually managed to convince herself for a few minutes that the homeless individual in the alley did something to her. She wanted someone to pay and she couldn’t escape the pressure.”

  Harper pressed the heel of her hand to her forehead. “That is awful.”

  “It is. After that, I knew I wanted to be a detective and investigate important cases. I didn’t care about traffic stops any longer ... not that there’s anything wrong with that. I wanted to be more important than that, though.”

  “No. I get it.”

  He blew out a sigh and flicked his eyes to the horizon. “I want Rain to be found. I want her brought home safe and sound. I want her to get better and become the person Samantha never had the chance to be.”

  “That’s because you’re a good person. She made accusations about you and yet you still want to help.”

  “She’s a kid in pain. She’s also a kid capable of doing a great deal of damage if we don’t find her. I want you home and safe because, right now at least, I think she’s focused on you as someone to blame for her woes. We still don’t know that anything truly happened to her. I believe that it did, though, so we need to find her. I want you safe at home while I do that.”

  Harper thought about arguing. The idea of being cut out of the action grated on her. Given the story Jared had told her, though, she didn’t want to make things worse for him. That didn’t seem fair.

  “I’ll go home,” she said finally. “I want an update if you find her, though. Also, I’m going to think long and hard about where a teenager who is new to the town might go and I might text you a suggestion or two.”

  He grinned and leaned forward so he could kiss her. “Thank you.”

  “Don’t mention it. If you don’t find her by lunch, though, all bets are off. I will start looking.”

  That was exactly what Jared was afraid of.

  HARPER WENT HOME AS PROMISED.

  And then she began to pace.

  So much had happened in a short amount of time and she couldn’t push it out of her head. In truth, she felt guilty. On a rational level, she knew that was ridiculous. There was no way she could’ve known that something terrible happened to Rain. She’d tried to ingratiate herself to the girl from the start, offer her a helping hand as she navigated a new home. The girl had rebuffed her with rude abandon and then made noise about accusing Jared of heinous things.

  Harper still wished she would’ve handled things differently. She couldn’t go back in time and change how she’d reacted, though. She needed to look forward. Jared was doing his best to find Rain. She’d agreed to keep out of his way.

  Of course, that didn’t mean she couldn’t help in her own way.

  She was thoughtful as she moved to the kitchen window, her eyes planted on the spot in the woods where she’d first seen Lucas’s ghost. She couldn’t be sure, but she was almost positive she saw movement in the shadows. It was worth a shot, she decided. She had to know.

  She locked the house behind her when she left so no one could sneak in and ambush her later — she wasn’t a complete ninny after all — and then made her way to the water. She didn’t immediately see the ghostly boy, but there was a shimmer and she knew he was hiding.

  “You have to stop this,” she ordered, firm. “You can’t hide right now. You came to me for help and I’m going to do it. I swear it. First, though, one of the living needs your help.”

  The shimmer became stronger, but Lucas didn’t show himself, which Harper found unbelievably frustrating.

  “Rain is in trouble.” She decided to go for it. There was no reason to hold back.

  This time Lucas’s form became visible. He was still ethereal, of course, but the look on his face was plaintive. “Where is she? Does he have her?”

  Well, that answered that question, Harper mused. “I don’t know who you’re talking about.” Her frustration was profound but she did her best to rein it in. “You have to help me.”

  He made a protesting sound that was almost a growl. “I’m here for your help. There’s nothing I can do for you. I’m dead.”

  “You are,” Harper was matter-of-fact. “You passed away way before your time. I get it, and I’m so sorry for what happened to you. I can’t go back and fix it. I can, however, help you move on.

  “There’s more out there than this life,” she continued. “I’ve seen flashes of the beyond and it’s glorious. I can get you there.”

  Lucas was morose. “Can you do it now? I don’t want to stay here any longer. I was happy to be here at first but now ... .”

  “I can’t help you until you help me.” She refused to back down. “Rain is missing. She’s been acting out, doing some things that those around her can’t understand. It’s been theorized that she was attacked, that something bad might’ve happened to her.

  “Now, I’m not a psychologist by any stretch of the imagination, but what they’re saying makes sense,” she continued. “You came to Whisper Cove from your home. You followed Rain. There’s no doubt about that in my mind.

  “At first I assumed you came because you wanted her to talk. She either knew something about your death or participated. I’m not sure she doesn’t know something, but if she does, she’s keeping her mouth shut for a different reason.”

  “She’s afraid,” Lucas said quietly. “She’s terrified he’s going to come after her.”

  “You remember, don’t you?” Harper rubbed her cheek, her intuition zinging as Lucas slowly nodded. “You remember what happened to you in those woods. I need you to tell me.”

  “Maybe I should show you again. It might be easier.”

  Harper understood why he wanted to show her rather than relate the story. It meant that he wasn’t alone in his horror. If someone knew, they could share the pain with him ... or at least give him an outlet. They didn’t have time for mind games, though. They had to move. She didn’t know why she felt that to her very bones but there was no denying the sense of imminent peril she felt running through her.

  They had to act ... and fast.

  “I need you to tell me.” As sympathetic to his plight as she was, she couldn’t indulge him now. “I need to find Rain, which means I don’t have a lot of time. I need you to tell me what happened to you the night you died.”

  “It was horrible.”

  “I figured that much out myself.”

  “I was only there because of Rain,” he admitted, rueful. “I had a crush on her. Actually, I’d had a crush on her since we were fourteen. She barely knew I was alive, though. We were friends, but she never looked at me any other way. Even that night, after, she never looked at me the way I wanted.”

  “What happened that night?” Harper didn’t want to push, but she felt she was running out of time. “I need to know.”

  “He was there.”

  “Who is he?”

  Lucas didn’t answer the question. Instead, he adopted a far-off expression
that told Harper he was traveling back in time. “He was there with Lana Barton, but they were fighting. They’d been dating a few months. She was a horrible person, but she was pretty and all the other girls were jealous of her. She liked to lord it over people.”

  “I’ve known girls like that,” Harper admitted. “I understand what you’re saying.”

  “They were arguing and he told her he was sick of her teasing him, holding out on him, and that he was going to find someone else to hang out with,” Lucas volunteered. “He pointed himself straight toward Rain. She didn’t hear him arguing with Lana. All she knew was that he was suddenly paying attention to her.”

  Harper’s heart sank. She knew exactly where this story was going. She still had to hear, though.

  “He took her for a walk in the woods,” Lucas explained. “I stayed back at the bonfire because I wasn’t invited, but the more I thought about it, the more worried I got. I knew what he was going to do. I went into the woods to find them.

  “It wasn’t easy and I wasn’t sure where they were, but after about fifteen minutes I heard noises,” he continued. “She was crying, asking for help, begging him to stop.”

  Harper swallowed hard. “He was sexually assaulting her, wasn’t he?”

  Lucas’s eyes shimmered with ghostly tears as he nodded. “Yeah.”

  “And you rushed in to help.”

  “It was mostly over when I got there and he was taunting her, saying things about how he shouldn’t have picked such a baby. Her makeup was smeared and she was on the ground and I just saw red. I raced in and punched him ... although that was a mistake.”

  “He was bigger than you,” she surmised. “He was also a sociopath and you didn’t expect him to attack you the way he did. Why did you just sit there and take it? Why didn’t you try to run?”

  “I was trying to protect Rain. I couldn’t leave her.” His voice was plaintive. “I wanted to figure out a way to get her out of there. Even when he came for me, to that very last second, I didn’t think he would do it. He was a bully. He always threatened people. He never really did anything.”