Bess’s arms came around him as he coughed and sputtered. “Oh Erich. Dear God, thank you. Thank you for letting him be all right.”
“I don’t know if I’d go that far.” Erich chocked and coughed the words, licking his lips and trying to bring himself to a sitting position.
Bess’s arm came down against his chest, holding him firm in her lap. “Wait for Martin.”
“You called him? Why? How long was I out?”
“Five minutes or so. How do you feel?”
“Weak. It’s that damn tea. I was fine ‘til I drank it.”
Her arms went tense around him, her voice sharp and biting. “It’s a root tea. How could it possibly hurt you?”
“I don’t know.” He rolled his head away from her, his strength being restored like grains of sand being sifted through a strainer — slow and scattered. Maybe the tea in and of itself was harmless, but that didn’t let the person who brought it off the hook. Maybe that voice in his gut that held Joseph suspect from the beginning was accurate.
Touching his cheek, she brought his gaze back to her. “Did Harry tell you anything else?”
Her concern for him — Erich — so fleeting. Of course, it was Harry and an homage to their past that mattered most to her. The realization sucked the air from his lungs as if she’d punched him in the stomach. But why did the distinction matter so much? He and Harry were one and the same. Weren’t they?
No. Somewhere along the way — maybe the moment he’d spilled the code — they had fractured, and he’d become disconnected from Harry’s past.
Erich needed to make this a catalyst to bring them together, but for the moment he’d hold his cards close to his chest. “What? Did I say Harry told me something?”
“The message that is sealed in an envelope and locked in my safe; you spoke the words before you passed out. Do you remember?”
He scraped his hand across his jaw, and he felt his eyes darting side to side as he decided on the right words. “I remember calling for you and the urge to tell you something...”
Tears spilled down her cheeks, but the smile on her lips gave away her joy, a level of happiness even Harry hadn’t seen in many years. The weight of Jaden’s labels — cold and selfish — plummeted down on him. How did it happen that Harry had let this light slip from her eyes and never once noticed? “Help me up.”
“No. Martin will be here soon. He needs to check you out.”
If Martin and Joseph had succeeded in their plan, would she mourn him or only miss the link to Harry? “I don’t want that scoundrel laying a finger on me, and if you were smart you wouldn’t have him near you either.” He pushed himself up despite her effort to make him stay on the floor. “I’m all right, Bess. I swear.”
He attempted to square his feet, but the world gyrated away from him again. He reached for the edge of the table as Bess slid the chair underneath him. “At least sit! You’re not fine.”
Erich followed her orders and looked at the offending mug sitting in front of him. He’d questioned that pseudo-doctor from the moment he’d stepped foot in this house. Why had he been so blind and followed? The answer was simple: because she asked him to. “Bess, there’s something you should know.”
“About Harry?” she asked. The bright, hopeful glean in her eyes broke his heart as she slid up another chair and sat so close to him their knees touched. Her hands, aged by time and sorrow felt so frail as he gripped them in his. Her eyes pleaded with him, begged for more words from Harry’s lips.
Erich had longed for her to look at him with a pure adoration since that moment they bumped on the street. Now that she did, jealousy stabbed at him. She wasn’t looking at the Erich she’d come to know, she was still clinging to a memory. Not that long ago, he’d have accepted this as progress, but the man he’d become wanted Bess for himself. “I don’t think Harry spoke through me, Bess.”
A tremble visibly coursed her body, and she threw her arms up in the air. “How can you still not believe? You delivered his message! You must be one of those people Joseph spoke of earlier?”
He shifted his weight in the chair and shook his head. Always a new twist and something different to absorb. “What are you talking about? What kind of people?”
“Someone with second sight.”
“A fraud medium?” No use for fancy language, he’d call a spade what it was, but he didn’t mean to push her buttons and regretted that the joyful glow was already fading.
Her fingers gripped her skirt, and her lips narrowed. “No, not some phony. Someone who can truly speak with the spiritual world. I’m sure Harry took over your body. That’s why you passed out. I wish I knew how to get a hold of Joseph.”
She’d made up her mind and that should make his next step easy, but he knew that wouldn’t be the case. Nothing so far had come without difficulty. “I wasn’t possessed, Bess. It was that damn tea.”
“And the tea magically gave you Harry’s code for the word believe?”
“The words I spoke stood for the letters in the name Roseabelle. It’s the name that is the code word for believe.” Harry’s words spilled past his lips before Erich could contain them. Damn Harry’s ego! He couldn’t leave well enough be. Was Jaden right? Did the need to be right matter more to Harry than Bess’s heart?
Her whole face lit up as the smile he’d chased away returned. “You wouldn’t know that unless Harry told you.”
Damn-it-all, he wanted something that belonged to them and didn’t involve the past. “You believe in spirits and afterlives but not in poisoned tea?”
She slammed her hand against the table. “Don’t tease!”
Pointing out her hypocrisy and fickleness was only part of the reason he’d been so harsh. He knew evil forces were afoot, and he needed her to stop chasing dreams and focus on the here and now. He leveled his gaze. “This isn’t a joke. What if Martin was so angry about the things I said to him the other day that he sent Joseph over here to make good on those death threats.”
Bess rolled her eyes and exhaled. “Those two had a falling out. Joseph dislikes Martin as much as you do.”
“Maybe Martin isn’t giving him a choice.” Okay, so he was sorting it out for himself as he proposed different scenarios to Bess. Jaden said many people were involved, and those two plus Gail were his top suspects. Erich just needed to figure out the connection.
“Now that’s a reach. You’re accusing Martin of blackmailing Joseph? Why can’t you accept that Harry spoke through you?”
Erich flicked the inside of his mouth with his tongue. It’d be easier to give her the hope, but she’d be devastated later if the truth came out. “It’s not possible, Bess.”
Her cheeks flushed, and she giggled — like she hadn’t in more years than he cared to remember. “How can you say that? You’ve just done it. Harry came to me tonight, and he used your body as a vessel. You won’t convince me any differently.”
Bess crossed to the back door and rifled through the box she’d set there earlier. “I wish he could have delivered something personal to me before you lost consciousness, but this was only the first time. Now that he’s succeeded, he will surely try again. You’ll get stronger, and I’ll be able to talk to him next time.”
Next time? Instead of dousing the need, he’d only fueled the flame. This had to stop. “The séance. He regrets that decision and wants you to call it off.”
Her beautiful smile faded, and her eyes scanned him. “Harry did not say that.”
“He did. Sure as I’m sitting here. He doesn’t want you to hold the public fiasco that the séance will become. That’s why he came to you tonight. To show you there wasn’t a need.”
She shifted her weight between her feet. “That doesn’t make sense.”
“You have your message from Harry. He’s proven communication with the dead is possible. There’s no reason to hold that carnival side show.” His stomach twisted into a knot. Jaden made it impossible for Erich to tell Bess the entire truth, but that didn’t me
an lying was right. Worse, her life depended on him getting her to trust the fabrication.
Again her expressions changed so fast, it made him dizzy. Her eyes narrowed, and her jaw tightened. “How did you do it? How did you learn the code? Such certainty now. A few minutes ago you didn’t remember.” Her tone was biting. Only he could screw this up. In the short span of few minutes he’d gone from her prized possession — a medium with a direct line to her precious Harry — to once again being a drifter trying to con her. If she was going to hold anyone in that regard it should be Martin, but that wasn’t Erich’s luck. She knew the doctor was a rogue and still treated him as a welcome guest and friend.
Why couldn’t she just believe in him the way she put her faith in the ruffians around her. “He spoke to me.”
“You’ve studied him. You’ve picked locks in this house and shown your prowess with sleight of hand. You want to step into his life and use me to gain his notoriety for yourself. That’s it, isn’t it? You want to walk in Harry’s footsteps. You’re one of the many he feared, and the sole reason he developed the code in the first place.”
Erich’s shoulders fell as the weight of her distrust landed on them. “You couldn’t be more wrong.”
“Did you break into my safe?”
“You said Harry sealed the code in an envelope. See for yourself if it’s been disturbed. Whatever happened when I passed out, it wasn’t any attempt to con you. I swear.”
She averted her eyes, finding a worn spot in the linoleum that demanded all her attention. Her disbelief stung like a slap to the face. She started to walk past him. He was sure she was going to accept his dare and check the vault — at least he would be exonerated from cheating this time around — but a knock sounded on the back door behind her.
“Bess, darling, are you okay? You sounded so panicked on the telephone.” Martin’s voice filtered in from behind the door. As he rounded the corner from the mudroom to the kitchen, Erich got a good look at his enemy. Martin’s clothes, as well as his hair, were impeccable, and his long wool coat was draped over his arm. Slipping the white gloves from his hands, he didn’t look like someone who dropped everything to come over on a moment’s notice.
Erich clenched his hands under the table as the taste of bile bubbled up. This should be a private moment between Bess and him. Well, as private as it could be with Harry’s memory intruding. The last thing he wanted, or the situation needed, was Martin, especially since he topped Erich’s list of suspects for the poisoned tea. “We’re fine, no thanks to you. Go home!”
“Stop it!” Bess chastised. “This is still my home, and you have no right to order guests around.” Pivoting toward Martin she said, “Thank you for rushing right over here at this late hour.”
Martin gripped her hands, and gave her an adoring look. “Dear. What’s the matter? You look as you’ve seen a ghost.”
“I thought I had, but now...” Her body tensed as she stepped away and looked at Erich. “I think—”
“Stop, Bess! This is between us.” The situation would be better handled with decorum, but Erich’s temper flared anyway.
Martin interceded with a smooth, calming lilt to his voice. “Whatever is bothering you, I will do my best to help. You know you can trust me. While this scoundrel—”
“Delivered the message from Harry.” The words spilled from her, relighting the joyful spark in her eyes. Even though she’d expressed doubts, something inside still believed. “The coded message, Erich spoke it not twenty minutes ago, and then he passed out cold on the floor.”
Martin’s gaze crawled up and down Erich with such spite it sent a chill through him. “It’s impossible. I don’t know how, but he’s deceiving you. You should have tossed him out on his ear the night you caught him breaking into that cabinet. I told you then it was a sign of bad things to come.”
Erich scrubbed his forehead. There was a time when Bess’s confidence in Martin would have been expected, but that day had long passed. Now, it confounded him. Martin’s manipulation of Bess — much in the way he and Gail had manipulated Harry — angered Erich. “I would never steal from Bess.”
Not even giving him the satisfaction of a response, Martin spoke only to Bess. “Now that the code has been revealed, why don’t you tell it to me? Knowing Harry, it was probably rudimentary. Erich merely guessed it once you let him into your life.”
Being smug came second nature to Martin, but Erich wasn’t going to let him off the hook. “If it was so simple, shouldn’t someone with your brains have cracked it?”
“Unlike you, I respect Bess and wouldn’t overstep my boundaries. I’m not the one putting a cloud over her reputation by moving in.”
“I don’t really care what you think.”
Martin focused in on Bess, zeroing in on her fears, or so it seemed. “Some in town believe he’s smooth talked his way right into your bed.” The innuendo in Martin’s voice was thick and hit its mark.
“I’d never!” Bess covered her face with her hands, proving that Martin knew how to elicit the desired emotional response.
“Repeating such scandalous lies is not a show of respect,” Erich said. He wanted to move closer to Bess — take her in his arms and hold her close — but knew it would only give Martin fuel for his indecent accusations. Bess knew it too and wouldn’t welcome him now. “Bess can affirm that Harry spoke through me tonight. I delivered his message. There is no need for that spectacle Gail and you are encouraging.”
“I don’t believe for one moment that really happened,” Martin said. “I’m not sure what you did, but I will figure it out.”
Erich couldn’t help but laugh. “Funny, you claim Gail can talk to the dead, but doubt me.”
“Spiritualism is a honed skill. If you’ve mastered anything in your short life, I’m betting it’s treachery. You breezed into town a little more than a week ago, and you’re already a mainstay in this house. Harry would be disgusted.”
“That’s true. It’d make him ill to know you were standing on his doorstep. How can you pretend to be Bess’s friend while you’re trying to kill me?”
The vein in Martin’s temple bulged, and a satisfied smile turned Erich’s lips. Seemed he could push buttons too. Martin answered Erich with a sneer, and then spoke to Bess. “Are you going to stand here and listen to him accusing me of such horrible things? Gail and I have stood by your side from the moment you came home from burying Harry.”
“I may be a stranger, but Harry trusted me enough to speak through me.”
Bess’s gaze flickered between the two of them for a moment. Her stare so intense, it warmed Erich’s skin. Then, she left the room.
Erick kicked himself. Pride had made a mess of things again. Moments ago she’d been happy, and now, because of his fight with Martin, she’d plummeted to distraught.
Jaden’s accusations to Harry had been spot-on, and Erich saw it clearer every time that side of him rose up. Bess might need his protection, but his plan of attack was all wrong. He needed proof to back his allegations, not emotional outbursts that pitted her between the two of them. Set to apologize, he followed her. “Bess, I’m so sorry. I’ve darkened your joy—”
In the parlor, the sight of her wheeling the large steel safe from the closet stopped Erich cold. He could feel the other man’s piercing glare focused on Bess and wished she hadn’t shown Martin where her secrets were kept. However, Erich also knew in moments Bess would have her truth.
She picked up the envelope, held it to the light, and then gripped it to her chest. Her eyes closed, and her cheeks flushed. Erich knew since it was still sealed, Bess could believe in Harry’s devotion, even if Martin and he had tried to ruin that. Her faith in Harry and his love had restored what Erich had almost ruined. The open wound in her heart was healing. So, why was Erich so jealous?
“Harry used Erich as a vessel tonight. It’s the only possible explanation.” Her eyes locked on him, studied him for a long moment. “Did he really ask you to cancel the séance? Tell me
the truth, Erich.”
He could only give one answer. They both knew Harry too well for him to lie. “No, Bess. I only told you that because I’m worried about you and what Martin and Gail are doing.”
She nodded once and then put the envelope back in the vault. “I will not let Harry down. For the first time since he died, I feel like I really know what he wants. He’s proven to me he can communicate through Erich. We’ll hold the séance as planned, but with you, Erich, as the medium.”
Chapter Eighteen
Did Bess really just ask Erich to cause his own death?
“You can’t give Gail’s spot to Erich. You’re smarter than this,” Martin pleaded. Erich didn’t need to read any minds to know that Martin was Hell bent on protecting Gail’s reputation. Only her goals and dreams were important to him.
Erich closed the distance between himself and Bess. There were too many high-strung emotions flying around the room, spinning Bess’s head and twisting her heart. In the last half hour she’d made one rash decision after the other and needed time to breathe. She’d think it through and understand there was no reason to push forward. Or so he hoped. “Why have a séance at all?”
“Because I know what Harry wants. He answered my prayer, and I’ll repay him by giving his fans the show of a lifetime.”
A tremble whisked down his spine as if his blood had turned to ice. If Bess’s show ended Erich’s life, would Harry’s fans be entertained? “What if Harry doesn’t come through?”
Bess brushed off his concern with a wave of her hand. All the conviction that Harry demanded from her had taken root and grown to something impossible to trim or contain. It was going to take some quick maneuvering to break through that bond and convince her to defy Harry’s perceived will. “Whether or not he appears on Halloween is irrelevant. We’ll build the suspense, and just as the audience loses all hope, the message will come to you.”
Erich lifted his hands and stepped back, as if he could push everything that had happened since he regained consciousness away. This was the only real excitement he’d seen in her since rejoining this world. How could he fight the passion in her eyes? Did he even want to? Would a fake séance have the same consequences of a real one? Maybe he could flub his way through it without executing himself.
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