“Darkest storyline…,” she muttered. “Whatever.”
“The idea is that we’re going to go find this cabin, right?” Mark looked around. “The cabin where Helen and Billy used to meet?”
“Yes,” Robin said. “Billy was leading me there a couple of days ago, right before you called me about Grandma Helen falling.” She pointed across the road to the forest. “It’s this way.”
“Are you sure you remember?” Val asked.
“Just follow the creek bed,” Robin said. “It’s isolated, but it’s along the creek.”
They walked up and over the first hill, and Robin was surprised to realize how far she’d traveled with Billy’s ghost without realizing it. They had probably walked nearly a mile before she saw the familiar line of the moss-covered roof.
“There.” She pointed. “I see it.”
“Wow.” Mark huffed a little. “It’s back here, huh?” He stopped and looked toward the lake. “This would have been really remote before the lake came. The old town was in the bottom of the canyon.”
“They probably rode horses,” Robin said. “Grandma Helen told me she rode horses all over the valley when she was a kid, before the dam was built.”
The cabin was sitting in a small clearing of sugar pine trees. Pine needles, branches, and other detritus had gathered on the roof and around the structure, but the roof itself was intact, no small feat in a place where winter snowfall could be so heavy it would collapse a house if it wasn’t removed.
Dense beds of ferns grew from the creek up to the house. Between two trees was a stacked woodpile that had mostly fallen over, and wood planks were nailed over the windows.
“When do you think the last people were up here?” Val walked around the cabin. “I don’t see any cracks. It’s well-built.”
Monica walked to the door and pushed against it. “It’s all boarded up. Did anyone bring a hammer or any tools?”
Mark stepped forward. “See? I’m useful.” He reached into his back pocket and withdrew the multi-tool he always carried. “I don’t have a pry bar…” He unfolded the pliers. “But this should work, especially on rusted nails.”
As Mark and Monica worked on removing the nails from the door and windows, Robin walked over to Val.
“Hey,” she said. “How’re you doing?”
Val shrugged. “I’m okay. Sorry I flipped the other day. Just… Josh is pissing me off.”
“I heard.”
“It’s going to amount to nothing, but while the kids figure that out, it’s letters and emails and phone calls with the county because he’s not paying child support again. And I can’t say anything or I’m the bad guy.” She shook her head. “Add all that to this constant awareness of the things and people around me.”
“Sounds exhausting.”
“It is.” Val’s eyes had circles underneath them. “And you know what? I’m half tempted some days to drive Andy and Jackson over to his house and just drop them off and yell ‘good luck!’ as I drive away. My house would be clean and quiet. I wouldn’t have to yell at anyone about homework. I could cook whatever I wanted for dinner.”
“Sounds nice.”
“Yeah.” She glanced at Robin. “I’d hate it, wouldn’t I?”
“I can’t lie, I start to panic when I think about Emma leaving for college.”
Val groaned and pressed her fingers to her forehead. “I don’t want to think about what we might find in this place,” Val said. “What if it’s scary? What if he was taken here?”
“Want to know the horrible and yet comforting thing about this mystery?”
“What?”
“Nearly everyone involved is already dead.”
Val barked a laugh. “True.”
Robin put an arm around Val’s shoulders. “I need to find out for Helen,” she said. “Thank you for helping.”
“You owe me a dozen.”
“I so do.”
Monica pulled off the last plank from the door and shouted as Mark tossed it across the clearing. “We’re in!”
Robin met Val’s eyes. “You ready?”
Val nodded and pulled off her gloves. “Let’s do this.”
The interior of the cabin was dark, so all four of them turned on the flashlights on their phones. Robin started at the floor, but there was very little left inside. There was a cot in one corner. Some ancient provisions. An old woodstove opposite the bed.
“Looks like a hunting cabin,” Mark said. “Definitely not a romantic bungalow.”
“It might have been cleared out,” Robin said.
“Or they might have been fine with snagging a hunting cabin for the afternoon.” Val shrugged. “You said they’d planned to run away. This wasn’t a house, it was just where they met.” She took a deep breath, put her bare hand on the top of the stove, and closed her eyes.
Mark watched with a furrowed brow. “What do you see?”
“Nothing much,” she said quietly. “Hunters wearing old clothes. Maybe sixties? Seventies?”
“So it hasn’t been abandoned for seventy years,” Monica said. “We might not get anything from this.”
Val moved to the cot and touched it. “It’s new too.”
Robin felt her heart sink. She’d been sure something in the cabin would lead them to Billy’s murderer. “Let’s look under the bed. There are some drawers over there. Who wants to look in there?” She turned around, only to scream when she came face-to-face with Billy’s ghost.
“Robin?” Mark rushed to her, walking straight through Billy in the process. He stopped and a shiver shook his shoulders. “What the—”
“You just walked through Billy.” Robin pointed at his chest. “Just straight through him.”
Mark looked around. “Uh… sorry?” He frowned. “I don’t really know the proper—”
“It’s fine,” Robin said. “He’s probably used to it.”
Billy wasn’t speaking. He walked around the cabin, running a ghostly hand over the stove and the dresser. He knelt down and peered in the old woodstove.
“Robin?” Val put a hand on her shoulder. “What’s he doing?”
“He’s just walking around.”
Billy stood and walked to the boarded-up window. He stared out it a moment before he turned. “He saw us through the window. I never told her.”
“Who saw you?” Robin asked.
“Should I have told her? I think I didn’t do right.”
Billy was frowning as Val walked out of the cabin. Monica followed a few moments later.
Mark stood at Robin’s back. “Is he talking?”
“Kind of.” Robin watched Billy’s ghost. It wasn’t a strong image. He was fractured and wavering. She considered grabbing the small sketchbook she’d been keeping in her purse and drawing him, but she didn’t want to interrupt his energy.
“Maybe if she’d known, she wouldn’t have, you know? But then I suppose he took care of her. In a way,” Billy mumbled as he paced around the cabin. “I suppose he did. And I couldn’t. I don’t know if I was right.”
“Robin!” Monica’s voice rose from outside. “Robin, Val found something.”
Billy was pacing in the cabin, walking from the stove to the cot and back again. He was in his own world, barely acknowledging Robin or Mark.
“What’s he doing?”
“I don’t know.” Robin grabbed Mark’s hand and walked out of the cabin.
Val was sitting on a fallen log, puking her guts out while Monica rubbed her back.
Monica pointed to something beside her on the log. “It’s a watch.”
Robin walked over and picked up what remained of a man’s wristwatch. “What did you see?”
The strap had mostly rotted away, but the steel case was intact even though the glass was cracked. It wasn’t a fancy watch. It was the watch of a workman. A businessman’s watch. Robin remembered as a child seeing a similar watch on her grandfather’s desk in the library. He’d always worn a watch, and it was eerily similar…
<
br /> Robin turned to Val, her unspoken suspicion blooming into certainty when she saw her friend’s face.
“He watched them,” Val said quietly. She swallowed hard. “Robin, I’m sorry.”
“I don’t care,” she said. “I’m done with secrets in my family. Tell me what you saw.”
“He was standing outside the window, and it wasn’t the first time. He was… excited. Angry, but excited too. He liked to watch them, but he hated…” She covered her mouth and closed her eyes. “He hated Billy so much. And Billy had no idea. Which made him hate Billy even more.”
Mark reached for the watch in Robin’s hand and looked at it. He flipped it over and wiped away the grime to reveal the words engraved on the back.
“G.R.,” Mark said. “Nitor donec supero. Anyone speak Latin?”
“It means ‘Strive until you overcome,’” Robin said. “It’s the Russell family motto.”
Mark’s eyes went wide. “So the man who hated Billy—”
“Was my grandfather.” Robin closed her eyes. “Gordon Russell didn’t just find Helen here by accident like she thought.”
Val said, “He’d been watching her—watching them—for a long time. I can’t tell you how long, but when I touched the watch, I saw him, and I knew it wasn’t the first time he’d seen them. The feelings I got were so strong. So… alive. Even now. What he was feeling when he wore that watch was so intense. And so wrong.”
Monica’s face was pale. “Oh my God. H-he stalked her. He stalked Grandma Helen.”
“And then he married her,” Robin said.
Mark said, “Do you think he killed Billy?”
Val shook her head. “I can’t tell you that. I didn’t see or feel anything about that. He was mostly focused on Helen.”
“But if Billy was going to take Helen away,” Robin said, “that would be a pretty good reason for Gordon to get rid of Billy.”
“And then rescue Helen.” Mark made air quotes around the word rescue.
Robin went to sit next to Val. “Monica’s right. He stalked her and maybe he got rid of the man she loved. Then he married her and kept her under his thumb for forty years.”
Val leaned on Robin’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, Robin.”
“Trust me. I have no fond memories of my grandfather. I was eleven when he died, and I don’t even remember being sad. He wasn’t a nice man.” She shook her head. “And Grandma Helen called him kind. She told me he was kind for marrying her.”
Mark knelt down next to Robin. “I think there’s something else we need to talk about.”
“You think we need to tell Grandma about Gordon? We don’t know for sure he did it, we just suspect.”
Mark shook his head. “I’m talking about now. I’m talking about Helen and the fact that you told me Billy couldn’t get near the house because of him.”
“You think Gordon is still in the house,” Monica said. “You think he’s still keeping an eye on Helen.”
“Think about it,” Mark said. “He built that place. It was his monument to himself. And not a single one of us wants to walk up to the third floor.”
“You’re saying Gordon Russell never left,” Robin said. “That he’s still in that house. Watching her. Watching all of us.”
“He was controlling when he was alive, right? Maybe he’s still trying to control things.”
Val’s expression was grim. “Your grandfather may be gone, but in a way he’s still stalking Helen.”
Chapter 25
Robin let Mark drive back to Russell House. Val and Monica followed them. They needed to find out what was going on in the attic, and Robin felt like time wasn’t on their side.
Grace opened the front door before they could reach it. “Where have you been?”
“I had an errand I needed to do this morning.” Robin embraced her mother. “How are you? How’s Grandma?”
Grace looked exhausted as they walked through the front doors. “The same. In and out. She woke up a little a few hours ago and talked with Austin.”
“Yeah?” Robin glanced up the stairs and around the formal areas of the house. The dining room had been taken over by the nursing staff, who kept their computers and some of their bags there. The library was Mark’s domain. And in the formal living room, shoes, backpacks, and various electronics gave evidence of teenagers claiming territory.
The first floor of Russell House had been taken over by the living, but a cool draft gusted down the staircase.
“Be warned,” Grace said. “Mother told Austin that if anyone told him not to pursue his art, they were to be ignored.”
Robin rolled her eyes. “I think she told me the same thing at that age, so I can’t really say anything.”
Grace smiled, but the smile quickly turned to tears. “Robin.”
“Oh Mom.” She hugged Grace again. “We’re not allowed to keep her forever.” Robin blinked back tears. “It doesn’t work that way.”
“I know.”
Hear that, Gordon? It doesn’t work that way. You’re not allowed to keep people if they don’t want you around. Robin glanced up the stairs, and it was almost as if the house knew what she was thinking. A chill crept down her back.
“Mom, is Dad here?”
Grace nodded. “He’s in the kitchen, cooking that lovely chicken-and-barley soup.”
“Oh, that sounds great.” Robin patted her mom’s back and thought fast. “I had a weird thought yesterday.”
“Oh?”
They walked through the dining room and toward the kitchen. “Yeah, I know Dad took all of Grandfather Russell’s things up to the attic after he died. Have you ever gone through that stuff? Would there maybe be old pictures Grandma might want?”
“I went through so much of it when he passed,” Grace said. “All the clothes. His books are still in the library. Most of the things in the attic are keepsakes. Some of his weapons collection. His hunting trophies. Things like that.” She waved a hand. “I don’t think Mother would want any of those things.”
“Huh.”
“Though…” She looked thoughtful. “I do think there were albums or scrapbooks. Things of that nature. Let’s ask your father.” She walked through the kitchen door. “Phil?”
Robin and Mark followed Grace with Monica and Val right behind them.
“Do you feel how cold the entryway is?” Monica asked quietly.
“Yeah. It’s a pretty huge difference,” Val said, “between the entryway by the stairs and the rest of the house.”
“Philip?” Grace called again.
“Yes, dear?” Robin’s adorably scruffy father turned around.
“Hey, Phil.” Mark walked over and gave his father-in-law a hug. “How’re you doing?”
Her father smiled sadly. “I’m okay. It’s great to see the kids. I’m sad that we’re not getting together for another reason. Austin is so excited about his new direction at school.”
“I know.” Mark glanced at Robin, who couldn’t stop her eye roll. “Hey, we were thinking about getting some of Gordon’s things down from the attic. Things Helen might enjoy looking at. Grace thought there were some scrapbooks or albums maybe?”
Phil furrowed his brow. “Well, I can’t remember. There was so much happening after the old man passed, and Helen was so insistent that all those hunting trophies and weapons be put away. She hated those things, and she was always terrified the kids would get into them. Not that Jack was ever much interested in hunting. Gordon did his best, but the boy kept getting distracted by birds.”
Bless her brother. “Speaking of Jack,” Robin said, “When is he coming down?”
“He should be here in a few hours,” Phil said. “He had to organize a few things at work, and then he was picking up your Uncle Raymond in Sacramento on his way down.”
“But there might be some things up in the attic?” Mark asked. “Nothing is locked, is it?”
Phil shook his head. “I haven’t been up there in years. I worried a little when Austin and Emma were
young that they might go wandering, but they always seemed a little afraid of it, so I didn’t worry much.”
Gee, I wonder why they would be worried about an attic full of hunting trophies, old weapons, and possibly the ghost of a dead murderer?
“I’m going to check on Grandma real quick,” Robin said. “Then why don’t we go check it out? Monica and Val offered to help.”
“Oh, that’s a nice idea.” Phil stirred the soup. “I’ll keep everyone fed. Grace?” He walked over and kissed Grace’s forehead. “How does that sound?”
She leaned against him and sighed. “That sounds fine.”
“Good.”
As her dad rubbed her mother’s shoulders, Robin slipped into Grandma Helen’s room, where Austin and Emma were playing cards. They’d dealt their great-grandmother in and were taking turns playing her hands.
Austin looked up. “Can you believe she’s winning?”
Robin smiled. “She was always the smartest one.” She bent over and brushed a kiss over Helen’s warm cheek. “Hey, Grandma.”
Helen took a deep breath and let it out slowly, as if sighing in relief.
“Has she said anything while I was gone?” Robin brushed her silver-grey hair back from her forehead. “Did she wake up at all?”
“Not much. She’s mostly sleeping.” Emma leaned over and pressed her cheek to her great-grandmother’s arm. “We’re just keeping her company.”
“Great.” Robin glanced at Mark, who was standing in the bedroom door. “Dad and I are gonna take care of some stuff upstairs, okay?”
Emma put her hands over her ears. “Lalalalala. If that’s a euphemism for having sex, I don’t want to know.”
“Dude!” Austin threw a card at his sister. “So unnecessary.”
Mark stared at their offspring. “How much longer do we have to keep feeding them?”
“Legally?” Robin asked.
“Yeah. Just eighteen, right? That was in the rulebook they gave us at the hospital.”
“I believe so.” Robin slid her arm around Mark’s waist.
“Ha ha,” Emma muttered, looking at her cards. “You love us.”
Suddenly Psychic: Glimmer Lake Book One Page 20