“For what?” he managed to ask before his throat was overtaken by a lump the size of a grapefruit.
“I never meant to worry you like that, but it was the only way.”
Matt wasn’t ready but he looked down into her face. It was smudged with dirt muddied by her tears and he couldn’t stop his own from falling. He brushed back the wild hair that whipped around her face for just a moment before he realized that it was a lost cause, then instead of trying to tidy her up he bent down to kiss her as though he would never be able to kiss her again.
When she kissed him back he thought that he would lose all his self-control then and there, and he knew that he was going to keep the promise he made himself.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
“And in breaking news tonight it would seem that the Lorenzo Island volcano has finally started to show signs of slowing down. You’ll remember we brought you the breaking story a month ago when the seemingly tranquil island started to erupt with no warning, though the region surrounding the Tyrrhenian Sea has long been volcanically active,” the older yet still attractive woman reported. The screen then flashed to an aerial view of the island and the mountain that had grown there in the last month. Lava flowed down several sides of the mountain while pockets of steam shot upwards and smoke surrounded it. Nothing was left of the abandoned civilization that was once present, or the wildlife that had surrounded it. “You might remember that a group of vacationers barely escaped the eruption that could be seen as far east as Rome and as far west as Sardinia. Many locals surrounding the region have dubbed Lorenzo Island as Hell Island and the government continues to restrict access indefinitely. In other news-”
Jonas clicked off the television from his chair behind his desk and rested back. It was hard to believe that a month had passed since that hellish night. When the rather competent reporter called it “Hell Island” she had no idea just how accurate she had been and he knew that he would have nightmares for years to come. Simply seeing for himself that such horrors do exist was more than he was ready to accept. At least he had the comfort of knowing that his mother’s soul was no longer trapped and had finally crossed over to light.
As he looked back on that night he realized just how close he came to being damned himself and it gave him a new perspective on life, and his first step in changing himself and striving to be a better person had just arrived at the front door.
“Yes, come in Sirs, Mister Harper is expecting you,” Ms. Ellen greeted as she opened the door and let the two distinguished gentlemen into the grand foyer.
Dressed in a pair of jeans, sneakers and a t-shirt Jonas headed out of his office, crossed the grand room and stepped into the foyer to greet both Seth Crandall and Stanly Cushman. Both men were as fashionable as ever in Armani silk and Italian leather loafers.
A chill shot up Jonas’s spine.
Of course Jonas had given them a full report the morning after what he called hell night, but this would be their first face to face meeting and he wanted to look into their eyes when he told them.
“I must say dear man that your trip to Italy did nothing for your sense of fashion,” Seth said with a light smile.
Jonas knew what he looked like. He hadn’t shaved in days, used nothing more than a comb in his hair after the occasional shampooing and he’d shoved all his suits to the back of his closet. “What can I say?” Jonas said with a shrug. “After you’ve been kissed by the flames of hell spending thousands on suits and uncomfortable shoes and ties just doesn’t seem so important.”
Seth’s light smile faded while Stanly looked about as amused as he had when he entered Jonas’s house.
“What was so important you felt the need to drag us down here in the middle of the week?” Stanly questioned.
About the only thing that Jonas ever liked about Stanly Cushman was the fact that he was direct, and it was a trait that Jonas himself decided to adopt. There would be no beating around the bush…best just to get it out and be done with it. “I’m dissolving my part of the partnership,” he said then turned and headed back to his office.
For a moment Seth and Stanly stood in the foyer and stared after him as if he’d just announced that he was from Mars, but it wasn’t long before he heard the taps of their polished soles against the equally polished floor follow him.
“You can’t be serious,” Stanly almost laughed. “Nearly every dime you have outside of this house was tied up into that island or is invested in our companies. You can’t just turn your back on us.”
Jonas laughed as he plopped back down in his leather desk chair. “I believe I just did.”
Seth looked at him with a long, scrutinizing stare. “Why?” he asked to the astonishment of his old friend Stanly.
Apparently Stanly expected Seth’s protest to follow his own.
Jonas gave them a casual shrug with just one shoulder and rested back. “I can’t fully explain to you what happened on that island-”
“Try,” Stanly demanded through a clenched jaw.
Jonas ignored the cantankerous old man and continued. “But what I can tell you is that the experience gave me a new perspective on life and how to live it.” He thought of the way Isis, Jorden and Saph almost died to save Nigel and the rest of them, including himself, and his heart started to race. “I learned that there are more important things out there than investments, getting rich and deceiving people.”
“Watch your tone boy,” Stanly barked.
Jonas continued to ignore Stanly. “I wish that I could explain it better but there are no words. What I can tell you is that I’m going to spend the rest of my life trying to better my soul…not my bank account.”
Stanly snorted, though Jonas hardly expected otherwise. What surprised him was Seth, who stood and stared at him for a moment before he extended his hand. “I wish you luck son. I’ll have your holdings liquidated and deposited into your account, though I can’t guarantee it will be as much as it should be.”
Jonas froze. He’d prepared himself for every argument, though never once did it occur to him that Seth would accept his departure without a fight. As Jonas reached out to grasp Seth’s hand, he waited for the other shoe to drop straight down on his head, but Seth simply gave his hand a firm shake before he turned around and headed out the front door with Stanly shuffling behind; arguing throughout the walk through the house and continuing as they entered their limo out front.
Relief poured over him as the limo pulled out and he was finally able to start thinking of more important matters. Like what to do with the rest of his life. There were only a handful of people he could think of to help him with that.
“So-Cal Paranormal, this is Isis. What can I do for you this morning?” she said into the phone for about the twentieth time that morning. By the time they arrived back in the states the story about Lorenzo Island had broken and all of them had been named as being on the island. Since then the phones had been ringing off the hook and driving both Isis and Jorden insane. “I’m sorry, did I hear you right?” Isis asked. “You think that you’re being haunted by a mouse?”
Jorden looked up at Isis from behind her desk with raised brows.
The look on Isis’s face could not be described. “I’m sorry to hear that, but we don’t do rodent investigations-” her words were cut off and she listened as the caller yelled into the phone loud enough for Jorden to hear across the office. “Well…” Isis said then shrugged, “get a cat,” she said then hung up the phone.
Jorden didn’t wait for the click of the receiver before she started laughing.
As Isis sat down she gave Jorden a dirty look. “Ha-ha, very funny. You can laugh,” she sniped as she started searching her desk drawers, “you’re not the one who has to answer these damned phones.”
“True,” Jorden said as she turned back to her computer. “And for that I am thankful.”
The two women enjoyed a moment of quiet for the first time in more than a month. Jorden had been almost thankful for the busy phones
and the small fraction of legitimate investigations that had been thrust into their laps since their instant fame. It was because of the nonstop noise that she didn’t have to stop and think about how close she came to not only losing her life but her soul as well. She knew that Isis was struggling too, but both she and Nigel seemed to be on a quick road to recovery. At least they had each other.
And Jorden had Matt.
The door to the office flew open, causing both Jorden and Isis to jump though when they saw Matt step through the door their brief shock gave way to laughter.
“What happened to you?” Isis questioned between fits of giggles.
Matt brushed down the torn sleeves of his t-shirt and threw dirt and leaves all over the office floor, then brushed his fingers through his hair to dislodge even more debris, including a couple of pigeon feathers and several small sticks.
“I swear that damned body guard was a sumo-wrestler at some point in his life,” Matt said as he stretched his back and worked a kink out in his grumpy knee.
Both Jorden and Isis began laughing harder at the image of Matt rolling around on the ground with the Anthony the body guard.
“Ha-ha-ha,” he barked, “go ahead and laugh, but it got it.”
“Got what?” Jorden asked as she followed him to his desk.
Isis followed and they flanked his shoulders as he sat.
Matt pulled the picture from his filthy, slightly torn, shirt pocket. At least he had the good sense to protect it by placing it in a small plastic box otherwise it would have been as muddy as the entire front of his black t-shirt and blue jeans.
Thanks to Tony’s tinkering Matt’s computer started up much quicker than usual and it wasn’t long before the image came up on the screen.
“Oh yeah,” Isis said with wide eyes. “I’d say you got him this time.”
Jorden stood with her mouth open then looked from the screen to Matt before she shook her head. “I don’t want to know how you got that picture,” she said.
Matt looked up at her and in spite of the muddy smudges on his face accompanied by a couple of scrapes he was still the sexiest man she knew. “Shock you does it?” he asked then smiled. “Because I was wondering if we could try this when we get home tonight.”
Jorden gave him a smack on the arm but there was little behind it.
“It’s not as fun as it looks,” Isis said as she headed back to her desk. “Nigel and I tried it last week.”
Both Jorden and Matt were speechless as they gaped at her.
She looked back at them as she sat and shrugged. “What?”
None of them had the chance to say what was on their minds; they were saved by the door swinging open once again and this time they were faced with an unexpected guest.
“Jonas,” Jorden greeted tentatively as she stepped away from Matt. “What can we do for you?”
Jonas stepped inside and explained his great epiphany regarding his life, though it did little to impress anyone in the room.
“So why are you here?” Matt asked as he stood up and took up position next to Jorden.
Jonas looked Matt over from head to toe as if seeing him for the first time. “What in the hell happened to you?” he questioned.
Matt’s eyes narrowed and he raised a questioning brow, but he said nothing.
Jonas took a deep breath and threw his arms up in surrender. “I need a job.”
A pin dropping on the carpet could have been heard and it would have been a welcome break in the silence that engulfed the room.
“You can’t be serious,” Matt said finally.
Jonas put his hands in his jean pockets and shrugged. “I want to start helping people, and what better way to do that then to become a private investigator and ghost hunter. I want to help people the way I was helped.”
Matt stepped forward with an aggrieved look on his face. “You think that this is easy?” he questioned.
“On the contrary,” he said. “Like I said…I just want to help.”
“I don’t-”
Before Matt could finish Jorden clapped her hand over his mouth and led him into the bathroom where they could speak privately.
“What are you doing?” he asked in a scolding manner.
Jorden looked at him and started to brush the dirt and debris from his broad, muscled shoulders. “You can use the help,” she said finally. “We can use the help.”
Since arriving home both Matt and Jorden had taken equal responsibilities in the firm, but school was about to start and she knew that Matt couldn’t handle the workload alone. “We don’t need his help,” Matt snapped.
“You know,” she said as she trailed a finger along his cheek and down his neck and towards his chest. “I’ve been thinking that I would like for us to start trying to have a baby,” she said in a sultry tone then looked up in his eyes. “That’s kind of hard to do if you’re not home.”
Matt looked at her for a moment with hopeful eyes. They’d only been married a week but kids had been on both of their minds. “You fight dirty,” he almost purred.
“Damned straight, and don’t ever forget it.”
Matt leaned a bit closer to her to give her the kiss she’d wanted since the moment he entered the office. He might have stayed in there all day with her but she forced herself to pull away.
“Go tell him he’s hired,” she whispered in his ear.
Matt gave her a disgruntled growl before he turned and headed back out to the office. “Fine, you start today,” he said as he headed to his desk and picked up the camera. “Take this to this address,” Matt said as he wrote down the address of the house on the beach from which he’d just returned. “There’s a woman who lives there and is entertaining the husband of our client. Get me a clear picture of the infidelity. If you can get me a clear shot, then you can stay.”
Jonas took the camera and looked at Matt with a twisted gaze of shock and curiosity. “Now?”
Matt’s face grew stern. “Do you want the job or not?” he questioned.
Jonas raised his hands in surrender. “Fine. Now it is,” he said and headed for the door. Before he left, however he turned and faced the trio. “How exactly am I going to catch a picture of them in flagrante delicto?”
The three of them smiled but it was Isis who approached him. “Improvise,” she said then shoved him out the door and shut it behind him.
After a moment they all broke out in laughter. They all knew that it would take some time but things were finally getting back to normal and they could finally put the haunting of Isola Forte di Lorenzo behind them.
EPILOGUE
Emmy had always wanted to travel Europe and for the last three months all she had done was hitchhike from northern England to the south of Spain. When she caught her next ride she was headed to France where she was dropped at a small village at the base of the Alps. The scenery was perfect, the people were different, which made them fun, and the food had been amazing.
Still she was lonely. She had planned on bringing her boyfriend with her on this trip but he was far more interested in getting into her sister’s pants so she dumped him and headed out.
Oh well, she mentally sighed. Maybe it was better this way. She’d already met a couple of people who were fun for a couple of nights and showed her things that she might never have seen had Daniel been there.
Emmy continued down the dusty road lined with green from both the tall pines and oak trees, along with other trees that she didn’t recognize, to the shrubs beneath them and she took in a noseful of the clean, mountain air. It was then that she noticed something else carried on the light breeze that danced around her. It wasn’t a completely unsavory smell, just different.
“Begging your pardon Miss, I was wondering if you could help me,” a frail voice called from just beyond the tree line and made Emmy jump.
Emmy headed off the road and past just the first few trees where she saw an old woman with short silver hair hunched over a basket filled with pinecones and berries. Immed
iately Emmy was at her side.
“Oh thank you dear. I was collecting these berries and cones when I tripped over the root, and at my age it isn’t so easy to spring back to my feet.”
Emmy smiled. “It’s no problem,” she said as she gently hauled the old woman to her feet. “Please don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m surprised that you speak English. In the last few days I’ve spoken nothing but French and I was worried I would forget how to speak my own language.”
The old woman smiled. “No offence taken dear,” she said as she picked up her basket. “Would you care to come to my cottage? It’s just over the rise. I will make you some fresh berry tea and you may speak all the English you would like.”
Emmy would have accepted the invitation in a heartbeat, but there was something about her silver eyes that warned her of something that she couldn’t quite put her finger on. “Oh I would love to but I have some friends expecting me in Abondance and I’m already running later than I should be,” she lied. “In fact I was supposed to be there yesterday but when I talked to them last night they said that they would hold dinner for me.”
The old woman stared at her with those cold, dead, silver eyes for a moment and Emmy felt suddenly exposed and alone. The feeling passed after a moment and the woman smiled. “Perhaps on your way back then.”
Emmy suddenly felt foolish but wasn’t about to dismiss her concerns and she smiled herself. “I would very much like that, but how do I find you?”
“Oh, just ask anyone in town, they know where to find me.”
The old woman turned and Emmy watched as she pulled her cart over the leafy path towards the dull rise.
“And who do I tell them I’m looking for?” Emmy called after the woman. “What is your name?”
The old woman looked back at Emmy with a kind smile and those cold silver eyes. “Isobel, dear. My name is Isobel. And everyone in the village knows who I am.”
The Haunting of Isola Forte di Lorenzo Page 36