HAUNTED: A Jenny Watkins Mystery

by Becky Durfee

  “Well, I know a thing or two about interventions,” he said with a sideways smirk at Jenny.

  “And that’s why you were the perfect man for the job.” Jenny returned his smile, and they locked eyes for a moment, wordlessly demonstrating their mutual respect for each other.

  “Okay,” Jenny continued, clasping her hands. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but the plan is for me to go up with his parents first, you send the rest up after that, and somewhere along the line we get the counselor involved.”

  “That’s the plan.”

  Looking around at the crowd, she added, “I think we’re going to have to introduce the people one at a time, or at the very least in small groups. Mick has told me he doesn’t do well in crowds, so this might be a bit overwhelming for him.”

  “That can easily be arranged.”

  “Zack should be coming soon, too, with the piece de resistance.”

  “That’s going to be allowed?” John asked.

  Jenny shrugged. “I gave the kid behind the desk fifty bucks to look the other way.” With her nerves tingling, she said, “Well, if everybody is here, I guess we should get this thing started.”

  John’s face showed apprehension as well. “Good luck.”

  “Thanks,” she replied. “I’m going to need it. There’s a lot at stake.”

  Mick’s mother, who had introduced herself as Joyce, couldn’t stop crying as they approached the hotel room door. Her eyes were the same shade of blue as her son’s, but at the moment they looked green from the tears. Mick’s father, Scott, was able to keep his composure, although the apprehension on his face was apparent.

  Jenny held up her hand. “I’m going to go in and talk to him first. I don’t want to make him feel ambushed. If you could just wait out here until I come get you, that would be great.”

  Joyce nodded as she dabbed her eyes with a tissue. “That’s fine.”

  Closing her eyes and releasing a breath for luck, Jenny took the last few steps towards his room and rapped gently on the door. “Mick? It’s me, Jenny. Can I come in?”

  Again, she heard the usual commotion associated with someone coming to the door. After the locks had been undone, Mick opened the door and invited Jenny in.

  She pushed the stroller to the corner of the room, allowing Steve to stay asleep. “How’s it going?” She asked, doing her best to remain casual.

  Mick shrugged. “Okay. No complaints beyond the usual.”

  She sat uncomfortably on the edge of the bed. “I have a little surprise for you today, actually.”

  “Oh, yeah? Am I going to like it?”

  “I hope so,” Jenny said nervously. She looked intently at his face, making sure to see any reaction he might have had. “Your parents are here…just outside the door.”

  Other than the obvious disbelief, Mick showed no outward sign of emotion. Jenny wasn’t sure if he had perceived this as good news or bad. The wait for a response felt like eternity.

  His eyes began to fill with tears, although none fell. “My parents are here?” He cleared his throat; his voice had been shaky.

  Jenny nodded, speaking softly. “They’re in the hallway.”

  Mick still failed to react. Jenny found herself unable to breathe as she tried to decipher what was going through his mind. Soon, her question became answered as he walked as fast as he could to the door, rounding the corner and grabbing his mother into a tight embrace.

  “Baby,” Joyce sobbed into his shoulder. “Baby, I’m so sorry.”

  Scott wrapped his arms around both mother and son, the three of them standing in a tearful huddle. Jenny widened her eyes in an attempt to prevent herself from crying, acknowledging that this was going to be a long, emotion-filled afternoon.

  The baby began to fuss, and for the first time ever, Jenny was grateful for it. This was the distraction she needed to prevent her from being swallowed whole by the sadness and joy she was witnessing in the hall. Allowing mechanical duties to take over, she picked Steve up out of his stroller and bounced him on her shoulder.

  After the long embrace ended, Mick led his parents into the hotel room. Joyce remained attached to her son, holding his hand and leaning against his arm as they walked. It appeared she never wanted to let go. “I’m so sorry,” Joyce said again. “If I had known you were going to end up homeless, I would have never asked you to move out.”

  Mick shook his head. “It was the right thing to do, Mom. I was not on a very good path if I stayed there.”

  “I know, but at least you would have been safe.” Joyce’s tears continued to fall freely, breaking Jenny’s heart in two.

  Mick, however, shook his head. “I’d have drank myself to death by now.”

  With that, Joyce put her hand on Mick’s face and studied him, quickly pulling him into another long hug. “You look good, though, baby. You look like you’ve been eating.”

  Mick pulled out of the embrace to get up and get himself a tissue. He wiped his eyes, noting, “I get by. I’ve gotten off the alcohol, which has helped, and people who work with the church bring food around from time to time.”

  Scott and Joyce both looked relieved by those words. “Then come live with us, baby,” Joyce pleaded. “If you’re sober, you can stay with us again.”

  Jenny froze; that offer wasn’t supposed to be made. Although, she couldn’t blame Joyce one bit from straying from the plan; her invitation had been one-hundred percent rooted in love.

  As he had always done in the past, however, Mick balked at the idea. “We’ve tried that, remember? It didn’t work.”

  Scott, too, seemed to be hesitant, although Jenny suspected his motive had more to do with sticking to the plan. He placed his hand on his wife’s shoulder, reminding her, “He doesn’t just need a place to stay; he needs help—more help than we can give.”

  “Then will you agree to get help, baby?” Joyce’s breathing started to become labored. “Please? I can’t stand the thought of you out on the street.” She seemed like she was on the verge of a panic attack.

  Jenny looked over at Mick, whose expression indicated he may have been getting overwhelmed. Walking over to him, she matter-of-factly asked, “Do you need a minute?”

  He held up his hands and closed his eyes. “I just need things to be a little less intense.”

  Scott wrapped his arm around his wife’s shoulder, encouraging her to stand up. “Come on, Joyce,” he said supportively, “let’s go back outside for a little bit. We’ll come back. Let’s just give Jeff some time to adjust to what’s happening.”

  Joyce nodded with understanding as her whole body shook. It looked like she could have used a break and some new surroundings as well.

  Once the door closed, Jenny stood silently for a moment, trying to gauge Mick’s mindset. Steve’s intermittent fussing was the only sound in the room. Eventually, she whispered, “You okay?”

  He released a long breath, saying, “Yeah, I’m okay. Just a little caught off guard, you know?”

  Jenny grimaced. “Yeah…sorry about that. I was just afraid that if I had announced in advance they were coming, you wouldn’t have agreed to meet with them.”

  Mick didn’t say anything.

  “The guy who arranged this little meeting is someone you don’t even know, incidentally,” Jenny explained, trying to sidetrack him from his concerns. “His name is John, and I helped him earlier in the year with an intervention. His deceased parents had contacted me because they were concerned about his crack addiction, so his sister and I staged one. So far it’s worked…after a six-month stint in rehab, he’s still clean.”

  She looked at Mick, waiting for a comment that never came.

  “He had told me that he was struggling to find a job after he got out of rehab. I figured that giving him a project to work on would help keep his mind off his addiction, and he said it worked. I’ve got to tell you—he really went to town on this.”

  Mick raised his eyes to meet hers. “Went to town on what?”

  “There
are other people from your life downstairs waiting for their turn to see you.” She held up the hand that wasn’t being used to bounce the baby. “We’ll bring them in one at a time…the last thing I want to do is overwhelm you.” She softened her expression into a caring smile. “We just want to show you how many people are concerned about your well-being.”

  Jenny still couldn’t decipher his emotions when he said, “Who is down there?”

  “Now, that,” she replied playfully, “is something you’re going to have to see for yourself.”

  Mick stood silently; Jenny’s brain was swirling at a mile a minute, hoping against hope that he would agree to see his guests.

  After giving him some time to deliberate, she asked, “So, what do you say? Are you willing to see everybody?” When he didn’t immediately answer, she added, “I promise, only one person at a time, or maybe two, and if it gets to be too much, you can take a break for as long as you need.”

  He took a few deep breaths and asked, “Will you stay?”

  Jenny was unsure how to answer. “Do you want me to stay?”

  “I think that would help.”

  “Then, yes, you have my word; I won’t leave.”

  After another long pause, Mick whispered, “Then bring in the first one.”

  Chapter 17

  The knock was quiet.

  Jenny opened the door, revealing the nervous guest standing in the hall. “Come on in,” she said reassuringly.

  The visitor took a few steps into the room before quietly saying, “Hi, Uncle Jeff.”

  Mick’s expression revealed he was clearly touched, but he didn’t want to show too much emotion for fear of frightening Lucas. “Hey, buddy,” he said with a broad smile, “look how big you’ve gotten!”

  Lucas’s father rounded the corner as well, walking in quickly, greeting his estranged brother with a masculine hug. After patting each other on the back, he said, “Jeff, my man. Lookin’ good!”

  “You should have seen me a few days ago,” Mick replied with a smile. He then squatted down in front of his nephew. “So, you remember your old uncle?”

  Lucas nodded awkwardly, looking terrified by the experience. Jenny believed that was actually helpful; Mick couldn’t possibly have felt overwhelmed by that meek young child.

  “So, what’s new, you guys?” Mick asked, standing back up. “Long time, no see.”

  Mick’s brother caught him up to speed in a lighthearted conversation filled with laughter and fond memories. The topic of Mick’s homelessness never came up, so there was no pressure, implied or otherwise, for him to seek help or find a place to stay. It was just two brothers and one son catching up after a long time apart. The reunion warmed Jenny’s heart; she was glad that she and John had decided that they would go second. After the overly-emotional meeting with his parents, Mick needed something more relaxed as a follow-up.

  After a while, Mick’s brother said, “Well, bro, it’s great seeing you, but I know there are other people waiting their turn.” He patted Mick on the shoulder. “I’ll be around, though. We plan to stick around here for a couple of days, so we’ll have a lot more opportunities to catch up.” The two men said a temporary goodbye, and soon Jenny was once again alone in the room with Mick.

  “That seemed to go well,” Jenny said with relief obvious in her voice.

  “Wow,” Mick replied, wiping his hands down his face. “I can’t believe how big Lucas has gotten.”

  “He’s adorable,” Jenny noted.

  A reflective smile graced his lips. “Yeah, he’s a good kid.”

  “So, how are you doing? Are you ready to see someone else? Or would you rather have a break?”

  Mick sat on the edge of the bed. “I just want to take a minute, if that’s okay.”

  “That’s fine,” she replied. “Take all the time you need.”

  The two said nothing as Mick silently regrouped. He sat for a while, then got up and splashed some water on his face. Walking back into the room, he announced, “Okay, I think I might be ready now.”

  Jenny smiled. “Great. I hope you’re not upset by this next one.” Her playful tone indicated there was really nothing to be angry about.

  “Uh-oh.”

  She shot a text downstairs, remarking as she typed, “This person couldn’t come here on such short notice, but we’ve arranged a virtual meeting.”

  “A virtual meeting?”

  “Yeah. You’ll see.” Jenny waited out in the hall for John to come by with the tablet. She thanked him and returned back into the room with the device. Looking at the face of the person on the screen, she asked, “Can you hear me?”

  “Yes, I can hear you.”

  “Great,” Jenny said excitedly. She spun the tablet around to face Mick as she announced, “Say hello to Jeff McDonald.”

  Mick’s eyes grew wide. “Olivia.”

  Jenny couldn’t see her face anymore, but it sounded like Olivia was smiling. “Hi, Jeff. How are you?”

  He looked tongue-tied. “Um…doing okay. How are you?”

  “Doing well. It’s been, what, eight or nine years since the last time I saw you?”

  “Thereabouts.” A sheepish smile finally graced his lips, much to Jenny’s relief. “What have you been up to?”

  “I’m living in Montana now, actually.”

  “Montana. That’s quite a change.”

  Olivia let out a laugh. “Tell me about it. I’m still cold all the time, and it’s been years.”

  Jenny heard a little voice come through the tablet, followed by Olivia saying, “Hey, pumpkin, come say hi to an old friend of mommy’s. Can you say hi?”

  Mick’s expression softened to the point where it looked like he might cry. While the child never said anything, Mick waved at the tablet, leading Jenny to believe the child had waved at him first.

  “This is Katie,” Olivia continued. “She’ll be two next month.”

  Mick spoke in a near whisper, “She’s cute.”

  “Yeah, she’s my little angel. She keeps me busy, that’s for sure.”

  An awkwardly long silence ensued.

  “Don’t be mad,” Olivia eventually said, “but they told me why you wanted to speak to me.”

  Mick looked down and bit his lip.

  “And don’t be embarrassed. I’m flattered…truly. I’m obviously married now, but I will say, for the record, that I would have agreed to go on a date with you if you’d asked me out in high school.”

  He didn’t say anything at first, simply examining his lap for a long time, looking as if he was struggling to formulate the words.

  “I’m sorry,” Olivia said sweetly. “Maybe I shouldn’t have said that.”

  Mick shook his head. “No, it’s not that. It’s just…” He wiped his face, his expression growing more serious. “I thought of you a lot while I was in Iraq. I mean, I knew there was a good chance you’d be taken, and I never really did think anything would ever happen…but thinking about you helped me through some of the worst times, that’s all.”

  The pause was once again long. “Thank you,” Olivia eventually whispered, sounding genuinely touched. “I’m really glad I could help you like that. I never even realized I’d crossed your mind.”

  Still unable to let his eyes work their way to the screen, Mick nodded subtly. “You did.” He looked pained.

  Olivia seemed to take notice of his decline. “Well, I’d love to keep in touch,” she said cheerfully. “In this day and age, it’s easy to remain friends with someone, even if you live on opposite sides of the country.”

  Mick only nodded.

  Sensing Mick might be overwhelmed again, Jenny felt the need to intervene. “Okay,” she began, her tone as positive as Olivia’s had been. “I hate to cut this short, but there are still more people waiting to have a turn at saying hello.”

  “I understand,” Olivia replied. “Jeff, I truly hope that I hear from you soon.”

  Mick grunted a reply and handed the tablet back to Jenny, who thanked O
livia and ended the connection. Shooting a text down to John, she wrote, I think we ought to jump straight to Lucy.

  Jenny didn’t wait for Mick’s okay; she knew this next guest would be welcome. The knock came after what seemed like forever.

  “I’m not sure I’m ready for another visitor quite yet,” Mick admitted as he slouched on the edge of the bed.

  “This one’s different,” Jenny replied, opening the door. She smiled at Zack, the man who had made this part happen, and guided Lucy into the room.

  Mick’s eyes melted immediately upon seeing the timid pit bull walking slowly through the doorway.

  “Mick, this is Lucy,” Jenny began. “She was about an hour away from being euthanized.” She closed the door as Zack headed back toward the elevator. She let go of the leash, giving the dog the ability to explore the room at her own pace. “According to the folks at the shelter, she’s a sweet dog. She’s got some fear issues, though, so every time someone walked past her cage on adoption day, she’d freak out. I know this sounds crazy, but it seems that nobody wanted to take home a barking, growling pit bull and call it their family pet.”

  Mick slowly scooted off the bed and sat on the floor, not making any sudden movements, raising his hand gently in the dog’s direction. Lucy took a small step backward, but then she resumed her sniffing once she determined he wasn’t going to hurt her.

  “I figured you liked dogs, considering I saw you petting Baxter,” Jenny added.

  “I love dogs.” Mick didn’t take his eyes off of Lucy.

  “The shelter workers don’t know her full story. She was found wandering along a roadside; they think she’d been abused at one point, based on her behavior. Aside from the barking and growling—which seems to be fear-based—she’s never shown any signs of aggression. In reality, she’s freakishly shy. She will need some work if she’s going to become socialized, but there should be plenty of time for that. They think she’s only about three years old.”

  Mick made a quiet clicking sound, calling the dog over to him. Again, Lucy looked apprehensive, but she eventually found it in herself to walk over and sniff him. After a short while, Mick scratched behind her ear, a move that was well-received by the dog.