Deal Breaker

by Patricia Rosemoor

  She didn’t.

  Focused on her car, she went straight for it. Getting in, she turned it around and headed up the drive, all as if without another thought for him.

  What the hell was wrong with him? Why did he feel so let down? Why did he suddenly feel…empty?

  Maybe he was just tired of living alone. Eating alone. Maybe he just needed some company. That had to be it. He didn’t need Hailey specifically. Couldn’t need Hailey even though his thoughts centered around her whenever he wasn’t obsessing over the business.

  But how could he not like the woman?

  She was attractive, hardworking, devoted to her brother. Too devoted, perhaps, so much so that she couldn’t see Danny for what he was.

  But Bryce understood and appreciated that kind of loyalty. She deserved that kind of loyalty in return, something that Bryce was willing to provide.

  He would provide her with everything she needed if only she would let him.

  Home. Business. Family.

  Sex.

  There was only one thing he would withhold from the relationship.

  Knowing the fate of so many McKenna spouses and significant others—not knowing what happened to his own mother, for which he still blamed himself—Bryce simply wasn’t willing to give Hailey his love.

  “WIDOW’S Peak has always been in our family,” Mike Anderson said. “Maybe we shouldn’t sell.”

  Hailey wore a smile that was becoming more uncomfortable as the meeting with the Anderson brothers went on. “Of course that’s your choice.” She wanted to shoot Bryce for pushing for this meeting.

  They were sitting in the back of Ray’s bar, beers and burgers on the scarred wood table, but she’d barely taken a bite, and she’d done that only to be polite. Getting food past the lump in her throat was nearly impossible. She’d prepared for the meeting most of the morning until she’d met with Mrs. Polder. As Hailey had come to expect, the woman hadn’t liked the two homes Hailey had shown her, although she was anxious to view a third property that evening.

  Nothing was going right today. Bryce should have left well-enough alone, but his mind was on a single track—make James Croft happy.

  “Let’s not be hasty,” Ray said. “Selling the estate could be lucrative. Right, Hailey?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  “How lucrative?”

  “That depends. The property needs work if a potential buyer intends to live there.”

  “Which means putting out a lot of money.” Now Ray was hedging. “Money we don’t have.”

  His brother grinned at him. “How’s this for an option? We could sell both of our places and then move in together.”

  “Yeah, the wives would like that.”

  Hailey saw her chance at a major sale fade away and tried to console herself that maybe the brothers would let her sell their individual houses if they went this route.

  Mike argued, “The estate is big enough to house four families.”

  “If they didn’t kill each other. Forget it. Not happening.”

  “Yeah, I suppose you have a point. I just hate to see it go out of the family.” Mike turned to Hailey. “So how much do you think we can get for the place?”

  “Like I said, that depends. If I put it on the market as is, you would most likely be attracting someone who would rip the place down to build a new mansion. I’m afraid you wouldn’t get top dollar that way.”

  “We wouldn’t want that!” Ray said. “As is…what do we need to do to get a buyer who would keep the old house?”

  “You need to do repairs on the outside and at least some updating inside.” She wasn’t about to tell them about Croft’s interest in the place, not until she had a contract. Then, if he followed up and insisted on seeing the estate right away, she would let him have a look to make him happy. She did owe that to Bryce. “Of course, the landscaping needs work and the rooms all have to be staged properly as well.”

  “What would that all cost?” Ray asked. “And how long would it take before we could actually put the estate on the market?”

  “I don’t know yet. I barely took a look the other day. I would have to take a more detailed tour of the place, to see what I think it needs. Then I would need to contact a contractor and get an estimate. I would guess renovations would take at least a couple of weeks. But any investment you put into the house will significantly increase the potential payout. More importantly, it will interest more potential buyers.”

  “And if we did everything you suggest?” Mike asked. “What would it be worth then?”

  “I would say if it was in prime shape, I could list Widow’s Peak in the neighborhood of three point five. Million.”

  The brothers looked at each other.

  It was Mike who said, “How about letting us take a look at the contract?”

  Relief flooded her as she opened her briefcase and handed each of the brothers his own copy. “The price is contingent on the work I feel necessary being done on the property, which I put in writing. If you want to sell as is, I would have to reduce the asking price significantly.”

  “What about your scaring off potential buyers?” Mike said. “No one wants to buy a haunted house. You need to keep that stuff about spirits hanging around to yourself.”

  Hailey looked from Mike to Ray who shrugged and said, “He’s got a point.”

  “If that’s what you prefer, of course.”

  But what happened if someone who knew her reputation asked her specifically about any spirits in the house? Not wanting to turn the man off, she didn’t ask.

  As they read, Hailey found she could breathe easier.

  “I don’t know. I need some more time,” Mike said. “I’m not finished going through Aunt Violet’s things.”

  When Ray didn’t say anything, Hailey reminded him, “The work will take a couple of weeks. You can finish looking through the place while the work is being done.”

  “I like to take my time. You never know what I might find.”

  Ray frowned. “Or what you won’t find.”

  “All right. Then we’ll give Hailey access to get the ball rolling. She can look around, decide what exactly needs to be done,” Mike said. “What exactly it’s going to cost us before we sign the contract.”

  Hailey tried not to let her disappointment show. “Okay with me.”

  “You have the extra set of keys?” Ray asked his brother.

  “She doesn’t need keys,” Mike said. “She can come around and do her thing when I’m there.”

  “Mike—”

  “Fine!” Mike reached into a pocket, pulled out a set of keys and slapped them down on the table in front of Hailey. “Stay out of my way and you can start poking around the place tomorrow.”

  ONLY Hailey couldn’t wait until morning. After showing Mrs. Polder yet another property that had too many negatives for the woman, Hailey drove straight to Widow’s Peak. She wanted to be able to get a feel for the house without having Mike Anderson breathing down her neck.

  Obviously he didn’t want to hear about spirits or someone dying in the place, but she couldn’t forget the darkness that had enveloped her the first time she’d been inside. She needed to figure out what had happened there without an audience. That way she would have until morning to think about it, to figure out how best to handle the knowledge.

  No surprises.

  By the time she drove around the south side of Geneva Lake and entered the estate drive, the sun had set and dusk grayed the area. She passed several buildings on the property including an old horse barn, a storage shed and a multi-car garage. She would take a better look at them in daylight.

  Her focus was the house and the weird vibes she’d sensed on Sunday.

  Leaving the car on the drive, she stood for a moment, studying the outline of the main building, which was now deep in shadow. Wind whipped around her, no doubt the reason for the chill down her spine. Right now, the house simply seemed spooky.

  Pulling out a recorder, she said, �
��Outside lights.” Strategically placed lights would turn spooky into inviting. That’s what she needed to do—to replace the negative with positive thoughts.

  House keys in hand, she moved forward, stepped up onto the porch and once more hesitated as the horrible feeling of dread froze her in place and made her pulse speed up.

  Confused as to why this particular spot had such negative vibes, she fought the weird feeling and took a good look around at the old-fashioned swing, flower boxes on the railing and a cast iron boot scraper and brush with a figural dog on the porch next to the door. The last was definitely an antique and had to be worth a couple thousand dollars.

  More little details like that would add charm to the residence if properly refurbished.

  “Paint the outside, fix the broken window and install a new railing and flower boxes on the porch,” she said into the recorder. “Paint the swing and add flower-print cushions.”

  Time to go inside. Her fear was in check, yet part of her regretted being alone. The only person she could imagine entering the place with her was Bryce. He would steady her and support her. He wouldn’t judge, wouldn’t call her crazy. He was a McKenna after all. One who could sometimes hear her thoughts and who believed in the hundred-year-old prophecy of a witch.

  Steeling herself, she unlocked the front door and took a step inside.

  The house was eerily quiet, the rooms still and gray. She flicked on the switch next to the door, but the single bulb above wasn’t enough to dispel her uneasiness.

  “Chandelier in the foyer,” she said into the recorder, thinking she needed to check the lighting in each room. Buyers didn’t like the idea of wandering around in the half dark.

  A situation conducive to sparking her imagination.

  But she wasn’t imagining not being alone. An eery sensation filled her. Her hands began to sweat and the recorder nearly slipped out of her grip. She shoved it in a jacket pocket as sorrow came at her in waves. Sorrow and desperation.

  Because the spirit wanted something of her?

  A scent teased her nostrils. Not violets. Not like in the upstairs bedroom. Not a single scent, but a light mixture of citrus and spice swirled around her and pushed at her as if it were trying to move her.

  “I know you’re here,” she murmured. “Whatever happened to you…I’m so sorry. What is it you want of me?”

  A shriek rent the air, making her whip around, but she saw no one. She felt the spirit, though…a very terrified woman.

  The thought swept through her, filling her, frightening her, and was just as quickly gone.

  “Are you still here?”

  Maybe it was dust motes settling in the gloom, but Hailey imagined she saw movement in the middle of the nearest parlor…like a movie coming into focus. The breath caught in her throat and her stomach knotted. This wasn’t something she’d ever experienced before. Normally she only sensed a spirit’s presence, its emotions about a particular property. She’d never actually seen one. Apparently this spirit wanted to reach her.

  The dust motes took form into a translucent figure. A woman with dark hair obscuring one side of her face, on the other side, blood running from her crushed forehead down her cheek onto her neck….

  Hailey moved closer, but as quickly as she’d seen it, the apparition flickered out and was gone. The woman’s presence wasn’t. She pushed at Hailey’s mind as if trying to make her face a knowledge that Hailey didn’t want.

  The woman hadn’t simply died here.

  All that blood…surely she’d been murdered.

  That had to be the darkness she’d felt before and had tried to describe to Bryce.

  The desperation Hailey felt was cloying, and she kept focusing on the word help. And if she wasn’t mistaken—here. The woman was already dead, so how could she do anything to help? Hailey wondered. Here. Help…here…

  What did that mean? That the woman was killed here?

  Creeped out, she moved into the parlor, hoping to figure things out. But while the awful feelings remained pervasive, they didn’t clarify anything. How had the woman been killed? Had she been murdered with an object in this room?

  Hailey began touching carvings and candlesticks and the poker still at the fireplace. Nothing “spoke” to her until she touched a heavy leather-bound scrapbook.

  Before she could concentrate on the book or could open it to take a look, a sound that she swore was real, not just in her head, startled her. Was someone else here?

  Quietly moving to the doorway, she poked her head around the corner but saw no one. She crossed the foyer, moving from doorway to doorway, parlor to library to music room to dining room. There she stopped and froze. Was she seeing another apparition in the gloom or was this man real? His back was to her, his hand slipping something into his pocket.

  Then she recognized him.

  “Danny, what are you doing here?”

  Her brother whipped around to face her. Was that a guilty expression he wore?

  “There you are, Hailey. I was looking for you, of course.” He came to her and gave her a big hug.

  As glad as she was to see him, she was also concerned over the circumstances. “How did you know I was here?” Or had he even been looking for her?

  “I went to the office, and I saw the photos of this place and a preliminary copy of the contract that you drew up for the Anderson brothers. I know my little sister when she gets obsessed with something. Where else would you be?”

  Hailey didn’t know whether to believe him. Indeed, she might be obsessed by a particularly interesting property, but checking out a house at night wasn’t something she’d previously done.

  Danny had entered the house without calling out to her. He hadn’t used the front door either. Did he know of another way to get in? Not only had he not tried to find her, but he’d also been pocketing something. Had he come to the house after dark to see if there was anything of value he could steal? Because she had no idea of what he’d had in his hand, Hailey couldn’t bring herself to accuse Danny of theft.

  Instead she asked, “What was so important that you couldn’t wait until I got home to talk to me?”

  “Which home? I wasn’t sure where you would be tonight. I thought I would try to catch you at work. I wanted to make sure it was okay for me to still stay at the house.”

  “You’re still my brother, aren’t you? Of course it’s okay.” Hesitating only a second, she said, “Why didn’t you call out for me when you got here?”

  “It’s a big place. I was just trying to use my cell to call you when you found me.”

  Is that what she’d seen—him slipping his cell back into his pocket? “My cell didn’t ring.”

  “I couldn’t get a signal.”

  That still didn’t explain why he didn’t simply call out for her, but she relaxed a little. Besides, she didn’t want to argue. She wanted to tell her brother to go to her place now so she could continue investigating, but Danny’s arrival seemed to have chased away the spirit.

  “It’s dark, so there’s not much I can do here. The whole place needs a lighting upgrade. We should leave.”

  “Okay with me.”

  Danny led the way out the front door. Hailey paused in the foyer a moment before following. Even though she tuned in for any last messages, the house suddenly felt vacant—normal—like she hadn’t made any connection at all. Like that poor woman hadn’t been murdered.

  Or was the truth even darker? she wondered, her imagination suddenly soaring.

  Could it be?

  Her heart nearly stopped when it came to her.

  What if the woman’s body was still here in the house somewhere?

  Chapter Nine

  Hailey was glad to have a reason to leave Widow’s Peak for the time being. Once she stepped foot off the porch onto solid ground the wind whipped around her, she felt like she could breathe normally again. Her investigation could wait—she’d had enough for one night.

  “So what made you come back to Lake Geneva?�
�� she asked Danny.

  “Lack of funds.” He shrugged. “I figured it would be easier to get work here where I know people rather than in Chicago. There I only know guys like Iceman. I doubt that you’d like me working for him.”

  Hailey shuddered. “Good that you came home, then.” Maybe she could talk him into taking that job Bryce had offered him. “Did you have dinner yet?”

  “No, I figured I would raid the fridge, assuming that was okay with you.”

  “We’ll raid it together.” Suddenly realizing hers was the only vehicle on the drive, she looked around, but it was too dark to see very far. “Where did you park?”

  “Um, I didn’t drive. I’m low on gas.”

  “You walked?”

  “I borrowed a boat.”

  Hailey hoped she could take the word borrowed literally. Thanks to Bryce, she was now questioning everything Danny said.

  “All right.” She stood on tiptoe and brushed a kiss across his cheek. “Meet you back at home.”

  “Race you.”

  “No racing tonight. Just get there safe, okay?”

  “Anything for you, sis.”

  A familiar reassurance. How many times had Danny said that to her over the years? After their mother had left them, any time she’d asked him for something, whether it was for money or help of another kind, Danny had always said, “Anything for you, sis.” And he’d always come through. She’d never asked him where the money had come from, but now she wondered. Had he actually changed or had he always been reckless, maybe getting money in ways that weren’t always on the up-and-up. Or even legal.

  By the time she got back to the house, she was determined to be positive with Danny. It had been a while since she’d spent any time with her brother. Too bad about the circumstances.

  Too bad her refrigerator was nearly empty, too.

  Poking her head inside, she found Italian sausage in the meat drawer. Then, from a cabinet, she pulled a bottle of spaghetti sauce and a package of tortellini. This would make enough for dinner for both of them tonight and lunch for her brother the next day. Danny had hollow legs and he’d already said he was low on cash. She didn’t care whether Bryce approved, she wasn’t going to let her brother starve.