Troubled Spirits

by Sandy Wolters

  With patience worn thin, he thought he’d snap at any moment. “Well?” If they didn’t tell him soon, he’d beat the information out of them.

  Nathan nervously glanced back at the hallway. “I can hear the water running in the shower, but we haven’t got much time before Jody comes out. I don’t want her to overhear what we’re saying.” The fevered pitch of his voice relayed the indisputable urgency he felt. “Terry and I have known Jody since we were kids. She’s grown into this gift of hers. It’s taken her years to become comfortable with her abilities. When we were kids, she used to be terrified of everything. Spirit’s constantly surrounded her and never gave her a moment’s rest. Being unable to sleep, and afraid to be alone—ever—can do a lot of damage to someone as sensitive as Jody.

  “Over the years, she’s found that if she shares the messages of the dead with the decedent’s family members, she’s able to cope. She’s able to sleep and have some semblance of a normal life.”

  Nathan rubbed his bloodshot eyes before continuing. “Knowing all that, the last few hours we’ve spent with her we…were…” When he stumbled on the proper description of what he’d witnessed, he looked to Terry for help. Jared was on the edge of his seat as he glanced at the artist for an explanation. He couldn’t help but notice the heavy burden of concern Terry carried for his friend within his bleak expression.

  Terry leaned into the other men and whispered, “Over the years, we’ve spent many nights together. But last night was a fucking nightmare. I don’t know how she’s coped with Fiona’s persistence. The little girl won’t leave her alone. She can’t sleep. She can’t function on any level, and she can’t find any solace because of it. She’s hanging onto her sanity by a thread.”

  The genuine anguish reflected in Terry’s voice heightened Jared’s distress for Jody, but the man’s next words made his heart falter. “This problem is starting to make her physically ill. She started throwing up. This whole situation is tearing her up on the inside as bad as it is on the outside. Any control she could hope to have is slipping away, and it’s happening fast.”

  Nathan added, “I heard her in the bathroom last night crying. Fiona was with her, and she pleaded with the little girl to leave her alone, even if just for an hour.

  “I’m scared if we don’t get a conclusion for Fiona and her family soon, Jody may have an emotional or physical breakdown. This situation is getting worse by the minute. It’s affecting her whole personality.”

  Everything he’d learned about Jody’s situation shot Jared’s mind into overdrive. Thoughts were filtering in and out so quickly, he had difficulty keeping up. Yesterday, he’d been a fearless man. Today, he was an emotional wreck. Nothing in his background had prepared him for the sentimental chaos Jody made him feel. The emotion she drew out of him tore at his very being and brought him to his knees. The unmistakable connection he’d instantly felt toward her intensified his awareness of his inadequacy in dealing with such things as fear where she was concerned. Perceiving that particular emotion on Jody’s behalf seemed to compound his anxiety and overwhelmed him in the process. He had no idea how to protect her, let alone navigate through something he had no control over. To be strong for her, Jared had to find a way to get a hold of himself. She needed him, so he’d do whatever he could to make this right for her.

  A door slamming in the back of the house broke the men’s deliberation. Jody cried out, her words uncharacteristically laced with anger. “Nathan? Where’d you go? What the hell? You used all of my conditioner! How am I supposed to…” Upon entering the living room, she stopped dead in her tracks. Jared watched her closely as she scanned each of the men standing at attention in various states of undress.

  Displaying her displeasure with a furrowed brow, her anger focused on Nathan and Terry. “Why are you two out here and barely dressed?” Jared could tell by her expression that mortification over the scene had her seeing murder. He didn’t know much about women, but he knew when one was pissed off.

  Just as she started across the room to kick some ass, she stopped mid-stride. While she stood in place, Jared recognized the exact moment when the anger within her disappeared and expectation took its place. Obviously overwrought and tired, Jody’s mind had just clicked that he’d come with information.

  She hurried across the room into his waiting arms. “Did you find Fiona’s parents already?” Nathan and Terry jumped at the opportunity to scurry out of the room.

  The outside world disappeared for Jared. The woman he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about now looked at him with such hope in her eyes.

  With her in such close proximity, it took a few moments to gather his thoughts. She stood in his arms, still wet from her shower, wearing a short, silken robe and smelling like Heaven. The top of the robe had slid open, exposing cleavage. A lot of cleavage. He would have had a difficult time ignoring that under normal circumstances, except these were not normal circumstances. The robe’s material was soft and clung to her wet curves. Nothing had been left to his imagination, striking him momentarily dumb.

  He appreciated the fact this was the first time he’d ever been alone with her. His arm tightened around her as he handed her the rose.

  She accepted the velvety flower and graced him with a shy smile.

  “I need to sit with you and get a little more information. I thought you might be more comfortable here than coming into my office.”

  Jody tried not to show her disappointment, but Jared read it on her face. Knowing he’d let her down tore him up inside. He swore he’d do whatever he possibly could to bring her smile back.

  “I brought my laptop. I’ll set it up while you get dressed. We’ll find everything we need to know about Fiona in no time at all. I promise.”

  Unable to muster the strength to be anything more than polite at the moment, she forced a slight nod of her head. Pulling out of his embrace, she left the room without a word to make herself presentable.

  Jody could feel herself falling apart, cell by cell. Fiona had passed the point of being a pest. Something had changed. The little spirit child had become desperate and seemingly more out of control with each visit. Fiona was now in full-blown tantrum mode and even more of a threat to Jody than she could have believed possible.

  Returning several minutes later, she clung to her rose and readied herself to get to work. Sitting next to Jared on the couch, she couldn’t help but sneak a peek at his laptop screen. She didn’t recognize the program, but that didn’t surprise her. She’d never been tech savvy and only used the Internet occasionally.

  Trying to relax, Jody used a quick silent meditation. Feeling a little better, she scanned the room. The little girl was nowhere to be found. She breathed a sigh of relief at the temporary reprieve from Fiona.

  “Okay, I’m ready. What do you need?”

  “Can you give me some more information about Fiona’s last name?”

  Knowing she’d already given all the information she had about that to him, she shrugged her shoulders. “McCarthy is all I know. Why?”

  “I don’t think that’s her last name. I believe McCarthy might be her mother’s maiden name.”

  The disappointment she felt could be heard in her audible sigh. Well, shit! That’s a big problem. Without thought, she lifted the rose to her nose and breathed in the flower’s soft perfume. As she pondered what he’d said, the silky petals brushed her lips.

  “Fiona said her mother told her she had McCarthy blood in her. Because of that, wherever she found herself, family members would always be around her. She told me there were many McCarthy’s with her on the other side, and the men wore kilts.” The memory of that conversation drew a faint smile from her. “Well, skirts—she said the boys were all wearing skirts. I took that to mean kilts.”

  Her hand rose in a perplexed gesture. “That was all she told me about her name. I didn’t question her further because it felt like that was all she knew. It never crossed my mind McCarthy was her mother’s family name.” Allowing
the dejection she felt show, her shoulders slumped forward. “I guess it should have.”

  Even to herself, her voice sounded dull. As despair seeped deeper into her body, Jody let her face go slack. She started to resign herself to the fact she’d never get closure for Fiona. In turn, closure would be denied for herself. She had to prepare for the very real notion she would fail at this important task. That knowledge broke her heart.

  “What am I going to do?” her sorrow filled plea barely above a whisper.

  Trying to calm her, he grasped her hand and hung on tight. “We can still find her. Let me start a different search. All I need to do is change a few parameters. We’ll see what comes up. I’m not giving up, and I don’t want you to give up either.”

  Her attention focused on Jared’s tender touch and the strength in his voice. That, alone, would get her through. She didn’t know how or why, but something deep inside her believed that fact to be the God’s honest truth.

  As he turned back to his computer, she became fascinated by the way his fingers danced effortlessly across the keyboard. Being such a large man, she’d had him pegged as the hunt and peck type. When he appeared happy with everything he’d just input, his long, graceful finger hit ‘enter’ to command the computer to reveal its secrets. Hopefully, they wouldn’t have too long to wait before getting the needed results. As he started to get comfortable, his computer dinged, signaling a quick hit on his search.

  Hearing the computer’s sharp beeping sound contributed to Jody’s tension, and her muscles painfully constricted. A lot rested on what he’d found. What if this information was another false lead?

  She had to remind herself to stop worrying. Instead, she’d do her best to stay positive and keep her hopes up for some good news.

  Moving closer to Jared, she gripped his arm for strength. “What is it?” her voice almost breathless with anticipation.

  Satisfied with what he’d read, his broad smile told her everything she needed to know. He reached out and gently stroked her still damp hair. She felt herself melt into the warmth of his gentle touch and allowed herself a moment to enjoy it.

  “I think we’ve found her.”

  Staring deep into his warm, dark eyes, Jody found the confirmation she was looking for. She couldn’t help herself as relieved tears of joy ran down her cheeks.

  “Let me tell you what I’ve got, and you can tell me if you think this is our Fiona.” His thumb gently swept her tears away.

  Our Fiona. Stunned by his statement, she couldn’t take her eyes off of him. Did he have a clue as to how his choice of words moved her? Somehow those two little words left her feeling a sense of peace and belonging she’d never felt before. She wasn’t alone in this. For the first time in her life, she truly felt as if she were half of a team—a genuine part of an ‘our.’

  The sound of his deep voice broke her deliberation. “It looks like Fiona was born four-and-half years ago.”

  “Yes,” she said, still trying to contain her excitement in the off chance this child wasn’t their Fiona.

  “Red hair. Blue eyes. Height is thirty-six inches. Weight is twenty-five pounds.” With those statistics at hand, Jody sensed little Fiona had just become a very real entity for Jared. She felt the moment sorrow for one so young and innocent took hold of him.

  “She was such a small, little thing.”

  “Yes, she was.”

  Jared took a moment to absorb the sad truth of the facts they’d just learned and put them in perspective before he continued. She heard the grief behind his sad sigh.

  “This says she died a month ago from meningitis.” His words trailed off. “Jesus,” he whispered. “Meningitis works quickly. One day the child is healthy. The next day she gets sick. The next day she’s dead.” His face was her window to his soul and held nothing back. His bewilderment from the depth of sorrow flowing through him was as transparent as glass. “My God. Those poor people.”

  Wanting to ease his pain, Jody gently caressed his cheek. “She showed me her death state in the hospital room. Her mother was begging her to come back to her.” Feeling the strength of the bond between them, Jody laid her head against his shoulder for a moment of shared comfort. “I felt the woman’s disbelief, her guilt over not getting Fiona to the hospital quicker. That was the most terrible and tragic event I’ve ever witnessed in all my years of doing this.”

  With the first obstacle in Fiona’s journey completed, the urgency to start moving and finally put an end to this situation ramped up to an all new high. She still had no idea as to where Fiona had lived. Thinking about what still needed to be done to make this meeting happen swamped her. If the parents weren’t located in the Phoenix area, she’d need to set up travel plans immediately. Leaning over Jared’s shoulder, she inquired, “What information does it give about her parents?”

  He glanced back at the screen. “Mother, Sarah Hinton, twenty-two years old. Father, Dallas Hinton, twenty-four. Their last known address was in Fort Worth, Texas.”

  “Thank you.” Relief flooded her and lightened the tumultuous load she’d been carrying for far too long. Drawing him into an embrace, she quickly kissed his soft lips. With a known destination at hand she couldn’t linger. The time had finally come to press forward and end this. Her mind filled with details—reservations needed to be made. She had to pack. Her staff needed to be notified she wouldn’t be in.

  Jared could almost feel her brain reeling from the newly attained information as she crossed the room to the purse by the front door. Jody bent to pick her bag up but something invisible stopped her, freezing her in place. She remained there as if time had stood still, motionless and as breakable as any fine porcelain figurine teetering on a high mantel. Her beautiful face expressed nothing but a blank stare.

  At the first sign of physical distress, Jared was up and running toward her. Just as he threw his arms around Jody, her legs collapsed and forced her to the floor. He rocked her in his arms as a grief-stricken scream filled with all of the torment Fiona had caused tore free from her lips.

  In his line of work, Jared had seen this reaction many times. Clients would work themselves up into an emotional frenzy as they were forced to wait for answers to whatever questions they had. When Jared provided those answers, good or bad, they were overcome. He knew the rush of the climax could be debilitating. He likened the response to running a never-ending emotional marathon, where a light finally appeared at the end of the tunnel. Something inside people, both mentally and physically, broke down after crossing the finish line. They were so exhausted, the result was a momentary loss of control, which more times than not, led to a total collapse.

  Nathan and Terry ran into the room when they heard Jody’s tortured scream. As the other men knelt beside them, Jared continued to cradle Jody. He gently kissed her forehead, whispering words of encouragement into her golden hair.

  Insisting on being the one to provide her with the strength needed to conclude this journey with Fiona, he stated emphatically, “Listen to my voice, Jody. Fiona’s journey is almost over. I need you to take deep breaths and try to calm yourself. Do you feel my warmth? Do you feel my arms around you? Do you feel the strength I’m offering you? Everything I have is yours, baby. Take whatever you need.”

  He kept the tone of his voice deep and soothing, imagining it would carry through the murky darkness and coax her back to reality. Back to him. He felt her cling to him as he embraced her, allowing herself to seize the much-needed warmth and strength he’d offered. As she regained awareness, he made sure that his concerned eyes were the first thing she saw. Making the moment even more intimate, she reached up and traced his face with her fingertips.

  Drawing her into a bear hug, he tightly squeezed her body even closer into his. “Please tell me you’re okay.”

  “I am.”

  Jared’s attention turned to Nathan and Terry. He had to admit, this mess had left them all a ragged trio. They looked beat down and haggard.

  Jody peeked out of J
ared’s safe embrace. “Nathan, I have to get a flight to Fort Worth. My credit card is in my wallet. Can you get me on the first flight out?”

  “No.” The fierce look Jared gave the two men left no doubt about who was in control. “I’ll call and get my plane ready to go. We’ll be in the air as soon as we can get to the airport.”

  Both Nathan and Terry acknowledged him with a nod. Jared allowed the two men to remove her from his tight grasp. They took her to the bedroom, helped her quickly pack for the difficult trip ahead, and then left Jody to get dressed.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Jody felt a little like a superstar as Jared ushered her onto his private jet. She had expected to board a little prop plane, not something as lavish as the flying hotel suite she now occupied. The chairs were huge and made from the most luxurious leather she’d ever felt. There were a couple of extra large screens, either for use of a TV or computer, maybe both, she couldn’t tell which. A table had been set for a service with fine china and a beautiful bouquet of mixed flowers sat next to one of the windows.

  Since Jared was discussing the flight plan with the pilot, Jody continued to stroll down the plane. She found a lounge with a large white leather couch and matching chairs, a fully stocked bar, and a TV the size of a movie screen. Beyond that, the next door revealed a conference room of all things.

  The entry door to Jared’s private jet slammed shut, securely locking them inside. Jody returned to the sitting area and found Fiona just as the busy staff made their rounds and prepared the plane for takeoff. The little girl’s influence had the atmosphere in the aircraft crackling with excitement. She quickly moved from chair to chair, touching everything in her path.

  Jared came up beside Jody and placed his arm around her waist. “You’re tense. Why don’t you sit down? This will all be over soon. I promise.”