The Ghost Who Wanted Revenge (Haunting Danielle Book 4)

by Bobbi Holmes

  Joe didn’t pause to question how the guns seemingly moved across the room on their own volition. All he knew was that the man was now unarmed and he needed to move swiftly. Leaping to his feet, Joe attacked the intruder, knocking him to the floor. The man was slightly larger than Joe, but a few years older. The two rolled around on the library floor like wrestlers determined to win the match while breaking all rules of sportsmanlike conduct.

  “Are you going to do something?” Danielle asked Walt, who now sat on the desk smoking a cigar while watching the spectacle rolling around on the floor.

  “Joe seems to be handling it.”

  “Would you at least untie me!” Danielle snapped.

  “Oh, sorry,” Walt said sheepishly.

  The ropes securing Danielle fell to the ground. Now free, she stood up and rubbed her wrists.

  “Well, if you aren’t going to do anything…” Danielle said with disgust as she picked up the landline off the desk, preparing to dial 911. On the floor, their would-be killer caught a glimpse of her reaching for the desk phone, and he managed to roll over with Joe in a death grip while kicking out his right leg, jerking the phone line from the wall.

  Danielle let out a curse and dropped the telephone, redirecting her attention to the cellphone on the floor, now under the two men. They were blocking the exit, so she couldn’t run from the library without going around them, which at this point looked risky. She glanced to Walt. He seemed amused and unwilling to help.

  “I know you don’t like Joe, but please help him!” Danielle pleaded.

  “I never said I didn’t like him.” Walt sounded insulted.

  “Then do something! Now! Before he gets hurt!”

  “The man has his pride, Danielle. Look at him. He thinks he’s protecting you.”

  “He is fighting for his life!” Danielle was tempted to grab something heavy to hit their would-be killer over the head, but the way he and Joe were rolling around on the floor, she was afraid her aim would miss and she would end up knocking out Joe.

  Preparing to issue another plea to Walt, Danielle paused when a cracking sound caught her attention. It sounded like a head making unpleasant contact with the wood floor. Looking down at the two men, a sickening sensation washed over her. The sound had come from Joe’s head. To her horror, he lay sprawled unconscious across the floor as the stranger started to pull himself up.

  “Ouch.” Walt winced. “I bet that hurt.”

  The would-be killer looked at Danielle, his eyes dark and menacing. “Not exactly how we planned it.” He stood up and assessed the situation. By his stance, he was prepared to grab Danielle should she decide to take this opportunity to make her escape.

  “Is he going to be okay?” Danielle looked down at Joe. There was slight movement—at least he was alive.

  “Okay?” The man started to laugh. “Not after I kill him he won’t be.”

  “That is a really annoying habit you have,” Danielle said, no longer afraid. Maybe Walt had let Joe roll around with the man, but she had no doubt he would intervene before the stranger touched her.

  “What are you talking about?” The man scowled.

  “I love how fearless you are.” Walt smiled.

  “You laugh at the most inappropriate times.” Danielle glanced at Joe. “This is going to get you locked away for a long time, attacking a police officer like that. Threatening to kill us both. Maybe if you tell us who you are working with, why you are trying to frame me, and who killed Stoddard, just maybe you won’t have to spend the remaining years of your miserable life behind bars.”

  “Listen lady. Just because I’m no longer armed, don’t for a moment think you’re getting away from me. There is no way you’re getting out of here alive.”

  “Umm, about that…aren’t you just a teeny bit curious as to how the guns just—well flew across the room on their own? Or how I got untied?” Danielle waived her free hands at him and smiled. “After all, you did check the ropes after Joe tied me up.”

  The man frowned. He had forgotten all about the guns until she mentioned them—or about her being bound just minutes earlier. Narrowing his eyes, he looked across the room at the bookshelves where the guns had landed. He stared at them a moment and then looked back at Danielle, who smiled smugly in his direction.

  Confused, yet prepared to finish what he had started, he lunged in Danielle’s direction. He hit what felt like an unseen wall, causing him to stumble backwards. Dazed, he shook his head and stared at Danielle, who appeared unfazed over his attempt. She continued to smile, which spiked his anger.

  Joe moaned and moved ever so slightly, his eyes still closed. The intruder looked down, preparing to finish the job, when something picked him up and sent him crashing on the far wall, head first. He crumbled to the floor. Danielle figured he was either unconscious—or dead—considering the severity of the impact.

  “Why didn’t you do that earlier, before he hurt Joe?” Danielle leaned by Joe’s side and gently touched his forehead.

  With a sigh, Walt picked up the rope from the floor and walked over to the unconscious intruder.

  Kneeling next to Joe, cradling his head in her lap, Danielle asked, “Joe? Joe? Can you hear me?”

  Groggily moving his head from side to side, Joe’s eyes fluttered open and he looked up into Danielle’s face.

  “Dani, are you okay?” he asked with a raspy voice.

  “I’m fine Joe. But I’m concerned about you. You hit your head pretty hard.”

  “Where is he…the man?” Joe tried to look around, but he winced from the pain.

  “It’s okay Joe.” Danielle glanced up at Walt who had just finished tying up the intruder.

  “The man isn’t going anywhere.”

  Chapter Twenty

  The paramedics carried Joe and the intruder out of Marlow House on stretchers. Danielle had called 911 after checking on Joe and making sure the intruder was no longer a threat. He was still unconscious, which concerned Danielle—but he was alive. Joe was awake, yet disoriented and confused.

  Brian had been one of the responders on the call. She told him what had happened and he asked, “And Joe will be able to confirm this?”

  “If you would have just done something in the beginning,” Danielle hissed under her breath to Walt when Brian walked back into the hallway to talk to the departing paramedics. “Then it would have made all of this much easier!”

  “I’m sorry. You’re right; I should have stopped Joe from trying to play hero.”

  “He wasn’t playing hero. He was fighting for his life—our lives. But then, I already mentioned that.”

  “It’s not like you were ever in any real danger.”

  “He didn’t know that!” Danielle fumed. She and Walt sat together on the library sofa. Brian had given her firm instructions to sit down, stay out of their way, and wait quietly.

  “I suppose that’s true.” Walt flicked an ash off his cigar. It disappeared before it reached the floor.

  Chief MacDonald walked into the library a moment later.

  “Hi Chief,” Danielle greeted. “I’m surprised to see you here.”

  “When I heard a 911 call came in from Marlow House—and that one of my officers had been injured— how could I not come?” he asked, walking to the sofa.

  “How’s Joe?” Danielle asked. “The minute Brian and the others showed up he made me sit down, would barely listen to me.”

  “Joe’s a little out of it. Looks like he took a good knock to the head.”

  Danielle flashed Walt a reproving frown.

  “What about the other guy? Do you know who he is?” Danielle asked.

  “I’ve never seen him before. He didn’t have an ID on him, and if he arrived by car, someone must have dropped him off.”

  “Did he say anything?” Danielle asked.

  “He’s still out. I’m a little concerned about that. I’d really like the guy to wake up so we can question him. What happened? Brian said you told him the man was planning on
killing you both, framing you for Joe’s murder, to make it look like Joe had lied about seeing you on the day of Stoddard’s murder, and now regretted giving you an alibi.”

  “That pretty much sums it up.”

  “Who is he working with?” the chief asked.

  “I don’t know. He never said. And when I asked him who murdered Stoddard, he said he didn’t know or care. And I believe him.”

  “Something else went on in here,” Brian announced when he walked back into the library. The chief and Danielle turned and looked in his direction.

  “What do you mean?” the chief asked.

  “First off, where is Joe’s gun? Danielle claims the man was armed, but where is it?” Brian asked.

  “Up there.” Danielle pointed to the top bookshelf. Both officers looked in the direction she pointed and frowned.

  Brian walked over to the bookshelf and looked up, scratching his head. “How did they get up there?”

  “Well…umm…they sorta flew up there during all the commotion,” Danielle explained.

  Turning from the bookshelf, he faced Danielle. “They flew up there?”

  “What exactly do you think happened here, that’s different from what I’ve told you?” Danielle asked, annoyed with Officer Henderson.

  “Someone beat the crap out of Joe and the other guy. When we arrived, they were at opposite sides of the room, with Joe barely conscious.”

  “So?” Danielle frowned.

  “If they had beat the crap out of each other, I wouldn’t expect one to be unconscious and the other one barely conscious —and if that was the case—which I’d seriously doubt it—I’d expect them to be laying side by side.”

  “You tell us what really happened,” Danielle said.

  “I need to slug him again,” Walt grumbled.

  “It looks to me like someone else was here. Someone else beat up Joe and that other guy.”

  “Which would mean everything I told you was a lie.”

  Brian stared at Danielle in stony silence.

  Clearing his throat, the chief said, “Brian, I would like you to wait in the hallway while I speak to Ms. Boatman alone. And please close the door on the way out.”

  Brian flashed the chief a cool look before turning and leaving the room as requested, shutting the door behind him.

  “Okay, Danielle. Tell me what really happened. Tell me what you failed to mention to Brian.”

  Danielle took a deep breath and then exhaled before telling the chief everything that had happened that morning, beginning with losing her cellphone.

  “Unfortunately your attacker was wearing gloves, so when we get those guns off the bookshelf, Joe’s won’t have his fingerprints on them.”

  “Or my cellphone either. Unless he touched it before putting on the gloves.”

  “Do you have any idea how he got ahold of your cellphone?” the chief asked.

  “I’m almost positive I put it on the charger in the kitchen. When I couldn’t find it, I thought maybe I’d taken it off the charger and got distracted when straightening the kitchen, and put it in a box I took to the attic. But that man had it.”

  “You think the last time you saw it was this morning in the kitchen?” the chief asked.

  “I’m pretty sure.”

  “Who was in the house this morning?”

  “Well, there was me, Lily, Ian, Lily’s nurse—Samantha something—and our guest, Mr. Wayne.”

  “What about Joanne?” he asked.

  “She didn’t come in today.”

  “Where are Lily and Ian now?” he asked.

  “Ian took Lily to lunch in Astoria. It was her first real outing since getting out of the hospital.”

  “What do you know about your guest, Mr. Wayne?”

  “Billy Bob Wayne? Oh, I seriously doubt he’s involved in this. He’s from Phoenix, here on vacation. Used to live in Frederickport, years ago. Recently retired. But I know who he is. He’s pretty well known in the Phoenix area.”

  “Well known, how?”

  “He’s a car salesman.” Danielle laughed after she said it. “I guess that sounds funny. He used to own a very well known car dealership in Phoenix. He did a lot of advertising on TV as Billy Bob Wayne, sort of a corny hokey cowboy angle. He was something of a celebrity. I recognized him immediately when he showed up on our doorstep. I used to see his commercials when I visited my friend from Phoenix.”

  “He would have had access to your cellphone?”

  “Yeah, but they all would have. I think everyone was in the kitchen this morning. Of course, I already know it wasn’t Lily or Ian.”

  “So, you think it was the nurse?” he asked.

  “The nurse?” Danielle considered the suggestion. “I really don’t know much about her. She administers Lily’s afternoon and evening IVs. Although, now that I think about it, there is one thing that is a little odd…” Danielle frowned.

  “What?”

  “Today, after administering Lily’s afternoon IV, she and Mr. Wayne went on sorta a date thing.”

  “Date?”

  “She took him sightseeing. But she’s probably in her twenties, and he’s old enough to be my father and he dresses—well, like a cowboy. Not like a Kevin Costner type of cowboy, more along the lines of Roy Rogers.”

  “Hmmm…you think maybe she took your cellphone and then made sure your guest was out of the way for the rest of the afternoon?”

  “I suppose it’s possible.”

  “Did she know Lily and Ian would be in Astoria?”

  “Yes. It’s all Lily could talk about. She was so excited.”

  “You need to get me the name of this nurse. But for now, don’t say anything to anyone—even Lily—that we suspect she might be involved in this.”

  “I can’t very well do that. How can I have her coming back into my home—twice a day—and take care of Lily? If she’s part of this, I don’t want her anywhere near us!”

  “You have a point. But you have to remember, you can’t be a hundred percent certain your guest isn’t in some way involved. You did say he used to live here. Perhaps he has some connection to Stoddard.”

  “But maybe it wasn’t any of those people,” Danielle suggested.

  “You mean someone else took your cellphone?”

  “It was in the kitchen on the counter. I don’t always lock the kitchen door during the day. It’s entirely possible someone slipped in from the side yard and took the phone off the counter sometime this morning.”

  “I would have seen someone break in,” Walt interjected.

  “Are you so sure about that?” Danielle asked. “You didn’t know Joe and I were being held downstairs at gunpoint.”

  “You aren’t talking to me right now, are you?” the chief asked.

  “No. I’m talking to Walt.”

  * * *

  Over an hour later, Danielle sat alone in the hospital waiting room. Glancing at the nearby wall clock, she wondered what was going on. Restless, she stood up, preparing to look for a vending machine, when the chief walked into the room.

  “How is he?” Danielle asked.

  “His tests look good. But they want to hold him overnight for observation.”

  “Does he remember what happened? He was pretty loopy when he came to.”

  “Come on, I’ll take you to him and you can see for yourself.”

  “Is he still in ER?” Danielle asked.

  “No, they put him in a room.” The chief motioned toward the elevator.

  “Do you know anything about the other guy yet?” Danielle asked as she stepped into the elevator with the chief.

  “He’s in ICU. Your Walt did a number on him.”

  “He isn’t my Walt, exactly. Any idea who he is?”

  “We got an ID back from his fingerprints. He has quite an impressive rap sheet. Including one for a contract hit, which didn’t stick.”

  “When you say it didn’t stick, do you mean he didn’t kill the person?” Danielle asked.

  “
No. Someone was killed. This was in Vancouver. The authorities there were certain they had their man, but the case fell apart.”

  “What’s his name?” Danielle asked.

  “John Smith.”

  “Seriously? His name is John Smith?”

  The chief nodded. “Seriously.”

  “Do you think someone hired John Smith to kill us, or was he involved with Stoddard’s murder?”

  “You told me he said he didn’t know who killed Stoddard and that you believed him,” he reminded. “What do you think?”

  The elevator door opened.

  “Sounds like a contract hit,” Danielle said dully.

  “Does to me too,” the chief agreed, ushering Danielle off the elevator.

  “You said he’s in ICU. How serious is it exactly?”

  “He’s still unconscious. They’re running tests. I put a guard on his door.”

  Danielle paused a moment and looked at the chief. “Guard?”

  “I don’t think whoever hired him will be thrilled to know he botched the job—and his only chance now is to tell us what he knows and hope for a lighter sentence.”

  “Maybe they’ll wait to see how serious he is.”

  “Perhaps. But if you wanted to keep someone from talking, wouldn’t it be best to get rid of them before they had a chance to say anything?”

  “I suppose. Do you think Joe and I are still in danger?”

  “I suspect John Smith has more to be worried about from whomever hired him than either you or Joe do. If they wanted you both dead to discredit the alibi so we wouldn’t keep looking for Stoddard’s killer, that’s now a moot point, especially after today. Killing you both now won’t make us stop looking for Stoddard’s killer.”

  “I hope you’re right.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Danielle peeked inside the hospital room. Joe sat in the bed, wearing a hospital gown, with the sheets pulled up to his waist. Brian sat in a chair next to him. The two men quietly discussed something—what exactly—Danielle couldn’t hear. She stood with the chief in the open doorway, hesitating a moment before entering. MacDonald cleared his throat. Joe looked in their direction and grinned.