Stolen Dreams

by Stacey Kennedy

  Suddenly, the room dropped another degree, which meant only one thing. As if on cue, Hannah’s soft voice came from the doorway. “I’m sorry to interrupt you.”

  I yanked the blankets up to cover myself. Kipp did the magic bit and was instantly clothed, which was a shame. I gave my head a shake to think outside of myself and focus on Hannah. “What’s wrong?”

  “I’m really sorry to intrude on your...” Hannah hesitated, obviously deciding not to continue with that statement and smiled. “Anyways, I’ve been thinking about what you asked me, about where I’m buried.”

  I nearly laughed, what an odd statement to hear coming out of someone’s mouth. Instead, I bit my lip and kept my mouth shut.

  “You remembered something?” Kipp asked, intrigue lifting his tone.

  “Yes, I remember when...” she wiggled her hands in a spooky manner, “I rose from the dead.”

  I laughed.

  Hannah did too.

  It was nice to hear it coming from her. To witness the little flicker of the woman who once lived.

  Kipp gave me a look to behave.

  I laughed harder.

  He sighed and glanced back at Hannah. “Do you remember where you were?”

  Her laughter ceased, as did mine. “Well, you see, after I gave up trying to find Percy, or whoever he is, I walked around a while. It felt good to be out of the house. I ended up walking for a long time, not really knowing where I was going. Just so happened that when I stopped walking, I was in the place I woke up.”

  I glanced at Kipp, waiting for him to say something. He didn’t. The suspense was killing me. “Tell us...where were you?”

  “Meeman-Shelby Forest. It all came back to me in a flash. The blossoms, the sound of the lake nearby, the clearing. I think I can show you on a map where I was. I don’t want to be there though, when you....” Sadness washed over her face, her eyes darkened and she frowned.

  Kipp stood from the bed and pulled her into a hug. “You don’t need to go with us, just pointing us the way is good enough,” he declared. “We will find out who did this to you. That is a promise.”

  Hannah backed away from his embrace. “Us.” Kipp gave her a curious gaze, she continued, “You’ll find out who did this to us.”

  Kipp grinned, a threat as much as it was a promise. “Right, us.”

  “I’ll be at the main entrance waiting for you to come so I can show you the way.” Hannah said, then poof, she was gone.

  Okay, this whole up and vanishing thing was just bizarre. Ghosts hadn’t used that ability in front of me before. The idea they could transport anywhere they wanted to whenever they felt like it, wasn’t settling.

  Once I pulled myself from my state of shock, I jumped off the bed and glanced at Kipp. “You have to go.”

  His head was bowed to the ground.

  I snapped my fingers in front of his face to wake him up from wherever he’d gone. “Did you not hear what I just said?”

  “Yes, I heard you,” Kipp answered, cool and collected.

  Which only annoyed me. The whole reason for this, for the past days of exhausting, humiliating events had been answered. “Well then, why are you just standing there? Get moving, we have to find her.”

  Kipp let out a deep sigh, raising his gaze to mine and I saw sadness touch every part of him. “Are you sure you want to solve this case now?”

  My impatience erased in a flash. “Oh...” I hesitated, then repeated in understanding, “Oh.”

  He nodded, solemnly. “You’ll be gone.” I whispered, sorrow rolling off my tone. It sounded like a question, but it was really more a statement of truth.

  “I suspect I will.”

  I glanced down at my hands. I didn’t want that. Having him here comforted me in every sense. For once in my life, I didn’t want to help a ghost exit my life. I wanted him to stay.

  The thought of him gone was gut wrenching. He’d been in my life for only a short time, but in those days, I’d gotten used to his presence―I liked him being there.

  As overwhelming as it was and as selfish wants filled me, there was someone else to think of. I lifted my gaze to Kipp. “Hannah.”

  If they didn’t find her body and hopefully unearth some clues, she’d be stuck forever. Hurt, lost and lonely. I didn’t want that either.

  The question was, what did I want more?

  In the one word spoken, the simple mention of her name, Kipp’s face became resolved. His loyalty, his entire make-up, declared there was only one choice―it was time to save Hannah’s lingering soul.

  ***

  Chapter Seventeen

  “You know, you don’t have to look good to do this,” Kipp’s amused voice came from behind me as I stood in the bathroom cleaning myself up a little.

  I looked at him in the mirror while I finished applying my mascara. “I don’t go anywhere looking like I just got my rocks off.”

  Kipp chuckled, low and deep. “You wear the look well.”

  I smiled, sealing up the mascara and placing it back in my bag. I was only too happy that while I had my break down, Zach and Kipp had gone back to my place to gather up some clothes and necessities. Speaking of that, a thought rose. “By the way, how did you get a key to my condo?”

  “Zach took it from your purse.”

  I tried to appear insulted, but really wasn’t. I was too happy to have my stuff to be pissed about them rummaging through my things. “Don’t you know going into a woman’s purse is forbidden?”

  “Figured if it meant dirty clothes or looking in your purse, I thought the latter was a better choice.”

  I couldn’t argue with him, but it still nagged at me Zach went into my house without me. Actually, I was a bit surprised at the choices Zach made.

  The outfit matched, the lingerie was more comfortable than sexy and he’d even gathered all my favourite make-up, plus the newest member to my family. My sleek black Stella McCartney leather boots, high heels and all. They were a piece of beauty.

  “Was anything out of the ordinary at my place?” It felt weird to be away from home for so long. Good thing I hated cat hair and refused to ever own a fluff bull or I’d be a terrible pet owner.

  I reached back into my make-up bag and pulled out some blush to dust my cheeks. Just as I finished up, Kipp answered. “I wouldn’t know the state of your place. I didn’t go with him.”

  The blusher landed back into the bag as I spun around to face him. “He went alone? To my house? To gather my personal items?” The idea horrified me. Kipp had at least been there and well, we had, practically slept together. If he had been there to tell Zach what to gather, it felt less like an intrusion.

  Kipp shook his head, his eyes laughing at my horror. “He had company.”

  Company? Someone else went into my house, my personal space. Oh, heads were going to roll. “Mind telling me who else went into my house?”

  He inclined his head down toward the hall where Zach’s bedroom sat. “Really, is this important? We have Hannah’s future in our hands. Let’s be off.”

  I scowled. Only a man would say something like that. “Yeah, yeah, yeah.” I dismissed him with a wave of my hand as I walked by him and headed for Zach’s bedroom.

  Kipp laughed behind me.

  At Zach’s bedroom door, I hammered on it with loud, hard bangs.

  A couple minutes later, he still didn’t answer.

  Kipp waited impatiently as he paced the hall. It would’ve been easy enough for him to just melt through the door, go into Zach’s room and wake him, but what was he going to do, breathe on him. If Zach didn’t open the door soon, I was going to barge in, not caring if he slept naked.

  After several more loud bangs which included my foot kicking at the same time, the door finally opened. Who answered, stunned me. My thoughts had been leaning toward the fact that Zach had fallen asleep and was one of those guys who wouldn’t wake up if a bomb went off beside him. But it wasn’t Zach who met me at the door. “Caley?”

  Caley grin
ned and wore nothing but Zach’s plain white t-shirt. She held the door open only a crack. “Of course it’s me and why you are interrupting us?”

  “I need Zach,” I replied sternly, not at all pleased at the situation. It wasn’t that Caley was with him. Actually, I wasn’t at all surprised, nor was I unhappy about it. It was that this was Caley, never compliant, always impossible. At least, now I knew why all my favourite stuff had been packed. Apparently, Caley had gone with Zach, which made me feel better to know it wasn’t him rummaging through my things, and it also explained the comfy undies. Men just never picked the cotton ones.

  As if on cue, Caley said, “Sorry, he’s busy.”

  Before I could respond, Zach had the door open, the bed sheet wrapped around his waist. “What is it? What’s going on?”

  I hesitated, my gaze running over the length of Zach. My interest may lay in Kipp, but I knew a good body when I saw one. Instantly, I could understand Caley’s annoyance for the interruption. Tonight, I had witnessed two of the best bodies I’d ever seen―if this was all a dream, we were in man-heaven. Damn, we were lucky girls!

  I gave my head a shake to focus and dragged my eyes to Zach’s face. “Hannah came to see us. She remembers where she is buried.”

  “This is the lead we’ve been waiting for. We cannot wait until the morning. If this means we are closer to finding out who shot Kipp then we have to proceed quickly.” Caley opened her mouth and he promptly clamped it shut with his fingers. “Playtime is over.”

  Caley dared to look offended. “You’re just going to leave me here...” she looked down to the lower half of her body. “Like this?”

  Zach grinned, groaned, then immediately pulled Caley back into the room and shut the door.

  I followed Kipp to the living room and sat on the armrest of the leather chair next to him. An urge to give him a little snuggle captured me. Since that was impossible, I just sat as close to him as I could. A shiver rumbled through me from the chilly air of him. I welcomed it. The coldness meant he was still here.

  A moment later, Zach appeared fully clothed, took a seat on the couch, and ran a hand through his hair to free his bed head. “All right...” he lowered his hand, gave me a firm glance, “tell me what Hannah has said.”

  Clearly, Caley had gone to sleep. I was pretty impressed she didn’t put up more of a stink. But I was sure she understood how important this all was, maybe Zach had filled her in on all the details and apparently he told her she couldn’t hear what was being said here. I wouldn’t have doubted in the least if her ear was presently glued to the door, listening. And maybe I was a little jealous of how easily Caley listened to him, I could learn a few things from him and if I was around him long enough I was going to take notes. “Well, after...” I glanced at Kipp.

  His grin was sultry and his eyes sparkled in amusement. “You care to indulge him on our night of pleasure?”

  No, I did not. But the mention of it brought memories back into my mind tenfold. His eyes―the nibble on his lip―my body warmed at the thought of it. Enjoyment flashed across Kipp’s face. Evidently, he had been searching for just this reaction. I gave him a little scowl, which he laughed at, then looked back to Zach. “Hannah came to us a little while ago. She said she was out on a walk and ended up back at the area she was killed. Then the memory of when she woke came back to her.”

  Zach’s eyes went wide. His lip did a pretty good Elvis impression―basically, a complete mask of disbelief. “Woke up―as in―where she was buried?”

  My laughter was right at the very edge of bursting, but I was a good girl and refrained. “You got it.”

  His gaze remained glued with mine, an expression so serious it was hard to decipher what thoughts ran through his mind. “Okay, explain this to me, because I’m having a real hard time getting a grasp on exactly what you’re saying to me here. Hannah, the ghost, went for a walk around town, stumbled across the place she is buried, then came to you―to tell us where to find her body.”

  “No...I mean yes.” I shrugged. “She probably doesn’t know exactly where she is buried.”

  Zach shook his head, apparently trying to focus his thoughts. “And just how would she all of a sudden remember something like that?”

  “Because that’s what happens.”

  Really, I was so tired of repeating myself over and over again. If this ever happened again, which I’d see that it didn’t, I was going to have to take notes and write things down so I could save my voice from straining itself and just have them read it themselves.

  There had to be an easier way than this nonsense. When Zach’s expression didn’t waver from his need for answers, I added. “It’s just what they do. Sometimes when they find me, they know enough to get down to business. But with others, their memories are not so clear and are held back from them. And it’s those times I usually need to give them a little push in the right direction, or ask questions to bring the memory back up to the surface so they can,” I waved my hand whimsically, “cross over. But as always with every circumstance, that push triggers more insight. Apparently Hannah knew more than she thought and could have been drawn to that area since it is the reason for her inability to move on. It’s probably what led her there. You know, action without thought.”

  Zach gave his head another hard shake. “If you say so.” He appeared far beyond mystified. “So then tell me, where is Hannah Reid buried?”

  Finally, we were moving on. The good thing about him, and one I surely appreciated, was Zach was quick. He asked the questions which would either prove or disprove and whatever way he decided he went with it. I liked that about him a lot. With a smile on my face and a rejuvenated sense of confidence, I answered him, “Meeman-Shelby Forest.”

  Zach sighed deep, annoyance flashed across his face, which caused it to darken considerably. His eyebrows drew together in unhappiness. “Of course she is somewhere like that. Why should I have expected anything different?” He then dropped his face into his hands as he rubbed it.

  What was I missing here? Shouldn’t this all be good news? We had the location of Hannah’s body, which was a good thing and her family would have answers, also a good thing. So, why was he all huffy-and-puffy?

  “What’s with the grumpy face?”

  Slowly, he raised his head and his gaze connected with mine. “Do you have any idea of how large that forest is?”

  Of course I did. It was a great hiking destination here in Memphis. A great way to get far from the busy city. Anyone and everyone from around these parts has camped, hiked or canoed there. “Ahh...yeah it’s pretty big. Isn’t that what makes it so great?” Honestly, I had no idea where he was going with this.

  He gave me a measured look. “That should answer your question then.”

  I glanced at Kipp, looking for a bit of clarity. He smiled. “He does not know Hannah has pinpointed the area she was in. I think you confused him when you said she didn’t know exactly where she was. He assumes we will have to search the entire forest.”

  “Oh!” I exhaled, finally getting a clue. “You don’t need to worry about it, Hannah said she can point us in the right direction. She doesn’t know...” I raised my hands and did the quotation marks with my fingers, “the exact place, but she knows the area it’s in. It’s a small clearing. She’s pretty sure she can show us how to get there on a map.”

  Zach’s head shot up, his hands dropped to his side in a flash. “You’re fucking kidding me?”

  The move startled me. I jumped and gasped. Plus, my mind was just as confused at what he thought I was kidding about. Since I wasn’t making a joke in any regard, I did the only thing I could do and said, “No, I’m not kidding―what’s so funny about?”

  Kipp laughed.

  Apparently, he knew what had Zach’s face lit up like it was Christmas morning. Before I could say more, Zach replied, “You are honestly telling me Hannah has agreed to take us to the location of her corpse?”

  He didn’t have to spell it out more than he
had. I got the humour in this all too quick. “Um...yes.” Now saying it, it sure sounded right up there in crazy town. The reaction I had been expecting is exactly what I got, Zach burst out laughing.

  Kipp and I quickly followed.

  It wasn’t until I said it out loud, did this whole scenario really show itself. For all the strain we’d been through these past few days, it came out in a fit of laughter. It was completely and utterly insane. To think that we actually found Hannah, informed the cops of my ability, and the bar incident―now the implication we were about to go hunting for bones, was so absurd, none of us could control our restraint.

  My eyes filled with tears as my stomach tightened from the force of my laughter. We’d been so wrapped up in it all, been through so much together, the reality of all this just hadn’t set in. Now it had.

  Zach was keeled over busting a gut. “You talk to ghosts―they tell you about their deaths.” His words were coming through loud deep gasps of breath. “That’s fucking insane.”

  “I know,” I managed through our laughter. “They never shut up, always wanting something―I’m dead, where do I go, who am I?”

  That line only caused a round of deeper laughter. My breath was coming out in loud pants, my stomach ached from my muscles contracting with each laugh, and tears streamed down my face as I crossed my legs to prevent myself from pissing my pants.

  Zach gripped his stomach with his arms, his face just as wet as mine. The color of his skin resembled a tomato. “Oh, hey―by the way― I know where my corpse is.”

  I raised my head, forced my words from my mouth. “But don’t worry I’ll take you there.”

  Kipp dropped down off the chair onto his knees, laughing too hard to speak a word. For a few moments, no sound came from his mouth. The amusement in all this consumed him with such intensity, his laughter crippled him.

  “My body is in a forest, buried under the ground.” Zach barely got the words out. “Would you mind digging me up?” He finally managed, only to lay over on his side on the couch trying to gather air into his body.