by J N Duncan
“OK. I’ll be back soon,” she said.
Jackie turned on her heel and marched back through the rain toward the store’s back door. “Let’s get out of this damn rain.”
Nick laid a hand on her arm before she had gone two steps. “Jackie? How are you doing with this?”
She shrugged away from his hand. “I feel like a fricking schizophrenic mental patient escaped from the loony bin.”
For once, Shelby had no smartass remark. “I don’t even want to try and imagine what it’s like in that pretty little head of yours. Let’s get inside.”
We’ll be there soon, Rebecca, Jackie said. There are a couple of others who have missed Charlotte for a long time and would like to see her, too.
They all talked at once and Jackie could not make heads or tails of what any specific one said. If there were another two dozen added to them, Jackie knew it would drive her batty. How long would she be able to maintain things with thirty girls, all answering to the same name, clamoring to talk to Charlie was beyond her. Once back in the store, Jackie called up Maddox.
“Hey, Maddox. Anything going on?”
“Little bit of activity,” he said. “Someone walked over to the mill and then back to the house a couple of times carrying something fairly heavy. Whoever it was, it wasn’t our girl. Too tall to be her.”
“Might be the father,” she said, “or that damn reporter.”
“Yeah, I don’t know,” Maddox said. “Just be glad when you guys figure this out so I can quit getting my ass rained on here.”
“Sorry, Maddox,” she replied. “I’ll buy you a couple of shots when we get back, to warm you up.”
“You getting anywhere?”
“In a manner of speaking, yeah,” she said. “A little luck and we’ll be situated in town here within an hour.”
“Awesome, Jack. Kick some ghost ass and let’s ice this bloodsucker.”
Jackie hung up, thought about sitting down, but then remained standing. The girls in her head were making her feel jumpy, so sitting still was the last thing she wanted. “Looks like someone is up there at Charlotte’s—hauling stuff from the house to the mill.”
“So, mom and dad may still be alive,” Shelby replied.
Who is the bloodsucker? one of the Rebeccas asked.
“Too dark to see,” Jackie said. “It wasn’t Carson though.”
Are you the police? asked another.
“Shit,” Jackie said. “I, um ... I need something to write on.”
“What?” Nick asked. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she snapped. “I just need pen and paper for a second.”
Shelby walked over to the sales counter at the back of the showroom. “Think there’s some here.” She brought back a notepad with PEABODY’S FINE FURNISHINGS emblazoned across the top and gave it to Jackie, along with a pen.
She wrote down a message without looking at the words and handed it to Nick. Ghosts are listening in. We have to watch what we say about Charlotte.
Nick nodded and passed it over to Shelby. “All right,” he said.” That might prove difficult with McManus. I’ll step away and give him a call.”
“Thanks.” Jackie walked off into the store, walking among the locally crafted furniture. There were a lot of wooden chairs, tables, and benches. On one wall, perched on a pair of long shelves, were a number of dollhouses, which brought a gasp of delight from the one Rebecca.
Oh! Let’s go look!
Jackie felt her begin to pull from her head. Rebecca! Stop. Now’s not the time. To her surprise, Jackie found that her mental act of restraint stopped the ghost. We’ll have time for that later. For now, just stay with me, please. We’ll see Charlotte soon. That Rebecca huffed but remained silent.
Five minutes later, Laurel came back with four more ghosts and a disconcerting piece of information.
“Someone just drove up the hill,” she said. “Most of the town though is heading toward the church.”
Even as Jackie pulled her phone out, Maddox called. “I heard,” Jackie said. “Anyone comes out that didn’t go in, call me.”
“You got it, boss,” he said. “Three guys, I think, just walked in. I’m pretty sure a couple of them had rifles in hand.”
“Great,” she replied. “It just keeps getting better. Keep your eyes glued there, Maddox.” She dialed up McManus. “McManus, Charlotte just got company, so I’m guessing she knows what’s going on down here on your end by now.”
“Figured it wouldn’t take long,” he said. “How’s it going there?”
“Up to eight or nine. Laurel is bringing them to me. Seems they would all like to see Charlotte.”
“Christ,” he said. “Poor girls. OK, I’m guessing twenty or thirty minutes to get this place filled up before we start bullshitting them for as long as we can. I’ll try and drag it out as long as I can, and will let you know when it’s time to get moving.”
Thirty minutes? Crap, that was going to be pushing things. “Just stretch it out as long as you can, please. I don’t know how long this will take.”
She didn’t know how long she would be able to handle being stuffed full of ghosts, either. Though there was no physical manifestation of discomfort, Jackie still felt swollen, almost like sinus pressure, except without the pain. At least for now. The Rebeccas, at least, were being relatively and thankfully quiet.
Nick stepped up beside her then, brushing against her arm. “Still doing all right?”
She shrugged. “Crowded. This is just really weird.”
“Understandable,” he replied. “If it starts getting to be too much, let me know. I might be able to help keep them quiet if it gets too noisy in there.”
She offered him a feeble smile. “More vampire mojo?”
He chuckled. “Yes, something like that.”
At the word vampire, the quiet murmur in her head swelled to a churning rumble of noise. Jackie sucked in her breath and closed her eyes, pressing a palm to her temple. Girls! Calm down. Everything is fine. The world “vampire” echoed around in her skull like a bitter, cold whirlwind.
Nick’s hand gripped her shoulder, and she felt a warm surge flow into her. The girls immediately began to quiet. “Jackie?”
“Sonofabitch,” she said. “Don’t say the V word. Holy crap.”
“Stirred them up, did it?”
“And then some.” She let out a deep breath. “OK. I’m OK now. Thanks, Nick. That helped.”
“Let me know if you need more,” he said.
Jackie paced. There was little to do other than wait until Laurel was sure they had cleared the town. Another ten minutes, and she brought three more Rebeccas, then five, and then two more. After twenty-five minutes she returned with two in hand. After Jackie had let them in, she sat down on a chair.
“There are three who refused to come, but that’s all I can find here in the town proper,” Laura said.
“Can you show Nick and Shelby where they are?” Jackie asked. “I guess they should try to talk them into it or handle things as needed. The girls and I will wait here.”
“You holding up OK, hon?” Laurel asked.
“I feel like an overstuffed Thanksgiving turkey, but for now it’s all good,” Jackie said. “I’m more worried about the fact that there may be a dozen others up on the hill already.”
“We’ll be back as quickly as we can,” Nick said. “Any problems, you call, Jackie.”
“Yes, Mr. Anderson,” she replied, and pushed him away. “Go. We need to hurry this up.” Her phone rang again and Jackie clicked it on. “What’s up?”
“Agent Rutledge!” Margolin’s cheery voice rang in her ear. “Back in town with your boys now, I see.”
“Margolin,” Jackie snapped back, “you shouldn’t be here. This is not a safe situation for you to be in.”
“Interesting times,” he replied. “You get to check out my article in today’s paper?”
“Yeah,” she said. “Remind me to bloody your smarmy lip next time we me
et. What do you want? You’re going to get yourself killed out here.”
“Only way I’m getting myself killed out here is if you guys do something stupid,” he said.
Jackie clenched the phone tighter. “Philip, what did you do?”
“Me?” He laughed. “Other than keep my eyes and ears open, not a damn thing. Whatever it is you Feds are up to, though, gets to stop tonight. These people have suffered enough.”
Jackie bit off her remark. “You’ve been chatting with Charlotte again, haven’t you, Phil?”
“And she would like a chat with you as well,” he replied. “Here at her house. She wants your team of ghosthunters out of her life and out of this town before sunrise.”
“Christ,” Shelby said. “He’s up there with her.”
“And what would she like to chat about?” Jackie could hear Charlotte’s muffled, young voice in the background, restless once again at the sound of her name.
“A deal,” he replied, “that will allow all of us to live our lives.”
Jackie waited for “in peace,” but it never came. “What assurances do I have she isn’t going to just kill me when I walk up to her door?”
Charlotte’s voice came through clearer now. “She doesn’t, but it’s going to be a lot worse around here if she does not.”
All of the Rebeccas erupted in a cacophony of voices. Girls! Damnit. Hush! She reached for the nearest piece of furniture to steady herself, her head swimming in a dizzy rush. Jackie sucked in her breath when Nick’s hand gripped her arm once again and the voices gradually settled.
“Hey, you still there, Rutledge?” Margolin chided.
She slowly let out the air in her lungs. “Phil, why don’t you put Charlotte on the phone.”
“Why don’t you quit messing with the lives of all these good people,” he said. “Thirty minutes. Come alone.”
Jackie slammed her thumb down on the off button. “Asshole. Nick, go find those other three. I’ll let McManus know.”
He gave her a hard look, and then nodded. “All right. Shel, let’s go. Call if you make any plans before we get back.”
Jackie snorted. “You think I’d go up there by myself?”
“No,” he replied. “Even your charming recklessness has limits.”
Jackie laughed. “Screw you. Let me know when you’re done.” Nick and Shelby headed out the back door with Laurel, and Jackie dialed up McManus. “McManus, we have thirty minutes.I just got a call from our favorite—reporter, who is up on the hill,and he told me you-know-who wants to have a chat about resolving things, or else.”
“Damn,” he replied. “What’s that reporter doing up there with her?”
“Hell if I know. I think she charmed him into causing problems for us. We also have that issue Nick was just talking to you about, so please be careful here.” The girls were getting antsy, shifting around and whispering away. She swore there was a bucket of hissing snakes slithering around inside her head. Tip it the wrong way or kick it too hard and they would all come clamoring out.
“Yeah, I got that,” McManus said. “Makes it a bit difficult, but hopefully we can work around it. I think we can be ready to move from here in twenty. I’ll leave one of the guys here to spout off about the finer points of the federal government getting into their lives. We’ll meet up behind that pharmacy building on the road up to the house.”
“That sounds fine. Any brilliant strategies on your end yet?”
“Jack, I think our job is going to be backup and containment. If this turns into something big, we aren’t equipped for it. You guys are the pros with the ability to handle the Charlottes of the world. Whatever you need us to do, we’ll try to do it, but I hope we can keep it to something that doesn’t pull in every news van within two hundred miles of here.”
Jackie slowly let out her breath. She figured it would come to that. This had big written all over it. “Make sure you tell our guy in the church to be ready to bail. If things go badly, we have no idea what those people are capable of doing. She’s got her web woven pretty damn tight over them.”
“I figured as much,” he said. “We’ll have the cars running and pointing north toward Dubuque. Shit hits the fan, we run and regroup.”
“McManus,” Jackie said, “you realize that if we fail, it’s possible we may not have anything left to regroup for.” If Charlotte realized her gambit was up and her secret made public, she might just wipe the entire slate clean. Of course, she might have decided that already, and this was the beginning of her effort to end everything.
He was silent for a moment. “Yep. That thought crossed my mind, Jack. Let’s see if we can get it right the first time.”
Chapter 26
Having twenty anxious teenage girls in one’s head was not a hell Jackie would wish on anyone. She wanted to scream. It was not that they were doing anything bad or wrong, but the simple fact was they were there and could not stop talking. They were quiet for a bit, at least, after she finally yelled at them to keep it down, but it felt like she was having the biggest sleepover ever, and the moment one whispered something, others would join in. It was twenty channels of daytime television running in unison on a continuous loop.
Nick, Shelby, and Laurel finally returned after an hours-long fifteen minutes. They had one Rebecca with them.
“The other two?” Jackie asked.
“Dealt with,” Nick replied solemnly. “We moved as quickly as we could. Any more phone calls?”
“No. We should get over to the pharmacy, though. The team should be there anytime now.” She stepped over to the last Rebecca and offered her hand. “Rebecca? I’m Jackie. I’m going to take you to see Charlotte if you’re ready.”
The Rebecca looked down at the hand and then up to meet Jackie’s gaze. “Will she say good-bye?”
The question caught Jackie off guard. That was the last thing she expected from any of these girls. “Um, if that’s what you want, I’m sure she’ll be willing.”
“She doesn’t want to,” the Rebecca said.
Jackie understood her far too well. “I know how hard that can be. We’ll talk to her together, how’s that?”
She took Jackie’s hand, eying her reluctantly. “We’ll see.”
Laurel stepped up to her then. “You need me to help maintain things in there?”
“God, yes. Please,” Jackie said with a sigh of relief. “They’re driving me insane. I can’t hear myself think, and I swear my head is several sizes larger now.”
“Need any more help?” Nick asked.
“No. I’m good for now,” she said. “If Laurel can’t deal with them then I’ll have you do that mojo thing again.”
“Works wonders, doesn’t it?” Shelby said. “You always had a knack with that stuff, babe” She stepped over and leaned in close to Jackie. “It works wonders in all kinds of ways.”
“Seriously, Shel?” Nick said. “Must you always?”
She laughed and turned toward the door. “I must, I must. We should get going. McManus’s probably waiting for us.”
Jackie had been about to offer up a snide remark to Shelby, and then noticed the look on Nick’s face. Was that embarrassment? Really? She gave him a questioning look, curious, but she was not about to ask about such things now.
Nick shook his head. “Another time. Let’s go, before Ms. Mouth over there makes another stupid remark.”
She tried to make a mental note to ask about it later, but realized there was likely no room in her head to store it. “Don’t worry; at this point, my brain is incapable of remembering much of anything.” The cacophony, at least, was beginning to die down as Laurel worked to soothe their excitement, and the one Rebecca, the last to arrive, sat silently in her little corner of Jackie’s head.
The team stood crowded under the awning that stretched over the back door of the drug store. A Ford SUV was backed up to them with its rear door swung open. Inside were a variety of crates that team members were in the process of unloading.
�
�There you are,” McManus said. “All situated with your ghosts, Jack?”
“I’m good,” she replied. “What all do we have here?”
“Well, first off, we’re going to wire you up and give you a vest.”
A vest was a waste against someone like Charlotte, but against the gun-toting townsfolk, it might come in handy if things turned ugly. “Nothing suspicious about that, but I guess I don’t have much choice in the matter.”
He smiled. “No, you don’t.”
Nick stood beside her, hands thrust in his pockets. “This is too risky. If she’s walking into a trap, Charlotte could kill her before we even get up the hill.”
“I have leverage,” Jackie said, though to be honest, she had no idea how she was going to use it. It was also possible Charlotte would not care less. “And if things go badly ... well, I have my emergency escape button.”
“You think Nix won’t be waiting for you on the other side?” Nick asked.
McManus paused, the wire device in hand. “Who is Nix?”
“It’s that thing on the other side that Charlotte won’t go near,” Jackie said.
“Ah. I didn’t know it had a name,” McManus said.
“I can’t pronounce its real name. Look, can we just get on with this please? I’m supposed to be up there in five minutes.” She removed the rain slicker so that she could be fitted with the vest and wire.
We need to hurry, Laurel said quietly. The girls are starting to ask questions.
What kind of questions?
Like why there are all of these guns and why they share the same name.
Shit. OK, I’m hurrying. Just keep them distracted for a few more minutes, Laur. “Move it along here, McManus. My aces in the hole are getting antsy and are wondering what the hell we’re doing.”
“Trying,” he said and tapped the top of the vest. “Video is built into the collar here. Try not to cover it up.” He handed her a little ear bud. “Put this in; mic is with the video, so we’ll hear and see most of what you do. Try and get us a good visual of the inside when you get there and pinpoint Jessica for us. If you can locate the others in the house for us, that would be helpful.”