There was the wine cellar.
Okay, this was apparently her sign that she needed to head down and look for her personal spook.
Carefully, she slid from beneath Julian’s arm, pausing only to make sure that she didn't wake him. The last thing he needed was to find out Bethany was lurking. Last night, he seemed stressed to the max with worry.
Tori hated seeing him this way.
Dressing fast, she headed down the stairs to the cellar’s entrance. The cold assaulted her as she stepped inside. Already, she was well aware that she wasn’t alone.
“Bethany, please tell me that’s you,” she muttered, moving closer to the now vacant concrete grave.
The music started, hauntingly low, setting the scene in the macabre makeshift grave.
“Knock it off,” Tori muttered, as the room began wavering, and she slipped into the dark confines of the blackout. When she opened her eyes, the small sprite of a girl was watching her.
“It took you long enough.”
“Yeah, well, silly me. I wanted to stay in bed with my husband.”
Bethany giggled. “Yeah, he is really sexy. Can I pop into your body again and have some fun?” she teased.
“Want me to call an exorcist and send you to hell?” Tori warned.
“You’re cranky,” the woman stated, moving closer to the grave.
“Can you tell me who it was?” Tori asked, ignoring the woman’s comment about Julian. She was still irritated from the last time Bethany used her body.
Granted, it got them a child, but still…
It was creepy.
“Yeah, that was Warren Luther.”
Tori tried to think back to all their victims. Then, she recalled his name. He’d bought the house in the seventies, with the intent to tear it down and rebuild.
“He was trying to get your attention.”
Tori was freaked out. Bethany was one thing, but other ghosts were another.
“Was that him buzzing in my head?”
She caught something out of her peripheral and turned her head. There stood a man in a suit, half his face bludgeoned in.
“Jesus!” she yelped, moving away from him as he approached. When his ghostly fingers reached for her, Tori nearly fell into the hole that had been his grave.
Bethany moved in front of the man, protecting Tori. “Knock it off, or she’ll put you back,” the young woman warned.
Tori watched his mouth move, but she couldn’t hear him. “What’s he saying?” she asked, trying to stay out of his reach. How was she supposed to protect herself against this kind of attack?
“He needs you to find the person who did this. He said it’s a man,” Bethany offered. Then, she pointed at him when he lurched forward. “If you touch her, she won’t help you. Go! Go! She’s mine.”
The man shimmered away, and Tori could feel her heart pounding in her chest.
That was…frightening.
“Crap! I want out of here!” Tori exclaimed, trying to pull herself from the blackout. She really wished that she didn't leave Julian in bed.
“It’s okay. I won’t let you get hurt,” Bethany promised. “He’s only looking to pop into you and talk.”
That was the last thing she wanted.
“He was a bloody mess.”
Bethany ran her little hand over all the wine bottles. “You see us how you choose to see us. I look the same, but you picture me unbroken.”
As if to prove a point, when she turned her face was covered in blood and part of her head was caved in.
Tori gasped, closing her eyes.
When she opened them again, Bethany was sitting on a pile of boxes. “See?”
“Yeah, great. What else did you need me for?” Tori asked. “I have to get upstairs. Julian is going to lose his mind if he wakes and I’m gone.”
Bethany pointed to the bottles next to her head. “Your next clue is behind that one, with the blue label.”
Tori turned around, her hand lingering on the one bottle. “This one?”
The girl nodded.
Turning it on the rack, she touched the number imprinted on the bottom of the bottle. It indeed said four twenty five. Maybe Bethany wasn’t such a pain after all.
“Gee, thank you.”
“Out of my head,” she ordered.
The girl smiled. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Can you tell the other spirits to back off? I don’t want to have that buzzing in my head.”
“Sorry, I was busy and he snuck by.”
Tori wiped off the bottle. “Busy?”
She grinned, hopping down from the box. “I was checking out the other man. You know, the one with Claire. He’s pretty hot. They were in bed…”
She cut her off. “Bethany. It’s rude to watch people when they’re having their private moments.” It was also damn creepy. Tori would be taking this one to her grave. If Julian found out they had a peeping Bethany while having sex, he’d lose it.
“I can’t help it. I was curious.”
“Stop. I know you’re still just a teenager in your mind, but you’re old. Behave.”
She sighed. “Fine, MOM. You better get moving. Your husband is waking up.”
Tori took that as her sign. Closing her eyes, she could feel the darkness slipping away. When she woke, she was standing in the center of the wine cellar. As soon as she no longer felt shaky, she headed toward the bottle still on the shelf. Once more, she checked the number and grinned.
“Thank you, Bethany.”
The bottles on the shelf clanked in reply.
Tori took that as her sign to get the hell out of there, and fast.
* * *
It was like waking from a dream to another one. There, head resting on his chest, was his salvation. Claire was cuddled against him, her breath warm across his flesh.
It made his body respond to each tickle of exhaled air. After making love last night, they’d rolled around a few more times, each one, learning, exploring, and discovering the other’s body. Beckett realized that Claire was a very giving person--in bed and life.
She had a huge heart, and for the first time in a long while, he felt safe.
It was a beautiful thing.
When she shifted, her hand rested almost possessively across his erection. While he thought his body would be too spent, apparently it wasn’t.
“Mmmmm, Beck, you’re out of control,” she murmured, turning her face up to meet his. The kiss they shared said it all. She was just as wantonly plotting her attack as he was.
“Oh, Claire, you bring it out in me,” he warned. “Be careful, or we’ll be trapped in bed all day.”
She giggled, curling around him. “I have no problem with that,” she offered, rolling on top of his body to stare down into his eyes. She loved them. They were green, mysterious, and filled with so much depth that she’d never get bored studying them.
Tucking her hair behind her ears, he lifted his head to nibble on her throat. She tasted just as delicious as she had earlier.
Maybe more so now because Beckett was damn certain that she was meant to be his. Everything about her screamed it. Claire was draped across him like she owned him.
Yesss!
That was something he could definitely live with.
“We should get a shower,” he muttered, as her mouth began leaving little openmouthed kisses across his flesh.
God, how he loved her lips.
They were full, swollen from a night of love making, and all his.
Beckett began feeling things that were dormant for a very long time.
“We should,” she admitted. It pained her to do it, but she needed to climb off him, or she’d be riding him…
Again.
Releasing her, Beckett watched her slip away. “Claire?” he called, just before she could make it to the bathroom.
“Yes?”
“Thank you.”
Somehow, she didn't think he only meant the fantastic sex, but she played ignorant.
; “If you get out of bed, you can thank me over and over again in the shower.”
That intrigued him.
He was up and racing toward her so fast, that she squealed in absolute delight.
Beckett’s heart felt so light, he believed that he could fly.
* * *
Monday Morning
When he finally located his wife in the kitchen, and she told him where she had been, Julian wasn’t happy. He didn't like the idea that his pregnant woman was wandering around in a dusty basement alone.
What if she fell?
Or worse…what if something toppled on top of her.
Yeah, just thinking about that made him want to be sick. He was going to have to lay down the law--again.
“Tori,” he began, only to be handed the bottle of wine.
“She helped me find it, so let’s shelf this battle for another time, okay?” Yeah, this was exactly why she refused to tell him about anything that went on down there.
In this case, less would be more.
“We should wake the other two.”
“Yeah, he’s not in his room,” Tori offered. “When I walked past this morning, it was empty and the bed wasn’t messed up.”
Julian closed his eyes. “God help me,” he muttered.
Tori found that funny. “Wait! You and Justin are always talking about how you both scored with your ‘babes’. How is this different? So what? Your sister got laid.”
“Shhhh,” he hissed. “That sounds dirty and wrong. She’s my baby sister. She shouldn’t be having sex, and Claire really shouldn’t be doing it under my nose.”
“You realize that’s quite the double standard, right?”
He shrugged. “It is what it is.”
“What are you going to do when our daughter comes home and asks for birth control?”
The sound that came from Julian was something Tori had never heard before in her life. It was like a kettle was boiling over and the steam was about to blow off the top of his head.
“First, I pray my daughter has enough common sense never to say those words in front of me. Hopefully, she’ll go to you. Secondly, if she does say them, or I even hear them coming from her pretty little mouth, I’m getting my damn gun and hunting down the man who thinks he’s going to be fu…”
“JULES!”
He was bright red.
Tori couldn’t help but laugh. “Okay, breathe, babe. I’ll handle it. You’re going to stroke out.”
“You think?”
Just then, Tori was saved by the sound of footsteps approaching. They both glanced toward the door in time to see Beckett and Claire walking in, his arm around her waist. They were whispering and giggling over something one of them said.
Julian lifted a brow.
Well, this was definitely something new.
It appeared that they weren’t just sleeping together, but something far more. Julian knew that after sleeping with a woman, he didn't behave like this. Then he glanced over at his wife.
Until Tori.
Oh hell! His sister wasn’t just shacking up and neither was Beckett. He crossed his fingers and prayed that it didn't get messy.
Or any more messy than it already was.
Claire stopped as soon as she realized they weren’t alone. Immediately, she tried to pull away from Beckett, because she wasn’t sure if he wanted anyone to know they had something between them.
“Good morning,” the man said, refusing to let Claire move away from him. He wasn’t going to hide what he’d just found. Beckett was on his way to finding his heart again, and it was through the Native woman beside him. Already, Julian was giving him the eye, but that wasn’t going to stop him.
Not now.
Not ever.
“Morning, you two,” stated Tori, sipping her tea. “It looks like someone slept well last night,” she added, trying not to grin. She could have sworn that her husband made a low growling noise, but she wasn’t sure.
“Hello,” Claire stated, pulling her hair back into a ponytail. “Were you waiting for us?” she asked, trying not to notice the way her brother was glaring at Beckett.
If he said a word, she’d really hurt him.
“No, we were just about to get started,” stated Tori. “Want some coffee?”
“I’ll get it,” Beckett said, dropping a proprietary kiss to her forehead. It was almost like a challenge, offering Julian the opportunity to say anything at all.
They all took a seat at the island, waiting for Beckett to return. Julian didn't look away from Claire as they shared a look.
When she stared into his eyes, almost beseechingly, he caved. He loved his family and would do anything to see to their happiness.
“We have the wine bottle,” he said, letting the situation go. If his sister wanted to sleep with Beckett, it really wasn’t any of his business.
Claire stared at it. “Oh my God! How did you find it?” she asked, shocked that they had it. “I tried to go through all those bottles and couldn’t locate it.”
Tori handled the question. “Bethany and our victim helped me out on this one.”
It was time to let Julian in on it. Now was as good a time as any for an overprotective husband meltdown.
“What?” Julian asked, as Beckett returned with coffee for him and Claire. “You’re just telling me this now?”
She laughed. “You were a little worked up with discussing our daughter, so it slipped my mind. Sue me.”
He leaned close to whisper in her ear. “Later, I’ll do far more because I’m not buying that, Victoria.”
Her cheeks flushed, and she wanted to run around in glee.
Beckett cleared his throat. “Uh, the bottle?” he asked, pointing at the old wine sitting in front of them. “Maybe we should focus on that.”
“Yes, how about you tell us about the second ghost?” Julian demanded.
“He popped in. I couldn’t talk to him. I just saw him.” She left out the fact that he was a bloody mess and scared the hell out of her. “Bethany told me it was Warren Luther. He communicated with her that it was a man who killed him. That’s all he knows.”
Well, they knew who he was, so that had to mean something.
“Okay, no offense to Bethany,” stated Julian, “but I intend to wait for the ME to post his identification.”
Tori trusted her. She had to believe that the woman would be right about this too.
“This will help us get the killer and find the next clue,” stated Claire.
Beckett began feeling guilty. He was still lying to his bosses, and it didn't sit right, especially since this was Claire’s family, and he was trying to start something with her.
Then, he swallowed it.
He wasn’t ready for the looks, whispers, or quiet speculation.
At that point, he couldn’t tell them about it.
Tori picked up the bottle and held it in her hands. “Well, we don’t know if the clue is inside or outside. I feel like a drink.”
“VICTORIA!”
She started laughing as she headed toward the wine rack to get some glasses. “Relax, Julian. I was just kidding. I didn't plan on drinking...yet.”
Julian grabbed the corkscrew and used it to open the bottle. Once it was free from the neck, he poured the bottle out.
Claire sniffed it. “It smells like wine. It would have been so much cooler if it was blood or something scary.”
Julian stared at her. “You spent too much time on your boat.”
“Ship,” she corrected, grinning at him. “I’m never going back there, that’s for sure.”
Beckett’s heart flipped in his chest. He was glad to hear that. The last thing he wanted was to see Claire leave. After last night, he was getting attached.
Oh crap!
He was in trouble. One night with her, and he was crazy in love. Well, he hoped she didn't mind him in her life. He didn't plan on going anywhere.
Tori stared at the bottle. “I need a bathroom,” she said, grabbing it be
fore she headed toward the stairs.
They all followed.
Upstairs, they crowded into the first available shower.
“You’re going to steam it off,” Claire stated. “I love my job. This is awesome.”
It didn't hurt that she was squished against the sexiest man that she ever met in her life either.
Tori hit the water and turned it up to the hottest setting. “It’s about to get hot in here,” she stated.
Beckett was already getting warm. Claire was pressed to his torso, and her hand was braced on his thigh. A few inches to the left and she was…
Her elbow got his attention.
“What?” he whispered in her ear.
She simply shook her head.
Beckett was having a damn good day.
“I think it’s coming off,” Tori said after a few minutes. “We can head out of here,” she stated, leading the way.
Downstairs, Tori picked carefully at the label. When it started to peel away, they all leaned closer, with the exception of Beckett.
Julian noticed that he kept his distance, and he’d just about had enough.
“What does it say?” Claire asked curiously.
Tori held it up to the light. “Roses.”
That befuddled all of them.
“As in a garden?” Beckett asked. “Isn't there one out back?” He was pretty sure that he’d seen it from his bedroom window.
“Yeah, there is one. It has a fountain and cherub spouting water.”
Tori thought about it. “It’s going to suck if we have to dig it all up.”
Claire shook her head. “Would the next clue be outside where it couldn’t stand the test of time?” she asked.
Beckett pondered it. “Your bedroom has roses in it, Claire, on the wallpaper.”
Julian spoke up, “So does the living room. It has rosebuds on the wall paper.”
Well, at least this was a start for them.
They had a few places to focus.
“Where should we start first?” Beckett asked. “Do we really want to peel all that wallpaper from the walls?”
It gave Julian a segue into what he wanted to discuss with the man. While he had planned to do this in private, now was as good a time as ever.
Unthinkable Games (LIttlemoon Investigations Book 3) Page 17