A Rose by Any Other Name (Haunted Series Book 18)

by Alexie Aaron

  Mia closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “There is something in this house that is blocking my abilities. I can still see Murphy, but I can’t sense him, or anything else for that matter. For a house that has been documented as haunted, I can’t feel anything. Mike, how is your stomach?”

  “I haven’t had any problems. Why?”

  “As humans, we all have abilities to sense when something isn’t quite right. Mike, in the past, has experienced stomach upset when evil was afoot. The fact that my powers could be neutralized by just stepping in the door, worries me. I fear that a very powerful being is residing here. Where? I don’t know. I’m flying blind here. The best I can do is investigate and see what happens. I have no tricks up my sleeve to help us, so please be careful.”

  “Mia, you may want to update them on another matter,” Ted suggested.

  Mia’s eyes connected with his. She blushed and looked down a moment.

  Mike witnessed Mia wringing her hands before she opened her eyes and spoke, “You’ve all been very kind and understanding when it came to all the changes I have gone through. Your nonjudgmental, open minds have accepted me, and for this I am grateful. It’s because of this that Ted and I decided that I should share with you what has happened to me. I’m sure you’ve all noticed the change in my behavior.”

  “After the Country Cereal Factory investigation, the demon part of me became so strong that it was necessary for me to exorcise that part of myself with the aid of an expert. I’ve had to adjust to not having the strength and aggression that I received from those imbedded genes. I’m not sure what all was tied into the excised part of me. Please understand if I shy away from you. It’s not that I don’t respect and care for you.” Mia sat down and looked at her hands.

  “I’m sorry,” Mike said. “I don’t understand how we could let this happen to one of our own.” He looked at Mia and watched the tears fall from her eyes and drop into her lap. “We have to be here for each other. I don’t care if you turn into the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. Talk to us, Mia. Trust that everyone at this table, and that includes Murphy and Jake, loves and supports you. You have saved us time and time again. Let us take up the burden until you can find your balance. Trust us. We may be pretty, but we’re also pretty damn smart.”

  Mia smiled.

  “Murphy, I want you glued to Mia,” Mike said. “Mia, get used to him being everywhere.”

  “That’s not really nec…”

  “I’m sorry, honey, but it is. Ted will suck it up. You’ve got a lot to deal with. If I had known you were having problems, I would never have agreed to us sleeping here.”

  Burt watched Mike take control. He didn’t mind. He would have taken a softer approach, but maybe Mia needed the strong arm.

  Ted looked over at Murphy. He could see the conflict in his face. Murphy looked at Ted. The two old adversaries looked at each other for a moment. One was asking for trust, the other giving it.

  Murphy nodded.

  “He understands,” Cid told the group.

  Mia was beet red.

  “You’re kinda cute when you blush,” Mike said.

  “Asshole,” Mia said under her breath.

  Mike smiled. “Burt, sorry, please continue,” Mike said and propped his feet up on the table.

  “Glenda will be here this evening for the pre-investigation interview. Mike and Audrey, be prepared with questions. Mia and Cid, get those cameras up and running. We have three floors, five if you include the basement and attic, to get wired. Murphy, you’re on security, and today that means Mia. Sorry, Mia, but until you’re feeling your old self, Murphy is going to watch over you. Ted, Jake, this place has a working intercom; see if you can patch into it. It might be nice to have a backup to the earcoms. If Mia’s right and there is a powerful entity here, we better have backups to every system.”

  The group disbanded. Cid liked working with Mia and Murphy. They were hard workers. Mia never played the girl card, and she carried more than her share. Murphy seemed extra diligent. Mike knew what he was doing. Mia would soon chafe at being babysat by Murphy. He had heard the “asshole” comment. Feisty Mia was still in there. She just needed encouragement to come out and play.

  “Ted to Mia, come in, Mia. Over.”

  Mia tapped her com. “Mia here. Over.”

  “You don’t sound thrilled to hear from me. Over.”

  “I have a hemorrhoid with an axe. I’m not thrilled about anything at the moment,” Mia said, looking at Murphy, who smiled wickedly.

  “Mike and Burt are looking out for your welfare. Also, I received a picture of Brian and Amanda playing chess. It appears Brian is winning.”

  Mia smiled. “Send it to my phone. I’d like to see it.”

  “Will do. Over.”

  Mia’s phone vibrated. She pulled out the iPhone and accessed the message with the picture. “Aw,” she said and showed the picture to Murphy and Cid.

  “Cid, you did a wonderful job decorating Brian’s room,” Mia said. “He’s got the room lined with bookcases Brian’s height,” Mia explained to Murphy. “A longboat for Brian to sleep in, and a set of bunkbeds with a desk for the future.”

  Cid beamed with pride from Mia’s compliments. “Thank you. I just thought about what I would have wanted if I had the chance to choose the furnishings. My parents decorated with basketball themed things. They were certain that, with my Dad’s height, I’d end up playing pro basketball.”

  “Instead they got Superman. I’d say they got the better deal,” Mia said. “I won’t tell you what I had to put up with. It would depress you.”

  “I had to sleep with the pigs,” Murphy said.

  Mia and Cid looked at him horrified.

  He smiled and smacked his knee.

  “Oh, you big liar,” Mia said and started to giggle.

  “Ted was spoiled,” Cid said. “He got everything he wanted.”

  “Including Mia,” Murphy said.

  Mia blushed. “Hey now, let’s keep the personal stuff to a minimum.”

  “Why?” Cid asked, setting up a tripod.

  Mia handed him a camera. “Ted’s not here to defend himself.”

  “He is listening,” Cid said.

  “Probably,” Mia said as she watched something in front of her. She turned the camera to face it. “Ted, are you receiving this? Over.”

  “Yes, Swee’ Pea. It looks like a young girl about ten or eleven. Over.”

  The girl looked beyond Mia to the ghost that stood behind her. “Stay away from the fourth floor,” she warned before she disappeared.

  “I thought she said something, but I couldn’t hear her,” Mia admitted.

  “She warned us to stay away from the fourth floor,” Murphy said.

  “No, she warned Murphy,” Ted corrected. “She looked at Murphy when she was talking.”

  “Ted said that from the camera’s perspective, it appeared that she warned you to stay away from the fourth floor,” Mia told him. “Since I don’t see any reason to go up there, neither will you,” Mia said smugly.

  Cid looked at the two. Murphy moved in on Mia quickly. He stared down into Mia’s face. Mia looked up at his and put her finger on his chest and pushed. “Back off.”

  “Cid, what’s going on?” Ted whispered in his ear.

  “I’m not sure, but it could soon be the battle of the Titans. Over.”

  “You’re not the boss of me, Mia,” Murphy said.

  “You’re supposed to be protecting me,” Mia reminded him. “I’m not going into the attic. You have to stick beside me.”

  “You’re just doing this so I don’t go up there.”

  “Yes.”

  Murphy raised Mia up with his hands until her face was even with his.

  Cid worried the ghost was going to kiss her, but instead, the two just stared crossly at the other. “Come on, guys, I have to get these cameras set,” Cid said, breaking the spell.

  Murphy set Mia down, and Mia picked up the box of cameras. Murphy had the remain
ing tripods. Cid led them to the next location.

  Ted sat back, a wave of relief washing over him.

  Audrey looked up from her notes. “I think Cid should have let them fight it out.”

  “I’m not so sure.”

  “Mia’s nose has been out of joint since Burt gave Murphy the security job. She’s using their present situation to control Stephen. It’s kind of passive aggressive but seems to be working,” Audrey observed.

  “I’m thinking this close quarters idea is a bad one,” Ted said. He looked at the feed and said, “Cid, try raising the stand. That’s better.”

  The camera feed went dead.

  “We lost the feed, Cid. Over. Cid, come in. Over.” Ted connected with Mia. “Mia, Cid is not coming in. Over.”

  CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! Echoed through the house.

  Ted pointed to the console, took off his headset, and ran out of the room. Audrey slid in and called out an alert to Mike and Burt while Ted charged up the stairs to the third floor location. He got into the room and found it empty. He tapped his earcom. “Audrey! Cid, Mia and Murphy are missing. Over.”

  Ted was on his hands and knees examining the floorboards when Mike and Burt got there. “I don’t know what happened. They’re gone.”

  Chapter Four

  Mia yawned as the early morning light came through the lace curtains. She got out of bed, sliding her feet into the slippers by the side of the bed. She looked over at her husband, seeing that Cid still slept soundly. She removed her nightgown and washed up at the washstand bowl quickly. She slid her dress over her head. She struggled with the fasteners.

  “Here, let me help,” Cid said, yawning. “Where are you going to this morning in such a hurry?” He buttoned the top button and kissed her lightly on the lips.

  “Today is the day the boarder comes,” Mia said. “I need to make the room presentable.”

  “I really wish we didn’t need to rent out rooms,” Cid said. “My teaching salary should be enough.”

  “Not if we want more children,” Mia said, reaching for her tall husband. He kissed her, and she opened her eyes wide. Something was not right.

  Cid looked down at her and stared.

  “This isn’t right,” Mia said. “Something is wrong.” She pulled him down and kissed him hard before pulling away. “Cid, I may be going crazy, but we aren’t married, are we?”

  Cid opened his eyes and pulled her to him again. He moved his hands over her body before he looked into her eyes. “Part of me tells me that you are my wife, and I should take you back to bed and show you so, but another part says that we aren’t married. We don’t even live here.”

  CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

  Mia’s eyes widened. “Cid, Murphy’s in trouble.” Mia grabbed his hand, and together they ran out of the room towards the sound. It was coming from above them. From the fourth floor.

  Stephen had found himself in the foyer holding a valise. He heard the sound of a horse and wagon outside. A young girl looked at him. “My mother will be right down. She’ll show you the room.” The girl skipped away.

  He looked down at the bag. It may have looked like a suitcase, but it felt out of balance. He adjusted his grip and felt wood beneath his hand. It wasn’t a bag at all but an axe, and he wasn’t looking to rent a room; he was investigating a haunted house. The last words he remembered were from the girl and Mia telling him not to go up to the fourth floor. He ran up the steps and stood at the entrance of the attic. He pushed in the door. Before him was a vortex of some kind. He took his axe and sounded out the warning.

  Cid picked up Mia, because he knew that in a run his long legs would have left her behind. The two arrived at the attic door together. Murphy stood there a moment, fighting the urge to take the young girl’s warning, but he knew instinctively that this was the way out. “Come!” he said, reaching for Cid. Cid hugged Mia close to him and followed Murphy into the vortex.

  ~

  The men heard a couple of loud thumps over them. Ted was the first to reach the attic. He pushed in the door to find Mia and Cid locked in an embrace, covered in a clear gooey substance, with Murphy prying his axe out of the side wall.

  “Talk about threesomes,” Mike said from behind him.

  Mia raised her head. She looked over at the three-headed shadow in the doorway and asked, “Mind giving us a hand here?” She tapped Cid’s face. “Come on, Cid, breathe for Mia.”

  He did and started coughing. She examined him for broken bones and found him sound.

  Ted gently lifted Mia up and likewise checked her for broken limbs. Finding her fit, he asked, “What happened?”

  “How long were we gone?” she asked.

  “Minutes.”

  Burt helped Cid off the ground. Mike notified Audrey that the three were found.

  “What is this stuff?” Cid asked. “It feels filmy.”

  “It’s some kind of plasm,” Ted said, rubbing it between his fingers. “What happened? One minute you were setting up cameras, and then you’re here.”

  “I woke up beside Cid in bed,” Mia said. “Wait, before you hit him, I got the idea we were supposed to be a married couple. I woke up with the thought that I had to get the guestroom ready for a boarder.”

  “I found myself downstairs with a suitcase. I think I was the boarder,” Murphy said.

  “I woke up to see Mia naked, washing herself,” Cid said.

  Mike’s mouth dropped open. Burt prepared himself to pull Ted off of Cid.

  “Her back was to me. She put on a dress, and I helped her button it. I thought she was my wife.”

  “I thought he was my husband. I think we had a child and were contemplating having more children.”

  “How far did you get?” Ted asked Cid, red-faced.

  “I kissed her, and that’s when we knew something wasn’t right,” Cid said.

  “Yes, it wasn’t right. It was like kissing a stranger.”

  “You two have never kissed romantically have you?” Mike asked.

  “No,” they chorused.

  “That’s why it didn’t work,” Mike said.

  “What didn’t work?” Ted asked.

  “I think that something here wanted you two to think you were a married couple and Murphy to believe he was your boarder. But why?”

  Mia and Cid didn’t glance at each other. A tacit arrangement of not telling Ted about Cid feeling Mia up was arranged.

  “That ghost girl was downstairs,” Murph said. “She told me her mother would be right down and left.”

  “How did you know?” Mia asked Murphy.

  “My valise felt out of balance. The more I looked at it, the more it felt odd. Soon, I knew it was my axe I was holding.”

  “How did you know to go to attic?” Cid asked.

  “Mia said not to go to the fourth floor.”

  “I was just parroting the ghost girl,” Mia said. “So you went up there just to piss me off.”

  “Yes.”

  Mia started laughing. “Good move. You saved us. Hey, guys, I need a shower and clean clothes. Can I borrow my real husband to act as a lookout?” she asked. “Not that Cid won’t do in a pinch.”

  Ted colored. “Come on, for you it will be a cold shower.”

  “Welcome back, Mia,” Mike said to Burt as Ted pushed Mia through the door.

  ~

  “The girl has to be the key,” Audrey said, looking through her notes. Audrey and Mia were working together, trying to identify the ghost girl in the kitchen.

  Mike, Burt and Ted were in a closed-door meeting. Mike slid out of the pantry, closing the door after him.

  “Any luck?” he asked.

  “Not yet. I was trying to pin down the time period by the clothes and the washstand,” Mia said.

  “Until we figure this out, we have to make sure that we don’t have mixed couples investigating. Mia, you and Audrey and Murphy,” Mike said.

  “He’s a guy,” Mia said, looking at Mike.

  “Yes, but he seems to be able to
push through the bullshit.”

  Murphy, who was leaning against the wall of the kitchen checking out the sharp edge of his axe, smiled smugly. He tapped the handle on the floor in agreement with Mike.

  “Both of you women dated Burt, so he’s out as your cameraman. Cid’s going to fill in.”

  “K.”

  “Who are you pairing up with?” Mia asked, interested.

  “Ted.”

  “If you end up a couple, Ted likes to be on top,” Mia teased.

  “Cooper, I swear one of these days…”

  “Hello!” Glenda’s voice was heard from the front of the house.

  Mia got up and followed Mike into the foyer.

  “My son and my pseudo daughter,” Glenda said. “I’ve brought presents. They are out on the porch.”

  “Come into the kitchen. We have to talk,” Mike said, taking her arm.

  Mia looked at the bags that the cab driver had deposited. “Um, could I have a little help here?”

  Murphy showed up and grabbed a few of the bags. Mia and he made it halfway across the floor when they saw the little girl.

  “Mother, Father, you’re home.”

  Chapter Five

  Mia swept her daughter into her arms. “Renee, I missed you so much. Daddy and I brought back presents.”

  Stephen lifted the bags and smiled. His heart filled each time he looked at his family. He was a very lucky man to have had Mia accept him, especially considering he was a poor teacher. She had inherited this large home, but the cost of keeping it up had emptied both of their bank accounts.

  “Stephen, if you would excuse us, it’s time for a little girl talk,” Mia said.

  “I’ll be in the library, my dear.”

  Renee took Mia’s hand, and the two of them ran up the stairs and into Renee’s bedroom.

  “Oh, Mother, I came up with a grand idea while you were gone. I think we should take in boarders.”

  “Renee, I’m not sure your father would approve.”

  “Maybe if we started with just one.”