Krewe of Hunters, Volume 2: The Unseen ; The Unholy ; The Unspoken ; The Uninvited

by Heather Graham

  In his dreams, Lucy’s face was Allison’s.

  * * *

  When Allison awoke, she heard the others downstairs in the entry.

  She felt good; she’d slept extremely well.

  When she went to bed, she’d been afraid she’d be plagued by dreams all night long or that she’d wake up to see another ghost sitting in the room.

  But she’d felt safe. Ridiculously safe. Tyler was across the hall, and there were five other agents in the house.

  Until this was over, she knew darned well she wasn’t leaving.

  She hurried down the servants’ stairs, delighted to find that the bath was empty. Showering quickly and dressing, she came out to join the others. Kat wasn’t there, nor was Jane. But Kelsey, Logan, Sean and Tyler were together.

  They were gathered around the bank of screens Sean had set up.

  When she arrived, they turned, almost as one, to stare at her.

  She stood still, looking back at them. “What?” she asked. Her feeling of serenity from the night of undisturbed sleep began to evaporate.

  “What?” she repeated.

  “You need to see this,” Tyler said.

  She walked over to the screens, which showed six views of the house. One camera was in the upstairs hallway, one in the attic. One showed Angus Tarleton’s study and another showed a view of the salon. The fifth displayed the front of the house.

  The last camera was set to monitor activity in the entry.

  She could see their group on the screen as they all watched the computers.

  “Hold on,” Sean said. “I’m rolling back.”

  There was a timer set in a black margin at the top of each screen. Allison saw the hours roll back. She noticed something, a splinter of light, and then Sean slowed down the reverse, stopped and moved it forward.

  She saw Tyler come out of his room and silently check on her, and then she saw Logan emerge, as well. They could be seen on the various screens as they came down the stairs and walked through the house, walked back up the stairs and met Kelsey on the second-floor landing.

  “You woke up and checked out the house. That’s a good thing,” she murmured.

  “Wait,” Sean said.

  At the foot of the stairs, a figure began to appear. It was that of a woman. She was hazy at first, but it might have been the low night-light that made her look as if she’d arrived like a wraith.

  Then again, she might have been a wraith.

  She seemed to gather substance.

  She moved from the stairway to the door that led to Angus Tarleton’s study, and she paused there. Sean pushed a key on his computer board and they saw a close-up of the woman.

  Allison’s throat tightened. She would have gasped aloud—if she hadn’t felt that she was choking.

  The woman was beautifully gowned in a Colonial-era dress; her stomacher was blue with white embroidery, her skirt was blue and the sleeves on her gown were white. Her hair, a soft brown, was tied back but curling tendrils escaped to frame her face.

  Her face…

  Allison had already accepted that a good friend she’d seen murdered was now a ghost.

  Why was this terrifying her so much? Because it made her feel as if she was a ghost herself?

  Really, how could things get worse? Her friend was a ghost who believed she could discover the truth about his death. A man in a coma had called her name, and now she was seeing an image of a ghost, a ghost who looked just like her!

  She backed away from the screen. “What is this?” she asked, fear making her tone sharp. “Some kind of trick photography?”

  Tyler laid a hand on her arm. “Allison, it’s not a trick, but it isn’t anything that should upset you.”

  She jerked away. “What, are you crazy? Are you creating footage for one of those stupid ghost shows?”

  They were all silent, not replying to her accusation.

  She realized how brittle she sounded.

  Mean, bitter and nasty. That wasn’t her personality. And what she’d accused them of wasn’t what they were doing, and she knew it, but…

  “You might have been related to her. Somehow,” Sean said, clearing his throat.

  “I wasn’t! She didn’t have children. She died.” Allison shook her head. “I’ve seen paintings of her…. She didn’t resemble me. Not that closely, anyhow.”

  “Well, you didn’t come downstairs, dress up and wander around the house last night, did you?” Kelsey asked.

  Allison turned around with a sharp retort but it never left her lips. Kelsey was looking at her with empathy and understanding.

  These people dealt with things like this all the time. None of it surprised them. Nothing surprised them.

  She was still in denial. But she had a right to be! First, Julian. Now…this.

  “It’s a strong resemblance,” Logan said. “However, that doesn’t really mean anything.”

  “Yeah. Her hair is nowhere near as dark as Allison’s,” Sean added.

  Tyler wasn’t speaking. She’d moved away from him, and he was watching her.

  “It’s not me, it wasn’t me, and I’m no relation to Lucy Tarleton,” she said. “I’m not a descendent. I can’t be.”

  “Of course. It’s just a resemblance,” Logan said.

  Allison felt that her knees would go any second. This wasn’t fair! She’d felt so safe, as if the situation would really be solved, as if Julian’s killer would be discovered and her life could go back to what it had been.

  “I don’t think I can do this,” she said. “I’m not geared up for this kind of thing.”

  Kelsey told her, “Hey, I understand. I always wanted to be a law enforcement officer, so finding out I had a few abilities that would help me with that wasn’t…well, wasn’t so hard to take. You’re a professor, a scholar—an academic. We can all understand how upsetting it must be, how frightening.”

  “I’m not a coward!” she protested. But she was, and it was evident in her swift denial.

  “I’ll get you some coffee,” Kelsey offered, leaving the salon for the pantry.

  “We can’t stop you from going home, if that’s what you’d like to do,” Tyler said.

  “No, we can’t stop you, but…” Logan turned her to face him. “Allison, it’s becoming very clear that you’re the key to whatever is going on here. You can really help us. And if you decide to go back to your own house, we can’t be there to protect you.”

  “We can have police cars patrol around your house, though,” Tyler said.

  “But the cops only have so much manpower. It’ll be hard for them to watch you,” Sean pointed out.

  Kelsey returned with a cup of coffee for her. “When it’s morning, no matter what the trauma, coffee makes it better.”

  “Where’s Julian?” she asked.

  “We told him not to, but when Kat and Jane went to the morgue, Julian went with them,” Logan said.

  Allison took her coffee and sank down into one of the chairs by the bank of screens. “I haven’t really been threatened,” she said. “Not by anyone living. Or anyone…not living. Julian is just worried. I don’t know why he was killed. But there’s no suggestion that whoever killed him would want to kill me.”

  “Should we wait until there’s a bayonet through your throat?” Tyler asked harshly.

  “Tyler,” Kelsey murmured.

  “Run that image again, Sean,” Tyler said, and his voice sounded tense.

  “I saw it the first time!” Allison said.

  “Well, see it again.”

  The image leaped to the screen again. Allison gritted her teeth.

  Tyler hunkered down before her, his face just a breath away. “You’re in danger. If you don’t see it, you’re the most idiotic academic I’ve ever come across. Quit fighting it. If you want us to help you, accept the fact that someone in this house is trying to reach you, because someone outside this house is planning to kill you. Please—trust me. Trust my experience. You are the catalyst here. The key and the
answer. Accept it, and maybe you’ll survive.”

  10

  Allison tried to remain completely stoic and not let Tyler or any of them see the emotions sweeping through her.

  She stared down into her coffee cup. She couldn’t meet his eyes any longer.

  They were right about one thing. She didn’t want to die!

  As she gazed into her coffee, she felt a sensation of strength slowly begin to fill her veins. She looked up; Tyler was still there, his face just inches from hers.

  “I’m here, aren’t I?” she told him softly. “Alive…”

  Something in his expression changed. Something she was afraid to see. He cared. He had spoken harshly to her, but he really cared. She didn’t know what had passed between them, but he was there to be her guardian.

  “Please, admit that what’s on that screen is unnerving!” she said.

  He nodded grimly.

  She’d dressed up for years in the manner of Lucy Tarleton, and hosted tours through the house as if it were her own. She was young; Lucy had been young. There’d been jokes about her resembling the young patriot many times before, but it was also true that she’d never seen such a strong resemblance. And no one had ever suggested she was a spitting image of the long-dead heroine.

  But it was just a resemblance. Maybe it had always been there.

  Even if that was true, a ghost had shown up on film!

  A ghost had been in or around the house, day after day….

  And she had never known it.

  “It’s so much to take in, to get used to,” Kelsey said gently. She nudged Tyler. He rose and stood near her, still watching intently.

  “I’m sorry for sounding so cowardly. I’m usually not the type of person who jumps at shadows or…” Her voice faded away. She almost laughed and said, Or believes in ghosts and things that go bump in the night.

  She didn’t just believe in ghosts now.

  She knew they existed.

  She clenched her teeth tightly together.

  Trying to run away from what was happening would only make it worse.

  Allison squared her shoulders. She looked up at the group and said, “I don’t suppose it would help for me to go home. If I’m the key to this thing as you say, then I guess Tyler was right. I’d better start figuring out how to solve it. Where do we go from here?”

  “It’s not that you have to go anywhere. It’s that you have to open your mind to what you see and hear, and discover what the messages might be,” Logan explained.

  “But we’re supposed to be doing something, aren’t we?” she asked.

  “We are doing things,” Logan assured her. “Kat and Jane are down at the morgue. We’ve been studying the film we’ve taken overnight. Sometimes, when the spirits don’t reach out to us, we can see them on film, so at least we know they’re there.”

  “But…that’s it?”

  “It’s only ten o’clock,” Kelsey said. “If it was as easy as stepping inside and demanding that everyone who remained in the house show themselves and tell us what’s up, we might be done already.” She sat down next to Allison and continued. “The ghosts in this house may not have seen any more than you did. But they might know a great deal more about the past, and that could help us with the present.”

  “Oh. But…”

  Logan stood up. He glanced at Tyler and then at her. “Listen, Allison, we’ve gone over the house, the locks, the alarm system and every possible entry. Julian heard something and saw something. Someone was here. Someone living.” He hesitated and looked at Tyler again. She realized he was trying to tell her something she wouldn’t want to hear.

  “Whoever caused Julian’s death has to be someone you’re close to, Allison,” Tyler said. “Whoever was in the house is someone who has access to it.”

  “Julian is dead, so that would leave Annette and Jason.” Allison shook her head. “No, no—I don’t believe it was either of them. I know Annette was in agony from that tooth that needed the root canal. And I was with Jason. I watched him leave before…before I found Julian.”

  “We’ve confirmed that Annette had a root canal done,” Logan said.

  “You checked out her story?” Allison asked.

  “We check out everything.”

  “There’s also the board of directors,” Tyler said.

  Startled, Allison looked at him. “As in Ethan Oxford? He’s not a small man. I can’t see him trying to creep around this place! Julian, yes, he was young and spry and in excellent shape. But—”

  “There’s also Cherry Addison—” Tyler began.

  “Cherry! We’d have heard those spiked heels of hers a mile away,” Allison interrupted.

  “And Sarah Vining and Nathan Pierson,” he finished.

  “I just can’t imagine our dignified board tiptoeing around the house to shove Julian’s head down on a bayonet and then somehow traumatize Artie Dixon and send him into a coma,” Allison said. “Have you met our board? Well, I know you met Cherry, but—”

  “I’ve met them all,” Tyler told her. “We’ll need to spend some more time with them. And, I’m sorry to say, with Jason and Annette, as well.”

  Allison started to answer but fell silent as they heard a commotion at the door. Logan frowned and raised a brow at Tyler, who shrugged.

  “We have to knock. People are living there now!” they heard.

  It was a feminine voice—one Allison knew well.

  “You won’t have to wait for the board. A few of them are already here,” she said.

  “Did you know they were coming?” Logan asked Tyler.

  Tyler shook his head as he walked to the door, unlocking it. Sarah stepped back in shock as the door opened; she had a hand on Nathan Pierson’s arm. Nathan still held his key, ready to use it, and Cherry Addison was standing impatiently behind them.

  “Hello,” Tyler said.

  “Agent Montague.” Nathan spoke casually, grinning. “We’ve come to see if you’re settling in all right.”

  “Oh, good God, Nathan, tell them the truth. We came to make sure you weren’t putting garlic around the windows or doing anything to destroy the integrity of the property,” Cherry told him. She smiled, though. Cherry really seemed to like Tyler.

  “Come and meet the rest of the Krewe,” Tyler said. “And no, I guarantee that we don’t put garlic around the windows.”

  As they filed in, Tyler began the introductions to Sean, Kelsey and Logan. When he’d finished, he asked, “Where’s Ethan?”

  “Ethan’s been friends with Adam Harrison for a long time. I believe they’re at a fundraiser now, some kind of breakfast,” Nathan said. “I’d thought Adam would be the head honcho here,” he added.

  “Adam puts things together. He’s the organizer. We’re the workers,” Logan explained.

  Allison noted that Sean had hit a key on the computer; the scenes depicted on all the screens were of the present.

  Cherry Addison turned to her. “So, Allison, you’re still showing the Krewe around. That’s so kind of you, dear. You could be taking this time to hole up in your little room on campus and do your brilliant academic work.”

  Cherry had a way of speaking. Her words were benign enough, but her tone often contradicted them, with a sarcastic or disbelieving inflection that suggested the opposite of what she said. She seemed to be saying that Allison belonged in a stuffy university office or library.

  “Cherry, you know how I love the house!” Allison said.

  “Ms. Leigh has been extremely helpful,” Tyler put in.

  “Of course, the house and its history are near and dear to us all.” Sarah smiled at Allison. Bless Sarah; she was so like a nervous terrier, but her intentions were always the best. “And I just can’t believe that anyone—anyone!—would purposely hurt that young Mr. Mitchell. He was such a talented man,” Sarah said sadly.

  “And a showoff, not to mention a goofball.” Cherry’s voice was caustic. “What’s most troubling is the type of story that keeps coming out in the
media about that man—Artie Dixon. They’ve practically turned his coma into an alien invasion!”

  “Cherry, that’s one of the reasons Ethan was so keen on inviting this unit of law enforcement to come in,” Nathan said. “They’ll bring our historic property back into historic perspective.” He shrugged. “But, even if that doesn’t happen, everyone loves a good haunted house, huh?”

  “As long as people stop dying in it,” Allison said.

  She was surprised that she’d spoken. She stood, uncomfortable with the words that had escaped her. A silence descended on the room.

  Nathan looked at her. “You’re right, Allison. As long as people stop dying in it. Well, we’ll leave you to your work. We just thought we should drop by and see if you needed anything. Oh, as to the office. I can arrange to come and help you put things back in order, Allison.”

  Allison smiled at him. “Thanks, Nathan. I can do it on my own, but it’s up to you.”

  “I suppose I could help,” Cherry said, sounding reluctant. “But not today. Oh, my husband is having a gallery showing tomorrow evening. You must all come.”

  “Cherry, they’re here to work,” Sarah reminded her.

  “All work and no play…” Cherry gestured expansively. “They need to breathe once in a while, Sarah. Please join us. The gallery is farther down on Walnut. Take a break and come by.”

  “Have you discovered anything?” Sarah asked the group. “Is it possible that Julian trashed the office before doing himself in?”

  “We’ve really just begun, Ms. Vining,” Kelsey said. “But we will do our absolute best to find out the truth.”

  Sarah nodded. “Yes, I’m sure you will.”

  “I have a luncheon date,” Nathan said. “I need to get moving. But we do want you to let us know if you need anything. Anything at all.”

  “Thank you,” Logan said on behalf of the group.

  “I have to go and supervise some hangings,” Cherry said. “Of paintings and art pieces!” she added quickly. “Oh, of course, the gallery owner hangs the painting, but I need to be there to see that everything’s just right.”

  That drew smiles. Cherry seemed glad.

  “I could stay now if you wanted,” Sarah told Allison.