“Who was the owner at that time?”
“Lester Arslow.”
“Was Cole able to track him down?”
“Um,” Kaylyn nodded toward the file in Jonah’s hand. “I didn’t have a chance to check and she rushed out as soon as I sat down.”
Jonah opened the file and laid out Cole’s notes on the desk. “Here he is,” he pointed, and slid the paper around so Kaylyn could see as well. “It looks like he died soon after selling the building. There’s nothing in her report about the details of his death. What did you find on that?”
“I was looking through local files.” She straightened and shifted a little in her seat. “This says he moved to the west coast shortly after the sale.”
“Alright,” Jonah’s head fell to the side. “Can you look into it?”
Kaylyn nodded, feeling slightly off kilter without him chastising her. She wished Jonah at least had predictable reactions.
“Did you find any other details?”
“Nothing of the insanely helpful variety, but while it was operational, a lot of rich and influential people owned the hotel.”
“You think it’s been whitewashed?” Jonah’s voice took on a low growl as he settled back, pulling the papers out of her reach. “I’ll make a few calls and see if we can get some official reports. Good work. What are your plans for the rest of the afternoon?”
Kaylyn nearly fell out of her seat, her brain barely making it past the words “good work”, but she reminded herself to stay on task. “Compiling the report that you wanted?”
Jonah made a sound in his throat. “Nice try. I’m going to see Mr. Edwards. I thought you would join me, and I’ll brief you on what the lab discovered on the way.”
Of course, it was too good to be true. They were back to the shining pinnacle of her incompetence. Not knowing what to say, she forced a smile and nodded, allowing Jonah to lead her down to the lobby. She shoved the files in her cabinet and followed him out to the back lot where a deep blue Aston Martin Vantage Coupe waited. She tripped mid-step as she ogled the car, unsure of which was more disconcerting—the price he would have paid for it, or that business-suit-wearing Jonah Troyer had a sports car.
She snapped her mouth shut, noticing that Jonah was watching her. “Nice car.”
“I enjoy it.”
Sliding into the passenger seat, Kaylyn inhaled the new car smell, tinged with leather and something else… something very Jonah, and that thought made her lungs itch. She leaned toward the door, as if that would help—at least it put some distance between herself and Jonah as the car purred to life and he shifted it into reverse.
“The lab called just before I came up to speak with you,” he said. “They were able to fit enough pieces of the box together to get a good idea of the inscription, and the process that went into making the box.”
Kaylyn’s throat closed as she tried to breathe. He wouldn’t be taking you to see the client if you were fired, she reminded herself. “Did they figure out why it turned a historical society curator into a looney?”
“In your report, you said he referred to himself as Gib. They found the name Gilbert inscribed, in English, above the locking mechanism. They haven’t determined the origin of the rest of the symbols, but they think they’re close.”
“So, someone trapped him in the box?”
“Or he trapped himself in the box. It’s possible he intended to preserve his consciousness and return later. Aicil has come across similar boxes and descriptions of such rituals, but as far as we know, none of those attempts were successful. There would have been something placed inside the box, something meaningful to Gib, to lure and protect his essence. After a binding ritual, it was placed in the cedar box to keep it pure and protected.”
“But there definitely wasn’t anything inside.”
“That you know of. Mr. Edwards had already released the spirit by the time you had arrived. Meaning—”
“You think he removed it, and that’s the real reason we’re going to see him. If the artifact in the box was what helped this spirit or…” she searched for the right word, “consciousness remain, and the box was simply a vessel, why did smashing the box break the connection with Mr. Edwards?”
Jonah glanced over at her and nodded.
Guess that concludes the civilized discussion portion of the drive.
“You…” Jonah stopped.
Kaylyn fixed her gaze on him. Up to this point, he hadn’t been shy about saying anything, so this development didn’t bode well in her gut.
“You raise good questions.” The gap between his brows narrowed. “You’re intuitive.”
“And why does that seem to irk you?”
“Because it’s a shame your head is on the chopping block.”
“It doesn’t have to be. You could just leave me alone and let me do my job.”
“It doesn’t work like that, and you know it.” Jonah stopped at a stop sign long enough to give her a long stare. “If you spent half as much effort trying to get along as you do being a smart aleck, you’d have less to worry about.”
Kaylyn pulled her arms across her chest. Who did he think he was? He didn’t know anything about her.
“Well?” Jonah asked.
“Well, what?” Her shrill voice bounced around the interior of the car.
“I’m giving you the opportunity to explain yourself.”
“There’s nothing to explain. I do my job.”
Jonah raised his eyebrows and tapped his fingers against the shifter.
Kaylyn’s body burned with the need to get farther away from him, even if it was a few inches. Why couldn’t the car be bigger? “Your holier-than-thou attitude is less than appealing.”
“As is yours.”
Kaylyn’s mouth opened, preparing to yell, but Jonah cut her off.
“Even if it means your career, you refuse to talk to anyone—to get help.”
“I don’t need help. All you know about me is what you found in those files. You’re here replacing Carlisle because the Council found out he was fabricating and withholding inf—” Kaylyn dug her nails into the armrest.
“And where did you get those details?”
“You said—” she began.
“I said that the Council believed he was lax in keeping the office together. Only a few people know exactly what got him fired. Who told you?”
The voice in the back of her mind yelled at her to stop. Just let it go. Don’t make it worse. But that voice wasn’t loud enough. “You want to know? You’re an investigator, right?”
“Nick Bellis,” he said, without even pausing for deliberation.
Kaylyn stopped breathing.
“So, it was?” Jonah shook his head. “You expected that to be difficult? Your reputation preceded you—well, beyond what the official files state.”
“Good to know that you’ve also been sticking your nose in my personal business.”
“Personal business? It’s Nick. If you expected the entire world not to know about that, you are dense.”
She did know that, but the thought of Nick telling everyone their business still made her eyes burn. And Jonah knowing about it made her intestines revolt. Luckily, Jonah didn’t press the issue any farther, leaving her to fight with her own thoughts for the rest of the drive.
Jonah took the lead as they entered the stonehouse, extending his hand to the director. “Mr. Edwards, good to see you’re back to work, after everything that happened.”
“Yes, it was a crazy day. It’s a pity about the artifact, too.”
Kaylyn hung back, replaying the conversation from the car in her head. If the box hadn’t created the connection, did Jonah think that the connection still hadn’t been broken?
“We have a couple of questions about the artifact, since you were the only one to spend much time with it before it was broken.”
“Of course.” Mr. Edwards smiled, but there was a twitch to his lips as he turned and led them to a seating area.
> “Were you able to open the box?” Jonah’s gaze traveled around the room, his body remained relaxed, even though he refused to sit down.
“No. As I explained, it was locked. There wasn’t a key and, well, I didn’t want to ruin it.”
“So,” Kaylyn said, “you were willing to turn over a box with no reservations and no question as to its contents. What if there was some priceless treasure inside?”
“Well, I’m sure you would have done right by it. It was out of my expertise.”
Kaylyn thought she saw his hand jerk before he slid it into the pocket of his sport coat. Maybe that’s where the mysterious object was… Or maybe hanging out with Jonah so long was making her paranoid to the point of hallucinations—maybe that was the lack of sleep. She felt hyper-aware of the room, like it made her skin crackle and buzz.
The next thing she knew, she was standing in the room upstairs where Mr. Edwards had gone mad.
“Find anything?” Jonah asked.
His voice made her jump, and she had to grab a nearby shelf to steady herself. “Sorry,” she said without thinking.
“You okay? You’ve been a little distant for the past few minutes.”
“Yeah,” she lied. How the hell did we get up here? And what the heck am I supposed to be looking for?
“Have you seen the medallion?” Jonah took a step closer, seeming more interested in her than whatever medallion she was supposed to be looking for.
“No.” She turned back to the shelf, so she wouldn’t have to look at him and a silver medallion caught her attention. “Well, maybe.”
The silver coin portrayed a farm scene with the words Master Farmer curving over the top. Flipping it over, the name Edmund Spencer with the year 1926 was engraved around a wheat bundle. She handed it off to Jonah.
“Great.” He stared at it for a moment then looked back to her. “You sure you’re feeling okay? You look a little pale.”
“Strange lighting up here.”
Jonah squinted, but nodded and walked away. Now if she could only figure out what the hell had them up here searching for some medallion. And how the hell she’d lost the past few minutes… Then, she hoped it really had only been a few minutes. While the questions screamed away in her head, she did her best to keep a neutral expression and stay close to Jonah as he descended the stairs.
He flashed the medallion to Mr. Edwards, who smiled and took it, only to hand it off to another man standing in the entry.
What the hell?
Jonah turned back, so only she could see his face, and rolled his eyes toward the ceiling. Kaylyn almost had to put her hand over her mouth to hold back a laugh at his annoyance—at least, for once, it wasn’t directed at her. She relaxed and leaned against the wall.
They say sleep deprivation can cause blackouts, she thought. Maybe it was worse than she had been willing to admit.
“Thanks for your help,” Mr. Edwards said to Jonah as the door closed behind the other strange man.
“No problem. Sorry for taking up so much of your time.”
That’s it? Kaylyn thought, but…
Jonah glanced back at her, as if he’d heard her internal objection, then he nodded toward the door. Kaylyn rolled her shoulders back, preparing to march out behind him without having gained any answers, then she notice Mr. Edwards sport coat hanging over a chair near the door. Biting back a smile, she nodded.
“Sorry to be a bother,” Kaylyn said, clearing her throat for effect, “could I get some water? I got into some dust upstairs and I’m parched.”
“Sure,” Mr. Edwards smiled and pointed them toward the kitchen. Jonah waited behind while she followed the old man. He pulled a small bottle of water out of a mini-fridge and handed it to her.
Then he groaned and spasmed.
Please don’t die.
He grasped at where his coat pocket would have been, then his eyes widened and he charged into the other room. His words hissed as they passed through his clenched teeth, “Do not touch that.”
Jonah held up some kind of stone relic. “You can’t just take over someone’s life. Mr. Edwards has a family.”
“Yes, and I’m very kind and attentive to them.”
“Well, then, they definitely know something’s up.” Kaylyn mumbled. “Mr. Edwards deserves to live his own life.”
“The man was miserable. He’s happy now,” he said, pointing to his temple. “It was a little awkward at first, to be in here. I didn’t know what to expect when you and your other partner showed up. I guess I panicked, and the adrenaline got to me. A lot of things have changed since my time, but he teaches me what I need to know.”
“Yeah, yeah, while he sips Mai Tais on the beach,” Kaylyn knew it was wrong, but somehow it didn’t sound that bad. Mr. Edwards could be in his own personal paradise. Or nightmare, her hand clenched as the images from her own dreams scratched through her mind. She gripped the doorway, barely holding on to a sliver of equilibrium while Gib and Jonah continued the exchange.
Jonah
Jonah squeezed the small green rock into his palm. “There are plenty of things I can do, Gib.”
But he hoped he didn’t have to. The man’s reaction upon Jonah merely touching the rock indicated that he still had some connection to it, but using forcible means at this point wouldn’t be pleasant for anyone involved, especially Mr. Edwards. And it wouldn’t give them any answers.
Kaylyn spoke up. “What about your family, Gib? Where are they?”
“Leave them out of this.” His body went rigid and his nose flared as he turned on Kaylyn. Hands on her hips, she met his glare.
Jonah smirked, maybe he had jumped to conclusions about Kaylyn. “They’re probably waiting on you. Wondering where you are. Why don’t you tell us about the relief on this stone?”
“I don’t know anything about it,” Gib said, folding his arms across his chest.
“If you didn’t know anything about the rock you wouldn’t have been bound to it,” Jonah said.
“It didn’t really belong to me. It was my wife’s, she had it b—before we got married. She didn’t have much, but she loved that thing…” Gib lunged at Jonah, reaching toward the rock, but when Jonah pulled his fisted hand away, Gib let out a deep breath and returned to his seat near the fireplace. “I don’t know what it is though, or where it came from.”
Jonah softened, but made sure to keep the rock out of Gib’s reach. “What happened to your wife?”
“She died, giving birth to our daughter. I promised Eleanor I’d watch over our daughter, Louisa.” He absent-mindedly rubbed his hand over his hair, drawing the comb over down toward his face. “I promised. I couldn’t do that if I was dead. The doctor said it was consumption, and I wouldn’t have long to live… Louisa was only sixteen, so he offered to help me keep my promise.”
Kaylyn leaned over the back of a chair, facing Gib. “What did you plan on doing from a box?”
Jonah glared at her, and she threw her hands in the air. “Legitimate question.”
“I didn’t intend to stay in the box. Only long enough to find a suitable host for my consciousness. But something must have happened to Pritchard.”
“Pritchard?” Jonah asked. “The doctor?”
Gib nodded.
“So, the plan all along was to take over someone else’s body?”
“As long as they weren’t using it, of course. Pritchard assured me he could find a suitable body, and he was a doctor, so he would know, don’t you think?”
Kaylyn looked to Jonah, then moved around to collapse into the seat she was leaning against. “How much did you pay him?”
The man’s skin became a paler shade of white. “Well, I didn’t pay him anything, but after I was gone, he had access to everything I had. He was to use it to take care of Louisa until she found a suitable husband. You don’t believe me.”
What a crock! Jonah rubbed his hand against his chin. “That’s not the problem, Gib. He was scamming you. Somehow, he managed to pull it off, but he w
as up to something. What was Louisa’s full name?”
“Louisa Madeline Conrad.”
Kaylyn nodded and pulled out her phone as she stepped into the kitchen.
“What is she doing?” Gib froze with his head tilted to the side, he blinked a few times, and then a wide smile grew across his face. “Ah. She’ll find Louisa. This technology stuff is wondrous.”
Jonah nodded, pressing his back into the wall. There was something disturbing about watching Gib struggle as the two consciousnesses communicated inside his brain. Maybe it was just the serial killer look he got when it happened. Either way, Jonah wished something that he wouldn’t have imagined just twenty-four hours ago—he wanted Kaylyn back in the room.
After fifteen minutes of awkward silence, Kaylyn returned and handed Jonah a sheet of paper.
“Well? Well?” Gib rose from his seat, but Jonah commanded him to sit with a simple move of his hand.
“If we tell you, will you move on? Leave Mr. Edwards free to live his own life?”
Gib’s eyes darted back and forth, looking at Jonah and Kaylyn in rapid succession. “If—”
“It’s a yes or no question. No negotiating.”
Gib sat back and crossed his arms. “Then I’ll just find her myself.”
“No, option two is that we force you to leave. With or without the information, you will leave Mr. Edwards body. You’re more than two hundred years out of your time, Gib. It’s time you move on, maybe reunite with your family.”
“You don’t know that will happen.”
“Do like the rest of us and hope. Do you want to know, or not?”
“Fine, I’ll do as you say. Not like there’s much around here for me, anyway.”
“Louisa was married two months after you died—”
“Two?”
“She had six children, eleven grandchildren and lived to be sixty-two.”
“So what about her descendants, do you think we can track—”
“No.” Kaylyn and Jonah said in unison.
“Fine, but I don’t know how to leave.”
Jonah tossed him the engraved stone. “Same as before, but this time go to your wife. Let the memory pull you there. The emotions: the good, the bad, the loss. Let it consume you.”
Fractured Legacy (Darkness Bound / Frqactured Legacy #1) Page 5