“Good morning, Celine,” he said, still leaning against the car, arms crossed.
“What do you want, Gray? I already told you I can’t help you.”
“I know what you said, I don’t accept it.”
“Well, that’s too bad for you. Soon there’ll be no choice. So either accept it now, then or not at all. Either way, the result is the same.”
“No, Celine. It’s not. You’ve still got time to change your mind and you’ve got to.”
“I will not continue having this argument with you. I’m not changing my mind; nothing will make me change my mind. Go home, Gray.”
“I can’t. I can’t go back without you, we need you too much.”
“How did you find me, anyway?” Josie asked, curious how he tracked her down after the events twenty-five years ago.
“Your sister, Celeste, she’s back, she helped us.”
“Oh, well now I’m sure I’m not going back. Whatever problems Celeste has brought to your doorstep you can handle yourselves,” Josie said, holding a hand up.
“Damn it, Celine, we don’t have time for your stubbornness,” he exclaimed. “You’ve got to come back.”
“I told you no, I meant it, stop asking me, stop texting me, go home.” Josie turned to leave; finished with the conversation.
“Celine,” he called as she started to jog away, “it’s serious. It’s the Duke. He’s back.”
Josie came to a stop, processing the information. She shook her head after a moment; she couldn’t let herself become involved. “Sorry, Gray, I can’t help you,” she said and resumed jogging home. She forced her mind to stop dwelling on the conversation. She could not afford to become involved. She had one chance at a normal life; she had to take it. She had to walk away.
When she returned home, the house was abuzz with activity. Michael and Damien were getting ready to go to work. She would be alone in the house today; that would make things much easier. By 7 a.m., everyone was heading out of the house, leaving her to enjoy her cup of tea alone on the porch. Josie watched them both head off down the driveway. It was the first day of her new life and she planned to enjoy it.
Michael and Damien both pulled down the drive, with Michael trailing behind Damien. Within minutes of getting on the main road, they both turned off into a small parking lot outside of a now-abandoned pizza shop. Damien pulled his car around the back of the building. Michael followed him. Damien got out of his car, locked the doors and hopped into the passenger side of Michael’s.
“She still at home?”
“Yep,” Damien said, checking the phone tracking app.
“All right, well, let’s double back and get this stakeout started.”
“Cool. I brought snacks this time,” Damien said, grabbing his backpack. “We got soda, chips and candy, all kinds of stuff.” Damien eyed Michael for a moment, “You seriously going to stay in dress clothes all day?”
“No, I brought a change of clothes, I’ll change when we get there.”
“I can’t believe we’re doing this. She’ll be so mad if she catches us.”
“Yeah, she will, but,” Michael said, easing the car back onto the road, “the complete one-eighty yesterday didn’t sit well with me.”
“Oh, I totally agree. I’ve known Josie all my life, she was acting nothing like Josie. I just can’t figure out why she’d lie. I mean I get not wanting her mom upset, but why lie to me?”
“Well,” Michael answered, pulling back onto the road the house was on, “we’ll soon find out.” He pulled the car past the driveway of the house before easing it off the road into a clearing of trees. The car was hidden from the house but they could keep tabs on Josie’s location, follow her if needed and watch the house. After parking, Michael hopped out to change clothes then climbed back in behind the wheel. “Okay,” he said, “let’s get this party started.”
They didn’t have long to wait. By mid-morning, Josie had a visitor; a car pulled into the driveway and headed for the house. “Let’s check it out,” Michael said, opening his door.
The pair crept through the woods closer to the house. Michael took out a pair of binoculars and trained them onto the house.
“Seriously?” Damien asked.
“What? I want a clear view,” Michael retorted. “Okay, who do we have?” A figure exited the car.
“Well?” Damien asked, “who is it?”
“It’s the guy from the motel. Here, check it out. Good thing I brought these, huh?”
Damien looked through the binoculars. “Yeah, good thing. Yep, that’s him all right. What’s he doing there, I wonder?”
“Yeah, she said it was over. Doesn’t look over to me.”
They watched as the man rang the doorbell then knocked on the door and waited a few minutes before Josie opened it. They stood talking for a moment or two before he disappeared inside the house.
“I wish we could hear what they are saying,” Michael said.
“Yeah, should have bugged the place.”
“Wait, can you do that?”
“What? Are you serious?”
“Well, it’d be useful at a time like this.”
“I mean, yeah, but I’ve never done it. I imagine she might figure it out if we’re setting up bugs all over the place.”
“True, but if this continues it may be something to consider. Well, get comfortable I guess, let’s see how long he’s here.”
Josie heard the doorbell ring, then a knock. She hoped it was a delivery person, but she had a sneaking suspicion it wasn’t. She headed downstairs, leaving her office. She peered out of the window next to the door. It was Gray. She sighed, opening the door. “What do you want?”
“To talk to you. Can I come in?”
“No, Gray, you can’t come in. This is crossing the line. I’ve already told you I can’t help you.”
“All right, fine. I’ll come back later. Perhaps around six tonight, perhaps you’ll be in a more receiving mood then.”
Josie grimaced. She stood aside, allowing him entrance. “Thought you’d see it my way,” he said, stalking into the house.
She closed the door. “You have five minutes, Gray. Although, there is nothing you can say that will change my mind.”
“You’re being stubborn, although I’m not surprised, you’ve always been stubborn. It’s one of your most enchanting yet exasperating qualities.”
“Four minutes.”
“Are you really enjoying your life here? This mundane existence? The daily grind?”
“Three minutes.”
“You can’t tell me this is what you want. Come on, Celine. Can you look me in the eye and tell me this is what you really want?”
“Two minutes.”
“You can’t, can you? You can’t do it, that’s why you’re just trying to wait me out, that’s why you won’t discuss anything.”
“I can, Gray. I can. This is what I want. I like my life. I am happy as Josie.”
“You didn’t know any different, not until yesterday anyway.”
“I’m not coming back. I can’t.”
“Celine, please. We need your help.”
“I can’t help you. Especially if the Duke is involved.”
“Celine, you’re the only one who can help if the Duke is involved. You know that.”
“I think your time is up, please go.” Josie walked to the door and opened it.
“Celine, please. There are children involved here. We need your help. Now, please, stop being stubborn.”
“How dare you? Don’t you try to guilt me into this.”
“I’m simply telling you what is at stake here. If you can let two innocent children be tormented by the Duke, much the way you were, then fine, I’ll go. But I don’t think that’s in your nature, Celine. At least it wasn’t. Perhaps Josie is that selfish, you were not.” He walked through the door. “Think about it. I’ll be in touch.”
Josie slammed the door behind him. She was furious. How dare he show up at the house un
announced and then try to guilt her into changing her mind. She tried to convince herself that she wasn’t being selfish. It was worth it, she deserved a life too. Sacrifices had to be made. She had to stay the course. Days remained, only days, that was all it would take. She took a deep breath; she had to maintain her normal life. She forced herself to climb up the steps, determined to focus on work for the afternoon. She hoped to use it as both a distraction from her recent conversations with Gray and an affirmation that this was the life she was choosing.
“Here we go, he’s coming out,” Michael said, “that was a short conversation.”
“He doesn’t seem upset, he’s not yelling like yesterday.”
“No, he wasn’t in there long enough.”
“There he goes, and he’s off.”
“Yep, hmm, well, should we go back to the car?”
“Yeah, it’s way too hot out here already. Plus, time for a mid-morning snack.”
They headed back to the car, Michael turned on the engine to run the air conditioner to cool the car off for a bit. “So, who do you think he is?” he said, cracking open a soda that Damien brought.
“No idea. I never saw that guy before yesterday. Here wait, I’m going to text her and see what she says.”
“Wait, you’re going to text her about this guy?”
“No, I mean, sort of. I’m going to just ‘check in’ and ask her how it’s going, is she okay and all of that.”
“Oh right, yeah, okay, good idea. See what you get back from her.”
“Okay, here we go. I sent it, said ‘everything going okay?’ Let’s see what we get back.”
Within a few minutes, Josie responded: Yep, all good here :)
“So she’s still going to lie,” Michael said.
“Looks like it. It’s too obvious to ask if she’s had any visitors. Hmm, perhaps I can say… I’ve got it. ‘No disturbances?’” he said as he typed.
His phone chimed indicating a response: Nope, nothing to worry about, D!
Damien responded: How’s your head?
After a moment, he received a new message: Seems fine, doesn’t hurt, no bump or anything
“Anything?” Michael asked.
“Nope, she’s admitting to nothing. Looks like that was a bust.” He threw his phone down, grabbing a bag of chips and popping it open.
“Well, I guess the stakeout continues.”
Josie answered the text messages from Damien. She was surprised it took him this long to check in. It seemed he was walking on eggshells around her, not wanting to come across as overbearing. She settled in to her chair and pulled up her email application. Nothing new there. She opened a few reports and a word document to continue working on creating a summary for a client.
She typed a few words and added a chart. She fiddled with adjusting its size and location and added a caption. She stared at the document. She typed another word and stopped. She found herself distracted. She tried to push ahead, finishing the statement. She deleted it and rewrote it twice then was stuck again.
It was no use, she couldn’t focus. She still had about an hour before lunch so she decided she would relax with a bath. She headed for her room. As she prepared for the bath, she noticed the music box sitting on the dresser where she had put it the night before. She shook her head, turning to face away from it as she changed.
After the tub was full, she slipped out of her bathrobe and into the tub. She laid back, closing her eyes, trying to relax. After a few moments she opened them. Staring ahead, she found she could see the music box from where she was in the tub since she had left the door ajar. She couldn’t catch a break today, she thought. She closed her eyes again, shutting it out. They popped back open after a few moments. It was no use this wasn’t relaxing her either.
She gave up on the bath, climbing out, toweling off and redressing. Perhaps she needed to get out of the house, she thought. She wasn’t sure where she would go, but anywhere was preferable to sitting at home unable to focus on anything. She grabbed her purse and keys and headed for her car.
“Got movement again. There goes Josie’s car.” Michael announced.
“Got the tracker up, let’s see where she goes.”
Michael looked over Damien’s shoulder watching the red dot move around on the app’s map. “Where are you going, Josie?” Damien asked his phone.
“Mall trip?” Michael asked, finishing his soda.
“Perhaps. Lunch break?”
“Could be. Doesn’t look like she’s heading to the mall.”
“Nope, doesn’t look like she’s heading to any of her favorite lunch spots either,” Damien said, studying her movement. “Actually, it kind of looks like…”
“She’s going to the motel,” they said in unison. Michael fired the engine and backed out onto the road. He put the car in drive and sped off down the road.
Josie pulled out of the driveway, knowing she did not want to stay at home. She didn’t aim for any particular place. She wove around the back roads in what she thought was an aimless pattern. Before she realized it, she was turning onto the road that housed the Mountain View Inn. She sighed, frustrated with herself for not being able to stay away.
She pulled into the parking lot. Gray’s car was there in front of room seven. She pulled in next to it. She climbed from the car and knocked on Gray’s door. After a few moments, Gray opened it.
He smiled at her and stood back to allow her to enter the room. He glanced around outside before closing the door, shutting the world out.
“It’s good to see you, Celine. I’m glad you came back.”
“I’m not 'back,’ Gray. Not the way you want me to be. But I didn’t like the way our last conversation ended.”
“Neither did I. I don’t like fighting with you, never did. Now, can we start again? Perhaps discuss things fresh?”
“I’m not selfish, Gray, Josie isn’t selfish either, but I made a bargain, I can’t go back. You must understand that. You were there at the end, you know what I suffered through.”
“Yes, I know. I wanted to help you. I wanted to be there for you. But you went ahead and did this without discussing it with me. Stubborn, like I said before.”
“I wasn’t being stubborn, come on, Gray.”
“You were. It always has to be your way. I wanted to help, you wouldn’t let me. You pushed me away. We were a team, Celine, at least I thought we were. By the time I knew what you had done it was too late, and it’s almost too late again. I refuse to lose you a second time.”
“You don’t have a choice, Gray. I can’t be involved. I can’t do this again.”
“Celine…” he began.
“No!” Her voice rose sharply. “No, Gray, we’re finished. I just didn’t want to leave things the way they stood. I need you to understand.”
“Well, I don’t understand. Not at all, I will never understand. So if you’ve come here looking for some absolution from me you can just turn around and go because you’re not getting it. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever, Celine.”
Josie shook her head, clenching her jaw. “Okay,” she said after a while. “I’ll go.” She went to the door, opening it. Before leaving, she looked back at Gray. “But you should go, too, because I’m not changing my mind, absolution or not.”
Josie left, almost running into Millie on her way out.
“Oh, Celine, nice to…” she said, her voice trailing off a bit as Josie pushed past her.
“Not in the mood, Millie,” Josie said and kept going to her car.
“What was that about?” Millie asked, entering the room.
“She’s mad because I won’t let her off the hook, tell her it’s okay to not come back, let her keep living her pretend life as Josie.”
“She sounds like she has her mind made up. This is the third time she’s told you that, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, it is. But she will change her mind.”
“How can you be so sure?” Millie inquired.
“Because she came here
looking for validation. She’s looking for an okay from me that what she was doing is right.”
“But you told her you didn’t agree, and she still didn’t change her mind.”
“No, she didn’t, but she will.”
“I don’t understand your sudden confidence, Gray. How can you be so sure?”
Gray gave her a half-smile. “Did you already forget what you told me, Millie?” Millie looked puzzled. “I know her, remember? If she hadn’t come back, it would have concerned me. But the fact that she did suggests that she’s thinking about it, reconsidering, feeling guilty for saying no. She came back because it’s bothering her and as long as I don’t tell her it’s okay, as long as I keep the pressure on her, she will keep being bothered. The guilt will grab hold of her conscience and squeeze until she changes her mind. I’ll text her later, keep the pressure on her, she’ll come around soon, I know it.”
“I hope you’re right,” Millie said. “I just got a text from Alexander. Things are continuing in a downward spiral. So, for all our sakes, I hope you’re right.”
Chapter 17
Josie drove back toward home. The conversation with Gray still bothered her. She wasn’t sure what she expected from him when she went to the motel. How could he accuse her of being selfish? He, of all people, should understand what she went through twenty-five years ago. She wouldn’t let him bother her. She needed to put it out of her mind.
She considered getting lunch at a favorite restaurant, anything to distract her mind, but she wasn’t hungry. Perhaps some shopping would help, she surmised. She aimed her car for the mall, parking outside of her favorite department store. She wandered around like a zombie, not able to focus on anything. When her watch read almost 1:30 p.m., she supposed that she had better eat.
As she headed for the food court, the memory of her last experience here plagued her. Every place she turned, memories of Gray and his pleading for help haunted her. She left without eating, heading home to grab a light snack instead.
Shadows of the Past: A Supernatural Suspense Mystery (Shadow Slayers Stories Book 1) Page 14