by B. J Daniels
“It wasn’t a ghost,” she said to his back. She finished her ice cream and brought her bowl over. He took it from her, washed it, and as he dried his hands, he leaned against the counter, facing her.
“I just know there were nights when I wanted to be anywhere but in this hotel,” he said. “The good news is that whoever, whatever, is walking the hallways, it doesn’t seem to be dangerous.”
“And if you’re wrong about that?” He realized that she was more upset than he’d originally thought.
She started to turn away. He grabbed her arm, turning her to face him. The fear he saw on her face made him catch his breath. “I’m sorry I joked about it. So tell me exactly what happened.”
She looked defiant for a moment but sighed and told him a story that matched his own experience. “Someone is trying awfully hard to convince me Megan’s ghost is in the hotel. Most everyone was down by the fire. So the footsteps I heard outside my door? It had to be Claude or Devlin.”
* * *
“IT HAD TO be one of them,” Casey said again. She could see that Finn didn’t believe it, making her more determined. “Who else knew about the perfume except one of the staff?”
“You think Claude and Devlin knew the kind of perfume Megan wore?”
“Maybe not, but Jason did. Also, Megan had the general store here order more of her so-called signature perfume when her bottle got broken. It’s really expensive, so someone at the store would have remembered, if either of them had asked.”
He looked at her as if he wanted to argue the point, which only irritated her. She needed him to agree. She needed it to be Claude or Devlin. “Isn’t it possible Claude only pretended to leave? Or Devlin is still around somewhere, hiding?”
“That has crossed my mind.”
At the sound of agitated voices, they both turned toward the kitchen doorway. They could hear everyone come rushing into the hotel and quickly moved to the doorway to see what was going on.
“We just saw Megan’s ghost!” Jason announced, sounding winded. The others joined in, all of their voices too high, too animated. She stared at them, seeing both flushed faces and pale ones.
“She ran through the woods, but not before we’d all seen her,” Jen said, hugging herself. She appeared to be shaking. Next to her, all the color had drained from Shirley’s face.
“Show me where you saw her,” Finn said as he approached the group.
“I’ll take you to the exact spot,” Jason said and turned to push through everyone toward the door. “Ben and I ran into the woods, but she was gone.”
“I’ll go with you,” Benjamin said. No one else moved.
Casey found herself looking at each of them, trying to tell if this was some joke they’d cooked up. They looked scared. Jen was kind of jumping on the balls of her feet as if not sure what to do with the sudden energy spike. Shirley just looked numb. Even Patience appeared worried, her back against the hallway wall, her arms crossed over her chest. She cut her eyes to Casey as if sensing that she was being watched. “I think we should all get out of here.”
The hallway felt alive with fear as Casey stepped past them and headed for the back door. She didn’t believe in ghosts. She kept telling herself that as she pushed open the door and spilled out onto the walkway.
There was no one around the campfire as she crossed the large parking lot. Flames rose, and sparks hovered in the air before blinking out. In the dark of the trees, nothing moved. She stood there for a moment before she began to walk toward the woods. The trees behind the hotel and outbuildings were dense. As dark as the night was, it would be black in there. Unless they’d taken a flashlight...
She’d passed the firepit and started into the woods, wondering how she would ever find the men, when she saw a light bobbing along the ground in the pines. Stopping, she waited as the men came out. Finn was holding the flashlight as they exited the woods. She realized that he’d known where to find one. Sometimes she forgot that he probably knew this hotel better than she did.
“Did you find...anything? Tracks?” she asked, hoping they’d found something to prove that it hadn’t been Megan’s ghost. Something tangible. Evidence to put an end to this.
“It was impossible to track anything in the dead pine needles,” Finn said, dashing her hope.
“Did you see her again?” Jen asked as she, Shirley and Patience joined them.
Jason shook his head and looked at Finn. “You should have seen her,” he said, still sounding overly excited. “I heard Shirley cry out, and I turned, and I saw her blond hair, the white dress, the stains on it. I know it was for only a second as she ran through the pines, but her hair and that dress... It was Megan.”
Casey scoffed. She had no idea what they’d thought they’d seen, but it wasn’t Megan’s ghost.
“Why are you questioning this?” Jason demanded. “We aren’t the first to see her. Megan’s ghost put this hotel on the map for your grandmother.”
Casey bristled. “If you’re about to say what I think you are...”
“Easy,” he said, raising both hands in surrender. “I’m just saying, it was to your grandmother’s benefit to have a ghost, for people to see a ghost. You know how people are. Admittedly, it can be a type of fanaticism. But what I just witnessed was her ghost, and I wasn’t alone.”
She looked to Finn. He had a strange expression on his face as if deep in thought. He really wasn’t buying into this, was he?
CHAPTER TWENTY
SHIRLEY HAD COMPLETELY forgotten about Megan—until she saw her ghost. She’d been having fun, drinking more than usual and no longer worried about the motel. It would still be there when this weekend was over.
This was her first vacation in years. She refused to feel guilty about it. So she’d been in vacation mode, enjoying herself, feeling freer than she had in more than a year. Then she’d seen Megan’s ghost moving through the woods.
She’d almost peed herself. Her heart was still a sledgehammer in her chest. She felt dizzy from the booze, from the terror. She’d wanted to run, but her legs were water under her.
When Jason and Benjamin had raced into the woods, she’d stood frozen by the fire, blinking into the darkness, terrified that she would never see them alive again.
“I knew that bitch couldn’t be killed,” Jen said next to her now. “She’s like a damned vampire.”
She glanced at her friend. She’d noticed earlier that Jen had been shaking as hard as she’d been. But with Jen, she realized now, it had probably been with excitement rather than fear.
While she suspected the others hadn’t wanted to see Megan’s ghost any more than she had, she wasn’t sure that was the case with Jen. Each night Jen had dressed up to stand by a campfire as if waiting for the dead woman to appear like she had an old grudge to settle.
Shirley glanced at Jen, wondering again why they were friends and why she was still here. She would feel the initial shock and terror slowly crystallizing into something no less scary.
“What if Claude and Devlin are dead?” Shirley asked, her voice breaking. “What if Megan—”
“Megan didn’t kill anyone,” Finn said. “It wasn’t a ghost.”
* * *
EVERYONE TURNED TO look at him, including Casey.
“But I saw it, too,” Benjamin said. “Not that I believe it was her ghost.”
“Then what was it?” Jason demanded, sounding almost disappointed.
“I don’t know who it was,” Finn said, locking his gaze with Casey’s. “It could have been Claude or Devlin.”
Jason shook his head. “You didn’t see her. I did. The ghost had the body of a woman—not either of those men.”
Finn wished he had seen her. He told himself that if someone tried this again, he wanted to be there. Next time he would catch them.
“What is that?” Casey asked as she motioned to what he had i
n his hand, his fingers running over the fibers subconsciously.
He held out his hand so she could see it in the firelight. “This was caught on a branch.”
Benjamin gasped as he saw what it was, then began to laugh.
“It’s a lock of her hair?” Jason cried.
Finn shook his head. “It was just someone wearing a wig and a white dress. I found blond synthetic fiber caught on a tree limb.”
“What?” Jen cried. “You mean Megan’s blond hair wasn’t even real?”
It took a moment before anyone laughed.
“It’s not real hair,” Finn said, showing it to Benjamin. “I suspect it’s from a wig.”
Benjamin tentatively felt a strand. “He’s right. It’s synthetic.” He sounded more than a little relieved.
Jason swore. “How can you be so sure?”
“Because whoever you saw, it wasn’t Megan,” Finn said.
“Obviously,” Patience said. “She’s dead.”
“Nor was it her ghost,” Finn said. He saw lightning flicker over the mountains and heard thunder. The storm would be moving in soon. “It was just someone who wanted us to believe it was her.”
“Why would someone do that?” Shirley asked.
“To scare us,” Patience said. “It worked, didn’t it?”
“You’re drunk,” Jason said to her as he slung his arm around her. “We should go inside. I have something in mind. For all of us,” he added quickly as Patience shrugged off his arm playfully. Jason grinned. “I found an old Ouija board.” There was a groan from the others.
Finn saw Casey looking at Jason with an intensity he recognized. “You’re taking this well,” she said.
Jason looked up at her in surprise, his gaze locking with hers. “What? The storm?”
“Megan’s so-called ghost,” she said, clearly angry. “This is the kind of stunt you would pull. Who’d you get to help you? Claude? Devlin? Some barmaid from town?”
He held up both hands, but he was grinning as he said, “You give me too much credit.”
Finn witnessed the exchange between the two of them as the first raindrops began to fall. Everyone ran for the hotel, leaving Casey and Finn to bring up the rear.
As they all hurried inside, Finn caught Casey’s arm under the shelter of the back door. Rain drummed on the steps below them. “Ready to tell me whatever you were afraid to tell me earlier?” he said. “It’s just you and me. And you can trust me. I hope you know that by now.”
* * *
CASEY HUGGED HERSELF as the storm moved in and the rain began to fall harder.
“I thought it had something to do with Megan and her murder, but now I’m wondering if it’s about Jason,” he suggested.
“Jason?”
“Casey, clearly there are some unfinished issues between the two of you.”
“Not on my end,” she said, hugging herself from the memories as well as the cold. A bolt of lightning lit Finn’s handsome face. It was followed by thunder booming not far away like the thud of her heart.
Of course he’d picked up on it. Ten years ago, she’d gone into the woods with Jason. He’d said there was something he wanted to show her. Sixteen and unbelievably gullible, she’d gone because she’d had a crush on him. She groaned now at the memory.
She’d actually thought Jason was handsome and funny. What had she been thinking? The kiss had been sloppy and wet, all tongue. Gross. Then he’d grabbed her breast, and she’d shoved him away.
First kisses were supposed to be sweet, something she wanted to remember. But Jason had ruined that. She’d avoided him after that night, embarrassed since he had seemed to be avoiding her as well. Then she’d overheard Megan saying that Jason had told her that Casey was the worst kisser he’d ever had. He’d insinuated that he’d gone even further than he had and that Casey had been all over him.
She’d been horrified and had hated him ever since, especially when he and Megan had become girlfriend and boyfriend—at least, for a while. Every time she saw Megan in the hall, Megan mimed two people kissing and groping each other.
There had been nothing she could say, even if she had tried to defend herself. Casey had put the memory back into a dark corner, hating that Megan and Jason could occupy any of her thoughts. But it was as if someone didn’t want her to forget. As if she could.
Why else would they plan this stupid reunion and bring everyone back? Everyone but Megan. She amended that thought quickly. Someone wanted her to believe that Megan’s ghost was still here—just as her grandmother had believed it.
Had Anna seen whatever the others had tonight? Her grandmother wouldn’t have chased the ghost down and found a strand of blond hair from a wig caught on a tree branch.
“I know what he did,” Finn said. “How he lied about what happened between the two of you. Megan told me.” That surprised her. “I can also see that he is still attracted to you.”
She stared at him again. “Not this again.”
He laughed. “The note to try to make you not trust me. Come on. He’s like a middle schooler trying to get your attention.”
It was her turn to laugh. “You’re wrong,” she said, shaking her head.
Her laughter died on her lips as he asked, “Is what happened between you and Jason what you were going to tell me about earlier?”
She hesitated. All she had to do was say it was. She looked through the rain toward the forest. This wasn’t the place to tell him about the diary. But then again, there was no good place, was there? She shivered as she met his gaze.
“There’s a reason you didn’t find Megan’s diary.” She blurted it out. He frowned, not expecting this. “I took it from her room and burned it ten years ago.”
He stared at her, surprise in his eyes and something painful to see. He was disappointed. Worse, he was upset with her.
“I didn’t read it. None of it. I thought she’d written lies about me. I...” Her voice broke. “I’m so sorry. To think you spent months looking for it—”
Finn pulled her into his arms. “It’s all right.”
“No, it’s not. I lied. I lied to everyone. I didn’t think it mattered.” She pulled back to look at him. “Can you forgive me?”
He shook his head. “Oh, Casey, is this the secret you’ve been carrying around for all these years?”
She nodded and buried her face in his chest. “What if Megan had written down who she suspected was stalking her?”
“Don’t do this to yourself,” he said. “She probably didn’t know. Just as we don’t know what she really wrote in that diary. It could have been all lies. Honestly, I can’t see her even telling the truth to her own diary.”
She pulled back to look at him. “You’re just saying that to make me feel better.”
He shook his head. “No, I’m not. The more I’ve heard about her since being here, the more I doubt Megan was capable of being truthful even to herself. She was a young woman who had everything and still wasn’t happy. I doubt she would have ever found happiness except in making other people miserable.”
Pulling her into his arms again, he said, “I’m glad you told me.” He ran his hand down her hair. She closed her eyes, loving the feel of his caress. Being this close to him... Was he really not upset with her?
“You spent months looking for her diary.”
“I was looking for a lot more than her diary, trust me.” He drew back to meet her gaze. “Fortunately, I found what I was looking for.”
She felt the heat of his gaze all the way to her toes as the curtain of rain turned the tiny overhang at the back door way too intimate.
“We should go inside,” he said. “You’re shivering.” He opened the door, and they stepped out of the storm. His cell phone rang. He pulled it out, glancing at the screen before he said reluctantly, “I need to take this.”
She nod
ded and looked down the dim hallway. She could see light. It drew her toward the kitchen, where she could hear the murmur of voices. She knew she wasn’t going to be able to sleep. Not yet.
Earlier, out under the overhang at the back door, she’d confessed her darkest secret to Finn. She’d been terrified at how he would take it.
He’d seemed surprised and definitely disappointed. But it was almost as if he’d suspected it all along. Was he also a little relieved that they would never have to read what Megan had thought of either of them?
They’d been so close outside, the shelter from the storm so intimate. He’d been the first to draw away. Because he hadn’t taken the news about the diary as well as he’d pretended?
She knew why she hadn’t gone up to her room as she looked around the kitchen. Everyone was gathered around the table where a Ouija board sat next to a large, flickering candle. The faces at the table looked expectantly at it. She hadn’t wanted to be alone with her thoughts, her fears, her doubts.
Now she stood in the doorway, knowing she should leave, and yet a part of her wanted to see how this played out. There was no doubt in her mind that Jason planned to use this to his advantage in some way.
“Casey, isn’t there something you want to ask Megan?” Jason asked.
She didn’t answer, simply watched as he motioned to Patience and Jen, and they hurriedly balanced their fingertips on the edge of the planchette next to his. The candlelight cast an eerie glow over the room as everyone fell silent.
“Let’s warm it up a little,” Jason said, moving the pointer around the board slowly, his gaze locked on her.
* * *
FINN HAD WONDERED why the hotel was so quiet. After his call, he’d planned to head up to his room. Until he saw Casey standing in the hallway outside the kitchen. He recalled Jason mentioning that he’d found a Ouija board. He groaned at the thought as he moved toward Casey.
Earlier outside, all he’d wanted was to carry Casey up to his room. He knew the timing couldn’t have been worse. She was going through so much just by being here and dealing with her grief over her grandmother, packing up cherished belongings and letting go of the hotel. Not to mention this murder reunion and the guilt she’d been carrying for so long.