The Haunting of Cragg Hill House

by Elyse Salpeter

  He chuckled and held up his injured finger. “It was the baby. She was teething and took a chunk out of my finger when I let her suck on it. Ever since she got teeth, I should know better, but she’s so darned cute I just let her keep nibbling. Serves me right. Broke the skin this time, but I’ll be fine.”

  Kelsey dipped her chop in the mint sauce he held out, then nibbled on it absentmindedly. A few seconds later she felt a presence at her ear.

  “Hello, Kid.”

  She turned and nearly choked when she saw Josh standing beside her. “What the hell are you doing here?” She tried to swallow and coughed instead around the mouthful of food.

  He patted her back. “It’s been stressful back home with Ari so wrapped up in Bianca, and Julia being a pain in the ass and acting like a mother hen all the time, so I thought I’d get away for a bit. Figured you guys would pick a nice place so I thought I’d come up and check it out. Save me the hassle of finding someplace on my own. Interesting hotel by the way. Rich, decadent, and weird. Like I stepped right into a freak show. I could seriously do without the corseted cosplay.”

  Kelsey stared at him. The fib literally rippled like an aura around his body. “You’re such a liar. There is a freaking blizzard outside. What’s going on? Is someone at home hurt? Are my mom and dad okay?” She dropped the remainder of the chop onto a plate on the sideboard next to her.

  “Everyone’s fine, Kelsey.” He stared in Desmond’s direction.

  Kelsey followed his gaze and then gripped his arm. “Wait a second, you’re not trying to make trouble for Desmond and me, are you? Please, don’t do this. You know how I feel about you, but I’m not changing my mind about us. It’s not happening, Josh.”

  Josh sucked in his breath. “I’m well aware of your feelings for me, for Desmond, for everyone. Don’t worry, I didn’t come up here to screw up your romantic weekend.”

  “Then what did you come up here for?”

  Josh was about to answer when Elsa sashayed over and handed him a small envelope. “Mr. Erichson, here are your keys. You’re on the second floor in the west wing. Room 236. I’m just thankful you made it up here in one piece, though I’m not entirely sure how you did it. When you called to say you were on your way, I was not convinced you were going to make it. The county police can’t even get up here right now.”

  He took the envelope from her and pocketed it. “Determination, my dear lady. I hiked. You know how it is. When you want something badly enough, you find a way.” He gave Kelsey a pointed look.

  “You hiked?” Kelsey asked, sarcastically, after Elsa walked away. “All the way up here in a blizzard? Now please tell me why you really came.”

  Josh ignored her. “Hey, is that Richard Bain over there talking to your boyfriend? Looks like he shaved.”

  Kelsey glared at him. “Yes, and why do you even know who he is? I swear to God, if you don’t tell me what’s going on, I’m going to kill you.”

  Josh stared down at her and Kelsey had a sudden, strange feeling in her gut. It wasn’t just how Josh’s breathing just changed, or the light flush that had just rushed to his cheeks. She could now feel his desire for her oozing forth from every one of his pores. But she also felt other feelings rolling off of him in waves—a mix of anxiety, jealousy and malice.

  He continued his riddles. “There’s nothing to tell, Kid. I just have to take care of something that needs fixing.” He strolled over to the bar and spoke to the bartender, who created three fancy orange-colored shots. Then he ambled over to Desmond and Bain and sat down next to them with the drinks. Desmond raised his brows in apparent surprise to see him there and glanced back at Kelsey.

  She could only shrug back. Desmond turned back to Josh, who handed him the drink. Desmond peered at it, asked a question, and Josh responded. Then the three raised their glasses in a toast and drank.

  In a huff, Kelsey took out her cellphone and called Julia. Her friend picked up quickly and spoke before Kelsey even had a chance to say hello.

  “Hey, I was just about to call you. By any chance is Josh up there with you?”

  “Yes, he is. That’s why I’m calling. What the hell is he doing here, Jules?”

  “I don’t know, but I’d be on your guard. I think he screwed up.”

  “What did he do now?” She stared at the three men, already engrossed in an apparently heated conversation.

  “Ari said that they had an argument two days ago and Josh was pretty riled that Ari put a real estate property in your name. That’s all he’d tell me. You know how close-lipped he’s been recently.”

  “Which property did he put in my name now?” Her brother was always doing that. Not that she cared much. It was always completely legal and she got the tax write-off for it.

  “It’s for an abandoned building downtown by the piers this time. I think they were using it as a warehouse.”

  Kelsey got a sudden set of chills. A property down by the piers? Wasn’t that exactly where Desmond had been hunting Misterio? “What was it housing, Jules?”

  “I have no idea. But Ari thinks Josh planted something in there to get you in trouble. Well, to get Ari in trouble, but since Ari changed the paperwork, now you’re in the hot seat. You know what an ass Josh can be. He gets into a fight with Ari and does stupid crap like that all the time to get back at him.”

  But why would that make Josh come all the way up here in a blizzard? And what in the world did it have to do with Bain? Kelsey froze. Wait a second. Bain, Mickie Laruso and Misterio. Kelsey moved a few feet away and whispered into the phone. “Julia, does this have anything to do with Misterio and the smuggling operation?”

  “I don’t know, Kelsey. But if it turns out that the property down by the piers is where Desmond was hunting Misterio, it could.” She gasped. “Wait a second. Don’t you think it’s kind of coincidental that Ari would be doing something nearby where your boyfriend was on assignment? I know how much you hate coincidences. You don’t think they’re screwing with him again, do you?”

  God, I hope not. I will seriously kill them both.

  Julia continued talking. “What I do know is that I’m done officially looking up stuff for Ari in the Middle East. I have been for weeks, you know. He said that assignment is over and it’s not needed any longer. Now he’s got me working on tracking the credit cards of some errant wife of a senator who’s been buying a lot of clothing from the men’s section in Bloomingdales. All size medium. Her husband is an extra large by the way.”

  Kelsey was hardly listening. It was as if a light had gone on. Oh God…no… “Jules, the poisonings in the Middle East the past few months. Ari having you get those geological surveys. Him being gone all the time on secret missions. The property downtown and Misterio. You don’t think Ari could be a part of all of this, do you?” She let that terrible thought hang in the air.

  Julia sucked in her breath. “Look, I know Ari does a lot of questionable stuff, but what you’re insinuating is not his modus operandi. He locates things for people and does investments. What you’re suggesting is not a covert job finding information for a Senator, stealing documents from an art museum, or investing for a shady client. You’re talking about poisoning and killing huge numbers of people in the Middle East, smuggling contraband into the United States and making claims that he’s also Misterio. These are big-time accusations. Not to mention that he would have been the one to have punched Desmond in the jaw. Or Josh since he was working with him. I don’t believe it. They’re bad boys, but they’re not that bad.”

  Oh, yes, they are. They’re both really bad. You don’t know the half of it, Jules. And her friend didn’t. There were some things she knew about both of them that would make Julia cringe. Like that time they double-crossed that drug dealer. Or the time they kidnapped that kid. That had been bad. Both times she’d had to save their asses, and a significant amount of money had been exchanged to hide everything.

  “I do think they’re involved, Jules. It makes sense and I wouldn’t put it past the
m in the slightest. Ari and Josh both have ties to the Middle East. Ari’s been fascinated with the entire region since high school and learned both Arabic and Hebrew so he could always know what is going on there. And don’t forget about what happened to Josh.”

  “Forget? Remember how he slept on my couch for weeks after he came home? He’d definitely be up for payback to the folks that hurt him and all those Marines. How many times did I have to call you to come over when I couldn’t get him back to bed? You listen to me, Kelsey, you better play dumb until you figure out what to do because if those boys were involved in anything that had to do with those attacks, then Josh getting you involved, even by accident, is really bad. You do not want the government, or Bain, on your tail over this. Give Josh the time to fix whatever the hell he did.” She paused for a second. “And I’m still searching for answers to that question you asked. About genetics and missing body parts. I’m on to something, but I’ll know more soon. Something’s not making sense.” She clicked off.

  Kelsey hung up and stared at the men. Bain glanced up at her and frowned.

  A bell sounded, signaling it was time for dinner. Kelsey strolled over to Desmond, who stood up and introduced her to Bain. She shook the lawyer’s hand, and she could tell he was sizing her up, though she gave him points for trying to do it without her knowing.

  “Why don’t we all get a table and have dinner together?” Bain suggested. “I’d like to hear more of why Mr. Erichson here thinks Mickie Laruso is not Misterio, yet no one else in the country will listen to me. And I’d like to know even more about why he didn’t come forward with this information sooner.”

  Kelsey glanced at Josh, startled. Well, this was coming down fast. She hadn’t expected it to come out in the open so quickly.

  “Sure, that sounds great,” Josh said. “I’ll explain inside.”

  Kelsey squeezed Desmond’s arm and leaned towards him. “What’s going on?”

  He whispered into her ear. “He says he knows who Misterio is. Or isn’t, at least. And he agrees with both of us that it’s definitely not Mickie Laruso. First time I ever agreed with anything any one of your friends ever said.”

  She let his words sink in, further understanding coming quickly. Josh was going to pin all of this on her brother to take the heat off of her? Like hell he was, if he was also involved. Josh must have done something to the property Ari had owned down at the pier and now Bain had been sicced on her.

  But that wasn’t the worst part. Maybe Ari was Misterio and he was the one Desmond had been tracking all along. His biggest and most important case yet and her brother was involved. Kelsey glanced at Desmond and her heart dropped. If that was true, and it came out? There was no way she would ever get the two of them to reconcile. Ever. She suddenly realized she was never going to be able to tell him and hoped he never found out. Because if he discovered she knew about it all along? He’d never trust her again. She pushed that thought aside. Damn you, Ari, what have you done?

  The threads kept connecting the more she thought about it. Everything fit like a complicated jigsaw puzzle. While in Alaska, Ari had been worried about the idea of someone killing a million people and how it would affect their karma in the afterlife. He’d been fascinated with the seeds in Rajiv Sitaula’s grandfather’s suitcase and stole three vials. Why? Because her brother was obviously Misterio all along. He was the one who had created some sort of biotoxin used in the Middle East. He was the one who had attacked Desmond. When Desmond had finally confronted Misterio and gotten socked in the jaw, didn’t her own brother suddenly lay low? Hadn’t he grown a beard to cover some bruise he received, giving the lame, but plausible excuse that it was from some girl’s boyfriend? Yes, the timing was perfect. When Ari had visited her in her apartment, he’d even lowered the lights so she wouldn’t find out.

  She nearly rocked on her feet and stared at Josh. He knew all of this, of course. How could you not tell me what was going on? We spent all that time together those first few weeks after I returned from Aihika.

  And now she’d have to keep this devastating secret from Desmond because she was certain now what had happened. She knew exactly what Josh had done and why he was here. She’d seen this from him a thousand times. He was pissed at her brother for something, and tried to get back at him by pinning something on him that would link him to Misterio and Bain, but instead implicated her instead, because Ari had changed the lease. It was as simple as that. And with her dating Desmond, and Bain connecting that thread, she was toast.

  With a resigned sigh, she let Desmond lead her into the dining room.

  Chapter 10

  The waiter uncorked the bottle, handed Bain a glass of Merlot and the ridiculous wine ritual began. Bain made an arrogant show of keeping the bottom of the glass on the table and swirling the contents. Then he brought it up to his nose and took a quick sniff. This was followed by a small sip, where he apparently let it linger on his palate. Kelsey turned away when he closed his eyes and she tried desperately not to appear bored of the entire dance. She was relieved when Bain finally nodded at the waiter and the server commenced pouring everyone a glass. She put her hand over hers, though, and motioned for him to pass her by. She needed a level head, and after the night before, she didn’t want to get drunk again. Especially now that Josh was here.

  Bain spoke to Josh. “I’ve never seen a case go down so fast. It’s pretty obvious to me that someone greased some palms to get the litigation settled as quickly as possible. Do you have any idea why?” He took a sip and peered at Desmond over the lip of the glass.

  Desmond squinted. “Why would I have any idea?”

  “Just asking,” Bain said with a shrug. He turned to Josh. “But what I’d like to know, even more, is why you’re here? You said you were looking for me specifically? How did you know I’d be at the Mountain House? The only person who knew where I was going was my assistant. Did you weasel it out of her? Not that it should be too hard. That girl is as loose as a slippery necktie.”

  Josh smirked. “Finding things out is my job. I came up here because I know you received information that linked Kelsey to Misterio.”

  “Oh, is that so?”

  “Do us both a favor and don’t deny it, since I know it’s the truth,” Josh said. “I’m doing you a favor coming up here.”

  “Are you? And how are you doing me a favor?”

  “I’m making sure you don’t make a fool of yourself. You’re barking up the wrong tree with Kelsey, and since you obviously decided to track her down and confront her in person, I needed to make sure you realized she had nothing to do with any of it.”

  “And why do you care?” Bain asked.

  “Because caring about blame is my job, too. It’s not her.”

  “Then who is it?” Bain asked.

  Josh glanced at Desmond, but said nothing.

  Kelsey was sure he was going to come out and blame Ari, but he didn’t. What game are you playing, Josh?

  “Before I answer that, maybe I should start by explaining who I am.”

  Bain nodded. “That would help.”

  “I’m a former Navy Seal and have been consulting for the military. Most recently, I’ve been working with a covert government organization. We’ve been looking into ways to diffuse the terrorist cells in the Middle East without involving the public or NATO.”

  Desmond almost spit out his drink. “Wait, by using biohazards to kill countless people? You’re part of that?”

  Josh squinted at him. “Are you implying my organization employs Misterio? Of course, we don’t. But we’ve tracked him and know who he is.”

  Bain put his wineglass down and frowned. “Then why haven’t you picked him up yet? Why did you let Mickie take the fall for him?”

  “We have our reasons. Trust me, Misterio is no longer a threat. Every one of his moves is being carefully monitored from here on in. There is no more contraband going in, or out, of the United States. Of that, I can assure you. He can’t do anything anymore without us kn
owing, and none of his activities pose any threat to anyone domestically.”

  Desmond’s nostrils flared. “How do you know about this? What organization are you really working with and why wasn’t I ever notified about any of this?”

  Josh shook his head. “That’s a need to know, buddy.”

  “Need to know?” Desmond blurted. “Maybe you don’t remember that I am the lead detective on the goddam case! How did you even find him? Did you even have a profile done on him?”

  Josh appeared smug. “We did.”

  “Then you should have told my department. Hell, you should have told me. You know full well how hard I was working this assignment.” He turned to Kelsey. “You’ve got a great set of friends, you know that? Really spot on good guys.” Condescension oozed from him.

  Josh pursed his lips. “You’re upset we didn’t share our profile on Misterio? You want to hear it? Right now?”

  Desmond crossed his arms. “Sure, I’d love to hear what you came up with to find this guy. Someone the FBI hasn’t been able to profile because he’s been deemed too elusive.”

  Josh snorted. “He’s not elusive at all. Fine. Misterio is a Caucasian, male, between the ages of thirty and forty. He’s smart, educated, and extremely fit. He’ll have knowledge of botanicals and eastern studies since many of the toxins have been traced to that part of the world. He’d have had inside knowledge of the assignment from the beginning, so he most likely is with the military or in law enforcement. That would enable him not to get caught so easily and to have the capabilities to manipulate all documentation to keep anything from getting tracked back to him. He would have a tight cover and a clean record, so his normal activities would never be questioned. He’d most likely be in a relationship to further separate himself from the traditional image of a loner psychopath. Not to mention, he’d have the monetary means at his disposal and time to travel out to the Middle East to commit these atrocities. Know anyone who would fit that description, Desmond?”