The Summoning

by Heather Graham

  “Fine. Stay here—Janet, let’s go.”

  Janet obeyed his commands. She smiled at Claire, with whom she’d been talking, and quickly rose.

  “I’ll just run up for my pocketbook, darling, and be right back down,” she said.

  She turned, and headed back toward the stairs.

  “I’d go out, but I just don’t think that I can do it tonight,” Carl said. “I mean, I’m so grateful. I love attention, too, I don’t deny that. But I am worn out.”

  “Genie and Sydney will be going home for the night, but we always keep the refrigerator stocked, if you’re hungry later. I’m sure Jonah told you when you checked in that we keep plenty of bread and sandwich meats and cheeses and all,” Kristi said.

  “Thank you,” Carl said. He looked at her almost adoringly, making her uncomfortable.

  “Sandwiches...no biggie,” she murmured.

  “Well, I don’t believe this,” Carl said, “but I’m heading up for...maybe a nap, and maybe to go to sleep for the night. Evening, all,” he said, and he, too, went up the stairs.

  “I think maybe I’ll go out, wander a bit,” Murray said. He smiled at those remaining in the room. “No one gets excited about an agent, trust me!”

  “I’ll go with you,” Claire said.

  “Thanks, Claire, but if you don’t mind, I think I’d like to wander alone a bit—bask in happiness for Carl, and maybe just breathe a little myself.”

  Claire appeared to be startled—hurt, even—as if his words had been a small slap in the face. Murray walked out; she watched him go, and then muttered beneath her breath one audible word: “Asshole!”

  Then she was gone, following after him.

  “Well...see, Lacey—that’s what you’re looking at,” Granger told his daughter, shaking his head. Luckily, before Lacey could answer, Janet came running in with her handbag over her shoulder. “Ready, dear? Bye, all, and, Lacey, if—”

  “If I get hungry, I’ll get something to eat!” Lacey said, exasperated.

  Granger ignored her; Janet smiled weakly and waved, and the two exited.

  “They’re impossible!” Lacey announced, and flounced out of the parlor and up the stairs, as well.

  “Personalities in a house,” Jackson Crow murmured.

  Kristi laughed. “Well, they’re just guests here, but usually, they’re very well-behaved.” She frowned. She was alone with Jackson Crow and Angela.

  Even Monty and Justin had disappeared. But those two seemed to come and go as they pleased, having a special ability none of the rest of them could share.

  They could just fade away at will, so it seemed.

  “Where did Jonah get off to?” she asked.

  “He told me he was escaping,” Angela said. “I think he likes leaving social hour to you.”

  “Yes,” she said, and inhaled, looking from one of them to the other. “So, you’re special agents. You’re really FBI—and you’re the...ghost unit?”

  Jackson laughed. “Something like that,” he said.

  “And I understand you’ve recently discovered that you’re especially gifted,” Angela said.

  “Is that what they call it?” Kristi said softly. She looked around again, assuring herself that they were alone.

  “Your ancestors are...charming,” Angela told her, coming over by her. “You do realize that they are like guardian angels for you? They’re very attentive.”

  “You saw them,” Kristi murmured.

  Angela nodded an acknowledgment.

  “It’s so easy for you?” Kristi asked.

  Angela glanced at Jackson. “Only because we knew about them, they trust Dallas, they love you—and they chose to be seen.”

  She nodded. “Then you’ll understand when I tell you I know that Eliza Malone is dead.”

  “Yes,” Angela said.

  As she replied, they heard footsteps on the stairs. Dallas came into the front parlor, looking around.

  “We’re alone,” Jackson said.

  “Someone has been in my room,” Dallas said.

  “Anything missing?”

  Dallas shook his head.

  “Sydney was probably in there—she does most of the housekeeping,” Kristi reminded him.

  But he shook his head. “I told Sydney that I didn’t want service. I like to make my own bed and take care of my things. No, someone was in there, looking for something.”

  “Anything in there that they could have gotten?” Jackson asked.

  “No,” Dallas said. “My computer is encrypted—I doubt even you could get into it. Okay, Angela, maybe, but only because she knows me.”

  “That leads us back to someone in the house,” Jackson murmured.

  Kristi stood and looked at them all, shaking her head. “My guests are just...guests. And I’ve known Genie and Sydney and Jonah forever. What about Monty or Justin—watching over us?”

  “Not unless they know how to go through a backpack and put everything back together so that it was almost impossible to tell.”

  “I wonder what they were looking for?” Jackson asked quietly.

  Kristi brought a finger to her lips; she knew the house well and though the floorboards weren’t actually creaking, she could tell that someone was coming from the kitchen.

  “Hey, all!” Sydney said cheerfully. “We’re heading out for the night,” she told them. “Need anything else before we do? Oh, and don’t worry about Genie tonight—I’m going to drop her off. It’s a little bit later than usual, and she might have missed her bus.”

  “Sydney, thanks, that’s great,” Kristi said.

  “I can take her, if it’s out of your way,” Dallas said.

  “Nope, I’m fine. Night, all!”

  With a wave, Sydney was gone.

  “How do they leave?” Jackson asked.

  “Out the kitchen door, and they lock up when they go,” Kristi said.

  “But Jonah lives here?”

  “He has a nice little apartment at the far end of the hall—opposite my room,” Kristi told him. “It takes away a guest room, but...we still make it anyway. I have actual work—graphic arts in media. Or, at least I had work. I haven’t done much of it lately.”

  “We’d love a tour of the house,” Jackson said.

  “Okay,” Kristi said. “I mean, I can’t let you into the guest rooms.”

  “Of course not,” Jackson assured her. “Just the lay of the house—and the yard. We’ve brought equipment.”

  “Excellent,” Kristi said. “Tomorrow, we’ll start looking for Eliza Malone.”

  * * *

  After the tour, Dallas had a few minutes alone with Jackson and Angela while Kristi changed out of her heels and dress. He brought them up to speed on everything that had happened, including the whispers Kristi had heard—and the threat she had received in the bathroom.

  “Obviously, you’re getting close. Have you kept up with the detective, Joe Dunhill?”

  “I owe him a call now, but naturally, he assured me we couldn’t go digging randomly in the square on the off chance of finding someone who disappeared.”

  “I checked on roadwork, sewer, electrical...anything that might have allowed for digging up the ground back when Eliza disappeared,” Angela said. “There was nothing.”

  “Then we probably are looking at private property,” Dallas said.

  “Where, thankfully, we can use equipment—and dig,” Jackson said.

  Kristi came hurrying down the stairs and into the front parlor. “I told Jonah we were off to get Jackson and Angela settled, and that Carl and Lacey Knox were in the house.” She grinned. “He’s busy watching Haunted History. He loves the show.”

  “Let’s go see the Murphy place,” Jackson said.

  Since Jackson and Angela had equipment and their bags in their car, they drove
the few blocks over to Ian Murphy’s house. Angela encouraged Kristi to talk about Ian, and Jedidiah, and the group of men, including Henry Finley, who had all been friends.

  “I would have liked to meet Ian and Jedidiah,” Angela said. “Perhaps I’ll get to see Mr. Finley.”

  When they arrived, Dallas watched Kristi; she was grave as she stared up at the house, and then she told Angela, “I’m really not sure you should be staying here.”

  Dallas said quietly, “Not to worry. They both know how to look after themselves.”

  She flashed him an uneasy smile. “I don’t think...oh, well, I’m not going to make sense, but there’s just something about the house now. I used to love it—now...” Her voice trailed. “Well, maybe it’s just me.”

  It wasn’t just her, Dallas knew. But Jackson and Angela were uniquely designed for whatever it might be.

  “Interesting,” Angela murmured. Kristi led the way up the walk and into the house. She keyed open the door, and they went in.

  Dallas understood Kristi’s reservations; somehow, that haze seemed to hang over the inside of the house, as if dust motes whirled in the air, and a fog seeped up from the floor.

  “I should have had a cleaning service in here, but...anyway, Jamie wrote me that his room was probably in the best shape. He was here about three weeks ago now, and there is clean linen in his closet and...”

  She broke off, frowning.

  “What is it?” Dallas asked her quickly.

  “I was just thinking. I was here after Ian died. Jamie stayed here, making arrangements, and for the funeral. And there was nothing wrong with the house then. I mean, there’s nothing wrong with the house.”

  “But it bothers you now,” Jackson said.

  Standing in the entry, Kristi shrugged. Then she gasped suddenly. “Dallas! You said that someone had been in your room. The book—the book by the Yankee soldier you were reading. You brought it back to the house. Maybe someone took the book!”

  “No,” he assured her quickly, opening his jacket and showing her that he had the book in an inside pocket. “It comes where I go,” he assured her.

  She sighed softly. “Well, then... I’ll show you upstairs, Ian’s office and library, and Jamie’s room, of course.”

  She led the way, apparently ignoring the feeling the place gave her. “There won’t be any cream for coffee, but there is a single-cup brewer, and I know that Jamie kept coffee here, even after he left. I don’t know how much Dallas has told you, but the only person really watching the place has been a gardener. He does have a key, but I’ll let him know that you’re here.”

  Kristi walked them around the upstairs; both Jackson and Angela were impressed with the library.

  Kristi insisted on helping Angela freshen Jamie’s room for the two of them, and then they all gathered in the library again.

  “Kristi,” Jackson said, “we’ll start first thing tomorrow, in your backyard. And we’ll make some time to go through the books here, as well.”

  “As far as the yard goes, you can just tell people that you’ve decided to look for your ancestor, the great Revolutionary hero Justin McLane,” Angela suggested.

  Kristi nodded and they all headed downstairs. In the parlor, Kristi hesitated again, standing in the center of the room.

  Dallas, Jackson and Angela stood back, watching. But she just stood there, closed her eyes for a moment, and then looked at them.

  “I can feel it...like something that comes from the earth, and slowly comes up over us, like a terrible misty darkness.”

  They waited, but then Kristi shook her head. “Can’t you feel it?” she whispered.

  Angela walked over to her and gave her a hug. “There’s something, Kristi. We’ll figure out what it is.”

  “We will be here. We will find out what happened,” Jackson said.

  Kristi nodded.

  Dallas walked over to her then, taking her hands. “And I’ll be with you.”

  She nodded, and they left Jackson and Angela, walking back across the square to McLane House.

  The front and back parlors were empty; Dallas looked out back, and it was quiet, as well.

  Since any guest still out had a key to the main house, he made sure to lock up. He thought about the threat that Kristi had heard in the darkness, and when they reached her room, he also made sure that door was locked.

  He had barely done so before he turned and found that she was flying into his arms. He caught her and held her close.

  Her warmth filled him, along with a strange mingle of emotions.

  “Kristi.”

  “No!” she whispered. “I don’t want to talk, not about ghosts, not about the dead, not about being afraid...not about anything.”

  It was night, and nothing would happen until the morning.

  “You’re the one who told me...we need to stop, to take time...to... Tonight, I don’t want to think anymore, I just want to...be with you.”

  He smiled, and lifted her chin to his, and kissed her.

  She kissed him passionately in return, a sweet blur of fire in his arms, and they were soon entwined together and making love, and he wondered what he would do when the case had ended, and it was time for the next one.

  Later, in his arms, she slept, and he rose carefully, walking to the door again, and then to the window to look down into the courtyard.

  Justin McLane had been killed well over two hundred years ago. His body, if indeed here, might lie under the concrete and tile in the courtyard, or just about anywhere. Even Monty, or his father, or his wife could lie anywhere on the property.

  Tomorrow they would be hunting for unmarked graves.

  13

  Jackson Crow and Angela Hawkins arrived at McLane House just as breakfast was being served, and Kristi insisted they join for the meal. They made a point of speaking with everyone there. Little by little, the other guests headed out for the day. Eventually, Kristi wound up in the courtyard with Angela, and she finally had a chance to ask her if their night had gone all right. Jackson and Dallas had gone to the car to retrieve the ground-penetrating radar tool that he and Angela had brought.

  “Uneventful,” Angela assured her. She took a sip of her coffee and added, “But I think that you’re right. There is something about the house. It’s hard to tell exactly what it might be—by all accounts, Ian Murphy was a very decent man. Not sure why there would be such negative energy there. Only the gardener has been in there. I think we should have a talk with him. He’d be willing to meet with us, right?”

  “I’m sure he would be,” Kristi told her.

  “I know that Dallas wants Joe Dunhill to meet Jackson. Maybe you and I could have a talk with the yard guy while they’re seeing Joe,” Angela said.

  “Yes, certainly, if you think it’s important.”

  Jonah came out. He grinned broadly at them all. “Peace and quiet. The Hollywood types had a big black car drive up and off they went! Oh, and, last night—I guess little Lacey Knox got her wish. Her folks were out, and Murray and Claire were gone...and she and Carl had a lovely little tête-a-tête out here in the courtyard, and after that...well, I couldn’t guarantee it, but I think they continued it elsewhere, if you know what I mean. Didn’t see anything, mind you, and if I had, it’s none of my business. I’m not a hall monitor. But whatever, made for happier people today. Carl went with his people, and the young woman went with her parents. So—what is that thing Jackson Crow is hauling on in over there with Dallas?”

  “We’re looking for bodies,” Kristi said cheerfully.

  “What?” Jonah demanded, all humor suddenly gone from his face.

  “The séance got me thinking. We think that Justin McLane and Monty and his dad and Trinity were buried hastily in the yard—Justin because he was hanged, and the McLane family because...because the circumstances were just as bad.”
<
br />   Jonah was surprised. “True, but...huh. We never thought to search for them before. And, well, the house could be sitting on Justin.”

  “Yep.”

  Jackson and Dallas came around the corner of the house on the kitchen side, rolling the apparatus that would help them explore.

  “Can that thing find bones in the ground that long?” Jonah called out.

  “It’s specialized equipment, Mr. Whitney,” Jackson said. “Pretty amazing—it can detect small amounts of bone in soil, and the soil can be analyzed, and scientists can even tell how long a body has been in the ground by the amount of fluids still present—or not present.”

  “Well, Justin has been dead a damned long time. You think bones could still be present?”

  “Actually, it gets far more technical, but sometimes, bones can disappear in a hundred years, and, in others, such as extremely cold situations, they can last almost a million, but then there’s calcification, and you’re really looking at minerals,” Jackson said.

  “Never mind, forget I asked,” Jonah said. “But good luck to you all. I’ll be happy, sitting here, just watching what’s going on.”

  He took a seat and leaned back in his chair, hands folded before him, a broad smile on his face.

  Dallas and Jackson spoke to one another about dividing the yard in grids; Kristi decided it was time to text the gardener, Keith Hollis, and ask if he’d mind meeting up briefly sometime during the day.

  He replied quickly that he could meet them in about fifteen minutes. After that, he’d be heading pretty far south to the suburbs, and he’d be out that way all day.

  He’d sent the address where he would be. Kristi looked up at Angela. “Let’s leave the guys to this and head out for a bit. I need to pick up a few things.”

  “Kristi, you know that Genie and Sydney and I are always happy to do any of the shopping for the things we need,” Jonah interjected.

  She laughed, and told him, “I will not trust you, Jonah, with my personal shopping.” She stood and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Angela rose, as well.