Restless Spirits

by Michelle Scott

  “I can’t believe it,” he said. “I don’t believe it. Grant and I don’t get along. Hell, I hate the guy. But he’d never rape my sister.”

  “No, but what about someone else. Like Jeremy.”

  “Jeremy?”

  “Have you seen the way he acts around her?” Ethan pressed. “He’s very protective. He hangs on her every word. He’s in love with her.”

  David frowned and tugged at his earlobe. “Maybe that’s true. But it’s a long way from infatuation to rape.”

  “Is it?”

  “Maybe not,” David said quietly. “But Tessa is a strong woman. She wouldn’t let him get away with something like that. Even if she didn’t fight him off – and I’m pretty sure that she could – she would have told Grant or someone about it.”

  “I agree, but I still need to talk to her. Something’s not right, and I want to get to the bottom of it.”

  “I’m glad you’re here,” David said when they pulled into the manor house’s driveway. He parked and put his hand on Ethan’s knee and gently squeezed. “Not just because I know you can help Tessa. But for me, too. I need a friend to help me get through all of this.” Before Ethan could respond, David had removed his hand and was getting out of the car.

  So, they were back to mixed messages. Ethan knew that he shouldn’t expect too much from his friend, but the back and forth was making him nauseated. Even if David did want to get back together, Ethan might need some time to clear his head.

  It had grown dark outside, but every window in the manor house blazed with light. Opening the door, Ethan and David were greeted by Dr. Rosenbaum who was rushing up the stairs. One hand tightly gripped her black, doctor’s bag.

  David dropped Ethan’s hand and ran after her. “What’s wrong?”

  “It’s Tessa,” the doctor called over her shoulder. “She’s had a seizure.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Tessa was lying in bed when David burst into her room. Ethan trailed after him. Grant sat on the bed next to his wife, holding her hand. The doctor stood on the other side, preparing an injection.

  Tessa’s face was nearly as pale as the pillowcase under her head. Her dark hair was in wild disarray. However, her eyes blazed. “I’m fine. You can all leave.”

  “You had a seizure,” Grant said gently.

  “I didn’t.”

  “You did! You were lying on the floor shaking and drooling. You didn’t respond when I called your name.” Grant’s forehead furrowed. “You terrified me.”

  “It wasn’t a seizure,” Tessa insisted. “It was…it was…I don’t know. A visitation or something.” Her eyes caught on Ethan who stood in the doorway. “Help me out here.”

  Seeing Ethan, Grant jumped off the bed and tried to bully him out the door. “I told you to leave!”

  “No, he should be here,” Tessa insisted. “Grant, let him in.”

  Ethan came inside the room and stood next to David. Grant’s loathing of him was a poisonous fog. If circumstances had been different, Grant would have no doubt frog marched him out of the manor.

  The doctor pulled a rubber tourniquet from her bag. When she tried to tie it around Tessa’s arm, David’s sister fought her. “No more medication!”

  “Tessa,” David said, “I think Grant and Dr. Rosenbaum are right. You should take the medicine.”

  “And we need to get you to a hospital,” the doctor said. “You need to have some tests.”

  “No!” Tessa threw the covers off and tried to stand. Her legs nearly buckled. David and Grant swooped in to catch her before she fell and eased her back onto the bed.

  “The same thing happened to me earlier,” Ethan said. “I felt a presence entering me. Like I was two people at once.” He put his hand to his head. Passing out had left a residual ache in his temples. “I fainted today, too.”

  “There, you see? And he’s fine now,” Tessa said crossly.

  “But he wasn’t shaking and drooling,” David put in. “I know you don’t want this, Tessa, but you should let Dr. Rosenbaum do her job.”

  “It’s an anti-seizure medication,” the doctor said. “It will prevent future attacks.”

  With all eyes on her, Tessa finally surrendered her arm. She flinched slightly as the doctor poked her with the needle. Tessa’s eyes misted over. “Now, I’ll never hear what the voices had to say.”

  “Where were you when this all happened?” Ethan asked.

  “No more questions,” Grant said, hustling over. “She’s had enough for today.”

  “No,” Tessa said. “Let him stay. I want to talk to him. Alone.”

  “He’s not doing you any good,” Grant said angrily.

  “He is doing me good.”

  Husband and wife met glared at one another in a silent battle that only they seemed to understand. Finally Grant dropped his eyes. “Fine. But not alone.”

  “I’ll stay, too,” David quickly offered. He took his sister’s hand.

  “I took the medicine,” Tessa said. “I did what you asked.”

  Without a word, Grant stormed out of the bedroom, being sure to knock into Ethan’s shoulder on the way out. The doctor stood. “Ten minutes, no more,” she ordered before taking her leave and shutting the door behind her.

  Tessa patted the side of the bed, and Ethan took a seat. “Tell me what happened.”

  “That story you told me about the drowned woman got me thinking. There was an old story that Grant told me about one of his ancestors who had fallen off the jetty and into the lake. I figured that it had to be the same person, so I went back out to the lighthouse to check it out. You know, to see if the voices would be stronger up there they are here.”

  “You did that?” David asked, shocked. “After what happened in the nursery?”

  “You don’t understand,” Tessa said. “I have to figure out what’s going on. Those voices are ruining my life. I can’t eat. I’m wandering around in the dark, sleepwalking. It’s got to stop! I figured if I could figure out what the voices are saying, I can fix things. But it’s so frustrating! The voices are only whispers, and they don’t really make words. It’s more like sounds. I can tell that they want something, but I have no idea what it is.”

  The pain in Tessa’s eyes went straight to Ethan’s heart. She was suffering. Her child had died less than four months ago, and she was still anguished. There was a time that her ready smile and infectious laugh could bring anyone out of a dark mood. She had studied psychology and had plans to become a counselor before modeling gave her a new career. She had a soft heart filled with compassion for those who were troubled. Now, here she was in need herself with no one to help her.

  Ethan took her hand. “We will get to the bottom of this. I promise you.”

  David stood leaning against the bedpost with his arms folded over his chest. “What did you find on the jetty?”

  “I never made it that far,” Tessa said. “But when I was near the music room, I felt her. Meredith. She was there. I know she was trying to talk to me. The piano started playing on its own. Music flew around the room. The entire house felt as if it was shaking. That’s what brought Grant. He was looking for me because he thought there was an earthquake.” Tessa’s free hand knotted itself in the quilt. “When the house started to shake, I fell down, but when I was falling, I felt like I was falling into someone else’s dream. Everything was cloudy, but I knew that I wasn’t here anymore. I was somewhere else. With Meredith.”

  “Did you see anything?” Ethan asked.

  Tessa shook her head. “I heard shouting. I think someone was crying out, ‘No!’, but I can’t be sure. That’s when I fainted. When I came to, I was in bed.” She looked deep into Ethan’s eyes. “Meredith is trying to tell me something, but I’m too weak to pick it up. She needs someone like you. Someone she can really communicate with.”

  Ethan looked over his shoulder at David who nodded slightly, encouraging him. “Tessa,” he said turning back around, “I have to ask you a question. A very uncomfortable
question, but very necessary.” He drew in his breath. “Did something happen to you before Faith was born.”

  Tessa’s forehead wrinkled. “Something like what?”

  Ethan still held her hand, and he squeezed it gently. “Were you raped?”

  Tessa’s jaw dropped, and she pulled her hand out of Ethan’s grasp. “Raped? No! I never – Why would you think that?”

  “It’s what happened to Meredith,” Ethan said. “We thought maybe history had repeated itself.”

  “Grant would never do such a thing!” Tessa said. A touch of anger flashed in her eyes.

  “What about someone else?” David asked. “Like Jeremy?”

  At the mention of the attorney’s name, Tessa sat up straighter in bed. “Jeremy wouldn’t! He’s a decent man.” She shook her head, aghast. “How could you say such a thing?”

  “It was only a guess,” Ethan said soothingly.

  Tessa glared at both Ethan and David. “Jeremy is a gentleman. He’s been nothing but kind to me.”

  “He’s in love with you,” David said. “Anyone could see it.”

  Tessa lowered her eyes. “Maybe, but he’d never do anything about it. He knows how I feel about Grant. I love my husband. There’s no way I would cheat on him.”

  It was a huge relief to know that Tessa hadn’t endured what Meredith had, but it didn’t make the mystery any easier to solve. If Meredith wasn’t protecting Tessa, then what was she doing? There had to be something about David’s sister that had drawn in the ghost.

  The bedroom door banged open. Grant stood there flanked by a state police officer and another man in a blazer and jeans. Ethan jumped off the bed. “What’s going on?”

  The officer stepped into the room. “I need you to come with me, Mr. Rhoades.”

  David put himself between Ethan and the trooper. “Why? What’s wrong?”

  “Grant?” Tessa asked.

  “It’s alright, dear,” Grant said with a leering smile. “Your brother’s friend is needed for questioning. That’s all.”

  Ethan’s mouth was suddenly bone dry. “Questioning for what?”

  The man in the blazer pushed his way into the room. “I’m Detective James with the Chicago PD. A body was found in Chicago Heights last night. We have a few questions about it.”

  “Whose body?” David demanded. “Why would Ethan know anything about it?”

  Ethan’s stomach dropped to the floor. The detective didn’t have to say whose body it was. Ethan already knew.

  It the body of a five-year-old girl. Kennedy Ladd.

  Ethan’s heart pounded. He had nothing to do with the murder, but sitting across from the detective made him feel guilty nonetheless. His guilt, however, had nothing to do with killing a little girl. No, it had everything to do with not finding her in time. If Ethan had reacted sooner, if he had paid attention to his instincts inside of cowering in the corners, Kennedy might still be alive.

  Ethan had been in the room with Detective James for over an hour. The weak coffee they’d offered him sat untouched in front of him. He bounced his knees nervously. He hadn’t been arrested, yet, but he felt it was only a matter of time.

  “Tell me again how you knew the body was in that field,” the detective said. The questions kept circling back to this.

  “I’ve told you before.” Ethan spoke with exaggerated patience. It wouldn’t do to lose his temper. “I see ghosts. Spirits of those who have passed. When the Ladds gave me one of Kennedy’s stuffed toys, I was able to contact her.”

  Detective James was a small man, but brawny. The shoulders of his wool blazer were stretched to the point of tearing. He seemed to fill the tiny examination room. “And so this ghost told you were the body was.” He sounded noncommittal, but his eyes were sharp, ready to catch Ethan in a lie.

  “Yes. The ghost showed me the place. I saw a weedy field and an abandoned car.”

  James tapped his pen against the notebook he’d been writing in. “There’s lots of those around Chicago.”

  Ethan nodded. His shoulders ached, and he rotated them to loosen the taught muscles. “But I saw a street sign as well, and I told the Ladds what street it was.”

  “But you didn’t see the cross street.”

  “No.”

  Detective James shook his head. His lips formed a thin line under his brown mustache. “You know this sounds impossible, right?”

  “I know,” Ethan said wearily.

  “The medical examiner figures the body had been there for at least a month. Have you ever seen a body after it’s sat around for a month? Especially a little child’s body? It’s a gruesome sight.” The detective reached into the briefcase next to him and withdrew several photos that he slid across the table. Ethan didn’t want to look, but his unwilling eyes were drawn to the pictures. The moment he saw blood smeared on the little girl’s pink sneakers, he flinched and looked away.

  “Did you take her to the empty lot before or after you killed her?” James demanded.

  “Neither! I didn’t hurt her!” Now, instead of regretting that he hadn’t stepped forward earlier, Ethan was sorry for coming forward at all. He could have stayed hidden in his apartment and avoided all of this. “I’m telling you, I saw her spirit.”

  “You knew she was dead before you told the Ladds where she was?” the detective asked slyly.

  “Yes. I mean, I’d hoped that she was still alive. That maybe a different spirit would lead me to her. But once I saw Kennedy’s ghost, I knew she was gone.” Detective James sat as cool as a glass of iced tea, but Ethan had sweated circles under his arms. Although he suspected that the Chicago PD didn’t have enough on him for an arrest, he still worried. If he was put in jail, he’d never have the money to bail himself out let alone get a lawyer.

  “I know you led us to the body, but what I don’t understand is how you did it.” Detective James leaned forward. “How about you give me a demonstration.”

  This was exactly what Ethan had worried would happen. People never understood his gift. They thought it was something he could turn off and on. The psychiatrists that his parents had sent him to had also asked for demonstrations, but Ethan had never been able to produce the proof they’d wanted. The spirits came to him of their own accord. At times, he could conjure them up, but in the end, they always came on their own terms.

  “How about it?” Detective James asked. “Can you give me some proof?”

  “I can try,” Ethan said. “Is there someone close to you that’s recently passed on?”

  “Passed on. That’s a nice way of putting it. And, yes, there is someone. A great aunt of mine died a few days ago.”

  “Do you have something of hers?” Ethan asked.

  “No. Do I need that?” The detective looked amused.

  “It helps.”

  “Sorry, can’t help you.”

  Ethan rubbed his sweating palms on his jeans. “What was her name?”

  “Georgia Phelps.”

  “Okay.” Ethan closed his eyes and tried to lull himself into an in-between state. But the buzzing of the fluorescent lights distracted him. So did knowing that the detective’s eyes were boring into him. Licking his lips, Ethan willed himself to let it all go. The lights, the room, even the detective. They were all distant. But his revved-up heart refused to slow down. His pulse pounded in his ears. This was never going to work. “I can’t,” he finally admitted, opening his eyes.

  The detective smirked. “Maybe it would help if I paid you.”

  “What? No!”

  “You had no problem contacting Kennedy Ladd after the Ladds paid you.”

  Ethan stiffened. “You’ve got it all wrong. They tried to give me money, but I wouldn’t take it.”

  The detective leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. “That’s not what they’re saying.”

  Blood roared in Ethan’s ears, and he gripped the arms of his chair. “I never took a dime from them!”

  “We’ll subpoena your bank records, of course,” Detective
James said.

  Ethan met the threat with a steady gaze into the other man’s eyes. “Go ahead. I have nothing to hide.”

  “Are you sure about that?”

  Ethan’s heart plunged when he thought about what an investigation would find. Ethan, burdened with debt and working two part-time jobs to keep afloat. He hadn’t taken anything from the Ladds, but that didn’t seem to matter. It was as if the detective had already tried him and found him guilty. The Ladds were winning.

  Chapter Fourteen

  The door to the interview room banged open. Jeremy stormed inside. “Are you charging my client with anything?” he demanded. “If not, he’s coming with me.”

  Ethan’s jaw dropped. He’d never been so surprised – and happy – to see anyone in his life.

  “You’ve lawyered up,” the detective said. He was no longer smirking. “You know that makes you look guilty.”

  “Are you charging him or not?” Jeremy demanded.

  The detective’s glare said it all. There wasn’t enough evidence to hold him. Ethan blew out his breath in relief. Moments later, he was walking into the lobby of the police station. David launched himself off of the chair he’d been sitting on and wrapped Ethan in hug. “My God! I can’t believe they think you had something to do with that little girl’s murder.”

  Ethan hugged him back, tightly. He still couldn’t believe his good luck.

  When Jeremy followed them outside, Ethan looked at the ground, embarrassed. “I can’t afford to pay you.”

  “It’s been taken care of,” Jeremy said. “Tessa arranged for it.”

  Tessa. Of course. The attorney would probably do anything she asked him to. Ethan sent a prayer of thanks her way.

  “I’m taking you back to the manor,” David said. Then he added, “Unless you’ve decided on the bed and breakfast after all.”

  “No. Take me back to Thunder Point.” The sooner Ethan could get to the bottom of the mystery, the sooner he could get out of this place. It wouldn’t help him defend himself against Detective James, but it would put him back on familiar ground.

  Ethan and David climbed into David’s car and headed out of town. To Ethan’s surprise, Jeremy followed them. “Is he going back to the manor?”