by L. T. Ryan
“I’m right there with you.” As much as it pained her to say it, she didn’t want to lie. “The entire thing is unbelievable, and I’ll be the first to admit I’ve never seen anything like this. But something is going on, and with Stephanie and Charli nowhere to be found, what other choice do we have?”
“Fair point.” Jason took a left and then another left, pointing them in the direction they’d just come from. “Back to UMC?”
“It’s the only lead we’ve got right now.”
“What’s the plan, then?” He shrugged and shook his head. “Go up to the ghost and ask her why she’s killing people?”
“I wouldn’t have put it exactly like that, but yeah, I guess.” Cassie tipped her head back against the seat. The car was stuffy and hot and her qualms about coming face to face with the Ghost Doctor didn’t make her feel any better. “Most spirits try to reach out to me when they know I can see and talk to them. Even if they can’t communicate directly, I can feel their desire to move beyond this plane of existence.”
“But Dr. Cohen’s different?”
“Very different. She doesn’t try to reach out. It’s like she’s single-minded about doing whatever she’s doing.”
“Killing people.”
Cassie studied a spot on the roof of the car above her head. “Whatever it is, she doesn’t care that I can communicate with her. But if what Marsha said is true, and Naomi was talking to her, that means she can talk back. If I can catch up with her, I’ll know a lot more.”
“And if we find out a ghost has been killing all these people?”
“Then we stop her.”
This didn’t offer Jason any peace of mind. “And what about the families of all those people? They’ll never know what really happened to their loved ones. We may never really know if that’s what happened to Jasmine.”
Cassie stopped short of telling him sometimes that’s just how it went. On the rare occasions Cassie had revealed the true extent of her abilities to people, she inevitably got dozens of questions about how it all worked and if she’d be able to communicate with someone’s grandmother or dead wife or lost child.
But life is messy. There are rarely any clear-cut answers, and even when Cassie could shed light on the mystery of what happens after a person dies, it inevitably led to more questions. People prefer to live in absolutes but wanting something didn’t require the universe to provide it.
Jason interrupted her thoughts. “I’m sorry. That’s a lot of pressure to put on you. I’m grateful for your help. I hope you know that.”
She laid a hand on his arm. “I do know that. And it is a lot of pressure, but I kind of signed up for that. I’ll do the best I can. I may not be able to give you all the answers, but I want to see this through to the end, too. Dr. Cohen is a mystery I’d like to solve, and with any luck, that’ll bring us some answers about Jasmine, too.”
Jason smiled. They remained lost in thought for the remainder of the ride. When they arrived at the hospital, he reached for her hand. She held onto his with a smile on her face. They still had plenty to talk about, but for now she could find comfort in the fact that he was by her side. And if the way he held onto her was any indication, he felt the same way.
As soon as they walked through the sliding doors to the waiting room, they both stopped and turned to each other.
“What now?” he asked.
“She either comes to us, or we try to find her.”
“Why would she come to us?”
Cassie led him over to a chair and sat down. “I don’t know for sure that she’s been seeking me out, but she’s waited for me to notice her both times I’ve seen her here. She’s not afraid of me. And maybe she doesn’t want me to stop whatever she’s doing, but she is trying to tell me something.”
“So, we wait.” He looked around the room like that was the last thing he wanted to do. “Or you figure out a way to locate her?”
That hadn’t occurred to Cassie. “I’ve never done that before.”
“Sabine Delacroix seems to think you’re capable of a lot more than you think you are.”
Cassie couldn’t deny that. The way she had opened Cassie’s world hadn’t rocked her to her core, but it had shifted the way she viewed her abilities and the spirit realm. She had seen through the veil. She could walk into a hospital without being overwhelmed. She had come face to face with a ghost more present and powerful than any she had seen before.
Who knew what else she could do?
Cassie closed her eyes, reaching out invisible tendrils of her own. It was easy to feel the spirits surrounding her in the waiting room. No matter where she went, she always felt watched. She had grown accustomed to it years ago.
But now she pushed her reach beyond the limit of her current position. She searched for that invisible line she’d felt the last time she saw the Ghost Doctor. But there was so much noise. The hospital was full of pain and death and sadness. The spirits were restless. They wanted answers. They wanted someone to see them for who they were now. One by one, they awakened to Cassie’s presence. She could help them. If only she would listen to what they had to say.
Cassie felt the pressure building. She had opened a two-way communication with an entire hospital worth of spirits. They grew louder, a cacophony of voices in her head. She couldn’t make out the words, but she knew what they wanted from her. And she couldn’t give it to them.
The line grew taut. It pulled against her, trying to wrench free of her grasp. The spirit on the other end didn’t need Cassie to interfere. It didn’t need her help. It was strong enough to do what needed to be done. Nothing would stop it.
Cassie’s eyes snapped open. “Fourth floor.” She turned to Jason. She couldn’t stop tears from forming in her eyes. “I don’t know for how long, but she’s there now.”
They moved to the elevators. Jason ran a finger down the directory until he hit the fourth floor. “Long-term care.”
“Someone else is going to die.” Cassie wiped the tears from her eyes. “I can’t explain—”
“You don’t need to.” Jason punched the button for the elevator. “I believe you.”
Those three simple words were all Cassie needed to hear. She had spent so long pushing people away because she thought they’d think she was crazy. Her parents, her sister, even Harris and David. She was always trying to explain her world to them in a way they could comprehend. In a way they could accept.
And here was Jason, following her on this bizarre journey, without question. She knew it wouldn’t be easy, but something slid into place during that elevator ride to the fourth floor. She felt relaxed and powerful and whole for the first time since she could remember.
And she’d fight with everything she had to never lose that feeling.
When the door slid open, Cassie was ready to face Dr. Cohen. She could feel the eyes of hundreds of spirits following her every movement, but she had closed the door against them, no longer allowing them to reach her. They had to stay at a distance. Most went about their business, not strong enough to push past her defenses. One tracked her as she moved closer.
When Cassie turned the corner and stopped an arm’s length away from Dr. Cohen, it was like seeing the woman for the first time. She looked the same—gray dress, pin curls, hypnotic eyes—but there was a humanity to her that hadn’t been there before. Even if she didn’t have all the answers, Cassie understood her better now.
Dr. Cohen turned away from Cassie, her skirts fluttering at the movement. She walked down the hallway with such grace and determination, appearing as though she were floating. Cassie chased after her.
“She’s here,” Cassie said. “I see her.”
Jason was on her heels. “What’s she doing?”
“Walking.”
“Where?”
Cassie waited, never close enough to reach the ghost. Not that she’d know what do to if she did. How could you stop something you couldn’t touch? She had no control over a spirit’s body. All she had was
her words.
And she had no idea if that would be enough.
Dr. Cohen halted in the middle of the hallway. Cassie pulled up short and Jason slid to a stop, watching her face in attempt to figure out what was going on. She wanted to tell him every detail of the woman in front of her, but breaking the silence of the hall felt like committing a crime.
A few nurses passed by, but no one paid them any mind. They had their own work to do, their own lives to live. Little did they know what was happening under their noses. Cassie wondered how many went home and cried themselves to sleep after losing a patient, never knowing that it had all been out of their control.
Dr. Cohen turned to a closed door and stepped through the wall. Cassie didn’t hesitate. She couldn’t. She told Jason to stay where he was and entered the room herself. His protests fell on deaf ears, and she shut the door behind her before he could convince her she’d made a mistake.
The room was dark, the air inside stale. No one had opened a window in some time, though with the current weather, Cassie supposed that wouldn’t have been a good idea. Still, she felt her lungs protest. They screamed for fresh oxygen.
The Ghost Doctor hovered over an elderly woman with paper white skin. She had bruises along her arms, hidden in the folds of accumulated wrinkles. If Cassie had to guess, the woman was at least a hundred years old. It would be her time sooner or later, but Cassie would fight to make sure she’d last as long as possible.
When Dr. Cohen reached a hand to the woman, Cassie didn’t think. She acted. She sprang forward to stop her, reaching for the doctor’s arm even though she knew her hands wouldn’t latch on. But maybe the movement would startle the ghost. Maybe she’d think twice about taking this one.
Dr. Cohen turned toward her, hazel eyes boring into Cassie’s soul. As soon as Cassie’s hand passed through the woman’s translucent skin, a vision erupted in her mind, splitting her skull and making her knees buckle.
Cassie watched from the eyes of the Ghost Doctor as she saw a blonde woman in a short pink dress and yellow cardigan walk down the hall, wallet in hand. She stopped at a vending machine, debating her afternoon snack. She looked at her reflection in the glass and adjusted her hair. It was a wig.
A man rounded the corner. He stared at his phone, not seeing the woman standing in front of him. He knocked into her, causing her to drop her wallet. Cards and money hit the floor with a splat, sliding in all directions. The woman cursed and bent down to pick up her things.
Cassie, still seeing through the doctor’s eyes, moved closer. The man apologized and bent down to help her. She thanked him, tight-lipped, and shoved everything into her purse. But she didn’t see the credit card that had slid under the machine. Would she ever notice it was missing?
The woman brushed past the man, her afternoon snack forgotten. She kept her head down, as though she didn’t want to draw too much attention to her face. But it was too late. Cassie had already seen who it was.
There was no mistaking the blond hair or the face that looked so identical to Charli’s.
Stephanie walked right through Cassie without ever knowing she was there.
32
Cassie blinked away the vision, now staring into the hazel eyes of Dr. Cohen. There was a sad look on the woman’s face, something between remorse and weariness. But before Cassie could think of what to say, a line of light cut across the room as the door opened behind her.
“Excuse me, ma’am?” A nurse stood silhouetted against the frame. “You’re not supposed to be in here.”
Cassie turned her back on Dr. Cohen. Jason was right behind the nurse. “I told her you were looking for your aunt.” The words rushed out of him. “Is this not the right room?”
“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry.” Cassie turned back to the woman in the bed. The Ghost Doctor had disappeared. “I think they gave me the wrong room number.” She was already making a retreat. “I’m so sorry. This is so embarrassing.”
“Ma’am, I can’t stress enough—”
“I know, I know.” Cassie held up her hands as she slipped past the nurse and out of the room. “I understand. I’m going to call my mom right now. I’m so sorry.”
Jason and Cassie all but ran down the hall. At the corner, Cassie cast a glance over her shoulder. The nurse was still watching them like a hawk. She ducked her head and made a beeline for the elevators. She didn’t hesitate as she punched the arrow back down to the first floor.
“I’m sorry, I stalled her as long as I could.” Jason wrapped a hand around the back of his neck. “She was kind of intimidating.”
“It’s fine.” Cassie’s heart was racing. “I got what I needed.”
“You did?” The panic washed from his face. “What happened in there?”
“I saw Dr. Cohen.” Cassie was still sorting through the vision, one frame at a time. “I touched her, and I saw Stephanie.”
“What?” Jason looked like he had no idea how to compute that. “Why?”
“She wears a wig.”
He shrugged. “Lots of people wear wigs.”
“No, I know.” She shook her head to clear her mind. “But things aren’t adding up. She dropped her credit card under a vending machine. I think Dr. Cohen was trying to give me a clue.”
“She’s helping?” The elevator arrived, and the two of them stepped inside. An overweight gentleman with a thick head of hair stood in the corner. Jason lowered his voice. “Why would she do that?”
“Just add it to the mystery.” Cassie eyed the other man in the elevator, but he was busy scrolling through his phone. Still, she wouldn’t take any chances. “For now, my aunt seems to be fine.”
“Good.” Jason’s shoulders relaxed. “So, what next?”
The elevator doors opened with a ding, and Cassie stepped out. “I’m hungry. What about you?”
She didn’t know which vending machine Stephanie had been standing in front of, or whether a custodian had collected her credit card, but she was certain the woman had been on the first floor.
“There was a sign for the cafeteria,” she explained. “So, it’s gotta be around here somewhere.”
Jason let Cassie lead him around the entire floor. At the end of every hall, she stopped and stared, trying to determine if it was the same one from her vision. They didn’t find the right vending machine until they had made a complete circuit of the first level. But when she stood near the front entrance and looked back over her shoulder, everything aligned.
A woman and her three-year-old son took their time picking out a bag of chips from the machine. Cassie was already on her hands and knees, sliding her fingers under the machine. It came back covered in dust, but she found what she was looking for.
The two of them moved off to the side and put their heads together. It was a plain Visa credit card with an unfamiliar name stamped on the front.
“Heather Stephens.” Jason looked up at her. “Who’s that?”
“And why would Stephanie have someone else’s credit card?”
Jason pulled out his phone. “Heather Stephens,” he mumbled. “Charli. Stephanie. Nothing associated with those names is coming up.”
“Stephanie was wearing a wig. She looked so similar to Charli, who supposedly died. The second we asked her about Charli, Stephanie abandoned her entire apartment.” Cassie knew there was just one more piece of the puzzle to put together before the whole thing took shape. “If Heather Stephens is on her credit card, maybe that’s her real name.”
Jason deleted a few of his search terms. He hit enter. “She had a Facebook page. And an Instagram.”
“Go to her Instagram.” Cassie waited until he complied. “Scroll through. See if Charli or Stephanie pop up.”
Heather Stephens looked exactly like Stephanie, only she had strawberry blonde hair. She had one tattoo on her stomach, but it was nothing like what Alan had said to describe Charli, and she didn’t have any piercings. Most of her outfits were bohemian, long skirts and flowing tops.
“Heather
hasn’t posted in almost a year. Everything before that is normal, except her most recent picture.” He turned the phone to Cassie so she could see it better. “Rest in peace, Daisy. Bloom eternal.”
“Look up Daisy Stephens obituary.”
Jason swiped his thumbs across the keyboard. “Died a year ago. Look, there’s an entire article on her. She was having surgery on her back and the doctor made a mistake. They paralyzed her from the neck down and she fell into a coma from some bacterial infection. She died shortly after.”
“She could be patient zero,” Cassie offered. “The first one in a long line of deaths due to malpractice. It would fit the pattern.”
“Maybe Heather was the first person to notice something off.” Jason stared at the picture of Daisy. “Maybe she’s doing her own investigation. And that’s why she keeps changing her identity.”
“It’s been a year.” Cassie tried to fight off dejection. “And she hasn’t found enough to come forward?”
“Maybe she has, and that’s why she’s hiding.” Jason clicked on a few more articles, opening and closing them to see if they offered any additional information. “What I don’t understand is how this is happening across multiple hospitals.”
“Maybe the doctor has moved from one to the other?” Cassie shrugged. “Then again, I’m not sure that would fit the timeline. We still don’t know which patients died under unusual circumstances.”
“Heather’s parents own a small bakery just outside the city.” He tilted his phone again so she could see the spot on the map. “They might have more information.”
“So, what, we show up and ask them about their dead daughter?” She plastered a smile on her face and mimed paying in cash. “Hello, I’d like half a dozen red velvet cupcakes. Can you tell us exactly how Daisy died? Hang on, I have the thirty-six cents.”
Jason rolled his eyes. “Maybe with a little more tact than that. Although, I approve of the red velvet.” He slipped his phone into his pocket. “Maybe Heather’s parents are worried about her. If she’s living on her own, moving apartments, changing her identity, it’s possible they haven’t seen her in a while. Or have no idea what she’s been up to. Maybe they’ll be grateful we’ve seen her recently.”