by Maria Geraci
“This is pretty exciting, isn’t it? Sneaking into a building in the middle of the night. It’s like we’re all…friends and we’re on some kind of big adventure.”
Something about her tone makes me uneasy. It’s just occurred to me that I never see Brittany with anyone her own age. She’s always either by herself or with her mother.
I catch Will’s gaze in the rearview mirror. He raises a brow at me as if to say, see what I mean?
Maybe Will and Sebastian are right. Maybe Brittany isn’t so bad after all. The two of us will never be real friends, but it wouldn’t hurt for me to be more open-minded about her.
Will parks his car a few blocks from the rec center. He hands us flashlights, and we begin the short trek.
“Isn’t this fun?” Brittany whispers.
“Let’s just hope no one gets in trouble here,” Will mutters.
“Don’t worry,” I say. “I have a master plan.”
We approach the building from the same side that I entered the day of the rec center celebration. “Hold on. We need to make sure the cameras don’t catch us.” I take out a towel from my tote and hand it to Will. “Toss this over the security camera in the corner over there.”
“Why me?”
“Because you’re the tallest. You’re always bragging about how you’re the best three-point shot maker on your basketball league. Here’s a chance to prove it.”
He grudgingly takes the towel, rolls it into a tight ball then tosses it high in the air. The towel falls perfectly over the camera, draping it completely.
“Yes!” Brittany looks up at Will adoringly. “That was awesome!”
“Not bad,” I say, glancing at my watch. “It’s T minus fifteen minutes. The rest of the gang should be here soon.”
Brittany pulls out her key. “I’ll go ahead and open up the room.” She unlocks the door and steps inside.
“Remember, no lights,” I warn.
I told everyone coming tonight to park anywhere but the rec center parking lot and to bring their own flashlights. The last thing we need is for some Good Samaritan to see the building lit up from the road and to report it to the police. Gloria said she would pass the info along to Derrick. I really hope she was able to convince him to come. Otherwise, this might all be for nothing.
Brittany and Will head into the building and I hang out by the door. Gloria is the first to arrive. She’s dressed simply and has a small bag with her.
“Were you able to get ahold of Derrick?” I ask.
“Yes, and he said he’d be here.”
“What did you say to get him to come?” Not that it matters, but I’m curious.
“I told him that tonight we’d be speaking to Abby’s spirit and that if there was anything he needed to say to her, then this was his chance.” She shrugs. “I might have also mentioned something about how we were going to ask Abby if she wanted to leave the Sunshine Ghost Society anything in her will. Even if Abby does tell us that she wants to leave the society some money, the authorities won't honor that. But Derrick seemed very motivated to make sure nothing slowed down getting his inheritance.”
“That’s brilliant.”
She smiles. “You know, Lucy, you and I could be good friends. You should think of coming to one of our meetings.”
Me? A member of the Sunshine Ghost Society? The idea is ridiculous, but I don’t want to insult Gloria, especially not when she’s been so helpful.
“Darn. I just joined a book club. Between that and The Bistro, I won’t have enough time for anything else.”
“What book club is that?” asks a voice from the dark.
I whip around to find Victor and Phoebe. “Oh, hey, Victor. Betty Jean Collins told me about it. Not sure if they have a name or anything.” I really hope they don’t have one of those cutesy book club names likes Babes and Books or something equally goofy.
“I’m in that book club,” says Victor. “Betty Jean said she asked someone new to join, but I didn’t know it was you, Lucy! Have you started reading the J. W. Quicksilver thriller? I think it’s his best one yet.”
“Yeah, um, I haven’t started, but I’m really looking forward to it.”
Oh boy. I guess now I’ll have to go to the book club meeting next Thursday. I’ll go to one meeting then drop out gracefully, citing a work conflict or something.
“Will you be bringing muffins?” Victor asks hopefully.
“I pretty much think that’s a requirement.”
“Can we get this séance over with?” Phoebe asks gloomily. She brushes past me to go inside the building.
Victor makes a face like he doesn’t know what’s wrong with Phoebe and follows her through the door.
Aurelia and Anthony show up next.
“How is dear sweet little Cornelius?” Aurelia asks.
“The vet says I can take him home in the morning.”
“Thanks again for inviting us,” Anthony says. “This might be our last chance to be around like-minded people for a while.”
Aurelia nods. “We’ll be leaving in a few days for our cruise. Who knows when our next séance might be?”
A large bulky figure emerges from the shadows. “Okay, so I’m here,” Derrick says. “Now what?”
“Mr. Delgado,” Gloria says pleasantly, “I’m so glad you were able to join us.”
Derrick takes one look at me and freezes. “You didn’t say she was coming.”
“Lucy is the one who put the séance together. Without her presence, I’m not sure we’ll be able to speak to Abby.”
“I thought you said I was the one Abby wanted to speak to.”
“It’s a community effort.” She links her arm through his. “Now that we’re all here, why don’t we join the others inside?”
Chapter Twenty-Two
The room is smaller than I remembered. Gloria instructs us all to sit in a circle. Since this is a Pilates classroom, there aren’t any chairs, so we pull some mats from a closet and arrange them on the floor.
Gloria lights several candles and sets them in the middle of the circle, then takes her place across from me. I’m sitting cross-legged between Victor and Brittany. It’s dark and eerily quiet.
“Let’s all hold hands, shall we?” Gloria’s voice echoes off the walls, adding to the spooky ambience, but all I can think is, thank God I’m not sitting next to Derrick because I would really hate to have to hold his nasty old hand. Plus, I have no idea if he even washes regularly. Who knows what kind of germs he could be spreading?
I gaze around the room. Phoebe avoids my eyes. Derrick glares at me, but that’s okay. I expect by the end of the night he won’t be looking quite so smug.
In Gloria’s infamous words, all will be revealed.
I certainly hope so.
A few minutes go by. No one says anything.
Am I supposed to talk?
Is Gloria?
Just when I’m beginning to get antsy, Gloria begins. “Abby, dear friend, sister, and faithful colleague, we’re gathered here tonight in hopes that you will speak to us from the Great Beyond. Come, Abby, be with us once more as you were in life. We beseech you to come out from the shadows and join us.”
Silence.
O-kay. This is my cue to—
“Derrick?” a female voice asks hesitantly. “It’s me, Abby.”
Chills shoot up my spine, but not because we’ve made contact with Abby. It’s Gloria disguising her voice, pretending to be Abby.
I don’t know why I’m so disappointed in Gloria, but I am. I knew this séance was a sham, but I figured that at least she believed in it, but no. She knows exactly what she’s doing. I can hear the lie in her fake voice.
“Abby?” Derrick asks gruffly. “Is that really you?”
“Yes, brother. It’s me.”
I’m surprised that Derrick is so gullible. I figured he would be a tough nut to convince. Maybe his guilty conscience is making him extra stupid.
“We’ve just made contact with Abby,” says Gloria
, using her own voice again. “Her spirit is willing to speak to us, but the connection is weak. I need everyone to keep their eyes closed and to concentrate on Abby. Those of you who were present when they discovered her mortal remains, think of that moment. Draw her spirit into yours.”
Brittany squeezes my hand. Her eyes are shut tight like she’s trying hard to do what Gloria wants.
“Derrick,” says Gloria, using the fake Abby voice again, “I’m so glad you’re here. We have a lot of unfinished business between us.”
“We do?”
“I want you to know that despite our differences, I’ve always cared about you. I’ve always loved you.”
“Same here, Abby.” Derrick’s voice trembles like he’s on the verge of tears.
Gloria is good at this fake talking to the dead thing if she can bring a hardened character like Derrick Delgado to tears.
“And Phoebe?”
“Yes, Abby?” There’s fear in Phoebe’s voice, which can only mean one thing. Just like I’ve suspected this whole time, she’s guilty of something.
“I forgive you.”
“Oh, Abby! Thank you! Thank you so much!”
Hold on a minute.
As entertaining as all this is, it isn’t going the way I intended. I’m the one who called for this séance. It’s my spirit Abby is supposed to be linked to. Not Gloria’s. I can’t very well have “Abby” forgive Phoebe for something until I know what it is and how it might have caused her death.
I think back to the last time I saw Ghost. How did Whoopi do it again? Oh, yeah. She just jumped right in.
“Derrick,” I say, trying to sound trancelike. “It’s Abby again. I’ve decided to talk to you through Lucy McGuffin, who, as everyone knows, makes the best muffins in town. Lucy, thank you for finding my body. I didn’t like being left alone on this cold hard floor for so long.”
A collective gasp sweeps throughout the room.
“What…what do you want, Abby?” Derrick asks.
“I want to thank you for stealing Cornelius for me. He’s such a sweet little dog. I miss him.”
“Er, yeah, we already went through that when you were alive. You’re welcome.”
“But, Derrick, remember. Cornelius is a special dog. He knows what really happened.”
“So?” Derrick says defensively. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Not the reaction I expected.
“Oh, Abby, I’m so sorry!” Phoebe breaks in sobbing.
Aha. Here we go.
“You should be sorry, Phoebe. This is all your fault.”
“Wait,” Anthony whispers loudly, “I thought Abby just forgave her.”
“Maybe she changed her mind,” Aurelia mutters.
“I never meant…that is, it wasn’t supposed to happen this way,” Phoebe says. “You’re right. It’s my fault. You said you forgave me. Did you mean it?”
“On one condition. You have to tell everyone what you did to me. It’s the only way your soul can be saved.”
Brittany clutches my hand so tight I think it’s going to fall off. She doesn’t really believe this, does she? I must be better at this than I thought.
“Yes, yes, I’ll confess to everything. I’m so sorry, Abby, I never meant for us to get in that big fight. I was just so jealous because you had Cornelius.”
“Go on. Tell everyone what happened. It’s the only way I’ll ever be at peace. Otherwise, I might have to…haunt you forever. You wouldn’t want that, would you?”
“No, no,” Phoebe says. She takes a big breath. “After Derrick took Cornelius for Abby, I couldn’t stand it. I just had to have him for my own. So…that Friday evening, I broke into Abby’s house and stole him for myself.”
I knew it!
“Abby was furious,” continues Phoebe. “Not that I blame you, Abby, not one bit.”
“Tell them the rest of the story,” I command. I have to admit, this is kind of fun. No wonder Gloria is so into this.
“Abby called me and said she knew I’d taken the dog. We got in a huge fight, and she threatened to sic her pyscho brother on me if I didn’t return him.”
“Hey!” says Derrick. “Who’s calling who a psycho here?”
“Silence!” I say in my best Abby-dead voice. “I want the truth and nothing but the truth! You’re leaving out the important details. Like what happened when Cornelius bit you, and we had to get Father McGuffin involved for the exorcism.”
“Bit me?” Phoebe sounds confused. “Cornelius never bit me, and that exorcism was your crazy idea.”
Now I’m confused as well. If Phoebe wasn’t the bite victim, then who was? Derrick?
“Forget about the bite for now. Continue.”
“First, I need to know.” Phoebe clears her throat. “Is it…very horrible where you are, Abby?”
“Yes,” says Victor, “We need to know that you’re all right.”
Horrible?
Oh. I see what they’re getting at.
“I’m in a wonderful place. Very quiet and lovely. And not hot at all. It’s like…Florida, but in the winter. And I get to eat all the ice cream I want.”
Phoebe lets out a huge sigh of relief. “Oh, Abby, I’m so happy for you!”
“Now, back to the business at hand. Everyone must know what really happened to me. For their sakes,” I add ominously.
Phoebe nods. “So, Abby and me made a deal. Cornelius should be with the person he felt the strongest connection with. We decided to put him to the test and try to resurrect the old ghost haunting this place. Earlier Friday afternoon, I was here to help some of the Gray Flamingos with the pre-tour preparations, and I stole a key off of Gus Pappas. Abby and I agreed to meet here at midnight. I…oh, Abby, I’m so sorry. I cheated. I came a couple of hours early with Cornelius, and I tried to get him to commune with the ghost, but nothing happened. All he did was run around the building and bark.”
So that’s how Paco got in the building. That part makes sense now.
“Tell the rest,” I say.
“There’s not much else. Abby met me at the prescribed time. I told her that Cornelius didn’t respond to me so she could have him. You were so happy, Abby. Remember? We made up.”
“Yes, I remember, Phoebe.”
“Then Abby told me that she’d called Father McGuffin to come and act as an intermediary between us, but since I’d decided to give her Cornelius, there wasn’t any need. I was…ashamed of what I’d done, stealing the dog and being so petty about the whole thing. I didn’t want Father McGuffin to find out, so I left through the back door before he got here. In the end, I confessed it all to him anyway the next day at the grand opening celebration. I just didn’t want all that hanging over me.” She sniffles. “I’m so sorry, Abby. It all must have been too much for you. If I’d known you were going to have a heart attack, I would have stayed. I would have done CPR. Maybe I could have saved you.”
No one says anything for a few minutes.
Everything Phoebe has said is the truth.
I feel…awful making her relive all this. But at least now I know she didn’t do anything to cause Abby’s death.
Which leaves Derick.
“Thank you, Phoebe,” I say in my Abby voice. “Derrick, it’s time you told the truth now too.”
“Me? But I haven’t done nothin’.”
“That’s not exactly true, is it?”
“I already confessed to stealing the dog for you. What else do you want me to say?”
“You told the police you were at a poker game at your house till two in the morning and then you went to bed. You also told them that you were here at the opening day celebration and that’s how your fingerprints got on the doorknob. We both know those are lies. Come on, brother, tell them everything. Tell them how I looked the last time you saw me.”
A strained hush descends over the room.
“Oh my God…” Derrick whispers hoarsely, “it really is you.”
Now we’re getting somewhere! It’s hard to
hide my smile of satisfaction, but I do my best to stay in Abby mode. I pause dramatically and glance around the circle to gauge everyone’s reactions. Brittany, Victor, Phoebe, and Anthony all seem riveted. Derrick, too, now.
Will knows I’m faking it, so he’s avoiding my gaze. Probably because he doesn’t want to laugh and give me away. Gloria catches my eye, and there’s a gleam of…admiration? No, it’s more like resignation because I’ve stolen her little show away from her and she knows there’s nothing she can do about it without exposing herself.
Aurelia is looking at me oddly. As if she’s seeing me for the first time. It’s eerie, actually. I stare back at her and blink, trancelike, and she quickly looks away.
“Of course it’s me,” I say to Derrick. “Go on. Let’s finish this.”
I can practically hear him sweating. “After Phoebe over there stole the dog away from Abby, my sister was pretty upset. Not that I blame her. What’s the point of stealin’ a dog just to have him stole out from under you? So she called me and told me all about their little arrangement. Said she didn’t trust Phoebe to stick to her end of the bargain and she wanted me to come here as backup. Just in case things didn’t go the way she planned.”
“What?” Phoebe sputters. “Abby! You didn’t trust me?”
“Didn’t you just admit to cheating by coming here early that night?”
“I would never have—” She shakes her head like she can’t believe it.
Oh boy. Talk about a complicated relationship. But back to Derrick and how he got his fingerprints on the doorknob. “And you did come and help me, didn’t you, brother?”
“Well, golly, Abby, you know if you’d still been alive, I would have done that CPT on you. But seein’ as how you were dead, there wasn’t much I could do.”
The silence in the room is deafening.
Did Derrick just admit to seeing Abby’s dead body?
“You mean CPR?” Victor asks.
“Yeah, sure, that too. Look, I know I should have called the police, but what good would that have done? I’m sorry, Abby, I really am.”
I’m stunned, but I manage to squeak out a response. “It’s all right.”