Deception (Absent Shadows Trilogy Book 3) (14 page)

I’d lost all interest in watching the movie so I took myself off to bed where I sat and wrote a letter to Ceylona, praising her photography skills yet again. Then I wrote a brief note to Mladen, asking what he thought about Ceylona coming over to spend a few weeks at Christmas. I figured the sooner I started working on him, the better my chances would be. I put the note to him in a separate envelope, and folded it into the larger one. I could post it in the morning.

That done, I curled up in bed, still trying to get the image of the girl, Darcy, out of my mind. I finally fell asleep and, thankfully, did not dream.

~ Chapter Fifteen ~

I saw him standing near his tree watching me approach, just as he had that very first time—before we even really knew each other. My heart started pounding in anticipation, and I could feel my cheeks burning. He still had that same effect on me, even now, four years and three babies down the track.

When I reached him, I stopped just a few feet in front of him, hoping he’d step forward to kiss me, but he kept his distance.

‘Sleep well?’ he asked.

‘Yeah, okay, but I’m still worried about that missing girl, Darcy,’ I said, trying to ignore the fact that he was, once again, distant.

‘I wish I could help, but I really don’t recall seeing her.’ His face showed some concern, but only just.

‘I know; that’s okay. I’m going to ask Elizabeth. So, how was it last night anyway? After you left?’

‘Eerily quiet, actually,’ he replied, his face calm and not giving away anything about how he was feeling.

‘That’s good, isn’t it? I mean, do you think things are settling down then?’

‘Maybe, but I wouldn’t get too excited just yet. It feels more like the calm before the storm. There’s someone behind this surge, and until we figure out who it is, and eliminate him or them, we’ll have to keep our wits about us.’

I thought about what Crystal had said; about it not being safe for us to be living together. I was still hoping she was just being cautious.

‘I’ve got a busy weekend planned. I’d told you about going to the football tomorrow, and then Crystal invited me to go up to the Dandenongs with her and Angelica on Sunday. So, there’ll be no house hunting this weekend.’

‘That’s okay—you could probably use a break from it anyway. Maybe there’ll be something new next week.’

I still couldn’t read his emotions—whether he was disappointed or relieved.

‘Yeah, I suppose you’re right.’

‘Now tonight, make sure you take your phone with you, and keep it in your pocket, alright?’ He sounded authoritative now. It was like he was the old Sam; the protective Sam. It comforted me.

‘Of course. And if by chance I do call, you’ll answer, right?’

He shook his head, and gave me a quirky smile as he replied. ‘If you ring, of course I’ll answer. You know, I still don’t know what happened. Did I tell you the guy at the shop where I got the new phone said there was nothing wrong with the old one—nothing that he could see anyway? Mind you, he was happy enough to sell me an upgraded model. This one takes much better photos, and has a bigger screen for games and that. Not that I’ll ever play them.’

‘Well, just make sure it knows who I am when I ring, that’s all I care about,’ I said, winking at him, momentarily forgetting the distance between us.

Sam smiled and shook his head, and I thought he was about to laugh, but then something caught his attention. ‘Ah, Elizabeth’s here. Shall we go talk to her?’ he asked, pointing toward her bench.

As we walked toward Elizabeth, I noticed Cassie was just beside her.

‘Hey, Elizabeth ... Cassie … lovely morning, isn’t it?’ I asked when we got close.

‘Yes, it’s a beautiful day,’ replied Elizabeth in her sweet voice, ‘and I daresay it will be crowded at the market. But it’ll be fun. It seems Cassie likes to tease the toddlers nearly as much as I do.’

‘I sure do. Hello, Sam. It’s nice to see you today,’ said Cassie, stepping up in front of Sam.

‘And it’s very nice to see you too, Cassie. What’s the occasion? Usually you stay clear when I’m around.’

‘Ah, it’s your wife’s fault. I like her. She reminds me of home. And so I figure that if she loves you, you mustn’t be that bad. Elizabeth has been trying to convince me you’re nothing like that horrible vampire that killed me … but I must admit I didn’t really believe her until I met Lili.’

‘Thanks, Cassie,’ I said, then turned and winked at Sam. ‘See, I’m good for some things after all.’

He reached over and pulled me to his side, and put his arm around my shoulders possessively. ‘You’re good for lots of things, and you know it.’

I snuggled against him for a moment, soaking up the unexpected surge of affection, and then turned back to Elizabeth to ask if she had any information about the missing teenager, Darcy Brown.

‘Hmmm … the name doesn’t mean anything to me. Describe her if you can remember—that might help.’

I did my best to describe her from the photo they’d briefly shown on the news, but neither Elizabeth nor Cassie could recall seeing anyone, alive or dead, that matched the description.

‘We’ll keep a lookout for her, but if she’s been missing for a while, she’s probably left the area, one way or another. I mean it isn’t likely that she’s hanging around here as a ghost … I think either Cassie or I would have seen her by now … unless she doesn’t want to be seen, but that’s unusual.’

I thought of Rachel when she said that. Rachel had been here, in the gardens, for months before I saw her. And Elizabeth had never seen her. She’d stayed hidden for her own reasons. But that wasn’t something I wanted to think about now. I wanted to focus on young Darcy.

‘Well, that’s good news, I guess,’ I said, trying to decide if it actually was good news. ‘Hopefully she’ll turn up.’

‘If we see or hear anything, we’ll let you know. Now, Cassie, shall we head down to the market and leave these two lovebirds to talk in private?’ Elizabeth winked at me as she started moving away in the direction of the market, humming that lovely little tune of hers. It was so nice to see her happy.

‘Oh … before you go. Cassie, speaking of trying to find people, have you had any luck with your father? Do you want me to go back to that apartment building again? To see if anyone knows anything?’

Sam turned to me, with a quizzical look on his face. I quickly explained that I’d tried to help Cassie locate her father, but had come up with nothing—no-one that I spoke to at the address she had seemed to know him either by name or description.

‘No, that’s okay. I think that’s a dead end, so to speak. But I suppose you could try to find him … you know, in the phone book or something,’ she said, but her expression was not particularly hopeful.

‘Okay, I’ll try that. You never know. Anyway, I’ll see you guys—but not for a couple of days. I’ve got Claire with me for the weekend so I probably won’t come up either day.’

Elizabeth stopped, and turned to look at me again. ‘Oh, Claire … now she’s someone I’d like to meet. She looked so pretty at your wedding. Do you think she’d enjoy meeting us?’

‘Ooohhh, I don’t know. Actually, I don’t think she’d see you; she doesn’t believe in ghosts,’ I said, cowering at the thought of trying to explain the ghosts to Claire … and then cringing at the thought of what other conversation it might lead to.

‘Hmmm. Like your mother,’ said Elizabeth, disappointment written all over her face.

‘Mom believed me … I don’t know why she couldn’t see you. But with Claire, she simply doesn’t believe in ghosts.’

‘Well, still … I’d like to try,’ said Elizabeth, letting her voice fade to a whisper.

I hesitated, knowing this was probably a mistake, but not wanting to deny Elizabeth such a simple request either. ‘We’ll see. If she wants to come for a run tomorrow morning, then we’ll be here. But I doubt that will happen.’

Elizabeth just laughed and turned back toward the market. I looked at Sam wondering what he thought about bringing Claire into this little secret, but he just smirked. Whatever he was thinking, he kept it to himself.

‘See ya, Lili. Oh, and you too Sam,’ said Cassie, running to catch up with Elizabeth.

Sam still had his arm around my shoulders, and I hated to break the mood, so I just stood for a moment. Finally he spoke.

‘So, are you going for a run?’

‘Yeah, but first I want to post this letter to Ceylona. Walk with me?’

‘I’d love to,’ he replied; his voice warm and soothing.

We walked along in silence for a few minutes, careful to stay in the shadows as much as possible as we headed down to Elizabeth Street.

‘So, are you no closer to finding out who’s behind all this activity?’

‘Not really. The ones we catch just laugh and make snide comments about revenge, but none will talk. We wondered if it might be Zunios, but there’s been nothing pointing to him. And Erranase has heard nothing. If it is Zunios, he’s keeping a low profile.’

‘Have there been many deaths? Of humans, I mean.’

‘Yes, unfortunately. There’s been almost twenty that we know of since you’ve been away; those are the ones where we’ve actually found the bodies, but of course there could be others that we don’t find.’

‘Can’t Michael and Crystal get more help? Surely there are other dhampirs that could come for a time. And what about Angelica? Is she helping?’

‘Well, as for more dhampirs, it doesn’t seem there are. Michael doesn’t want to be an alarmist; he won’t ask Mladen to send any of his teachers or anything. And while he does know of other dhampirs, they all have their own areas that they protect. Ben and Henry could come, but from what Crystal has said, they really aren’t mature enough yet to be much help. Neither Crystal nor Michael wants to drag them away from Ceylona for that reason. And it’s the same with Angelica; Crystal says she is still quite young and inexperienced.’

‘I don’t understand Sam. Surely, just having more eyes and ears helps. Even if they don’t have the experience to kill them, they could spot them, and call for help, couldn’t they?’

‘You’d think so, wouldn’t you? But that’s the problem. These vampires are like stealth bombers. They’re not easily seen. They seem to be able to walk around and blend in … then strike suddenly without much forewarning. We’re all having trouble spotting them, until it’s too late.’

‘You mean their illusions work on you too?’

‘It would seem so. We aren’t spotting them hovering around on roof tops, the way we normally spot transient vampires. It really is like they’re invisible.’

‘But you said you’ve caught some … you said they laugh.’

‘Yes, we’ve caught about a dozen, but it’s just been when we’re lucky. When they’re feeding they seem unable to keep up the illusion—if we happen to be close enough, we can smell them even if we don’t see them. Then we can pick them off. But obviously, it’s too late for their victim by then.’

‘Oh, that’s awful. So you mean, any stranger walking down the street could be one … at any time?’

‘Well, theoretically, yes, I suppose so. We could be passing one even now,’ he replied, as a tall man walked toward us.

I cringed, and his arm around me tightened.

‘Don’t worry … they haven’t gotten so bold as to attack in the middle of a busy street, and certainly not another vampire,’ he said, with the last bit being a whisper. Then he laughed, quietly, and I suspected he was just trying to break the sombre mood.

When we reached the mailbox I dropped my letter in, and then turned to him.

‘Sam, I’m thinking that it would be nice for Ceylona to come for Christmas … with Ben and Henry. I’ve mentioned it to Mladen in the letter I just mailed. It will be alright, won’t it?’

He stared at me for a moment, and I wondered if he was trying to decide whether to retrieve my letter from the box. But then he smiled, and his eyes softened.

‘If Mladen says she can come, then it’s fine with me. It will be fine; we’ll just be really careful for the few days while she’s here, that’s all.’

‘And you … you’d be happy, wouldn’t you? I mean, you haven’t seen her for so long.’

‘I’d be ecstatic. A real family Christmas; you’re wonderful to have thought of it.’

‘Oh, Sam … I really do want us to be a family again … our very special, even if a bit eclectic, family.’

‘Our time will come, don’t worry. We’ll work through this. Michael loves a challenge, as you know. He’s been stumped, as we all have, but he’s trying different approaches constantly. It’s just a matter of time until he finds the answer to this.’

‘I hope so. Now, speaking of time, I should get started on my run. Debs is taking me to lunch today.’

‘So, can I walk you back to the gardens?’

‘I’d love you to walk me back to the gardens,’ I answered, putting my arm around his waist and then snuggling against him as his arm came around my shoulders once again.

~ Chapter Sixteen ~

Thankfully, our Friday night drinks session was uneventful. Claire chatted to several rather nice looking businessmen, but she seemed bored with each one after only a few minutes. I couldn’t help but think she was comparing them to Tom, and of course they wouldn’t measure up. I was rather pleased when she yawned just after eight o’clock, and said she wouldn’t mind watching the football game on television if I wanted to go home.

Although there was no reason to do so, I rang Sam. As promised he answered on the first ring. I quickly told him we’d had enough and we were going home, and I could hear the relief in his voice when he told me to ring when we were home safely. I loved it, knowing that he was concerned.

The next morning was cold and windy, but the sky was blue and cloudless. It promised to be a good day for the footy.

‘Coffee?’ I asked, when Claire ventured into the kitchen just after eight-thirty.

‘Are you having one?’ she replied.

‘No, I already had one earlier. I was thinking of going for a quick run, up to the gardens, while you’re having breakfast and getting dressed.’

‘Oh, a run … I’d join you, but I don’t have any running shoes,’ she said, frowning a little and looking genuinely disappointed.

‘Well, you can walk while I run a couple of laps, if you like.’ I figured there was no way she’d take me up on it, but I had to offer anyway.

‘Cool. Hmmm, do you have a spare pair of trackies that I can put on, rather than wearing my nice jeans?’

‘Sure,’ I replied, ducking back to my room and returning with a pair of dark green track pants and a grey sweatshirt.

‘Hmmm, I’m going to look like a real geek in these if I wear my boots. I don’t suppose you have a spare pair of running shoes … or thongs or something?’

I dashed back to my room and came back with a pair of running shoes that I hadn’t even worn yet. They’d be too big for Claire’s dainty little feet, but with an extra pair of socks she’d just manage. Five minutes later we were out the door.

As we walked up toward Sam’s tree, I halfway expected him to be standing there watching us, but he wasn’t. I was disappointed, of course, but took a deep breath and smiled at Claire.

‘I’ll just do three or four laps, fairly quickly. You should be able to walk around once or twice while I run. Ready?’

‘Yeah, sure, you go. I’ll take my time. These shoes are so big I know I’d trip if I even tried to run. I’m happy walking.’

I headed down and around to the right, running in a clockwise direction as I often did. As I approached Elizabeth’s bench I could see her sitting there with Cassie. The pair of them were chatting and giggling. I said a quick hello as I passed, telling them I’d stop after I did my laps if they were still there. Elizabeth called back that she wouldn’t leave for anything and then started giggling even louder.

I looked over my shoulder after I passed the bench, and could see Claire coming along at a slow but steady walk. She seemed to be enjoying the scenery, looking around here and there as she made her way along the track. She waved me on when she saw that I was looking at her.

I continued running down the hill, then across the bottom, and up the hill on the other side, then around and back to Elizabeth’s bench again. I passed them, then caught up to Claire when she was still just part way up the hill heading toward Sam’s tree.

‘I’ll just do one more lap, Claire. There’s a bench, part way down the hill—past that really big tree … when you get to it, stop and wait for me there.’

‘Okay. Near where we had your wedding ceremony, right?’

‘Yeah, not far from there. I’ll see you shortly.’

I passed her, puffing hard, and as I reached Sam’s tree, I wondered if he might now be here but there was still no sign of him. However as I reached the bench, I saw that Elizabeth and Cassie were still sitting there, side by side, smiling and giggling excitedly.

‘One more lap, girls. I’ll be back around in a flash. I told Claire to wait for me here. Now, don’t go scaring her, you hear,’ I said, laughing.

I slowed my pace and tried to take deeper, slower breaths, and before I knew it I was passing Sam’s tree for the third time. There was still no sign of him, but I could see Claire up ahead sitting in the middle of the bench. Elizabeth was on one side of her, and Cassie on the other. I thought the two ghosts would surely split their sides from trying to contain their laughter.

I slowed to a walk, wanting to recover enough so that I could talk easily when I reached Claire. I stopped as I reached the bench, and then bent slightly backwards to stretch.

‘That felt good,’ I said, looking at Claire, trying desperately not to start laughing. Elizabeth and Cassie were just short of rolling on the ground, they were laughing so hard.

I put my right leg up on the bench, just beside Elizabeth, and stretched slowly. Then swapped legs, and stretched again.

‘So, what do you think of my gardens? Nice place to run, don’t you think?’

‘Yeah, it’s really pretty here. I wish I had something like this close to my house. We have that small park nearby, but it’s not much more than a big lawn.’

Sunlight was peeking through the trees and we were just out of the wind—and surprisingly there were very few other people around. I sat on the bench next to Claire, sort of pushing Elizabeth out of the way as I did so, struggling to stifle my laughter. It didn’t work.

‘What’s so funny?’ asked Claire, looking down at the big shoes she was wearing, and then brushing at her arms. ‘Have I got something on me? Did I step in something?’

‘No,’ I answered, nearly spitting the word out.

‘What then?’

‘I can’t do this,’ I said, standing up and looking first at Elizabeth, then Claire.

‘Do what? What is your problem?’

‘Okay,’ I said, taking a deep breath. Focus Lili, I said to myself over and over. I took another deep breath, and seemed to have my laugher under control.

‘Claire, remember when I asked you about going on that ghost walk?’

‘Yeah, sort of. I mean, we talked about it, but never did it, right?’ she asked.

‘Yeah, we didn’t have time that week and then I forgot all about it.’

‘And? So … what about it?’

‘Well,’ I said, stretching the word out, ‘you said at the time that you didn’t actually believe in ghosts. Is that still true? I mean, do you, you know, believe in ghosts?’

Elizabeth and Cassie were still laughing, making it really hard for me to concentrate.

‘No, of course not. But what’s that got to do with anything?’

‘Oh, Claire. I really think you should be more open-minded,’ I nearly spat out the words, struggling to hold back my laugher. But it was no good. I put my hand over my mouth, and pushed hard, but the laughter wouldn’t stop.

Claire stood up, and looked over her shoulder at her backside, first from the right, then the left.

‘Right. Did I sit in something? Wet paint or something? What is so funny?’ she asked, starting to get angry when she couldn’t see anything to laugh about.

‘I’m sorry Claire, really. It’s just … I mean,’ I didn’t know how to start, and couldn’t get the words out in any case.

Elizabeth was standing up now, and Cassie jumped up beside her, the two girls hugging each other and continuing with their giggles.

‘What?’ she demanded.

‘Here, sit down again,’ I said, remembering how I fainted the first time I saw Elizabeth. If Claire was going to faint, I’d rather she was at least sitting down. At least she wouldn’t have so far to fall.

Claire just stood there, looking at me suspiciously. ‘I’m not going to sit there unless you tell me what you’re laughing about,’ she said, still not seeing anything funny in the situation.

‘Please Claire, just sit, and I’ll tell you what it is.’

She studied the bench carefully, and reached down to touch the boards with her fingers to ensure it wasn’t wet. Then she looked over her shoulder at her backside again. Finally she seemed satisfied there was nothing there and sat.

Elizabeth moved up until she was standing smack dab in front of Claire, barely inches from her, still giggling like crazy. Cassie was now on the ground, rolling with laughter.

‘It’s Sam’s sister,’ I said, proud of myself for getting the words out without spitting this time.

‘Sam’s sister? I didn’t know he had a sister. So, what about her?’ Claire asked, her voice sounding extremely suspicious.

‘Well, she’s here—standing just in front of you, as a matter of fact.’

Claire looked at me, shook her head, and made this little, ‘humph’ sound.

‘Really … she’s here. I’m not kidding,’ I said, desperately trying to keep a straight face.

‘Yeah, right. Oh, and did I just hear one of Santa’s reindeer whinny over in the distance?’

‘Claire, I’m serious. And besides … reindeer don’t whinny,’ I replied, biting my teeth together in a last effort to fight off the laughter.

‘Well then … oh, you know what I mean,’ she said, glaring at me.

‘She’s right here. Her name is Elizabeth. She’s ten. Well, she was ten … when she died.’

‘Oh yeah, very funny. You’re trying to get back at me for telling you about the graves under the car park, aren’t you?’

‘No, not at all. I’m dead serious,’ I said, again struggling to not to spit the words out as I stifled more laughter.

‘Oh, very clever. “Dead serious”. Ha, ha, ha.’

‘Elizabeth,’ I said out loud so that Claire could hear me, ‘you’ll have to show yourself. She isn’t going to believe me unless she sees you herself.’

Claire looked at me and started shaking her head back and forth. But then the shaking slowed, and her eyes widened and she took a rather loud breath inward.

‘Lili, what is going on here?’

‘I take it you can see Elizabeth then?’

‘Uh, well, I see someone, or something. A young girl with dark hair in pigtails … I assume this is Elizabeth.’

‘Brilliant! You can see her!’

Claire didn’t faint. In actual fact, she took it quite well. I introduced her to Elizabeth, and when it was obvious that she’d accepted her, we introduced Cassie. I’d made it clear, earlier, to both the ghosts that Claire didn’t know anything about vampires, and wasn’t to be told. The story was simply that Elizabeth had drowned in a boating accident, and Cassie had been the unfortunate victim of a mugging. Claire seemed happy enough with the explanations, and didn’t ask any tricky questions.

Cassie and Claire really hit it off, especially when Cassie learned that Claire had gone to school in southern California, and had also spent a bit of time in San Diego, Cassie’s home town.

We sat for what must have been the best part of an hour with them, but eventually I had to break up the conversation, saying we should get home so we could get ready for the game.

As we walked off toward La Trobe Street, I looked back over my shoulder to see Elizabeth and Cassie, hand in hand, skipping off toward the market, no doubt to look for toddlers to tease.

~~***~~

Claire thought the football game was simply spectacular, given that at three quarter time her team was leading by so much it would be nearly impossible for them to lose. I thought it was rather boring and one sided.

Finally, after noticing Claire watching me out the corner of her eye for the best part of the game, and not saying anything, my curiosity got the better of me.

‘What?’

‘Nothing,’ she replied, raising an eyebrow and sort of smirking.

‘You’ve been staring at me like that all through the game. What’s that about?’

‘Hmmm, just wondering,’ she said, not finishing her sentence.

‘Wondering, what?’

‘Wondering how many other secrets you might have kept from me,’ she said, looking at me with suspicion in her eyes.

‘Secrets, what do you mean?’ I tried to sound as innocent as possible.

‘Uh … Sam’s sister is a ghost and you not only see her, but talk to her and seem to be pretty good friends with her as well.’

‘Oh, that.’

‘Yeah, that!’

‘Sorry, Claire, I’d have told you a long time ago, but I never thought you’d believe me.’

‘So, when did you meet her? Was it recently then?’

‘Oh, well, not really—Sam and I were talking in the gardens one day, and he introduced me to her. I fainted. I’m really impressed that you handled it so well.’

That seemed to make her happy, knowing that I’d fainted, and she hadn’t.

‘You fainted? Oh, you big sissy. I can’t believe you actually fainted.’

‘Me neither. But I did. Sam picked me up and set me on the bench, and told me what had happened.’

‘Humph. Well, there you go.’

‘So, are you hungry? I could go for a pizza after this finishes. Or do you need to get home?’

‘No, pizza sounds great. Where?’

‘There’s a place at Docklands. If you like, you can stay the night again. That way we can have a few beers too.’

An hour later we were sitting at a table, waiting for someone to take our order. It seemed we weren’t the only ones that thought pizza and beer was a good way to follow up the football game, as the place was packed. But eventually we were served, and Claire was in her element, surrounded by Hawks fans.

Three hours later we made our way up to the apartment, and Debs just smiled as we waltzed in smelling of beer and garlic. I slept like a baby that night. Whether it was the beer, or the fresh air from the football game, I wasn’t sure, but I slept like a rock.

~~***~~

‘Coffee, girls?’ asked Debs as I walked into the kitchen. I looked over my shoulder to see that Claire was following right behind me. She was still in her robe and slippers. At least I had showered and dressed.

‘Can I make you some eggs? Or would you prefer cereal? Or toast and honey?’ asked Debs.

‘I’ll have some toast, thanks,’ answered Claire as she plunked herself down at the table. Her hair was all tousled and there was makeup all around her eyes.

‘Toast would be great, thanks Debs, but I can get it,’ I said, reaching under the bench to grab a couple of mugs.

‘Don’t be silly, I’ll get it. So, what are you girls up to today?’ asked Debs, pulling a loaf of bread from the freezer.

‘Oh, I’m going up to the Dandenongs, with Crystal and a friend of hers,’ I replied before thinking. I realised how rude that must have sounded, talking about it in front of Claire, so decided to invite her along.