Ghost Walk (22 page)

“Hold
on.”  Grace held up her palms before he went off to challenge Ned to a duel or
something.  Pirates weren’t known for their thoughtful and measured responses. 
“We don’t know he
actually
did it.  I told you, I’m still investigating. 
He’s just our new person of interest.”

“So
I’ll stab him, just to be sure, and
then
you can investigate.  It’ll be
far safer for you.”

“Stop
helping.”  Grace ordered and turned back to Loyal.  “Cast the bad intentions spell
for Anabel.”  She reiterated and headed for the door.

“Are
you going to pay for this magic?”  He called.  “Because it seems like time
travelers never pay.”  There was a pause.  “Actually, it seems like
no one
ever pays.”

Grace
scoffed at that very typical Rivera complaint.  Money baffled all of them,
which is why they never had any.  “I’ll give you an investment tip, the next
time I visit.  Cross my heart.”

“The
next
time you visit?  What century will that be?”

Grace
pretended not to hear that.  “Jamie, if you’re coming with me, you’d better
behave.  I mean it.”

He
made an aggravated sound and fell into step beside her.  “No version of me has
ever
mistaken you for timid, love.”

She
shot him a sideways look as they stepped out onto the (smelly) street.  “Remind
yourself you said that in about two hundred and thirtyish years.  It’ll be good
for a laugh.”

“Two
hundred and thirty
years?
  How the hell am I still alive two hundred and
thirty years from now?”

“You’re
not.”

“Then
how am I ‘sort of’ your lover?”  His volume had several people looking their
way.

“I
told you, it’s complicated!”  She shouted back.  “Just wait until the memory potion
kicks in, okay?  You’re not going to believe me otherwise.”

He
ran a hand over his face.  “You’re probably right.  In fact, it would be best
not to discuss your ideas about time travel, a t’all.  They cause my head to pound.”

“You’d
prefer I lie to you?”

“I’d
prefer you say things that make a damn bit of sense.”

In
Grace’s opinion, she was dealing with time travel just about as well as anyone
could expect.  Being in Harrisonburg, when it was all sparkly and new, still
kinda freaked her out.  It was the year the frigging Constitution took effect,
for God’s sake!  Everywhere she looked there were horses and buckle shoes.  It
was darn unsettling.  Jamie really could be a little more supportive.

“Maybe
you should have thought about all this
before
you showed up, wanting to ask
my father for my loony hand.”  She told him archly.

“Why?” 
He didn’t seem very concerned over the possibility of wedded bliss with a
basket case.  “I’ve seen enough to accept there are many things I’ve never
seen.  Much as it annoys me, time travel could well be one of them.”

“You’ve
really
seen magic before?”  He’d talked of seeing the “fay” back in
Scotland, but, at the time, she’d been half-convinced he was just being his
whimsical self.

Or
drunk.

“I’ve
seen fairies dance and mermaids swim.  I’ve got a twinkle of knowing in me,
lass.”

Grace
wasn’t surprised that he’d believed in the supernatural even before he became a
ghost.  All iterations of Jamie seemed to accept that abnormal happenings were
just a normal part of the world.  “You’ve seen actual mermaids?”

She
had always been inexplicably fascinated with mermaids.  They were the one type
of magical being she wished were real, but not even a Rivera had ever seen
one.  If they had, her crypto-taxidermist Uncle Devotion would’ve had it
stuffed above the mantle by now.

“Aye. 
Off the coast of Jamaica, playing in the waves.”  Jamie shrugged, like it was
no big deal.  “So I know what it feels like when you’re staring at something
beyond our mortal understanding.  I have that feeling when I look at you.  But
I donea like entertaining the idea of you slipping back to some time period
that I cannot reach.”

“Technically,
I’m slipping
forward
.”

Jamie
shot her sideways glance.  “When I look at you, I
know
you’re made of
pure magic and I
know
you’re mine.  That’s my point.  So, maybe you’re a
mad woman and maybe you’re not…  But either way, I donea feel the need to
explain it.  I’m certain we belong together.  Now and forever.  That’s all that
matters to me.”

Crap.

The
man always disarmed her when he said things like that.  His words weren’t
exactly the stuff of Hallmark cards, but it was impossible not to be touched by
his faith in their bond.  Grace gave up being irritated and sighed.  “We belong
together.”  She agreed quietly.  “I know that, too.”

No
matter what century they were standing in, Jamie Riordan was her Partner.

He
flashed her a slant-y smile, his sour mood evaporating.  “So, why are we
bickering about what we both already ken?”  He slipped an arm around her waist,
which was no doubt a graphic PDA by post-Colonial standards.

Grace
let him, because he was Jamie and she’d let him get away with just about
anything.  “Because there are problems with our relationship that you don’t fully
understand.”  She informed him, ignoring the scandalized looks coming their
way.  “I’d explain them to you, but I already know you won’t listen.”

He
sure as heck wasn’t following her instructions to get out of town.  Jamie was
going along with most of this, because he could feel their connection.  Sure,
he’d stab Ned just on general principles, but that was a long way from fully buying
her crazy tale of serial killings and time travel.  Until the memory potion
kicked in, he was just an innocent bystander in this mission.

It
was up to her to keep him safe.

“Let
us go back to my ship and you can tell me
allllll
the problems in graphic
detail.”  He suggested with a guileless expression.  “I’ve also quite an
interest in learning what a ‘pizza-tramp’ is.  We’ll have a good long talk
about all of it.”

“If
we go back to your ship, I’m sure ‘talking’ will be the last thing on your
mind.”

“Ah,
you really do know me, lass.”  His eyes traced over the Velcro closure to her
tour guide costume, as if he was visualizing her naked breasts.  He smirked a
bit as her nipples beaded in response.  “But, I’ve quite a good brain in my
handsome head.  We’ll compromise.  You come with me now and I’ll solve everything
for you, before our wedding night.  You have my word as a gentleman.”

No
one had ever accused the man of lacking confidence.  “You and Rhett Butler,
right?”

His
brows compressed.  “Who?”

“Never
mind.”  Since his life depended on her investigative skills, she needed to
focus on finding the killer and not Jamie’s good-natured come-ons.  Just
walking down the street, Grace could see people slanting him suspicious
frowns.  Half of Harrisonburg was already convinced of his guilt and only
Lucinda had died so far.  If she didn’t save Anabel and Clara, he’d be lynched
all over again.

Jamie
was still holding her and her free hand came over to grip his fingers
protectively.

His
mouth curved.  “Grace,” his tone went soft, “are you trying to guard me from
the good citizens of this town?  There’s no need, love.  I did nothing to
Lucinda.”

“I
know, but it’s not going to matter.  You just need to lay low until I solve
everything, alright?  I have a plan.”

“Which
is?”

“To
start with, we’re going to find out if Edward Hunnicutt has any bad intentions
towards Anabel Maxwell.”  She headed for The Raven, trying to recall the
eighteenth century’s social mores.  “Am I allowed in the tavern or is there
some chauvinistic ‘boys’ club’ rule in place?”

“Ladies
donea go into drinking establishments.”

“Is
that like a
law
or just some policy I can choose to ignore?”

“If
you ignore it, I’ll be put in the stocks for savagely beating the men who haul
you out the door.”

She
rolled her eyes.  “Wonderful.  You’re going to have to get Edward Hunnicutt out
here, then.  I need to question him.”

Jamie
wasn’t thrilled with that idea.  “I donea understand your sudden fascination
with that man.”  He muttered.  “He treats his serving girls terribly, you
know.”

“Oh
for God’s sake, Jamie.  I’m not planning to seduce the guy or…”  She paused, a
new thought occurring to her.  “Hang on.  When you say he mistreats his wait
staff, what
exactly
are you referring to?”

Jamie
hesitated, as if trying to find phrasing that wouldn’t offend her.  “He makes
them do things for their wages that no honorable employer would be making them
do.”

“Hunnicutt
has sex with the girls before he’ll pay them?”  Grace translated.  “Jesus, I’m
rethinking the part where you stab him to death.  What a total and complete
scumbag.”

“Indeed. 
It’s why I would prefer you stay far away from him.”

Grace
shook his head.  “No, this is actually a useful clue.  Disgusting, but useful. 
Serial killers are often motivated by power and sexual control.  He’s definitely
our top suspect.”  She gave Jamie a nudge towards The Raven.  “Get him out here
and let’s see if he has any deviant thoughts about Anabel.”

Jamie
didn’t rush off to do her bidding.  “I’m not exactly on friendly terms with the
man.  How do you suggest I lure him from behind the bar?”

“I
don’t care.  Use your imagination.”  She made a shooing gesture with her hand. 
“Go on.”

“Grace…”

“Please?”

Jamie
swore under his breath.  “Are you going to be here when I get back?”  He
challenged, still not happy.  “I donea like letting you out of my sight. 
You’ve a tendency to vanish on me.”

“I’ll
be standing right here.”

“You
promise?”

“I
promise.”  Grace went up on tiptoe to kiss him lightly.  “Don’t worry.  Even
when I vanish, I’m only going back to you.”

The
edges of his lips quirked and his hand touched her cheek.  “Maybe so, but I am
in no mood to wait two hundred and thirty more years to see you out of that strange
dress, lass.”  He loped off towards The Raven, before she could swat him.

Grace
shook her head in exasperation.  The man was incorrigible.  She leaned against
a tree, her eyes on The Raven’s door.  If Jamie took this a bit more seriously,
they’d…

Oh
God!

Grace
gave a sudden gasp and jerked away from the oak, realizing where she was.  Her
eyes went up to the gnarled branches swaying over her head.  This is where
Jamie died.  The spot where they planned to hang him in four short days.  The
tree was still alive in this time period, ominously looming over the street.  She
scrambled away from the trunk, her heart pounding.  Maybe she should set the
blasted thing on fire.  Or chop it down.  Or do something --
anything
--
to ensure that no one could kill him under its menacing limbs.

His
death had never seemed so real to her.

So
inescapably, terrifyingly real.

What
if she couldn’t do this?  What if she wasn’t smart enough to solve the case? 
Wasn’t fast enough to stop the killer?  What if she let Jamie down and never
saw him again?  She could burn out again at any moment and leave him completely
unprotected.  She could actually feel it happening.

Peaceful
green cornfields.  Peaceful green cornfields.  Peaceful…

No
.

Grace
gave her head a clearing shake.  No.  She wasn’t going give into panic and
doubt.  No matter what, she
had
to make sure that Jamie survived this. 
Someone so alive couldn’t spend the rest of eternity trapped in limbo.  It
wasn’t fair!  She needed to find a way to save him.

She
needed
him
.  Grace had been crazy in love with that pirate since she was
fifteen years old.  She wasn’t about to lose him now.

The
door to The Raven suddenly burst open and a good-looking man with blond hair
sailed out like he’d been thrown headfirst.  Grace’s eyebrows soared as the guy
careened into the street, rolling to a stop by her anachronistic, but very
comfy, Keds.  It appeared that someone had punched him a few times and then
tossed him right out of the tavern.

And
it didn’t take a genius to figure out which Scottish sea captain that “someone”
must be.

“Grace,
my love, meet Ned.”  Jamie stepped out of The Raven, dusting his palms
together.  “He’s simply dying to speak with you.”

“When
I told you to use your imagination to get him out here, I expected a little
more imagination that
this
, Jamie.”

“Yes,
well, have I mentioned I’ve no liking for the man?”

Edward
Hunnicutt struggled to his feet, an outraged look on his face.  “You can’t just
barge into my goddamn establishment and manhandle me like this, Riordan!”