Haunted (43 page)

"Sure," he said, crossing his fingers behind him for Theo to see.

"Great," Calla said, normally beginning to move of her own volition. "May I ask just one question? It'll only take a sec," she added before he could say no. "Where's your car?"

You nosy bitch! He considered telling her it was in his garage, then thought she might ask where that was. "My daughter is using it. A business associate is picking me up any minute now." He glanced at his wrist watch. "He's running a little late, in fact."

Calla nodded, apparently and at long last satisfied. "We'll be speaking soon," she informed him, then walked down the steps.

Just before he shut the door, she turned toward him. "Mr. Masters?"

"Yes, Miss Willard?"

"You called her Theo." She smirked, gargoylish in the dim porch light. "I heard you." With that, she walked off and climbed into a dented old Datsun. It belched smoke as she ground the ignition.

"Charming creature," Theo murmured in his ear as Calla Willard's car backfired and sputtered her away.

"If you like silverfish," David replied, feeling smooth an devilish. "So, business associate, where are we going this evening?" He began to pull the door shut.

"Don't," she told him as Calla's taillights disappeared into the evening mist. "We're just going down the steps to my trunk."

David raised an eyebrow.

"I brought a gourmet picnic," she explained. "When I saw Calla's car, I thought it would be best to leave it where it is was until she left."

"You're smooth." David said appreciatively. "Escrow papers, indeed."

"We'll have to come up with something new--you've been here too long now for that to work much longer." She tucked her hand under his elbow. "Shall we get our picnic?"

"Let's."

"You know," she said as they walked down to the car, "it's fairly warm out tonight. We could drive out to the lighthouse and spread a blanket. Dine under the stars. How does that sound? Romantic?" she added, her voice sultry.

And Captain Wilder can join us for dessert. "It's really cold out there on the point, Theo. If you want to do this outdoors, we could sit here, on the lawn, or up on the porch."

She appeared to be considering the plan.

"We'd have more privacy," he added.

She smiled and opened the trunk. "Privacy sounds nice. Let's take this inside." She handed him the basket. Once they were back indoors, she spread the feast on his coffee table while he sat back and watched, at her insistence.

"You must be starving," he observed as she brought out a plate of rare roast beef and a tiny container of horseradish.

"Why do you say that?" she asked with a cock of her eyebrow.

"Well, you haven't even taken off your coat yet."

"I know." Her smile outdid the Mona Lisa's. "Look what I have." She held up a champagne bottle for his inspection. "Mumms."

"Oh, ah, well..."

"David, is something wrong?"

"Would you be offended if I passed? I don't drink--"

"But you did at the restaurant," she interrupted, a note of confusion in her voice.

"Yes, well..." He could say it was doctor's orders and go on about hypertensives, or he could tell her the truth.

"David?"

He decided on the truth. Some of it, anyway. "Last night I had a few drinks with a friend who stopped by. Later, after he left, I found that I was particularly susceptible to the phenomena present in the house."

She gave him a quizzical look. "You were nervous?"

"Well, I guess you could put it that way. Theo, the reason I can live in a house like this is that I'm not very, ah, psychic." He paused, searching for words that wouldn't offend her or set her off on a crystal-packing binge. "People come in a few basic types. Amber and I come from the same mold: not much happens, even here, unless another sort of person is present."

"One like me? A psychic person?" As she spoke she opened the champagne bottle, smiling in the face of his nervousness.

"Yes. That's a good example. Usually, it's pretty quiet around here, but last night was extremely difficult. My defenses were eaten away by the alcohol. I was susceptible."

She set the bottle on the table and put her hand on his knee, her eyes wide. "What happened?"

"Oh, nothing much," he lied. "Just more than I cared for in the middle of the night."

"Tell me!"

"The jasmine scent was terribly strong in my bedroom, that and the decay. The laughter was very loud to my ear and there were cold spots to deal with. Usually, my room is quiet." Except for my friendly neighborhood succubus, of course. "I want to keep it that way."

"You said nothing happened until your visitor left?"

"Yes. I had a nightcap or two before I went to bed and, earlier, we'd laid pretty heavily into the scotch."

"Well, David, if you'd had dinner and a bottle of wine, wouldn't the alcohol have worn off by the time you went to bed? Then nothing would have happened to your defenses?"

"Well..."

She took two champagne flutes from the basket. "Tell you what, we'll have this before dinner. That way, you'll be utterly sober two hours from now."

She had a point. Though the notion continued to nag him that letting Theo Pelinore, your basic cosmic ink blotter, drink in Body House might be trouble no matter what the circumstances, perhaps she was right: one bottle of champagne this early in the evening couldn't do much damage. Here, in the parlor, they could leave quickly if they needed to..."I don't know," he said normally.

She poured two glasses as if he hadn't declined, then stood and began to unbuckle the belt of her trench coat. "We'll do it backwards, David," she said, pulling the scarf carelessly from around her neck and letting it drift down across his lap.

She began unbuttoning her coat. "We'll have dessert first." Her transparent black nylons reached only halfway up her long, long thighs, leaving all the white skin above them framed in a lacy black garter belt and panties so small they didn't count. Her lush breasts were imprisoned in a matching underwire bra that pushed them so high that her nipples, rock hard, were entirely revealed.

"Do you like my outfit?" she asked.

"Breasts on the half-shell," he blurted, then his mouth went dry.

"I like that." Smiling again, she sat down close to him and handed him a champagne flute. "To us." She raised her glass and clinked it against his.

She'd positioned herself so he was looking at her eye-to-nipple. David took a healthy swallow of champagne. "To us." For a moment, he thought he smelled the jasmine wafting around them, then he forgot about it in his excitement at the thought of touching a real, live woman.

Later, his back covered with a fresh set of scratches, and an with embarrassing stain on the gray suede couch, they sat naked on the floor, leisurely nibbling the last of the cheese and meat. Theo had been right about the liquor. It was wearing off already and he never would have withstood her sadistic lovemaking without it.

He told her about the dolls and about identifying many of the house's customers and, when they finished eating and put everything away, he pulled his pants on--though she remained dressed only in garter belt, nylons, and spiked heels--and led her to the hutch displaying the dolls. She was very impressed and he basked in her ooh's and ah's for some moments.

"I'll bet Jerry Romero will die for these dolls, David," she said softly. "Even if you don't find the dungeon."

Shocked, he turned to face her. "How do you know about Romero?" he demanded.

"Why, I--"

"No one is supposed to know. No one!"

"Calm down, David. I won't tell."

He took a deep breath. "I don't want a circus here, Theo. I'm sorry if sounded angry, but I don't want a circus. He's getting in and getting out and it's supposed to be very hush-hush. Please tell me how you found out."

"Minnie."

He felt his eyes roll. "Of course. But, how could she know? There's nothing on paper and I haven't said a word--"

"She listened in on a phone call, evidently," Theo said. "And she used the information to try to buy her way into our channeling group at Beings of Light. It didn't work, of course."

"She told the world," he stated glumly.

"Just the group, and none of us will tell."

"She's probably told the entire town by now. Damn." He shook his head. "Damn. That daughter of hers will be all over this place."

"I'll help you keep her--and everyone else--away. If you like, I'm sure my friends would be happy to guard the doors for you."

She was only offering since that meant she and her friends would get to be on hand, but it might be a good idea. "Let me think about it," he told her. A better idea would be to call Romero and try to reschedule. This late, it probably wouldn't work. He might have to take Theo up on her offer. "I'll let you know." He tried to smile and look into her eyes instead of at her breasts. "There's a photo of Christabel in Shayrock's album. Would you like to see it?"

"I'd love to."

"I'll go get it."

He turned, heading for the stairs, wanting a moment to compose himself, maybe a moment to give Gaylord a quick call and ask him to work on rescheduling, but halfway up the stairs, he realized Theo was right behind him. She smiled, holding her shoes in one hand.

"It would be better if you wait downstairs," he said.

"I'm sorry, David," she said, snuggling up to him. "I don't want to be alone."

He'd grab the album and take her back downstairs, where things seemed safer. "Okay."

In his room, though, she immediately draped herself across his bed.

He smelled jasmine, faint but distinct. Pretending not to notice her pose, he grabbed the album from the desk. "Let's go downstairs. The light's better." The jasmine grew stronger.

"Oh, David." She stretched like a cat. "Just come over here and show me the picture of Christabel."

"I--"

"Now," she purred.

Gingerly, he sat on the edge of the bed and opened the album while trying to ignore her hands, which were draping themselves all over his chest. "Here she is."

Theo pulled herself around so that her face would have been in his lap if it weren't for the album. "Which one?"

"There." He pointed nervously. Down, boy! His penis wouldn't listen and insisted on straining against the heavy book. At least Theo couldn't see.

They stared at the photo. "She's pretty," Theo said normally. "But her boyfriend looks like a rough customer."

"Literally, probably." He studied the picture. "You're rather the same type, physically. As Christabel, I mean."

In response, she rose and took the book from his lap, placing it back on the desk. Slowly, she began to walk back toward him.

Suddenly, the air turned frigid and the jasmine and decay overwhelmed his senses. Theo smelled it too: she stopped in her tracks, her seductive expression giving way to open-eyed fear.

"What?" she asked.

"Come on!" He jumped off the bed and grabbed her hand. "We've got to get out of here. Right now!"

As they arrived at the door, the dark pulsating mass emerged through it. David stepped back, dragging Theo, who'd turned to stone, with him. "Come on, Theo. I'm going to open the door and we're going to duck under that thing and run like hell, right out of the house."

"I--I--"

"On three. He reached around the mass and put his hand on the knob. "One." He turned the knob. "Two." He got ready to pull the door open. "Three!"

He yanked Theo forward and pulled on the door at the same time. His ears filled with Christabel's laughter. The door wouldn't open. He kept trying. Mind over matter; mind over matter; mind over matter.

Suddenly, Theo lurched and screamed. He looked around just in time to see the black orb disappear into her body. "Oh shit," he said sincerely.

She looked at him with those big dark eyes. "David, you didn't do what I asked"

"What?"

She beckoned "Come to Christabel, David." Then she laughed and he knew it was her.

Body House: 10:57 P.M

"That slut!" Amber Masters slammed on the brakes just behind Theo Pelinore's car.

"Get a grip!" Kelly squeaked, hanging onto the dashboard. "Totaling her car isn't going to get rid of her!"

"It couldn't hurt," Amber muttered. She opened the Bronco's door and got out. "Come on," she urged. "Let's go get rid of her."

Kelly slung her knapsack over her shoulder and slowly got out of the truck. She knew her friend hated Theo Pelinore, but she'd never seen her like this before.

"Amber?" she ventured. "We're back early. Maybe we should go down to the diner and get hot chocolate. You know, kill an hour?"

Kelly had already been a little nervous about spending the night in the notorious Body House, even though Amber had assured her there was nothing to be afraid of, but she was really, really nervous about walking in on Amber's dad and Pelinore. The way Amber looked, she might barge right into his bedroom and catch them in the act.