Shadow of a Life (30 page)

“
A
deal
?” Sophia hissed.

“
Yes. You give back what you
stole from us and you’ll never have to see us again. You can keep
living in your happy little world with your little ghost boyfriend
and you’ll never have to cross paths with us again, which would
make us very, very happy.”

“
What could I possibly have
stolen from you?”

“
Stop playing dumb and tell
us where you put the map,” Jeremiah bellowed.

Camille started sobbing in the corner
again and Peter tightened his grip on me.

“
I don’t know what you’re
talking about.” Sophia was almost hysterical as Jeremiah moved
toward her. Nick stretched his neck and puffed out his chest. It
didn’t matter that there was a size difference—there was no way
Jeremiah would get through him to Sophia.

“
How ’bout I make you tell
me?” Jeremiah swung his arm around and raised it, aiming his pistol
right at Camille huddled in the corner.

“
Nooo
.” I was the one screaming for sure that time and I tried to
jump toward her. Peter wouldn’t let go of me and I pounded on his
chest, trying to break free from his grasp.

“
Or, maybe I should get rid
of your little friend over here. If she really is your soul saver,
you’ll
never
be
able to leave your crappy existence.” That time Jeremiah swung his
pistol arm around and aimed it right at me. I’d never felt such
terror in my life and I shook uncontrollably. Peter continued to
hang on tight, holding me in a bear hug.

“
Let’s just all calm down
for a minute,” Nick cut in. “Maybe if Sophia knew what you were
looking for she could give it to you and then you could be on your
way. Everyone’s emotions are high right now. Let’s just talk about
this like reasonable people.”

“
Reasonable people don’t
steal other people’s stuff,” Elsa muttered.

“
Really?
You’re going to say that to me after you spent
your whole life conning people out of their hard-earned money?”
Sophia was flabbergasted.

Nick took Sophia’s hand and kissed her
on the forehead. Then, he turned back to Jeremiah and Elsa. “What
kind of map are you looking for?”

“
The map that was with that
letter you just read,” Jeremiah said angrily.

Nick came over and took the letter
from me. I gladly relinquished it to him. He unfolded it and showed
it to the Goodwins. He then turned the envelope upside down and
showed them that it was empty.

“
Obviously the map’s not in
there.
She
took it
years ago.” Elsa jabbed her thumb toward Sophia.

“
This is the first time I’ve
ever seen that stupid letter. I have no idea who Catherine or ‘H’
even are,” Sophia said.

“
When you got married you
stole my leather pouch and the map was in there, you stupid girl.
Where did you put it?” Jeremiah was angrier than ever.

“
The only things I took when
I got married were the few rags your wife couldn’t stuff herself
into anymore,” Sophia said coldly.

“
You
witch
.” Elsa lunged at Sophia, but Sophia
set her jaw and held her ground. Elsa looked to Jeremiah for help,
but he just shook his head.

“
I’m telling you the truth.
I want nothing more than for you to leave me alone. If I had any
clue whatsoever about where this mysterious map was I would tell
you. I swear it,” Sophia pleaded.

Nick cleared his throat. “If I might
say something, sir, when I worked for you I know that Paul, your
first mate, used to talk sometimes of mutiny when he was drunk. I
once heard him say something about getting your treasure before you
had a chance. I had no idea what he was talking about and ignored
him since he was drunk. I honestly don’t think Sophia had anything
to do with this. Perhaps you should take a closer look at your
other crew members.”

The room was silent, except for the
thudding of my heart and a few random sobs that still escaped from
Camille. Jeremiah and Elsa exchanged glances and kind of nodded at
each other. I was scared to breathe.

Jeremiah stepped closer to
Sophia. His face was just inches from hers. “You probably wouldn’t
have been smart enough to steal anything back then anyway. We’ll go
for now, but if we
ever
find out that you double-crossed us, it will be
the end of your little living friends here—and don’t think I won’t
do it. I have nothing to lose anymore.”

“
Really? I can’t
imagine
you
killing anyone,” Nick said sarcastically. Jeremiah glared at
him and then took Elsa’s hand. Together they vanished from my
living room as quickly as they’d appeared.

CHAPTER 20

I
didn’t dare move after the Goodwins vanished. Luckily, Peter
still had has arms wrapped around me. Nick and Sophia both ran to
the window and looked out.

Nick was the first to speak. “I can
see their auras. They’re actually leaving.”

I breathed a deep sigh of relief.
Camille started crying again and Sophia knelt beside her and
wrapped her arms around the girl’s shaking shoulders.

“
I’m so sorry, Cam. I should
never have gotten so many people involved in this mess. You can go
home without feeling bad. I’ll stay away from you from now on,”
Sophia whispered to her.

Camille looked up. I was
surprised to see fire in her eyes as she spoke slowly and
deliberately. “I am
not
leaving now. We are going to get revenge on those
jerks.”

“
That’s the spirit.” Nick
grinned.

Much to my dismay, Peter released me
from his grip and I felt oddly alone. “You okay?” he asked
gently.

“
I’m fine—or at least I will
be.” I tried to smile at him.

Nick still stood at the window and
kept glancing out every few seconds. “They’re gone. I can’t see
them anymore.”

“
I
honestly
have no idea what map
they’re talking about,” Sophia said. “I can’t believe they’ve been
trying to track me down for all these years over something like
that.”

I stepped to the middle of the room
where Jeremiah had let the letter to the mysterious Catherine slip
from his fingers and slide to the floor. I was thankful that he
hadn’t crumpled it up in his rage. I began to read the letter aloud
again.

Dearest
Catherine,

I am afrayd that Things
have taken a Turn for the worse. I now feare for my Life as many
before Me did as well. As much as it hurts Me, I do not wish you to
be invollved any more than you already have been in my Affayrs so I
will no longer have any Contact with you. I have hidden It all and
left Instrucshuns for you. Do with It what you will. Please know
that I am sorry for any Harm you may come upon because of your
Invollvement with Me.

Love, your dearest Friend,
H

“
What do you think she hid?
She said she left instructions so I assume it was the map Jeremiah
was talking about, but she doesn’t really say what was hidden. Do
you think it was some sort of treasure?” I asked.

“
Maybe. It could have been
anything. I’m sure the Goodwins
believed
they were on the verge of
some big find when they found that letter,” Peter said. “How do we
know that ‘H’ is a she? Couldn’t it be a he?”

“
That’s a good point. Does
it make a difference, though? We still don’t know anything,” I
pointed out.

Nick left the window where he’d been
standing quietly, walked to the couch, and sat down. “Guys—I think
I know where the map is.”

Four heads whirled to look at him. He
leaned forward with his elbows resting on his knees and nodded his
head as he spoke.

“
The night before Sophia and
I were supposed to run away together I decided I should have more
insurance for us. I thought if I could find proof of Jeremiah’s
illegal dealings I could use it as blackmail if he ever found
us.”

Sophia’s mouth dropped open. “You
did?”

He nodded. “I’d seen Jeremiah tuck the
leather pouch that he always carried his important papers in behind
that old writing desk just outside your kitchen. I thought there
might be something useful in there. I grabbed it and headed to the
barn. My plan was to quickly look through the stuff and then return
everything exactly how it was when I found it. I heard Paul’s voice
outside calling for Jeremiah and I was scared he’d come into the
barn so I pried up one of the loose planks of the floor and stuffed
the pouch under it. That was about the time they came into the barn
and knocked me out. I still don’t know how they found out about our
plan, Sophia. I hadn’t told anyone.”

“
I swear I didn’t tell
anyone, either,” Sophia insisted, taking Nick’s hand.

“
Maybe it was just a good
guess or insurance on their part. They knew you were in love and
that Sophia didn’t want to marry Michael Mason,” I
replied.

“
So was there a map of some
sort in that pouch?” Peter asked.

“
I don’t know. I never got
the chance to open it before I was attacked, but I took it only a
couple of days before Sophia was married. Maybe Jeremiah didn’t
notice it was gone until after that and assumed Sophia took it with
her. By the time he realized it was gone she would have been
dead.”

“
And so were you,” Sophia
added.

I was almost scared to ask the next
question. “Is the barn still there?”

Nick and Sophia looked at each other
and shrugged. “It’s been decades since either of us has been to the
old house. I have no idea what remains.”

“
I guess there’s only one
way to find out. Who’s up for another vacation?” Peter said as he
plopped down onto the couch next to Nick.

“
You can’t be serious,”
Camille gasped.

“
Of course I’m serious. The
last thing I want to do is spend my summer sitting around talking.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve been having a blast so far.” Peter
put his arms behind his head and leaned back against the
cushions.

“
I think
someone
needs to go check, but maybe
Nick and I should go again so that you guys aren’t in any more
danger,” Sophia responded.

“
You know, humans don’t have
auras accompanying them everywhere they go. If we send the living
ones, it might not tip off the Goodwins as quickly,” Nick
added.

“
But if by some miracle the
house and barn are still standing, ghosts can snoop around without
alarming the current occupants far better than a living person
could,” Sophia countered.

“
I think we should all go.”
I couldn’t believe the words had come out of my mouth. I must have
gone crazy.

“
I’m definitely going. How
about you, Camille?” Peter prodded.

She was a little more hesitant. “I
don’t know. I want to go, but what if Jeremiah and Elsa follow
us?”

“
If we find the map, and the
Goodwins come back, then we give it to them. They’ll leave us
alone,” Sophia stated.

“
No way am I giving them the
map. I thought we were here to get revenge,” Nick answered
back.

Sophia sighed. “Nick, no matter how
badly we want to move on, we can’t keep putting others in harm’s
way.”

“
We’ll cross that bridge
when we come to it . . . if we come to it.”

“
So, how do we get to
Virginia?” Peter was definitely the most excited for the
trip.

“
First we have to get
permission to go traipsing off by ourselves. I know that Nick and
Sophia have been around for a long time and are much older and
wiser than they appear, but my Dad’s still not going to agree to
this unless we have a really good cover.”

“
Tell him I invited you to
my family’s estate in Virginia. It’s mostly true. You can do the
same thing, Cam,” Sophia suggested.

“
That sounds fine, but what
happens when Dad insists on meeting and discussing it with your
parents first?”

“
I guess that’s when Jack
and Rita become useful. They offered to help if they could. It
wouldn’t be that big of a deal to them to pretend to be my Mommy
and Daddy.” Sophia perked up. I think she realized there was a good
chance our plan would work.

“
What about
Peter?”

“
We just won’t tell your Dad
that I’m going with you guys,” Peter said. “I’m sure he’ll
automatically assume it’s a girls-only trip. My parents aren’t
going to be home for another week or so. I’ll tell them I’m headed
to Virginia with a friend. They won’t care at all.”

“
There you go. Problem
solved. Any more questions?” Nick asked.

“
I have one.” I raised my
hand. “Will you and Sophia please stay here with me
tonight?”

Sophia laughed and came over to hug
me. “Of course we’ll stay here. I’m not letting my soul saver out
of my sight.”