southern ghost hunters 01 - southern spirits (28 page)

"I didn't," I protested, all the while racking my brain.
How did he know?

Steward tsked. "She searched for Joy this afternoon. Used my library to do it. I have an alert system in place, you see." He chuckled. "Old Mayor Steward doesn't know technology. Old Mayor Steward can't walk too well. Unless it suits him."

I stiffened. "What are you going to do to her?"

He sighed. "I was going to use the shotgun. It worked on Hale. But that's so loud. And messy." He let out a low grunt as he reached for the last brick. "I have a pistol with a silencer. Rest assured, I'll try my best to get her with one clean shot to the head."

The blood turned to ice in my veins. "You can't just kill an innocent person."

"I've done it before," he said, in that sweet, cloying, perfect gentleman's voice, before he slid the last brick into the wall. 

Chapter Twenty-One

We huddled in darkness. We were out of time and so was my sister.

"We have to save Melody." If he hurt her, if he
killed
her, it would be my fault.

Ellis's chains clinked. He grunted as he struggled. "I'm sure Steward's heading over there right now."

Yes, that was Ellis. He didn't sugarcoat the truth. 

We could catch up to Steward. Maybe. If we could get out of here. A few minutes more and it would be too late. I searched through the rocks for any kind of a tool, a weapon. I felt my skin tear, my fingers bleed.

"Frankie!" I called, keeping up my frantic struggle.
Come on.
If I ever needed a ghost it was right now. "Frankie!"

He could already be too far away. If Steward took his urn, he might be lost for good.

The stark reality of that cut deep. I'd grown to like Frankie.
Stop.
I couldn't think about that right now. It wouldn't do us any good. I could only get his urn if I got out of here. In the meantime, I prayed I still had the ability to call on the ghosts. "Colonel!" I screamed. "Joy! Anybody!"

A glimmer of light flickered near the ceiling. Sobbing echoed in the chamber.

The air grew electric and I felt the same razor-sharp tingling edge that had cut through the kitchen moments before the poltergeist attacked. 

That was the last thing we needed. "Joy?" Please. "Is that you?"

A woman's scream pierced the tunnel as a wall of energy barreled down, searing my skin, turning me inside out. It knocked the wind out of me. The blast shook the tunnel, dislodging brick and mortar.

She was out of control. Insane. "Joy, sweetie?" I gasped. She was the poltergeist. She had to be. 

Frankie said poltergeists manifested due to an excess of negative energy, and if anybody had a reason to be ticked, it was that poor girl.

This was like Jilted Josephine, only ten times worse. But she wasn't evil. At least, I hoped she wasn't.

"Can I see you?" I asked, trying to get my breathing under control. "Can we talk?" 

A frigid wind slammed through the tunnel. 

A voice echoed behind it. "I'm cold."

I drew a shaky gulp of air, not at all surprised to see my breath puffing in front of me. This was a cold, dark place—for her especially. 

I sat up as far as I could. "I know it's rough. I don't want to be here either. But Thad Steward chained me here." Just like her. I swallowed hard. 

"I tried so hard to get away," she said, her voice echoing all around me. "Now I'm dead. I know I'm dead."

"You are," I told her. "I'm so sorry for what happened to you." I searched the tunnel, wishing I could only see her. "Thad is a monster. I'll make him pay for what he's done to us," I vowed. 

"I…" She shimmered into view above me, a scared girl, dressed for a date in a sweater and a skirt. 

"Do you need me to help find your parents?" I asked thinking of those she'd left behind.

She began to weep. "They're gone. They went to the light. I just…can't. I'm so angry."

She screwed up her face, hid it in her hands. "He said he loved me."

And he'd left her here to die. He'd come back only to dig up her bones.

"You deserved so much better," I told her.

She cried harder and I regretted my words. Sometimes listening is all a person needs. Her shoulders shook as she raised her head from her hands. "He killed me." Tears streaked down her face. "I was going to have his baby. And he killed me."

"Oh, sweet heavens." I felt tears prick my own eyes.

"When he started coming back, I was so happy," she said, remembering. "He never stayed. He'd just dig and cuss. Then he wouldn't come at all when your man would build."

So she destroyed Ellis's work and hoped he wouldn't come back. 

"Your man even covered up my tunnel." She gave a shudder. "I had to get those bricks off me."

She'd torn up the patio. It had made her feel buried.

"I'm so angry all the time." She clenched her jaw. "It will never be right." 

"You can get justice." I told her. "But you certainly don't have to give up the goodness inside of you in order to do it."

"It's so easy to hate," she whispered.

I wouldn't argue there. "I'm on this plane still," I told her. "Your Thad has a key in his pocket that can set me free. I'm sure he's gone from this property, though. You can leave, can't you?"

"Yes," she said, breathless.

"Get the key. Get me out of here and I'll make sure he knows you helped me. I'll make sure everyone knows what he did to you."

She watched me, her nose flaring, and her chest heaving. "All right." Her hair erupted into unearthly flames. Holy smokes. I could feel the anger radiating from her. 

"Don't let the hurt control you," I urged. "You're stronger than that."

She snarled, a low unearthly sound, before plunging head-first into the brick wall after Steward.

Full darkness enveloped us. I knelt, drenched in sweat, my wrist slick with blood, although when I'd come to my knees, I couldn't tell you.

Ellis's own chains clanked. "What did you do?" he asked, his voice low.

"I think I created a monster," I said quietly. 

I'd meant to give her love and support. I wanted to give her courage, not rage. I didn't know if she'd be able to maintain her focus. Or if she'd return. 

Steward could be in his car, halfway to my sister by now. I'd sent a killer after her. And now I'd sent a mad ghost after him. 

My head pounded as I sat down on my heels. I'd never wanted it to turn out this way. "I'm so sorry," I whispered.

"Don't," Ellis said softly.

"About everything," I told him. I'd failed on all accounts. "I took on this job when I didn't know what I was doing." I sniffed. "I wore out Frankie until parts of him were plain disappearing. I told you I could get rid of a poltergeist, but then I led Mayor Steward here to shove me off a cliff and then I led you down here to get buried alive with a dead body."

"The job was my idea. So was coming down here." The chain on his wrist clinked as he reached for me. He took both of my hands in his. They were warm, comforting. "Nobody's getting buried alive."

My eyes felt wet, my throat clogged. "We are right now. You're a police officer. You should know that."

I wished I could see him. It was so dark.

His free hand gently eased the hair away from my eyes, tucked it behind my ear. "We can tackle this."

I wondered if Joy had thought so too.

"Stranger things have happened," he said, daring me to contradict him. "Especially to you."

"My life is never dull," I told him, resting a hand on his leg. "You should have run when you could." Although truth be told, I was glad he'd stuck around. Ellis was the nicest guy I'd ever yelled at, fallen on, or hit in the head with a ring.

To my surprise I could hear a slight smile in his voice. "I haven't been the same since you offered to undress me in my room."

I snorted. "You were injured. It was a mercy disrobing."

"Too bad," he said pragmatically. I could hear the amusement in his voice, even down here, facing what we were. He leaned close. "I was really hoping to do this."

"What?" I asked as his lips touched mine. He kissed me sweetly, gently, the way every girl deserves to be kissed at least once in her life.

I couldn't believe it. I shouldn't have done it. But I found myself kissing him back, if just for a little while.

A cold wind blasted the tunnel, forcing us apart. "I did it!" Joy announced, dropping a key into my lap. 

Chapter Twenty-Two

"Thank you," I whispered as I grasped the key. 

"What happened?" Ellis asked.

"This." It took a few tries in the dark, but I inserted the key into the lock on Ellis's manacle and twisted. It clicked open.

"I'll ask you later how you did that." He whooshed out a breath. 

"You didn't think we'd get out of here," I said, quite smug for someone who had thought it was impossible until about thirty seconds ago.

I passed him the key and he unlocked me. "Now we move," he said, catching hold of me as we regained our feet. Both of us stumbled on the rocks on the floor. "Stand back," he said, launching himself against the wet brick wall.

He hit with a dull thud. I couldn't see a thing. Another thud and faint silver light streamed through. It must have been the glow I could see in the cellar, the spiritual haze that was invisible to Ellis.

"You've got it," I said, realizing he had to be killing his injured shoulder, even if he wasn't using that one as his battering ram. He'd knocked two bricks out. He just didn't see it. 

"Wait." I took Ellis's hand and placed it on the wet wall to show him the hole. "Here."

He began yanking bricks out and so did I. We attacked the wet wall, pulling it apart until we could squeeze through. I grasped his hand in mine, forging the way as we faced the darkness.

His shoulder hung awkwardly. No doubt he'd injured it worse. We stumbled out of the trap and raced through the underground passage.

"Where's your sister?" he demanded.

"At the library." Mayor Steward would know that too. We had to get to her before he did, only he had a head start. 

Joy dropped down in front of us, her eyes wild, and her hair streaming out behind her. "He's getting away!" 

I couldn't stop. I ran straight through her, shivering at the wetness that soaked into my very bones. "Sorry," I called over my shoulder. "Can you delay him?" 

Her mouth twisted into a grin. "I'll throw rocks into the road!"

Not what I had in mind, but I didn't have time to brainstorm with a ghost. 

Ellis and I dashed out into the cellar, through the underground rooms, and straight for the ladder. 

"Call the police," I told him. We should be able to get a signal outside.

"Steward took my cell phone," Ellis said, scrambling up the ladder after me.

Of course. I knew that. Horror crashed over me. "He has my keys." Both our keys. He had Frankie's urn.

Ellis rushed for the kitchen. "I've got a spare set."

We made it to his Jeep in under a minute flat. Thank God we'd left it here last night. I just hoped it would be fast enough. He shoved a police-issue rooftop flasher onto the roof and peeled out.

Ellis drove like a mad man.

"Get the gun out of the glove box," he said, eyes on the road as he passed cars at an unholy speed.

"You have
another
gun?" I protested, fumbling with the push-button latch.

"I always have a gun," he muttered.

I pulled out a Glock.

"Now, load it," he said. "Ammunition's in the console. Grab my extra cuffs too."

The man was a walking armory.

"You okay?" he asked, taking his eyes off the road for a split second.

They say you should never load a gun unless you intend to use it. With shaking fingers, I placed the bullets in the chambers.

"Faster," he urged as we neared town. 

I had us locked and loaded by the time he pulled into the back lot of the library. Good thing, too. I froze in horror as a smiling Mayor Steward escorted Melody out to his car. 

His eyes widened as we blazed into the lot, and he reached for something in his pocket.

Ellis barely stopped the car before he was outside. "Stop! Drop your weapon!"

But I still had the gun. Steward drew a revolver and pointed it at Ellis. 

I fired two shots, and watched the mayor fall. 

He hit the ground and his weapon went flying. Melody screamed. Ellis was on Steward in a heartbeat. He cuffed his hands behind his back, ignoring the mayor's bleeding leg and his own injured shoulder.

I stumbled out of the car, shaking. I'd fired straight through Ellis's windshield. He didn't seem to mind. In fact, Ellis looked quite stoic as he secured the mayor. "You are under arrest for the murders of Vernon Hale and Joy Sullivan."

A group of library workers and patrons stood at the back door, gaping. Library Director Sheila Ward gasped, "I hope you have proof."

Ellis glanced at her, and at the rest of the horrified crowd. "I've got a body." 

Chapter Twenty-Three

Rocks pinged down on the mayor's car as I hugged Melody tight. "What the hey?" she kept asking, holding me and refusing to let go.

"Mayor Steward killed a girl, back in the sixties, and buried her out at Wilson's Creek."

She pulled back as the crowd behind her drew in a collective breath. "Are you sure?"

I swore there were no secrets in this town. We were about to make that true again. "Mayor Steward left her body there, thought nobody'd find her. But Vernon Hale came across her purse during the renovation. He started looking into the case, and the mayor shot him."