Under A Painted Sky (Spirit Warrior Series) (11 page)

Logan asked, “So, did
you have a good day shopping?”

“Yes, I did. I bought
this entire outfit and I picked up a petroglyph necklace and earrings with the
hands to remind me of our adventure. I love the jewelry here. I could have
spent a fortune if I had one. As it is, I spent too much but I did have fun,” I
replied. “How was your business day?”

“I got everything done
I needed to do, but it was very hard to focus without you,” he said.

Our food arrived and
our focus was changed. It looked so good. My salad had a green onion in the
middle with the white part on bottom and the green top was slit looking like a
waterfall. Logan’s lobster looked great too. We both dug in and it was
fabulous. The lobster and shrimp were so fresh. Logan told me they were flown
in daily.

He flashed me his
million-dollar smile. “You look so pretty, Isabella.”

“Thank you,” I
responded with a flushed face.

After we finished our
meal, Logan paid, and asked, “Do you want to see a movie?”

“That would be great,”
I replied.

I used my phone to
check show times. We were in luck and only had to wait ten minutes. However,
when we arrived at the theatre, the movie we wanted was sold out. The only
movies available were all scary. “I just can’t watch a scary movie,” I told
him. We decided to leave.

We got in the truck and
started down the road and Logan said, “So, you don’t like scary movies.”

I said, “I usually like
them, but I had a scare last night and it was just a little too real for me
right now.”

“What happened?” he
demanded.

I poured my heart out
to Logan telling him everything that had happened. He was shocked. He couldn’t
believe the police were there and everything. I told him how the police treated
me.

I told him how the
electrician and the security guy didn’t believe me either, but still checked
out the fireplace and the alarm system.

Logan said, “Why didn’t
you call me?”

“I knew you needed to
take care of your business and I didn’t want to disturb you,” I replied.

“You should’ve called
me, Isabella. For God’s sake, I thought we meant something to each other. I
would’ve come right away. I only live two miles down the road.”

“I’m sorry,” I said.

We pulled through the gate
and at the house Logan asked, “What say we stay here and watch a movie
together?”

“That would be great.”

We went inside and I
reset the security alarm. I turned on the light in the living room and set down
my things. I noticed a picture frame off of the end table was now flat on the
fireplace mantle with a vase from the mantle turned upside down in it. I
grabbed Logan’s arm and whispered, “Someone is here,” and pointed to the
mantle.

He said, “Get behind
me.” Then he went around the room looking for someone as he grabbed a copper
statue off the end table and made his way upstairs. My heart was racing again,
but not nearly as bad as before, because I had Logan here. He went through
every room and closet and found nothing.

“Stand still,” he said,
and went out on the veranda and checked and saw nothing. As we went back down
the stairs, he said, “I’ll check outside.” He went out to the backyard and then
the front and nothing. He came back in and we locked up. Logan asked, “Are you
sure that wasn’t there before?”

“Yes, the frame was on
the end table and the vase was right side up on the mantle. I’m a neat freak.
Everything must be in its place. It’s a character flaw, I know,” I replied.

“You are not flawed; I
like everything neat myself. I don’t see any place where they could’ve gotten
in. Are you sure the door was locked?”

“Yes, the lock was
intact and security was armed just like last night. No alarm went off. The man
tested the alarm and found it to be working fine. What is going on here, Logan?
Do you think someone stole the key somehow and knows the code for the alarm?” I
asked.

“Well, we can fix that
right now. Let’s go to my shop. I have plenty of locks and we’ll change them
and I can also change the security code afterward,” Logan responded.

“Okay, let’s go,” I
said.

We locked up and headed
out to Logan’s shop.

It was only two miles
down the road.

I noticed that his shop
was very neat. Everything was in its place. I felt a little less OCD than
before. He located the locks and we were ready to go back. He reached in a
drawer and pulled out a gun. It was a revolver.

“What is that for?” I
asked.

“It’s for you and your
protection,” Logan replied.

“I don’t even know how
to use that,” I said.

“I will show you,” he
said.

“I don’t think I could
shoot anyone.”

“You could if they were
trying to hurt you. It’s not a big deal. I’ll just feel better knowing you’re
safe,” Logan said.

In a flash, we were
back at my aunt’s house.

He checked the door
before unlocking it and found it intact. After we went inside, he spread out
the things to change the locks.

We both heard someone
walk upstairs at the same time. We looked at each other. Logan grabbed his gun
and said, “Stay here.”

He went quietly up the
stairs and I waited at the bottom so I could hear. He walked around up there
and then said, “All clear.” He came back down, looked at me and asked, “I did
hear someone walking, right?” 

“Yes, we did,” I
replied.

“Come here,” he said.

He went up the stairs
with me and when we get to the top of the steps it was very cold. He walked me
through the hall and it was cold the whole way. We walked into the bedroom and
it instantly became warm, and likewise in the other rooms. We started back down
the hall and it was cold again. We went back downstairs and it was warm.

He looked at me and
asked, “You did feel the cold, right?” 

I replied, “Yes. What
can it be?”

“I don’t know, unless
it’s a ghost. I never saw anything funny when I was here before you came. When
I was working and setting up things for three days straight or when I was here
before that. This is too weird,” he said.

“Well, I will just go
ahead and tell you that I am not a believer in ghosts. That is just for the
movies hogwash,” I said.

“I would not say there
is no such thing, because I have heard many stories from people I respect. One
thing that was said a lot, was about the cold areas in a house was where a
ghost was supposed to have been,” he said.

“This isn’t my first
incident of thinking something was wrong or someone being here.” I told him
about hearing my name being called, the fireplace turning on when I didn’t turn
it on, the lights being turned on and off when I was in the tub, my cup
appearing back on the counter and the shadow upstairs. “Do you really think
there are ghosts? That is pretty farfetched, if you ask me,” I said.

“I don’t know,” Logan
responded.

“Now that I hear myself
saying these things that happened out loud, it does seem like a lot of things.
The security man said everything was intact and the electrician has been here
twice and said the fireplace worked perfectly. He didn’t believe me that it
turned on by itself and the security guy and the police didn’t believe me
either. It doesn’t make sense because nothing has been missing. What could
anybody possibly want?” I asked.

Logan started fixing
the locks. “Well, I believe you. I can’t come up with an explanation just yet,
but I’m going to change these locks just to be sure.”

He changed the locks
and we changed the security code together. Logan turned to me and said, “I
believe you promised me a movie, Isabella.”

“I did indeed. Let’s
see what you might want to watch,” I replied.

We put away the boxes
from the locks and I gave him the remote to find a movie. We sat on the couch
together. Logan and I agreed on the Eddie Murphy movie
A Thousand Words
.
We needed to laugh and this was supposed to be a clean Eddie Murphy funny
movie, which is a rare find.

Logan scooted in and
placed his arm around my shoulder. I got wind of his cologne and I was in
heaven.
This is the life,
I thought to myself. The movie was playing and
I asked Logan, “Can I get you anything?

“Sure, I will take a
soda,” he replied. I went into the kitchen and returned with them.

I nestled back in under
his arm and we finished watching the movie. It was funny and did take our minds
off of our intruder. Logan clicked on the stereo with the remote. “What Makes
You Beautiful” by One Direction was
playing.

Logan looked at me with
his flashy smile and pulled me to him. I almost lost my breath as he took my
lips in his, ever so gently. He kissed me with such passion.

“Isabella, you are the
most beautiful person, inside and out, that I’ve ever met.”

I looked up into his
emerald eyes where I think I could spend forever and managed to breathe out,
“Ditto.”

“You know I am falling
very hard for you, don’t you?” he asked.

“I was hoping you were,
because I am sure falling for you,” I replied.

Logan said, “Just a
week ago, I had no intention of getting serious with anyone or even being in a
relationship for that matter. Now I can’t think of anybody but Isabella Reed.”

“Me,
either.
I can’t think of anybody but you and don’t forget,
I am the one who was married a little over six months ago. A relationship was
the last thing on Earth I wanted and then came Logan Hayes, and you are just,
well, amazing,” I said.

“I guess when you least
expect it—love picks you,” Logan said.

“I guess it does, since
it sure did not feel like this the first time when I thought I was in love. I
guess he did me a favor by divorcing me. I would never have known what real
love feels like,” I said.

“Really, I guess he did
me a favor also. I may never have found you if that had not happened,” Logan
said.

Just then, all of a
sudden I felt a cool wind pass by from behind the couch and Logan looked at me
as if he felt it too. The hairs stood up on the back of my neck and my arms. A
candle flew off the end table beside Logan and we heard glass breaking. I
looked down at the floor and the candle was in one piece. I dug my arm through
Logan’s and got as close as I possibly could. I looked up toward the television
and I saw above the mantle to the fireplace a faint shadow of a woman on the
wall. I pointed so Logan could see because no words would come out of my mouth.
I was terrified and I felt Logan tense up.

The vision of the woman
faded and Logan jumped up pulling me behind and went into the dining room and
grabbed his gun. He started moving around the room dragging me behind him, but
we didn’t see anything.

He yelled out, “Where
are you? What do you want?” There was no answer or sound to his demands. He
looked at me and yelled out again, but no response came.

He pulled me to him and
said, “I am not leaving you here tonight. You just got yourself a house guest.”
Relief flooded over me. I sure didn’t want to stay there by myself after that.

“I might have to take
back what I said earlier. This is starting to look like a bad ghost movie,” I
said.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

“I didn’t figure out what
it was, but it’s starting to look that way. That was the first time I have ever
seen anything that looked like a ghost,” Logan said.

“The first time for me,
too,” I replied.

I looked at the clock
and it was 1:30 a.m.

Logan said, “I’ll take
the couch and just stay here tonight.”

“I don’t think I want
to get in the bed upstairs. I’m too spooked,” I said.

“You’re right. I don’t
think I want you upstairs either. You take the couch and we can get some
blankets and make a pallet on the floor for me right here by you,” he said.

We went upstairs and
got some linen to make up the couch and the pallet on the floor. I grabbed an
extra toothbrush and toothpaste. We made the couch and pallet and took turns
brushing our teeth in the bathroom downstairs. We lay down and left the light
on just in case. It was useless—I wasn’t able to sleep. I saw that Logan was
still awake too. I sat up on the couch and he followed suit.

“You can’t sleep
either, Isabella?”

“No, I just can’t
figure this out. I know what I saw. I know what I felt. I know what I’ve heard,
and now you know part of it too. I just don’t know what is going on and better
yet, why?” I asked.

Logan joined me back on
the couch, grabbed my hand, and held it in his as he spoke. “Tomorrow, I will
go see a friend of mine. The one I told you has seen this kind of thing before
and see what he thinks. I promise it will be okay, Isabella. We’ll figure this
out somehow. Did you call your Aunt Carol and tell her about this?” he asked.