Elemental Enchantment (8 page)

Meaghan led him to a small room in the back of the building, set her laptop on a table then plugged some cords into it. Leaning over the computer, she rapidly tapped at the keys. A photo of the exterior of the church popped up on the screen.

“So,” she said. “This is a motorist assist? What happened to the Boy Scout?”

He shrugged. “Technically, you’re a motorist. And technically, I’m assisting you. I can’t very well call in that I’m looking into a ghost situation, can I?”

She glared at him briefly before turning away and scanning the image on the screen before clicking to the next one. He watched as she thoroughly reviewed each photograph. She stood when she got to a photo of Bob and Wendy Lewandowski, the Master and Mistress of Ceremonies, and pointed at the man’s leg. “Look there.”

He peered closer. “I see a smudge.” Turning to her, he said, “That could be anything. Dirty lens, dust mites…”

She looked at him as if he were an idiot. “Dust mites form orbs. Not smudges.” She sighed. “Just keep an eye on that guy,” she said, pointing at the bride’s uncle. “The anomaly keeps appearing by him.”

Meaghan clicked through the rest of the pictures at the church, occasionally making notes on a pad of paper. She was right. Every time Bob was in the frame, there was a weird spot by him.

Shots of the reception popped up, and she slowly examined each one. “There!” She pointed at the screen. “Look next to his leg, and tell me what you see.”

Eli’s blood ran cold, and his skin crawled.

Next to Bob’s leg was the image of an almost translucent child that looked just like Ava Billings.

Chapter Nine

Eli stared at the screen dumbstruck and sank into the chair next to Meaghan. “Can you enlarge that?”

Meaghan tapped a few keys, and the size of the image increased.

His breath caught in his throat. The kid looked scared. Pulling out his phone, he accessed the missing child database and compared the cached image of Ava with the one on the screen. It had to be the same kid. Except that ghosts didn’t exist.

“Is it possible that someone could have tampered with these files?” he asked.

“Toby and I had our cameras all night, and she gave me her memory cards before she left. After that, we went to your room. No one else has had access to any of the cards.”

“And after you left, there’s no chance that anyone could have tampered with the images?”

“No. I live alone. I didn’t see anyone else until you pulled me over; and if you’re subtly suggesting that I Photoshopped a missing child into wedding pictures…” The pitch of her voice rose with her anger.

“I’m just trying to understand what’s happening.”

She pushed away from the table and stood. “What’s happening is that apparently this kid is dead and wants someone to know it!” Blowing out a puff of air, Meaghan stared at the ceiling. “I know you don’t believe me, but my sister is a medium.”

“Meaning?” he asked.

She met his gaze. “She sees spirits. And can communicate with them.”

Meaghan could read the disbelief on Eli’s face.

“And you can, too?”

“No. Kind of. No. Once.” She took a breath. “I saw spirits once, but there were extenuating circumstances. It’s not something I can just do. I’ve never taken pictures of them before. This is new to me.”

She chanced a look at Eli. He sat there in his uniform, studying her as one might study a particularly odd species of insect. “Are there more pictures of her?” he asked, nodding toward the screen.

Slumping back against the wall, she nodded. “There’s at least one more. After I made the connection with Ava, I headed straight here. I haven’t been through the rest of them yet.”

Eli reached over and clicked to the next picture. Looking at the fear on the child’s face sent chills down Meaghan’s spine. She glanced at him. He looked decidedly unnerved by that image.

“After I saw that one, I decided to come in and project them onto the screen.”

Nodding absently, he moved to the next photograph. The subject was someone else, but the bride’s uncle was still visible in the corner of the frame. And so was Ava.

Eli clicked through the pictures, scanning each one, looking for the ghostly figure while Meaghan did the same. The next photo made her catch her breath, and it wasn’t because Ava made an appearance. It was a photo of her and Eli dancing. Toby must have taken it before she’d tucked her memory cards into Meaghan’s camera bag.

She was surprised that the computer didn’t spontaneously combust because of the heat generated in that photograph. They’d clearly been oblivious to the rest of the world, and Eli looked as if he’d wanted to slam her against the wall and fuck her right there. She couldn’t honestly say she would have stopped him.

Clearing her throat, she glanced at Eli. He lifted his gaze, meeting hers, and she had to look away. “I don’t see any ghosts in that shot.”

“Me neither.”

He clicked to the next picture, and Meaghan wanted to fall through the floor. He’d slid his fingers into her hair, and his lips hovered just above hers. It was the hottest thing she’d ever seen. Partially because she remembered in excruciating detail how amazing his kisses were and what it felt like being pinned against him and partially because the expressions of desire on their faces were so raw.

“I don’t see her there, either,” he murmured, his voice sounding raspy.

Finally, he put them both out of their misery and clicked again. Only this time, it was worse. They were actually kissing in this shot, bodies pressed tightly together and her hands clutching the back of his head and his shoulder, his hands on her ass.

He shifted in his chair and was moving his hand back to the keyboard when something caught her eye.

“Wait!”

“Not done looking at this one yet?”

She moved back to the chair she’d been sitting in and pushed his hand away from the computer. Zooming in to the far right-hand side of the photo, she enlarged the image. There, standing next to the bride’s uncle was the same ghostly girl.

Eli leaned forward and looked closer. “She’s not as defined in this shot.”

Meaghan moved nearer to the screen. “I think it’s because there’s more ambient light in this one.”

He clicked to the next photo—a nearly nude one of Eli sleeping, one arm tucked behind his head and the sheet draped low over his hips.

She closed her eyes as a nuclear-strength flush exploded up her chest and over her cheeks. She heard the sound of the next picture advancing. And the next. And the next. She knew that last one was a close up of his face. The one she’d thought of as her last goodbye. Boy, had she been wrong.

“Will these be making it into the final wedding album?” he asked, his voice heavy with amusement.

Her eyes flew open, and she refused to look away. “Yeah, I thought the one where the outline of your cock is visible would be perfect for the cover,” she snapped. “In fact, maybe they’ll use it on the thank you notes, too.”

She took a deep breath. “I have a theory about this.” She gestured at the screen then cringed. “Not
that
, but about the little girl…and since you’re a cop, maybe you could possibly check it out.”

“What is it?”

She moved to the computer and clicked back to one of the photos of Ava with the bride’s uncle. “I know you’re not sold on the whole spirit thing, but often, people who die violently…” She swallowed hard, hoping that she was wrong. “Often, their spirits attach themselves to either the place where they died or to the person who killed them.”

He narrowed his eyes at her. “Are you saying you think Bob killed that little girl?”

“If that’s his name, then yeah, I think it’s very possible.”

Eli laced his hands behind his head and stared up at the ceiling. “I can’t just haul the guy in for questioning. There has to be some kind of evidence to point in his direction. As much as you want this to be the evidence, photographs of what may or may not be a ghost aren’t the kind of evidence I need.”

“I know. I’m not stupid.” Her fists tightened at her sides. She had been stupid to tell him anything. There was no way someone in law enforcement would take her seriously. She should have kept her mouth shut and just taken the ticket.

He looked away from the ceiling to stare at her. “I didn’t say you were.”

Refusing to back down, she leaned on the table and met his gaze. “You didn’t have to. It was pretty clear from your tone of voice.”

“I’m sorry. This is so far out of my comfort zone; I don’t even know what to do with it.” He scrubbed his hand across his face then met her gaze, actually appearing contrite. “Let’s try this again. What is it you want me to do?”

“There was another little girl kidnapped recently.”

A shadow crossed his face, and he nodded. “Daisy Sumner.”

“Both of their flyers say they were taken by a person driving a tan or gold car. Can you check the DMV records and just see if Bob has a gold or a tan car registered to him?”

He stared at her for a minute then nodded slowly. “I can do that, but there are a lot of gold and tan cars. That’s not probable cause—not without anything else to go on.”

“It’s a start.” She stifled a sigh. It
was
a start, and it was actually more than she’d hoped for. She’d thought for sure he’d completely blow her off.

Eli’s radio crackled to life, startling Meaghan. He answered the call then looked at her. “Are you going to be around later?”

“Why?”

“No need to get defensive. If a one-off was all you wanted, that’s fine. I just thought you might want to know one way or another about the car.”

She nodded. “Yeah. That would be great. And sorry…you know…for assuming.”

“Oh, don’t think I don’t want to.” He leveled a heated stare at her, his blue eyes blazing with want. “But I’m not about to push myself on someone who’s not interested.”

She opened her mouth then closed it just as quickly. She had no idea how to respond to that. The truth was, she still wanted him. Now, more than ever. But that couldn’t happen again.

He opened the door and paused. “Can I trust you not to go all Scooby Doo gang and investigate this guy yourself in the meanwhile?”

She couldn’t promise she wouldn’t if Eli didn’t get anywhere, but for now, she could agree to it. She nodded.

“Good.” He pinned her with a stare. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

While she waited, she made copies of all of the pictures Ava appeared in. She emailed the shots she’d taken of Eli sleeping and the ones Toby had taken of Meaghan and Eli dancing to herself then removed them from the card. She couldn’t bring herself to delete them. They were beautiful photographs and the only ones she’d ever have of him.

Meaghan tried to distract herself by working on more of the edits Toby had asked for. Meaghan had no clue how’d explain all this to her boss. She was an awesome employer and friend, but Meaghan couldn’t even imagine what Toby’s reaction would be.

The clock crept toward midnight, and Eli hadn’t returned. Maybe he’d just agreed to look into the car thing to placate her and had no intention of following up at all. That didn’t sit well with his Boy Scout persona, but what did she really know about him? Well, she knew he was a fantastic lover. And god, he was gorgeous. He seemed kind. She was usually a good judge of character—she couldn’t imagine she was that far off the mark. Of course, the one other time when it had really mattered, she’d been really wrong, and look how that had turned out.

Too restless to sit still any longer, Meaghan packed up her computer and headed for home. She’d promised Eli she wouldn’t do a Scooby-Doo-and-the-gang investigation of Bob, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t do her own style of sleuthing. If it wasn’t so late, she’d invite Rowan over to help cast a scrying spell. It would be more powerful with both of them working together, but it was already pushing twelve-thirty and Rowan was sure to be fast asleep. No, she’d do it on her own.

Chapter Ten

Bone tired and dragging ass, all Eli really wanted to do was crawl into bed. Actually, what he really wanted was to crawl into Meaghan’s bed, but despite her obvious interest in him, if the pictures and sex were anything to go by, she’d made it pretty clear that wasn’t happening again. He still needed to tell her what he’d found out about the car. He just hadn’t been planning on another last-minute call involving another damn house party. The kids in this county really needed to get some habits that didn’t involve trashing the houses of out-of-town parents. At least, this house had been goat-free, but it did feature a drunken six-foot-four linebacker with fists like ham hocks. Eli’s jaw would be bruised to hell for days. Good thing the wedding was over. Shannon would have been furious if he’d showed up to the ceremony looking like he did now. Small mercies, he supposed.

He pulled into the parking lot of the photography studio, but the windows were dark and the VW was gone. He glanced at the clock on his dashboard. Almost two-thirty in the morning—quite a bit later than he usually got out on the weekend, but it had taken several hours to round up all the kids who had tried to hide in the cornfield behind the house. He wasn’t even sure he’d gotten them all, but he’d probably gotten enough to make a point. He’d also taken so long Meaghan had decided not to hang around.

He knew where she lived, thanks to pulling her over earlier. He’d be lying if he said her address hadn’t been imprinted on his brain the moment he’d read it. The question was, would it be unethical for him to do a drive by and stop in if she was awake? If he were in uniform, the answer would probably be yes. Since he was off duty, and since they’d fucked each other’s brains out the night before, the answer fell into a slightly more gray area.

He drove out of the parking lot and headed north before turning onto Kenowa Avenue. Meaghan’s place wasn’t hard to find. It was one of the few houses in the midst of farmland and apple orchards. At first, he thought the place was dark and she was asleep, but as he drove a little farther, he noticed the unmistakable sight of firelight dancing against the dark backdrop of trees.