Forty-Four Box Set, Books 1-10 (44) (116 page)

“I’ll try and remember that. I get lost in it so easily. The only time I don’t feel this way is when I’m working. That’s one of the reasons this charity is so important to me. I’ve put quite a bit of time into it, as well as a lot of the family money. I want to make sure, when it’s all said and done, that the Mortimers have left the world a better place.”

“I don’t think you have to worry about that. But you have to tell me what’s been happening.”

He ran his fingers through his hair and nodded.

“It started in Boston, not long after I had returned from India. They were the type of things that by themselves wouldn’t set off any alarms. But they kept happening. Pictures falling off the wall, an unnatural cold in certain parts of the house, there one moment and gone the next. Even though I knew I was alone, sometimes it felt like someone was in the house with me.

“And then I started seeing this strange darkness in my peripheral vision, similar to what you’ve described. It usually happened when I took my evening walk. At first it seemed to keep its distance. I’d catch a glimpse of it for a moment across the street or down the block. But then it started getting closer.”

He shook his head before continuing.

“I started having this feeling that I was being followed all the time. It felt that there was someone behind me, like when I was walking down an empty hall at a hospital or to my car in the underground garage. I could almost feel the eyes on the back of my head. I thought at one point that I even heard footsteps. But whenever I turned around, there was nothing there. By the time I left Boston, I was convinced I was being followed by, well, by something I couldn’t see.”

I pushed my half-eaten muffin aside.

“On the plane here to Bend, I concluded that I had simply lost my mind. Here I was, a doctor who had started believing in ghosts! I knew that I was tired and had been pushing myself too hard, and not getting enough sleep. I even started blaming you, Abby.”

I swallowed.

“Because of that email you sent. I have to confess that it spooked me a little. More than a little. I held fast to my conviction that all the strange occurrences in Boston were simply the combination of my overactive imagination and exhaustion. Through my insanity, I clung to the only thing that could save me. Logic. And I reached the only logical explanation there was... That you had helped me to invent my own ghost.”

I tried to keep calm or at least not show how worried I felt.

“But then…” he said.

What?”

“I heard him, Abby,” he whispered. “I heard Nathaniel.
He
spoke to me.”

***

I looked around the coffee shop and tried to rub the goose bumps off my arms. I didn’t see any shadows lurking, but the energy around us had changed. It was getting darker and darker.

“It was right after I got here, when I was driving to my house. I was listening to a sports show on the radio, talking about college basketball and that big tournament. What do they call it, March Madness? And then out of the blue an opera aria came on. From
La Traviata
. And as I tried to adjust the station back, I heard a whisper in my ear.”

“What did he say?”

“It was in French, and it makes no sense. But it was him, Abby. I know my brother’s voice. It was him!”

He grabbed his head in both hands.

“What did he say, Dr. Mortimer?” I repeated.

“It’s from a poem by Baudelaire called
Cain and Abel
,” he said, reaching inside his coat and handing me a folded piece of paper. “The translation’s at the bottom.”

I read it slowly.

Race de Caïn, dans la fange

Rampe et meurs misérablement.

Race of Cain, crawl on your belly,

Die in the mire wretchedly.

“The last line could also be loosely translated as ‘Die like a dog,’” he said. “That’s what Nathaniel whispered to me from beyond the grave, Abby.
Die like a dog
.”

CHAPTER 36

I wasn’t able to be of much comfort to Dr. Mortimer.

I was starting to figure some things out, but I still had more questions than answers.

All I knew at this point, based on what I had already experienced and what Dr. Mortimer just told me, was that Nathaniel was back. And he meant to do harm to his brother. I also didn’t have any reason to believe that he couldn’t. I had seen what he had done to Derek.

I didn’t know why he had tried to hurt my friend, just that he had. I didn’t know how Nathaniel could be stopped. And I didn’t know what role the ghost dog was supposed to play.

I didn’t know why it had taken me this long to realize that Nathaniel and the shadow were one and the same. Clyde Tidwell, after all, had taken a similar form last year. He appeared to me and Paloma as a misty fog. It wasn’t exactly the same as what I was seeing now, but it was close enough. I must have blocked it out of my mind.

We were quiet on the drive back to the hospital.

Dr. Mortimer looked in on Derek while I waited in the corridor. He told me that his status had been upgraded to serious and that he was sleeping. That settled it. I would wait until tomorrow before trying to talk to him again.

When I got home, there was a note on the table from Kate. Dinner was in the refrigerator, and she would be home late.

I was glad in a way. I was all talked out. I called Ty and when it went to his voicemail, I was almost relieved. I said I was getting to bed and that I would call back in the morning.

My legs were aching. I swallowed three Advil. Then I headed to the shower. But when I got to the bathroom, the thought of standing up for one more second proved too much. I decided to take a bath instead.

I got the water going and found a small bottle of lavender oil from Kate’s aromatherapy collection.

I locked the door behind me and squeezed a few drops of the liquid into the hot water. The steam rose up, filling the room with the sweet, moist smell of flowers. By the time I stepped into the tub, I already felt better.

I soaked for a good long time, pushing away the dark thoughts as they bubbled up. I could feel the stress leaving my body, which only seemed fair. I could also feel the last of my energy ebb away. I closed my eyes and draped a wet washcloth over my face.

Suddenly, I thought I heard the door creak, like it had opened. The same door I had locked a few minutes earlier.

I pulled the towel off my face and sat up quickly, sending a wave of water spilling over the side and onto the floor. My mouth went bone dry as I tried to see through the steam. Everything was quiet, except for my heart pounding hard in my ears.

“Kate?” I whispered.

There was no answer.

I sat waiting, still as death, holding my breath. But there was nothing there.

Then I counted to three in my head as I gathered my courage and stood up, grabbing a towel. I heard barking coming from somewhere in the house. I stepped out of the tub and hurried toward the partially-opened door. I thought about locking it again as I slipped into my robe but stepped out into the hall instead. I didn’t see the dog, but it sounded as if he was in the living room, growling now.

I took a deep breath.

When I turned back around, I let out a gasp.

In the condensation on the mirror was a heart with an arrow through it. And underneath, two words.

Hello, Abby.

CHAPTER 37

There was no point in going to bed. I wouldn’t be able to sleep after that.

After searching the entire house three times, I grabbed my laptop and sat down in the living room.

I looked up the story of Cain and Abel. Cain had killed Abel. I scratched my head. I didn’t understand what Nathaniel was trying to say. Was he so confused and delusional that he thought Dr. Mortimer was Cain, or was he saying that he, Nathaniel, was here to act out the role of the murderous brother? And how did the dog reference fit in? Did it have anything to do with Derek’s ghost dog?

I was probably overthinking it. Like so much of what Nathaniel said, the poem too was the raving of a madman.

When I finally heard the garage door open, I let out a long sigh.

“I’m surprised you’re still up,” Kate said. “Let me change and make some tea and I’ll be right back. You want some?”

I shook my head.

She came back with her favorite mug and sat next to me. I gave her the latest update on Derek.

“That’s good,” she said. “You know, I always liked him. I still remember his chubby little cheeks. You just wanted to pinch them.”

Then I told her about my conversation with Dr. Mortimer.

“That’s incredible,” she said. “I never would have thought he would actually admit to believing in ghosts. That son of a bitch must have rocked his world.”

“Yeah,” I said. “He seemed pretty shaken up.”

“Okay, after all you’ve been through, I accept that Nathaniel’s haunting him. But do you think Ben is in any real danger?”

“I do,” I said, debating whether to tell her about the dark shadow.

What the hell, I thought.

“Kate, there’s something else. Derek’s fall wasn’t an accident. He was pushed. Nathaniel pushed him.”

“Jesus, Abby!” she said. “No! It can’t be. It just can’t.”

“He did. I don’t know why. But I know he’s going after Dr. Mortimer next. And I don’t know how to stop him, Kate.”

I stopped there. She didn’t need to know about the message in the mirror.

We went around in circles for a few more minutes, trying to understand something that made no sense.

“By the way,” Kate said, letting it go for now. “I started looking into Jack’s deal. I haven’t found out too much, but I did get confirmation that he’s being transferred to a medium security prison in eastern Washington in the next few days. Medium security, Abby. Not even maximum.”

“I suppose that’s something,” I said. “That he’ll actually be in prison somewhere.”

I didn’t care. Right now, Jack Martin was the least of my worries.

CHAPTER 38

I got off on the third floor and looked for Derek’s new room. A woman carrying breakfast trays smiled at me as I walked by. I was holding a small vase of flowers I had bought down in the gift shop.

I hesitated outside the door for a moment and took a deep breath.

I hadn’t worked out exactly what I was going to say. But the words would come. The bottom line was that I had to tell him that it wasn’t me who pushed him over the cliff.

I saw Derek sitting up and watching TV, sucking juice from a straw.

“Abby,” he said, turning toward me. “I was just going to call you.”

He seemed so much better than the night before. The bandage was off his eye. He almost seemed happy.

“How are you feeling?” I said.                                                                                              

“Slightly shitty,” he said, smiling. “But alive. There’s something to be said for that.”

“Preaching to the choir.”

I put the flowers on the little table next to him and squeezed his hand.

 “Look, Derek I want you to know—”

“No, Abby,” he said. “Please, let me go first. Sit down.”

I pulled up a chair close to his bed.

“I think I might have said something I didn’t mean. When you were here with me yesterday, when they brought me in, I must have been a little out of my mind. Maybe it’s these new drugs, too. They’re different than what I’m used to, I guess. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say that you pushed me off the cliff. I know you didn’t do that. I shouldn’t have been up there in the first place. You were just trying to help.”

I nodded and took his hand again.

“I’m glad you know that I wouldn’t hurt you.”

“I was just confused, drunk, and scared. Par for the course, I guess. But I know now that I must have stumbled or tripped or something.”

It was too soon to tell him about Nathaniel. Maybe in the next few days.

“You know, Abby, those things I said up there, about getting my life back on track, I’ve been thinking about them all morning. I really am going to change. This whole trip has been one big wake-up call.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” I said. “Are you in much pain?”

“Yes. But I’ll be okay.”

An old nurse walked in.

“Sorry, but I have to borrow you for a little while, Mr. Callahan,” she said.

Derek lifted an eyebrow.

“Call me if you need anything,” I said. “I’ll check in on you tomorrow.”

***

I looked on the pathways that circled the park and dipped down into the trees. I checked the basketball court. I scanned the soccer field and down by the river.

But I had no luck. I couldn’t find Jesse anywhere. 

I was starting to worry.

CHAPTER 39

I told Lyle that there was something soothing about brewing coffee.

“Oh, yes, I find it very relaxing, too,” he said, as he poured beans into the grinder.

Work was busy, which was just what I needed. If my thoughts got too heavy I could get lost in the moment.

About midway through the shift, I began to wonder if it even was Nathaniel in the bathroom with me. Had I jumped to the wrong conclusion? The message just as easily could have come from another spirit. God knows, they were out there. Maybe two and two didn’t always add up to four.

After work I drove over to the gym. It was just after eight and it wasn’t too busy. I needed to run a little and work up a sweat. And I needed to think about a solution.

I walked over to an empty treadmill and got on.

I clipped the safety release to my shirt, turned on the machine, and looked outside. It was still raining gently. I did a very slow and easy four miles. I didn’t even look at the time. After I finished I toweled off and got my stuff.