Forty-Four Box Set, Books 1-10 (44) (22 page)

I had been looking for her all day and had a strong, stomach-on-the-floor feeling that I would find her on the river. She was in the same area where I had first seen her, across from where Ty had thrown me in the water. But I wouldn’t be able to get to her until after work. I could only hope that she would wait.

As we headed back up river for the final run, I asked Ty if there was a road on the other side.

“Nope,” he said. “No access. There’s not even a trail over there. Why?”

“Oh, I’m rock collecting,” I said. “Really wanted to add some of that ancient lava to round out my collection.”

I knew that sounded dumb, but it was all that came to me.

“I can take you over when we’re through later. If it’s just for a few minutes.”

“That would be great.”

I had six women from Nevada in my last group. They were nice enough, but didn’t seem to be too into the river trip. They were attending some conference in town all week and talked about that among themselves in between the rapids. I didn’t mind. It gave me time to figure out what I would say to the ghost. The tourists were still talking about one of the presenters as they got out of the boat and walked back to the bus. I didn’t get a tip.

After their bus pulled out of the lot, we started loading up to go home. Ty walked up to me.

“What if I take you over now and come back for you in 15 minutes?”

“Great. Thanks, Ty. I really appreciate it.”

“Let me go tell the others what we’re doing. I’ll be right back.”

I glanced back up at the cliff. She was still there.

As Ty paddled us across, I worked on my courage. He steered the raft up against the rocks, back paddling to hold us steady. I jumped up onto the small landing.

“Okay, see you in fifteen. But being that I’ll be doing all your packing-up work this afternoon, I think you owe me a dinner.”

“You’re on,” I said.

I looked up. Except for the sharp edges of the black rocks, the climb wasn’t too bad. When I got to the top, a cold breeze blew into me, drying the nervous sweat that was dripping down my face. Those stark eyes locked into mine immediately. I rubbed my palms together and took deep breaths as I walked up to her, slowly, step by step. My heart was pounding in my ears, but I reminded myself I was doing this for Jesse. Jesse might need me.

A dark energy swirled in and around her as she glared. She was angry.

I took a step closer, forcing my shaking legs to move. I could see her better now. She was older than me, maybe about Kate’s age. Her long, black hair was wet and clinging to her face and dress. There were gashes on her arms and legs.

Chills shot through my body as I looked at her and tried to find the words I had been rehearsing in my head.

“Ddd… ddd… ddd…” I stuttered. My stomach was woozy and I wasn’t sure if my knees would hold me up much longer. “Did Jesse send you?”

She didn’t say anything, but started moving toward me. I took a step back, but then forced myself to stay put, planting my feet. Tears streamed down my cheeks.

She put an icy hand on my face as she glared at me. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t get any oxygen. I was captured by that blackness that surrounded her. I closed my eyes, preparing to be thrown off the rocks, back into the deep, dark waters below.

But she didn’t push me.

Her hand was frosty on my face, but it was gentle as it turned my head toward the river. I opened my eyes and tried to breathe as she pointed to the water, to the spot where I’d first seen her.

Before vanishing, she put her hand on her chest. And then she was gone.

CHAPTER 16

I decided to tell Kate about the ghost. I entered the code for the alarm after I unlocked the door. I would tell her everything after dinner. I needed her help.

I was pretty sure I understood what the ghost was saying, that her body was down at the bottom of the Deschutes River. I didn’t know what she wanted, but I had to start by finding out who she was and what had happened to her.

I emailed an update to Claire and walked out to the kitchen. I was making enchiladas for dinner. I saw a cooking show earlier in the week and had figured I would give it a try. I set up my laptop on the counter, found the saved recipe, and began working on the chicken.

In about an hour, I had everything ready to put it all together. I heated the tortillas individually in a frying pan before soaking them in the sauce I had made and then filled them with the chicken mixture, rolling them up and grating cheddar cheese over the top.

I sighed as I waited. I was nervous about Kate and was trying to think of a way to tell her that wouldn’t upset her. She wouldn’t like that I saw a ghost on the river, but I couldn’t leave out the setting because it was an important part of her story.

I heard the door open and shouted out a hello. Kate walked in and patted my shoulder, asking about dinner and flinging her shoes across the floor.

By the time she returned in sweats, I had plated our dinner adding avocado and sour cream, lit a candle, and poured her a Corona. We sat eating at the dining room table.

“Amazing, hit me again,” she said, holding out her empty plate. “You have a real talent.”

I smiled.

“Thanks,” I said, shrugging.

We asked each other about our days. I was vague, but she didn’t seem to notice. She was in a happy mood, which was unusual lately.

“It goes to the jury tomorrow and I don’t think it will take them long to decide,” she said.

“Good,” I said.

After dinner we headed over to the TV, throwing ourselves like pillows on the sofa. We watched a little of the local news before Kate flipped it to
Cold Case Files
.

“Hey, Colin might stop by later. He’s bringing a documentary on the South during the Civil Rights Movement. You can watch with us if you want.”

“I’d love to, but I think I have a term paper due tomorrow,” I said, smiling.

“Your loss.”

“Hey, Kate.”

“Hmmm?”

“I wanted to talk to you about something. Is it a good time?”

She shot me a quick, intense look. I knew that she was thinking about Nathaniel.

“No, nothing about
him
. It’s something else.”

She seemed relieved and muted the TV.

“What’s up?”

“This is going to sound weird, I know. But. Well. I’ve been seeing this ghost and need your help.”

“A ghost?” she repeated.

“Yeah.”

I had told Kate about Jesse, and knew she was never too sure about whether I had seen him or invented him. But she hadn’t totally written it off. She knew my visions about Nathaniel had been real and was open to the possibility that I saw ghosts too.

“So where did you see it?” she asked.

Her eyes were wide and serious.

I told her all about it, including how I saw her on the river. I said that the ghost seemed to need something, and that I wasn’t able to ignore her anymore.

“What do you mean, she needs something?” I could tell that it made her angry. “What right does she have to want anything from you? Jeez, you need to move on from all this, you know? You’ve paid your dues and then some. Don’t get involved.”

I took a deep breath. This was harder than I thought it was going to be.

“I can’t not get involved,” I said. “I don’t have a choice.”

I wasn’t going to mention how I thought the ghost might help me find Jesse.

“Not have a choice? What does that mean? Are you in danger?”

“No, it’s nothing like that. I promise, I’m safe. I’m sure of it.”

I wasn’t really sure, but I sounded confident and I could see that Kate relaxed a little. She threw her head back on the cushion and exhaled slowly.

“And you’re absolutely sure it has nothing to do with his brother? How can you know?”

I did actually know, but didn’t know how to explain it.

“I’m positive. This isn’t like that. Not at all. I’ve been seeing ghosts this past year. I’ve told you about them. They’re out walking around. I know it sounds nuts, but you wanted me to tell you about these things, and that’s what I’m doing.”

What I was saying was true, although I also needed more from Kate than just an ear.

“This ghost has come to me and needs help. And I’m going to help her.”

“I don’t like this part of your life, Abby,” she said, crossing her arms. “It scares me and brings up all that stuff again. Can’t you just walk away and let her find someone else?”

We sat watching the television for a while. The investigators were at the lab doing new DNA tests.

“Okay,” Kate said. “Tell me what she said. Tell me what the ghost wants.”

I told her that she was at the bottom of the river and needed my help finding her body.

“Oh, great. Perfect,” Kate said. “A drowning.”

“Drowning?” I said. “Wow. That’s funny but I never even thought of that.”

Kate looked at me strangely.

“Yeah, it’s hilarious,” she said. “What else would it be?”

“I don’t know. But it’s something more. She didn’t speak to me, she just pointed to the river. But I got this dark feeling about it. I don’t think she drowned. I’m pretty sure it was something else.”

I knew that would pique Kate’s interest a little. She was a natural detective and loved solving mysteries.

“So, you think she was murdered? Is that what you’re thinking?”

As she said the word
murdered
, I knew.

“Yeah, I think that’s exactly what happened.”

“If that’s the case, then it must be unsolved, right? If her body hasn’t been found, if she’s still in the river, then she must be listed as a missing person.”

“That makes sense,” I said.

Kate was quiet for a moment.

“I guess I can dig up the unsolved missing person files for you. I’ll bring them home this week. If you can identify her, we can go from there. How long do you think it’s been? Any idea?”

“I’m not really sure,” I said.

“Well, I know there have only been a few people here in Bend who have gone missing these past few years. And a few have been found. Let’s see. There was one young guy who got lost up in the mountains, and of course there was that elderly woman who disappeared last year. So maybe I should go back 10 years or so. I’ll see what I can find out.”

“That would be great.”

“So how old do you think she is?”

“She’s about your age, maybe a little older,” I said. “Long black hair, medium height, thin. She’s dressed in white.”

“Aren’t all ghosts dressed in white?”

“I guess.”

But I was thinking of Jesse. Jesse was always dressed in his street clothes.

Kate sighed.

“Of course I’ll help you. You know that. I’m here for you. But I need one thing.”

I braced. I didn’t want her to ask me to quit my river guide job.

“You have to promise me that you won’t get so involved in all this,” she said, sitting up a little. “I’m serious. Do what you think you need to do for this ghost and move on. You have a lot of good things going on in your life now. You’ve come back all the way and you’re doing great. You’re the happiest I’ve seen you since…”

She suddenly stopped talking and looked away.

“The happiest since that horrible accident. You can’t let this business pull you back down. We can’t go there again no matter who needs your help. You have to promise me that before I’ll help you.”

“I promise,” I said.

I knew this was all hard for her. I knew she didn’t want to see me that way ever again.

“If she’s down in the river, let’s find her and bring her up. But that’ll be it. Promise?”

“Promise.”

Kate was right. I had worked too hard to escape from the darkness of that lake. She was looking after me and I appreciated it.

“Good. Okay, if the verdict in the trial is early, I’ll bring home what I can get tomorrow afternoon.”

“Sounds great,” I said.

“Hey, as long as we’re having an open, honest discussion, I might as well show you what I bought.”

She stood up abruptly and went toward her bedroom. I already knew what she was going to show me because I had found it last week. I wasn’t being snoopy or anything, but came across it when I was looking for eye drops in her nightstand.

She returned carrying a little wooden box. She put it on the coffee table, sat on the sofa, and opened it slowly.

It sat in velvet. Black, shiny, and deadly.

“I know I should have told you when I first got it,” she said, picking up the gun like a professional and pointing it out in front of us. “But I didn’t want to upset you. I know you’re not a big fan of guns. I got it to protect us. And I have to admit that since I bought it, I sleep a lot better at night.”

I nodded.

“I don’t mind. Especially if it makes you feel better.”

She looked at me with intense eyes.

“
He
said he’d come back for you,” she said. “I’m not letting that happen.”

I couldn’t argue with that. It was exactly what Nathaniel said before he escaped. It helped that Dr. Mortimer told us that he wasn’t in the country anymore, but it would be foolish to let my guard down. It wasn’t over, and we both knew that.

“Here,” she said, handing me the gun. “Go ahead and hold it. It’s not loaded.”

I hadn’t ever seen a real one before in my life. I took it from Kate and held it out in front of me. It was heavier than I thought.

“Pow,” she whispered.

Holding it in my hands made me a little sad. I thought about how we had changed. This wasn’t who we were, or at least who we used to be. And I didn’t like that we were different because of him.

“It’s heavy.”

“Yep. It has a lot of power. One of the officers helped me pick it out.”

I nodded.

Holding the gun also made me realize how scared Kate was. While I was busy rafting down the river and making friends, she had obviously been thinking about Nathaniel.

“Abby, I want you to come with me to the shooting range. I’ve been a few times and I want you to come too.”

I really didn’t want to learn how to use a gun. But I would for her.

“Sure. Just tell me when and where and I’ll be there,” I said, handing it back.