Resurrecting Harry (28 page)

Joseph nodded as he brought the flask to his lips again.

The image of Erich collapsing in her kitchen flashed, and she slapped her hand against the flask, knocking it to the ground. “Is the tea tainted?”

Joseph fell forward on his hands, coughing so hard she thought he might tear himself in two — like Erich had the night he whispered the code to her. “The angel. The one who reminded me love is more powerful than hate. I can see him, coming to take me to Louise.” He crawled into the flowerbed, rolled onto his back and reached toward the sky with open arms. As his eyes rolled back in his head and his arms dropped, Bess realized a moment too late exactly why it’d been so important to Joseph to give his own soul peace.

She went to him, pushed his long hair away from his face and slid her fingers down his clammy skin. His lips were already turning blue; his breathing had stopped. “Don’t do this!” She shook his shoulders, hoping to make his lifeless body gasp for air. “No more senseless dying!”

***

As Erich pulled up in front of the hospital, he saw Martin waiting out front with another doctor and nurse and a gurney. As soon as he stopped the car, Martin pulled open the back door and lifted his wife from the seat, laying her on the cot. “What happened?”

Erich jumped from the car and rounded to the opposite side. “I found her like that on the couch in the servant’s quarters.”

Martin pressed a stethoscope to her chest and leaned over the woman. “She’s still breathing.”

The other doctor leaned over the gurney. “Let us take her inside, Martin.”

He nodded and stepped away.

“Joseph poisoned her. I know you don’t believe me, but he laced the brandy you gave to Bess and the licorice root tea he prescribed to me.”

“With what? Unless we know the poison, treating her is like a game of Russian roulette.”

“I don’t know. No clue.” He walked from Martin, pushing his fingers through his hair, screaming internally to Jaden. He would know. Maybe, just once, he’d disseminate information simply – and not in the form of a puzzle – to save a life.

Erich leaned back against the hospital wall and pressed his hand to his side. He was expecting a shot of pain, and was surprised when there was none.

“I need to get inside to Gail. Come in and I’ll have a doctor look at your incision. Make sure you didn’t reinjure yourself.”

Erich nodded and waved Martin ahead, hoping that once he was left alone, Jaden would bring him the information they needed to save Gail. As the hospital doors swung closed, Erich lifted the tails of the flannel shirt he wore.

Where his skin had been once marred by the incision Jaden gave him and Joseph’s repair, it was now smooth. No stitches. No scars.

You are free of Harry’s chains.
Jaden’s voice flitted through his mind.
His thoughts and words no longer influence you. Other people are your first concern.

“What did he poison her with?” He asked his question out loud. “Help me make this right, Jaden.”

Their live’s courses are not up to me.

Erich spun away from the wall and went into the hospital, walking past a door that led to back to the examine rooms, he found Martin and the other staff members treating Gail. He called Martin’s name and then said, “I want to go back out to your place. See if I can figure out what Joseph used. Maybe I missed something. Can I take the car?”

“Of course,” Martin said, not looking up from their care of Gail.

As Erich turned to go, he was turned back by Martin calling out to him.

“Thank you, Erich.”

***

Bess checked her watch and walked away from the police officers who surrounded the bed of Seaside Daisies. She’d answered all their questions, more than once, but still they searched for answers where she doubted they’d ever be found.

She’d asked Stanley to try and find Erich for her, and he’d radioed the request in. As of yet, he hadn’t shown. Hearing stones being kicked up in the drive, Bess looked over her shoulder to see the Cooper’s older, black car coming up the drive. Expecting Martin, she was shocked when Erich jumped out from behind the wheel. She called his name.

He’d been on a bee-line to the servant’s quarters, but when he heard her call, Erich turned and ran to her.

He opened his arms, and she ran to him, gripping his waist. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered into his chest.

He slid his fingers under her chin, lifting it so he could look down into her eyes. “What for?”

“For turning you away, I shouldn’t have.”

“You were shocked. I don’t blame you.” He looked over her shoulder at the garden. “What’s going on?”

“I thought you knew. Joseph is dead.”

Erich stumbled back out of her arms. His lower lip slipped between his teeth, and he pushed his hands into his pockets. “I’m here to try and find a clue as to what he poisoned Gail with.”

Bess wrapped her arms around herself. “He told me he killed her.”

“No.” Erich pulled her back into his embrace. “She’s very ill, but she’s still alive. Martin came to the hotel looking for Gail and you. We talked and I figured out it must be Joseph…”

Even though she was still confused about him and the part of him that was Harry, she clung to his shoulders and buried her face against his chest, needing the comfort. There had been too much pain, too much death, in the name of love. Erich continued talking, bringing her up-to-date on everything that had happened, but she focused on his arms pulling her tight to his chest.

Erich released one arm, but still clenched her with the other. He twisted his body so he could get a look at the scene behind him. “What in the world was he thinking?”

“That he owed it to Louise to ruin Martin and Gail for the way they behaved during her final days.”

“He was in love with Louise?”

Bess nodded. “He was drinking from a flask while we talked, I could smell the bitter licorice tea he taught me to make for you.”

“Martin says there must be something other than licorice root. Until they know for sure what they’re dealing with, they don’t know how to treat her.”

“I need to go to them. They’re my friends, Erich, and I need to be there for Martin.” Maybe Erich — and Harry — were entitled to their anger and resentment, but she had to honor the way they’d treated her since Harry’s death, and she wasn’t going to let any man decide her actions.

He nodded once. “I was wrong, Bess. I see that now. Gail may have made some mistakes, but she didn’t deserve what Joseph did.”

“Can you take me to them?”

“Of course, but I need to talk to the police first, see if they’ve found anything that might be able to tell Martin what Joseph poisoned her with.”  He clutched her hand tight and led her back toward the daisies.

She followed him, but inside she wrestled. She loved Erich, wanted to be with him, but there was still so much laying between them. “When this is all over, we have to talk.”

Erich stayed at Bess’s back — close enough for comfort, far enough to give her room to breathe — as they entered the hospital room.

Martin sat at Gail’s bedside, caressing her hand and his eyes locked on her creamy pale face. Bess recognized the pain and the irony. She’d cared for Erich with patient compassion, but cursing the gods. No one deserved this pain of losing their heart’s love twice in a single lifetime. “Is she going to be okay?”

Martin’s body sagged at the sight of Bess. “Thank Heavens Joseph didn’t hurt you too.”

“Erich explained everything,” Bess said and then rounded the bed. Standing behind Martin, she squeezed his shoulders.

He reached up and laid his hand on top of hers. “It looks to be some sort of overdose. They’re trying to figure out just what so they can give her an antidote. Nothing they’ve tried has seemed to make a difference.”

“Stanley brought the flask he was drinking out to the lab, but we have no way of knowing if he used the same mixture to poison himself that he did Gail,” Erich said.

Martin craned his neck sharply, meeting her eye. “He’s dead?”

“Yes,” Bess whispered.

Erich would have expected to see some sort of vindication flash in Martin’s eyes, but his expression didn’t change. Maybe vengeance didn’t thrive in his heart the way Harry had accused. Instead, Martin scratched his forehead. “Licorice root is not a poison. It has healing properties, but it has such a strong distinct odor, so it would cover up any number of poisons. If I’d been paying closer attention, I might have been able to prevent him from hurting her, or you and Erich,” Martin said. His voice sounded heavy.

“You have no reason to feel guilty,” Bess said. “You treated him well. Gave him opportunities. He fell in love with Louise.”

“Is that what he told you?” Martin asked.

Bess could only nod.

“But that doesn’t explain why he drugged me or burned your house down,” Erich said.

“Because everyone — including you — would believe it was Martin, especially since I started wavering on the séance. Joseph felt he owed it to Louise to exact some sort of revenge.”

“Hmph.” Martin’s gaze fell back to Gail. “Louise didn’t know what revenge was. She would have never wished another person harm and would have hated vengeance in her name.”

Erich reached out and briefly touched Martin’s back. “There are no words I can say that will offer any comfort, but I’m here — same as Bess — if there’s anything you need.”

Bess leaned over and hugged Martin’s neck, while eyeing Erich. This kindheartedness he offered Martin puzzled her. Harry knew compassion, but he held it close, only gave it to those he deemed most worthy. He would have declared that Martin and Gail had brought this house of cards tumbling down upon themselves. Was Erich doing this to impress her? Trying to prove that Harry’s soul was only a portion of the man he was now?

No. Bess couldn’t accept that she drove his actions. Not when it came to something like this. Either he was acting from his heart, or he wasn’t any kind of man at all. Either way, the time had come for them to have that talk. As soon as they left the hospital. “But Erich got her here in time, right? That’s what’s important. She’ll be okay.”

He shrugged and sighed. “We’re treating her in the best way we know. She seems to be stable, but only time will really tell.” He gave Bess an insincere smile. “But there’s no reason for you and Erich to sit here waiting.”

The misery on his face caused Bess to look away. “We’re here for you. For as long as you need us.”

“And I appreciate that, sweetie, I do. But you’ve been through a lot these last couple weeks too, and I’d feel better if you let Erich just take you back to the hotel so you can rest. I’ll send word if anything changes here.”

She patted his arm. “If you’re sure?”

“I am.”

***

Erich reached out to take Bess’s hand as they walked toward the hotel, but withdrew it before he touched her. He pushed it into his pocket and let the words she’d said — we have to talk — play over and over in his head.

“What made you go to estate? To talk to Gail?”

As they continued their walk, Bess recounted each and every event from the moment she’d left him standing in the park, until he’d found her at the Cooper’s. She waited until they were alone back in the hotel room to ask the question that he guessed weighed the heaviest on her mind. “How and why are you here?”

He supposed she wanted all the complicated details. Ones he didn’t know how to explain. The kernel of truth was simple, though. “I’m here because of Harry’s will.”

She fidgeted and then paced the room for a moment. He suspected she was taking time to choose her words instead of letting her heart spew. “Why do you say Harry’s? Aren’t his and your will the same?”

Erich lowered himself to the edge of the bed. “No. It was Harry’s desperation to get back to you that instigated his deal with Jaden. He put Harry’s soul in my body, animated it and set it down next to you. Even with all his memories and feelings, from that first moment, it was like there were two different people inside of me. I’m not Harry, but I’ve learned from his mistakes, his success, his time and these experiences.”

“But you thirst for danger.”

He shook his head and pushed his fingers through his short hair. “I enjoy the skills he mastered, but I don’t crave a spotlight. I do understand his hunger. His memories are as real as my own, and you’ve misjudged him.”

Bess twisted her heel into the floor and crossed her arms in front of her. “Don’t stand there and say Harry didn’t yearn for the crowd’s applause.”

“I won’t lie to you. Not ever. But you don’t understand what drove his desires. Both of you knew great struggles. He went to work at a tender age, to compensate for what his father couldn’t provide and never wanted to fail you like that, Bess. He took the stage when he was bone tired — or deathly ill — because not doing so put
your
future at risk. He loved you from his heart to the bottom of his soul. Your welfare and succeeding for you, was always at the forefront of his mind. Always.”

“His mind? His soul? Don’t you share these things?”

“Yes. No. I don’t know.” Erich exhaled and stood. He could really use Jaden’s help now. Reaching out, he hoped she’d give him her hand. She complied, and he kissed her knuckles. “I guess our souls are one in the same, but his memories are a distant past, one I feel removed from.”

Bess hesitated, eyed him up and down, and he couldn’t blame her. The last year had been Hell, and she used the time for careful examination of her life with Harry. A moment passed, and then she inched closer and slid her arms around his waist. “You were so kind to Martin at the hospital.”

“We’ve reached an understanding.”

“Forgive me if I’m confused.”

He smiled, leaned in and brushed her lips with his own. “At first I harbored all the ill will Harry died with. I clung to it. His suspicion that everyone would want to cash in on his fame breathed within me, and finding out Martin was so much a part of your plans confirmed those fears. Watching you mourn and understanding your pain, I began to see inside Martin’s. He explained to me Gail’s need to make a place for herself in this town. I understand Harry’s anger and hurt, but time has passed — a lot of it. And I’ve also learned that life is just too short for resentment and hate, especially when it’s misdirected.”

“Grieving is hard. I hope it isn’t something Martin has to endure again.”

“We have to have faith that Martin and the other doctors can help her.” Erich laid his hand against her cheek. “Can you love me, Bess, now that you know the truth?”

“As hard as it is to imagine going back, there’s no way I can move forward without you.”

“I’ve learned from my mistakes, and that’s the truth. You are the only dream I want to chase. No spotlights. No screaming crowds.”

“Just go back east and what?”

“Live the remainder of our days together. And maybe open a little diner of our own?”

Bess laughed. “You always hated manual labor.”

“Harry did. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t thrilled at first, but I like the interaction with people, and I like the idea of working together. Face it, we do it well.”

Her whole face lit up with her smile, and even though her eyes were glassy with tears, he had no doubt they were tears of joy. “I love the idea.”

He leaned in, laying his forehead against hers. “But we should wait and see what happens with Gail. Martin may need some of the same support he’s shown you this past year.”

“It’s going to take a while for me to get used to all the changes,” Bess said.

He brushed his lips to hers and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “I plan to spend the rest of our lives surprising you and keeping every single promise I’ve made.”