The Loveliest Dead (36 page)

Winningham left the chair, came around the desk, and perched a hip on its front edge. He rubbed the back of his neck as he cocked his head.
 

Lily said, “Something I’ve said bothers you, Chief Winningham. What is it?”

He dropped off the desk and stood up straight before her. “Are you talking about... well...” He chuckled. “Ghosts?”

“I honestly don’t know, Chief. I think there may be some remnant of Leonard Baines in that house, and possibly the remnants of some of his victims. Some lingering presence, or energy. I suppose you could call them ghosts, if you want. I don’t like the word myself, because, for one thing, I’m not sure
what
the hell this is yet so I don’t know if it applies, and for another, the word ‘ghost’ comes with too much baggage for it to be of any use to me.”
 

Winningham nodded. “It’s useless to me, too, I’m afraid, because ‘ghost’ doesn’t look good in a police report. It doesn’t hold up too well in court, either. So, if you have any information that could lead to the whereabouts or remains of any of those boys, I want to hear about it right away. But when it comes to ghosts, or spirits, or whatever you want to call them, I’d rather you just leave me out of it, okay?”
 

Lily said, “Oh. I see.” She stood, took a deep, steadying breath. “I’m sorry if my work offends you, Chief. But this is not something I’m doing out of the goodness of my heart, you know. I’m doing this because if I don’t it will drive me insane. I’m doing it because I have to. If I
didn’t
have to, I wouldn’t be wasting any of your time.”
 

Winningham held up both hands, palms out. “I’m sorry, Lily, I didn’t mean to imply that you were wasting my time. But for professional reasons, I’d rather not show up in an article with lurid headlines in the
Global Inquisitor
. That’s all.”
 

Lily slowly paced the length of the office with a forearm across her belly. “You probably can’t
wait
to tell all your buddies about your experience with the weird and mysterious psychic, but suddenly you’re worried about becoming a laughingstock. It’s that story in the newspaper, isn’t it?” Lily said as she turned and looked at him. She nodded her head a couple times. “Yes, the one about the trucker who claimed to have been beaten up by a ghost in the Kellars’s house. Ever since that story went national and you started getting calls from the tabloids, you’ve been wetting your pants because you’re afraid of being made a fool of in the media.”
 

Winningham’s chin dropped as his eyebrows rose, and he stared openmouthed at her for a moment. He closed his mouth, shifted his weight from foot to foot, and looked like he was about to say something, but he did not.
 

“Come on, Claudia, let’s go,” Lily said.

As Claudia stood and picked up her bag, Winning-ham said, “Wait, I’m sorry, Lily, I didn’t mean to offend you. I don’t want you to go away angry.”
 

“Don’t worry, Chief,” Lily said as she opened the door. “I’m angry, but not at you. I’m angry at Leonard Baines, but there’s not a damned thing I can do about it.” She turned and went out the door and down the corridor.
 

To Winningham, Claudia said, “Please call us once you’ve got any information on those boys. Thank you for your help.”

“Come on, Claudia,” Lily said in the corridor. “I need some chocolate.”

In the Beetle, Claudia started the engine. “Did you read his mind?”

Lily released a single humorless laugh. “Are you kidding? I didn’t have to. He was broadcasting that like CNN with breaking news.”
 

“Where do you want to go next?”

“We’re going to have to go see the Kellars again. But first... is there a Marie Calendar’s in this town?”

They found one on Broadway in Eureka, and after Lily had squeezed into a booth, she ordered a slice of Chocolate Satin Pie before the waitress could ask what they wanted. Claudia ordered coffee.
 

“Looks like your stomach is feeling better,” Claudia said.

“I need some chocolate. I suppose you think I was terribly rude to Chief Winningham back there.”

Claudia shook her head. “I think you were upset.”

“I was. I still am. Why do you think I need some chocolate? If I were an alcoholic, we’d be sitting at a bar right now and I’d be knocking back vodka.” Lily put her elbows on the tabletop and rested her face in her hands for a moment.
 

“Are you feeling any better?” Claudia asked. “How’s your head?”

Lily sat up straight. “My head feels like a heavy-metal drum solo. My stomach’s queasy, but right now my need for chocolate outweighs my desire not to throw up.” She rubbed a temple with her fingertips. “I’ve got to work this out, because I don’t know how much longer I can take these visions.”
 

“I imagine they’re exhausting, and they’re making you sick,” Claudia said.

“No, it’s not that. Yeah, they make me sick, but I’ve been through it before, I can take that. No, it’s the visions themselves. They’re horrible.” A moist lump grew in her throat, and Lily took a deep breath and pulled herself together, then began to shed tears.
 

The waitress came with their orders. Lily took a generous bite of her pie, then sat back and closed her eyes. “Mmm, feel those endorphins,” she whispered. After several seconds, she licked her lips and said, “I’m not looking forward to dropping in on the Kellars again. I think we should ask Kimberly to go with us—she might be able to help us get a foot in the door. Why don’t you give her a call.”
 

“Kimberly said the Binghams were coming today,” Claudia said. “If we deal with the Kellars, we’re going to have to deal with them, too.”
 

“I’m not worried about the Binghams. I’m worried about Miles Kellar. Whatever’s left of Leonard Baines in that house wants that boy. It wants him bad.”
 

Jenna entered the kitchen and joined Martha at the breakfast nook. Martha was reading a book, but set it aside when Jenna slid onto the bench across from her.
 

“Mavis called Father Malcolm in San Francisco,” Jenna said. “He’ll be here this evening.”

“You look tired,” Martha said. “I just made some fresh coffee. You want some?”

“If I drink any more coffee, my head will explode,” Jenna said. “I haven’t really
done
anything, but I feel like I’ve been busy running around all day.”
 

“Well, you didn’t get much sleep last night, and you’re not used to all this fuss, that’s all, honey.”

Arty had gone back to the hotel to get some equipment and their two students, Shannon and Willy. Mavis had stayed behind and talked with Jenna and David and Martha as Miles napped on the floor in front of the television. After nodding off a couple times in the recliner, David had excused himself and gone upstairs for a nap.
 

“While it’s just us girls,” Mavis had said, “I’d like to talk with you both about my husband, Arty. Even at his advanced age, he’s as hyper as a teenage boy. He’s very enthusiastic about our work, sometimes to a fault. Don’t be surprised if he snaps at you or raises his voice. It doesn’t mean he’s angry, it’s just that he’s very excitable.”
 

Jenna had smiled and said quietly, “I hope you won’t be offended by anything
my
husband might say. Neither of us has ever been the least bit religious, so this may be a little uncomfortable for us. I think he’s going to go ahead with whatever you want to do, but he’s not going to enjoy it, so he might make a hostile remark or two.”
 

“In that case, I’ll try to keep my Arty on a leash,” Mavis had said, smiling. She’d explained that it was important for everyone to stick together at all times once the house was blessed. “After that,” she’d said, “the demonic entities in the house will be very angry, and they’ll be frantic to make trouble. It will no longer be safe to be alone anywhere in the house.”
 

Jenna had said, “Then we’ll stick together.”

Smiling, Mavis had said, “Once they get here, our students will move throughout the house with cameras and microphones. Your son will probably enjoy it— most children do. It’s an exciting adventure to them.”
 

Jenna had found Mavis Bingham very calming and reassuring, something she needed. She had been preoccupied all day with the phone call she’d received that morning from Lily Rourke.
 

Your son is in danger
, Lily had said. Dwayne Shattuck had said the same thing. Jenna looked over at Miles, asleep on the floor in front of the television. She realized neither of the Binghams had singled out Miles.
 

Jenna had said, “Mrs. Bingham—”

“Please call me Mavis.”

“Okay, Mavis. So far, two people have told me—” She’d glanced at Miles again to make sure he was still asleep, then lowered her voice. “—that Miles is in danger as long as he’s in this house. I was wondering if I should get him out of here. I have a friend who might be willing to take him for a while if—”
 

“Who told you that, dear?” Mavis had said.

“Dwayne Shattuck, the medium who got beaten up here the other day, and a woman who’s been calling. She dropped by once. Her name is Lily Rourke. She’s a psychic.”
 

“Well, I haven’t heard of either of them, and Arty and I are very connected to the paranormal world. The story about your medium appeared in newspapers across the country, and I’m surprised you haven’t heard from a lot more of them. You need to understand that there are a lot of opportunistic charlatans in this business, dear. If you have demonic forces in this house”— she’d averted her eyes a moment, sniffed, cleared her throat—”and I think you do, then all of you are in danger, not just your son. Don’t worry, dear, we’re going to do everything we can.”
 

“Father Malcolm has done this sort of thing before?”

“Many times. If necessary, he’ll perform an exorcism.”

Jenna had looked at Miles again, sleeping on the floor. As reassuring as she was, Mavis had not made Jenna feel any better.

Something already disturbed it, Dwayne Shattuck had said. It’s... I don’t know, it’s like it’s got somethin’ on its mind
.
 

“Well, whatever Father Malcolm does,” Jenna had said, “I wish he’d get here and do it soon.”

When Arty had returned carrying a cardboard box of religious icons in his arms, he’d brought with him Shannon and Willy, each of whom had a satchel with a shoulder strap. According to Mavis, they regularly attended the Binghams’s lectures at the Phoenix Society of Paranormal Research and had accompanied them on a few of the society’s field trips to haunted locations. Both were in their early twenties, Shannon a slightly frumpy young woman of medium height with long straight brown hair, Willy a tall, skinny guy with small round eyeglasses, a dark buzz-cut, and a goatee. They put their bags down in the living room, stood close together, and sometimes held hands briefly, stiff and nervous. This was the first time they had assisted in one of the Binghams’s investigations, Mavis said, and they appeared nervous. They wore jeans and T-shirts—Willy wore a blue T-shirt that bore the logo for The
X-Files
, Shannon a black one that read
My childhood was supposed to end when
?—and had shed their coats in the entryway. Shannon’s eyes had darted all around her as she stood beside Willy, who had eagerly chewed his lower lip. Arty had given them their assignments—first, to move the coffee table out of the way to make more room, and second, to put a religious icon in each room of the house. Jenna had them put the table back in the dining room against the north wall.
 

Jenna had asked to do the master bedroom because David was resting there and she did not want to disturb him. She’d carried a plastic Virgin Mary upstairs to the bedroom, where she found David sound asleep. She’d put the plastic figure on her vanity and pulled the door closed as she left the room. Then she’d gone back downstairs and into the kitchen to join Martha in the breakfast nook.
 

Jenna was jarred from her thoughts when Martha said, “Are they going to be sleeping here?”

“I’m not sure. They have hotel rooms. You’ve read their books, I haven’t. Do they usually stay in the houses they work on?”

Martha thought about that a moment, sipped her coffee. “You know, as a matter of fact, I think they do.”

“In that case, you and I should go to the store and put a few things in the fridge, don’t you think?”

“Well, I suppose if they’re going to do this for nothing, we should at least feed them,” Martha said.

Arty and Mavis came into the kitchen hesitantly. “Are we interrupting?” Mavis said.

Jenna stood and said, “No, not at all.”

Mavis put a small figure of Jesus on the counter. Arty held a crucifix.

“You said you have a basement,” Arty said.

“Yes, it’s right over here,” Jenna said as she led them to the laundry room. She opened the basement door. “You aren’t planning to go down there, are you?”
 

“If there was activity in the basement, we need to place an icon down there,” Arty said. “It’ll only take me a second.”

“There’s no light down there,” Jenna said. “You’ll need the—” She turned around to find Martha standing behind her with the heavy Mag-Lite held in both hands.