Town Haunts (8 page)

“What about the
rest of the illusion? The music? How did you do that?”

Tiernay
uncovered her face to glare at Anna. “I’m not going to keep
repeating myself. Everything except the fog and the knocking was
real. I had nothing to do with the music.”

Anna wanted to
shake the petulant expression right off Tiernay’s face, but the
front door opened in the nick of time and Greg came bounding down
the porch steps in a green silk shirt and tight-fitting jeans. He
looked anxiously toward them as he padded barefoot to the curb.
Tiernay swung the car door open to greet him.

“What
happened?” he asked, bracing a hand against the hood and leaning in
toward her.

“I never got
the chance to deliver our message. Evelyn’s spirit was still in the
house. She got past all of my defences,” she said in a plaintive
voice.

Greg shook his
head. “How is that possible?”

“I’ve never
dealt with a haunting before. She’s so angry, Greg. I wasn’t
expecting it. She asked Sherman to avenge her murder.” Greg
whistled, and Tiernay nodded. “That’s why she’s still inside the
house. Now that I know how strong she is, I won’t make the mistake
of confronting her on her own territory again.” She held out her
hand to her brother. “I’m so drained. I need to sleep. Help me
inside, will you?”

“Sure, honey,”
he said, taking her hand and pulling her out of the car. Once she
was standing on the curb beside him, he swept her up into his arms,
and she nestled her head against his chest and closed her eyes.
Glancing back at Anna, Greg said, “Wait for me until I get her
settled. I’ll be right back.”

“Okay,” Anna
called through the window.

Cutting across
the yard, Greg bounded up the front steps and whisked Tiernay
inside. Anna got out of the car and locked the doors, leaning
against it and waiting for Greg’s return. If she couldn’t get any
information out of Tiernay, maybe she could worm the truth out of
him.

Biding her
time, Anna stared up at the night sky. The clouds had parted, and
there was a sprinkling of stars across the firmament, but the
temperature had dropped and the wind was up. Anna blew on her
chilled fingers and tucked them under her arms. She wished that
Greg would hurry; it was getting late, and she had to get up early
for work the next day.

He came out of
the house ten minutes later dressed in a knee-length black wool
coat and a black watchman’s cap, a natty tweed scarf tied around
his neck. Anna was beginning to tremble from the cold by then. He
trotted across the yard and was at her side in seconds.

“Sorry to keep
you waiting. Tiernay wanted me to help her with a cleanse to get
rid of any residual energy from the possession. Can I give you a
lift home?” Noticing that Anna was shaking, he put an arm around
her waist and rubbed her back.

“Th-thanks,”
Anna replied, her teeth chattering. “Any longer and I was going to
get back inside the car and turn on the heater.” She dropped the
keys into his hand and waited for him to unlock the doors before
climbing inside. Greg turned the heater on full blast before
peeling away from the curb.

“Where do you
live?” he asked.

“At the end of
Wistler Road, just on the way out of town,” she said, stretching
her toes toward the lukewarm air blowing on her feet. Greg executed
a sharp U-turn and headed in the opposite direction.

Anna peeked at
his face as he concentrated on the road. The black beard stubble,
combined with the wavy hair sticking out from under his cap, gave
him a roguish look. A whiff of musky cologne reached her nose, and
she sniffed appreciatively. Charlie didn’t wear scent, but it
smelled good on Greg.

“Feeling any
warmer?”

“Starting to.
Thanks. So tell me, what’s the deal with the séance?”

He turned and
smiled at her, his warm brown eyes glinting with humour. “You don’t
beat around the bush, do you, Anna?” She stared at him, waiting for
him to confide in her, but he shrugged instead. “Things didn’t go
as planned.”

“I’ll say.
Tiernay scared Sherman silly. Why’d she do it?”

“Evelyn had a
different message in mind, I guess.”

Anna paused,
backpedalling mentally. She hadn’t realized that Greg believed in
Tiernay’s magical powers. She was treading on shaky ground
here.

“Do you believe
that Tiernay was really possessed?” she asked slowly.

“I’ve seen some
freaky things happen around my sister. She is seriously gifted.
Believe me.” Anna remained silent, frowning out the windshield as
their headlights swept up the road. “You don’t believe in ghosts?”
Greg asked, glancing at her. “I’m surprised to hear it. I thought
you were a good, church-going Catholic.”

“What’s that
got to do with it?” Anna asked, her eyebrows arching. “Sure, I
believe in an afterlife, but not in ghosts. Not ghosts strong
enough to rap on tables or possess people, anyway. Otherwise, the
world would be knee-deep in them with all the people who died
violently or unhappily, right? That just makes common sense.”

Greg shook his
head and looked back at the road. “I don’t have a clue how it
works, Anna. All I know is, if you’re open to the possibility of a
spiritual world, you have to admit that hauntings and possessions
can happen. How else can you explain all the ghost stories we still
hear, even in our modern, scientific world? Besides, Evelyn’s
manifestation may have had something to do with you and your
friends being there tonight.”

He turned onto
Wistler Road and was rapidly approaching her house. Distracted,
Anna pointed at it through the windshield.

“It’s there,
the bungalow with the wood siding and the ivy.”

Greg nodded and
turned into her driveway, pulling up close to the garage. He
shifted the car into park and let it idle. It was cozy with the
heater whirring away, and the fatigue of a long day was catching up
with Anna. She sighed and turned to Greg, studying his face in the
garage light she had left on.

“What did you
mean when you said that the three of us being there tonight might
have had something to do with Evelyn’s manifestation?”

Greg rested his
hand on the back of her chair. “Ever been part of a witches’
coven?”

“What? Of
course not. Don’t be silly.”

He shook his
head. “I’m not being silly, Anna. Tiernay thinks that you ladies
have something special. Maybe you don’t feel it when you’re on your
own, but when the three of you get together with Tiernay as your
focus ‒ boom!” His long, eloquent fingers drew a mini-explosion in
the air.

She laughed.
“That’s crazy.”

Instead of
answering, Greg slipped his hand into her hair and let it flow
through his fingers. Tensing, Anna stopped laughing to watch him.
He removed his hand from her hair, letting it rest upon her
shoulder.

“I’ve wanted to
do that since I first saw you,” he murmured with a mischievous
smile. “You have such rich, dark hair – I just had to touch it. And
your cheekbones and jaw line are gorgeous.” He traced a finger
along her jaw. “I’d love to draw you sometime.”

“You mean like
the way you drew your sister?” Anna asked, gently pulling away.
“You did those nude ink drawings of her, didn’t you?”

“Guilty,” he
said, returning his hand to her shoulder. “Does the naked body make
you uncomfortable?”

“Sometimes. It
has a lot to do with who’s naked.”

He snorted and
put his hand back on the steering wheel. “That’s honest, anyway.
You know, Constable Walker had a talk with me earlier. He wanted to
make sure that I knew about your corporal.”

“Sergeant.”

“Sergeant. It’s
a long-distance romance, I gather?”

“That’s
right.”

His
chocolate-brown eyes were bottomless as he gazed into hers.
“Long-distance romances can be pretty lonely, Anna. I plan to be in
Crane for a long time.”

Anna unfastened
her seatbelt and reached for the door handle. “I’m kind of a
solitary person, Greg. I’m doing just fine.” She opened the door
and climbed out, turning back to look at him.

“Well, you know
where to find me if things change.”

She shook her
head and closed the door. As Anna circled around the front of the
car, Greg touched two fingers to his lips and raised them in a
salute. She shook her head again and followed the driveway to the
front porch. Waiting until she had her key in the lock, Greg tapped
the horn softly and backed down the driveway. She waved with one
hand and watched him drive away.

Anna shivered
in the frosty night air. Thank heaven she had Charlie to keep her
on the straight and narrow. Greg was awfully tempting with his
deep, rich voice and seductive eyes, but she’d never been one for
one-night stands, even when she’d been an inexperienced young woman
released from the confines of small-town life into the big, bad
city of Toronto. She had grown up a lot since then, but, oh, it
would have been easy to have made a fool of herself with him
tonight. Still, she barely knew Greg. Muttering a grateful prayer
for keeping him at a safe distance, Anna let herself into the house
and bolted the door.

Chapter Nine

“Thanks for
letting me stay, May,” Sherman said, taking the blanket and pillow
from her and setting them down on the couch. He hovered beside it,
uncomfortable now that he was alone with her in the small
apartment.

“That’s okay,”
May said. “I wouldn’t have stayed at your house with Evelyn’s ghost
traipsing around, either. Can I get you a cup of tea? I’ve got
camomile. It’ll help you sleep.”

He shook his
head.

“How about a
glass of wine? I’ve got a nice red open.”

He glanced up
at her in surprise. The whole town knew that he sometimes had a
drink too many. Most people wouldn’t have offered him alcohol under
the circumstances.

May smiled.
“Come on, hang your coat up in the closet and kick off your shoes.
I’ll get the wine and meet you back at the couch.” Sailing into the
kitchen, she pulled glasses from the cupboard and retrieved the
bottle of wine from her pantry. The pantry door was just about
closed again when she reached back inside and grabbed a box of
ginger cookies. Shuffling back to the couch, she set the wine,
glasses, and cookies down on the coffee table before sitting down
beside Sherman. She poured two generous glasses as he placed his
second shoe on the floor and handed him a glass.

“This is nice,
isn’t it?” she said with a smile. “Earl and I liked to have a drink
in the evening before going to bed. Cheers!” She held up her glass,
and they clinked their glasses together. Sherman took a deep gulp
while Erna picked up the box of cookies.

“Can I let you
in on a secret?” she asked.

“Sure,” Sherman
said, feeling even more uneasy.

“I know it’s
not very sophisticated, but I like to dunk ginger cookies in my
wine. Ever try it? They taste great.” She held the box out to
Sherman, who stared at her like she was crazy before reaching
inside for a cookie. May helped herself to one and picked up her
glass. Together, they carefully dipped their cookies into the wine.
Sherman studied his for a moment while May popped hers into her
mouth. Taking a bite, Sherman chewed the fragment slowly while May
watched him.

“Good, eh?”

Sherman grinned
and took a second bite while May reached for another cookie.

Anna called
Erna from work the following morning to report that both Tiernay
and Greg were sticking with their possession story, but suggested
that the three of them should meet with Tiernay anyway. Erna said
she’d walk over to Healing Hands after lunch to talk with the young
woman, and would get back to Anna. When Erna called later that
afternoon, she said that Tiernay had a massage at seven, but could
with meet them at May’s store at six.

Erna, May, and
Tiernay were already there when Anna arrived at the appointed time,
Erna sitting on the stool behind the cash register while May and
Tiernay leaned against the counter. The four women quickly began
rehashing the events of the previous evening. As Anna expected,
Tiernay insisted that she had been possessed at the séance. Erna
nodded thoughtfully, while May rolled her eyes.

Tiernay caught
the scepticism in May’s face. “You’re not a believer, are you,
May?”

“Course not,”
the older woman said.

“But you went
to that séance in New Orleans.”

“Only for
entertainment. I didn’t believe that the spirit of a dead
confederate soldier was actually speaking to us through that
phoney-baloney medium.” She looked at Anna. “You’re awfully quiet.
You don’t believe that Tiernay was really possessed, do you?”

Anna shrugged,
preferring to appear undecided. If Tiernay thought that she and
Erna were open-minded about spiritualism, the young woman might let
down her guard and reveal what she was really up to. Tiernay looked
at Anna in surprise.

“You’re not
serious? It’s all a load of bull kaflunkers,” May said, her face
reddening.

“How’s Sherman
doing?” Anna asked, trying to deflect the explosion she knew was
building inside her friend.

May audibly
exhaled. “He’s okay. We killed a bottle of wine last night, so he
was finally able to sleep. I made breakfast for us this morning and
told him that he could stick around for a few days, if he wanted
to. I haven’t seen him since.”

“I’m glad to
hear you’re looking after him. He looked so shocked last night,”
Erna said. “I think that he’s still very vulnerable about his
wife’s death.”

“What about his
wife’s killer?” Tiernay asked. The conversation came to a dead halt
as Anna, May, and Erna turned to look at her, Tiernay staring
defiantly back at them.

“You’re not
seriously suggesting that Evelyn was murdered, are you? For Pete’s
sake, the police thought it was a straightforward accident at the
time,” May said, growing excited again. “The town office is old,
and the basement steps are steep. Evelyn’s fall was an accident.
The only mystery about her death was what Evelyn was doing down
there.”