Grabbing the folding chair, she placed it in front of the wood panel that served as a door, making sure that it couldn’t somehow blow closed again.
The match went out with a gentle
poof
, sending a spiraling trail of dark smoke into the air. Liv lit the last match and quickly turned back to Mr. Keith’s bedroom wall, taking in the sight for the second time.
Lines of IV tubing had been strung from mid-wall to ceiling at two-foot intervals all along the wall. At the bottom of these lines hung collapsed, mostly empty, IV bags of blood. They all had at least an inch or more of the thick substance still pooled at their bases and several of the bags had split down the sides. Inside the bags were dozens of dead flies that had crawled too far in while feasting on the rich blood and become trapped. The floor below these bags was sticky, buzzing with live flies and utterly rank.
Green eyes lifted to the top corner of the space and Liv saw the tiniest shred of light piercing the shadows. It was a crack in the wall into Mr. Keith’s bedroom and the passageway to the outside world for the flies.
The final match burnt out and Liv ran from the room into the study, taking deep breaths of the fresher air. "Kayla was right. Ghosts sure as hell weren’t responsible for that." Shutting everything up tight, she stalked into the hall and stuck her head into Mr. Keith’s room. It was empty.
Where are you, Kayla?
"Okay, ghostbuster. Ready or not, here I come."
* * *
Liv was just about to step onto the first stair that would lead her to where she thought Kayla was when she felt it. A sense of foreboding crept over her senses, and before she could even process it a dark wave of misery washed over. So strong was the emotion that she cried out softly.
Kayla!
her mind called frantically. Her chest tightened until it became nearly impossible to breathe, and she felt a rush of cool air that made her shiver. She would have gasped if it hadn’t felt like an elephant was sitting on her chest. But the physical pain couldn’t touch the emotional anguish she was feeling.
God.
Her hand shot out and gripped the banister so she wouldn’t topple down the steps.
Then the pressure on her chest eased, and the air around her seemed to warm. She straightened and looked around with dazed eyes as she sucked in an enormous breath. It was over and the whole thing hadn’t taken more than five seconds. "Holy Christ."
Her mind reeled.
What is going on?
The blood on the walls had clearly been a set up. She’d found proof of that. Yet something
was
happening here. The light balls had shown up on the recording. And this was the second time that she’d experienced feelings that made no sense.
Kayla’s?
She thought about that for a second.
No.
This wasn’t even the telepathic or emotional connection she shared with Kayla.
Thank God
. This was something altogether different.
"Liv!"
Now I’m hearing things?
But now there was the sound of footsteps. "Kayla?"
"Liv?" Kayla’s voice boomed again from near the house’s entrance.
Liv pushed her hair from her face with a trembling hand and looked up to see Kayla bounding up the steps. Her voice caught as she said, "Thank goodness it’s you." Her knees nearly gave way with relief when the younger woman wrapped long arms around her in an embrace so comforting it was nearly painful.
"What happened? Christ, you scared the shit out of me."
"Where were you? I—" A noise at the bottom of she stairs caused green eyes to dart sideways.
Standing at the bottom of the steps, wearing a pair of black slacks, matching blazer and a canary-yellow silk blouse was Glen Fuguchi. She looked up at Liv curiously but didn’t say a word.
Liv’s eyes narrowed and Kayla could feel the body in her arms stiffen. "Are you all right?" Kayla repeated, concern coloring her words.
Liv tuned out Glen’s presence and burrowed closer to Kayla. She dropped her voice to a whisper. "I think so. How… I mean how did you—?"
Kayla’s brow furrowed. "I heard you scream my name."
Liv nodded and rested her forehead on Kayla’s collarbone, knowing she hadn’t called to Kayla out loud. The telepathic link was growing stronger between them everyday, and right now she couldn’t help but believe that was a good thing. "I should have thought to do that before," she commented softly against Kayla’s shirt.
"Do what, honey?"
"Never mind." She tilted her head back and regarded her partner with a mixture of worry and consternation. Liv gestured with her chin. "Is she the reason you’ve been gone so long?"
Kayla closed her eyes for a minute.
Uh oh.
She’d totally forgotten that Liv would be waiting for her. Glen had shown up when Kayla was on her way back from the bathroom. The Japanese woman had let herself in with her key and they’d literally bumped into each other. They’d been having a discussion that was, in actuality, an argument, ever since.
Glen chose that moment to clear her throat. Loudly.
"Are you going to tell me why you turned as white as a sheet and headed for the steps like the hounds of Hell were chasing you, Kayla? Or will I be left to wonder?" Glen smiled sarcastically and Liv found herself with the urge to bitch-slap her into next week. The bad feeling she had about this woman intensified every time she saw her. How much was simple jealousy and how much was, well,
more
simple jealousy, Liv wasn’t sure.
"I’m sorry about running out on you mid-sentence, Glen," Kayla piped up, releasing Liv from their embrace only to wrap a casual arm over the other woman’s shoulder. "But I just had a bad feeling."
Glen arched a disbelieving eyebrow. "Ahh, more of your paranormal feelings." She emphasized the last word by drawing it out.
Liv’s nostrils flared. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
Kayla blinked at her partner and then turned the same stunned expression on Glen.
"I don’t mean anything at all, I assure you. I should be used to them by now. At one time we did spend a lot of," she paused and smiled again, "
quality
time together." Glen’s eyes locked on Liv’s and the look she threw her clearly said, ‘Kayla was mine and you only have her now because
I
don’t want her.’
Liv’s skin flushed as her hackles rose.
You little twelve-year-old bitch, I need to wring your scrawny neck.
"As I was saying to Kayla before she… well, before. I spoke with Mr. Keith on the phone this afternoon. He’d like to have the furniture delivered tomorrow and is hoping to start showing the house to groups of travel agents by the end of the week. He was able to book a group from France earlier than he expected and wants this mess behind him first. I assured him you’d have a full report explaining that there is nothing haunted about this property by tomorrow. We’ll be holding a press conference the next day."
Two mouths dropped open.
Liv turned to Kayla, unsure whether this was how things always worked. One look at the dark-haired woman’s face, however, and she was sure her original reaction had been right on the money. This was bullshit. "Kayla," she said, taking this opportunity to let Glen know that she wasn’t only around Kayla because she had the hots for her.
Okay, I do have the hots for her, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to be dead weight in this partnership.
"Light balls did appear in the recording from the hall, just like the ones you showed me in the photograph. I paused the computer on the exact spot so you could take a look at them."
Kayla smiled proudly. "Great work, Liv."
Liv blushed a little under not just the praise but the undisguised adoration in Kayla’s eyes.
I am so lucky.
But her expression changed when she remembered the reason Kayla had come flying up the stairs. "Just a minute ago, something happened here. I got this weird sense of—" Liv shook her head, not sure how exactly to articulate what had happened. It was similar to what she’d felt before, only far more intense. "It was an overwhelming feeling of—"
Kayla’s hand dropped from Liv’s shoulder. "Sadness? Like something terrible had happened or was about to happen but you were powerless to stop it?"
"Yes!" Liv exclaimed, her eyes widening. "That’s exactly it. It was a horrible feeling of longing."
Kayla nodded gravely. "Yes it was. I felt it too. On the way down the stairs when I was heading for the bathroom."
Glen couldn’t believe what she was hearing. This was impossible. She marched halfway up the stairs then stopped and blurted out, "What
are
you talking about?" She wasn’t going to lose a top-paying client over Kayla and most
especially
over Liv’s
feelings
.
"The same thing I was trying to explain to you five minutes ago. Only now Liv’s found something on the recording to back it up," Kayla answered impatiently.
"That doesn’t prove anything and you know it."
Kayla looked at Glen as though she was staring at a stranger. Any other time she’d been able to capture light balls on film, the woman had nearly done handstands. While they weren’t definitive proof, even within the scientific community, they were something that always made Kayla dig deeper, and nearly every researcher she knew felt the same way. But more than that, and why Glen had always cared before, they were something, on film, that you could show a client. "There issomething happening in this house, Glen. I don’t know what that something is, but my gut, my equipment, and now my partner are all agreeing with me. You can’t—"
"Please," Glen interrupted hotly. "Now you’re basing your research on your girlfriend’s impressions? I don’t care
what
she says! You don’t expect me to believe that blood was dripping down the walls, do you? That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard."
Kayla’s face became more animated with her exasperation. "But it wasn’t so ridiculous that you insisted I fly half way around the world to come and check it out?"
Liv drew in a breath and opened her mouth ready to blurt out what she’d seen upstairs.
Kayla and Glen looked at her anxiously as they waited for whatever it she was going to say. "Liv?" Kayla prompted after a few seconds. "Were umm…?" She rolled her hand in the motion for her to continue.
Liv licked her lips and focused on Kayla, turning her back on Glen, who was still standing in the middle of the stairway. Something told her to wait until she was alone with Kayla before talking about what she’d discovered behind the wall in Mr. Keith’s room. "No, I wasn’t going to say anything," she said evenly and in a slightly raised voice for Glen’s benefit. For Kayla’s eyes only, she mouthed ‘later’.
Except for a tiny jump in dark eyebrows, Kayla’s face remained passably neutral. "Okay." Kayla’s eyes pinned Glen. She wanted there to be no debate about this. "Whether or not you care what my new research partner thinks is immaterial. I
do
care. She’s proven to me already not only her intelligence but that she has a natural gift for this work. You know how important my work is to me, Glen. Don’t belittle it by assuming I’d compromise my integrity for a quick fuck."
Glen mentally blanched as the words unknowingly hit too close to home.
Liv’s head whipped around and she stared at Kayla in disbelief. She wasn’t sure whether to hug her or slap her senseless. "Quick fuck?"
Kayla winced and lowered her voice. "That didn’t come out right, Liv."
Liv pursed her lips. "Uh huh."
Glen glared at Liv evilly then, and pinched the bridge of her nose to ward off her impending headache. It had to be the linguist’s fault that Kayla was being so obstinate about this case. Though in all honesty, Glen couldn’t recall Kayla being anything
other
than difficult. In the past, however, she’d always been able to work around it.
And I will again. Olivia Hazelwood is nothing more than a new obstacle on a very well worn path.
But even as she thought the words she couldn’t make herself believe them totally. "I want that report tomorrow, Kayla." Her voice was unyielding. Kayla’s gaze went so cold Glen could have sworn the temperature in the room dropped ten degrees.
Kayla pointed an angry finger at Glen. "Since when is my research dictated by what you want?" She allowed her hand to return to her side. "But if Mr. Keith wants a report tomorrow, I’ll be happy to give him one," Kayla answered amiably, surprising both Liv and Glen again.
Glen let out a deep breath.
Yes.
She’s finally seeing reason.
"Thank you."
"The report will say that at this point in my research I suspect paranormal activity."
"Kayla!" Glen stamped her foot in a frantic gesture of juvenile frustration that made Liv smile.
"I’m sorry, Glen." But Kayla’s tone made it very clear she wasn’t in the least bit sorry. She crossed her arms over her chest. "He’s paying for my opinion, and so far that’s what it is. After a few more days," she shrugged, "who knows? I need time to take more readings and see if I can get some base numbers to work with. Then I want to research the house itself. I should also interview Mr. Keith, the maid, and her daughter. I want to hear for myself what they’ve seen and heard over the years, not just about the incident with the wall."
Glen’s hands shaped fists as she felt her temper rising to the surface. This job was supposed to be simple and clean! Kayla was supposed to confirm that there was nothing otherworldly going on in the house and then everyone would be happy. Didn’t the woman care how hard she worked to get clients? "We don’t have a few more days. Mr. Keith wants the report by tomorrow night and the client is always right."