Ghostly Interests (24 page)

“I think you’re sick,” Harper said, fighting off tears. “I think that years of competing with your brother have made you sick. I think he’s sick, too. I think you two feed off each other. You try to one-up one another. This is just your latest way of doing it.”

“I love being psychoanalyzed,” Collin said, a wide grin splitting his face. “My parents have sent me to therapy since I was thirteen and they found out I killed the neighbor’s dog because it wouldn’t stop yapping.”

Collin threw himself on the couch and leaned back, resting his head on the pillow as he fingered the edge of the knife blade and stared at Harper, practically daring her to make a run for it.

“Keep on psychoanalyzing me,” he said. “It’s the only thing keeping you alive right now. You might as well have some fun before you die and tell me what you really think.”

Harper decided to take him up on his suggestion. “You’ve got it.”

JARED
moved around Harper’s house slowly, the hair on the back of his neck standing on end. There was a Jeep Cherokee in the driveway he didn’t recognize and something felt “off” about the situation. He had no idea why he was on edge, but something told him to approach the house carefully.

He quietly stepped up on the patio, glad the outside light wasn’t on so he could move closer to the window without detection. Someone would have to be staring directly at him to see him. He stared into the house.

He caught sight of Harper first, relief washing over him.
She was fine. He was overreacting. Nothing was wrong.
He told himself that over and over – and yet he didn’t believe it.

Harper’s face was white and she was standing ramrod straight in the middle of the living room. She was focused on the couch and whomever she was talking to was out of Jared’s line of sight. He slipped farther down the outside wall of the house until he got to the window that looked into the kitchen. That room was lit up and Jared could see a prone body on the floor.

“Zander,” he breathed, reaching for the gun on his belt.

Someone was in Harper’s house and that someone had either incapacitated or killed Zander to get to Harper. Jared could only hope it was the former because if it was the latter he had a feeling Harper would never recover.

Jared moved to the back of the house, pulling his cell phone out of his pocket and texting Mel to bring backup before switching the phone to silent and shoving it back in his pocket. The smart thing to do was wait for backup. Jared’s head told him that. His heart told him he needed to get to Harper now, though. It was his heart he listened to as he walked through the open kitchen door.

“I THINK
your parents knew you were sick even before you killed the cat,” Harper said. “I think your brother was always the favored child because they knew there was something wrong with you.

“I think you were smarter than Jay, but it didn’t matter because he was better looking and your parents knew that he was going to amount to more than you were,” she continued.

“That’s fascinating,” Collin said. “You might be right. Go on.”

“I think the more Jay got his way in this world the more bitter you got,” Harper said. “You wanted to be the special twin, but you couldn’t be. Jay was always going to be ahead of you. Every time you found something you wanted, Jay took it away from you.

“You thought he was doing it as part of a competition,” she said. “In a way he was. He knew there was something wrong with you, too, though. I think he was playing the same game you were – only he was out to win.”

“I won,” Collin countered. “I won because I’m the one who killed Annie and got away with it. I’m going to win again when I kill you and your little fairy boyfriend and get away with that. I thought of everything … except the fact that you can talk to ghosts and that would come back to bite me. Once you’re dead there’s nothing to connect me to Annie. That’s another win for me.”

“What about Molly?” Harper asked.

“What about her?”

“People know you were out on a date with her tonight,” Harper said.

“
You
know I was out on a date with her,” Collin countered. “Jay does, too, but he would never suspect me of doing something heinous like killing Miss Molly. I’ll tell everyone she changed her mind and took off on her own.”

“Jared knows, too,” Harper said, relishing having the upper hand on at least one thing.

Collin stilled. “What? The cop? How?”

“He was at the coffee shop with me when Molly told me about the date,” Harper replied. “You’ll be his prime suspect.”

“No, that’s not possible,” Collin said. “Molly never mentioned seeing him this afternoon.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that it’s the truth,” Harper said. “Our other co-worker knows, too. Zander told him this afternoon.” It was a lie, but Harper was hoping it would be enough to scare Collin out of his course of action. There was no way he could get to Jared and Eric and kill them, too. He had to realize that.

“Well, this sucks,” Collin complained. “Now I’m going to have to kill a cop. Do you know what a pain that’s going to be?”

“Probably more than you realize,” Jared said, stepping into the room with his gun drawn.

Harper had never been more relieved to see anyone in her entire life and she wanted to run to him. Unfortunately, Collin was already on his feet and reaching for her before she had a chance to react.

Collin grabbed Harper’s arm and dragged her in front of him, lifting the knife to her throat in a menacing manner as he eyed Jared. “Sonovabitch!”

“I had a feeling it was you,” Jared said, fighting to keep himself calm despite the deadly weapon pressing into Harper’s throat. He sent her a reassuring look before focusing all of his attention on Collin. “Don’t you want to know how?”

“Not particularly,” Collin said, glancing around the room as he searched for an escape route. “Stay over there. If you move any closer I’ll kill her.”

“If you hurt her I will rip your throat out and show it to you before you die,” Jared promised.

“Did you see Zander?” Harper asked, a lone tear slipping down her cheek. “Is he okay?”

“He’s unconscious in the kitchen,” Jared answered. “He’ll be fine.”

“Not once I’m done with him,” Collin said.

“You’re not getting near him,” Jared countered. “He’s in the kitchen behind me. You don’t have a card to play. I texted for backup before I came into this house. My partner just happens to be Zander’s uncle. He’ll be here any minute – and he won’t be alone.”

“Well, isn’t that just a kick in the pants,” Collin mused. “What you’re basically telling me is that I’m screwed no matter what.”

“I guess so,” Jared said, his hands steady on the gun as he kept it pointed in Collin’s direction. “The only choice you have is how hard you go down.”

“Oh, I have one more choice,” Collin said. “If I do what you say I’m going to prison. I don’t think I’d do well in prison. If I do what I want, I’ll get to watch Harper die and then you’ll kill me. I think that’s going to be my best option. I won’t suffer that way.”

“You’re not doing a thing to her!”

“Oh, Copper, listen to you,” Collin taunted. “You’re infatuated with her, aren’t you? Do you love her? Do you think you’re going to fall in love with her? Do you have visions of hot sex and cuddling together over cold winter nights running through your head?”

Jared didn’t answer.

“What if I take that from you?” Collin asked, pressing the blade of the knife into Harper’s exposed neck and causing her to whimper.

“I will kill you,” Jared seethed.

“If I kill her will you cry?” Collin asked. “Will you mourn her for a few months or a few years? Will you ever get over losing her? I get the feeling that you two are just starting. You have hope. I see it on both of your faces.

“I had hope, too,” he continued. “I had hope that Annie would be my special someone. Instead she slept with my brother and crushed me. She even took photos of that so I could relive the experience over and over again.”

“I don’t care about any of that,” Jared said matter-of-factly. “I don’t care about your perceived reasons for being a psychopath. I don’t care if your brother gave you a wedgie every day of your life. All I care about in this situation is Harper.”

“That’s why I want to kill her,” Collin said. “The last thing I see is going to be your face as you watch her die.”

“Either drop the knife or I’m going to drop you.”

Collin tilted his head to the side, feigning like he was actually considering the offer. “No,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m going to kill her instead.”

He drew the knife back, making as if he was going to plunge it into Harper’s throat. She cried out in terror as she tried to move away, managing to put a few inches between her and Collin before he could stab her.

Jared didn’t hesitate. He pulled the trigger. The deafening roar of the gun wasn’t enough to drown out Harper’s screams, but Jared held steady and did his duty. He never blinked.

HARPER’S
heart was pounding so hard she was convinced she was having a heart attack. She instinctively reached for her chest, imagining a gunshot wound spreading red blood across her simple white T-shirt.

She didn’t feel any pain. She figured she was in shock.

Then Collin’s body dropped to the floor behind her and Harper realized Jared’s aim was as true as his heart.

“Come here, sweetie,” Jared said, motioning for Harper to close the gap between them as he kept his gun trained on Collin.

Harper rushed to him, burying her face in his chest as he held her. He ran his hands down her shaking back and kissed her cheek. “It’s okay now. It’s okay.”

The front door of the house flew open and Mel raced inside, his own weapon drawn.

“He’s down,” Jared said, refusing to release Harper and instead drawing her closer.

“Where is Zander?” Mel asked.

“He’s unconscious in the kitchen.”

“I brought paramedics,” Mel said, moving around the edge of the couch so he could study Collin. “You were right. It was Collin.”

“That doesn’t make me feel like I’ve won anything,” Jared said.

“Is he dead?”

“I shot him in the head. It was the only clear shot I had.”

“I’m not shedding any tears over it,” Mel said. “I’m going to get the paramedics and check on Zander. You’re sure he’s alive, right?”

“I checked him when I came in,” Jared replied, his hand never stilling as he rubbed soothing circles along Harper’s back as she sobbed in his arms. “He was breathing fine. It looks like he’s going to have a knot on his head. I think Collin surprised him. The only thing truly hurt in all this is probably going to be his ego because he missed out on all the excitement and getting to beat Collin up himself.”

“I hope you’re right,” Mel said.

Harper pulled her tear-streaked face away from Jared and glanced at Mel. “Check Collin’s vehicle,” she said, her voice shaky. “I … he said he killed Molly. I’m guessing he still had her body with him.”

Jared wanted to kill Collin all over again. “We’ve got it,” he said. He slipped his gun back into the holster, freeing both hands so he could pull Harper tight against his chest. “We’ve got it. You’re okay.”

“Am I?”

“You’re going to be okay,” Jared said, pressing his lips to her forehead. “I’m going to make sure of it.”

Twenty-Six

Jared moved Harper out to the side patio so the tech team could go over the scene without interruptions. He settled her on one of the lounge chairs, sitting behind her and pulling her back against his chest as he proceeded to rock her.

“It’s going to be okay,” he murmured into her hair.

“I need to see Zander.”

“The paramedics are working on him,” Jared said, pointing to the driveway where he could clearly see Zander standing of his own volition. He looked like he was arguing with one of the paramedics. “He looks okay.”

“I thought … .”

“I know,” Jared said. “He’s okay.”

“Molly is okay, too,” Mel said, appearing at the edge of the patio.

Hope welled in Harper’s chest. “She is? Collin said that he killed her.”

“I think he was planning on getting to her after he got to you,” Mel replied. “We had to take her to the hospital. It looks like she was drugged. They’re going to flush her system there, but she was conscious.”

“Did you talk to her?”

“She was loopy and out of it, but she was forming words.”

“I need to go to the hospital to make sure she’s okay,” Harper said, moving to get off the lounge chair.

“I’ll take you in a few minutes,” Jared said, tugging her back down and wrapping his arms around her. He needed to hold her. He barely knew her and yet the idea of letting her go right now filled him with dread.

“I’m going to need your weapon, too,” Mel said. “You have to be cleared in the shooting.”

“I figured,” Jared said, leaning forward to give Mel access to his holstered gun. “Go ahead and take it.”

Mel grabbed the gun and slipped it into a bag, smiling kindly at Harper as he looked her over. “You look rough, kid.”

“I feel rough,” Harper admitted. “I thought Collin killed Zander. I didn’t know what to do. I kind of … froze.”

“You’re alive,” Mel said. “That’s all that matters. You’re all alive.”

“Not all of us,” Harper murmured, her gaze falling on Annie.

“I’m going to leave you two alone for a few minutes,” Mel said. “Before you take Harper to the hospital I need a statement from you, Jared.”

Jared nodded mutely. Once Mel was gone Annie spoke. “I’m sorry this happened to you because of me,” Annie said. “I didn’t remember until I saw him putting Molly in the back of his truck.”

“It’s over with now,” Harper said. “It’s all … done.”

“I just wanted to be loved,” Annie said. “I didn’t know it would be hate that ended me.”

“You can go now,” Harper said softly, leaning back into Jared who merely watched her talk to empty air. “There’s no reason to stay now. Collin is gone.”

“He won’t be … there … will he?”

“No. He’ll go to another place.”

“Have you seen that place, too?” Annie asked.