How to Kill a Ghost (3 page)

“Why did you come?” he asked.

I recalled Jake finding out my secret, and I began to tell him.

“Libby, are you here?” Monica called from the living room.

I glanced toward the doorway, and that fast, Ian left me. Loneliness pressed down. I couldn’t get him to talk now, so I headed into the living room. “Yes, I’m here. You should get to bed. It’s late.”

“What’s bugging you? I know when something’s wrong.”

I gave my friend a weak smile. “Where do I begin?”

I didn’t know how much time passed until I came to myself. Alarmed, I found myself in the kitchen and rushed to Jake’s room. He sat on his bed playing video games, an empty bowl that looked like it had contained oatmeal at his elbow. I rushed to his side, blocking the TV screen in the process. He leaned around me and moaned.

“Mom, you’re going to make me lose.”

“I’m sorry, Jake. Are you okay?” I felt his forehead and then reached for the thermometer. Even before I did, I noticed his coloring was better. “Did Monica cook you the oatmeal?”

“Yup, and she added honey and cinnamon. It was good. Can you do it that way next time?”

Guilt assaulted me. “Sure, sweetie.” To be on the safe side, I took his temperature and found it normal. Breathing a sigh of relief, I walked to the door. “One more day of rest. I don’t want you to have a relapse.”

“Mom,” he complained with a whine. I ignored him and left the room.

In the hall, I paused, relieved that he was fine, but I had come to the conclusion this had to end. In my depression of the night before, I had let myself drift. I hadn’t meant to do it because Jake needed my undivided attention. Ian had insisted I focus, and I claimed I was, but this situation proved to me control and I did not agree. Now was the time because Jake knew my secret. Everyone could believe I had somehow passed away, although I didn’t know yet how I should stage it. I had shared with Monica about how Jake knew, and she had offered few suggestions. Yet, I saw the confliction in her face. We had a system that worked, she’d said, but in my eyes it was falling down.

Anguish washed over me as I headed back to the kitchen, all the while planning my next move. I paused when I heard raised voices. They weren’t coming from my house but rather outside. I couldn’t imagine someone having a gathering on my front lawn, so I went to investigate. I peered out the window to find a police cruiser parked in front of Ian’s house. A small crowd of my neighbors had congregated on Ian’s lawn, some spilling onto mine. A few other citizens of Summit’s Edge had also collected on the scene. Word spread fast in our small town, especially word of
trouble
.

Worry gripped me as I rushed outside. Sunlight beamed down in the sky. From the shorts and sleeveless tees, I imagined the day was quite warm. Yet, the police had invaded Ian’s home. He wouldn’t survive if they insisted he leave the house, not to mention his secret would be unveiled. I didn’t like the idea of the world learning about the existence of vampires. Of course, that was the least of my fears. My concern centered on the here and now and what would happen if this situation got out of control.

Spotting Monica in the crowd, I approached her. “What’s happened?”

Monica’s eyes were bright. I couldn’t determine if the look came from excitement or anxiety. “Vanessa’s been killed.”

My concentration wavered. “Vanessa? Not…not in there?” I nodded toward Ian’s house. Why would Vanessa, the new girl who had replaced Miles Lucas at the library, be inside Ian’s place? Miles had left Summit’s Edge after his name was cleared of murder. There could be no reason for Vanessa, new to our town, to ignite violence in any of our citizens, least of Ian.

Unless…

My confidence waivered a bit as I stood there staring at his house, thinking of him and what he was. Would we always come to this?
No, not always. I’m letting go, remember?

“H-How did she die?” I didn’t want to know, but I forced myself to ask.

A man close enough to overhear our conversation spoke before Monica could answer. “Blood loss. She was drained dry. How do you reckon that happened?”

I had no intention of answering him. Monica and I looked at each other, her eyes filled with fear. I had never shared Ian’s secret with her, but I think at that moment she wondered just who it was I had been seeing all this time, the man I had allowed to be around my son and trusted to protect him and Monica when I left Summit’s Edge in search of my body. My friend cared about me, and I imagined as bold as Monica was, she would fight one of the living dead on my and Jake’s behalf.

I peered at Ian’s house again. The front door stood open, but Clark’s officers remained with everyone else on the front walk. Was there a barrier? Could Ian make a barrier that kept out humans? I wasn’t sure. The officers consulted with each other, heads bowed, anger in their visages but also confusion. I wanted to wink out and move closer to hear what they said, but Monica held onto my hand as if she feared for my safety. I waited by her side, and then another car drew up to the scene. I recognized Isabelle’s car. The chief of police’s sister leaped from the vehicle, scanned the crowd, and then spotted us. She rushed over.

“Is it true?” she demanded. “Is Nesssa dead?”

I gaped. “Nessa?” The name rang familiar. Of course the name Vanessa might sometimes be shorted to Nessa. Maybe that’s why it seemed like I’d heard it before. “Did you know her, Isabelle?”

The library assistant hadn’t been in town long, and I wasn’t aware Isabelle spent much time there. Then again she might since she was given to researching her craft as a witch. She might frequent the library. Isabelle had confessed to me that she was a witch but that she didn’t have a coven or a mentor to teach her what she thought should be standard spells and potions. What she knew she had learned on her own, but she didn’t feel as capable as she could be. The fact that she had discovered one clue to what had happened to my body impressed me, so I didn’t discount her gifts. Not to mention, Ian had validated what she was in his unspoken dislike of her—and vise versa.

“Know her?” Isabelle said and squinted toward Ian’s house. “Not really.”

“You just called her by a nickname.” Monica never missed details like that.

Isabelle forced a smile and met my gaze rather than Monica’s. “We’ll talk about it later.”

I wondered what she hadn’t told me, but I trusted that whatever it was, she would share it if it had to do with me. “Right now, I’m worried about the people of Summit’s Edge.”

I’d muttered the words but wished I could take them back.

“Why them, Libby?” Monica said. She studied me with suspicion. “Shouldn’t you be more worried about your boyfriend? Then again maybe not if he’s a murderer.”

“Monica.”

My friend released my hand and folded her arms over her chest. “Is there something you want to tell me?”

I could almost sense the ears perking up around me. More folks than Monica knew I’d been spending evenings with Ian. We had often walked in the park and along the streets of the town. Most of that time, I was invisible. Once or twice, I had materialized, and whenever I took Jake with me to Ian’s, I had been solid. Any of the neighbors could have been watching out their windows, and gossip spread fast around town. With this line of thought, I realized the police might soon be interested in whether I knew anything about the case.

Just what I need—another body.

“No, of course not.” I patted Monica’s shoulder. “I’m in the dark about what’s going on just as much as you and everyone else.” This was true. I didn’t want to believe Ian had anything to do with Vanessa’s death, but he had been behaving strangely, and he was a vampire after all. I thought about what he had said to me not long ago. He wouldn’t honor any agreement between the two of us if it meant his secret would be exposed. Did that mean Vanessa found out that he was a vampire and he killed her? From his previous actions, I doubted Ian would go that far. Besides, he was a very intelligent man. He would have more sense than to kill a woman who had learned his secret and then allow her body to be found at his house.

Perhaps he had lost control. Again, if he had, I believed he would cover it up. Vanessa would disappear, never to be heard from again. I shivered wondering how many people this had happened to over the one hundred years Ian had lived, and it terrified me. I recalled how detached he often appeared. He had the ability to kill, but did he? What should I believe? I grasped for answers, ordering them in my mind the way I wanted and to comfort myself from losing what little control I had left. In any case, I needed to see him and ask him for the truth face-to-face.

Another patrol car arrived, this one with the moniker on the side that said Chief of Police. A ripple of murmurs rolled over the crowd, and all heads turned in Clark’s direction. I watched him unfold his long, muscular form from the vehicle and straighten. A frown marred his handsome face, and the hair curling onto his forehead and beneath his ears said he’d forgotten his regular haircut as usual. Isabelle had been too busy with our preparations apparently to get onto him about it. I was ashamed of the fact that not being able to see Clark’s forehead always gave me a sense of relief. I couldn’t see the mark that shortened his lifespan.

I started to turn away, but Monica reached for me. “Where are you going, Libby?”

“I have to…” I glanced around and said simply, “…go.”

She released my hand, and I hurried back to my house. Just after I passed the threshold and shut the door, I winked out. I had chosen to float over to where Clark stood because blinking in anywhere might land me in the middle of a person, not something I wanted to ever do again. I found space near Clark and his officers and listened in to their conversation.

“What have we got?” Clark asked.

Will, one of the other officers, scowled and looked up at the house. “We got in, but then I don’t know what happened.”

Clark’s nostrils flared. “What do you mean you don’t know what happened? You’re a trained officer, Will. Explain!”

Will ran a hand over his buzz cut and sighed. “You know we got the tip, right? About the woman?”

“Yeah, go on.”

“Well, we arrived, knocked on door, announced ourselves. I didn’t think anyone was there, but then the door opened by itself.”

I felt like my heart constricted. I had seen this trick many times and knew Ian did it especially when he wanted to avoid coming close to sunlight during the day. What bothered me was I knew Ian well enough to know he had little respect for human laws. He wouldn’t disturb his sleep to allow policemen into his house, and if Vanessa was there, why would he risk it?

“What did you see?” Clark was asking, and I focused on the conversation.

“Nothing. It was dark. We couldn’t see past a couple feet from the door. We called out to Mr. McClain, but there was no answer. At that point, I decided to explore further.”

Clark worked his jaw. “You didn’t have a search warrant, and no visible evidence that foul play occurred, yet you went inside?”

“I know, Chief. I’m sorry, I—”

“No excuses, Will. What else?”

Will continued to explain, and I began to gather what had happened. Ian lured the policemen inside and erased their memories, or rather, he shaped their memories. My guess was he intended to have them believe they had spoken with him and found the report of a murder to be a false claim. Will and his partner ended up back on the front stoop, but then the citizens of Summit’s Edge started arriving, all with the knowledge that someone had been killed in Ian McClain’s house.

“How can everyone have heard about the call?” Clark demanded. He paced, his jaw tight, anger radiating off him. I followed, keeping to a few steps behind and thinking it through as well. “Someone informed them just like they informed us, to be sure it couldn’t be swept under a rug.”

That’s my chief.
In the same instant I was proud of his deductive reasoning, my fear escalated.

Will scratched his head. “What I don’t get is why would he show us the body after letting us search his house without finding any evidence?”

Clark went over the facts. “So you went in, talked to him, and he let you look around. Then you thanked him and left. While you stood on the front walk, people started arriving, murmuring about a murder. Then you hear a thump and turn around to see her lying in the hall. Have I got everything?”

“Yeah, that’s pretty much it, Chief.”

Clark rubbed his eyes. “Why is my job so complicated all of a sudden?”

I faced the house and told myself to go in, but I didn’t move.

“Where is he now?” Clark asked.

“Still in the house. We’ve called to him and threatened. I think he’s holed up in one of the rooms. Doesn’t seem to want to come out without being forced to.”

I felt sick staring into the dark cavern that was the entrance to Ian’s house. Sunlight overhead seemed to have shifted so my vision extended farther than the two feet the officers had indicated. Where would Ian be? I knew right away. He would have gone into his library, a room without windows.

“I’m going to talk to him,” Clark announced. “Do we know his number?”

Will hesitated. “Nothing on record, which is strange. Maybe Libby has it.”

Clark’s expression turned thunderous. I knew he was still attracted to me although I hadn’t accepted any more dates with him. He must have heard through the grapevine I had been seen with Ian, and we had a couple run-ins with the law while out together. I already knew Ian wasn’t on Clark’s favorite person list.

“We won’t involve Libby in this unless it’s necessary,” Clark announced, and he started toward the house. The officers trailed behind, wary. Clark stopped a few feet from the entrance, his hand on the weapon at his hip. “I need this area clear. No one beyond the street, preferably across it. Clear two doors down each side.”

“Yes, sir.”

Clark glanced toward my house, and then scanned the crowd. He shook himself as if to regain focus and turned back toward the house. I followed, wondering what to do. I couldn’t let the police storm Ian’s house. That would be dangerous for them as much as Ian. He wouldn’t come out without a fight, which might mean Clark or one the officers being hurt.