The Lost: Book Two, The Eddie McCloskey Series (The Unearthed 2) (5 page)

Eddi
e
didn’t go to sleep. Instead he worked his way through a six-pack and rewound his memory back to his mid-twenties, when he and his brother Tim worked together. Tim was the boss and Eddie was more than happy with the arrangement. He didn’t want the responsibility. Just wanted the work and the experiences. Some of the things they’d seen were beyond belief.

Now Eddie was drawing on his memories of Tim for guidance.

He thought back to their last investigation. He’d been more in tune with that one, emotionally invested because of the clients. A nice family, living in a house where a triple murder had taken place years before, was in danger of having the same violence visited upon them.

As intense as the investigation was, the tension between Eddie and his brother had grown to an all-time high. Eddie, living in Tim’s apartment, was becoming a third wheel. Tim was about to become engaged and once the girlfriend moved in, Eddie would be persona non grata. Eddie knew he was wrong to think the way he did, but still he felt betrayed. Tim’s engagement would signal the end of Eddie’s safety net. He’d need to figure out the course of his life, once and for all.

The danger of the investigation and their bickering had somehow brought them closer. They’d made a major breakthrough. They were brother, linked by a tragic past, but also supportive of each other’s future.

Then things went to shit.

He tried pushing aside the horrible memories and just focus on Tim and how he organized the investigations. But try as he might, the image that kept forcing its way to the forefront was of his brother Tim, the knife embedded in his chest, trying to talk as the tears streamed down his face, his lifeblood draining ...

* * * *

A nagging headache woke Eddie. The sun slanted through the windows, hitting the wall and making the headache worse. Eddie rubbed the sleep from his eyes, popped three aspirin, took a scalding shower, and rooted through his duffel bag for the least objectionable garments he could find. He shrugged into his pea coat. As he left the apartment he remembered that his car was still back at the bar so he hoofed it to the grocery store.

It was damp out. The air smelled of snow.

Twenty minutes later, he entered Victor’s store thankful to get out of the cold. It was a new building made to look like an old log cabin.

Victor tapped his wrist as Eddie removed his coat.

“Sorry I’m late,” Eddie said. “I forgot I didn’t have my car this morning.”

Victor gave him a skeptical look. Rather than go into further explanation, Eddie kept his mouth shut.

Victor said, “I had a talk with Marty Kindler. He filled me in on what’s going on.”

Eddie nodded. “You want me on the register this morning?”

“No, Eddie. I want you to stock, then clean the meat trays and take care of the dumpster.”

Eddie scanned the shelves of the nearest aisle and saw they were in decent shape.  He’d scoured the trays yesterday. And the dumpster …

Eddie realized this was Vic’s way of punishing him. But for what? He’d come clean last night.

The Old Eddie would have given his manager lip. “You got it, boss.”

As Eddie walked to the back to hang up his pea coat, Kindler stepped around the corner of an aisle and ambushed him.

“Eddie, Eddie. I wanted to have a few words and figured there was no time like the present.” Kindler’s hair was slicked back and he wore an expensive track suit and vintage Air Jordans.

Eddie felt Victor’s eyes glued to his back as he met Kindler in the aisle.

Kindler pursed his lips and tried to look intelligent. “Funny how things are so much clearer the next morning, isn’t it? I realize now I was out of line. I didn’t mean to offend you by offering you money last night. I know your brother, when he did this, kept his fees nominal, just expenses really. Forgive me. A man like you, he doesn’t do this sort of thing for the money. He does it for the truth. You’re like an artist that way. It’s all about the …” Kindler stuck his thumbs and forefingers out and joined them in a rectangle. He pretended like he was looking through a screen, like some director. “ ...It’s all about that. Right there. The truth. Offering you money, that was, that was gauche, as they say.”

Eddie laughed. “You’re right, Kindler. I don’t do it for the money, but while we’re on the subject my fee is a grand plus expenses. That covers the first week. Additional time is billable at five hundred a day.”

Eddie enjoyed watching Kindler as the man’s eyes went heart-attack wide. Miffed, Kindler reached into the pocket of his track suit and removed a gangster wad of bills and peeled off ten Franklins.

“Here’s a retainer. I’ll get you the rest in three days, after you’ve got something to report. You’ll have to take care of your team with that also.”

Team? “It’s me investigating and Ana interning. There’s no team.”

“How about her boyfriend and Tony?”

“It’d be better to pay them to stay out of my way. If that doesn’t sit with you, here’s the money back.”

It pained Eddie to hand the cash back. One grand was a ridiculous amount for this job. Eddie had never expected to get it.

Kindler gave Eddie the hard stare, then suddenly bleated like a sheep. Literally. Bleated like a sheep.

Eddie waited for him to actually say something but he didn’t.

They eyeballed each other for awhile.

There was no way Eddie was taking on three amateurs. It’d be difficult enough trying to do this job while training Ana on the spot.

Kindler still hadn’t taken the cash. He just looked down at it and back up at Eddie. Then he said, “I’m on a drug. You know what it’s called?”

“I’m guessing it’s a little stronger than cough syrup.”

The corner of Kindler’s mouth smiled. “It’s called Marty Kindler.”

“This is my investigation.”

“
Bah-ah-ah-ah-ah
.”

Eddie just held Kindler’s weird stare until finally Kindler nudged the money back toward Eddie.

“Like I said last night, I like you Eddie. You don’t back up like most of the sheep in this town. We’re going to get along just fine.”

“Yeah,” Eddie said. “As long as we do things my way.”

Kindler clapped Eddie on the shoulder. “Sure, Eddie, sure. Listen, why don’t you start at my house tonight. Ms. Anders and Lori won’t be around.”

“I’ll let you know.” Eddie steered Kindler toward the front door. Eddie was just doing what Tim would have done. He never let the client dictate the plan of action.

As he approached the electronic doors, Ana’s VW pulled into the lot. She waved at them through the windshield after she parked.

“That one’s got some fire in her.” Kindler licked his lips. “I wouldn’t mind slipping—”

“I’ll let you know where I’m starting tonight,” Eddie said, wanting to throw Kindler off the store’s porch for eye-fucking Ana.

Kindler winked at him and bounded to Ana’s car and got her door for her. She let him help her out of the car.

Kindler said, “My dear, if you ever want to live at Mach-3, you let me know.”

Ana giggled but she looked like she wanted to throw up.

“So
,
Kindler has a wife and kid?” Eddie asked.

He was making sure all the labels on the canned goods faced out. He’d already stocked, cleaned shelves, and did the ever popular dumpster-diving. He’d done the same kind of work years earlier in high school. It beat shoveling shit.

By a paper-thin margin.

Ana gave him a sideways look. “Not that I know of.”

She was dressed by committee again: billowing sundress, black stretch pants, and non-matching Eisenhower jacket. She gushed incongruity.

Eddie slid a can of tomato paste out and spun the label. “Wife and a sister?”

Ana chuckled. “You actually think Kindler’s married?”

“Alright, so who are Ms. Anders and Lori?”

“His girlfriends.”

Eddie almost hurt his neck his head snapped around so quickly. “Come again?”

“Yeah. The three of them live together.”

“Must be cozy. But how does it work?”

“Lori is my fifth or sixth cousin, I can’t remember. She’s weird.”

Eddie left that alone. “So here’s the plan. This afternoon I want to watch what you recorded at the lake, then I want to go to Colin’s. We need to set up the feeds.”

“Only one camera,” Ana said.

“We need more than one.”

“And I wish I was five-nine with double Ds.” She patted her chest.

“You’ve a lovely girl. Not every guy wants a porn-star looking bimbo.”

“What about you?” She smiled playfully.

“So only one camera … how many digital recorders?”

She frowned at his seriousness. “You mean tape recorders?”

“Yeah.” Eddie laughed. He was used to having state-of-the-art tech. “How many of those?”

“Two. But one doesn’t really work.”

Victor appeared at the end of the aisle, skeletal arms akimbo. “Ed, I need a word with you.”

Victo
r
shut the door to his office and negotiated his way around his crowded desk to face Eddie. “Something you want to tell me?”

Eddie put on his Richard Kimball face. “Can’t think of anything, Vic.”

“Has Marty Kindler roped you into this nonsense, Eddie?” Victor was POW thin and with his arms crossed it accentuated his emaciated appearance. If the man turned sideways and stuck out his tongue, he’d look like a zipper.

“I’m doing it for Ana.”

“You’re doing it for the money.” He said money like it was a dirty word.

Eddie shrugged. “Shoot me, I’m a capitalist.”

Victor grabbed a half-empty bottle of water from his desk and drank. “Capitalism is a dying system, about to implode. We live in an administrative state. You should learn to evolve.”

The Karl Marx of grocery store owners
, Eddie thought. He liked Victor but the guy’s agitprop was grating.

“Vic, all due respect, but I don’t tell you how to run your business. And last I checked this store was for-profit and privately owned.”

Victor smiled. “I’m a slave to the system.”

“You say so.”

Victor ignored that. “Just look at the Mill. All those jobs will be totally gone soon. And what did Marty do about it? Nothing. Why? Because he’s alright. Men like him are the burden to society, not the poor. And instead of trying to resurrect the business or start a new one, instead of doing something useful with all that money, he’s paying people to run around in the woods with flashlights to chase ghosts.”

Eddie fought to keep the weariness out of his voice. He was in no mood to argue politics. “Vic, Ana needs the help and I need the money.”

“Speaking of Ana. She’s just a kid. It hasn’t occurred to her yet she doesn’t know shit. I’d hate to see her get hurt.”

Eddie couldn’t argue with that. “I’ll take care of her.”

“Make sure taking care doesn’t mean taking advantage.”

“I wouldn’t dream.” Eddie turned and reached for the door knob.

“And make sure Kindler doesn’t fuck her over.”

Eddie stopped at the door. “What could he do to Ana?”

Victor looked down like he was studying something on his desk. “He uses people. He sucks them dry then spits them out. He’s not a nice person.”

“Do you think what’s going on here is some sort of scam by Kindler?”

Victor hesitated. “I don’t know. There’s much we don’t understand about the universe … so maybe something’s happening. But that doesn’t make me trust Kindler. That bastard would sell his soul if he could find it. And he loves being the center of attention, the big fish in the little pond here.”

“What do you think happened on that lake, all those years ago?”

Victor didn’t waver. “Stupidity and hormones are a volatile mix.
”
 

A
s
Eddie checked out his last customer he couldn’t help but notice she was definitely red-lining on the fun bag meter. She was a mom, early thirties, but she looked great, like someone else had given birth for her. She wore one of those mom sweaters but even that couldn’t hide her bust that well.

Her towheaded twins were doing their best to drive her homicidal. They sprinted up and down the aisles and screamed at every turn.

Mom smiled at Eddie as if to say, Would you like to buy the little bastards?

She barked at them to stop when they popped into view. They slow-timed it around the corner of the next aisle, little impish grins on their faces, and when they were out of sight they started sprinting again.

“I can hear you running.” Her eyes rolled up to the ceiling. When she looked back at Eddie, she smiled like this was all very cute, but he knew the lads were in for it once they got in the car.

“Don’t worry about it, ma’am. Victor loves kids.”

She paid. As he handed back her change she leaned over the counter, giving him a birds’ eye view of her twin peaks. She took off her shades and revealed playful eyes.

“So you’re the ghostbuster.”

“Ma’am?”

She lowered her voice to a sexy whisper and leaned even more forward. Eddie imagined diving into her cleavage.

“Excuse me, I meant the paranormal investigator.”

He wondered when she’d last used that breathy whisper. It was a perfect delivery. Either she practiced it a lot in front of a mirror or she practiced it a lot on men.

Eddie gave her his best aw shucks smile and finished bagging her groceries. She kept staring at him, her mouth slightly open.

“You know what the best thing about the boys running around all day is?”

Eddie gazed into her eyes, seeing the invitation there. “What’s that?”

“They’re asleep by eight and don’t wake up till seven.”

“That’s good. All that sleep will help them grow.”

“Doesn’t hurt me either. I like my free time, especially at night.”

Eddie winked at her. “I’m sorry, ma’am, but I’m not a ghost ... whatever. You must have me confused with some other gorgeous hunk.”

She laughed then. It was a good laugh and unself-conscious. She batted her eyelashes. “It’s okay. I won’t tell a soul.”

She pretended to zip her lips shut and he wondered what those lips tasted like.

“It’ll be our little secret then,” he said.

They held a sexually-charged stare for a moment. As he came from behind the counter to put the last bag in her cart, their hips touched. He double-checked her ring finger, saw that it was naked.

She moved a little closer and put her hand on his arm. “Are there really ghosts?”

He was about to answer but her tweens ran breathless to her cart. One of them said, “Can we have some ice cream, Mom?”

“No, it’ll spoil your dinner.”

“It’s only two-thirty, Mom,” the other said.

“Maybe after dinner if you’re good.” As she turned to leave she pressed something into Eddie’s hand. “Nice talking to you.”

“The feeling’s mutual.”

He waited till she left the store and read the piece of paper. It had her name and phone number on it.

Elsie
.

He slipped the piece of paper away and caught Ana watching him.

“Was she looking for a private consultation?” Ana said.

“She wanted to sell me her twins.”

Ana gave him a disbelieving look.

“You ready?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

As they walked to her car, alarm bells started going off in his head. If Elsie knew who he was, then half the town knew and it wouldn’t be long before the internet chatter would start.

He had to work fast then blow town.

Once his name popped up on the grid, Sean McKenna would come looking for him.

And Sean McKenna wanted him dead.

* * * *

Outside, Eddie said, “Smells like snow.”

Ana looked up at the grey sky. “There’s a nor’easter coming.”

Their breaths came out in foggy blasts. Eddie thrust his hands in his pockets to keep them warm.

“So tell me about the other two guys. Bernard and Colin.”

Ana hugged herself against the cutting wind as they trudged to her car. “Bernard and Colin used to work at the mill as foremen until a few years ago when Bernie had a falling out with Kindler. He left, but Colin’s still there.”

“What kind of falling out?”

“It had to do with safety. Bernie lost the tips of two fingers in an accident. He made a stink about outdated equipment … something about how they should have had a collar on the saw … ”

They got in her car and Ana blasted the heat. The windows fogged.

“People will think we’re making out,” she said.

Eddie ignored that. “And now the Mill’s closing.”

Ana shrugged. “Had to happen sooner or later.”

Eddie peered over at her and wondered if she, like a lot of the townies, was giving Kindler a pass.

“What about the other guy, Colin?”

“He’s still at the Mill. Still tight with Kindler. And he’s a real piece of work.” She looked over at him. “He’s divorced, he’s an ex-con, and he’s into some weird kinky sex.”

“He’s … divorced?”

“Funny. You know you’re pretty cool when you act like a normal human being.”

“Why was he in the clink?”

“Street pharmaceuticals.”

They didn’t usually bust you for weed. If they did, the prisons would be twice as full. That meant Colin had been into the hard stuff. Eddie knew from personal experience that was how it worked.

“Was he working at the Mill when he was busted?”

Yeah. Pretty good of Kindler to hire him back.”

“Yeah, Kindler’s a true humanitarian. Just like Genghis Khan. So tell me, who’s seen what?”

She laughed. “You don’t like Kindler, do you?”

“What gave you that impression?”

“All the vitriol spilling out of your mouth.”

“Vitriol. Nice word.”

“I told you before, I’m pretty smart.”

“Why’d you stop going to school?” He was hoping she didn’t say because of her boyfriend.

“I was having trouble paying. I decided to take some time off, save up the money.”

People never went back to school when they took time off. It was too easy to get used to a paycheck. He’d seen it happen to a lot of his friends back home.

“So who’s been seeing what?”

“Bernard’s house gets freezing cold overnight and Colin’s hearing strange noises.”

All the old questions and procedures surfaced like they’d been at the bottom of a recently thawed lake. “So, we have wet footprints at Kindler’s, major cold spots at Bernard’s place, and the ex-con who used to take drugs is hearing voices. Is that it?”

“And the lake. There have been sightings over the years. People have seen her wandering, others claim to have seen her body under the ice, a hand coming out of the water. That sort of thing.”

“You believe any of that?”

Big shrug with tiny shoulders. “I want to, maybe too badly.”

He looked her over. She had a good mind for this sort of thing. “But you believe Kindler, Bernard, and Colin?”

She pursed her lips. “Why would they make it up? I mean, wet footprints in your living room? Why would Kindler go to the trouble?”

“Look, Ana.” Eddie sat up straighter in the passenger seat and tried to put some authority into his voice. “You’ve got to look at everything like there’s a rational explanation. Once you’re at the place where there is no rational explanation, you’re then at the beginning of a possible paranormal event.  We’re here to invalidate claims, not the other way around.”

“What if it is Tessa, though? What if she’s trying to tell us something and we dismiss it?”

Eddie didn’t answer. He was thinking about how Tim, his brother, would go about this. He would have a definite plan before he started asking questions and he would stick to his plan and record everything that was said no matter how minor or immaterial it might seem. He would go to each site, record and collect data. He’d also try to get a complete picture of the history of any given site—

Eddie had a thought. “Where does old man Hollis live?”

Ana’s hands tightened on the wheel. “Mike’s dad?”

“You said he was still around.”

“Oh boy.” She laughed nervously like she was sitting on top of a bomb. “You can tackle that one yourself. I’m not going anywhere near that shit shack of his.”

“Where is it?”

“He lives in the park, outside town. But I’m telling you I can’t go. He hates Tessa, pretty much hates everybody. He thinks his son was the victim in this. Thinks everybody shunned Mike because of this, made him out to be the baddie.”

“We’re going to pay him a visit.”

“I can’t go out there, Eddie.”

“Turn this thing on its head for a moment. If the theory is true and Tessa is out there trying to speak to the people she feels are responsible for her death—”

“But Mr. Hollis wasn’t there. His son was.”             

“Maybe she can’t get to the son. How better to hurt Mike than to go after his dad?”

“Mike and Hollis hated each other.”

“They’re still blood.”

“He can connect us with his son. Maybe Mike has seen things too.”

“I’m not going.”

“Old man Hollis believes his son’s story, right? If he does then that doesn’t paint Tessa in a very positive light.”

She shook her head. “You can drive yourself.”

“You can’t avoid something important to the investigation. I want to see how he reacts to you and it sounds like he’s got an axe to grind with the three stooges.”

“The musketeers. And I’m not going.”

He finally looked over at her. “My investigation, my way. You agreed.”

She shook her head. “Fine. But there’s no way Hollis is responsible for what’s going on. The guy’s a turtle. He doesn’t poke his head out of that house.”

Eddie smiled. “Then he has got a good alibi, doesn’t he?”