The Traveler: Book 5, The Eddie McCloskey Paranormal Mystery Series (The Unearthed) (20 page)

“Yeah, but which one?”

“All of them.”

“I need help to do that. I need people who understand paranormal investigation.”

“Know anyone?”

“Daria.”

“Know anyone else?”

Eddie took a deep breath. “I do.”

“Call them.”

“They won’t want to help me.”

“Why not?”

“Let’s just say I haven’t been the best friend over the years.”

Christie studied him. All signs indicated he’d gotten his life in order and had turned into a very successful person. He had a bit of an attitude, but on the whole he was down-to-earth and personable. She wondered what this was about.

“Then it’s time you started being a good friend. We need the help.”

***

“Stan.”

“Eddie.”

For a moment all he heard was Stan’s breathing, and Stan’s daughter laughing in the background.

“I called last night to apologize.”

“Okay.”

Eddie swallowed his pride. It was time to clear the air. Not because he needed their help. But because he owed Stan and Moira big time. Stan had been his one phone call in jail. Stan helped him get his business started by sending him equipment and supplies and designing his website. Stan was always there for him, ready to drop whatever he was doing to perform research for Eddie.

What had Eddie done for Stan? God, he still
owed
the guy. Stan was obnoxiously rich since he’d hit the lottery and didn’t need the money but it was the principle of the thing. Eddie hadn’t repaid his debts, both moral and financial.

“Stan, I’ve been a lousy friend.”

Stan said nothing.

“I’ve been an asshole. You’ve put up with it for too long. I missed your wedding because I fell off the map, I never call unless I need something, and it took me too long to meet your beautiful daughter. I…fuck, I still owe you money.”

Stan said nothing. Maddy kept laughing in the background. Eddie felt a pang of regret. Hearing Maddy made him wish he’d done a lot of things differently. Suddenly he wondered what his life was all about. He’d done some interesting things in the last few years but he wasn’t connected to anybody. As he contemplated his future, he saw the shape it would take. He would do a lot of things, accomplish some, but have nobody to share it with.

“The truth is, I don’t deserve your friendship. You’re a better person than me in every way that matters. You’re a true friend. I can sit here and make up excuses why I am the way I am, but ultimately there is no excuse. I hope you can forgive me and I hope you’ll let me make it up to you.”

Stan remained quiet for a moment. Then he burst out laughing.

Eddie was taken aback. His apology had been heartfelt.

But Stan laughed and laughed. Eddie kept quiet. If this was what Stan needed, he’d listen to it.

After an agonizing ten seconds, Stan stopped laughing. “Okay, douche bag. I forgive you. Just stop talking to me like you’re writing a nineteenth-century novel.”

Eddie burst into laughter too. He rarely apologized so it was foreign to him and the words had obviously sounded stilted.

Stan said, “You were a dick and I got pissed off accordingly, but you’re too hard on yourself.”

Eddie jumped in before Stan could continue. “No, don’t let me off the hook.”

“I’ll never forget what you did for me in high school, when those two assholes tried to jump me in the bathroom.”

“Jesus, Stan, that was twenty years ago.”

“Not to me.”

They talked for a few more minutes and Stan revealed that, while he was more than happy to forgive Eddie, Moira would not be so willing.

“Then I’ll have to make it up to her too.” Eddie checked the time. The clock was running so it was time to ask for Stan’s help. “Look, man, I could use your help.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes.”

“Is there a ghost really killing people?”

So Stan had been following the news. “Yes and I think it’s traveling with someone.”

“Who?”

“That’s the first thing we need to find out,” Eddie said.

“And the second?”

“How the hell we stop it.”

***

“Stan’s coming,” Eddie said.

“I’m glad to hear that,” Christie said.

What was that look on her face? Amusement? He didn’t know and he didn’t want her to catch him staring at her again. He’d read her body language loud and clear: she wasn’t interested and he realized how foolish it had been of him to even consider the possibility. She’d be in deep shit if she got into an inappropriate relationship with him during this investigation.

Eddie went back to the whiteboard. He looked at the names and the notes, but nothing jumped out at him.

She said, “What are you thinking?”

“
Schubert
.”

“I don’t like the tone of your voice.”

“I don’t like what I’m thinking.”

“Go ahead and share.”

He turned to face her. She was sitting at the head of the table now, a legal pad in front of her. She’d been jotting some notes down.

“Schubert isn’t a killer.”

“Her mother got to you.”

“No, she didn’t.”

Christie arched her eyebrows.

“Okay. Maybe a little. But you know more about her than me. So let me ask you. Before these deaths, would you have thought she could kill people?”

She recapped her pen and dropped it onto her legal pad. “That’s not the question to ask.”

“Why not?”

“Because most killers don’t seem like they’re going to become killers. It’s usually with hindsight that it becomes obvious.”

“Fine. Then knowing what you know now, could Tonya Schubert be a killer?”

“She almost has to be.”

“Why?”

“What I mean is, a ghost almost has to be killing these people.”

“Why?”

“Because of how they’re dying. From psychic attacks.”

Eddie shook his head. He hadn’t explained the subject to her well enough. “Actually it’s the opposite. Psychic attacks are usually committed by the living. I don’t know if there’s any record of a ghost doing this before.”

Christie folded her arms. “Weirder and weirder.”

Again, something was creeping around in the back of Eddie’s mind. But when he shined the light in the corners, it scurried away. He couldn’t spot it.

“No forced entry,” Christie said. “Also points to a ghost.”

“You’re certain?”

Christie nodded. “I could see the techs
possibly
missing signs at one crime scene. You know, it’s been a long day, they’ve been roused from sleep, they miss something obvious or not so obvious. What I can’t see is the techs missing signs at
three different
crime scenes.”

The thing that was bothering Eddie suddenly emerged. “Tiffany Engel.”

Christie unfolded her arms and waited for him to continue.

“She’s still alive. Which makes her more likely to use psychic attacks.”

“But what about the man that was seen at Stahl’s house?”

“We don’t know it was a man. It was the middle of the night, and Devlin only saw the person from far away.”

Christie shook her head. “Witnesses always have difficulties with height, weight, age, description, and race, believe it or not. But never gender. Gender is something we instantly pick up on. Even if Devlin didn’t see the prowler’s face, even if he only saw the person
move,
his idea of gender is likely correct.”

Eddie sighed. “Okay. But we shouldn’t rule her out.”

“I’m not.” Christie paced. “But right now we have a good theory that fits the facts.”

Eddie shook his head. “Felicity, Alicia, and Engel didn’t describe psychic attacks.”

“We didn’t specifically ask them, either.”

Eddie nodded. “Fair point.”

They agreed to follow-up with the three people about psychic attacks, but for some reason Eddie didn’t think it would yield anything. Psychic attacks were allegedly the worst form of torture imaginable, capable of rendering the victim paralyzed with fear. He was pretty sure they would have remembered something like that.

So if it was the same ghost visiting Felicity, Alicia, and Engel, why hadn’t it psychically attacked them as well?

Christie had her phone out. “Calling Felicity now.” She hit SEND and handed him the phone.

“Hello?”

“Felicity, this is Eddie McCloskey.” She asked him if they were closer to finding the ghost, and again, if she and her partner were in danger. Eddie didn’t bullshit her and said it was a possibility. Then he asked her if she had experienced any strange mental phenomena.

“You mean other than being scared for my life?” Felicity laughed. “No.”

“Did you get any visions? Did you think of terrible things? Did any of your worst fears come to mind?”

“No, other than of dying.” She laughed again, but not as heartily. “Why?”

“It’s probably nothing. Is Alicia there?”

He posed the same questions to Alicia and got the same answers, only without the belly laughs. Alicia wouldn’t let him hang up until he’d told her three times they might have been in danger.

“Nothing.”

Christie took the phone. She flipped through the notepad she carried to find Engel’s number. “Here you go.”

Eddie dialed and waited. The receptionist they’d met the day before answered. “Rariville Home Health Agency. How may I help you?”

“Hi, this is Eddie McCloskey. We met yesterday afternoon.”

“Oh, right.”

“Can you put me through to Mr. Engel?”

“He’s not here. I can take a message or put you into his voicemail.”

“I’ll just try again later. Thanks.” He hung up.

They sat quietly for a moment.

Finally Eddie said, “If it’s Tonya Schubert, why does she kill Fellov? Why does she visit the others but not psychically attack them? And why is a different ghost visiting Engel?”

“All good questions.”

“How do we answer them?”

“For now we follow the connections we have. Tonya knew both Stahl and O’Donnell. She died a horribly violent death. Maybe she holds them responsible.”

Eddie shook his head. “We’re having it both ways, though. We’re saying the ghost is connected to two people and not connected to the others.”

“It’s all we have right now.”

There was something buried in that thought. Eddie did his best to unearth it so he kept talking. “We can’t have our cake and eat it too. We can’t say there’s a reason for two of the victims but no reason for the others.”

“The others weren’t victims, though,” Christie said.

That was it. That was the thought he’d been groping blindly for. But what did it mean? Eddie couldn’t help but feel it was significant, but at the same time also didn’t know why.

“You’re right. They were only visited. They weren’t killed. They weren’t even
attacked
. There is a reason for that.”

“What reason?”

“I have a feeling when we answer that, all the other pieces will fall into place.” He shook his head. “We’re missing something.”

Christie laughed. “You never figure everything out during an investigation. That’s just part of the job.”

“It bothers me.”

“It bothered me too until Jug gave me a good analogy for it.”

“What?”

She leaned back in her chair. She’d gotten as little sleep as he had but looked no worse for the wear. Her smile was nostalgic as she thought back to her earlier days on the force.

“You know when you’re putting something together and following the instructions?”

“Yeah.”

“There are always a few extra screws, right?”

Eddie smiled.

Christie said, “But whatever you put together is fine. Those leftover tools aren’t essential. That’s how you have to think of the questions you ultimately can’t answer. There will always be screws left over.”

Eddie laughed.

“What?”

“Christie, you know the manufacturers give you spare screws, right?”

Eddie and Christie stopped at the deli again for sandwiches. He’d skipped breakfast so he scarfed his hoagie down.

Christie put her sandwich down. She’d had about two bites in the time it took him to eat his hoagie. He realized he was too used to eating on the run, at random hours, and alone.

She dabbed at the corners of her mouth with a napkin. “By the way, the warrant on King’s property came through.”

“Do we bother to go back?”

“It’s good for three days. I handed it off to Harney.”

“I’ll bet he was real happy about that.”

She sipped her soda. “Harney is actually a good cop, when he isn’t being a problem. And there’s something going on with King. Harney will find out what that is. Maybe it’s something we can put him away for. Every little bit counts.”

“Good cop, huh?”

Christie nodded. “He’s good working suspects and has good working relationships with the judges that write us warrants.”

“You’re too nice.”

Christie thought about that, like she’d never considered it before. “It’s not nice. It’s just working with what you have.”

Eddie put the end of his hoagie down. He’d eaten it so quickly that it felt like a ball of lead in his stomach.

“Another reason I work alone.” Eddie smiled.

“Not on this investigation. I could stand here and shout into the wind about how much Harney is an asshole. But at the end of the day, that’s what he is and complaining about it doesn’t get me anywhere. I just take it into consideration when I’m making decisions.”

Her approach made sense, but Eddie knew he’d never be able to use it. He wasn’t molded that way.

“When this is over, I’m going to ask you out,” he said.

She actually blushed.

“That can never happen. Let’s just focus on the case, Eddie.”

He leaned in and hoped his breath didn’t stink from the onions on the hoagie he’d just inhaled. Very romantic.

“I’m going to take you out to dinner. Somewhere nice. We’ll go wherever you want.”

“Do you always get what you want?” she said.

“Hardly ever.” He leaned back. “But one keeps trying.”

“Eddie, I don’t know how to make this any clearer. But I can’t date you. I’m sorry.”

Eddie tried to take it in stride. Usually when he asked, women said yes. But with Christie, he knew it’d been a long shot. He shouldn’t have felt this disappointed.

The TV in the deli cut from a soap opera to a stock photo of the Jimmit Building, whatever that was. A news anchor provided a voiceover.

“Good afternoon. We interrupt this broadcast to take you live to the Jimmit Building where Mayor Rabine is about to begin his press conference to address the recent string of suspicious deaths in Rariville.”

The stock photo was replaced with a feed inside the building. The mayor stepped in front of a podium and smiled for the cameras.

Eddie looked at Christie. “I’ll bet you this lunch he’ll do what I suggested.”

“Sucker’s bet. I’ll take it.”

The mayor spoke for a moment about the deaths and expressed his great sorrow over losing such upstanding members of the community. He’d met Mrs. Fellov personally on his last campaign, and he’d had the pleasure of meeting with Dr. O’Donnell on a number of occasions to discuss local healthcare. He hadn’t known Stahl but expressed his sincere regrets.

“Now there have been reports that a ghost is involved in these deaths. I wanted to take the opportunity to address those reports and then will have time to answer a few questions. Let me start by saying first that the Rariville Police Department, under the great leadership of Chief Knotts, has been working around the clock to investigate these matters and I know they will bring this matter to a close very soon.”

“No way does he say it,” Christie said.

Eddie just smiled.

The mayor looked around the room. “All of you in here know me. You know that I’m a reasonable man.”

“No way,” Christie said.

“Told you.”

The mayor continued. “So I ask you to keep that in mind when I share this with you. I wouldn’t be telling you this if we didn’t have overwhelming, credible evidence to support it.”

“You win,” Christie said.

The mayor looked into the camera. “We have reason to believe that a ghost is involved…”

***

Renee Helmke went back and forth on how many clothes to pack. Two days or three? Finally she decided to put four days of clothes into her smallest suitcase and zipped it up.

Was this really happening? She couldn’t believe it.

But if the mayor had been willing to go on the air and say that a ghost was involved in Stahl’s and O’Donnell’s deaths, she
had
to believe it.

Which meant she had to run.

She didn’t know why the ghost had killed that other woman, Fellov. The name was odd and perhaps that was why it stuck out in her mind. Renee could have known Fellov in any number of ways, but judging by the woman’s age, it was most likely that Renee had treated her.

Renee called her boyfriend at work. For once, he was at his desk and answered the call immediately.

“We all just watched the press conference,” Ben said. “There’s no way the mayor gets reelected. He came off like a whacko.”

“I know. Listen, Ben. I’m taking a few days off.”

“Everything okay?”

She laughed. She tried to make it sound natural as possible. “Yeah, everything’s fine. Did you ever have one of those days where you wake up and start getting ready for work and just think, I can’t do this today?”

Ben hated his job and was looking for another one, so she knew he’d sympathize.

“Totally. But I always thought you loved what you did.”

“Normally I do, but…I’ve just had some difficult patients recently and I realized I hadn’t taken time off in awhile. So I called out sick today and am going to take a personal day on Monday. I’m going to see Mom.”

“Want some company?” he asked.

They’d only been dating for a month. He’d broached the subject of moving in together, but she wasn’t ready. Renee liked him but wasn’t ready for that commitment. Ben hadn’t met her mother yet, so she couldn’t show up on mom’s doorstep with her new boyfriend in tow. She hadn’t even told her mom about him.

Bringing Ben home to meet mom would look strange, so she decided against it.

“Sorry, Ben. Maybe we can all do dinner next week? I’d love for you to meet her.”

“Cool. Though I’m bummed I won’t see you this weekend. How about I drive up and sneak in to your mom’s house? We can pretend we’re high schoolers trying to be quiet…”

Sex was always on his mind, but it didn’t bother her. To the contrary.

“Let’s keep that in mind for another time.”

***

The man was surprised when Renee Helmke came out of her house carrying a suitcase. He watched with increasing anxiety as she tossed the suitcase in the backseat and jumped into the car.

He’d been casing her townhouse for later that evening. It had presented a lot of problems. He couldn’t get very close without being out in the open. The back wasn’t much better. Even worse, her townhouse was in the middle of a row, so he couldn’t easily transition from the front yard to the back if he needed to.

The suitcase meant she was going somewhere overnight, possibly far. Not good.

The ghost wanted blood tonight.

He anticipated their conversation, knowing already the ghost would want him to follow Renee and report on her location. The ghost would want to follow her wherever she went and kill her.

Blood tonight.

But that would look bad and make Renee appear important to the ghost, rather than the purportedly random victims she’d already terrorized.

Renee backed out of the spot in front of her townhouse. Her rear fender almost nudged his. He slouched ever lower in the driver’s seat, hoping she didn’t notice him.

Renee put the car in DRIVE and headed off.

Decision point.

Hopefully she was flying somewhere. The man couldn’t follow her then and the ghost would have to listen to reason.

But if she stayed close, within a couple hours, the ghost would want to kill her.

Renee’s car reached the mouth of the cul-de-sac and turned out.

Then something occurred to him. Maybe the place Renee was headed would be easier for him to access. Maybe he could turn this into a win.

He started the engine.

***

“Tiffany Engel is out?” Eddie said.

Christie hadn’t given Engel much thought, not since Mrs. O’Donnell had described the ghost as having a gunshot wound to the head. That piece of evidence had led them down a crooked path to Tiffany Schubert.

“Not out, just a distant third.”

“How would we even confirm that Engel was telling us the truth? How would we confirm Tiffany had called him?”

Christie tossed her empty coffee in the trash can outside the office complex. The oldest of the Schubert boys, Mark, worked inside. He was a financial planner and owned his own business.

“Phone records. Look for the random number and see where it leads. It’d be a lot of work and wouldn’t get us much closer to her.”

“If she ran, she’s guilty,” Eddie said.

“Spoken like a true cop.”

He laughed. “When I was inside, not one guy was innocent. Not one. And they all bragged about other things they’d done.”

“You don’t seem like a cynic.”

“Which makes me the worst kind.”

They walked into the building. Eddie had a few gadgets with him but right now was sticking with his K2 meter. It was the best of the worst.

Mark Schubert’s office was on the third floor. The directory listed several other offices on that floor.

“How close do we have to be?” she asked.

“As close as we can.” Then Eddie had a thought and shared it with Christie.

Christie nodded. “You are devious.”

“It takes all kinds.”

***

The building manager arrived in twenty minutes. Christie decided she would wait in the car. Mark Schubert knew her from when she’d worked his sister’s case before. He was unlikely to recognize Eddie, though there was a risk he’d seen a picture of Eddie on the news.

The building manager wore a khaki uniform and looked incredibly put out by Christie’s request for his assistance. Eddie didn’t know what building managers did all day but had always assumed it was a relatively slow-paced job unless something out of the ordinary happened.

Eddie smiled. “Thanks, Dan. We’ll need to inspect all the offices on the third floor this afternoon. We can’t single anybody out.”

Dan said, “I don’t wanna lie. These are tenants.”

He was a grumpy man with a walrus mustache.

Christie stepped forward. “This is really important. You saw the mayor’s press conference this afternoon?”

Dan nodded, reluctantly.

Christie said, “Do you want to be the person that kept us from following up on a lead?”

Dan shook his head, again reluctantly.

“Thanks, I appreciate that.” She smiled sweetly. “Eddie will do all the talking. There’s no need for you to lie, Dan.”

Dan looked away. “Let’s go.”

***

Schubert’s office was the fourth they visited on that floor. The name of Schubert’s company was stenciled on the glass door. Dan opened it and they went in.

A middle-aged woman was pretending to work behind the desk in the small waiting area.

“Hey, Dan.” She glanced at Eddie and her face grew serious. “What can I help you with?”

Dan pointed at him. “This is Warren Nobilo.”

Eddie smiled at her. “I’m from the gas company, just here to take some routine readings.”

“Readings?”

“That’s right. Somebody complained of an odor. It’s probably nothing but we take these complaints very seriously.”

“Oh, okay. What do you need to do?”

“I’ve been through the other offices on this floor and would like to take a walk through yours if that’s alright.”

“I’ll have to ask Mr. Schubert. He’s with a client right now.”

Eddie smiled. “That’s fine, but I don’t need to talk to him. And if it makes you feel better, Dan can accompany me.”

The chances of Mark recognizing him as the ghost hunter from the news were slim because the media was using an old picture. But all the same, he didn’t want to risk it.

The receptionist took her hand away from the phone. “Okay, I’ll just send him an email letting him know.”