Adelaide Confused (36 page)

“
Alright,” he said after a
time. “Come closer and I’ll tell you a secret.”

I moved to face him, stepping into the surf.
It rushed over my ankles, invading my shoes and soaking the hem of
my jeans.

His face was all sharp
planes in the dim light, the contours falling in harsh lines. With
a steely voice that matched his severe exterior, he said, “Tim
Beckett was already on St. Simons when I called the work retreat.
He arrived the day Theodore died.”

“Tim came to meet Theodore?”

Face grim, “Perhaps he did
meet Theodore.”

Understanding dawned. “That
would be after Theodore landed but before he died. That shit! He’s
got the journal. No wonder he’s not sad that his mentor was
murdered, he might be responsible! I knew there was something
shifty about him,” I muttered to myself.

A small commotion up the
beach broke my concentration and I quit ranting. Reed turned toward
the sound, gazing into the darkness expectantly. I followed his
line of sight, but couldn’t see past his shoulder. For the first
time I noticed how close we were—the charm at work. Hastily I
stepped back, water splashing up my calves.

The disturbance grew
closer. Two figures slogged through the shifting sand in our
direction. One was a hulking man of muscle, the moonlight
reflecting off his shaved and egg-shaped head. In his grip was a
second man, smaller by comparison, and grunting in an effort to
squirm free.

“
It would appear you were
successful, Ed,” Reed said by way of greeting the big man. At the
sound of his voice the wriggling had stopped, with the captive
sagging in defeat.

“
He was crawling through
the tall grass. Hoping for a listen,” explained the big
man.

“Did he hear anything?” Reed asked, his tone
gone deadly.

“
No, sir,” Ed answered. “I
caught him quick-like.”

“
Thank you, Ed.” With that
said, both Reed and I turned our full attention to the smaller man.
I was stunned, having not expected to see my stalker up
close.

While I’d been relating the
demon’s attack via Demidov’s body, Reed had interrupted to ask how
I’d ended up alone in the cemetery to begin with. I’d briefly
explained about being followed before moving on with the rest of my
story. Apparently Reed hadn’t been so quick to let it go. And for
once he had taken care of something.

My stalker now swayed
awkwardly in the sand. His orange hat sat askew, unruly hair
escaping all over. In the dim light his bland features looked more
washed out than ever.

“
Why are you following
me?”

He knew he was well and
truly caught, filled with stress and shame. But his face turned
petulant as he said, “You can’t do anything to me. This is a public
beach and I have as much right to be here as you. Take your hands
off!” he screamed at Ed, renewing his struggles.

“
Consider this a citizen’s
arrest,” Reed said calmly, though I could feel him growing bored.
“We’ll take you by the police station where you’ll be charged for
stalking and harassment. How does that sound?”

His options were clear, he
could either explain himself or face the consequences. Sagging
again in Ed’s firm grip, it was obvious which he would choose. “I’m
a private investigator,” he said quietly. He then glanced at me.
“Your mother hired me.”

“
Fuck,” I
groaned.

“
It seemed straight
forward,” he continued. “There was an accident, and though you
eventually healed physically, there were psychological issues. You
barely graduated, and after that you just...”

“
Disappeared,” I
interjected.

“
I expected to find a mess,
if you were alive at all. That was your mother’s biggest fear, that
you were dead. But all this time she’s been worried for nothing.
You’ve been doing quite well here. I meant to return after finding
you, only...”

“Only what?” I asked sharply.

“
You started dating Reed
Wallace,” he explained, clarifying, “a celebrity billionaire.”
After flicking Reed an apprehensive glance, he continued. “I saw
him come to your motel and I was curious, so I hung around is
all...”

I let out a nervous breath.
“You can’t tell my mother where I am.”

He threw up his hands.
“What’s the big deal? She seems nice! And she’s really
worried.”

“
You can’t tell her,” I
repeated, my voice growing louder. Everything he said was true.
She
was
nice, and probably very worried. But my mother made me crazy,
and I didn’t want to revert to my old self. Agitated, I started to
pace. It was the PI. He felt caught like a caged animal, helpless,
and therefore so did I. Forcing myself to slow down, I staved off
the rising panic attack.

“
It will be fine,” Reed
assured me. Turning to use his boardroom voice on the investigator,
he said, “I’m sure we can come to an agreement. What is Mrs. Graves
paying you?”

“
That’s private
information. I can’t say.”

“
Whatever it is,” Reed
continued untroubled, “I’ll pay you five times over to say
nothing.” He paused letting his offer sink in. “Of course I’d ask
that you return to my office with me and sign a formal agreement
before I wire the money to your account.”

It was a done deal, I could
feel it. Ed was no longer restraining the investigator, who was
busy asking Reed the details of their contract. I slipped away and
no one stopped me. I doubted if they even noticed.

I was still feeling
miserable, but rushed energetically for the limo regardless. I
rapped the glass twice with my knuckles before popping the door
open. Agata was inside, wide-eyed and staring. “Uh, hello,” she
said hesitantly.

I ignored her, glancing
around the interior. A pair of tan leather bench seats faced each
other, and sure enough, swirling in the corner was a ghost. “Come
on,” I said to Anastas.

“Where?” Agata asked, afraid and
confused.

“
I’m not talking to you.” I
barely spared her a glance before turning back to her uncle. His
image had flickered, showing me the impression of his once living
form. His eyes were much like his niece’s, equally wide with
confusion. “Yes you,” I assured him. “Come with me, I need to speak
with you about dismissing your demon.”

“
What?” Agata gasped. She
was starting to sniffle and I glimpsed a quivering lip.

“
I’m not talking to you,” I
repeated, losing patience. I gestured for the ghost to hurry. “Come
on, I haven’t got all day.”

Unsurprisingly, Agata
started to cry. “I don’t know what you’re saying,” she wailed. I
shut the door on her, relieved when the ghost drifted out. He
motioned back at the car, expressing his desire to stay with
her.

“
No, you’re coming with me
so I can figure out how to dismiss the demon. When that’s done,
feel free to haunt Agata all you like.”

I didn’t get a chance to
explain more, the three men came clomping up the wooden planks,
mounting the sandy drop-off. The wormy investigator said he’d pull
around, preparing to follow Reed home and sign the papers. He no
longer felt like shit. Reed strode toward me while Ed ducked into
the limo. Agata’s sobbing escaped the interior briefly until Ed
shut the driver’s door.

“
What did you say to her?”
Reed asked.

I shrugged vaguely. “When I
started talking she got confused. You should send her to therapy, I
think she’s traumatized.” I wasn’t lying, she did need therapy.
Anyone would be scarred after seeing their uncle rise from the
dead, even if they knew it was a demon that made him do
it.

Reed didn’t believe me, but
he wasn’t mad either.

I decided it was best to change the subject.
“I suppose you expect me to thank you for paying off that
asshat.”

“
On the contrary,” Reed
said smoothly. “I was acting in my own best interests. If your
whereabouts were disclosed then I would have nothing to blackmail
you with.”

“
Your own best interest,” I
echoed. “Like telling me about Tim was a ruse, really you were just
stalling until my stalker got caught. There I was, nagging about
how all I needed was information, and you never once thought ‘Hey,
I think I’ll explain to Adelaide what we’re really doing
here.’”

“
And ruin the surprise?”
Reed asked. “Never.”

“
You manipulative bastard,”
I muttered. I didn’t expect a reply. I’d already turned to my car
with the ghost trailing after.

I told Anastas he had to
ride in the back, car rules. I told him a lot of things while I
drove. The soulier he was, the better. So I chattered (something
very unfitting to my overall personality) and glanced in the
rearview mirror every now and again to make sure he hadn’t drifted
away.

It wasn’t like riding in
the car with Smith, who sat in the passenger seat whether I wanted
him to or not. Smith was much more... well, just more. Anastas was
thready, his emotions barely coming through. His image was a puff
of smoke more often than not, and he seemed perpetually confused. I
chalked that up to his being the recently deceased, he was still
adjusting.

When we got home I pulled
the Ouija board out from under the couch, explaining how it worked.
And things would have kept chugging right along if not for Smith.
He stepped through my closed front door, took one look at Anastas,
and rained down to a puddle of agitated moisture. His loss of
control said a lot about his emotions, so did his emotions. He was
angry, maybe even jealous.

“
It’s not like I’m cheating
on you,” I snapped. “I have to help Anastas or the demon is just
going to keep using his dead body to hunt around town!”

Smith had re-formed by
then, but his image wavered, giving the impression that he quivered
in anger. But he did nothing more than narrow his eyes, fuming no
doubt. It wasn’t like he could argue back, though I thought it was
incongruous that he could hit me. But he didn’t, choosing instead
to leave in a snit. I wouldn’t see him for a few days. That was his
MO.

I knew Smith wanted
something from me, expected something. And he just kept waiting. It
was frustrating for us both, because I had no idea what he was
trying to tell me. And half the time he was no help at all, turning
cagey when I asked the wrong questions. That was how I knew he’d be
gone for a few days—I was used to his running.

I turned my attention back
to the very uncomfortable Anastas. Speaking calmly to assuage his
anxiety, I said, “Let’s start.” Having already explained how the
Ouija board worked there was nothing more to do but settle onto the
couch and begin. “Will I need to know the demon’s name for its
dismissal?”

Anastas’ image was
breaking, floating tendrils of smoke wafting off as if the wind was
stealing him piece by piece. But he did as I said, urging me to
stop when my planchette hovered over the correct answer. And I felt
his responded
yes
as if it were spoken aloud.

“
Is there anything else
I’ll need to dismiss it?”

He didn’t react to yes or
no, and at first I thought he was either too new or too stupid to
communicate properly, but then I saw him gesturing to his
chest.

“
Yes,” I said,
comprehending, “I know you’re supposed to be the one to say it. But
since you’re dead we’re going to have to improvise.” I told him my
plan, asking, “Do you think it’ll work?”

Again he seemed to find yes
and no both lacking.

I rephrased, “Do you think
it’s worth a try?”

Yes.

“
Alright then,” I said
feeling hopeful, “let’s work on spelling its name out
next.”

It was a long and tedious
process. By the end I knew what Agata had meant when she said it
sounded foreign. I also forgave her for not remembering. No one
could have remembered that. It was a monstrosity, absurd by any
standards.

R-A-U-L-R-I-E-C-H-M-Y-D-L

“
That’s it? You’re sure?” I
questioned. “Then let’s go before we lose our nerve,” I said,
standing to look for my flashlight.

I had planned to come home,
get pretty, and see Lucas. But those plans were ruined, first by
Reed and now the demon. I had to go find the stinky thing, and if I
was lucky, cast it back to whatever hell-hole realm it came
from.

I packed the flashlight in
my satchel, along with a small Swiss army knife. I was hungry, but
forewent adding food, thinking I’d need to be on full alert with no
time to eat.

The ghost required no
coaxing to follow. He was already dead and out of harm’s way. I, on
the other hand, was scared shitless. I tried not to let it show,
humming throughout the entire car ride. But my throaty vibrations
tapered off upon approaching Goodfellows. It looked the same as
yesterday, eerie and old.

I parked and my car
backfired twice before I pulled the key from the ignition, then
came the agitated metal ticking and clicking noises that I didn’t
understand. If that didn’t get the demon’s attention I didn’t know
what would. I eased out of the car, glancing around cautiously as I
went. I didn’t smell anything off, so I was safe for the time
being.