JanesPrize (12 page)

Chapter Thirteen

Jane started the car to drive back to town.
“I feel as if I’m on drugs,” she said as she put the car into reverse. Her
limbs felt heavy, as if her brain had difficulty connecting with the muscles.
“Don’t forget your seat belt.”

Pierce buckled up as she backed the vehicle
onto the dirt road.

“Now I have my ID,” he said, “I could learn
to drive.”

“Sure. There are a couple of good schools
in town.”

“You won’t teach me?” He put his hand over
hers on the steering wheel.

“My God no. I might let you drive into the
back of a bus. You distract me too much.”

“Too bad. Not that I distract you, but I’d
like a reason to extract a teaching fee again.”

“I don’t think so.”

“I’ll have to devise another way to keep
you in bed.” He grinned at her and touched the back of her hand.

“You don’t have to—” She broke off as she
caught a glimpse of a woman with blonde hair crossing the street. “Look,
Pierce. Doesn’t she look exactly like your stepmother?” Jane slowed and a
minivan behind her hooted.

Pierce bent to peer through the windshield.
“Where? Who?”

“She’s gone. She must have turned the
corner.” The minivan went past with two kids waving and poking out their
tongues. “Sorry about that. Let me pull in.” Jane signaled to take a parking
spot in front of a bookstore.

“I don’t understand. What’s the panic?”

“I didn’t tell you but I thought I saw her
in the coffee shop a few days ago. You know how it is, you see a face that
reminds you of someone. I thought she looked a lot like your stepmother.”

“I don’t think that’s likely.”

“I guess you’re right. But ever since we
talked about her maybe being able to touch someone and come back, I’ve had this
awful feeling that she might do it.”

Pierce frowned. “Let’s find her and I can
tell you for sure. But I don’t think it’s possible for her to be here.”

“You’re not certain of that.”

Pierce shook his head. “There are all kinds
of things that go on in the other dimensions that I know nothing about.”

“If she could come through like you did, do
you think she might be here to harm you?”

“How could she come through?”

“Annice thought something touched her in
the house.”

“It was a spider’s web.”

“Maybe.”

“Hey there.” Pierce took her hand. “You’re
trembling. I thought you were the skeptic here.”

“I was until I met you. I have a bad
feeling about this.”

“Okay, let’s put your mind at rest. We’ll
find her and I’ll take a good look at her.” He opened the car door and a horn
blast made him shut it quickly. A truck barreled by.

“We’re both a menace to traffic right now,”
Jane said. “Let’s take a deep breath and think about this.”

“Not much to think about. We get out of the
car without causing an accident. We walk in the same direction as the woman you
saw. We take a good look at her. I tell you she resembles my stepmother but
it’s not her. Then we come back to the car, drive to the apartment and then…”

Pierce glanced behind and opened the door
when the road was clear. Jane unfastened her seat belt and slid out of the
vehicle. She still felt uneasy. Pierce came around as she locked the door and
took her arm.

“Ready for ghost hunting?”

“That’s not funny. Will you promise me one
thing?

“What’s that, my love?”

“If we find her you won’t get too close.
You won’t let her touch you.”

“I keep telling you it’s not her.”

“Even so…” Jane took his hand.

“Okay. That’s an easy one. I promise.”

They walked toward the corner where Jane
had last glimpsed the woman. She took a deep breath. Why was she feeling so
apprehensive, so threatened? The sun beat down with summer warmth yet she
shivered. A crowd in holiday mood surrounded them yet she felt alone. Only the
feel of Pierce’s strong arm steadying her seemed to anchor her to reality. Was
it all going to come apart? Maybe the few weeks they had spent together were
all there was to be. A cruel fate had allowed her to taste a joy and a
companionship she had only dreamed of and now was it to be snatched away?

She focused on the approaching street corner.
Every step forward was an effort. All her instincts screamed at her to run, to
take Pierce away. If she felt an emotional threat, a dark shadow over her soul,
he faced something more. Maybe he could be snatched back. She grasped his
forearm with shaking fingers. “Stay close.”

“I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.”

They reached the corner far too soon. The
woman Jane had seen a few minutes before was standing about halfway along the
street, looking into a shop window. As if she sensed their arrival she glanced
over her shoulder and smiled. Then she turned slowly and took another step down
the street. To a casual observer she would seem to be a youngish woman, dressed
in holiday clothes as one would expect in mid-summer on the coast, out to kill
a couple of hours shopping in the tourist area. Once more the woman stopped and
looked back at them again as if inviting them to follow.

Jane heard Pierce’s quick intake of breath.

“Is it her?”

“It looks very like her but I wouldn’t
swear to it. Let’s go closer.”

“No. Stay away. She frightens me.”

“Well she always was a scary woman. But her
hair’s different and the clothes of course. She does bear a resemblance but
it’s not possible that it’s her.”

“Where did she go?”

They had taken their eyes from her for a
mere moment while they spoke. When they looked back she was nowhere in sight.

“She must have gone into that shop. We’ll
check. I need to set your mind at rest.” He sensed Jane’s hesitation. “We’ll
stay outside.”

Reluctantly she allowed him to lead her
down the street to a large window that displayed glasswork and jewelry.

“It’s the kind of place she’d like,” Pierce
muttered. He shaded his eyes with a hand and peered through the plate glass. “I
don’t see her. There’s a fairly good view all around.” He dropped his hand. “I
don’t think she’s there. We must have been mistaken. But I think we’ve lost
her.”

He put his arm around Jane. “You’re upset.
Let me take you home. It’s nothing to worry about. You just saw someone that
looked like her and your mind is playing tricks.”

“I’m so afraid she’ll harm you.”

He laughed. “How can she harm me? She’s
just a young woman enjoying the town. Come.” He turned her gently away from the
shop.

Jane nodded and moved with him back to
where she had parked the car.

For the rest of the day Jane found it
impossible to shake off the gray cloud of unease that had settled on her. It
followed her around as she made a snack and hovered over her shoulder as she
tried to watch a DVD video of a Stephen King classic.

Pierce switched off the set at the end and
beamed at her. “I love that stuff.”

“Tell me something I don’t know.”

He stood and knelt beside her. “Hey,
sweetheart, what’s the matter? Are you mad at me? What did I do?”

She stroked his hair and let her fingertips
linger around his mouth. “I’m mad at myself more than anything.”

“Is it still about the woman we saw?”

She nodded. “I can’t get her out of my
mind. I only saw her for a few minutes at the house—”

“When she was murdering me.”

“I have this dread that she may want to
take you back with her or kill you again. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost
you.”

“You won’t lose me.” He wrapped his arms
around her. “Not unless you want to get rid of me.”

She rested her cheek on his head. “Are you
sure you don’t know anything more about coming back? Are there different ways
of doing it?”

“I only really know about touching, and so
if it was her touching Annice I suppose it’s possible. But highly unlikely.”

“Why would she want to take you back?”

“We don’t know that’s what she wants. We
don’t even know that’s who she is.” He sat back on his heels. “Look, while I
was dead I only heard stories about those who returned to the living. No one
knows for sure how it happens.”

“Someone might.”

“What?”

“There are people who study phenomena and
do all kinds of research. I bet someone has looked into this.”

“Maybe—”

At that instant the phone rang. Pierce
stood. “I’ll get it.”

Jane watched him cross the room and pick up
the receiver. He looked as if he’d never known anything else but life in the
twenty-first century. At times she found it difficult to recall that in reality
he was over a hundred years old.

“Thank you,” Pierce said into the phone.
“I’ll do that right away.”

He hung up. “Feel like a trip to Boston? My
cousin’s lawyers want to give me the third degree.”

“In Boston?”

“Right. At the head office. I have the
feeling that my cousin Alex would accept me even if he had doubts because he
has no one else to leave his money to and he liked me. I brought back good
memories. But I expect the lawyers will be tougher.”

“I’m sure they will.”

“So you want to come? I’ll let you drive me
and we can find a couple of good hotels on the way.”

It would be good to get away. More than
likely the mystery woman would be long gone when they returned. “You bet. When
do we leave?”

“Tomorrow morning.”

Chapter Fourteen

Jane called Annice at her office to let her
know she’d be out of town for a few days. “Do you know anyone who’s into the
woo-woo stuff?” she asked.

“My God, what next?” Annice lowered her
voice to a fierce whisper. “Aren’t fake IDs enough?”

Jane hoped none of Annice’s lawyer bosses
were within earshot. “There used to be a woman about three miles out on the
coast road. Wasn’t she giving séances or something?”

“What on earth do you want to do? Make
contact with the spirit world again? Haven’t you had your fill of that?”

“Not exactly. Make contact I mean. I’d like
to know if there are any theories about what happened to Pierce. You know, any
ideas or stories about—coming back.”

She heard Annice give a big sigh. “Tell me
what’s up.”

“Is anyone else there?”

“No. There’s a big meeting on. The partners
are all in the conference room. I’m supposed to hold all calls.”

“You remember when the spider web fell on
you in the Newland house?

“How could I forget? Cut two years off my
life.”

“We think it might not have been a spider.”

There was a moment’s silence “What do you
mean? What else could it have been?” Annice whispered.

“I think I’ve seen Pierce’s stepmother
around town.

“Was that the woman you were staring at in
the coffee shop?”

“You noticed.”

“I did. Go on.”

Jane swallowed. “This sounds silly I know…”

“Not any sillier than the other stuff
you’ve made me believe.”

“I’m wondering if she was still in the
house even though Pierce had gone and if she touched you. That could mean she
came back, like Pierce did.”

“But I thought the living person had to
touch the dead one. I can’t believe I’m saying this.”

“I think that’s what normally happens. You
see, Pierce said most ghosts either don’t know they’re dead or they’re bound
somehow to the afterlife. But Pierce and his stepmother seem to be a bit
different. If she’s come through I need to know what she could do. Would she be
just like Pierce and take her place in the world? Or does she have a problem
remaining here? Most of all I want to know if she’s here to harm him.”

“You sound pretty convinced she’s here.”

“Pierce says it’s not possible but I think
he’s in denial. I need to know. I’m looking over my shoulder every two minutes,
scared to death she might appear behind us.”

“Appear?”

“She seems to come and go suddenly.”

“What you need is a psychic expert, not a
medium.”

“I do?”

“Yes. I’m not saying I believe this but
I’ll go along for now. If she’s here then you’re not going to contact her at a
séance. Let me look in our list of people we use as expert witnesses. They’re
usually all about fingerprints and science stuff but I think there might be
someone we used a year or so ago…”

Jane heard a sudden babble of voices in the
background.

“Meeting’s over,” Annice said. “Call you
back.”

Pierce threw the last few clothes into his
bag on the bed and closed the zipper. He could hear Jane on the phone in the
living room. It was amazing how he’d become so accustomed to the sound of her
voice, how he’d grown to expect to see her engrossed in a book, sharing a meal,
lying next to him in the bed. He smoothed a wrinkle in the bedspread.

At first he’d wanted her body like a man
dying of thirst in the desert.

But he’d come to realize how
extraordinarily fortunate he’d been in the person who’d touched him and brought
him back to life. She’d accepted him and helped him. Where would he be without
all the information she’d given him, without the documents her friends had
procured? Still struggling to find a place to live and a story to reunite him
with his family, that’s where.

Despite all the problems, Jane had
persevered until she’d found the solution to each one. She was smart and loyal
and fun to be with, even when they weren’t in bed.

When he looked back he saw that he hadn’t
had much real fun as a boy and a young man. During his first lifetime, his
family had hung together in a kind of loose confederation where everyone
followed their own whims. They got together at Christmas, for important
anniversaries but the small stuff of daily living, the things that bound people
together with joys and sorrows passed them by. Maybe that was why he’d taken
his young cousin Alexander under his wing all those years ago. He’d been
starved for real human affection and contact.

Alexander, who was ninety now and thought
he might leave his fortune to a young man who claimed to be a descendant of his
cousin who’d disappeared.

His thoughts went back to the days when he
and his cousin were both young. There’d been lots of parties where people
claimed to be having a wonderful time and sex had been freely available. He’d
been a catch and there had been droves of young women waiting to catch his eye.
He’d let his eye be caught time and again but he’d escaped the snare of
marriage. Even if he’d married all those years ago his wife would be dead,
wouldn’t she?

Servants had looked after the house and
everything that needed to be done was accomplished quietly and efficiently. In
the few weeks with Jane he’d learned more about shopping, cooking and cleaning
than his mother and stepmother ever knew.

The thought of his stepmother made him
frown. Jane was convinced she was in the town but that was hardly possible. If
she
had
come back she was surely up to no good. She’d been a spiteful,
spoiled woman only interested in her son, and if she’d contrived to rejoin the
world he’d bet it was to take some kind of revenge.

Revenge on him or revenge on Jane? It would
be typical of his stepmother to want to spoil things for the woman he cared
about. The thought made his muscles tense with a sudden spasm of fear. Maybe he
should pay more attention. Although he wasn’t convinced she was around, it
wouldn’t do any harm to be watchful. Luckily they were going out of town for a
few days.

He picked up his bag and returned to the
living room. The apartment was tiny, hardly bigger than the housekeeper’s rooms
at the mansion, yet he felt as if it were truly home. Jane was standing at the
end of the kitchen counter, talking on the phone. She brushed strands of hair
back from her cheek as she talked. She wore white pants and a cherry red top
that emphasized her light tan and clung to her slim waist. Her slender feet
were bare and she’d painted her nails to match her tank top. Her hair was
caught up in a red bow, exposing her ears and the tender nape of her neck.

Pierce was suddenly overwhelmed by a
strange sensation he’d never felt before. It wasn’t lust, he could recognize
that, and heaven knew he lusted after Jane most of the time. She only had to
dart him a glance or brush against him in passing and his hormones were on immediate
alert. No, this was more than lust. This was yearning to hold her and keep her
safe and do anything for her that she asked. This was wanting to stay with her
forever.

Could this be love?

She looked at him as she talked and a smile
curved her lips. His insides melted. He moved over to her and she gave him her
free hand.

“Okay, Mom. I’ll be gone about five days,”
she said. “You’re going to do what?” He heard her mother’s voice in the pause.

“With Jim? I see. Well have fun.” She hung
up the phone. “My mother’s going away for a dirty weekend.”

“I like your mom.”

“Me too but I don’t feel as if I know her
these days.”

“Like mother like daughter.” He pulled Jane
closer. “I hope.”

Jane gave a small laugh. “I don’t know how
I feel about that. It’s a funny feeling to think of your mother as a sexual
being.”

“We’ll still be that way when we’re her
age.” He kissed the side of her mouth.

“That would be something.”

He held her away from him and looked into
her eyes. “Don’t you want that?”

“Do you?”

“More than anything in the world.”

He felt her relax against him and she
buried her face in his shoulder. Her voice was muffled when she spoke. “Is this
getting serious?”

“How serious do you want it to be? We live
together.”

“Lots of couples live together.”

“So you told me. And it’s not serious?”

“Not always.”

“What would make it serious? A ring?”

“You don’t have to make any gestures.”

He tightened his arms around her. “I know.
Supposing I want to?”

“What do you want to do?”

“You mean apart from ripping your clothes
off and ravishing you on the cold kitchen floor?”

He felt her head move as she nodded.

“I want to stay with you, but I’m going to
wait until we’ve seen the lawyers then you and I are going to sit down and have
a serious talk about our future. Will you wait?”

“I’ll wait.”

“Now what about that inviting floor?”

“The bed’s more comfortable.”

“I’m all for comfort.”

For a long moment they stood and held each
other. He kissed her once then again. She rose to him, her soft mouth opening
under his. She tasted like mint and jasmine. They were lovely kisses. In his
heart and mind he understood that their time together was special because, like
it or not, he was on the threshold of a commitment that would change both their
lives forever.

Without a word he led her to the bedroom,
one arm around her waist and his head on her shoulder.

He moved with her farther into the room and
laid her on the bed. Slowly, lovingly he undressed her. The drapes were still
drawn, the only light coming through the open door from the reflected rays of sunshine
in the other room. Part of him wanted to hold back, to
save something of himself, but he found it impossible to do so with Jane. He
was unrestrained, his mouth eager on hers, hungry on her body, his hands
shaking as they touched her. Even his voice when he murmured her name sounded
rough and urgent in his ears.

Deep inside he was a wary, prickly, guarded
person despite the carefree manner he had forged over the years. And with her,
he was cementing a connection, flesh to flesh and soul to soul. And even as he
lost himself in the pleasure of it, Pierce was conscious of an almost wordless
hope. This time it would be the real thing.

Annice called back on Jane’s cell phone
when they had been on the road for an hour. Jane pulled over to take the call.

“I found it.”

“What?”

“The name of the psychic expert. We used
her for some guy who said his dead grandfather was telling him to hang around
laundromats and steal wet clothes.”

“Sounds more like mental illness to me.”

“It was but that’s not the point. The point
is she’s written all kinds of books about psychic phenomena. For us it was
overkill calling someone like that but the prosecution pulled out the big guns.
The cops were fed up with the guy.”

“Did you win?”

“Yeah we did. But we weren’t all that
happy. Guy’s not stealing laundry anymore.”

“So that’s good.”

“His grandfather graduated to the Internet.
So far he’s only sending loving messages. As long as he doesn’t start telling
him to chop up his neighbor. “

“How do you know what he’s doing now?”

“I see Pete Burrard from time to time.”

“I thought you were tight with Henry.”

“Got to keep my options open you know.
Variety is the spice of life.”

Jane sighed. Having one man in her life
took all her energy. No way she could handle two at the same time. “So what’s
the name? Of the psychic?”

“Just a minute. Name is Selma Thaddeus.
Lives in Concord, in New Hampshire. Say, you’re going to Boston right?”

“Right.”

“You’ll pass right by her door. Here’s her
phone number.”

Jane closed the phone and reached for the
road atlas.

“What did she say?

“There’s a woman who might help us in
Concord. It’s not much of a detour. We could swing by there now or on our way
back.”

Pierce frowned, thinking. “How much time do
we have?”

“We should be fine even if we have to stay
overnight. Although we were a bit late setting out.” She met Pierce’s eyes. “It
was worth it.”

Something had happened in the last few
hours. She had sensed a change in Pierce, a shift in his lovemaking. It had
still been burning and intense but she had felt a tenderness that had been
missing before. His hands on her had been as warm and caressing as ever but it
was as if a barrier had fallen. He allowed himself to be open and vulnerable.
Until it had happened she hadn’t even realized that he’d been holding back but
now she knew the difference. She smiled at him in their shared knowledge of the
transformation in their relationship and he smiled back.

“I think we should know what we’re dealing
with,” she said. “Let’s try to find out if your stepmother could really be back
in the world and if she poses a threat.”

He nodded, lost in thought. “Maybe that
would be best. Let me have the map. I think I’m up to navigating now.”

Jane started the engine and glanced over
her shoulder. She’d sounded confident in her desire to find out what was before
them but her insides cramped with apprehension.