Relentless: Three Novels (7 page)

A chill ran down my spine as I began to read the story—I was shocked at what I discovered.

* * *

“Cliff and Debbie Carpenter, along with their young son, Bryce, were murdered late Friday night. Police haven’t released any names of suspects yet. The gun has yet to be found.”

* * *

The article went on to reveal how the family was found dead in the son’s bedroom. All three of them had suffered gunshot wounds. At the bottom of the page was a family photo, and that was when I knew that the lady and the boy from my dream were definitely Debbie and Bryce Carpenter.

I gulped. This made it real, not my imagination. I really was seeing their ghosts in my cottage. Ghosts lived in my haunted cottage.

I closed that article and clicked on the next dated one. It read, “Brother suspected in Carpenter family murder.”

“Twenty-seven year old Ray Carpenter is a suspect in the killing of his older brother, Cliff, and his wife and son. He is cooperating in the investigation.” My jaw dropped when I read this. Ray had been a suspect in the killing of his brother and his family? I got a sick feeling. My landlord had been pretty good to me, but this new information put a whole different spin on things.

I looked toward the children’s area to check on the kids. They were quiet and putting together a puzzle near the children’s librarian’s desk.

I read more of the article: “Ray Carpenter was spotted at the Cliff Carpenter household around the time that the shootings occurred. He is being questioned. He has not been charged with any crime. The murder weapon has not been located.”

I scrolled around the site to see if there were any other articles that I’d missed. I didn’t find anything. Ray had been a suspect in the murder of his brother and his family.

I began to get chills down my spine. Did he do it? If Ray could kill his own family, what was stopping him from killing Trenton and me? The article said they never found any evidence, and that he was never charged, but the whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth.

I searched my memory of the dream. Was the man in my dream Ray? I could not see the man very clearly. I knew that he had a large stature, which Ray had. But I could see from the photo that his brother had had a similar build. It was mostly Ray’s demeanor that was now so powerful and scary. He definitely didn’t tell me about the murders in that cottage, only that it was rumored to be haunted. I decided to print out both articles.

I wasn’t sure what to do next. I didn’t know if I should talk to Ray about my findings, which of course he would know all about. But if I did talk to him about the murders, that could make it seem like a confrontation from me, which it nearly was.

That might make him mad and endanger the lives of me and my son.

What did this ghost want from me? It was crazy that I was more willing to ask a ghost for the truth than I was willing to engage Ray in any conversation about the murders.

Had the woman ghost—his former sister-in-law—been trying to warn me about how dangerous Ray was? I sat at the computer desk for a while, putting together all my thoughts and occasionally glancing at the kids to make sure they were okay. That’s when it hit me.

The ghost woman in the mirror wanted me to expose Ray. Maybe she knew where the gun could be found. It was the one piece of evidence that could convict Ray, or whoever had been the gunman.

I grabbed my purse and headed to get the kids and drive back to Elizabeth’s.

When we arrived back at Elizabeth’s house, I ran through the front door, eager to tell her what I had discovered. I dragged her into her bedroom and shut the door to keep the kids from overhearing.

“You’re not going to believe this. While we were away at college…” I proceeded to tell her the whole thing.

“Jodie, this is all so weird,” she said, after I blurted it all out.

“I know. I’m having a hard time believing it myself. It goes against everything that I’ve ever believed in.” I reached into my purse to show Elizabeth the old newspaper clippings. “Here, read it, and tell me what you think.” Elizabeth reached for the paper and glanced at it in horror. She dropped the paper on the floor and I could see the terror in her eyes.

“Liz, what is it?”

“Jodie, we definitely need to call my friend Margaux Thompson.”

“Why? What’s wrong?”

Elizabeth took a deep breath and regained her composure. “This is the man that warned me to stay away from the cottage. The ghost I saw? This is
him
. Cliff!” The horror came back to her face. “We need my friend, Margaux—she is an experienced ghost hunter and a psychic and I know she can help us.” Elizabeth reached for her cell phone and left the room. I went to sit on the couch and was in shock from everything. Was this really happening? The whole thing seemed surreal.

Only the ghosts knew the truth? Or did Ray know, too?

When Elizabeth returned to the room, she looked a little better. “I just talked to Margaux and she said she and her team are available to come in the morning and examine the cottage. They will be there at nine.”

“Wait, I don’t know if I want a whole team of ghost busters in my home. And I can’t afford it.”

“Jodie, you said yourself that the ghost lady asked for your help. This is the best way to help her. Margaux is a medium. She can see the dead. And she doesn’t charge anything to her old sorority sisters, of which I am one.”

I sighed. “I guess it can’t hurt. But what if she digs up information that we shouldn’t know?”

“Like what? That your landlord is some kind of serial killer?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, if that turns out to be true, you need to know that, Jodie.”

“He has been so decent to me. I hate to open this can of worms.”

“The can is open and worms are spewing out, girlfriend! Regardless of whether your handsome landlord is a killer or not, I know one thing. You and Trenton are staying here until all of this ghost business is completely resolved.”

“I appreciate it.”

Chapter Eleven

That night, I tossed and turned. Trenton and I were sleeping in Elizabeth’s guest bedroom on a twin bed. There was barely enough room to breathe and what little room I did have, Trenton took. I decided to get up at 4 a.m. I wasn’t sleeping anyway and there wasn’t any need to be squished any longer. I got off the bed and made my way to the kitchen. I found Elizabeth in the kitchen making a pot of coffee.

“You couldn’t sleep either?” she asked.

“Nope.” I shook my head.

“I know you’re freaked out about all this. But I also know it’s going to be okay. Margaux has told me a lot of stories similar to yours of people who she has helped. And of ghosts she has helped, too.”

“Sounds flakey.”

“She’s the real thing and you have real ghosts. So, let her help you. Leave it to a professional. She’ll get rid of them.”

“I hope you’re right. I like my little cottage. It’s cheap and comfortable.”

“Except for the ghosts haunting you day and night.”

“Right. Except for that.”

We left the house a little before nine. My cottage wasn’t too far away from Elizabeth’s place. Elizabeth dropped me off at the front door while she watched Trenton and Missy. “Good luck,” she said, as she left with the kids.

“Thanks.” I unlocked the front door and decided to make some coffee before the paranormal team arrived. The cottage felt a little off, or maybe it was just me feeling uneasy. I pressed the start button on the coffee pot and had a seat at the kitchen table. Trying to shake my nerves, I flipped through an old issue of
Good Housekeeping
.

When I heard the knock on the door, I nearly jumped out of my seat. I was a little more nervous than I expected. Closing the magazine, I walked to the door and opened it.

A small woman with short blonde hair greeted me at the door. “Hi, I’m Margaux.”

“Hello, I’m Jodie. Come in, please.”

Margaux followed me inside the house.

“Is it just you?” I asked. “Or will your team be joining you?”

“It’s just me for now. I usually like to get a feel for the house before I bring everyone else over.”

“Do you feel anything in the cottage?” I asked eagerly.

“There is a very hostile feeling about this place. I haven’t quite figured it out yet. But don’t worry. I will before I leave. I’m going to ask you some questions about the cottage.”

“Okay.”

“How long have you lived here?”

“My son and I have lived here about three months.”

“Is it just the two of you here?”

“Yes.”

“When was the first time you felt something that you felt might be a ghost?”

“I saw a woman in the kitchen a little while after we moved in. She was crying a lot.”

“Did this woman harm you?”

“No, not at all. I felt very sad for her. Shortly after that, I saw a young boy ghost playing with my son’s toys. Then the night before last, I saw the same woman in the mirror.”

“Have any of the spirits ever said anything to you?”

“Yes. When I saw the woman in the mirror, she asked me to help her find the truth.”

“Does that mean anything to you, Jodie?”

“At the time it didn’t. But I did some research at the library and I think she may want me to help solve her murder.” I grabbed the printed copies of the newspaper articles out of my purse and handed them to Margaux to read.

She read them very closely and then set them down on the coffee table. She relaxed her body and closed her eyes. After a few long breaths, she finally spoke.

“Jodie, Debbie is here with us right now. She wants to thank you for helping her. She and her son and husband have been trapped here since their deaths. They are torn between here and the other side. She also wants to thank you for bringing your son here. Bryce loves having a friend to play with.”

“Wow, what else do you know?” I asked.

“There is another spirit joining her—it is a male spirit. I believe it is her husband, Cliff. Yes, it is Cliff. He is a mean, horrible guy. I’m beginning to feel sick to my stomach with him here. He doesn’t want Debbie to talk to me. He’s pushing her out of the way. She’s fighting him, but he is bigger and stronger than her. He’s very negative and she’s very vulnerable.”

Suddenly, the lights in the house went out.

I froze. “What’s going on?” I yelled.

“Don’t be afraid, Jodie. He wants us to fear him, but Cliff’s nothing but a giant coward.”

The chandelier in the dining room crashed on the floor and items were thrown from the bookshelf. I was shaking with terror, but I tried to be strong.

Margaux concentrated hard as the cottage was being torn apart.

“Margaux, can you make him stop? They’re wrecking the cottage! And I’m so scared.”

“Don’t worry. He won’t hurt you anymore. Go to the light. Bryce is here and he is scared of his father. His father has hurt him and his mother so many times. He is scared to go to the light. Debbie, take your son’s hand and go to the light. I promise you will be okay. I promise, trust me. Move past Cliff and take your boy into the light.”

I watched Margaux in awe as she passed the mother and son over to the other side. I saw them as streaks of soft light going into this brighter light that opened like a window in the middle of the room.

I was gasping in surprise.

“They have gone, they have passed over. Now for you, Cliff. You need to cross over, too. You are no longer part of this world anymore. You need to leave. It is time!”

The lights came back on and began to flicker. I hovered in the corner of the living room, hugging myself. And then it was over. The bright light faded away.

Margaux turned to me. “Cliff is gone. Now, they are all gone. There is no one left in the cottage but us.”

I looked up and began to cry. I couldn’t help myself. I felt so sorry for the mother and son. There was a banging on the door and it made us both jump.

“Who is it?” I yelled. I was terrified.

“It’s Ray.”

“Come in.”

He opened the door and ran in with a fire extinguisher. “What in the world is going on over here? I saw this bright light from across the road and I thought the place was on fire.”

“There’s no fire,” I explained. “It was a bright light.”

Margaux walked to Ray and took his hand. “My name is Margaux. I am a psychic and Jodie asked me to come here to deal with spirits in the house. I have sent them into the light and now the house is no longer haunted.”

“That’s good.” He sighed. “Finally.”

“But, Ray, I need to speak to you about Debbie and Bryce.”

The color left Ray’s face as Margaux guided him to the couch to sit down.
“I know what you did, Ray. Debbie told me. You don’t have to hide your awful secret any longer.”

Ray put his head in his hands and began to sob.

“I had to do it. He was my brother and I owed it to him.”

“Where’s the gun now, Ray?” Margaux asked.

I gasped, wondering what he would say. My heart was in my throat.

He admitted, “After it happened, I threw it in a lake a few towns over.”

“She loved you, Ray. You know that right, that Debbie loved you?” Margaux asked.

“Yes, I do. I loved her, too. She should have never been with that son of a bitch. I would have done anything for her and her beautiful boy. They were my heart. We had something special between us. A connection. It was beautiful and rare to feel that close to another person. And to the boy.”

“Can you tell me about what happened that night?”

“I was waiting in the car for Debbie. That morning, we had told Cliff that we had been having an affair for years and that Bryce was
my
son. He flipped out and took Bryce and ran. When he finally came home with him, Debbie thought it was best for her to go in alone and get our little boy. Cliff had told her that he just wanted to talk to her and then he would give Bryce back. It seemed reasonable enough.”

“Oh no,” I said, guessing at what was coming.

He gulped. “I shouldn’t have trusted my brother. I shouldn’t have let her go in there alone. I should have gone in with her. Maybe I could have prevented her death. And my little boy’s.”