Shadow of a Life (35 page)

“
I think so. It doesn’t look
like much has been built up around here. I guess that’s a good
thing. Our chances of not finding a mini-mart built over top of the
old barn are better,” Sophia said.

We continued to follow the road until
Sophia suddenly yelled, “Stop!”

Nick braked hard and we all lurched
forward in our seats.

“
This is it. I recognize it
all. This new road circles around to what used to be the back part
of the property.”

“
And that’s where we used to
dock the little rowboat when we came in from working on the
Mist Seeker
,” Nick said
excitedly as he pointed out the window toward the wide James
River.

“
Was
that
your home?” Camille asked in awe
as she looked at the massive home built at the top of the
slope.

“
I wish, but no. That is
definitely new. I’m sure whoever built it wanted to have a view of
the water. From our home site the water wasn’t visible. You had to
walk down to the well before you had the best views. If the old
well is still there, it will be back there at the edge of those
trees.” Sophia pointed to a spot beyond the home.

“
Can you tell if any part of
the old home or barn is still here?” Peter asked.

“
Not from here. We’d have to
be higher to see.”

“
You should pull into the
driveway, Nick,” I said.

“
What if someone looks out
the window and sees us?”

“
I’ll pretend like we’re
lost and looking for directions while Sophia disappears and sneaks
around back to see if anything is there.”

“
Nice. Good plan, Jamie. I
knew I brought you for a reason.” Sophia winked at me.

Our tires crunched as we drove up the
little gravel hill and parked on the circular drive in front of the
house. Peter and I got out and stretched our legs before walking up
to the front porch. Sophia “vanished” before we even got to the
door and I hoped that she was well on her way. The view from there
was spectacular and I wondered why the original landowners hadn’t
built on that spot.

“
Do you want to do the
talking or do you want me to?” Peter asked.

“
Go ahead. I want to see if
a man can actually ask for directions.”

“
Ha. Ha. Ha,” he said as he
pushed the button for the doorbell. We waited silently for a minute
before we heard the tap, tap, tap of someone’s shoes on the
entryway tile. A tall, thin lady with graying hair pulled up in a
tight bun opened the door.

“
May I help you?”

“
Yes, ma’am. We’re trying to
locate the Smith property and hoped you could help us,” Peter
answered.

“
The Smiths you say? I’m
afraid I don’t know any Smiths out here. They might live in that
new subdivision that’s going in just off of Fillmore Street. What’s
the address, dear?”

“
Uhh . . . I think I left it
in the car.” Peter looked like a deer caught in the
headlights.

“
You have a beautiful home,
ma’am. Have you lived here long?” I jumped in.

“
Thank you. I’ve lived here
my whole life. I lived with my parents in an old home at the back
of our property as a child, but my husband and I built this home
out here in the early 70s. We liked the view much better from
here.”

“
I love old homes. Is your
other home still there?” I continued.

“
Not really. The main
structure burned down years ago so there’s just a pile of rubble
out there. There was an old barn, too, but it collapsed in on
itself a couple of years ago. I keep telling my husband we need to
just tear everything out since it’s probably such a hazard out
there, but we never get around to it.” She chuckled.

I was so excited I could barely
contain myself. I felt Sophia’s presence next to me and quickly
ended my conversation with the woman. “Thank you for your time,
ma’am. I hope you have a great day,” I said and pulled Peter down
the porch with me.

“
Did you hear that?” I
whispered loudly as we walked back to the car.

“
I did.” Sophia’s voice
whispered back.

Peter looked surprised and glanced
around. “How did you know she was there?”

“
I told you I’m getting good
at it.”

Our car again crunched down the drive
as we left. Camille rolled down her window and began snapping
pictures with her phone.

“
What are you doing? If
she’s looking out her window she might call the cops,” I
hissed.

“
What’s so illegal about
taking pictures? I need to have something to show my parents and
Allison when I get back or they aren’t going to believe I really
came to Virginia.” She turned and started taking pictures on the
water side of the car. She had a good point. We needed to remember
to take some pictures with us in them, too.

When we were safely on the road back
to Newport News Sophia reappeared. “I saw the barn. It’s still
there, sort of. The lady was right when she said it collapsed, but
I bet we can get inside it. Since the road doesn’t cut through
there anymore we should be able to move around without anyone
seeing us. This is even better than I imagined.”

We filled Nick and Camille in on what
we’d learned and a plan began to emerge.

“
We need to find a hardware
store and buy flashlights, gloves, and maybe a small shovel in case
we have to dig,” I said, taking command.

Peter suggested we buy black ski
masks, too, but since I didn’t know if he was being serious or just
making a joke, I ignored the comment and continued on.

“
We can park the car at the
public beach access we passed just before the road forked. I didn’t
see any signs saying the parking lot closed at a certain time so I
think that should be okay. Peter, Cam, and I will walk to where the
road forks and go cross-country through the back of everyone’s
property until we get to the old house and barn. Nick and Sophia,
one of you can trail us just until you have the barn in site, and
then stop. The other one of you can go down to the new home and
watch to make sure no one is alerted to our presence. We’ll wait
until nine thirty or ten to go because then it will be dark enough,
but not so late as to attract attention if anyone sees us while
we’re parking at the beach.”

Peter began to clap. “Well done, Ms.
Peters, well done.”

I rolled my eyes at him.

“
It sounds like a great plan
to me,” Nick said.

We began our search for a hardware
store as soon as we were back in the main part of the city. We also
needed to find a place to eat since Peter’s stomach was endlessly
growling already.

“
Hey, there’s a hamburger
place with a hardware store across the street over there. Turn
right,” Peter instructed.

While those of us with taste buds ate
lunch—at four ‘o-clock in the afternoon—Sophia and Nick crossed the
street to the hardware store.

“
Do you think we’ll actually
find anything tonight?” Camille asked.

“
I don’t know. Maybe I
should have asked the lady who lives there now if she ever found a
treasure map when she was playing in the barn as a child,” I
joked.

“
She would have called the
mental hospital.” Peter twirled his finger next to his head as if
to say I was crazy.

My phone rang and I pulled it out of
my pocket and looked at the screen. “It’s my dad. Whatever you do,
stay quiet, Peter.”

“
Dad? Hi,” I
answered.

“
How’s Virginia?”

“
It’s beautiful. Sophia’s
home is amazing and it sits right over the James River. I don’t
know why they want to get a summer home in Massachusetts if they’ve
got this kind of a home to live in.”

I continued talking to him, describing
the home that now sat on the old Goodwin property. I didn’t know
what it was like inside so I had to use my imagination.

“
I’m glad you’re having a
good time. Remember to be polite to your host and
hostess.”

“
I know, Dad. I will.” I
kicked Peter under the table. He was making faces at me in an
attempt to get me to laugh.

“
I’ll see you in a few
days.”

We ended the call and I glared at
Peter.

“
What?” he asked, feigning
innocence.

My cell phone rang again and I
wondered what Dad had forgotten to tell me. I answered it, but it
wasn’t my dad.

“
Jamie? The Goodwins are
here.” It was Sophia.

“
Are you kidding me?” I
asked fearfully.

“
No. Nick and I just saw
them go into a store next to where we are. I don’t know if they’re
following us or if they came here on their own. They weren’t
looking our way.” Sophia spoke in a half-whisper.

“
What do we do?” I was
panicking. Peter and Camille were both trying to get my attention
to see what was wrong, but I waved them away and covered my other
ear with my hand.

“
I think we need to split
up. We’ll follow them when they come back out of the store. You
guys need to call a cab and get back to the hotel. Go up to our
rooms and don’t open the door for anyone.”

“
Maybe we should just walk
to the hotel. It’s only a couple of blocks.”

“
I don’t want to risk you
being seen.”

“
Okay. I get it. Keep in
touch, please.”

“
I will. Be careful.” Sophia
hung up her phone and I turned back to Peter and Camille who were
looking at me expectantly.

“
Well?” Camille
asked.

“
Jeremiah and Elsa are
across the street.”

“
What
?” Camille whimpered and Peter ducked down in the
booth.

“
How did they find us? We
were so
care
ful.”
Peter was angry.

“
I don’t know. Sophia said
they didn’t look like they were following us. She’s wondering if
they came to look for the map and we just
happened
to cross paths.”

“
I knew I should have stayed
home. Why did I agree to this? I have seriously gone crazy. Who in
their right mind would fly to an entirely different state to try to
help ghosts of all people? I thought this would be a fun trip, but
now I’m having second thoughts.” Camille was on the verge of tears
again. I put my arm around her and she laid her head on my
shoulder.

“
It’ll be fine. Nick and
Sophia aren’t going to let them out of their sight.”

For what felt like the millionth time
in the last few days, we called a cab. We instructed the driver to
pull around to a back entrance, away from any roads. After paying
him, we jumped from the car and ran for the door. I was nervous
even being in the elevator. I fumbled for my room card and finally
got our door open. We locked the door and the deadbolt out of
habit, not that it would have actually helped.

“
Any
news?
” I texted Sophia.

My phone rang a minute later. “Hey,
are you back at the hotel?” Nick rushed.

“
Yes. We just got
here.”

“
Good. Stay
there.”

“
What’s going
on?”

“
We followed the Goodwins
when they came out of the store. They hailed a cab and came to a
hotel about three miles from where you are. They didn’t look around
at all. We think they’re here on their own and haven’t yet realized
that we’re here, too.”

“
That’s good,
right?”

“
Yeah, except that we’re
going to have to follow them everywhere they go. Sophia’s driving
to our hotel right now. She’s going to give you all the stuff we
bought and then come back here. Jamie, you guys are going to have
to go to the old barn by yourselves tonight.”

My heart thumped. “Okay. Don’t worry
about us. We can do it, Nick.”

“
I know. I trust my soul
saver.”

Sophia tapped on the door soon after I
ended the call.

“
Here’s all the gear we
bought. I can’t stay long because I need to get the car back to
Nick in case the Goodwins leave their hotel. I don’t think he can
keep up with a car if he’s on foot.”

Peter took the bags from Sophia and
set them on the little table in our room.

“
Good luck tonight.” Sophia
hugged each of us and then vanished.

“
And just like that, we’re
on our own again,” Peter said.

“
I’m scared. Traipsing
through an old barn was one thing, doing it at night was another,
but doing it without Nick and Sophia as bodyguards is downright
freaky, especially knowing that the Goodwins are out there
somewhere.” Camille frowned.

“
Cam, if that’s how you feel
you can stay behind. I think it would be a good idea to have a
middleman anyway. You’re okay with that, right Peter?”

He nodded.

“
I don’t want you to be out
there if you think you might freak out. That will just make things
worse. Besides, someone should stay behind to explain what happened
when everyone else turns up missing.”