Town Haunts (16 page)

Anna shrieked
and dropped the curtain. She grabbed the telephone from her bedside
table and scrambled over the bed, putting it between her and the
window. Her trembling fingers scrabbled over the number pad, trying
to find the right buttons in the dark. Finally, she managed to
punch in “911.”

“Fire, police,
or medical emergency?” a calm voice inquired.

“Police!” Anna
shouted. “It’s Anna Nolan at 84 Wistler Road. There’s this thing
out on my front lawn. She’s headed straight for the house. Please,
send someone over right away.”

As she paused
to listen, something scratched on her window screen, and a voice
whispered, “Anna . . .”

She screamed
and dropped the phone while Wendy erupted into a frenzy of barking.
Bolting from the room, Anna tore across the hallway for the
bathroom, where she slammed and locked the door. She fumbled for
the wall switch. The lights blazed on, blinding her. Bursting into
tears, she grabbed a towel from the rack and pressed it against her
mouth, stifling her sobs. She collapsed onto the toilet and began
to rock back and forth, terrified of that appalling thing with the
broken neck and staring eyes. She paused, shivering. What about
Wendy? What if that horrible creature came through the window and
got Wendy?

Clutching the
towel to her chest, Anna rose and pressed her ear to the door. She
tried to listen, but all she could hear was Wendy’s barking and the
sound of her own breath rasping in her throat. With her trembling
fingers reaching for the knob, she unlocked the door and pulled it
open a few inches. The hallway was empty. Taking a deep breath, she
stuck her head through the opening and croaked, “Wendy!”

Fear had
strangled her vocal cords, making her inaudible. Anna swallowed the
lump in her throat and tried again. “Wendy!” she managed to shout.
“Wendy, come here!”

Miraculously,
the dog stopped barking and trotted out of the bedroom. Anna nabbed
her by the collar and hauled Wendy inside, slamming and locking the
door once more.

“Good girl,”
she whimpered, squatting down on the cold tiles and cradling her
pet. Wendy squirmed in her arms and tried to lick her face, her
nails accidentally scratching Anna’s foot.

“Lie down,” she
ordered, pushing her pet onto the floor. The dog settled beside her
and panted, her warm body snuggled up close. Anna tried to calm
down enough to listen. The dreadful music seemed to have stopped,
thank God, but maybe she just couldn’t hear it over her chattering
teeth?

Wendy cocked
her head and clambered to her feet, breaking Anna’s hold. Had she
heard something? Dear God, please don’t let that thing be in the
house! But then Anna heard someone pounding on the front door and
shouting her name.

She jumped to
her feet and opened the bathroom door. The dog burst through the
opening, barking, and Anna raced down the hallway after her.
Reaching the front door, she peered through the peephole, slammed
back the dead bolt, and flung the door open.

“Steve!” she
shouted, throwing herself into his arms and bursting into
tears.

She clung to
him as Steve rubbed her back and murmured, “It’s all right, Anna.
Don’t cry. Everything’s all right.”

Chapter Nineteen

Attracted by
the cruiser’s dazzling lights, Betty and Jeff appeared at Anna’s
door and waited in the living room with her, huddled in a blanket,
while Steve searched the house and checked the property in the
driving rain. When he couldn’t find any trace of the intruder, her
neighbours took Anna and Wendy home for the rest of the night. Jeff
even plied Anna with brandy to help her sleep, and she managed a
few sips before shutting herself in their guest bedroom and lying
awake for hours with Wendy nestled on the bed beside her.

Anna made it to
work on time the following morning, but she acted like a zombie all
day, still consumed by her nightmarish memory of the night before
and trying to make sense of what had happened to her. The problem
was, she couldn’t make any sense out of it at all.

In the evening,
she called Charlie. He was in his third week of a murder case in
Swift Current, Saskatchewan, where he hoped to wrap things up soon
so that they could see each other again, or at least before
Christmas. Anna didn’t like to disturb him during an investigation
because she knew what long hours he put in, but tonight she simply
needed to hear his voice. He was so calm and brave and sane, plus
he had a deep baritone voice and a posh British accent that she
always found sexy.

She tried him
at the station first; he had given her the number to his direct
line. He answered on the second ring.

“Tremaine.”

“How’s it
going, hot stuff?”

“Anna!” he
said, dropping his official tone. “What an unexpected pleasure. I
was just thinking of you.”

“You were?”

“Yes. I had to
arrest a minor today, and his mother hit me over the head with her
purse.” He chuckled, and Anna’s face broke into a smile for the
first time that day.

“Very funny.
How’s the investigation going?”

“Not too badly.
I don’t think that there’ll be any surprises. But with the murder
victim being a retired army general, the press are ready to pounce
on us, so we’re dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s. How are you
doing, my darling girl? You sound tired tonight.”

“I am, Charlie.
There was a ghost on my lawn last night, and it woke me up.”

“I beg your
pardon?”

Anna started
her story at the beginning, telling Charlie all about Sherman Mason
and his wife, the séance, the attack on May, and the ghost dancing
on her lawn the night before.

“Did Steve
Walker examine your yard in the light of day?”

“He told me
that he would, and that he’d call me at work if he found anything.
I haven’t heard from him, so I guess that he didn’t.”

“No, probably
not. Whoever did this to you had plenty of time to remove the
evidence and get away while you were locked in the bathroom.”

“So, you don’t
believe that this had anything to do with supernatural forces?”

“No, of course
not.” He paused before asking, “Do you?”

“I didn’t
before last night. I was sure that Tiernay and Greg had faked the
séance. The attack on poor May wouldn’t have been difficult to pull
off, but that thing on my lawn last night seemed so real. I’m just
not sure anymore,” she said, her voice trailing off.

“I’m sure that
it must have seemed real, darling. It woke you from a sound sleep,
after all. You must have been groggy. I’d have loved if you had
been able to turn on the outside lights and sic Wendy on the
so-called ghost. I’ve seen you in action with a bat. You can be
pretty terrifying, too.”

“I wasn’t in
any shape to do that last night.”

“No, of course
not, love. I hate to think of you all alone in your house with this
nonsense going on. Is that where you are now?”

“Yes.”

“You’re not
going to stay there alone tonight, are you? There’s not much the
police can do. They won’t put a car out front and just wait for
something to happen. You’ve had your scare ‒ hopefully the lunatic
behind these pranks will move onto someone else. Meanwhile, why
don’t you stay next door with the Hillers for a couple of nights? I
know you ‒ you won’t be able to sleep for worry tonight.”

“I like the
Hillers, but I think Betty would drive me crazy if I stayed another
night with them.”

“Right, she is
a bit of a chatterbox. How about asking Ben to sleep in for a
couple of days? He could commute back and forth to school with
you.”

“I don’t want
to put him out, Charlie. He’s got mid-terms. But don’t worry, I’ll
figure something out.”

“If I weren’t
in the middle of a case I’d come myself. Promise me you won’t stay
alone for the next few days. Even if you have to check into a
hotel.”

“I promise,
Charlie, and I’ll stay in touch and let you know what’s
happening.”

“Good. Even if
you can’t reach me on the cell, I always check my e-mail.”

“I know. Don’t
worry about me, hot stuff. I was nervous before, but I feel better
just talking to you. Go catch some bad guys so I can see you again
soon.”

“I will. I love
you, Batwoman.”

“Me too,
Charlie. See you.”

“Bye.”

There was a
knock on Erna’s door. When she opened it, she discovered Anna and
Wendy on her doorstep. Anna had an overnight case and a heaping
shopping bag full of dog paraphernalia at her feet.

“Can we stay
with you?” she asked.

“What happened?
Of course you can. Come in, come in,” her friend replied, and Anna
kicked the shopping bag into the foyer and shut the door behind
her. A few minutes later, she was sitting on the floor with her
back propped against the couch May lay upon, telling them the whole
story. Erna sat on the recliner beside them, while Wendy lay on the
floor next to Anna.

“I’ve had a
talk with Charlie, so I feel better now, but I still can’t get that
thing’s face out of my mind,” she murmured, staring straight ahead.
“It was all bony, and the eyes were sunken. It stared at me
sideways, like this,” she said, demonstrating. “It had to, because
the head was on backwards, and the neck was broken. But it was
Evelyn. I recognized her from the family portrait in Sherman’s
living room. Not as she was then, but the way she must have looked
when they found her.” Anna shuddered, and Erna and May exchanged a
worried glance over her head.

“And the music
‒ that horrible music we heard at the séance. Remember?” Anna
hummed the two lines. There was silence in the room when she
finished. “Someone did a really good number on me. But enough of
that,” she said, changing the subject. “What exactly did you see on
the stairs the night you fell, May?”

May sighed.
“I’m not sure. It was dark. I couldn’t see very well. I remember
the shroud going into my mouth, though ‒ that was terrifying ‒ and
the horrible smell. Like something rotting.”

“Do you believe
that it was a ghost?” Anna asked.

“Yeah. The way
it suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The terrible smell. It was too
real to be a trick.”

Anna nodded and
looked at Erna. “What do you believe?”

“I think that
something truly evil frightened the two of you.”

Anna held her
gaze for a long moment. “What do you think we should do?”

“I don’t know,”
Erna replied.

“I do,” May
said. “We’re going to swallow our pride and ask Tiernay for help.
It’s all happening like she said it would, isn’t it? Evelyn wants
us to avenge her death, but we don’t know how. Sherman doesn’t know
how, either, and now he’s disappeared and we don’t know where he
is.” She told Anna about her conversation with Sherman in the
hospital.

“And he hasn’t
contacted you since?”

“No. I called
Gerry this morning to see if Sherman had been by the store, but he
hasn’t seen him.”

“Maybe
Sherman’s gone to stay with one of his sons,” Anna suggested.

May threw up
her hands. “I don’t know, and I’m worried about him, but it looks
like we’re going to have to do something about Evelyn without his
help. I don’t want to wait for her to show up here.”

Anna groaned
involuntarily, and Erna murmured, “May!”

“Sorry, sorry.
Didn’t mean to upset you, Anna. I’m sure nothing bad is going to
happen to us here. We just won’t let Evelyn inside. We’ll sprinkle
some herbs around the house or something. Plus, Wendy will protect
us.” The dog thumped her tail, and Anna petted her. “So, are the
two of you going to go talk to Tiernay, or what? I can’t go like
this.” May held up one of her crutches to remind them of her
infirmity.

“I still don’t
believe that you and Anna encountered a real ghost, but. . .” Erna
said, holding up a finger to ward off May’s interruption, “I don’t
think that we should wait for another attack, either. It’s time we
took the initiative, and I’m willing to try anything. Let’s talk to
Tiernay and see what she suggests. May, don’t open the door to
anyone while we’re gone.”

May shook her
head. “Don’t worry, I won’t even get up off the couch. Just give me
the TV remote and the phone, and I’ll be fine.”

“Good.” Erna
checked her watch. “It’s almost seven thirty. If Tiernay has a
massage tonight, she’ll still be at the store. We’ll try there
first. If she’s not there, we’ll try her house. Let’s take your
car, Anna.”

When they
arrived at the store, however, it was locked and the lights were
out, so Anna drove them to the Raes’ house. The porch light was
turned off as they made their way up the lawn, but they rang the
doorbell and waited for a response, anyway. Anna took that moment
to tell Erna that Tiernay and Steve were seeing each other.

“Oh dear,” was
all Erna had time to say before the front door opened.

“Anna! Erna!
How nice of you to drop by. To what do I owe the honour, ladies?”
Greg asked, a smile of welcome on his face. “Don’t tell me that
you’re both here to pose for me?”

Anna snorted,
and Erna said, “Actually, Greg, we’d like to see your sister.”

The smile
instantly evaporated from his face, and he looked worried. “Is
something wrong?”

“We need her
help,” Anna said.

“Come in,” he
replied, swinging the door wider for them to enter.

The women
preceded him down the hallway to a small living room. “Have a seat
in here, and I’ll go find Tiernay,” Greg said, motioning them
toward the couch. He hurried down the hallway and called Tiernay’s
name before bounding up the stairs to the second floor.

Erna and Anna
gazed about the room. There was a fire crackling in the hearth, a
wooden mantelpiece with framed pictures of a younger Greg and
Tiernay displayed on top. The walls were painted a serene sage
green, and an area carpet in squares of cream, brown and red lay on
the floor before an L-shaped couch. A cushioned rocking chair,
complete with footstool, was pulled up next to the fireplace with a
book lying face down on the seat.