Chapter Twelve #2
‘There seems to be a bit of that going around.’ I turn to Jason. ‘I’m not sure what either of us saw, but it’s odd that Callum saw something and I didn’t. Seeing spirts is kind of my thing.’ Then I add, without thinking, ‘Like the one over there by the fireplace.’
I glare at George, as he warms his dead hands over the flame.
If I wasn’t so irritated by his sudden appearance, I might laugh.
But this spirit has leaked through my defences twice now and this lack of control I’m experiencing is frustrating me.
I need to find my focus. I look down at Callum’s knees, pressed to mine.
That’s not helping. I wiggle back further in my seat.
I resist the temptation to get rid of George once and for all, seeing as he’s so well-loved , and instead focus on shutting down the part of my mind that accidentally let him in. With that, the ghost is gone. I feel his presence lingering, but at least he’s out of my sight.
‘Holly!’ Callum says.
I blink, and see two worried faces staring at me. Well, one looks worried. The other looks slightly horrified. ‘Sorry, did you say something?’
‘I asked if you were serious,’ Callum says.
I look from Callum to Jason. Callum could handle the truth, but I’m not sure Jason can.
‘No. Just kidding.’
Callum frowns. ‘That’s not funny. You scared Jason.’
Jason puffs up. ‘I’m not scared.’ His eyes dart to the corner of the room.
‘Anyway,’ I say, ‘we have no way of knowing if what went after me today is the same thing that Callum saw at the house. Um, speaking of the house,’ I add, trying to sound nonchalant, ‘did Mr Rosing send through some photos last night? He mentioned—’
‘Yeah, shit. There’s not much but I meant to send them through to you. I’ll do that when I get back to the room.’
I nod, relieved that’s one weird feeling I don’t have to worry about anymore.
‘There’s something else,’ I say. ‘Do you know a parapsychologist called Richard Browling?’
Callum cocks his head. ‘Yeah, I think I met him at a conference I was presenting at. Nerdy, excitable guy, crazy about the paranormal and his kids?’
‘That’s him. Well, I forgot to mention this before, with everything that’s been going on, but Ola Hutchings told me there’d been an accident at the house, some time ago.
She said two tradesmen working on an electrical problem had a fight and one of them killed the other one.
I only remembered that when I got back to my room today, so I looked it up.
One of those men was Richard Browling. I think they were the other team of investigators, the one Rosing accidentally mentioned. ’
‘Fuck,’ Callum breathes out softly. ‘Are you sure?’
I pull up the article on my phone.
He quickly reads it, his hand going to his mouth just like mine did.
‘Shit. I thought Western must have fired them,’ he says, ‘because they couldn’t give him any answers.’
‘Mm. Not so much. This was less than a year ago too. There’s no way Mr Rosing wasn’t across their hiring. But he acted as if he had nothing to do with it, couldn’t even recall their names. I call bullshit. Why wouldn’t he tell us what happened? Why would he cover it up?’
Callum scrubs a hand across his chin. ‘Maybe he was worried it might scare us off.’
‘Maybe. But I don’t think we can trust Mr Rosing or the information he shares with us. We need to speak with Edward Western.’
Callum sizes me up. ‘You look a little pale. I think I should get some food into you.’
I put a hand to my cheek. ‘Oh. Um. Okay.’
‘I could eat,’ Jason chimes in.
‘Dude, you can always eat. You should see this guy eat, Holly. Never stops. That’s why he’s so lanky.’
‘Just because you’re short…’ Jason says.
‘I’m six-two.’
‘Like, I said short.’
Callum looks at me and rolls his eyes. ‘Come on,’ he slaps Jason’s back, ‘Holly and I have found this great little cafe.’
I watch them jostle each other as they leave the room. It’s a welcome distraction from the bad feeling gnawing at my insides.
‘How’s your side feeling?’ I ask Callum.
He gives me a thumbs up. ‘Fine,’ he mumbles, through a mouthful of burger.
I nod at the smear of blood on the inside of his arm, where he’s rested it against his shirt. ‘I can tell by the way you’re bleeding again.’
‘Aww shit.’ He grabs a napkin and wipes his arm clean, lifts his shirt and presses the waded-up paper to the bloodied dressing. ‘It’s a good thing I always wear black.’
Jason leans over the table and pokes at Callum’s wound. ‘You should probably get that stitched.’
‘Ow. Stop poking me, man. I’m fine. I’ll whack some more butterfly strips on it.’
‘He’s right, Callum. You need stitches,’ I say. ‘Please stop being ridiculous. Let me—’
‘I said it’s okay. Stop fussing, both of you.’ He stuffs the stained napkin into his pocket and stands. ‘I’d better sort this out.’
‘Should I come with you?’ I ask.
‘I said I’m fine. Finish your lunch and bring Jason up to speed, I’ll see you back at the Maddison.’ His eyes narrow as they flick between us. ‘Just… don’t have too much fun without me.’ He turns and stomps from the restaurant.
‘I was only trying to help,’ I mutter as I pick up a fry.
‘Don’t worry about it,’ Jason says. ‘He’s never been great with vulnerability. Years of being picked on, I guess.’ He shrugs and bites into his burger.
‘He said something about that to me, but I still find it hard to believe.’
‘That’s how we met. I stopped a group of bullies pounding on him, and we became friends.’
‘Seriously? But he’s so…’ I wave my hand, indicating his size and… everything else. It didn’t seem possible.
‘This was before he was…’ Jason makes the same gesture as I did.
‘But he was an orphan and honestly, a bit of a strange kid. He had an oddball aunt, was way smarter than anyone else, always carried around weird books, and was a little slow to grow. He was different. Being different makes you an easy target.’
No shit .
‘Once we teamed up and he sprouted, everyone steered clear of us. Except the girls.’ He picks up a fry, dips it in ketchup and shoves it in his mouth. ‘The girls definitely did not steer clear.’
My cheeks flush in a way I wish they wouldn’t.
‘He really should get stitches, though,’ I say.
‘You’ll never get him to a hospital, Holly. Not unless his leg is falling off or something. Even then, he’d fight you. Bad associations.’ His shoulders rise and fall with the force of his sigh. ‘I probably shouldn’t be talking about him like this, he wouldn’t like it. Anyway, about you and Cal.’
‘About me and Cal what?’
‘You looked pretty close back there at the bed and breakfast. The way he was touching you, how tuned into each other you seem. I thought you guys might finally be, um…’
‘I was freaking out, he was being nice,’ I look down at my food. ‘We’re just working together, Jason.’
‘Mm-hmm.’
‘That’s it.’
‘Yep.’
I grab my coffee, take a slurp and change the subject. ‘How do you feel about a road trip?’
‘Where’re we going?’
‘To see Richard Browling.’
‘The murderer? You sure you feel up to that after—?’
‘It was self-defence and I’m fine.’ It’s keep busy or sit around thinking about what might have happened. ‘He’s in the psych ward at Lakeview Hospital, which it turns out isn’t far from here. If Callum refuses to step foot in a hospital, we’ll just have to go without him.’