Chapter 9
Chapter
Nine
Alexander emailed me the report from the fire marshal after he left the condo. As I finished reading it, I groaned and set my laptop on the coffee table.
Bubba was sitting on the couch, reading a book. His cat, Fluffy was curled up next to him and Bubba was absently rubbing her tummy as he read. Dexter was lying on my feet. Bubba set the book down. “Not good news?”
“The fire was set in the office, so you’re probably right, any papers that were there are probably gone.
But it lists the current owner’s name and phone number.
I’m going to call her and see if by chance, she found Forrest’s travel records in the attic.
Remember she said she was working up there to clean out all the clutter?
Maybe there’s something about the book there.
” I wrote the woman’s name down and her number on my planner and checked my watch.
“Too late to call her now but remind me in the morning. And with that, I think I’m turning in.
I still feel tired, even after a long nap. ”
“Okay. Are we heading to the shop tomorrow? Mel still looks a little stiff from getting hit with a chair. I’d like to be there to help.” Lilac had come in during the conversation and was sitting on the back of the couch.
“We’ll head to the shop first and we can drop you off if we go somewhere else later. I want you to ride with us for the next few days until this gets worked out.” I met her gaze, “There and back.”
“I get it, I’m house bound for a while.” She glanced at her phone and sent the call to voicemail. “My mom’s calling. Before I call her back, are you still up for a trip later this summer?”
“Of course, I am. You’re not going alone.” I had promised Lilac that Bubba and I would drive her home to Ohio to visit her mom and rent an Airbnb to stay in, so she didn’t have to stay at her house.
“Okay, can we go at the end of the month, then? That week, the 25th through the 1st? Mom’s been bugging me about specific dates so she can start making plans.
I’ll tell her the situation. She’s not going to be happy, but at least this way, I can blame you for me not staying with her.
” Lilac picked up Fluffy, cuddling her to her chest as the cat started to purr.
“Who’s a good girl? I guess I better go call her back and update my planner. ”
“You can also blame me if you need to leave early. Just blink twice and we’ll get you out of there.” Bubba pulled on Fluffy’s tail. “You’re a traitor cat.”
“She loves you still. She just likes hanging out with me more. Girl time.” Lilac headed upstairs.
I stood to follow her and paused next to Bubba, waiting for Lilac’s door to close. “Thanks for backing me on this. I can’t even imagine what going home for her must be like. I don’t understand why her mother is pushing her.”
“Maybe she’s left the creep and has seen the error in her ways. Or she misses the kid.” Bubba suggested but then shrugged looking up stairs. “Whatever the story is, I think we leave our bags packed, just in case we need to make a fast getaway.”
The next morning, we had a quick breakfast at home then George drove us to the French Quarter and my shop was located.
In safer times, I loved hopping on the streetcar and walking the few blocks into the quarter the rest of the way.
Getting in that quick walk always gave me time to reframe my morning and plan my day in my head.
I could do the same in the back of George’s car, but it didn’t wake me up like being on the streetcar did. And I could people watch too.
As we drove in, I texted Annamae my questions. Did she know of a potion that could bring on an early delivery of a baby? And if she’d ever heard of intelligent ghosts.
I didn’t hear from her, so I texted Nic.
Tell Annamae she has a text.
She already knows, we’ve been talking about the answers. Question one is yes, but why are you asking. Question two is more complicated. She said that Mom always thought ghosts were more awake than we assumed.
Like grandma. Not an echo, but a thinking creature.
The three dots came and went. The message must be long. When Nic’s answer finally came, it was short.
Yes, please come to dinner. So why question one?
I looked up toward where George sat, driving and tapping his fingers on the steering wheel.
George’s son was born the night Mom and Dad died. He wasn’t available to drive them. I wonder if that was the plan.
We pulled up to the shop and Lilac got out. I followed her. Bubba stayed back for a minute to get George up to speed on the day. When we reached the shop’s doorway, Tessa stuck her head out of the glass.
“Forrest wants to talk to you.” She giggled as I jumped back at her appearance. “Sorry, didn’t mean to surprise you.”
“It’s fine. Where is he?” Telling Tessa that she was being immature was a waste of time.
Tessa giggled, then seeing my face, she sobered up. “In your office with that bookcase. He said he found something important.”
I opened the door, leaving Tessa stuck in the glass.
“Hey, that’s not nice,” she called after me.
Lilac just giggled and Bubba gave her a look. “Tessa?”
“The one and only,” I sighed as I got Mel’s attention, telling her I was heading to my office.
She motioned me toward her, but I shook my head.
I tapped on my watch, hopefully telling her I’d be back in a few minutes.
She shrugged. “Lilac, go tell Mel that I’ll be back in a minute.
I have a call I need to make from my office. ”
She saluted and then twirled to head toward Mel.
“She’s a pain.” I said to Bubba as we waited for the elevator.
“Which one? Tessa?” He smiled and kissed the top of my head. “Takes one to know one.”
“Whatever,” I stepped on the elevator and Tessa floated on behind Bubba.
She gave me a side eye. “Thanks for waiting for me, not. How rude.”
“You can appear anywhere, why do I need to wait?” I pushed the button for the third floor.
I would have made my office on the first floor, closer to the sales team, but the office had been there for years, so I had decided to just leave it.
Besides, it gave me a quiet place to work and think when I was designing.
Not like the gray toned cube I lived in when I worked in Seattle.
How they expected me to be creative in the dirty cubicle, I never understood.
Over time, I’d carefully chosen antiques to furnish the room from my warehouse of options, except for one bookcase.
That had came from Forrest’s fire damaged den and was the object that held his spirit to the earth.
Not that we hadn’t offered him an escape hatch. He wanted to stay here.
When I walked into the room, he was sitting on a wing back chair by the bookcase, reading a book.
I’d filled the bookcase with leather bound volumes of the classics that a previous owner of the antique store had purchased and boxed away.
Forrest didn’t hold the actual book, instead, it was a ghostly image of the book that he read.
Clarise had done the same thing with the tarot cards she’d used for my reading.
I needed to ask them how they did that sometime. Today, our conversation wouldn’t be a esoteric discussion about ghostly powers. At least I didn’t think that was why Forrest had asked to talk to me about. But you never knew.
“Oh, Ms. Casey. I’m so glad you came to visit. I can feel my energy draining just a bit. I wasn’t sure how long I could continue to wait for you.” Forrest set the book on the table, careful to place a ribbon inside to mark his spot.
“I just got here. What’s going on?” I sat in the other chair, next to the Tiffany lamp I’d put on the small end table between the two chairs.
It’s an advantage to have a whole warehouse full of antiques when you need to decorate anything.
Besides, my office needed to look professionally done.
A counter to the shoemaker’s kids going barefoot so to speak.
I liked to think of it as my calling card.
“Ms. Casey, I believe I tucked my notes from my trip and about the book in the attic. I might have put the book there as well. Especially if I was worried about someone walking off with it. In fact, I know I hid the book in the attic with the notes. I knew that man was trying to take it. You get a feeling about these things as you grow older. You need to call the woman who owns the house now. She should know where the book is. I wonder how she’d going to repair the house.
It’s a lovely example of the houses of the 1920’s era. ”
I wasn’t going to be the one to tell Forrest that the house was being demolished to make way for a Walgreens or something. I just smiled and nodded. “Thanks. We were planning on reaching out to her. This is helpful.”
He leaned back and sighed. “I’m so relieved.
I was concerned you wouldn’t believe me.
The book talks to me. Or it did when I was in the same house as it.
I don’t hear the voice as much now. It feels like a dream.
I know, I sound crazy, but after I brought it home, I knew things I’d never studied.
The book makes the owner smarter and I’m afraid, if that person has any talent like you and your friends, it makes that talent stronger.
I couldn’t just leave and let that book take over anyone else, you understand. ”
Now I was even more concerned about retrieving the book. “Don’t worry, Forrest. We’ll find it before any harm comes to anyone.”
He turned to me and I saw the fire in his eyes. “Don’t keep it. Give it to the society and they can seal it up somewhere safe. I would feel horrible if you fell under its spell.”
And with that, Forrest disappeared and as I watched, so did the book on the table. It’s real partner was still on the shelves, but any trace of the ghost or what he had been doing had vanished.
I stood and went to my desk. Bubba was watching me. “Did you hear any of that?”
Sometimes Bubba could tap into my ability and see what I was seeing. Or at least I assumed he was tapping into me. He might have his own ability that I didn’t see.
He nodded. “Forrest said the book was in the attic and his daughter was in danger. I know he said more than that, but that’s all that came through to me.”
“Huh,” I opened the source file and looked for the batch purchase entry for the bookcase. “What’s the number on the bookcase?”
Bubba walked over and read it off. When I’d keyed it into our inventory system, he walked back and sat on the chair. “So what’s ‘huh’ about?”
I wrote down the owner’s name, phone number and address from the file into my carry around notebook.
It matched the information I’d gotten from the arson report.
Then I tucked the notebook back into my bag and studied him.
“I just think it’s interesting that your ‘gift’ only gives you the things that you need.
The bare bones. I wonder if it’s you who are limiting your knowledge of the other sides, or if you have a block in place that keeps you from going too deep. ”
“And who would put this block on me?” He pulled out his phone, checking for messages.
Clearly, he didn’t agree with my assessment.
“Your mom, your dad, maybe a teacher. Someone who was trying to keep you safe and out of the fray.” I leaned back and closed my eyes.
“And if that’s true, why am I letting you get pulled deeper and deeper into this crazy world?
You should run far and fast away from this.
I can get Nic to assign me another bodyguard.
One who’s not trying to keep his talents a secret. ”
He didn’t say anything, but all of a sudden, I felt his hands on mine and I was being lifted out of the chair and into his arms. My eyelids fluttered open.
“Now you listen here, Miss Cayce. I am here for the long haul. With you. And if someone masked my talents, well, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.
I chose you and this crazy world over going back to standing all day with my arms crossed watching people go past, living their full life while I watched.
My heart and my soul are here, with you. And you might as well get used to it.”
Then he kissed me and my lady parts ached for more. Not that we had time, but it was that good of kiss.
I was still thinking about the kiss when my phone rang.
“That’s probably Nic saying he and the California girls are here.” He kissed me quickly and let me go. “Answer your phone before security comes running up and finds us doing something R rated.”
I stepped away, smiling, and asked “Not X rated?” I pushed a button and put the call on speaker. “Yes?”
“Are you two done playing footsie?” Nic asked, his voice filled with humor.
“Whatever. Are you guys here?” I shot back a question. Working with my brother could be a pain at times. Most of the times. At least I’d figured out mostly how to keep him from popping into my head for a chat now and then.
“We’re in the conference room with breakfast. You might want to hurry. Lilac just went in to fill her plate. Not sure if there will be any food left.”
“Brat,” Lilac yelled out. “Eddie how did you grow up with this jerk?”
“She was just lucky,” Nic answered for me.
“Stop messing with Lilac. We’ll be down in a minute. Forrest had some interesting intel and I need to make a call.”
I hung up on my brother, then dialed the number for the property owner. “You can go down and eat if you’re hungry,” I said as the phone started to ring.
“If you’re up here, I’m up here.” He leaned against the wall, waiting.
“Okay, fine, but I offered you an out.” I listened to the message.
“Just got the answering machine. Hi, this is Eddie Cayce. We bought some of your father’s furniture from the fire?
I have an odd question. We found a journal that says that there was a special book in the attic in a box full of papers.
Mostly notes and letters. Did you find that when you were cleaning up?
And happen to keep it?” I crossed my fingers as I left my phone number and an offer to buy the box.
“Hoping you still have it. Call me either way.”
And then I hung up. “Something feels off with this book. Maybe we should go see if we can talk to this woman today.”
“Before breakfast?” Bubba took my arm as we headed to the elevator. I’d grabbed my tote and jacket before I locked the office.
“Of course not, I’m not a savage. We’ll eat, check in with the B team and then head out. I think Lilac is staying at the shop. I told her not to leave without us.”
“Not quite what you told her, but I’ll mention it to Clarence at the door and will check in with Lilac to let her know when we’ll pick her up.”
I pushed the button for the ground floor. “Thanks. I’m glad you’re here.”
He leaned down for a quick kiss. “Me, too.”