Chapter 16
CHAPTER 16
It was good to see her cousin, to chat and catch up. How many years had it been? Too many. Emily was four years younger than Anna, which meant as children they hadn’t had a lot in common on the occasions they got together either in Seawolf Beach or at Aunt Sally’s house, which was a hop and a skip away from the happiest place on earth. They weren’t a big family who held annual reunions and celebrated holidays together, and as adults they’d moved on with their own lives.
Emily lived a couple or three hours north of her mother, which was close enough to visit often but it wasn’t possible for her to be there every day. Even weekly visits were a challenge. Her husband’s job meant they couldn’t move, and Aunt Sally had no desire to leave her own house, a home she’d lived in for more than forty years. She had friends nearby, doctors she liked and depended on, a routine that suited her. Emily had her hands full with two rambunctious boys who kept her on the run. Her in-laws were watching the kids for a few days while she attended to family business.
The cousins kept in touch on social media, shared pictures and wished each other happy birthday, and texted on occasion, but a real, actual hug was very nice. It had been too long.
Colt was distracted, as he had been all day, but he said all the right things to Emily when he was introduced. He tried to shake her hand but was pulled in for a quick Emily hug, which startled him. Nina Miller pursed her lips and then mouthed squirrelly . Thank goodness neither of the huggers saw.
Emily was happy to put her small bag in the main bedroom, glad she wouldn’t have to hit the road again tonight. Traffic had been brutal, she said. She called her husband Curtis and explained the delay. The schedule had changed, thanks to the fire, but everyone was doing their best to adjust. From Anna’s vantage point and judging by Emily’s reaction, Curtis didn’t have a problem with the change in plans. He might even have expected it. The call ended with mutual “love you.”
Anna wasn’t jealous. No, not really jealous , though she was a bit envious.
They spent a couple of hours catching up. Colt stuck with them for a while, then retired to the front porch for a bit, then came inside again. Something was off, but she couldn’t put her finger on exactly what. He was disengaged from the other people in the room, that was a fact. Well, he was disengaged from the living who were present. Was Jack here? Other ghosts?
She’d been back in Seawolf Beach for not much more than a week. She’d reconnected with Colt a mere seven days ago. One week, exactly. It seemed like so much longer, and why not? A lot had happened in that week.
Murder, a fire, ghosts… Colt.
It hadn’t been long but she knew him, didn’t she? Colt was exactly who he seemed to be. He didn’t play games, didn’t put on a show and pretend to be someone he was not. Yes, he hid what he could do but she couldn’t blame him for that. She’d do the same if she was in his shoes. He came off as a little odd at times, but somehow he was also solid. Steady. Honest. Not a player and definitely not squirrelly.
Though tonight…
Emily had been settled in for a couple of hours when Colt stood and claimed their attention. “I’ve ordered dinner. It’ll be delivered at six.”
Nina sighed. “I thought we might go to Biloxi and eat at that… Oh, you know that seafood restaurant I always liked so much.”
“Mom, that place closed years ago.”
“It did?”
After choosing to stay in her home for the better part of five years, Nina was discovering the joys of getting out again. First the boutique, now this.
Or did she suggest going out simply because Colt had ordered in?
Nina pursed her lips, again. “You don’t even know what we want.”
“I ordered a little bit of everything,” he said, patient, calm. And yet there was a spark in his eyes that warned her he was anything but calm. “Anna, can I talk to you outside for a minute?”
She followed him onto the porch. She expected he’d head for the rocking chairs, but he didn’t. He turned, put his hands on her shoulders, and kissed her all too briefly.
“I have a couple of errands to run. Promise me you’ll stay here. Stay in the house.”
She’d planned to, but… “Why?”
“I’ll explain later. Please.”
His attention was diverted to someone, something, over her shoulder. “Jack?”
Colt nodded, then spoke… but not to her. His focus was over her shoulder. “Watch them. You know where I’ll be and I think you can make your way there briefly, if you need to. Come to me if there’s any trouble. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Anna was more confused than ever. “Tell me…”
“I can’t. Please trust me.”
“Why are those two little words, trust me , always so terrifying?”
Even though he remained tense, he smiled. “I guess we haven’t been together long enough for you to trust me. Still, give it a shot.”
“Are we?” she asked. “Together?”
For a moment the tension that had changed his facial expressions and his posture and his voice all afternoon melted away. “I hope so.”
Colt hadn’t been anywhere near The Magnolia for years. He rarely left Seawolf Beach, for a multitude of reasons. The Magnolia, Nate Tucker’s place on the other side of the highway from the depot, was technically in Seawolf Beach, but it was out of Colt’s comfort zone. That zone had been shrinking over the years. If he wasn’t careful, there wouldn’t be anything left but the depot.
The last time he’d been in here, maybe ten years ago, Tuck’s uncle had still been in charge. At that time there had been too many ghosts hanging around for Colt’s liking. Newly dead, long dead, ghosts who were very interested in the man who could see them. He’d tried to ignore them all, but sometimes spirits of the dead refused to be ignored. It was a kind of claustrophobia, to be surrounded by the dead. He hadn’t been back.
Tuck had made a lot of changes after he inherited The Magnolia from his uncle. Others had mentioned the updates, but tonight Colt could see them for himself. The new owner had updated pretty much everything. There was now a dance floor. A stage for the bands that played every weekend. The interior walls had been painted, the booths reupholstered and the wobbly chairs at small round tables scattered around the room replaced with matching chairs that didn’t make a drinking man’s time sitting at a table riskier than it should be.
Changes aside, The Magnolia still qualified as a dive.
On a Tuesday night the clientele was a mix of sad gamblers who hadn’t made it far from the casinos where, judging by the expressions on their faces and their slumped shoulders, they’d lost; and a handful of tourists who’d probably seen the place as they drove by and been called in by one of the numerous neon beer signs. No Seawolf Beach residents were here tonight, not that Colt could see. Not that he could say with any certainty. He’d let himself become so insulated in the last twelve years half the patrons could be from his home town and he wouldn’t know it.
As he’d suspected it would be, the place was still filled with ghosts. There were more here than at the depot, though almost all of these spirits seemed to be disconnected. Unlike last time, most didn’t even seem to be aware that he could see them. Fine by him. Others looked at him and moved on. They didn’t care about anything, not anymore. A couple of the ghosts looked familiar. He’d probably seen them last time he was here, maybe ten years ago. They were stuck, caught in between worlds.
He didn’t see the ghost he was looking for, the one he needed to talk to. Maybe Crystal wasn’t here. Maybe she wasn’t even dead…
Though Jack had said differently. Could he trust anything Jack said? Did ghosts lie? If any ghost would, it would be Anna’s brother.
Colt ordered a beer from a disinterested waitress, because if he didn’t order something they were going to toss him out. He asked about Tuck, but the woman who brought him a cold bottle of beer and a small napkin said he wasn’t in tonight. Too bad. Tuck wouldn’t mind if he just sat a while, even if he didn’t buy anything but this one beer. They weren’t close friends, but they did see one another in town now and then and they had mutual friends and acquaintances. As a business owner, Tuck sometimes attended the Seawolf Beach Business Owners’ Association meetings. He was an easy-going guy, unlike the uncle who’d left him this place.
The uncle’s spirit didn’t seem to be in attendance tonight.
Colt had learned to keep his cool with the ghosts at the depot. He saw them every day; they were familiar. The pirate at the little house on Jasmine Street, annoying as he could be, didn’t bother him. There were regular spirits around town. Most of the time he ignored them and they returned the favor. Nicole’s presence did disturb him, he couldn’t deny it. She was new, and her death had been so wrong. Sadly he was already becoming used to seeing her in the depot.
Here the ghosts were not at all familiar. The back of his neck tingled in warning, unease. If he hadn’t had a mission he’d be out of here like a shot. Maude was a happy spirit. Even the pirate seemed to be content with his circumstances. These haunts were maudlin, some even tortured.
Colt took his beer and headed for the patio out back, where the pictures of Walter Wakefield and an unhappy Crystal had been taken.
Several wooden picnic tables were arranged under a rickety roof that would protect patrons from rain or sun. Instead of Cinco de Mayo decorations, colorful fairy lights had been strung overhead. Maybe Tuck would eventually update out here, but so far he hadn’t made any changes. This patio was just as it had been for more years than Colt could count.
Two couples and a threesome of cheerful young men were scattered about, but there were a few empty tables. Colt chose one as far away from the others as possible and sat.
Crystal joined him.
She was more solid than the ghosts inside, and she immediately recognized that he could see her.
“Are you here for me?” she asked.
“I am,” Colt whispered. It didn’t really matter if the other people on the patio thought he was talking to himself. Wouldn’t be the first time. He should be used to it by now.
“I’ve been waiting for someone to come,” Crystal said. “Someone has to know what happened to me.” The expression on her face shifted from not quite angry to sad. “I thought it might be Jack.”
That got Colt’s attention. “Jack Miller?”
She nodded. “He was supposed to come for me. We were going to go away. Run away. Start fresh with all the money he was going to… Where is he? What happened to Jack? Why wasn’t he here when…”
“What happened?” Colt whispered.
What did Jack do…
Crystal shimmered, going almost transparent then coming back to the present again. “It seemed like a simple plan,” she said. “I mean, the people Jack got to invest in the new building had plenty to spare. They wouldn’t miss it and the money we collected would give us a chance to…” She faded again, going in and out.
“You were scamming people.” The way Jack had once tried to scam him, the way he’d scammed his own parents…
“I suppose. But like I said, they had money to spare and we didn’t. I could tell Jack who’d been winning big at the casinos and who’d been bragging about their latest windfall or inheritance, and he did the rest.”
“You conned someone you shouldn’t have and they killed you.”
She looked sheepish. “Yeah, kinda, but…”
Without warning, Jack was there. The spirit was more faded than he’d been when he was near his mother; he worked hard to present himself here, in this place. “Come home,” he said. “They need you, now.” Then he looked at Crystal. Even as faint as Jack was in this moment, Colt saw the heartbreak in his eyes. “Oh, Crystal, I’m so sorry…”
Colt didn’t stick around to hear more. He bolted.
They need you, now.