Unthinkable Games (LIttlemoon Investigations Book 3) Page 8

  He could feel it brewing.

  “Thank you for keeping in mind that treasure hunting isn’t our job.”

  “This will be the last I say about it.”

  He didn’t like the way that sounded.

  “I’d like to point out that neither was finding who killed Bethany on our last big case, and yet we did. It may not always be our responsibility, but it might be the right thing to do.”

  He stared at her.

  “No.”

  She laughed. “Okay, okay! I’m supposed to be the cranky one. Not you.”

  “Victoria.”

  That made her back off.

  “Bethany Duval is way behind us. That spook is gone. As a matter of fact, I’d like to forget that it ever happened, if you don’t mind.”

  Suddenly, when he said her name, the room began to waver. “Uh, Julian?” she called softly.

  “What?” he asked, turning to face her.

  Tori could feel the gray closing in as she fought to not slip into a blackout. She hadn’t had one in a couple of weeks since leaving the other case.

  “It’s happening again.”

  He didn’t like the sound of that. “What are you talking about?” Julian asked.

  “I hear music.”

  It was all she had to say.

  “Oh, Christ,” he muttered, going to his wife’s side so she didn’t fall and get hurt.

  Tori couldn’t feel his arms around her anymore as the darkness came. Before she knew it, she was gone. All the while, there was the creepy piano music playing in her head.

  It looked like Bethany didn’t like being left behind.

  They were getting a visit.

  Whether they liked it or not.

  * * *

  Even as Claire and Beckett wandered the main floor, he couldn’t help but worry about staying the night in this house. The whole thing freaked him out. If he couldn’t touch anything with his bare hands, how the hell was he going to sleep?

  Eat?

  Shower?

  This was going to be one hell of a nightmare.

  “Hey, look at this kitchen. It’s huge,” Claire said, walking into the room. She was trying not to notice the scowl on Beckett’s face, and she only hoped it wasn’t because of her. It wasn’t like she did anything to piss the man off.

  Well, she was breathing.

  Sue her for being happy. It was hard not to be excited about the house. Claire loved a mystery, and this place was a huge one.

  “Yeah, it’s big,” he muttered.

  In the back of his mind, he pictured himself slipping into the darkness and not being able to get out. What if it swallowed him whole and trapped him there?

  Granted, it only happened once before. That was all it took. That one time, when he went so deep, he nearly didn’t make it out alive. What if it happened here too?

  He didn’t want to die.

  As miserable as this curse was, he didn’t want to leave this life. He saw what was waiting on the other side, and that scared him.

  “Beckett?” Claire said, touching his arm.

  “I’m sorry, what?” he asked, pulling from his thoughts. “I was thinking.”

  “I noticed. I asked if you wanted to check out the living room next.”

  “Sure, Claire,” he offered. “You first.”

  It wasn’t that he didn’t want to hold the old door open for her. It was just that he was afraid to touch it. His hands were firmly buried in the pockets of his jeans.

  “Okay,” she replied cheerfully. At least his scowl was gone and now he was simply watching her.

  Inside the dusty old living room, Claire began pulling the protective tarps from the furniture. It was just as old as the house. Reverently, she ran her fingers over the carvings in the wood. “Wow, this is turn of the century. It’s so old. I bet it has a history too.”

  Yeah, he didn’t doubt it. It was going to be one he didn’t want to have any part of.

  “Uh huh,” he stated, looking around. He couldn’t enjoy the old house because he was a nervous wreck.

  “I’d live here,” she stated.

  He glanced over at her. “I absolutely wouldn’t.”

  In fact he couldn’t. This house would definitely be the death of him. Then the name would be very apropos indeed.

  Beckett needed to live in a place that was relatively brand new. It had to be a place where there was no energy but his own. That way, he could be safe. Normally, Beckett was fairly laid back, but this was one of his major rules.

  Running his hands through his hair, Claire could tell he was worked up. She thought back to the episode in the vehicle. Instead of going there, she went to the wall by the mantle. “I think I feel a breeze.”

  “Yeah, there’s probably a passageway. These old houses always had them.”

  “Let’s open it.”

  That had his full attention.

  “Hell no!”

  She looked over. “We’re here to investigate, Beckett, so we kind of have to do it.”

  He needed to talk her out of this. Right now, he couldn’t do it. “We need flashlights.”

  It was the best he could do.

  She smiled. “Yeah, you’re right. Later, we can follow it and see where it goes, but the next one I’m opening. I can’t help but be incredibly curious.”

  “You do recall what they say about curiosity and the cat, right?” he asked.

  Claire raised her hands. “Guilty as charged. I like a mystery. A secret passageway is a big one, and I’m helpless to ignore it.”

  He wanted to be irritated, but she was smiling at him. It was hard to take his mood out on her. Claire had seen his freak out in the car, and still she’d yet to bring it up.

  So, he owed her.

  “We’ll see if we can get flashlights later. I’ll go with you.” Yeah, after he found some leather gloves to keep him from touching anything that might reveal the house’s pain.

  How hard could it be to find gloves, in the swamp, in the warm weather, and in a town that small?

  Yep. He was screwed.

  “Okay, Beckett.”

  Claire tucked some of her hair behind her ear as she knelt down in front of the fireplace. “I don’t know if this has a passage or not.”

  Beckett leaned down beside her and stared into the blackened mouth of the structure. He could feel the energy radiating from it, and he wasn’t going to move any closer to the fire poker or the ash shovel.

  They were giving him the willies this far away. If he touched them, he was in big trouble.

  “I don’t think so. The ash isn’t disturbed,” he said.

  She smiled up at him. “You’re good at this,” she offered. “I like being your partner.”

  “I was a cop, and then a sheriff. It’s second nature,” Beckett stated.

  “I guess.”

  “What did you do in the Navy?” he asked, suddenly curious himself.

  “I was a SWO.”

  He glanced over. “What’s that?”

  “I had a post on a destroyer as a Surface Warfare Officer. I made sure my team was safe when they went out.”

  “That sounds important,” he offered, standing up to get away from the fireplace. It also sounded damn powerful.

  “It was to the people I served with. That’s why I’m big on teamwork.”

  He nodded.

  “Let’s go check out the next room,” Claire suggested, pleased that he was trying to get to know her.

  It was a first step.

  “Why didn’t you go back? You were up for reenlistment, right?” Beckett answered.

  She stared over her shoulder at him. “I had every intention of going back. Then something came up. Instead of leaving, I fell into something I wanted more.”

  He stared at her.

  Beckett remembered that day. She walked in, and never left. “What was that?”

  Claire continued to keep her eyes on him. Finally, she looked away. Why freak him out more with the truth?

&nbs
p; “We need to get moving,” she offered, ignoring the question.

  He followed her. Inside the library, he found her wandering around like a kid in a candy store. Beckett should have known. The way she was reading on the plane meant one thing.

  She loved books.

  “Oh my,” she murmured, heading for a shelf full of dusty old novels. “I could spend hours in here,” Claire admitted. “I could light a fire, pour a glass of wine, and binge on books for days.”

  He watched her run her fingers over the spine of the closest one.

  “I love to read too.” But instead of paper, he preferred his books electronic. Handling something that old was too risky.

  “Where I grew up, there wasn’t a library,” she stated.

  “Really? How is that possible?”

  Claire faced him. “Julian, Justin, and I grew up on a reservation with our other two siblings.”

  “Five kids?”

  She nodded. “Julian and Justin are a set of twins. My mom also had one more set. My sister Liana and I are too. The boys are identical. We’re not.”

  “I only had one brother.”

  She stared at him. “Had? As in past tense?”

  Beckett nodded. “There was a car accident. He was killed in it.” What he didn’t tell her was that he was the one who was driving, and that he’d killed his own brother because he’d screwed up.

  “Yeah, after he died, it was just me and my dad. My mom took off toward the end. She wasn’t into it.”

  “Yeah, that’s tough. I know that’s what happened to Tori.”

  He thought back to the scene in the office. “I hope mine never resurfaces. I don’t think I would have handled it nearly as gracefully.”

  That was saying a lot because Tori had pretty much snapped.

  “I’m sorry you lost your brother.”

  He nodded, turning away. The day his brother died was the day he’d been handed this bloody curse. It was his penance for his sins. He was sure of it.

  “Were you close?” she asked, leaning against the bookshelves.

  “Yes. He was in the Navy too. He was home on leave. Then, he was gone. We were both pretty young.”

  And stupid.

  Beckett needed to change the topic. “So, where to next?” he asked. “We should catch up with Tori and Julian. They’ll want to know what we’ve found.”

  She stared up at the wall of books. “In a minute.”

  With that, she pulled the ladder across the rails until it was close to a specific section.

  “Wait, what are you doing?” he asked, as she began preparing to scale the ladder to the upper shelf. “You can’t climb that in heels,” he stated.

  She looked down at her feet. “You’re right.”

  He relaxed until she kicked off her shoes.

  Apparently, the woman was a handful. Something about that appealed to him, even as it set off warning bells at the same time.

  “Cover me, partner, I’m going in.”

  That freaked him out. First, he was worried that the old ladder would break, and she would careen to her death.

  Okay, maybe she wouldn’t die, but seeing Claire break some bones didn’t exactly thrill him.

  Secondly, he was afraid to point out the obvious.

  “What?” she asked, staring at him.

  “Claire, you’re wearing a dress. Do you really think that’s a good idea?” he asked, hoping that she would get the hint. “You know. A skirt and all…”

  She paused, knowing exactly what he was referring to, but she was more than willing to torture the man a little more.

  Why not?

  Maybe it was mean, but she grew up with brothers. Claire was used to digging in and stirring it up.

  “What do you mean?”

  He flushed.

  “I’m confused,” she offered, trying to keep a straight face. It wasn’t easy, since he was trying to be a gentleman. She could tell it was making him nuts.

  “You’re wearing a dress. I’m going to be standing down here.”

  When he flushed, she nearly cracked. Being a Littlemoon meant hanging in with the toughest tormenters of them all. If anything, she was a seasoned pro.

  “I still don’t…”

  Now he was getting frustrated.

  “Claire. I have to stand beneath you in case you fall. You’re wearing a dress. If I look up, which I’m going to have to, I’m going to get quite the view. Do you see the issue now?”

  She feigned horror. “Are you talking about my panties?” she asked.

  Beckett went even redder. “Jesus. Yes! That’s why you can’t climb that ladder.”

  Her hand covered her mouth. Only, it wasn’t to hide the faux surprise, but the giggles.

  “We should wait until you’re in jeans.” Yeah, except he’d still have to check out her ass, only his heart might survive that. Claire in panties might be too much to handle.

  His body reacted as if he needed proof.

  “I do declare, Beckett Rand, you are quite the gentleman,” she drawled in some southern belle accent. “Unfortunately for you, I’m still going up.”

  “What?”

  “So, don’t peek. Maybe you should look away.”

  Damn it!

  Claire proceeded to head up the rickety ladder.

  “I think you’re enjoying this,” he muttered, trying not to look up. It wasn’t easy. After all, it was in his nature as a man to check out what was hidden beneath her clothes.

  It was in his DNA.

  Despite being afraid of letting Claire in, he still wanted her. Beckett couldn’t help himself.

  As she climbed further up, she spoke, “This one section of books doesn’t look right. It looks like it’s made of something other than leather.”

  He thought she was crazy.

  “Oh, look,” she stated, wiggling the one book. When she did, a few moved. “It’s one piece.”

  Beckett looked up and got quite the show. Under the pretty dress, he saw the sexiest pink panties he’d ever seen in his life. Immediately, he looked down.

  Jesus!

  He was ogling Julian’s sister.

  Now, not only was he a peeper, he was a pervert.

  Great.

  Beckett backed away, getting flustered. Between what he saw and what he wanted, he needed to get a break from Claire Littlemoon.

  She was tying him up in knots.

  “It’s a latch of some sort.”

  He didn’t reply.

  Glancing over, she saw the letter opener on the desk. “Quick, grab that and bring it here. I think I found a secret spot. Maybe we have something in it. There’s barely any dust.”

  He was so twisted up, he didn’t think.

  Grabbing the letter opener, he started moving toward her. It was then, and only then, that Beckett realized what he’d done. He’d let Claire distract him enough that he picked up the antique.

  The room wavered.

  Suddenly, she disappeared. In the distance, he could hear her calling his name right before the visions began assaulting him.

  Rapidly they filled his head, pulling him under. Amidst the sights, there were the feelings and sounds.

  Beckett Rand was drowning, and his own careless mistake had done this to him.

  He was screwed.

  There was no way out.

  ~ Chapter Five ~

  Tori knew what was going to happen the second she began hearing the music. She was off to see her friendly old ghost buddy, Bethany. Almost as quickly as it happened, her vision stopped wavering and there she was.

  Bethany looked exactly the same. She was caught between adolescence and adulthood, in a body that would never age.

  “Are you surprised to see me?” she asked.

  “Not really. When you told me that I had gotten a guardian angel, I assumed that you were going to be her.”

  She laughed, her melodious laughter ringing in Tori’s ears.

  “Why didn’t you cross? We found you and set you free. I believe
Beckett made sure you were buried on the property too, so you could be happy.”

  She shrugged her young girl arms. “I have no idea. I was ready to pass, but then I couldn’t. I’m stuck here, so that means you’re stuck with me too.”

  Tori didn’t mind. She’d grown attached the seventeen year old. After all, when she was getting ready to take down Jamie Montgomery, Bethany did her ghost mojo and freaked her out. It likely saved her life.

  “How’s the baby?” Tori asked, hoping the ghost could tell her.

  When Bethany touched Tori’s midsection, her hand went right through her.

  Okay, that creeped her out a little bit. “She’s good, right?”

  Bethany laughed. “Yes, she’s good. What are you going to name her?”

  They had no idea. “We’re not sure yet.”

  “Cherish these moments. They go by so fast. I’d give anything to hold my son one more time. That story they tell you about meeting up with your family when you die, well, it’s total garbage. I haven’t seen anyone I knew over here.”

  “Why are you here, Bethany?” Tori asked.

  “This house is alive with activity. When you came here, I followed. You’re like a medium now, and I’m your spirit guide. That’s kind of ironic since your husband in Native American.”

  Yeah, and Tori, until meeting Bethany, never believed in any of this.

  “You said activity, but can you be a little more specific?” Tori asked. She assumed there were ghosts here, since there were likely dead people.

  Why that didn’t creep her out, she’d never know.

  “Yeah, there are six very angry spirits here. They were going to find you.”

  “Why me?” Tori asked, appalled.

  “You can hear us. You’re the only one here who can. I told them to leave you alone, buying you some time.”

  That worried her.

  “I explained to them how you found me and set me free. They don’t want to hurt you. They really need your help.”

  Well, this was going to put Julian right over the edge. Her husband was going to need medication or to be institutionalized. One way or the other, he was going off the deep end.

  “They were all murdered like me. You have to find them and save them. Their deaths were brutal.”