Richard leaned against the mantelpiece, sipping his coffee. “What’s so dangerous about that? Just tell ’em to piss off and try again.”
She shook her head. “There’s always a chance you could contact something evil, a vengeful spirit. And unless you know what you’re doing, it could be very difficult to send them away. And I’m in no way skilled enough for that sort of thing.”
Exhaling lengthily, he started to pace again. “What about an exorcism?”
“What are we exorcising?”
He stopped pacing and turned to her. “Her out of my house. Send her back to wherever she came from.”
“We can’t do that. And besides, that wouldn’t help and we’d need permission high up the ladder.”
“All right, it was a stupid idea. I just don’t know what else to do.” He sat back down, deflated. “It’s really making my life miserable. I haven’t slept properly in ages. I don’t even feel like myself.”
Karen sat back on the couch, apparently deep in thought. After perhaps thirty seconds of silence, she said, “You’ll just have to try to make contact with her yourself.”
He shook his head. “No way. I tried that before when I saw her on my bed, and I nearly had a heart attack. It’s too hard.”
“I know it must be, but you can’t go on like this. The next time you see her just call out her name, or even Carl’s, and ask her what she wants from you. Maybe that’s all she needs to get through to you.”
Rubbing a hand over his face, clearly reluctant to follow her advice, he mumbled, “Crap. I really don’t want to do this.”
She placed a comforting hand on his arm. “You’ve got to.”
Sinking deep into the couch, he closed his eyes. “Can’t you do it?”
Nicky waited by the car, watching as Richard locked the front door. “Come on, slow-coach,” she called out, playfully.
“Coming,” he replied, trying the door handle several times, making sure it was locked. He then crossed the road to the car. When he unlocked the driver side, the passenger side automatically opened and they climbed in. He started the engine and pulled off down the road, heading into town.
“Where do you want to eat?” Richard asked.
Shrugging, she replied, “Don’t know. Maybe Italian.”
His face lit up at the prospect. “Yeah, sounds good.”
“We could try that new one over by the church. Can’t remember what it’s called now.”
He thought for a moment, and then answered, “I think it’s called Altalia—supposed to be nice.”
“Yeah, that’s it. And we can park in one of the streets behind it.”
Richard nodded.
Pulling up behind the restaurant, he parked the car and they started down the street, holding hands. Richard couldn’t help but feel a little hopeful. For the next few hours, he could forget about the house, forget about Christina Long, and enjoy a normal evening with Nicky. Which seemed extremely overdue.
They entered the restaurant and were brusquely seated by the waiter.
“It’s quite nice here,” Nicky pointed out, scanning the half-empty room. “Quiet though.”
“Yeah, it’s early. Probably be busy by six or seven on a Saturday.”
Reaching over the table, she tenderly placed her hands over his. “So, what you been up to this morning?”
He hesitated, trying to decide whether to mention his visit to Karen’s house. He coughed guiltily and decided against it. “Nothing really—just stayed in the house. Boring as usual.”
Scowling in bafflement, she pointed out, “But your car was parked in a different place when I left for work.”
His stomach turned at the idea of being caught out. Suddenly he felt like he had something really important to hide, like an affair. That would be simpler, he thought. “Oh, yeah, sorry—I nipped to the shop to get a few things.” He struggled to look her in the eye, so he rubbed his cheek with his palm. Relief washed over him when the waiter came up to their table.