It was late; she’d been through a lot.
“Katie, we all have nightmares and dreams. And sometimes, they’re good and they help us. You have a lot on your mind. We’re pretty damned sure that the truth is in the past. Your mind was working while you were sleeping, and what you’re saying might be right.”
She took his face between her hands. “David…I’m…I care about you so much. And that’s why I have to say this. You can leave if you think I’m crazy. I see-I see the dead. When they remain. Not all the dead-some do pass on immediately. But I-I see ghosts. And I’m telling you because you have to listen to me and believe me now. I see ghosts.”
He was dismayed by the harshness in his voice, but he was worried about her. “Great. Ask them all who killed them.”
She rose, stepping away from him. “They don’t know. Sean has always warned me to keep my mouth shut. You don’t believe me.”
He couldn’t bear the distance between them. He stood, walking to her. She backed away, but he caught her and pulled her close.
“Katie-”
“You don’t believe me.”
“Katie, that’s a lot to take in suddenly. Please, you have to realize that.”
“It’s all right. I understand. You think I’m…not right.”
“Katie, I think everything about you is right. Do I believe in ghosts? I don’t know-that’s asking a lot. But do I believe in you? My God, yes, Katie, please… Let me digest some of this, huh?”
She was tense. So tense, she was like a piano wire pulled taut.
“Let me just give it all to you then.”
“What?”
“There’s a fellow named Bartholomew. He was a pirate-no, no, a privateer. He’s-he’s been hanging around a long time. He was hanged for something that he didn’t do. It was your ancestor who came back and indignantly saw to it that the real culprit, Eli Smith, was hanged, as well. That’s when Smith cursed the Becketts. David, please, the killer really means to have his revenge on you. I can’t really communicate with all ghosts, but Bartholomew has been around a very long time. He’s very good at being a ghost.”
He didn’t reply. It was crazy.
He’d seen the pages of the ledger move. He’d been drawn to it, as if a force was trying to make him understand, help him.
“Katie, I can’t just…I can’t just…”
“I understand.” She was trying to slip away.
He really didn’t understand, but he didn’t give a damn. He would try.
“Katie…”
She must have heard something in his voice. The words he couldn’t express. Suddenly, she eased, and she fell against him.
He held her with strength and warmth, smoothing her hair back.
“Don’t patronize me?” she pleaded.
“I swear, I’m not. I don’t know what I believe…but…”
She looked up at him.
“Katie, I believe in you,” he whispered again.
16
Sean was awake, back out at Katie’s desk, working at her computer, when David came downstairs in the morning. He had showered and dressed quietly, not wanting to wake her, although a glance at the bedside clock had informed him that they’d slept until well past two in the afternoon.
That happened, he decided, when you finally had some sleep when the light was coming up.
“Morning,” Sean said, hearing David come down and head over to him. He looked up at David. “Or afternoon,” he said dryly.
“Yeah, it’s late. Have you been up long?”
“Only half an hour,” Sean said. “Did you put the coffee on a timer last night?” he asked. “If you were the one who did it, your timing was perfect.”
“No. Katie seems to have it rigged to start in the morning.”
“Just to be brewed fresh when the first person makes it down the stairs. And I sure didn’t wake up in the morning. Odd,” Sean mused.
“She must have set it. Great plan, in my opinion,” David said. He felt they had a great deal more to worry about than coffee. “I’m going to my place. Danny Zigler had three books on his table when-when I checked out his place. I had Katie get me the same books from the library. I’m going to my place to read. When Katie gets up, want to bring her over?”
Sean nodded at him, studying him. “Sure. I won’t let her come alone. I promise you that!”
David thanked him. Sean locked him out of the house.
The newspaper lay on the front lawn. The headline blazed, Local Found Murdered and Decomposing in Festivity Decoration.
David read the article quickly. There was nothing there, except for the facts he already knew. Danny Zigler had been found, his body in a bad state of decomposition. The body had been removed to the Monroe County Medical Examiner’s office for autopsy.