“I just chased a guy around this way. Did you see him? Did you see anyone running?”
The officer looked him up and down. “I didn’t see anyone running, but who are you? And what are you doing chasing people at this time of night?”
Joe produced his ID.
“Oh, hell, you’re him.”
“Yeah, Matt Connolly’s cousin.”
“Huh?” The guy looked confused. “I just saw your picture with a story about a sting in Vegas. Good work.”
“Thanks. Are you sure you didn’t see anything?”
“Mr. Connolly, I swear to you, no one went by here.”
“All right, thanks. Keep an eye out for anything suspicious, will you?”
“That’s what they pay me to do.”
Joe just nodded. He’d lost the guy, plain and simple, and he was irritated with himself. He was also growing alarmed. He’d left the house. He’d left Leslie.
He turned and headed back toward the house, running full speed as soon as he was out of the cop’s sight. As he ran, he blessed whatever random bit of luck had caused Leslie to give him the alarm code that day.
As soon as he reached the door, he punched it in quickly, terrified of what he might find on the other side.
There were no doubt plenty of people who would certify her as stark raving mad without question. She was in a reputedly haunted house, all alone, in the dead of night. And she wasn’t content to stay safely in her room.
No, she just had to head down to the basement, where there were still bones interred in the wall.
Wide awake, wearing slippers and a robe, she took one of the lanterns from the kitchen table and went back to the servants’ pantry. She lifted the braid rug, then the hatch door.
For a moment, even she hesitated. The stairs looked as if they led to a giant and eternal black abyss.
But she was certain that she had heard sobbing, a sobbing that tore at her heart.
She held the lantern out before her and started down the steps. The room began to fill with a diffuse light as she approached the bottom of the steps.
She could see Elizabeth’s bones in the wall, but they didn’t frighten her at all. She knew in her heart that she was doing everything she could for Elizabeth.
She wasn’t afraid of ghosts, she realized.
She was afraid of the living.
She reached the bottom of the steps and walked into the center of the room. There was silence for the longest time, but then she heard it again. Sobbing. But try as she might, she couldn’t ascertain where it was coming from. The sound faded before she could figure it out.
Then, to her astonishment, she heard something else. Footsteps, then two bangs. A door being opened and closed?
And then…
Silence.
She waited, not breathing. But still, she could hear nothing at all.
Elizabeth’s empty-eyed skull stared at her in the strange lamplight.
Then she heard footsteps above her and froze.
“Leslie?”
She exhaled at last. It was Joe.
“Down here!” she called to him.
“You’re back in the basement?” He sound incredulous. In a moment, he joined her.
“Joe, what are you doing here?” she asked, trembling.
“I saw the lights go on.”
She smiled. “God, I’m sorry. I never meant to alarm you.”
“What are you doing in the basement—now?”
“I heard crying.”
“Crying?”
She opened her mouth, suddenly not knowing what to say. She didn’t want him to know that she was convinced she was hearing the heartfelt sobs of a ghost. He was beginning to trust in her, but…
“I thought I heard something.”
“So you came down here alone?” His tone was harsh, but he seemed to be trembling a little himself.
“I’m sorry.”
“What the hell am I going to do with you?” he demanded. He walked forward, grabbed her shoulders and pulled her against his chest. “What am I going to do?”
“Joe, it’s okay. You can’t get to the basement except through the house.”
He was silent.
“Joe?” She pulled slightly away.
He looked down at her. “Leslie, someone was out there watching the house,” he told her.
She looked up at him in alarm.
“I chased him, but he got away.”
“Who was it?”
“If I knew, I’d have every cop in the city on his tail.”
She had to smile at that. “Joe, I’m not sure we can have someone arrested for watching the house.”
“Let’s get out of here, shall we?” he asked.
She nodded, heading up the stairs, with him in her wake. There was no sense in trying to get him to stay down there with her. Whatever she had been hearing, it had stopped, at least for now.
She didn’t want to stay in the servants’ pantry, either. She quickly walked back into the main kitchen. Joe followed her.
“What time is it, anyway?” she asked. “Honestly, I’m so sorry. You’re sleeping in your car to begin with, and then this. You must think I’m trying to torture you.”
“It’s okay.”