“You have?” She asked the question very carefully.
He nodded. “I was about sixteen. We were at the old Brentwood Campground. I’ve heard the acreage has been bought by a large corporation and is due for a major building operation, but back then it was a campground. It’s only a few miles from here and borders the same stream that runs through Horse Farm acreage. I woke up in the middle of the night during that camping trip. I was restless. Didn’t want to wake the other kid in my tent so I went outside. The general was standing by the stream, just staring at it, almost like he was keeping watch. He had a foot up on a rock. He was leaning on his knee with one arm and he held his horse’s reins in the other hand. He looked at me. I looked back at him. He tipped his hat, and I waved.”
“Did he disappear? Fade into the night?”
“No, he stayed there.”
“So—then what?”
“I waved again and went back to bed.”
“You weren’t frightened?”
“No. Are you still frightened when you see the dead?”
“Actually, I haven’t seen that many just wandering around. I’ve seen General Cunningham a few times. But half the world’s seen General Cunningham, or at least a lot of people believe they’ve seen him, so... And I know my cousin’s ghost. Zachary Albright. He’s been around since the American Revolution, but he’s... I don’t know. That was easy. Malachi was there and Malachi and I are the only two in the family, as far as we know, who...talk to the dead.”
“I don’t think anyone would need to be afraid of General Cunningham. He hated the war, hated pain and suffering. I think he stays around to try and prevent it,” Dustin said.
“Yeah. Maybe. And I’m not frightened of him.”
“But...you were frightened of Marcus Danby?”
“It was the way it all happened,” Olivia explained. “First, I found Marcus down in the ravine. Then, I saw General Cunningham up on his horse. Next thing I knew, I was with the body of Marcus Danby when the spirit of Marcus Danby tapped me on the shoulder. Frightened? Stunned? Both. But I’m not afraid of Marcus. He’s so...real.”
“Well, in a way, he is real. He’s just not flesh-and-blood real,” Dustin said.
“Strange dilemma, isn’t it?” she asked, and then gestured with one hand. “Anyway, I’m not prone to hysteria or passing out, but when I was holding Marcus, and Marcus was behind me at the same time, I passed out cold. Just like I told you. When I came to, there was no sign of Marcus’s spirit or the general’s.”
“But then Marcus visited you here?” he asked. “Twice?”
“Yes. This was the second time. But as soon as I walked to the door to let you in, he disappeared.”
“Does he know what happened to him?”
“He told me that Sammy ran ahead of him in the woods, barking. He went to find the dog—and after that, he doesn’t know. So, whoever did this was waiting for him.”
“Or happened to be there.”
“You don’t have heroin available to inject into someone if you’re not expecting to see that person,” Olivia said.
“Unless you were in the woods doing heroin and didn’t want to be found by Marcus Danby.”
“Why hurt the dog?” Olivia asked.
“Maybe Sammy attacked the person.”
“Sammy doesn’t attack.”
He smiled. “Glad to hear it. Or maybe not so glad. Olivia, if someone did intend to kill Marcus—”
“They more than intended it. They accomplished it,” she said. “I’m not making any of this up!”
“I never suggested you were. What I’m saying is that you might have put yourself in danger.”
That seemed to puzzle her. “Me? I have no power over anything.”
“Most murderers don’t want to get caught. Whoever killed Marcus has an agenda, which probably doesn’t include prison. That means his killer doesn’t want an investigation. This person wants Marcus’s death accepted as an accident. Your house is out here—with pasture and forest around it. Do you have an alarm system?”
“I have locks on all the doors and windows,” she told him.
“That’s not an alarm system.”
“You think someone would really break into my house to kill me?” she asked incredulously. “That would hardly be an accident.”
“All kinds of accidents can happen in a home,” he replied. “A fall down the stairs...a hair dryer being dropped in a tub or the sink. A slip on the floor. Trust me, ‘accidents’ can happen. Do you have a gun?”
“Yeah. I have a Revolutionary-era Brown Bess in a display box upstairs. And an 1853 Enfield rifle that my uncle found on this property. I’m afraid I have no ammunition for either of them—nor have I ever fired a gun.”
“You should be able to protect yourself. I’ll see that you have mace or pepper spray, at least,” he said.
“I have Sammy.”
“You just said Sammy’s not an attack dog.”