Raintree: Haunted (Raintree 2)

“That’s her! That’s her!” Lily Clark jumped up and down and pointed a shaking finger as she flailed and issued her warning. The ghost looked surprisingly solid to Gideon’s eyes, but the blonde didn’t seem to see her latest victim at all.

“I know,” Gideon said softly.

“Shoot her,” Lily instructed.

“Not yet.” He wanted to discover what the blonde knew—and how. Besides, even though he knew this woman to be a murderer, shooting suspects on the riverfront was definitely frowned upon.

The blonde smiled and made sure he could see the knife in her hand. Anyone sitting in the coffee shop not too far away wouldn’t see anything suspicious if they glanced in this direction, because the way the woman held her jacket shielded the weapon from their view. Most of the customers weren’t looking this way, anyway. Through the window he could see that they were engrossed in their own conversations, their own lives. They had no idea that a monster walked a few feet away.

“I’m here,” he said, holding his hands palm up so she could see he didn’t hold a weapon of his own.

“I knew you would be, Raintree,” the knife-wielding blonde said as she came closer.

“You know my name. What’s yours?”

Her smile widened a little. “Tabby.”

Gideon suspected she was telling the truth; she didn’t expect him to be around long enough to share that information with anyone else.

“What do you want, Tabby?”

“I want to talk.”

“That’s what she said to me,” Lily said indignantly. “Don’t listen to her. You’re a cop

. You have a gun. Shoot her!”

“Not yet,” he said softly.

“What do you mean…?” Tabby began, and then she hesitated. “You’re not talking to me, are you? Which one is here?” She glanced around, but her eyes never fell on Lily. “Both, maybe. No, it’s got to be that whiny Clark woman. Trust me, before long you’ll be more than ready to be rid of her. She just about talked my ears off before I gagged her.”

In a rage, Lily threw herself at Tabby, passing right through the tall woman’s body. Maybe Tabby felt something, a chill, or a bit of wind. Her step faltered a little; her smile faded.

Thanks to the torture, physical and psychological, Tabby had made Lily more substantial than most spirits. She was tied to this plane in a way most spirits weren’t. With a little concentration, maybe a lot of concentration, Lily could affect the physical in this world she’d left behind. Maybe.

Tabby stopped less than three feet away. The place was too public for him to toss a surge of electricity her way, but when she got closer, if he could touch her and send a surge to her heart, the effect would be the same.

“You have two choices, Raintree. You can come with me without incident so we can discuss the situation privately for a while, or you can give me a hard time, and after you’re dead, I’ll take it out on the innocent citizens and tourists of this town you call home. You’ll still be around to watch, I imagine, as a ghost who can’t lift a finger to stop me.” She grinned widely. “That would be very cool.”

“I have a feeling it would be dangerous to go anywhere with you. Why don’t we talk right here?”

“It would be very dangerous for you not to do as I say,” she countered, her voice flat and her eyes hard. The grip on the knife in her left hand changed, tightening and growing more secure, more…ready. Gideon felt the tingle of electricity in his fingertips. If he had no other choice…

A young couple neared, arm in arm and oblivious to the rest of the world. Tabby moved closer. “Make a move and I’ll stick ’em both before you can say boo.”

Gideon remained still, sure that Tabby would do exactly as she threatened if she had the chance. The twosome passed, unaware of the danger that was so close. When they were out of earshot, Tabby smiled once again. “Are you going to come with me or not?”

“I’m going to arrest you or kill you. Your choice.”

She didn’t look at all afraid, not of him, not of anything. Her grin grew wide again for a split second, and then her head turned sharply and the smile disappeared altogether, with a swiftness that transformed her face. “I told you to come alone.”

Gideon reached for her while she was distracted, intent on grabbing her wrist and sending a jolt to her heart. He’d never killed anyone before, but he knew it was possible, and if ever a monster deserved to die…But before he could get a grip on her, she lifted the hand that didn’t hold a knife and tossed a few grains of powder into his face. The grains fell into his eyes and onto his lips and everywhere else, and he was immediately half-blinded and dizzy. He missed her, and she swung out with the knife. It wasn’t a wild swing but a well-planned maneuver that slipped past his guard and took him by surprise. With a minimum of wasted motion, Tabby thrust the knife deep into his thigh.

Gideon’s leg gave out from under him, and he dropped to the boardwalk with a thud. Tabby took another swipe at his hand, this one wild and unplanned. Gideon shifted his hand. The tip of the knife barely grazed his flesh, drawing a small welt of blood rather than the finger she’d no doubt wanted to collect. Her head snapped up, she cursed, and then she ran.

Half-lying, half-sitting on the boardwalk, Gideon took aim. He hesitated. His vision swam. He blinked hard. Sending a bolt of electricity into her back was possible, but had the ruckus garnered the attention of the people in the café? He wondered if he could stop her without killing her. If he killed Tabby, he would never know how she had discovered his ability to talk with the dead…how many people she’d killed…why…?

He couldn’t let her get away. His hand lifted, and he called up more power than he had ever directed at another person, one who could not absorb the energy as he did.