Raintree: Haunted (Raintree 2)

dn’t ring true.”

“So you followed me.”

“Yeah. Complaining?”

“Not at the moment.”

Lily wasn’t with them as they drove toward his beach house, but she was still earthbound; he knew that much. Where was she? Watching the crime scene techs study her motel room for evidence? Standing by while the coroner examined her body? Tabby had done a number on the poor woman, and convincing her spirit to move on wouldn’t be easy.

“Once I get you settled, I’m calling a doctor,” Hope said as she pulled into his driveway and hit the remote to open the garage door.

“No,” he said.

“Dammit, Raintree!”

“I don’t need a doctor.”

“I saw the wound,” she said stubbornly as she parked the car. “It’s too deep for you to treat on your own, and I sure as hell can’t take care of it. I shouldn’t have humored you by bringing you home, I know, but…”

“You’re already forgetting how it felt when she touched you,” he said. “And you’re forgetting that I saw where she touched you.”

“Nice trick, Raintree,” she said as she rounded the car. “One day you’ll have to tell me how you do that.”

“It’s not a trick,” he said as she opened his car door and bent down to help him stand. She kept her arm around him as they headed for the stairs that led to a door off the kitchen. The trip up those stairs would be slow, but with Hope’s assistance he would make it. He hated knowing he needed anyone, but right now…right now she was his partner.

“All life is electrical,” he said as they climbed, one slow step at a time. “Electricity keeps your heart beating, makes your brain work, keeps the spirit here even after the body is dead. Do you really want a technical explanation? Sorry, I don’t feel up to that right now. Takes too long. Electrons, another vibrational level, does any of that make sense to you?”

“It’s not plausible,” she said sensibly.

“Electricity can also cause muscles and organs like the uterus to convulse, often with interesting and even pleasurable results.”

“I warned you, Raintree…”

“Gideon,” he said as they stepped into the kitchen and Hope switched on the lights. “If you still don’t believe me, I’d be happy to provide another demonstration.”

“No!” She drew away from him a little but didn’t let him go. Good thing, since he wasn’t sure he could stand on his own just yet. “That won’t be necessary.”

He smiled at her, but he knew the effort was weak. He should be glad she still didn’t believe him. If he left her alone she would eventually find a way to explain it all away. Everyone did, when confronted with things they found implausible.

“I’ve always seen ghosts,” he said as they walked toward his bedroom. “When I was little, I didn’t understand that everyone didn’t see them like I did. The electrical surges came later. I was twelve the first time I blew up a television. From then to fifteen, those were interesting years. But I learned how to control the power, how to harness it and use it. Still, the weeks closest to a solstice or an equinox are unpredictable. The summer solstice is almost here. Sunday.” He looked down at her. “I disabled your car.”

“You did not…”

“I did it, and I’ll pay for the repairs. I’ve already made arrangements with the mechanic. I just can’t take the chance of getting stranded somewhere in one of those freakin’ cars with the computer chips in them. Whose idea was that, anyway? Computers have no business in a vehicle.”

In his bedroom, he unbuckled his belt, and removed his weapon and badge. Hope turned on the light as he tossed off his jacket and sat on the side of the bed. “Thanks,” he said as he fell back onto the mattress. “You can go home, now.”

His eyes closed, and his last thought before darkness claimed him was that Hope wasn’t leaving. Stubborn woman.

Tabby huddled behind the deserted storefront for a long time before she dared to leave her hiding place. She’d run and run until she couldn’t run anymore, until her lungs were burning and her legs wouldn’t move. If Raintree and his partner had called in help, the cops were searching way off the mark. All was silent and undisturbed. She hadn’t even heard any sirens.

Maybe they hadn’t called. After all, Gideon didn’t want anyone to know what he could do, so how could he explain the confrontation away? He was freakish enough, but if his talents were common knowledge, he would never know any rest. Half the world would brand him a nutcase; the other half would want to use him.

She’d gotten one good stab at him, but she knew it hadn’t been enough. A little to the left and she would have sliced the artery, and he would have bled to death before his pretty partner could get help. But at the last moment her hand had slipped. At least he was undoubtedly having vivid nightmares at the moment. The drug she’d blinded him with had not only given her an advantage, the effects would linger for a while. What sort of nightmares did a Raintree have? she wondered.

The partner had come out of nowhere, damn her, and she’d ruined everything. Time was running out. No more games. No more attempts at finesse. Tabby didn’t do finesse well.

By Saturday night Gideon and Echo Raintree both had to be dead. If they weren’t, by Sunday morning it would be Tabby who was in the ground…or in the river, or in the ocean. She didn’t think Cael would bother with anything resembling a proper funeral.