Raintree: Haunted (Raintree 2)

“I don’t remember.”

“When we catch Tabby and put her away for good, we’re taking a long vacation. I like the mountains.”

Gideon didn’t agree that a vacation was a fine idea, but he didn’t disagree, either. He placed one hand over her stomach, and that hand was gentle. “I don’t like the idea of having something so important to lose,” he said softly.

“Emma?” she whispered.

He lifted his head and looked her in the eye. “And you, Moonbeam Hope. Dammit, where the hell did you come from?”

She smiled at his bewilderment. “Call me Moonbeam again and I’ll shoot you.”

He smiled for the first time that day, and then he leaned in and kissed her quickly. “Let’s get this over with. The sheriff is waiting for us.”

The living room where Marcia Cordell had been murdered looked like an old lady’s parlor. There were doilies on the tables, dusty silk flower arrangements that had been neglected in the four months since her death, antique furnishings that didn’t match and yet somehow did. There was also a large dried bloodstain in the center of the rug in the middle of the room.

Gideon squatted down by the bloodstain, while Hope and an anxious sheriff hovered nearby. The sheriff worked the brim of his hat with meaty, nervous hands.

“I really hope you can help us out here,” the man said. “Miss Cordell was a right popular teacher. Everybody loved her. Well, we thought everybody loved her. Takes a lot of hate to do what was done to her. Did you see the pictures? God-awful scene. I’ll never forget it.”

The man went on and on, chattering endlessly. The sheriff was nervous, and he desperately wanted help on this case. He wanted it closed. He wanted proof that someone from outside the community had done this terrible thing, so he didn’t have to imagine that a man or woman he knew was capable of this kind of violence.

The ghost of Marcia Cordell was in the room, but she lurked in a corner, watchful and afraid. Still afraid.

“What kind of a man would do such a thing?” the sheriff continued. “To…to violate and murder such a sweet woman…”

Gideon’s head snapped around. Violate? “She was sexually assaulted?”

The sheriff nodded and worked harder at the brim of his hat.

So much for the connection to Tabby. There had been no sign of sexual activity of any kind at the other scenes. “It would’ve been nice if that information had been included in the report you sent me.”

“Miss Cordell was a decent woman. Wasn’t no reason to broadcast such unpleasantness about her after she was gone. Besides, we’re keeping that part of the investigation under wraps. No need to broadcast all the details to the world.”

“DNA?” Hope asked crisply.

The sheriff shook his head. “No. The man who did this wore a prophylactic, the coroner said.”

“Detective Malory,” Gideon said in a measured and calm voice. “Would you take Sheriff Webster outside and see if he can fill in some of the blanks in the Cordell file?”

“Excellent idea,” Hope said. The sheriff didn’t want to leave, but when Hope took his arm and headed for the front door, he went along like a well-trained puppy.

Alone in the eerie room, Gideon turned his eyes to the far corner, where Marcia Cordell’s ghost waited in a ball of unformed light. He wasn’t too angry with the sheriff, even though this trip meant a day away from his current investigation, time wasted in his pursuit of Tabby. If he was here, it was for a reason. “Talk to me, Marcia,” he said softly. “Tell me what happened to you.”

She took form gradually, the ball of light shifting, color and shape growing more defined. Marcia Cordell had been a plump and pretty woman. She was barely five feet tall, and her long brown hair was pulled back into a bun. She suited this old-fashioned room.

“You see me,” she said, her voice shaking.

“Yes, I do.” Gideon remained calm and still, so he wouldn’t scare her away. “Marcia, do you know you’re dead?”

She nodded her head. “I saw them come and take my body away. I screamed at them to help me, but no one heard.”

“I hear you.”

Marcia drifted toward him, slow and openly suspicious. One wrong move and she would disappear. She wasn’t angry like Sherry and Lily. She was terrified.

“Would you tell me what happened here?” Gideon asked gently.

“I let him in, never knowing what he intended.”