Audrey Claire - Libby Grace 02 - How to Blackmail a Ghost (16 page)

“But where would he have taken it? Isabelle, I’m running out of time.”

“I know. I know, and I promise,” she assured me, “I’m going to stay up all night, looking through my books and searching the Internet until I figure out how to help.”

“Thank you so much. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

Isabelle and I discussed the situation a little longer, and then eager to get to her studies, she suggested I go home and get some rest. I neglected to tell her I didn’t need it but took the opportunity to return home. Somehow we had to find the answers to our questions, but I took courage in knowing we had at least one clue. More must soon follow.

Chapter Sixteen

Clark stooped just before the body bag was zipped and stared into the face of the dead man. Somehow being there with the police made the experience less frightening. Of course keeping it secret that a body had been found in a shallow grave just inside Summit’s Edge’s border was impossible. The entire town seemed to have come out to watch, and keeping them back far enough so they didn’t trample into Clark’s crime scene proved a challenge, what with him being down a man. I had heard Bart managed to come up with the money to bail Sharon out of jail, but he remained behind bars. Some speculated he had gotten the money from city funds. I was of a mind that no matter where he got the money, Bart was still thinking of his unborn child more than himself. Despite his actions, I felt sorry for him.

Clark’s only remaining officer strode over to him after he had appointed several concerned citizens as temporary deputies. “Who do you reckon he is?”

“Not a face I’ve seen before,” Clark said, straightening. “But we’ll find out soon. Dental records should tell us something. Unfortunately, it might be a wait because we have to send him to Raleigh.”

“How much do you want to bet they’re cringing every time they see our address on the paperwork now?”

Clark grunted. “We don’t have a choice.”

I watched until the crime scene personnel loaded the body into their vehicle. Clark had called them in, and they had arrived in a decent amount of time. After they had locked the body away, the investigators scoured the grave. Someone stepped into my line of sight, but I thought I’d seen something orange and white go into an evidence bag, but by the time I zipped through the person in front of me, it was gone.

When there was nothing else to see, I left Clark and his men, as well as the crowd and returned to my home. A short while after I arrived, Monica strode in. Her eyes were bloodshot, and from the heavy lids, she hadn’t slept well the night before. I had filled her in on everything, and now we were both on edge, waiting to hear news.

“That was a bust,” she complained, having come from the crime scene but taken the slow route home. “All I saw was backs and dirt. I had to fight against elbows and people jostling to get in front of me. Did you see anything?”

I shook my head. “No, not much. Clark said he didn’t recognize the man, and he said they should be able to find out who he is by his dental records.”

“From Raleigh?”

I sighed and nodded. “It’s a game of waiting.”

She sank onto the couch and dropped her head back, eyes closed. “Let’s think positively. We know he has something to do with you, so when we know who he is, we have a place to look.”

“What place?”

“Where he came from.”

I didn’t want to tell her how unlikely he had come to Summit’s Edge, knocked me over the head, and dragged my body back to whatever city or state he came from, and then turned around to come back and die in our town. None of it made sense, but I did my best to remember a clue meant progress.

Over the next few days, thoughts of Sadie’s murder were pushed to the back of my mind. I worried about the mystery man around the clock. I couldn’t concentrate, so I couldn’t hold my form for more than a few moments. My ability to absorb energy from the living seemed to be on the fritz, and worse of all, Jake hounded me about visiting Ian, and I was running out of excuses. A week after the body’s exhumation, for sanity sake, I decided I had overreacted in cutting Ian out of my life. I waited until Jake went to bed for the night and Monica napped before the living room TV to visit Ian. After all, I didn’t want to add to the explanations if I took Jake to Ian’s house and I couldn’t get through a barrier to even knock on the door. Better to know if Ian had shut me out in return of my revoking his privileges to enter my home.

Rather than to allow anyone else to see my humiliation, I crossed my lawn to Ian’s lawn invisible and stopped on the driveway. I rung my hands and swallowed a few times as I stood there. I crept inch by inch up the drive and then halted.

Come on, Libby. Don’t be a coward. Get up there.

My pep talk motivated me only as far as inching forward again. When I judged myself in range of where the barrier started previously, I squeezed my eyes shut and stretched a hand out. I tensed, waiting for the shock and to be repelled backward. My fingers wiggled through nothing. I opened my eyes and waved my arm around. Still nothing. Taking a chance, I floated forward and reached the door. I couldn’t believe it. Ian hadn’t shut me out.

Gratitude and warmth burst to life inside me. I raised a fist to knock on the door and realized at the last minute, my hand would pass through in this state. Silly me, I was still nervous and somewhat panicky for no reason. As I stood there wondering how I would get Ian’s attention without violating his space by popping in, the door swung wide. No one stood on the other side. I rolled my eyes. Ian loved to play the door moving by itself trick.

Ian sat in his sanctuary, and as I floated in, a feeling of nostalgia assailed me, tying my tongue.

“Good evening, Liberty,” he said in his deep, delicious tone.

“H-Hello.” I cleared my throat. “You’re looking good, Ian. Eating well?”

Amusement lit the green eyes, satisfying me. “I am. Thank you.”

He stretched a hand toward the chair opposite his, and I took it. I fiddled with my hands and was glad he couldn’t see them. Or could he? He watched me with that intense gaze, and I concluded he knew how nervous I was. Yet, he had no intention of relieving me of it.

“Did you know I revoked your invitation to my house?” I asked, taking the plunge.

“I felt it.” No emotion. No clue as to how he took it.

I stared at the floor. “I’m sorry about that. I guess I…I don’t like you using Clark, especially not for me, and well, I think I might have overreacted.”

“Liberty, you are free to do whatever you wish.”

I frowned at him. “That’s the problem.
You’re
free.”

“Did you want me to be bound?”

“No, of course not.” I fumbled for the right words. “Clark is a sensitive area for me. Please accept that.”

“I accept it.”

“And even if it means…” I went through the motions of deep breaths. “Even if it means I get into trouble, I don’t want you to manipulate his mind.
Please
. I can’t bear it.”

He inclined his head in his infuriatingly regal way. I solidified myself just so I could glare at him. Ian raised an eyebrow.

“At least show you’re angry,” I demanded.

“Pardon?”

“Show you’re mad. You were helping me out, and I repaid you by cutting you out of my life. Didn’t that bother you?”

He set the book he held aside. “It angered me, Liberty. I did what I did for you. I have no wish to interact with humans except to feed. As I said in the beginning, I do not hate what I am. I do not apologize for it. I do not govern myself based on human morality. Do you understand?”

I shivered. “Yes.”

He stared at me a few moments. “I will not help you with your chief unless you ask me to, and you will say specifically what you want me to do. I will not take responsibility if he learns your secret. However, I will do whatever it takes to keep my own.”

My concentration wobbled.

“Liberty.”

I looked at him, and the rare softness reflected in his gaze. “I will not hurt you…or those you hold dear.”

“I-I appreciate that.”

There was no turning back now. I knew it as sure as I knew anything. Whether I left tomorrow or the next day, I accepted whatever happened with Ian. I accepted him and all he stood for. With my last days in Summit’s Edge, I wouldn’t turn him away. We were for lack of a better term—friends.

“You said you would tell me about yourself, Ian,” I prompted. “Is now a good time?”

“Now is as good as ever.”

I braced myself to be bored or fascinated. Either way, I looked forward to knowing him better.

“I was born in eighteen seventy-nine in a small town outside of Boston, Massachusetts,” be began, and I gasped. I knew he was much older than he appeared, but hearing the year shocked me beyond belief. Ian acknowledged my reaction with a slight rise of one side of his lips. “I was thirty-five, and I am sure you could guess. My parents were Scottish immigrants.”

I did some quick calculating. “So that was in nineteen fourteen, right?”

“Correct, a much different time back then—simpler.”

“I can only imagine. Where were you? Was it on a dark road as you walked home from a party?”

Ian blinked, and I blushed. I had seen one too many movies. “As it happens, I was headed home from the theatre. I had enjoyed seeing Charlie Chaplin in a movie called
Making A Living
.”

“Wow.” I was officially impressed.

Ian’s eyes glazed as he described the scene, slush and ice covering the street and piles of blackened snow at the edges. He was a university professor then, a promising career, distinguished, which meant, he said, that he was also a very eligible bachelor.

“A particular woman interested me at the time,” he admitted, “one my brother was also interested in.”

I saw the handwriting on the wall before he explained.

“Tevin hated school, but with my bullying him and our father, he made it through university. Barely. He liked to have fun, was lazy and irresponsible. He never held a position long. Rather, he depended on family and friends more often than not. When I made the mistake of responding to Nessa’s flirtation with me, my brother developed a grudge. He wanted to teach me a lesson. I never knew how deep his resentment went until that night.”

I leaned forward. “What happened?”

The movie was the third date between Nessa and myself. Tevin found out about it and set a trap.”

“Don’t tell me he picked a fight wit
h you.”

“Worse.” Ian focused on me. He seemed his usual self, composed, but for some reason I had the feeling he was not so calm as he seemed. This part of his story upset him. I considered telling him he didn’t have to share if he didn’t feel comfortable, but I was too selfish to speak the words. I wanted to know.

“You must understand that Tevin even though he was irresponsible, he made many friends of all kinds, from all walks of life.”

“Non-human?”

“You catch on quickly, Liberty. Yes, even vampires. Tevin had a friend who was a vampire. I knew nothing about it. He made an arrangement with the man. For reasons of his own, the vampire agreed to kill me.”

I slapped both hands over my mouth, my head awhirl. I dragged them slowly down and whispered, “His own brother? Why would the vampire agree or for that matter become your brother’s friend?”

Ian shrugged. “Why does anyone do anything?”

I supposed he was right. Why did Ian decide to help me?

“He agreed to kill me that night, and he did attack, but instead of killing me he turned me.”

“An accident?”

“No, to turn a human is a deliberate act. I do not know what he saw in me that drove him to make me one of them. I know I looked into his eyes and saw…” Ian blinked. “I do not want to frighten you. As I said, he turned me, and after he ensured I rose and learned what I was, I never saw him again.”

“That is so sad. I’m sorry that happened to you. What about Nessa? What happened to her? And your brother?”

Ian didn’t seem to want to answer. He stood up and walked to a bookshelf to sort through books. I wasn’t letting him off the hook so easily. I followed and touched his arm. The spark of energy was there, a sort of thin barrier that kept me at a distance. Still I wouldn’t let him go, and he turned to face me.

“Nessa had a breakdown having seen me murdered. She was sent to an asylum for treatment. Later, I heard she left the country. I do not know what happened to her after that.”

“Didn’t you try to find her to at least let her know you were okay?”

“I am a vampire, Liberty. Do you think that would have given her peace?”

“Um, I guess not. And Tevin?”

A muscle in Ian’s jaw flexed. I took an involuntary step back.

“I let my rage at what he had done consume me, and in a fit of hunger, I drained him and watched him die.”

My mouth dropped open. I had no words. Ian’s expression never changed. He went back to the bookshelf, sorting through books. I wanted to question him and ask if he was sorry afterward. I wanted to comfort myself and say he was, that his actions tormented him each day. I said nothing because what I didn’t want was him to say if he had the situation to do all over again, he would end his brother’s life without hesitation.

Chapter Seventeen

“Clark, mind if I join you two?” I said to him as he stood in his office doorway. “I wanted to know what you found out about the body.”

“Yes, I do mind,” he groused. “This is police business, Libby, and I can’t just share information with the public.”

I wanted to protest and say I’m not just anybody. Clark had been distant ever since that night when he questioned Ian, Sharon, Bart, and me. In fact, I began to wonder if Ian had whispered into Clark’s ear after I left that he wasn’t attracted to me anymore. I would not be surprised if that were the case. Ian might think he did me a favor.
Or he might just be jealous!

I tried a few more times to convince Clark to let me in, but he clicked the door closed in my face. He might as well have slammed it with the humiliation I suffered and the snickers behind me. I would get the last laugh when I listened in on the conversation anyway. After zipping out the front door of the station, I jogged down the street a way and ducked into an alley. Once I was out of sight of anyone, I turned invisible and walked through a few walls until I arrived back at Clark’s office.