Dead Sure?: A Paranormal Mystery (12 page)

Why do I always meet the worst kind of men? It’s definitely got to be my line of work. It would be nice just once to meet a man that wasn’t such a liar. Someone that was truly honest and sincere. If that type of person even exists. All the game playing can get so tiring.

Charles is hiding something, I can feel it. He can be fun to hang around with; by bringing him closer, I’ll have a good time, and be able to keep an eye on him. If it wasn’t for that charming smile of his, and of course his natural ability with his hands...safe cracking
,
that is…I would have killed him long ago.
She didn’t mean it. Her feelings for him were deep-rooted; like a bad habit, they would come bubbling back to the surface. Slowing her pace, she rounded a corner, and continued her walk towards the park.

*    *    *

A strange disorienting sensation washed over Tim. Although with the passing seconds it seemed to be lessening its hold. Shortly, all that was left of it was a slight tingling sensation in his right hand. Looking down at his fist, he realized he was still clutching the strange coin. Feeling a sudden distaste for it, he shoved it into his pants pocket.

Looking around warily, he saw several people walking by and pointing at him.
What’s their problem?
He started to study his surroundings; taking it all in, he realized that he was standing next to a park bench, and all the people walking by were dressed in fancy old-fashioned clothing. Most of the men were wearing suits, and most of the ladies had on dresses. Nobody appeared to be wearing jeans and a t-shirt as he was. It struck him that the weather was kind of warm for the clothes they had on, and then like a hammer it hit him, he was no longer where he belonged.

His first few thoughts after his deduction took root became panic and confusion. He looked this way and that, beginning to run in one direction, and then the other, looking for anything that was friendly or familiar. Only, he determined nothing was familiar. He proceeded to walk along the park path looking at the people, taking everything in, and trying to figure out what was going on. Then he remembered what he had been doing last. Slowly, he reached into his pocket, and pulled out the strange coin. He felt a slight tingle in his hand, but nothing like the sensation he had felt before. Clenching his fingers tightly around it, he wished to be back next to his car, ready to fix the flat. Nothing happened! Squeezing the coin tighter, his fingers turning white with blood loss, he tried again.

Chapter 13
Saturday July 21
st
, 2007

Things Get Strange

Saturday July 21
st
, 2007

It
was a peaceful sunny morning. The perfect day for fishing, and that’s exactly what Sam was doing down by the river. The birds were singing, and the grass was still glistening with a light coating of morning dew.

Sam had just finished setting his pole, as he sat back and sighed to himself.
I just don’t get it. We were having such a good time, and then she got so weird on me.
Rene had convinced Sam to help get the painting from the bank building back to her place. Oddly enough, it had stopped raining the minute they got out of the building with the canvas. Odder still, the rain had resumed again after Sam had dropped off Rene. He had hoped to go into her place and maybe read some of the journal together, and just hang out. Rene apparently had other plans, and had dismissed him rather rudely. He didn’t even manage to get a goodnight kiss, not even a peck on the cheek. It just didn’t make sense; the whole tone of the date had just changed like the flip of a light switch.

Today, however, was a new day, and he sat wondering if he should give Rene another shot. Most of the time, she seemed so easy going and fun loving like himself. Maybe there was a reasonable explanation for the whole thing--maybe.

*    *    *

Rene woke with a start. Her head felt kind of fuzzy, almost as if she had been drinking the night before. All she remembered having was a couple of glasses of wine during her dinner with Sam. What a dinner--Sam was so sweet and charming, and unlike most guys, he was a good listener. Going through the details of the date, Rene couldn’t remember a thing about how their date had ended last night. In fact, she couldn’t remember a thing past going into the bank building with Sam.  She could recall laughing about all the things he had in his pants pocket. A little snippet of conversation here and there, and that was it. What was it they had gone there to get? Why couldn’t she remember?

Rene stood up, now feeling rather agitated. As she got to her feet, dizziness overwhelmed her, and she was forced to sit back down. Pushing herself back to her feet, she headed for the kitchen.
There is nothing like a good cup of coffee in the morning to help you get your head on straight, s
he thought to herself.

She walked past the spare bedroom door on her way down the hall. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something. It caused her to do a double take. Hanging above her desk was a large oil painting that she had never seen before. It was of a beautiful old house, the image was surrounded by gold gilded frame, which had a large chunk broken out of it.

She walked closer to the painting. That wasn’t just any house; she realized.  It was
the
house; she had helped Jack get an apartment in it, less than a week ago.
What is this painting doing here?
Glancing down from the artwork, Rene noticed the lid of her desk was open, and sitting out on it was a dirty glass and a half-empty bottle of whiskey.

Her left nostril twitched slightly. She detected the faint aroma of something that she couldn’t quite put her finger on. All of this was just too much to take in. Rene sat down at her desk, and began to sob softly to herself.

*    *    *

It was noon, and Sam was just packing up his fishing gear. 
I think I’ll give Rene another chance.  She could be my soul mate.  Maybe…
   As Sam walked up to his car, he decided to give Rene a call, and see if she would have lunch with him. He whipped out his cell phone, happy that he had added her number to the contacts section.

Rene was just walking in the door to the antique store as her cell phone began to cheerily vibrate and sing “Helllooo Babyy,” in a smooth deep voice. The goofy ring tone always brought a smile to her face, and this time was no exception. Her mood had improved substantially since the morning hours. She had reminded herself that the glass of life was half full or more, not half empty. She had a great part time job she loved at the antique store, good health when she wasn’t hung over, which was normally never, half of a master’s degree in progress, and of course who could forget two potentially budding romances. Not one to stay down for long, she had decided to pick herself up, dust herself off, and figure out what the heck was going on.

Rene slid the brightly colored orange phone open, and answered it with a chipper, “hello”.  It was Sam on the other end;
excellent,
she thought. “Sam, good morning, or early afternoon I guess. I was hoping you would call me today.”

“Rene, can we get together for lunch? I would like to talk with you about last night.”

“I would love to, Sam, but I have to work the noon-to-five shift at the antique store.” Rene waived to her boss Liam as she walked by, heading for the back counter.

Liam returned the wave, a look of consternation on his face. His glasses with their pop-bottle lenses exaggerated the expression, making his eyes look overly large. He wanted her full attention when she was with him. She was such a good employee, friend, and if he could get his wish so much more.

Rene set her big green purse with the multi-colored peace sign down on the back counter, and began to open the sign-in log. This was an antique store, and Liam didn’t believe in those newfangled time clocks. There was nothing wrong with a good old fashioned book, he always said, ‘nothing to break down, no maintenance, one hundred percent reliable’.

“Okay, well what about dinner tonight then?”

“Sorry, Sam, I already have plans for this evening. I’m not a last minute kind of girl, you know that,” she said teasingly. “In fact, I am so not last minute that I would suggest you show up here, let’s say in about an hour, with some sandwiches.”

“What kind of sandwich would you like?”
A picnic at the antique store sounds like fun. I really like how down to earth she is.

“Surprise me with something, only no tuna salad.”

Liam pretended not to notice the conversation, and was flitting around the place dusting things intensely with his feather duster. He always tended to exaggerate his actions when he was irritated.

The antique store was empty except for Rene and Liam. The place was never extremely busy unless there was some festival in town.

“That sounds great, Rene. I’ll see you about one o’clock, and no tuna salad.”

Rene was smiling ear to ear, as she turned and walked up front to talk with Liam. “Liam, good afternoon, how are you today?”

Liam stopped his dusting, and focused all his attention on Rene. “I am good. I am very happy that you are feeling better after the accident. That was a pretty horrible thing, but it did put an end to the demolition of our building. This delay should give me the time I need to contact our state senator for some help. Perhaps he could…”

Before Liam could finish his next sentence, Rene’s cell phone began to sing again. She flipped it open with a cheery, “Hello”.

Liam made a sour face and immediately went back into another round of intense dusting. His tight dress shirt was coming un-tucked as he worked, puckering here and there. He didn’t have time for fashion, his usual style was unkempt.

“Rene, this is Jack. I’m just calling to confirm that we are still on for seven tonight. I thought we would go out for dinner and dancing to celebrate.”

“Wow, how exciting!  By the way, what are we celebrating?”

“We’re celebrating me…and that I’m still employed for the time being. Mr. Yates just called and informed me that the construction delay has been lifted. I am thinking some champagne is in order.”

“I am happy for you, Jack. Not so happy about the building, but happy for you. I will see you at seven then,” she replied, closing the cell phone and sliding it back into her pocket. 
I will have to make sure I don’t overdo it with the drinking tonight.

“So, Liam, you were about to say something more regarding the senator?” she said a little louder than normal. She pretended to be trying to get his attention again. Although, it was obvious by his close proximity, and the way he had been tilting his head, that his attention had never wandered.

“I was saying that perhaps the senator would have some pull with the state historical registry. Rene, I am sorry, but I couldn’t help but overhear something about a building. It wasn’t our building, was it?”

“Liam, I’m afraid it is. The construction delay has been lifted,” she said, her voice softening to lessen the blow.

“What, how, that’s not possible. Everything was working out so perfectly. It can’t be, I was meant to save that building!” he said, his eyes bulging with anger. His temper was just beginning to flare. “This is bullshit! That’s what it is!  Pure unadulterated bullshit! Aren’t charges going to be filed? Isn’t the place a crime scene, for heaven’s sake?”

Rene giggled a nervous little laugh. She didn’t know how to react to Liam. He was always so mild mannered and quiet, nerdy, never-raise-his-voice Liam Wilhelm, and now she didn’t even recognize him. He continued to rant and rave, his face getting redder and redder.

“I will not stand for this! I will not stand for this! This is just wrong, and I’ll do whatever it takes to make it right!” he said, slamming his fist down on the display case. The glass shattered, raining down upon the merchandise inside it.

He stared only for an instant at his bleeding hand, before storming out of the store in a rage. Rene stood there frozen in shock, unable to believe the transformation she had just witnessed.

*    *    *

An hour later Rene had cleaned up the glass and was hoping her lunch with Sam would distract her from worrying about Liam. Liam was always such a goofball, but never scary like this. Hopefully, he had gone home, bandaged his hand, and calmed down. She had tried several times to contact him on his cell phone, but hadn’t had any luck.

Just then, the front door of the store rattled open. In walked Sam with a big smile on his face, framed by his blond fluffy hair. He walked up to Rene with a casual upbeat stride. Leaning his six foot four frame over her short stature, he planted a gentle kiss on her lips.

She was surprised by this, but it would be a lie to say she wasn’t pleased by it. “Sam, I’m so glad to see you,” she said, returning his ear to ear grin. 

Rene ushered him towards the back of the store, to a lovely old antique table. “We’ll sit here, where I can keep an eye on things, but we’ll still have a little privacy. Don’t put anything out yet, I needed to run and get a table cloth. Liam would not be at all happy if we made marks on the wood,” she said, darting off.

Sam stood there holding his small cooler. Rene was back in a flash, laying the tablecloth out.

“Let the picnic feast begin,” she said, in a very silly voice. Sam just smiled, and began to unpack their feast.

*    *    *

Jack sat back on his couch, flipping through the TV channels. Each channel had a show as mind-numbingly boring as the next. This town just didn’t seem to have as much to do as New York. Then again, he hadn’t really been here long enough to settle in and find new friends. The only people he knew were busy today. Rene had to work, and Sam said he was busy doing something or other.

Maybe I should visit my uncle Lefty one of these days. Wonder if that old geezer is still around? I haven’t heard from him in…let’s see, it’s got to be at least ten years… that might be a fun visit. He used to tell some pretty wild stories. Who knows how many were really true.

Just then, Jack heard footsteps coming from the room directly above him. This wouldn’t have bothered him, except for the fact that he was renting the whole second floor. The third floor above was vacant. It consisted of a turret room, a small hallway, and what used to be several bedrooms used by the hired help. It was common practice back in the older mansions to construct a third floor, reserved for the maids and butlers to live in while not performing their duties.

The current owner, Elsa Bogons, had done minor modifications to the mansion to convert it from a single- family dwelling to a rental. The back stairwell was setup to lead directly from the outside to the upstairs rental. Additionally, what used to be one of the upstairs bedrooms had been converted into a very nice kitchen, and another of the smaller rooms into a laundry area.

Elsa probably could have made the upstairs into two or three apartments, but she didn’t want to alter the property that drastically, or have that many people banging around. She said that too many shenanigans would upset her nerves. Elsa was getting on in years, and probably wouldn’t have rented to a young guy like Jack if it hadn’t been for Rene’s recommendation. Elsa and her husband had acquired the property back in the fifties, and had owned it ever since. They liked its historic charm, and rarely changed a thing including the furniture, which they had purchased with the property lock, stock, and barrel.

Pressing the mute button on the remote, Jack tipped his head to the side and listened intently. Of course, he didn’t hear another sound. Pressing the mute button again, he went back to his channel surfing. Another clunk caught his attention. This time he turned off the TV, and just sat listening, and, of course, he didn’t hear another noise. Feeling frustrated by this, he left the living room, walking towards the upstairs doorway which led to the turret room. Opening the door, Jack felt a cold sensation pass over him, or perhaps that was just his imagination playing tricks on him. It probably was nothing; he had been much jumpier than normal ever since the bank building incident. The police report might currently reflect that nothing happened, but he knew better.