Deadly Inheritance: A Romantic Suspense (19 page)

Halfway down the hall, Gabe touched her on the shoulder and pulled her aside. “I had a strange conversation with Candy this afternoon. She knows something, and she’s afraid.”

“Knows something? You mean about Mike’s death?” Nora glanced at the study’s doorway to see if anyone was listening. A wavering shadow crossed the opening, but she couldn’t see who it was.

“Maybe.” He shrugged. “I don’t know, but she’s definitely afraid. I’d like to question her after the séance.”

“Fine with me.” Was he asking for her permission? She shifted from one foot to the other and looked at the doorway again, on edge. What were the others doing? Were they starting without them?

Gabe studied her, a frown furrowing his brow. “I’d like
you
to talk to her.”

“Me?” Was he afraid of Candy, or what? “Why me? I don’t even know what she said to you, or what you want me to ask her.”

“I’ll brief you after the séance. She’ll be more comfortable talking to another woman.”

“I doubt it,” Nora replied brutally, annoyed for no reason she could pin down.

If he’d already talked to Candy and realized she was frightened, then clearly Candy had no problem talking to him. In fact, she’d probably prefer to speak to Gabe. Candy—
Eye-
Candy—struck Nora as the kind of woman who didn’t have much use for other women and would feel just fine chatting to a man. Preferably in bed.

She couldn’t help another glance at the doorway. What were they doing in there?

Gabe gripped her arm and gave it a squeeze. “Thanks.” His mouth twisted into a self-deprecating smile. “To be honest, I didn’t want to be alone with her.”

“Great. Glad I could help. Shouldn’t we join the others?”

“Sure.” He shoved his hands into his pockets and studied her.

A tingle went through her. Breathless and self-conscious, she looked away. “Okay. Well.” She turned and entered the study, to find the others standing around as if unsure what to do.

A wooden table stood in the center of the room, covered by a white tablecloth. A single candle graced one corner, next to a matchbox, and in a circle in the center were letters and simple words like “yes” and “no.” A drinking glass stood in the middle of the circle.

“I set things up before dinner,” Kirsty explained as she went to the end of table near the candle. She smoothed the white cloth, pulled out a couple of chairs, and ran her hand over the tablecloth again. After yanking at the hem of her black shirt, she picked up the matches and lit the candle with a shaking hand.

Her nervous gestures only increased the tension in the room. After exchanging a glance with Gabe, Nora sat in one of the chairs on the side of the table to Kirsty’s left.

Gabe sat at the end of the table, opposite Kirsty, cutting off Drew who’d headed for the same position.

Nora suppressed a smile at the exasperated sigh and frustrated glance Drew cast at the chair before he sat opposite Nora.

The table wasn’t very big, and Nora felt Kirsty’s bony knees tap her several times as she shifted.

Johnny followed Frank to the table and watched as Frank wedged his wheelchair between Nora and Kirsty. Frank’s position forced Nora to move closer to Gabe to give him room. Johnny stepped back as if to leave, but Frank stopped him.

“Take a chair, Johnny,” Frank said, grinning at Candy as she sat in the chair across the table from him.

She flicked a glance at Johnny and jerked her chair closer to Drew. “There’s room here.” She played with a lock of hair and watched him. “I’ll feel a lot safer with you holding my hand.”

“We’re not holding hands,” Kirsty interrupted sharply. When everyone stared at her, she flushed and smoothed the tablecloth in front of her. “We’re going to place the tip of one finger on the bottom of the glass.” She touched the overturned glass and then pulled her hand back as if burned. “Someone needs to turn the light off.”

No one moved. Nora gazed at the others, hoping someone else would volunteer. She didn’t want to be the one walking back to the table with only the wavering flame of the candle to provide light.

Gabe sighed, got up, and turned off the light.

After he reseated himself, Kirsty stretched out her hand again and placed her index finger on the bottom of the glass. “Each of you should place one finger on the edge of the glass.”

Everyone did as she suggested, although it was awkward with so many people. There was hardly enough room on the glass for each of them to touch it, and they kept knocking elbows and wrists.

“Now what?” Frank asked. He sounded excited and happy at the prospect of communicating with a ghost.

His attitude only seemed to increase Nora’s tension. Her stiff neck and shoulders ached.

The others looked equally uneasy, although it was difficult to tell in the dim light. Their expressions were masked with shadows and a strange pallor that emphasized the darkness around their eyes.

“We need a moment of silence, then we can ask questions,” Kirsty replied in a soft voice.

No one spoke. The house creaked and settled around them.

In the distance, Nora could hear the steady ticking of a clock hidden in the gloom. She could almost hear the air drifting through the empty rooms, speaking in sibilant whispers at the very edge of her hearing.

Her shoulders itched. She shrugged them self-consciously.
Is someone behind me?

She concentrated, trying to listen as the sounds rose and fell with the cadence of a conversation, but other than the unnerving sensation, she couldn’t make any sense of the words.

The ghosts murmured around them, giggling maliciously at their deadly naivety…
She shivered and pushed the thought away. The noises were just drafts, or the settling of the house. Nothing to frighten her.

“Is anyone here?” Kirsty asked.

At first, Nora felt nothing. Then the glass seemed to tremble under her finger. It moved a fraction toward the word “yes.”

“You’re pressing too hard and holding the glass,” Kirsty said in a sharp voice. She frowned and glanced at the others. “Don’t press down.”

Nora nodded, as did Candy, Frank, and Drew. Gabe’s face appeared expressionless, but Nora had the impression that he was trying not to grin. Had he been the one holding the glass back? She cast him a reproving glance and waited for him to shrug before she looked at Kirsty again.

“Who are you?” Kirsty asked.

The glass might have moved in the direction of the letter A, but it was so tentative that Nora wasn’t sure.

Kirsty’s frown deepened. “Does your name start with an A?”

They waited. No one daring to breathe, but the glass did not move.

“Where is the gold?” Drew’s question sounded unnaturally loud.

Several of them winced, including Nora.

The glass didn’t move. Kirsty inhaled and opened her mouth. The glass jerked and slid toward the H. An inch away from the letter it veered toward the E and then the R.

“Here,” Candy said in a high, nervous voice. “It’s here.”

At the sound of her voice, the glass paused halfway between the R and the E.

“Where?” Drew asked again. “What room?”

The whispers behind her—drafts, she amended—increased. A cold shiver ran down her back. Her chest ached from strain and holding her breath. She deliberately let out a long breath. Her outstretched arm ached from the unnatural position, and she shifted to ease her muscles.

“Why doesn’t he answer?” Drew threw the question at Kirsty.

She stared at him, her eyes unreadable in the poor light. “Maybe he doesn’t want to talk about the gold. Maybe he’s here for some other reason.” She focused on the glass. “What happened to you? Were you murdered?”

No response.

Gabe’s voice suddenly coming from the end of the table made Nora jerk upright. “Who killed you?”

No response.

“Where is the murderer?” Nora asked. If it was one of them in this room, she wanted to know.

H. E. R. E.

Nora sucked in a sharp breath. “Who?”

I.N. The glass halted for half a second. H. E. R. E.

That was no help. She already suspected that someone here had murdered Archie. At the moment, Candy seemed the most likely.

“We know you were murdered in this room,” Kirsty whispered. “Do you know who hurt you?”

No response.

Kirsty eyed Nora. “He responds to you, you have a connection with him. You ask the questions.”

“He answered Drew, too,” Nora protested. It was eerie to think of any kind of connection to Archie. The more she heard about him, the less she wanted any kind of a link with him.

A condescending smile curved Drew’s wide mouth before he asked, “Is the gold here, in this room?”

The glass trembled for a few seconds and then stopped. They waited, arms shaking, the tension increasing until it was a palpable force. The faces around the table appeared pale in the wavering candlelight, and their eyes glinted as their gazes flickered nervously around, straining to see into the shadows.

Only Gabe and Johnny seemed relaxed, almost bored as they waited patiently. When Nora glanced at Gabe, he winked at her. Some of her tension eased, making her aware that her outstretched arm was starting to tremble, too.

She shifted again. Nothing seemed to help. Slowly, Nora grew aware of a chill lapping over her ankles. Her eyes burned with the effort of seeing into the gloomy shadows around them.

Something moved in a smooth, curling motion.

“What’s that?” Kirsty asked, her voice barely audible. “Something is happening.”

Both Johnny and Gabe pulled their arms back and turned away from the table.

“What did you see?” Gabe asked.

“I don’t know.” Kirsty withdrew her finger to cross her arms protectively over her chest. Her thin hands fluttered over her upper arms as she rubbed them. “What’s happening? It’s so cold in here.”

“I feel it, too,” Candy said. She shifted closer to Johnny and stared over her shoulder. “Listen! Do you hear that? Whispering.”

A soft susurrus grew louder. Nora nodded, straining to make out words.

A wispy tentacle of mist curled over the edge of the table. As they watched, it encircled the candle before cascading over the circle of letters. The deathly cold intensified.

Nora clamped her mouth shut to keep her teeth from chattering. Uncontrollable shivers ran up and down her body in painful waves. Her muscles tightened, trying to resist, until it seemed as if they would splinter her frozen bones.

“Turn on the lights,” Nora said, hoping Gabe was willing to brave the blackness beyond the table and find the light switch.

She couldn’t move. The whispering behind her grew louder. She could almost hear individual words if she concentrated. Hissing, cruel words carried on the rising tide of icy mist. The vulnerable skin on the nape of her neck tingled.

She was scaring herself, but she couldn’t help it. The terror in the room was contagious and impossible to fight. The darkness pressed closer. Mist rose higher, lapping over the table. Only the flame of the candle wavered above the pearly gray fog.

“Johnny?” Frank’s blue-tinged lips trembled as he stared at his assistant.

“Just stay where you are. Everyone, stay where you are.” Johnny’s voice sounded harsh and unnatural.

“I can’t! I can’t stand it any longer!” Candy shrieked. She leapt to her feet, jolting the table. The candle flickered wildly, causing all the shadows to dip and slide around them. Candy gazed around, her body jerking, and clutched her throat protectively with her hands.

Nora stood and reached across the table, trying to grasp Candy’s wrist to reassure her. Before she could touch her, the mist rose another foot. The glimmering cloud reached Candy’s shoulder. Those seated were completely obscured by the damp, unnatural fog.

The malicious whispers surrounding them increased in volume. A hysterical giggle rang out of the darkness.

The candle flickered and went out.

“Candy, take my hand,” Nora ordered. “We can go turn on the light, together.”

The terrified woman reached out a shaking hand. A tendril of mist caressed her chin and then covered her mouth. Candy’s eyes widened in mindless fear.

She disappeared.

“Candy!” Nora shrieked, waving her hands through the grayness. “Candy!”

Before she was aware of his movement, Gabe stood, strode around the table, and grabbed her wrist. He pulled her into his arms as he said, “Johnny, turn on the lights. Now!”

A babble of voice and scraping chairs greeted his words. Everyone seemed to jerk to their feet simultaneously. The next few moments were a blur of confusion, however, Johnny must have finally found the light switch for the main overhead lights flared to life. Under their harsh, blue-white glow, the abnormal mist receded.

The frigid waves fell below the edge of the table and writhed over the floor until they finally evaporated.

Nora ran her hand over her arms. The terrible chill was gone, but she still felt cold. “Candy?”