End of the Road (Ghost Stories Trilogy #1) (29 page)

Chapter Sixty-Four

FRANK

Elena started to answer,
but I was already reading. The more I read, the deeper the concern for my son
grew. He was already three miles down the wrong path. “We have to help him!” I exclaimed
when I reached the end of the article. “I don’t want him to make my mistakes.”

I couldn’t stop staring
at my son’s picture. He had Faye’s light coloring, but the face was all mine.
He had creases around his mouth and a deep groove between his eyebrows. Aside
from those differences, he could be my twin. It must not have been easy for
Faye to have a constant reminder of her errant husband who made her a young
widow.

“Is there more?”

Elena nodded and handed
me another sheet of paper. This time I didn’t have any trouble holding onto it.
Faye’s senior portrait from high school was the first thing that caught my eye.
Her blonde hair curled under at her chin and she smiled over her shoulder. This
was the Faye I fell in love with and as I read her obituary, I was glad they
didn’t use a picture of her after time had worn away her youth, leaving behind
a wrinkled and stooped old woman.

I expected to be
disappointed when I learned she remarried, but instead I was happy. She had continued
to live and didn’t let my death hold her back. I hoped it was a joyful and
fulfilling life; something our son was definitely in need of.

“Can you bring my son here?”
I asked Elena.

“Uh…I’m not sure how to
pull that off. ‘Junior, you need to come to Arizona, the ghost of your father
wants to communicate with you. Oh, and he’s stuck on the side of the highway.’
He’ll think I’m nuts.”

“Oh, right.” The obituary
fell from my hand as disappointment depleted all of my energy. I could tell I
was fading, but didn’t care. Never had I felt so useless. I had a son. He was
alive and in trouble and I was completely unable to help him.

“Frank, don’t do this.
Don’t disappear,” Lawrence said. I looked at him and he was holding his own
sheet of paper. He was also smiling and glowing. Whatever news he received had
to have been positive.

“My family didn’t forget
about us. In fact, they honored us and mourned our passing,” he said. “Decade’s
worth of medical research has been funded in Helen’s honor.”

“That’s great, Lawrence.”

Elena spoke up next. “Frank,
I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you. It’s just that I don’t know what I’m
doing. I thought this might help give you some closure, but I was wrong. You’re
all still here.” She leaned against her car and stared out across the desert.
The setting sun cast her in an orange glow.

Peggy and Georgia stayed
back. Elena’s research had been limited for them. Peggy stood away from the
group, clutching the obituary Stanley had written to her chest. Georgia tried
to pretend like it didn’t bother her that her case had never been solved and
there wasn’t more information, but I could tell it did. She stood with her arms
crossed over her chest, her lower lip stuck out slightly and she held her chin
up high. A technique Faye used to prevent tears from spilling down her cheeks
whenever I said something she thought was insensitive.

“I didn’t have much faith
in this, Elena, so please don’t be so hard on yourself,” Lawrence said and he
appeared next to her. She turned and looked at him. In the fading light, the
shadows under her eyes were visible.

“I really want to help,
but I’m a cop, not a clairvoyant.”

“You’ve done far more
than that charlatan who accompanied the news woman did.”

“She was pretty
clueless,” Elena said with a smirk.

“Maybe you need more
help. Why not take Gavin’s little brother up on his offer?” Georgia suggested.

“I don’t know…”

“Do you even want to help
us?” Peggy asked. Her shoulders were squared and she faced Elena with defiance.

Bob started to laugh.
“You’re in for it now, senorita. Don’t piss Peggy off.”

Elena didn’t back down.
She pushed off of her car. “Of course I want to help! You saved my life, but it’s
not like there’s an instruction manual for this shit.”

Peggy flared, her hair
growing redder by the second. Elena stared her down and I was getting ready to
go stand in between them, when the sound of a car pulling off the highway
caught Elena’s attention. Her eyes widened and color drained from her face when
she saw a black Jeep come to a stop behind her car.

She immediately
straightened up and tucked the brown folder in the back of her jeans, pulling
her shirt loose to conceal the bulge.

A tall man stepped out of
the Jeep. “Elena? What are you doing?” When he got closer, I recognized him. He
didn’t seem as uptight without his uniform, but he was definitely the same
person who was with Elena when we rescued her and again when she interrupted
the reporter.

“Eric…uh, what are you
doing here?”

“I asked you first, but
to answer your question, I was shopping at the outlets for a new pair of
sneakers. So what are you doing?” He stood with his legs apart, arms crossed
over his chest, and waited for Elena to respond.

She glanced back over her
shoulder. We were all still behind her, even Peggy, which surprised me. Usually
when she got pissed off, she went to the spot where she died.

“I met my brother for
lunch in Tempe,” Elena finally said and turned to face Eric again. “I couldn’t
help but stop here.”

Eric didn’t seem
convinced. “Huh. It looked like you were arguing with someone.” He walked
toward Elena and then around her. He came to a stop directly in front of me. I
waved my hand, but he couldn’t see it.

“I was just talking to
myself out loud. I’m still processing what happened out here. Unlike you, I
can’t pretend nothing happened.”

“Elena, it’s better to
just let it go and get back to normal.”

“Aren’t you the least bit
curious?” Elena took a step closer to Eric, forcing him to look at her.

“Of course I am, but I’d
rather keep my job.”

“This is bigger than a
job,” Elena muttered. “Eric, what if I can prove these people are real, will
that make a difference?”

“You’re serious.” It
wasn’t a question.

Elena nodded and, taking
a deep breath, pulled the folder out from behind her back. With unsteady hands
she flipped it open and handed him the information on the foundation Lawrence’s
father had started.

“The whole family died
here?” Eric asked when he finished reading.

“Yes and Lawrence’s spirit
has been here ever since.” Next she handed him the unsolved case information on
Georgia. I moved to stand beside Eric as he flipped through the pages and saw
the black and white crime scene images. After seeing Georgia’s life snuffed
out, these seemed a pale representation.

Eric examined the
pictures then surveyed the desert around him. After a couple more times of
doing this he walked over to a boulder and turned back to face the highway.
“This is where she was killed.”

Georgia suddenly appeared
in front of him, she had a stick in her hand, which Eric saw. He jumped back,
but didn’t take his eyes off of it. Georgia squatted and wrote in the sand at
his feet:
you’re right
.

“Jesus Christ!” Eric went
into a crouch and lightly traced the letters with his forefinger as if
confirming they were really there. “Who wrote this?”

Georgia wrote her name in
the sand. Eric sucked in his breath and it sounded like a hiccup.

He was still crouching
when Elena placed her hand on Eric’s shoulder and I saw him lean slightly
against her legs. “These are real people, Eric. For some reason I can see them
even though I never saw a ghost before.” Elena said softly, her voice barely
audible above the rumble of tires on the asphalt as traffic passed by.

Georgia had already dropped
the stick and it lay in the sand next to her name. She appeared next to me and
I gathered up enough energy to squeeze her hand. She smiled at me, but it
wasn’t enough to erase the sadness haunting her eyes.

“What is it?” I asked.

“I died how many years
ago and all I’m known as is some unsolved murder. I was raped and left half
naked on the side of this goddamn road and those pictures are all he knows
about me.” She glared at Eric, who was now standing and talking to Elena. “It’s
just so…violating…so humiliating!” Georgia was flickering really fast,
alternating between dim and brighter flashes, reminding me of a light bulb
getting ready to burn out. In addition to the erratic flashing, Georgia’s
energy was increasing, creating a small dust devil beneath her.

“Hey, Georgia honey, calm
down,” I said, but my words had no impact.

“You don’t understand!” she
yelled and disappeared in a flash.

Elena spun around and
looked at me, noticing the cloud of dust settling down where Georgia had been
standing.

I shook my head and left
to find Georgia.

Chapter Sixty-Five

ELENA

Honestly, I don’t know
what possessed me, but it was too late to take back my revelation to Eric. He’d
always been able to push my buttons and now he knew what I had been up to. Either
he was going to be all in and on my side or real irreparable damage to our
somewhat functional relationship had just occurred. I was hoping Georgia’s
efforts helped to sway him in my favor. He had to see that this “problem”
wasn’t going to go away. I could use his help. Not that I wanted to admit it.

His silence was
unnerving, but I didn’t push him for a response. Lawrence, Bob and Peggy
gathered around me and waited. My anxiety was reflected in their expressions.
Well, Bob smirked; more amused at the drama unfolding in front of him. Bob died
before the whole reality television phenomenon, but I bet he’d be a fan.

Seconds turned into
minutes; finally Eric stood up and faced me. What he said next surprised the
shit out of me.

“I’m sorry.”

I didn’t know what to
say. Was he really sorry or was he sorry that he still couldn’t believe it? I
prepared for the latter.

“You’ve been dealing with
this all by yourself. This is real and I did nothing to help you.”

Relief loosened the
tension in my shoulder muscles, which I didn’t realize until that moment were
wound up tighter than a coiled snake ready to strike.

“It’s okay. We haven’t
been on the best of terms lately.”

Peggy appeared next to me
and I jumped.

“What is it?” Eric asked.

“Peggy just startled me. They
move fast.”

“Oh.”

Peggy tapped me on the
shoulder so I turned to face her. “What?”

“Who’s the guy?”

“This is Eric, he’s my
ex-husband and he also works for the Sherriff’s office.”

“Oh, he’s cute, but an
ex? Can he be trusted?”

I turned back to Eric.
“Peggy wants to know if you can be trusted.”

Eric laughed until he saw
I was serious. “Of course…do you think otherwise?” He moved towards me until he
was so close I smelled his cologne and the clean scent of fabric softener that
clung to his clothes. “I admit this whole thing is weird, but it was wrong of
me to try to get you to forget about your rescue, even though I knew there was
more to it. I guess I wasn’t ready to accept that ghosts exist.”

“So what’s next?” I
asked.

He stepped closer and drew
me into a hug. “I really am sorry. Please don’t shut me out,” he whispered in
my ear. I was shocked from the contact and wanted to pull away, but old habits
do die hard and instead I wrapped my arms around his waist. In less than
24-hours I had two people who believed in my experiences and one who was
willing to work with me on a seemingly impossible task. I was also taken aback
at how nice Eric was being. Peggy’s question was a valid one. I knew I could
trust him with my life; that was basically a job requirement. Beyond that I wasn’t
sure if I was ready to let him in, but knew I needed to try.

I rested my head on his
shoulder and nodded, my lips accidentally brushing against his neck. He tensed
up and I responded in kind. I tried to pull away, embarrassed at the
unintentional intimate gesture, one that was so familiar from when we were a
couple and one that used to turn him on. He didn’t release me completely and
instead shifted enough in order to for me to see his eyes. His expression was easy
to read; apparently he was still sensitive on the neck. Suddenly he was kissing
me. All rational thought and self-control went out the window and I responded
by parting my lips, deepening our connection.

“Woo hoo!” Bob yelled,
slamming me back to reality and I jerked away. My face was on fire with the
amount of blood rushing to my cheeks. My lips tingled from the kiss that was
far from soft and fueled by unspoken, pent up emotion. I had forgotten we had
an audience. Unfortunately Eric didn’t hear Bob’s cheer and he misinterpreted
the abrupt ending of our kiss.

“Elena, don’t. I mean,
isn’t this what you want?” he asked and his blue eyes scanned my face for the
answer.

“I don’t know, I think I
do? But we’re not alone here. Remember?”

“Oh, right,” he exhaled
sharply and glanced around us, still unable to see the ghosts. “This just keeps
getting weirder.”

We stood across from each
other unsure of what to do next. Our kiss had left me feeling anxious and
excited; my heart raced and my palms were a little sweaty, plus my whole body
seemed flushed from head to toe. Physically, I still responded to Eric like our
bitter divorce never happened. He pulled his keys out of the front pocket of
his shorts and looked expectantly at me. “Your place is closest. We can go
there – sort things out?”

“Um, guys, we’re going to
go,” I said to the ghosts. “I’ll be back soon, though.”

“Yeah, you two need to
get a room,” Bob said with a wink.

“Bob, don’t be so rude,”
Peggy reprimanded him and swatted at his head. He playfully ducked and disappeared,
reappearing on the other side of Lawrence who just shook his head like a father
worn down by fighting children.

“Elena, can you try to
contact my son?” Frank asked.

“I’ll see what I can do,
okay?”

He nodded and I waved
goodbye to the group.

I didn’t leave right away
to follow Eric. Instead I sat in my car on the side of the road with the engine
running and the radio volume turned down so low the music was unidentifiable.
My hands gripped the steering wheel as I weighed what my next action should be.
Was I going to sleep with Eric? Sure, my hooha was screaming, “Step on the gas,
let’s go!” but my brain was saying something different. The memory of Eric’s
abandonment hadn’t faded. It was the proverbial good angel versus bad angel
debate.

Peggy appeared at my
driver’s side and I yelped in surprise before rolling down the window.

She leaned over and
rested her arms on the door. Her hands hung over into the car. I was constantly
amazed at how real they seemed. Even though Peggy wasn’t a solid human being, she
had color and dimension, plus she still acted human.

“You two don’t behave
like you’re divorced, if you don’t mind me saying so.”

“It’s complicated.”

“Ha! I’ve heard that
before. Is he in a relationship now?”

I paused before
answering. “No…at least I don’t think so.”

“Are you?” she asked.

“No.”

“Do you still love him?”

I started to say no, but
stopped myself because that wasn’t true. “Yes,” I said in a low voice as if I
was at confession and admitting to a sin.

“I may be dead and out of
the dating scene for over thirty years, but it’s obvious he’s still got
feelings for you too.”

“But…”

“Let me finish.” She
flared when she said this and her eyes flashed a brighter blue. “Listen, I know
how short life is. All of us didn’t know it was our last day until it was upon
us. Don’t end up like us; trapped in the past and dwelling on regrets.”

Peggy’s advice made
sense, but just giving into my emotions wasn’t the best solution. “I hear what
you’re saying, Peggy, and I’ll definitely keep that in mind. Like I said,
what’s between me and Eric is complicated.”

She sighed and flared
brighter again before standing up. “No regrets, Elena,” she said and then
disappeared. I turned to look out the passenger side window and saw a flash of
her red hair. She was talking with Frank and Georgia.

How odd, I thought as I
pulled onto the highway, to be getting relationship advice from a ghost.

I considered Peggy’s
advice and replayed the day’s events in my head on the way home. By the time I
turned into my apartment complex’s parking lot, I had come to a decision.