Gem of a Ghost: A Ghost of Granny Apples Mystery (9 page)

twelve

Emma rocked back and
forth on the large leather sofa in the den of her parents’ home. Although it was warm, she couldn’t stop shivering. Her mother placed a heavy afghan across her shoulders and rubbed them, trying to both soothe and warm her daughter.

“There was nothing you could have done, Emma,” said Phil, who sat on her other side. “As soon as she came out of her trance and realized where she was, Summer panicked and fell. And who knows what influence that evil spirit had over her, even after the ring came off.”

Inconsolable, Emma continued to shiver. “I should have worked faster or noticed the ring earlier.”

“The police coming in like they did probably didn’t help either.” He put his strong arms around her and drew her into his warmth. “You did everything you could, Emma. And if we hadn’t been there, Keith might have become a suspect in a murder. Imagine if she’d jumped while the two of them were at the condo alone.”

It was true, and Emma knew it. If the angry ghost did inhabit the ring, it might have enticed Summer to jump, leaving Keith on his own to explain what had happened. As it was, the police weren’t too keen on the explanation that Summer might have been hearing voices. Each of them had been questioned separately. Although they didn’t know what Keith told the authorities, Phil and Emma later compared their own accounts and found them almost exactly the same: Summer had been acting a bit bizarre when they first saw her. When asked to leave, she’d gotten in a snit and locked herself in the bedroom. Emma had a feeling something was wrong, and when they broke down the bedroom door, they had found Summer in a trancelike state, about to jump. Both of them had left out the part about Granny telling Emma about Summer being in danger and about the ring.

The ring.

In the aftermath of Summer’s death, Emma had noticed the ring on the floor and picked it up, hoping the police didn’t see her do it. She slipped it into a pocket of her dress.

When all the questioning was done, Keith packed up some clothes. Emma grabbed the items Lainey had requested, and they all left the condo together, leaving the police to complete their investigation. In the elevator, Emma held the ring out to Keith. He didn’t make a move to touch it, even though he had not been in the room when Summer pulled it off and didn’t know about the ring’s deadly consequences.

“That really belongs to Lainey. The stone was her father’s. Joanna gave it to us to use for the engagement ring.” Keith hesitated but still didn’t take the ring. “Can you give it to her when you see her?”

As much as Emma was afraid of what the ring might hold, she knew that having it in her possession might give her an opportunity to contact the ghost inhabiting the gem. She needed to find out for sure if it was the angry spirit who had made Lainey try to destroy herself and caused both Max’s and Summer’s deaths. She also wanted to know more about the ghost. She knew it was female, but that was it. Hopefully Granny or Max would be able to tell her more. Both of them had disappeared shortly after Summer’s swan dive onto Wilshire Boulevard.

Acting as if the ring might burn her, Emma cautiously put it back into her pocket. “I’ll make sure it gets returned to Lainey.”

“What are you going to do now?” Phil asked Keith.

The still-shaken young man shrugged and looked away. “I’ll crash with friends until school’s over, then head back up to Seattle for the summer. No sense staying in LA if Lainey doesn’t want me.”

“You are still welcome to come to Julian next weekend,” Emma told him. “At the very least, you need to see Lainey and explain what happened. Even if you go to Serenity to do it.”

Keith took a deep breath and blew out two lungs’ worth of frustrated air. “You’re right. I’m sure she’s going to see this on the news and wonder what was going on.”

“I don’t know how much news they allow in places like that,” Phil told him. “Sometimes facilities like to monitor things that might disturb their patients.”

“Phil’s right, although Lainey will need to be told. Her mother might tell her, or even the police. They did ask me about Lainey.”

“Yeah,” Keith said, running a nervous hand through his hair. “Me too.”

Phil put an encouraging hand on Keith’s shoulder as he handed him more bad news. “And the media is going to have a field day with this. It’s not every day a young woman falls to her death from the twelfth-floor home of Max Naiman’s daughter.”

More deep groans from Keith. “What a nightmare. All because I couldn’t keep my pants on.”

“It wasn’t your fault Summer fell,” Phil told Keith.

Now, in the comfort
and security of the Miller home, Phil was saying the same thing to Emma, and like Keith, she wasn’t so sure. Keith wasn’t at fault. He may not have understood what Emma said when she told him Summer was being haunted, but he didn’t put the ring on her finger or set her on the ledge. And Phil was right: neither did she. If Granny hadn’t told her about Summer being in danger, she might never have discovered the dangers of the ring.

Emma started to rise. “What is it, honey?” her father, Paul Miller, asked from his chair across from the sofa. “What do you need?”

“My purse, Dad. It’s on the table in the foyer.”

Dr. Miller rose and left the room, returning in a minute with Emma’s handbag. He handed it to her. “You know I don’t always understand all this stuff about ghosts and spirits like you and your mother do, but it does seem, from what you’ve told us, that there is something unnatural going on here.”

“I agree, Dad.”

“And it seems to me that unless you get to the bottom of it, more people might be in danger.”

“But why me?” Emma looked up at her father, a retired heart surgeon. She’d gotten her looks from her mother and her tall, slim body from her father.

She looked around the room at each of them—her father and mother and Phil. “Why can’t someone else do this?” She started to cry softly. “Sometimes it’s too much to bear.”

“Because you have the gift, Emma.” The simple response came from Granny, who only Emma and her mother could hear. “You were chosen to be special. We need you.”

Emma looked around the room until her eyes settled on Granny. She was seated on the floor by the fireplace. Next to her, Archie was stretched out, half on his back, as the ghost stroked his belly. When the ghost spoke, the dog thumped his tail.

“Granny’s right,” Elizabeth Miller told her daughter. “You do have a special gift, but I don’t like you getting mixed up in these things.” Elizabeth told the men what the ghost had said. “It worries me to death.”

“I’m with your mother on this, honey.” Dr. Miller sat on the edge of the coffee table and took his daughter’s hands into his own. Emma loved the feeling of her small hands being cradled by her father’s capable ones. “If that ring is a problem, why not have Lainey or her family lock it up in a safe-deposit box or sell it or even have it destroyed?”

Emma dug into her purse and located the ring. She’d stuck it into a small zippered side pocket once she and Phil were on the road back to Pasadena. She pulled it out, careful not to put it on her finger. Her mother let out a slight gasp. Even her father was impressed.

“That’s some stone.” Dr. Miller held out his hand for it. “May I?”

With a bit of hesitation, Emma handed it to him. “Just don’t put it on,” she cautioned. “We don’t know for sure it’s the ring that’s haunted, but I don’t want to take any chances.”

Dr. Miller put on his reading glasses and examined the ring closely. Keeping ahold of it, he showed it to his wife, who was equally impressed. “I’m no expert, but to the naked eye that looks nearly flawless.”

“And large,” added Elizabeth. “Didn’t you say this stone was once set in a man’s ring? Seems rather large for that.”

“I vaguely recall Max’s wedding ring, the one Joanna gave him after they restated their vows. The stone was huge, but it was recessed in the band, so it didn’t sit up like in this setting.”

“I’ll bet that ring is worth a mint.” Dr. Miller gave it back to Emma. “Haunted or not, it shouldn’t be sitting around.” He got up and resettled in the club chair he’d vacated earlier.

“Why don’t you put it in the safe until you can give it to Lainey?” Elizabeth suggested.

Emma’s father shook his head. “They won’t let Lainey have anything that valuable while she’s at Serenity. She’d just have to turn around and give it to someone there to hold it for her.”

“Dad’s right.” Emma studied the ring, both wishing and dreading further communication with the spirit within it. “I’ll tell Lainey I have it and ask if she wants me to give it to her mother to hold.”

“Hey,” Phil piped up as a thought occurred to him. “If that stone originally belonged to Max, and Joanna only recently handed it over to Lainey and Keith, do you think that maybe she knows about the spirit?” While the other three contemplated his question, he added, “She does seem to be sensitive to spirits.”

Elizabeth looked at Emma with surprise. “Is Lainey’s mother like us?”

Emma smiled inwardly at the “like us” comment. Her mother could hear Granny but couldn’t see her, and so far had not demonstrated an ability to hear other ghosts beyond the one time Emma had helped her see Paulie, Emma’s deceased brother. Nor did Elizabeth seem to want to expand her abilities beyond that one time. Emma wished she’d set such boundaries for herself.

“I don’t think so, Mother. Joanna displayed a sensitivity to Max’s presence but claimed she could not see or hear him. I think it’s totally possible for non-mediums to sense spirits even if they cannot see or hear them, especially those they were close to in life. I’ve seen it at sessions with some of Milo’s clients.”

She gestured with her hand to Phil. “Phil has learned to communicate with Granny and can tell when she’s around.”

“Really?” asked Dr. Miller with interest.

“Absolutely,” answered Phil, “and not just when Emma’s present. Granny and I have become quite the pals.”

Phil unwrapped his arm from around Emma’s shoulders and leaned forward. “Right now,” Phil told them, “Granny is over by the fireplace. Just to the left of it.” He looked to Emma for confirmation. After she rewarded him with a nod, he continued his demonstration. “And I’ll bet she’s right behind Archie, possibly low to the floor or sitting on it.”

“You sure he can’t see me?” Granny asked Emma.

Emma’s mother sat back against the sofa cushion, her face filled with astonishment. “I’m beginning to wonder the same thing myself, Granny. I only know where you are by the sound of your voice.”

Emma laughed, her first in many hours. She was also warm again and shrugged off the afghan. “They think you’re holding out—that you really
can
see Granny.”

Phil shook his head. He lifted the coffee mug from the end table next to him and took a gulp, stretching out his explanation and enjoying it far too much.

“All it takes is a bit of observation,” he continued. Still holding the coffee cup, he pointed it toward where he rightly assumed Granny was sitting. “Archie has been glued to that spot ever since we came in here, and we all know he’s devoted to Granny. What’s more, right now he’s all stretched out, with his tail thumping away. I’m guessing not only is Granny over there on the floor with him, but she’s rubbing his belly.”

Emma turned toward Granny, who was still rubbing the soft fur on Archie’s black underbelly, putting the animal into doggie nirvana.

Suddenly aware of what she was doing, Granny stopped. “Well, I’ll be.” Archie, not at all pleased, whined.

“They also chat back and forth,” Emma informed her parents.

Dr. Miller, a man of science, sat back in his chair. “This I have to see to believe.”

“You mind, Granny?” Emma asked the ghost.

In response, Granny stood up.

“Granny,” Phil asked her. “Do you think Joanna Reid is lying? Do you think she can see or hear Max?”

“No,” Granny answered. “She can’t.”

“Tell Phil, Granny,” Emma told her. “Mother and I can hear you, but tell Phil.”

Phil stood up and moved to the middle of the room. The ghost drifted over to him. Archie got to his feet and followed, planting his butt on the carpet where Granny stopped. The Millers watched, fascinated.

When Phil repeated his question, Granny got on tiptoe and blew into his left ear.

“Granny said no, she doesn’t think Joanna can see or hear Max.”

“Granny,” Phil said to the spirit. “Do you think Emma should help Lainey and this new ghost?”

The ghost gave it some thought before blowing into Phil’s left ear.

“No? You don’t think she should?”

Granny moved her head and blew into Phil’s right ear.

“Oh, so you
do
think she should help them?”

“No.” Granny stomped her foot soundlessly on the carpet. Archie started in surprise. She blew into Phil’s left ear again, then quickly blew into his right.

“Are you confused?” Phil asked the ghost.

“Nothing confusing about it, you old fool. I think she shouldn’t help the ghost, but she should help Lainey. You gotta ask the right questions, not jumble them all together.”

Emma and her mother broke into laughter. So did the men when Emma’s mother conveyed Granny’s words.

“You gotta teach me that trick, Phil,” Dr. Miller said. “Might liven up the football games she watches with us.”

Phil sat down in a club chair that matched Dr. Miller’s. “Nothing tricky about it. Like I said, you just have to be observant. You already know it gets a bit cool when she’s here. Just watch the dog and pay attention. Left ear is no, and the right is yes.”

“I ain’t no parlor trick,” huffed Granny in a barely audible voice. Turning on her heel, she stomped back over to the fireplace. Archie followed. Emma watched Granny retreat, noting the ghost’s image was fast dissipating.

Phil watched the dog trot across the carpet, stopping short in his tracks as if he’d come across a wall. “Did Granny leave? Was it something I said?”

“She’s gone,” Emma confirmed. “You have to remember that being with us takes a lot of Granny’s energy. The more she speaks or is visible, the sooner she has to leave us to recharge.” Emma walked over and sat on the arm of Phil’s chair. “Remember how I said it’s not possible for Granny to blow into your ear?”