Gypsy Spirits (28 page)

She knew they should let Mr. and Mrs.
Frant know what they were going to do, but she had no idea when the best time would be to contact them. They decided they could talk to them at Garret’s funeral. Annamarie couldn’t believe there’d be another funeral in their little town so soon.

Daniel called the sheriff’s office and asked if the sheriff was in. He was. The sheriff said they were done with the building, and understood their need to tear it down. Daniel was relieved the matter was settled. 

Normally they would have Bulk do a job like this, but Annamarie told Daniel she would look up a demolition company in the yellow pages. Annamarie made a mental note to also call the phone company about the extension phone. 

Daniel picked up the phone again and dialed
the Frant’s number. Garret had been his friend, and he had to let his parents know he didn’t hold any hard feelings, and how sorry he was Garret died.

Chapter Seventeen: Lost

Mr. Frant answered the phone.

“Good evening, sir.”

“Daniel, it’s good to hear your voice.”

“I called about Garret sir. I can’t find the words. We’ve been friends for so long. Annamarie and I
are terribly sorry about everything that’s happened. Please tell Mrs. Frant how we feel and Annamarie says she remembers you in her prayers.”

“Thank you, that means a lot.”

“I also wanted you to know I could never hold any ill will toward Garret, regardless of what happened. He became involved with the wrong people. It wasn’t his fault. He’ll always be remembered as a good friend.”

“That will help my wife deal with her grief. We’ll both feel relieved someone besides us cares.”

“I do care sir, and I was wondering about Garret’s funeral.”

“We have decided to have a quiet service in Oaklin with only family. The town can’t go through more, and many may blame Garret. I can’t put my wife and daughter through that.”

“Would it be an imposition if Annamarie and I attended? We would like to say goodbye.” 

“I think it would be fine providing you don’t tell anyone else except possibly Bulk.” 

“Bulk’s still hospitalized in Oaklin, sir.”

“This’ll be a great blow to him. He followed Garret around constantly.”

“I worry about that, too, but there isn’t anything we can do for Bulk now.” 

Mr.
Frant told Daniel the small service would be at Walker’s on Thursday at two o’clock. Daniel and Mr. Frant said goodnight. Daniel told Annamarie about the Frant’s plans. She said she would order flowers tomorrow, but she would use a florist in Oaklin, so word wouldn’t get around town. 

Her heart broke for the
Frants and the fact they had to hide their son’s funeral from the public for fear someone might cause a problem.

It had been a long day. They sat on the sofa and wondered out loud how they were going to keep Garret’s funeral a secret from the
Hansons and Daniel’s parents.

Annamarie said, “I feel like I’m hiding a major secret from the
Hansons.”

Daniel answered, “I don’t care if I hide it from my parents. They’ve hurt me deeply in the last forty-eight hours. I’ve lost some of the trust I had in them after what they’d been saying.”

“The hardest part will come after the funeral because we can’t tell anyone we attended. Garret’s obituary will read only family attended.”

Fortunately, Annamarie was working half days, and Daniel could always get out of work at noon especially since his grandfather and Garret had passed away.  

“What if the
Hansons find out we were at Garret’s service and I lose my job?” She shook her head. “I can’t believe I said that, what’s happening to me?” 

“Nothing, we’re both under an immense amount of stress.  It’s understandable we would be worried about everything right now.” 

Maybe she thought, but she would have to try and be more understanding before she turned into Maureen.  

He looked at her with that strained look on his face that usually accompanied severe anxiety, and said, “Annamarie, I can’t believe I’ve lost two of my best friends and grandfather in less than two weeks, but I was wondering since both Garret and Ben died near the woods if they would join the spirits.”
 

“I thought we’d gotten past all the spirits in the woods talk.” 

“I’ve been trying, but I know the spirits have been there my entire life. I swear I saw my grandmother and her baby. She died in grandfather’s house when she gave birth, so it makes sense she would be in the woods. Who knows who else might be out there?” 

Never realizing his grandmother had given birth at home, she had to ask Daniel, “are you sure you’ll be able to live in grandpa’s house if you think a spirit lives there?” 

“Of course, grandmother is happy now because grandfather is with her. The best thing he could have done was deciding to be buried with her especially since he also died at the house.”

Annamarie now understood why grandpa kept the master bedroom as a shrine lost in time. His wife and baby died there. It was full of happy and sad memories. Not believing in Daniel’s spirits, Annamarie still thought the first room they needed to redo would be the
bedroom. She brought the subject up to Daniel and he agreed. Since the furniture was so lovely, they decided to move it to one of the empty rooms in the north wing, and keep it as a special reminder of Daniel’s grandparent’s love.

It was time for some sleep, and for once they both slept through the entire night without fear or nightmares. The alarm woke them both feeling refreshed and ready to face the day, but worried what else might be lost before long. It seems as if that has been the path the entire town was traveling. They decided to try and get through the day the best they could, and meet at home for lunch.

Before leaving for work, Annamarie said, “I don’t remember any dreams, but I have an odd feeling I dreamt about birds. I remember a voice saying, ‘not all birds fly, beware.’”

“That’s funny. Not every dream we have
has an important meaning,” Daniel said and he hugged her.

She shrugged and agreed as they left. 

***

Annamarie’s morning was slow. She had enough time to finish her work, and make a call to the demolition company. Daniel and Annamarie had spent a lot of time there in the summers, and she felt
a pang of loss. It stung more than she expected. 

When Mr. Hanson went back into the plant, she took the opportunity to call a florist in Oaklin and order flowers for Garret’s service.

“I’ll come in this afternoon and pay for the flowers.” 

“No need Mrs. Logan, you can stop by tomorrow on your way to the service.” 

Part of her wanted to shout, “I’m not Mrs. Logan I’m Annamarie,” but she thanked her for her kindness and hung up.

It was then she realized the Logan name certainly did carry weight, and for the first time it helped her. She felt some of it when the lady at the bank was so polite and kept calling her Mrs. Logan, but she thought it was because she was there with Mr. Townsend. Maybe she was wrong, and it was both of them. Not sure if she was ready to be another Mrs. Logan since that usually meant Maureen, but she would try. She didn’t want to lose her individuality or what Daniel referred to as her “innocent view of the world.”

The phone rang, it was Daniel. 

“Hi. The demolition company will be there tomorrow. I need to call Elaine to see if she will be there, in case there were questions.” 

“Great idea, can you meet me at grandfather’s house at noon instead of home because I want to check the new window locks?”

“No problem, I’ll see you shortly after noon.”

***

Daniel was there when she pulled into the drive. Annamarie noticed Elaine’s car. Walking to the front door, Elaine met her.

“I have made you and Mr. Daniel lunch.”

“How nice Elaine, thank you.”

“Will the other Mrs. Logan be joining you today?”

“No, why do you think Maureen is coming?” 

“Since she missed you the other day, I thought perhaps you would be meeting today.”

“Maureen was here and said she was waiting for me?”

“Yes, but left after talking to you on the phone.”

“Thank you, Elaine.”

Elaine disappeared into the kitchen, and Annamarie went to find Daniel. He was in the north wing checking the locks, and thought they would work perfectly. She told him what Elaine told her.

“I think my mom was probably trying to snoop.” 

“It’s a good thing we changed the locks.”  

Daniel and Annamarie continued their discussion about his mom when they walked to the kitchen to enjoy the lunch Elaine had made them. Daniel asked Elaine not to open the door to his parents since they were trying to take the house from them. 

Shocked, Elaine said, “The house is yours Mr. Daniel. Mr. Logan left it to you.” She set a plate of donuts on the table. 

“I know, but they would like to try, and we would like to keep them out, if possible. Did you make these donuts?” Daniel had eaten half in one bite.

“Yes, glad you like them and I’ll watch for your parents,” Elaine said when she set the luncheon plates on the table.

Annamarie laughed, “Daniel, eat lunch before you devour all the donuts.”

“Mmm okay,” he mumbled when he finished his donut.

Elaine added, “I thought Mrs. Logan was going to help you decorate because of that large case she had with her.” 

Daniel and Annamarie looked at each other, and they were both thinking the same thing, Maureen was after an item big enough that she needed a large case to hold it.

After lunch Daniel and Annamarie walked through the entire house. They wanted to get ideas on how they would like to decorate.

They finished their little tour in the main house’s living room. Sitting in her favorite chair, Annamarie noticed the beautiful porcelain blue jay that sat on the table next to the chair was gone. She asked Elaine and she said she had no idea why it was moved.

“
Oh, Mrs. Logan, the robin, yellow finch, cardinal and eight others are also gone.” 

All at once they spoke, “Mother,” said Daniel, “Mrs. Logan,” said Elaine, “your mom,” Annamarie said. 

“That’s what the large case was for.”  

“Grandfather loved those. He purchased them for my grandmother. How could my mom just take them?” 

“Something else lost, this is so sad. You don’t think this is why I had the dream of birds that can’t fly?”

“You said you heard the voice say ‘beware.’ It must have been a warning we would lose them. It’s sad it was too late.” 

Elaine went back to the kitchen, and Daniel and Annamarie decided they would not cause problems about the birds.

Annamarie said to Daniel “if she’s happy with the birds, let her be so there’s peace, we know she missed the main prize.” 

“The bonds,” smiled Daniel. 

She smiled back. 

“Someday we’ll let them know.” Daniel leaned back on the leather couch. “Just imagine the look on their faces, I can’t wait.”    

“I’ll enjoy that.”

Annamarie and Daniel told Elaine they were leaving. Elaine said she would also be leaving soon, and would be back tomorrow morning to meet the men coming to remove the outbuilding.

“Do you want to walk out there, and take one last look, baby?”

“No, the sadness overwhelms the happy memories.” 

Daniel shook his head. They walked to their cars and headed home.

***     

The phone rang in the sheriff’s office. It was Dr. Norse. 

He said, “Bulk is doing much better, but he is refusing to talk about what happened to Ben. He hasn’t been told about Garret. The doctors feel the news should come from Bulk’s brother. He’ll see him this evening before anyone else can tell Bulk. We still need to be careful with his mental state.”

“Thanks for the call.” 

The sheriff replaced the receiver deciding Bulk was going to be a total loss in his case. Once he learns about Garret, Bulk will shut down completely.

***

Daniel and Annamarie were hoping for a quiet evening, but the phone call from Nancy changed that. She called a little after six o’clock. Nancy said she found their number mixed in with her things. Telling Daniel she was sorry she was bothering them, but she was going crazy hiding out. She decided to call one of her old friends.

“My friend told me Garret’s partner called looking for me. He told my friend he
knew either Garret or my friends will know what he wants. I’m terrified he’ll find me.”

Daniel began pacing, but told her, “I think you’ll be safe at Greta’s. No one knows where you are.”

“As soon as I get enough money together, I’m heading to New England. I have family there and would feel safe.”

He told her to keep in touch because he was going to try and think of a plan to make sure everyone would be safe. He was mumbling to himself when he hung up the phone, and Annamarie asked what he was thinking. 

“Annamarie, we have enough money now to pay off Garret’s partner, but I have a feeling he would come around again and ask for more. Nancy said her brother is so afraid for her and himself he refuses to name the partner, and Nancy doesn’t know his name either. The sheriff would be useless without a name. The only thing we can do is set a trap.” 

“A trap Daniel, are you crazy?” She tossed down the magazine she was thumbing through and rose from her chair suddenly. “I’m not getting involved in another one of your crazy schemes. They never work.”

“It’ll work. Listen,” he walked closer to her so she wouldn’t miss a word of what he said.

***

Bulk’s brother signed in at the psychiatric unit and received his visitor’s badge. It read “Visitor, Sanstun, and Room 243.” He dreaded having to tell Bulk what happened to Garret. He worried Bulk would break down again. The doctor thought Bulk would be well enough to leave Friday morning if he could stay with his brother again. They didn’t want Bulk to be alone.

Bulk was waiting in the activity room. His brother always wondered how anyone could heal in a place as stark as the hospital ward. The whitewashed walls were barren of any pictures
or color except where someone had scribbled with a red crayon. Four white plastic tables with matching chairs were scattered around the room. Games, puzzles and books were strewn everywhere. It reminded Bulk’s brother of an unmanaged kindergarten class.  

Bulk jumped up and hugged his brother. Bulk told him about his sessions with the doctor, and the group therapy he had each day. He said he found out there are people who have real things in life to be afraid of and not silly, made up spirits in the woods. Bulk told his brother he didn’t believe in Daniel’s spirits, and he knew it couldn’t have been spirits that killed Ben. They had to be human. 

Bulk told his brother what he needed to hear to believe he was better. It was all part of Bulk’s plan.

Bulk’s brother was relieved to hear him sound so sane, but he still carefully chose his words. 

“Let’s sit down Bulk; I have some sad news to tell you.”  

Bulk stared at him when he pulled up one of the white plastic chairs. 

“It’s about Garret.”

Bulk’s facial expression became more concerned. 

“Garret has died, Bulk. I’m terribly sorry.” 

A tear ran down Bulk’s cheek and he asked, “What happened?”

His brother explained the event as simply as possible, hoping it would be easier for Bulk to grasp. 

“I understand sometimes bad things happen. I’ll say a prayer for Garret’s family. May I go to the funeral?” 

His brother said he hadn’t heard of any plans yet. He handed Bulk a candy bar he brought him, the two of them changed the subject, and talked about happier things. 

Bulk said, “I hope I can come home on Friday, it’ll be nice to go outside again.” 

“I hope you’ll be able to come home, too Bulk. The doctor says you’re doing much better.”    

His brother left with a feeling of relief Bulk was improving. 

Sitting alone in his room, Bulk began to plot his way out of town, and away from the spirits that killed Ben and Garret. He knew he had to pretend to understand why Garret was killed. He had to let everyone know he was sad not frightened. He could fool them. He had fooled them thus far. He was supposed to go home on Friday, and he wasn’t going to mess that up. Once he was home and his brother left for work, Bulk would go to the bank and take out the money left in trust for him when his parents died. When he had the money, he was going west to California or Arizona where there is more sand than trees and no spirits. Bulk was slowly sinking into madness.

***

Daniel said, “We may not know the identity of Garret’s partner, but we do have a connection through Nancy. He’ll try to call her again looking for the money, and this time we can be ready.”

“Ready for what, tell me what you’re thinking?” Annamarie said.

“Tomorrow we have to stop by the bank so I can sign the safe deposit box papers, and then we call Mr. Townsend and let him know we want to turn in a couple of the bonds. We’re going to need money to fix grandfather’s house the way we want, and a few thousand more won’t appear suspicious to Mr. Townsend.” 

“I’m not sure. More lies and trying to trick a killer may be more than you can handle.”

“This’ll work. I want to be sure Nancy has money when she meets up with that guy, so he doesn’t get suspicious. Then we should let her keep it, and she can settle in New England. Garret would like that and we can afford it.” 

“Giving Nancy some money because she was special to Garret is one thing, but how in the world do you set up this plan. What happens when
the guy wants his cash and doesn’t get it, or takes it from Nancy, kills her and disappears?” 

“We kill him first. Or rather let the spirits take care of it.” 

“You’ve lost your mind. We can’t kill someone and spirits won’t help you.” 

She was sure Daniel had lost his grip on reality from all the grief he was going through. 

“I’m serious, Annamarie, your spirit is strong and won’t let anything happen to either of us, and while my grandmother’s spirit is gone, there may be others in the woods. Your spirit can get them to follow her. Magdalena is strong.”

“Magdalena was my great-grandmother,” she shouted at him, “she’s not
a spirit.” 

“Then why did we both have the same dream about her?”

He had her there. She didn’t have an answer. “I don’t know,” she said, nearly in tears. This plan of Daniel’s terrified her. 

She said, “Why can’t you tell the sheriff about this and let him work with Nancy?” 

“The sheriff will do everything legally and according to the book. We can’t do that if we want it to work. This man helped to kill Ben, and if he hadn’t threatened Garret then Steve wouldn’t have shot him. That’s another thing I need to take care of, and that’s to get some justice for Garret and Steve. I tried to call Steve, but Deb said he wasn’t talking to anyone. She’s worried about him.” 

“I know, Deb said he feels it’s his fault Garret is dead. I spoke with her today. It must be hard on him.”

“Can you imagine how he feels? He and Garret used to be close friends. Steve and I were going to try to rebuild our friendship. That evil man is responsible for two of my friends being dead, and another may have a breakdown or he could quit the sheriff’s department. We need people like Steve out there,” he said while he sat and sipped his glass of bourbon.    

His reasoning had merit, but his plan still scared her.  They needed help--real help, and not only a bag of money and Garret’s girlfriend. Annamarie didn’t believe they had any spirits on their side.

“Daniel,” she said, “it’s getting late, let’s get some sleep, and we can discuss this more tomorrow on our drive to Oaklin.” 

Daniel agreed since they both had to work tomorrow morning, and then go the bank and Garret’s Memorial Service in the afternoon. They had a busy day, and they had to be clandestine about most of it. 

Daniel downed his drink and said, “I’ll call Mr. Townsend, in the morning, and ask about the bonds. You should go to work and not worry about anything. I’ll drop you off at work, and pick you up at noon. It will save time because you won’t have to drive your car home before we head to Oaklin.”

That sounded perfect to Annamarie, and she was hoping Daniel would change his mind after a decent night’s sleep.

Daniel, awake before the alarm, was singing in the shower. That could only mean one thing. He was still planning on getting to Garret’s partner, and was honing the details. This frightened her more than his losing his mind. If something went wrong, he could lose his life along with Nancy’s and quite possibly her own. Their lives were barely beginning, they had turned their marriage around, and they now had money and the best house in town. 

It didn’t seem fair, and since she no longer trusted the sheriff after he threw her in jail, she wasn’t sure what to do. She doubted if Steve would talk to her, and she would never impose on Deb to ask him as a favor to her. Steve would tell the sheriff anyway. Daniel would probably be arrested for interfering with a police investigation, and the sheriff would grab her and toss her back into a cell with the claim she was a material witness again or worse.