Mysteries of Holt House - A Mystery (32 page)

Sharon grabbed my arm. “Shhh. I heard
something.”

I listened intently, but heard nothing, so
I turned back to the box. Sharon was still holding my arm.

“Sharon, you’re hurting my – ” Then I
heard it too. It sounded like a footstep in the passageway.

“I’m going to go see what it is,” Sharon
said recklessly, releasing my arm.

“Don’t! Stay here,” I whispered, but she
was already out the door. I waited, but she didn’t return and I didn’t hear
anything else. I gathered up all my courage and headed for the door to go in
search of Sharon.

A blood-curdling scream came from the
direction of the stairs.

“
Sharon!
” I yelled.

I ran out of the room and looked to my
left and right, not knowing from which direction the scream had come.

“
Sharon!
” I yelled again. I heard
no answer, but thought I heard a noise coming from the left. I turned and ran
in that direction. Turning the corner, I almost ran into the man who’d been
haunting my life.

Chapter
Thirty-nine

IN THE TOWN
OF WAVERLY

“We can’t wait much longer,” Mike said,
looking at his watch. “Something’s wrong. Josh should have been here a long
time ago.”

David checked his own watch. “I know. I
thought it was an emergency from the sound of his call. When we talked last
night he mentioned he was going to stop at the police station while he was in
town. Why don’t we drive by and see if he’s been there yet?”

“Yeah, good idea. He said they were
working with him on his investigation. Some big shot from L.A. gave them the
word to cooperate with him. The homicide detective who came out sure hasn’t
been any help.”

“Must be nice to have connections like
that.”

The two men paid for their coffee and
left the café. They drove to the police station as quickly as the weather would
permit.

“Isn’t that Josh’s car pulling out?”
Mike asked, pointing at the familiar vehicle.

“Yeah.” David started honking the horn.
He saw Lucy turn around to see who was honking, and then she turned back to say
something to Josh. Lucy looked upset. Josh pulled over and got out of his car.

“Mike! David! We’ve got to get back to
the house as fast as we can,” Josh said, a note of urgency in his voice.

“What’s going on?” Mike asked. He and
David climbed out of the truck. “Why did you call and tell us to meet you at
the café?”

“I
didn’t
call you,” Josh said helplessly, handing him a slip of paper.
“This is the name of the patient at Rose Mental Hospital, and a little of his
background. He escaped not long before the Holts died in the accident. He’s
been on the loose ever since. Everyone seemed to think he’d taken to the
streets and died since there was no trace of him.”

“Oh, my God!” Mike said as he read the
name on the piece of paper. “I never would have guessed. His last name is
really Holt?” He handed the paper to David.

“I called the place where he said he
worked and they said they’ve never heard of him. And I tried to call the house,
but the phone is dead.”

“Let’s go!” David climbed back into the
truck. Mike jumped in and Josh ran to his car.

“Lucy, you’d better say a prayer that
we’re in time,” Josh said, putting the car in gear.

It was after three-thirty. There wasn’t
much time, but none of them knew that for sure, even if they felt it. Both
drivers took chances they wouldn’t have normally taken for the sake of time.

“Step on it, David,” Mike urged.

“I can’t go any faster in this weather.
With the wind and snow we’re lucky to be making any time at all,” he said,
frustration oozing from his every word.

“We’ve got to get there in time. It
must have been Fernley who called, saying he was Josh. Kelly said his voice
sounded funny, remember?”

“Yeah. Ted Fernley Holt,” David said.
“Who would have guessed?”

“Obviously, not us,” Mike said, anger
and more frustration coming through in his voice. He slammed his fist against
the dashboard for emphasis.

“It shouldn’t be much longer now. I can
see Josh and Lucy behind us. They’ve kept up pretty well,” David said, glancing
in his rearview mirror.

Chapter
Forty

“Hello, Amelia, or shall I call you
Mother. No, I like Amelia better. I couldn’t call anyone mother who could stick
me in that place. It was a factory, Amelia, a factory where they tried to make
artificial souls for those of us who’d lost ours.”

I must have had a blank look on my face. I
couldn’t quite comprehend what he was talking about.

“But Amelia, you look so shocked. I’m
surprised at you. Nothing shocks a woman whose heart is made of stone.”

“Ted,” I said, in a shaky voice, “I’m not
Amelia. It’s me, Kelly, remember?”

“Kelly, Amelia. You can call yourself whatever
you want to. I knew you’d be back. I knew it. That’s why I kept the house ready
for you. I wanted it to invite you in when you looked at it. I knew you’d be
back.”

“Ted,” I said softly, trying to remain
calm and not wanting to upset him, “what happened to Sharon?”

He ignored my question. I looked deep into
his eyes and saw a hatred beyond anything I could have ever imagined, but there
was more than hatred. I saw total, complete insanity, and I was practically
petrified with fear. How could I have missed seeing this before?

“Ted, talk to me.” I knew I couldn’t run
because he was so close to me. I had to stall for time and hope someone would
come home. “What did Amelia – I – what did I do to you to make you feel this
way, to make you hate me so much?”

He laughed, a little too loudly. “Oh,
aren’t you the cute one. What did you do to me? You took my life from me,
that’s what you did. You tried to hide me away, and when that didn’t work, you
sent
me away.
You turned everyone against me, Mother!
” He screamed the last
words at me, making me flinch.

“Ted, try to calm down,” I said. His body
was so tight that he was shaking. “Talk to me. Why did you push poor Ruth out
of her window? Why? She could never have done anything to you. She didn’t even
know you.”

“Oh, she could hurt me, Amelia. That
prying little bitch. She had a crush on me. She followed me one night and saw
me leave a note in the kitchen for you. She called me on it. She didn’t know
what was going on, but she meant to find out so she could hold it over my head.
She was out to get me, just like you.”

“But what about Richard?” I asked.
Keep
him talking
, I thought.

“You ask too many questions,” he snapped
at me. “I guess I can indulge you for now though. This one last time. It won’t
be long before you won’t be able to ask any questions.”

I shivered.

“Richard got suspicious,” he said. “He’d
been watching me too closely. One night he snuck into my room to search it, and
he was there when I came out of the passages. He tried to blackmail me. We
argued and I hit him. I think it surprised him,” Ted said, giggling. He shook
his head like he needed to clear it. “He ran out of my room, but I caught up
with him on the second floor at the top of the stairs. He tried to argue with
me, so I hit him again, pushing him down the stairs.” His voice made it a very
simple statement, which anyone should understand in his opinion.

“Anymore questions, Amelia?”

“Yes,” I replied. “What happened to Amelia
and George Holt?” Whoops! He thought I was Amelia.

“That’s a strange question, coming from
you, Mother.” He looked confused, but only for a split second. He answered me
in his own way.

“You and father didn’t expect to see me
that day, did you? You hadn’t been notified yet that I’d escaped from that hell
hole, I’m sure.” He giggled again, a sound that made me shiver uncontrollably.
I began to feel very cold. “I wish I’d had a camera to capture the look on your
face when you saw me. You and father running to the car like that, trying to
get away from me – your loving son.” He laughed again.

“I saw the fear on your ugly face, and I
saw the guilt, too. When father drove away, I saw you grab the wheel and try to
turn back. Did you honestly think you could make up to me? Or did you decide to
try to come back to run me down? I couldn’t tell for sure. Would it surprise
you to know I applauded when I saw the accident?” He sounded absolutely
gleeful.

At least he was answering my questions,
but a lot of what he said was confusing. I didn’t understand half of what the
man was telling me. Where had Amelia and George sent Ted? And why didn’t anyone
seem to know they had a son? Had they really hidden him away?

I thought I heard a groan. “Sharon,” I
called.

“Shut up! She can’t help you. She’s had a
little accident. No one can help you now, Amelia.”

“
Don’t call me Amelia!
” I
screeched, losing control. “I’m Kelly! Look at me, Ted. I’m Kelly!”

“I told you to shut up,” he said in a low,
quiet voice. That was worse than yelling at me. He raised his hand as if to hit
me and I backed away. He giggled again. I hated that giggle. It sounded so –
repulsive.

I heard Sharon groan again, so at least I
knew she was still alive.

“Well, Amelia, it’s time to settle an old
score,” Ted said.

“No!” I pushed him and ran for all I was
worth.

“You’re not going to get away from me.” He
sounded alarmingly calm. “I’ve waited too long for this sweet revenge.” His
voice faded as I ran, increasing the distance between us.

I stopped running. I was confused and
couldn’t figure out where I was. “Oh, no,” I whispered. “I’ve gone the wrong
way. The stairs are on the other side.” Panic filled my heart. Pure,
unadulterated panic. I heard running footsteps. I looked around in terror,
trying to find somewhere to hide. I retraced my steps for a short distance and
entered one of the small rooms. It was so dark that I had to feel my way along
the wall.

I saw a light. He was coming closer,
bringing the oil lamp with him. I stood just to the side of the door. He moved
even closer. I heard a clink as he set the lamp on the floor.

He wants to keep his hands free
, I thought.

I saw his shadow. He was coming toward the
room. I clung to the wall, trying to melt into it, to become a part of it.

“I’m coming, Amelia, I’m coming,” he said,
almost like a promise.

He stepped through the doorway, but I was
in the shadows and he didn’t see me. I held my breath, my heart pounding,
waiting until he took another step in. I felt a cough coming on and fought the
urge.

“Ahh,” I grunted, shoving him away from
the door. He grabbed my arm, but I managed to wrench it away from him. I ran
again. I’ve always been a little afraid of the dark, but now it was my best
friend, my only protection. I felt my way along, spider webs, cob webs,
whatever, sticking to my hands.

I reached the steps by a room and climbed
up and down them as quickly as I could without falling. I could hear him coming
again, but he left the light behind, so he was in the dark, too. I kept moving.
More steps, up and down. He was closing in on me. He was more familiar with the
passages.

I coughed and had to stop for a moment.

After what felt like an eternity, I
reached the staircase leading down to the second floor. I stepped carefully,
missed a step anyway, caught myself and kept going. I reached the bottom, took
a couple of steps and tripped over something. Sharon moaned.

“Sharon,” I whispered. “Can you hear me?”

“Help me. I think my leg is broken, and my
head hurts, really bad. I think I’m bleeding.”

“Oh, Sharon. I don’t know what to do. I
can hear him coming. He’s after
me
,” I whispered, “not you. I’ll pull
you out of the way and I’ll run. He’ll leave you and follow me. Just scrunch up
against the wall as much as you can.”

“Okay, but be careful. Kelly, I hurt.” Her
words tugged at my heart, but I couldn’t do anything about it.

I pushed her against the wall, knowing it
took everything she had not to scream.

“Okay, Sharon, I’m going.”

Chapter
Forty-one

BACK FROM
WAVERLY

David and Mike pulled around to the
coach house, jumped out of the truck and ran to the kitchen door.

“Jem,” Mike said.

Jem was throwing himself at the door,
trying to get in. He heard Mike’s voice and whined, continuing his frenzied
lunges at the door.

“Jem,” Mike repeated. The dog stopped
for a moment as Mike opened the door, then tore into the house like he was
crazed. The lights were out and the house was pitch black inside.