Resurrecting Harry (15 page)

Through the door between the living room and kitchen, he could see her descending the steps, dressed for the day. The stage coat gone, he wondered if she’d tucked it back in the chest, hidden it — and Harry — from the outward world once again.

She swerved into the kitchen and reappeared less than a minute later carrying a tray. Setting it on the coffee table in front of him, she said, “Everything you need to clean and bandage your incision is right here. Are you sure you don’t want me to help you?”

He gripped the arm of the couch and attempted to pull himself to his feet. “Give me a moment to do this and then I’ll go with you. I’m going stir-crazy here.”

Her tongue clicked against her mouth twice as she shook her head. “I need to get to town and back this
morning
. Stay here and rest and we can eat dinner out in the yard this afternoon.”

Standing toe to toe with her wasn’t endearing him and if he was going to get through to her, he needed to stop waging war and start mending fences. “Certainly, Bess.”

Her hand went straight to his forehead and a frown shaded her recent warm glow. “Compliance is not your usual mode. You don’t feel feverish?”

“It’s a new leaf.” Erich smirked and raised his eyebrow at her, even though her brief touch was enough to make his body scream for more.

She went back to fussing with her handbag; accepting him at his word, perhaps? “Can I get you anything before I go?”

“No, thank you. I’m fine.”

The sound of the back door closing echoed throughout the house. He was alone. He let his hand graze the arm of the sofa and his eyes scan the room. He remembered the first time they walked through the house. So much larger than any other place they lived before, Bess called it a castle. The moment she uttered those words, he knew his queen deserved nothing less.

Those feelings of awe and wonder faded and with Bess’s care, the mausoleum had become a home — their home — warm and cozy. But like everything else in her life since Harry’s passing, the house had been neglected. And she had gone from being its ruling lady to a grieving captor.

He still had three weeks to affect a change, and he’d also use that time to restore a bit of glory to the house. Another day of rest and he should be good as new.

Careful of how he moved and reached, he washed the incision with peroxide and applied more of the medicine man’s magic paste. Despite the fact Jaden gave Joseph’s remedies a stamp of approval, Erich still questioned their effectiveness and the shaman’s motives. As he re-taped a clean bandage over the incision, there was a knock on the kitchen door. He was tempted to ignore it and save his strength for the picnic Bess promised, but curiosity got the best of him. “I’m coming as fast as I can!” Crossing the threshold to the utility room, he got a first look at their visitor and felt his eyebrows draw together.

Martin.

Erich couldn’t hide Harry’s anger or contempt for the doctor as he pushed open the old wooden door. “What are you doing here?”

“I’ve come to see Bess.” Martin’s answer was simple like he didn’t owe Erich an explanation. Arrogance. Erich expected no less.

“She’s not here.”

“But you still are.” Martin walked past Erich and laid his long, wool coat over the back of the chair.

“Bess has been a real angel of mercy, helping me when I was sick.” Not that it was any of his business.

“I expected to see her in town today. Will said she hadn’t been around for a few days. Gail and I became worried.”

Why was he worried? If she was in danger, it was from the malarkey they were feeding her – that and the home made brandy she drank and the cigarettes she smoked. But then, his concern was probably a lie too. “Bess told me she called on you yesterday.”

Martin leveled his gaze on Erich. “And she wasn’t acting like herself.”

With Harry’s memories, Erich could read Martin’s body language and now knew that Martin was on a fishing expedition. He was trying to find out just what Erich knew and how important he was to Bess. “There isn’t any reason for you to worry. I’m here to protect her.”

Shaking his head and chuckling low, Martin didn’t even try to hide his amusement. “Doesn’t look like you’d be able to defend her from an intruder right now.”

“But I can defend her from the likes of you and that woman you call a wife.”

Any fun Martin was having vanished with the insult. “I don’t think Bess would appreciate you saying disparaging things to her friends.”

“Harry wouldn’t want you anywhere near Bess or his home.” Erich had no problem declaring that fact.

Martin tipped his head, acknowledging the truth. “But Harry isn’t here to think anything at all. If he were, I’m not sure he’d want you here either. He had a way of scenting out a con.”

Laughing wasn’t the smartest thing Erich had done, but he couldn’t help it. The irony of Martin’s words and the nerve he possessed to say such a thing was just too absurd. “Bess asked me to stay and help her care for the house. I think that includes keeping out the vermin.”

“Bess isn’t in her right frame of mind, and a man who would take advantage of her fragile state isn’t much of a man at all.”

Wasn’t that just Martin’s way? Spin the spotlight onto others to avoid being found out. “I couldn’t agree more. That’s why I’ll have to ask you to leave and never come back.”

“I might be offended if I believed you had any authority here. This is Bess’s home, and my wife and I are quite welcome here. No matter how it would offend Harry or you.” There was confidence and an ease to the way Martin spoke, and it burned a hole in Erich’s gut to know that there was a truth to what Martin said. Somewhere along the line, he’d earned Bess’s allegiance – and once acquired, she rarely wavered from it.

Erich had to wonder if he’d ever be successful in gaining that trust and loyalty for himself.

“I may not have a say in whether you stay or go, but I do know that my heart is pure and my intentions in her life are good. Bess has no business chasing ghosts and pursuing the occult. No real friend would be encouraging her to do so.”

“It wasn’t my idea for her to call out Harry’s spirit. He came up with that scheme all on his own. It pains me to say it’s quite brilliant. Not many men focus on their reputation after they’ve expired.” Martin paused, but a hearty laugh shook his body. “Only Harry. Only Harry.”

Erich’s gut tightened. He’d planned every aspect of the scheme, looking to secure a future and preserve his legacy, and the idea of Martin using that for his personal gain enraged him. “Don’t presume to know Harry’s mind.”

“Like you?”

“I know more than you think.”

“You breeze into her life and home out of nowhere and think that gives you the right to run her affairs.”

“My place in this house and Bess’s life is up to her alone. For as long as I’m here, I’ll be doing everything I can to keep the likes of you away.”

Martin took a firm step toward him. A dark light burned in his eyes. “Listen here, little boy, I don’t have time for this. Don’t think for one minute I’m going to let you waltz in here in the final stretch and ruin what I’ve worked eleven long months to build. Continue to try and discredit me and my wife with Bess and you’ll wish you’d never laid eyes on me.”

Martin thinly skated around the edges of admitting he’d been plotting against Bess. He hadn’t quite said that every interaction with her had been part of a massive scheme, but he’d come close enough to saying that to worry Erich.

What could Martin or Gail possibly gain from the séance? They would never succeed in reciting Harry’s message on their own, and he knew Bess would never just give them the message. Even if it were possible for him or Gail to successfully communicate with the dead, which it wasn’t, Harry’s soul was locked in Erich’s body and would remain silent rather than give either scoundrel one ray of the center stage spotlight.

So what was his angle? “What are you hoping to get out of this?”

Martin picked up his coat from the back of the chair, draping it over his arm. “Hopes and dreams are child’s play. I planted seeds and tended them well. Now, I just have to wait for them to blossom. Please, tell Bess I checked in on her.”

Only after the wood door slammed and Martin was out of sight, did Erich let himself grip the back of the chair and feel the pain still radiating in his side. The length of time he’d been up on his feet was enough strain on his weak body, but Martin’s attitude and air of entitlement in Bess’s life had frustrated him beyond words.
Did that snake really just threaten my life?

Erich remembered how Martin strayed from his first wife while she lay on her deathbed. Then, at Gail’s request, he cut ties with his children by Louise. So yes, Martin would follow through on his threat without a second thought.

However, just because he know knew Martin and Gail were working a malicious plot didn’t give him the ammunition to unravel it. Above all, one truth remained. Saving Bess would be an impossible task if he found himself back in a grave.

***

Bess handed the store clerk the dollar bill and flipped her attention over her shoulder when she heard her name called by a familiar voice.

Gail bustled up the small aisle and came to her side. “What a happy accident to run into you today.”

Bess took the change from the clerk and placed the few items into her canvas tote bag, before turning and greeting the woman with a quick hug. “An accident? It seems I’m in town nearly every day as of late.”

“Caring for that young man has kept you busy, but you know, the day of the séance is getting closer and we really need to carve out some time to rehearse and to hone our skills.”

But how to do such a task with Erich in the house? He’d made it more than clear that he didn’t believe in communicating with the dead, and he didn’t think she should waste her time with such endeavors. It shouldn’t matter what he thought, but Bess couldn’t deny that it did. “You’re right. Maybe I can come out to your place in the next couple of days and we can make some plans. Maybe try to connect with Harry on our own?”

“That would be lovely. Just wonderful. How about tomorrow?”

“Can we say the day after? Tomorrow is my day to volunteer at the hospital.”

“Perfect. You’ll come around noon and I will have the cook make a nice lunch for us. We’ll make an afternoon of it.”

Even though her heart was twisted in knots, Gail’s enthusiasm sparked a light in her. “I have to say, it’s good to see you so happy.”

Gail leaned closer. “And I have you to thank for making my life so much brighter.”

“Me? I don’t understand.”

“Thanks to you and your friend’s illness, I no longer have to deal with that Joseph. Not in my home, and not in my life. Between that and having the séance to look forward to, I’m in my own little Heaven.”

Bess dropped her gaze to her shoes. Joseph was a wise man and a friend of hers. Bess thought Gail’s joy at Joseph’s expense was unjust and bordered on cruel, even if she had a reason for it. “He’s a nice man and a good healer. I wish him well.”

Gail shifted her weight back on her heel and crossed her arms in front of her chest. “I know it’s hard for you to understand why I feel the way I do, but you really need to think about it from my point of view. Martin had a life before me, I understand that, but we are ten years past his old life. Why is it wrong for me to be want to be identified as his wife?”

“I’ve never thought of you as anything but—”

“Not you, Bess. You’ve always been gracious to me, but anyone who knew Louise holds me at arm’s length and blames me for something I had nothing to do with. I didn’t get her sick. I didn’t wish her demise or do anything to cause it, and despite what most people believe I was no more than Martin’s friend until he was free of his marital obligations.”