The Ghost Files 3 (13 page)

He pulls one of the chairs over to my bed and sits down. His posture is perfectly ramrod straight as he settles back. It has to be uncomfortable to sit like that for any length of time. I’ve never been able to do it.

“Do you think you could give my daughter and I a few minutes alone?” He directs the question at Eli.

I answer him instead. “I don’t know about that. Nancy would have a coronary.”

“Ah, yes, your watchdog.” He laughs. “You are exceptionally lucky to have someone so fierce looking out for you.”

I’m in complete agreement there. If my social worker had been anyone but Nancy, he’d have run roughshod all over them and who knows where I’d be right now? Thank you, Nancy.

“I understand her reservations, Mattie,” he continues, “but believe me when I say there are no doubts whatsoever that you
are
my daughter.”

“That might be true,” I say, “but I don’t know you and
I’m
not comfortable being alone with you. I want Eli to stay.”

He nods in acquiescence. “Of course. My intention is not to make you uncomfortable. It’s going to take a while for us both to get used to each other,
ma petite
.”

“What does that mean?” I ask him. He’d called me that earlier.

“
Ma petite
? It means little one in French, and has always been my nickname for you.” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a black velvet jewelry box. “This was your mother’s. I bought it for her the day you were born and I know she’d want you to have it.”

“My mom…is she still alive?” I ask softly, taking the box from him. I’d wondered about that when he’d shown up at the police station alone.

For a moment, his lips tighten then he sighs. “Yes, she’s alive, but she is not well. I had to institutionalize her a few years ago.”

Institutionalize? My mom’s a nut case? Does she see ghost
s too and he put her in the mental ward because of it? Would he put me there if he finds out I see them? My stomach clenches in panic and my mind goes into overload thinking about all the possibilities.

Seeing the look of horror on my face, he rushes on. “There are no inherited mental illnesses to worry about. Your mother, she had a hard time after your kidnapping, but I’m hoping seeing you, alive and well, will bring her back to us.” He sighs and runs a hand through his hair. “The night you were taken, she was the only one home except for the housekeeper
, who had gone to bed. I was away on business. She blames herself for your loss and because of it, she has slowly gone mad from grief.”

I frown. It’s a different story than the one Dan’s mom and Silas painted. Silas said my mother had given me to Claire to get me away from the man
sitting beside me. Dan’s mother called my father a monster. Zeke seems so sincere, though. I’m confused and not ashamed to admit it. So many questions rattle around in my aching head. Where to start?

“Did you know my mom…I mean Claire…Amanda?” I ask. How had she even managed to get near me? I don’t think my father is the kind of man to take chances. He’s too ruthless to lose and yet he did.

He grimaces. “Unfortunately, yes. We employed her right after you were born. Ms. Sterling came with impeccable references. I never suspected her true nature until she took you from us. I have gone over where I went wrong so many times. I’m usually very good at reading people, but I saw no warning signs with her. She was an exemplary nanny who absolutely adored you.”

“She did love me,” I tell him. It’s true
, too. No matter how messed up she got, I never doubted that. Up until that last day and even then, knowing what I do now, I still believe she loved me.

“I was informed of the circumstances surrounding your entrance into the foster care system,” he says, eyes solemn. “
Please don’t try to make me feel better. I understand the nightmare you lived through and how you were forced to survive in a system you should never have been a part of.”

The stark pain in his eyes is heartbreaking. “Don’t do that. Don’t blame yourself, I don’t.”

He leans forward and takes my hand. “I want you to understand, Emma Rose, there has not been a day that’s gone by since we lost you that we ever gave up hope. I’ve been searching for you ever since I came home and found you gone. You were loved and missed every single day. I am so sorry for everything that happened to you,
ma petite
,” he whispers. “I promise you I will spend every day for the rest of eternity making it up to you. You are loved and wanted and will always be. You are my daughter, my flesh and blood, and I love you. I’ve loved you since the day you were born and I will love you until the day I die. Please believe me when I tell you that.”

“You really mean that, don’t you?” I whisper, unsure how to react. The intensity in his eyes burn
s into mine.

“You were our entire world.” He smiles. It’s a real smile that reaches his eyes and I feel the truth of that statement. Which is weird. The only time I feel emotions are when I’m feeling those of a ghost. “When we found out Melissa was pregnant, we redesigned an entire wing for your nursery and playrooms. Then when you were born and we held you in our arms for the first time…” He closes his eyes and the love that I feel emanating from him is
so
strong, it overwhelms me. This man loves me more than anyone or anything in his entire world. “You were our little angel, our
ma petite
.”

A single tear slips down my cheek. I spent the last twelve years bouncing from one place to the next, missing what I knew I’d never have. Yet, here sits a man who claims I had all that, have always had it, and will always have it. Eli squeezes my other hand. I grip his very tightly.

“It will take time for you to trust me, to trust the things I’m telling you,” he says. “I just needed you to know how I felt. The days have crawled by since I got the phone call from Ms. Moriarity telling me that you’d been found. I’ve spent the last sixteen years worried about you, scared you didn’t have the things you needed, that you were with people who didn’t love you. Then I find out my worst fears were realized. Foster care. Dear God, I’m so sorry I couldn’t protect you from that. I’ll do everything I can to help you to trust me…and to love me as much as I do you, my sweet girl.”

He uses his free hand to open the jewelry box I’m still holding and I look down. Inside rests a ruby pendant suspended on delicate silver chain. It’s beautiful. The color is a true red, not the pinkish hue you see on most rubies today. It flashes bursts of fire as it catches the rays of the muted light.

“Your mother loved the color red. She wanted to do your nursery in red, but I talked her into more soothing tones of blues, browns, and yellows. Everyone said I was secretly pining for a boy since I refused to use shades of pink or purple, but those colors weren’t for you. I knew the softer gentle earthy tones would work better.”

I gasp. Those
are
my favorite colors. I love them more than anything else. I feel grounded around them, more at peace. He’d known that about me even before I’d been born?

“When you look at this, I want you to know you are loved by your parents, that I’m here and will be here no matter what. I bought this for your mother to show her how much it meant to me that she gave
me the most precious gift in the world, and now I’m giving it to you so you can remember you are the most precious thing in the word to us.”

I have no words. For once in my life, I’m at a complete and total loss. This man that I know in my heart is a very, very bad man is telling me how much he loves me and I can
feel
it. How am I supposed to respond to this? I don’t know what to do, what to say. Panic rises up and the overwhelming urge to hit something seizes me. My first instinct is to demolish the person making me feel like this and it takes every ounce of strength I have
not
to do it.

He leans forward and kisses me on the forehead. “Shh, sweet girl, it’s all going to be okay. I promise. I also have something that will work a lot better than the salt lines.”

Eli tenses up beside me and I slowly raise my eyes to meet those of my father. They are back to being amused. He reminds me so much of Silas right now, and that isn’t good. I cringe away from him. “I’m not sure what you mean…”

“Come now, Mattie, you and I share a gift, one your friend is aware of or you wouldn’t have put the salt where he could see it. Let’s agree to be honest with each other, yes?”

“
I
didn’t put the salt there,” I tell him.

“My brother did that,” Eli says when Zeke just gives me a stare that blatantly says he doesn’t believe a word I’m saying. Eli stands and looks almost as dangerous and threatening as my father. It makes my pulse quicken and I have to remind myself to breathe. Heat radiates from him.

“Well, well, I didn’t expect
this
,” Zeke murmurs and appraises Eli with a newfound respect. “Maybe I don’t need to worry about you as much as I originally thought,
ma petite
.”

“What do you mean by that?” I ask, confused.

“It’s a story for another time,” he sighs. He reaches up and takes off a necklace that looks like a simple black chain. “This is iron encased in onyx,” he explains and lays it down on the bed beside of me. “It works like a repellant and will help to keep some of the weaker ghosts away. It’ll also keep a ghost from touching you again. I was assured it will go with any outfit a young lady would wish to wear.”

My eyes go wide at that. Not touch me? Does that mean I won’t have to relive anymore death experiences? “Do
you
get visions when they touch you?”

“What we can do, Mattie, is very special. We need to be able to let them touch us, but first,
you
need to learn to control it. Once you do, it will get better, but until then, I had this made for you.”

As soon as my fingers touch the stones, it feels as if I’ve just laid them against a hot stove eye. I pull them back and they are in my mouth in a heartbeat. Why do we always have this insane urge to put an injured finger in our mouth?

Zeke frowns. “That hurt?”

I nod and Eli gently takes my hand and examines the pads of my fingers. They are red and swollen.

“It shouldn’t have done that.” Zeke is more perplexed than I am when he retrieves the necklace. “It should only do that to a ghost.”

It’s on the tip of my tongue to say I’m basically made up of ghost energy, especially with Eric’s essence taking up residence, but I don’t. I can hear Silas in my head telling me not to let my father know what I can do.
This
isn’t bringing life to images, but I’m betting Silas would have a conniption if I blurted
this
little tidbit out.

“Maybe it’s defective,” Zeke says at last. “I do apologize. It was not my intention to harm you.”

“It’s fine.” I lean back and enjoy the feel of Eli’s hand as he softly strokes the back of mine. His fingers feel like silk teasing my skin.

“As much as I would like to stay a little longer, I must get this matter looked into so I can keep you safe.” Zeke stands and then places a kiss on my forehead. “Get some rest,
ma petite
, and I will be back tomorrow to visit.”

We are both quiet as he leaves and then Eli turns to me with a Holy Batman look.

What just happened?

Chapter Twelve

The private hospital room is much nicer than the other one. I
’ve got to give CMC Medical Center props. It’s plush as far as hospital rooms go. They’d even brought Eli a fold-out cot to sleep on. He’d passed out about an hour ago and is sleeping soundly, which leaves me all alone with my thoughts. We’d not had time to really discuss everything once Zeke left. They’d started moving me to a new room less than five minutes later. The man worked fast.

I’m confused where my father is concerned. He seems so earnest in his feelings for me, but I can’t bring myself to trust him no matter how much I want to. I can feel in my bones just how bad of a man he is. And yet…he’s my father. What am I supposed to do?

The urge to pee becomes overpowering. I’ve been laying here for the last hour ignoring my bladder as I stared at the ceiling trying to sort things out. My bladder is now yelling at me. I grimace and sit up. A wave of dizziness washes over me. I sit still for a moment and it passes. Head wounds can be nasty, dizzy spells common. I’ve learned over the last few months to roll with it and it’ll pass. Standing up, I’m grateful the IV stand is on my side of the bed and not Eli’s. He looks exhausted and I’ve been careful not to wake him.

I owe him my life. Thinking about what might have happened if he hadn’t been there makes me shudder. I’d almost drowned because of one very angry ghost. I’m still having issues with this insane attraction
I feel for him and I’m hesitant about it. I mean, really, who has ever fallen in love at first sight? Not that I love him, I just…don’t know. I’m confused. I feel like I’ve been in a
constant
state of confusion and don’t like it. I hate feeling vulnerable and lost and that’s exactly how I feel right now. More lost and alone than I’ve ever felt in my life, but I’ve got more people around me who care than I’ve ever had, before, too. See? Messed up, confused feelings. Hate that.