Town Haunts (13 page)

“Would you mind
coming with me for a moment?” she asked with a polite smile that
didn’t reach her eyes this time.

“Is something
wrong?” Anna asked again.

“It won’t take
long,” Shirley said, putting up a sign saying that her wicket was
closed. Another teller opened the station next to hers, and the man
in line behind her stepped forward as Anna followed Shirley to the
office that she had just left. A young man in a grey suit and blue
tie stood up as she entered the room.

“This is Anna
Nolan, Jim,” Shirley said. “Anna, this is Jim Cheong, the assistant
bank manager.” Anna and Jim nodded at each other. There were two
chairs facing his desk, and Jim indicated that she should take one
of them. Anna sat down as Shirley left the room, closing the door
behind her. There was a ten dollar bill on the desk in front of
Jim, and Anna pointed to it.

“Is that my
ten?” she asked. “Is there something wrong with it?”

“I’m afraid
so,” Jim said, picking it up and rubbing it between his fingers.
“There are a few abnormalities, I’m afraid. Shirley was on-the-ball
to have noticed them. It’s definitely a counterfeit.”

“Counterfeit?”
Anna repeated, perching forward on her chair. “I can’t believe it.
Nothing like this has ever happened to me before.”

Jim dropped the
bill back onto his desk and leaned forward on his elbows, clasping
his hands together. “Shirley tells me that you’ve been a regular
customer for four years.”

“That’s right,”
Anna said, her voice a little higher than normal. “You don’t think
that I’m a counterfeiter, do you?”

“We’d like to
know where the bill came from,” he said, gazing into her eyes.

“Just a
minute,” Anna said, fumbling for her purse. She drew out her wallet
and opened the billfold, checking the bills within. “I had a fifty
last night when I went to the store, and Sherman gave me back a ten
and a twenty in the change. See, here’s the twenty,” she said,
holding up the bill.

“May I?” Jim
asked, reaching across the desk for it. He studied the front
carefully before turning the twenty over. “You mentioned a store.
What store was that?”

“May’s
Groceries and More,” Anna said, watching his face.

“You said that
Sherman gave it to you. Sherman Mason?”

“That’s right.
May had an accident, so Sherman was filling in for her last
night.”

“I see,” Jim
said, gazing up at her with a smile and handing back the twenty.
“This bill is fine, but I’m afraid that we’ll have to give your ten
to the police.” He opened the drawer in the top of his desk and
withdrew a slim plastic bag. Dropping the ten inside the bag, he
sealed it. “It’s not the first counterfeit ten we’ve see this week,
either.”

“Really?” Anna
said, her eyes opening wide.

He slipped the
bag into his desk and stood up, offering her his hand and smiling.
“Thank you for your cooperation, Anna. We’ll let the police take it
from here.”

“You’re
welcome,” she said, jumping to her feet to shake his hand. It
wasn’t until she was back on the street that she realized she
didn’t have the change she needed for work next week, but there was
no way she was going back inside the bank. Not having just escaped
such an unnerving experience. Instead, she turned next door and
headed for the sanctuary of The Diner.

Sherman sat on the edge
of the chair pulled next to May’s hospital bed, his baseball cap
dangling between his fingers. He had come in just as the lunch
trays were being removed. May’s elderly roommate had a visitor, a
middle-aged woman who was sharing some photographs with her. May
wore a nightgown instead of the hospital gown she had worn the
previous evening, and cuddled a bouquet of peach-coloured
sweetheart roses in her arms. She beamed at Sherman.

“They’re just
beautiful. Thanks for bringing them.”

“Least I could
do, May. I used to buy them for Evie on our anniversary. They were
her favourite flower.”

“I used to buy
Earl beef jerky every year. You might think that doesn’t sound very
romantic, but he was crazy about the stuff. The company that makes
it out in Longview has some pretty great flavours, like barbecue
and honey-garlic.”

There was a
lull in the conversation, and Sherman’s eyes roamed around the room
while he searched for something to say.

“I’m glad to
hear that they’re letting you go home tomorrow,” he said, his eyes
lighting back on May. “I mean, go home to Miss Dombrosky’s. She’ll
take good care of you. Not that I wouldn’t be happy to help if you
wanted to go back to your place, but I wouldn’t make a very good
nurse.” A rare smile of amusement flitted across his face.

“Yeah, I can’t
wait to get out of here. Not to complain, they treat me real well,
but it’s hard to get any sleep when they keep waking you up at
night to check on you.”

“Things are
going well at the store,” Sherman said, twirling the cap in his
hands. “Your son got some extra staff in to help. Besides me, that
is. Things are pretty quiet at the cemetery this time of year, so
I’m happy to help.”

“So Gerry said.
It was nice of you to take over for him yesterday, though.”

Sherman nodded.
“The least I could do, after you’ve been so kind to me. It’s very
convenient, too, living over top of the store. I’ve been keeping
things tidy for when you get back.” He glanced up after a few
moments when she didn’t respond; May was frowning at him.

“Listen,
Sherman,” she said, leaning in close and lowering her voice. “Did
anyone tell you what really happened to me the night I fell? Gerry
thinks I’m nuts and should keep this to myself, but I know what I
saw. I didn’t just trip on those stairs. There was a ghost waiting
for me, and I fell trying to get away from it.”

Sherman stopped
twirling his hat to gawk at her. “No, he didn’t tell me. What do
you mean, a ghost?”

“I know I
already said I don’t believe in ghosts,” May added, “but what else
could it have been? One minute it wasn’t there, and the next, it
was standing right in front of me, waving its shroud around.” May
shuddered while Sherman stared at her.

“Did it say
anything?”

“Not a thing.
It didn’t make a sound.”

“Then what
happened?”

“I don’t really
remember. I fell down the stairs, and I guess I bumped my head and
passed out. When I woke up, it was gone.”

Sherman grasped
her hand between his callused fingers, his face full of dismay.
“May, I’m so sorry. Nobody told me about the ghost. It’s all my
fault.”

“How?” May
asked, her face creasing in concern.

“If I hadn’t
been staying with you, she would never have gone to your
apartment.”

“Who wouldn’t
have?”

“Evie. It’s me
she’s after. If I had known that she could leave the house, I would
never have stayed at your apartment. I wouldn’t put you in any
danger. You’re such a sweet, generous lady.” He bent to kiss her
cheek, and stumbled to his feet. “I’ve got to go.”

“Go where?”

“I don’t have
many things at your apartment. I can clear them out right away and
leave the key at the store.”

May reached for
his hand and missed it as he set his cap back on his head. “But
Sherman, where will you go?”

“I don’t know.
I’ll figure that out later. I’ve got to stop Evie before she hurts
anyone else.”

“Sherman!” May
called after him as he ran from the room.

Chapter
Fifteen

Anna glanced
around the restaurant, hoping that she hadn’t missed Erna. She
wanted to talk to her privately about the counterfeit money episode
at the bank. She had a bad feeling that Sherman was somehow
involved, but she didn’t want to air her suspicions in front of
everyone else at The Diner. It would be all over town by the end of
the day if she did, and that wouldn’t be fair to Sherman.

The stools at
the front counter were empty. Mr. Andrews was reading his paper at
one of the back tables, and the other tables were occupied by
out-of-towners. No sign of Erna.

Anna sat down
at the counter and watched Mary fill a teapot with boiling water.
After a moment, she cleared her throat to catch the waitress’s
attention.

Mary glanced
over her shoulder. “Hi, Anna. You’re late. Sleep in this
morning?”

“Yes. Have you
seen Erna?”

“Been and
gone.” Picking up the teapot and a mug, Mary paused at the counter
for a moment. “Erna said that a friend was taking her to Calgary
this morning to buy some new linens and things for May. I’ll be
back in a second,” she said as she hurried past.

Judy backed out
of the kitchen, letting the door swing shut behind her, and turned
to rest four bottles of ketchup on the counter. Her face lit up as
she spotted Anna.

“Hey, Anna.
Frank and I were just talking about you. Frank, Anna’s here,” she
called through the kitchen window. “We were so sorry to hear about
May’s fall,” she added, the smile fading. “Erna was telling us
earlier that you were the first one to get to her that night.”

“Yeah,” Frank
said, following Judy through the door and leaning against the
counter. “I hate to think of May lying on the ground in the dark
all that time, poor lady. Erna said she’s doing better today,
though.”

“Is she? That’s
good. I haven’t talked to May since visiting her at the hospital
last night. She was pretty much out of it with all the pain
medication.” Mary came back and sat down on a stool beside
Anna.

“Pretty weird,
the bulb missing from the light over her stairs,” Judy said,
resting her hip against the counter. “Erna said that May thought
she saw someone on the stairs before she fell.”

Anna shrugged.
“Who can tell what she really saw.”

“It must have
been awfully dark without her outside light on. How could she have
seen anyone?” Frank asked.

“And she bumped
her head and all,” Mary added, raising her eyebrows. “Maybe she was
delusional.”

Judy shook her
head. “Maybe, but it’s been pretty creepy around here ever since
Henry went missing. The Calgary police still haven’t found him, you
know.”

“Honey, you
don’t have to worry about Henry anymore,” Frank said, hugging her
with one arm. “What’s he going to do, sneak back into town and
break into our house?”

“I wouldn’t put
it past that psycho!” Judy said. She leaned toward Anna. “Don’t
laugh, but last week, after Henry threatened Frank, I hid our knife
block at home inside one of the kitchen cupboards.”

Frank sighed.
“Makes it pretty hard to cook with all the knives shut away.” Judy
frowned at him. “Whatever makes you feel safe, honey,” he added
hastily.

Judy turned
back to Anna. “Well, first Henry, and now May. Something weird’s
going on in town, you can bet on it. And have you noticed that we
haven’t seen Steve for a few days? It’s like he disappeared or
something. What happened to Steve?”

Steve opened
his fridge door and stared inside at the meager contents. It was
almost noon, and he was starving. He pulled out a carton of eggs, a
block of butter, and a jug of milk, and set them down on the
counter beside the stove.

“I’m going to
make us some eggs, okay?” he shouted.

Tiernay
sauntered into the kitchen wearing nothing but a black towel, her
hair damp from the shower. She came up behind him as he broke six
eggs into a bowl and wrapped her arms around his bare chest. He
hadn’t bothered with a shirt when he got out of bed this morning;
just threw on a pair of jeans. He leaned back and rubbed his cheek
against hers.

“Ouch. Time for
a shave, handsome,” she said, pulling away from him and walking
toward the fridge.

“Sorry.” He
whisked the eggs and milk with a fork, and then set a frying pan on
the burner, plopping a spoonful of butter into it.

“I could kill
for some orange juice,” Tiernay said, rummaging in the fridge.

“We’re out. I
was going to pick up some things for breakfast last night, but you
wouldn’t let me leave, remember?”

“Doesn’t
matter,” she said, taking a seat at his pine table-for-two. There
was a single red apple left in the wicker basket on top of the
table, and she picked it up and bit into it, licking the juice from
the corner of her mouth.

“I’ve got to go
into work tonight,” he said, tilting the pan to let the melted
butter ooze over the bottom before pouring the egg mixture into it.
While the eggs sizzled, he dropped two slices of whole wheat bread
into the toaster.

“Okay,” she
said, munching the fruit. “I should check in at the store to see
how Greg’s making out anyway.”

Steve stirred
the eggs with a wooden spoon. “Won’t he mind you leaving him in
charge of the store all this time?”

“It’s only been
a couple of days. He’s been back-up for me before.”

“You go AWOL
like this often?” Steve switched the heat off under the eggs to let
them set and grabbed the toast as it popped up. Tiernay rose from
her chair and strolled over to him. She draped an arm over his
shoulder and watched him spread butter on the toast. When he was
finished, he turned toward her, and she pressed the apple to his
lips.

“It’s almost
gone. Here, have a bite.”

He bit into the
apple, gazing down into her uncanny, pale eyes as he chewed. But
before he could swallow the mouthful, she pulled his head down and
kissed him.

“Yum, your lips
taste sweet,” she said with a smile. She snuggled against his warm
chest, and he buried his face into her soft, tousled hair. It smelt
faintly of cinnamon, and he wondered where the scent came from. Not
from his shampoo. There was something crazy and mysterious about
Tiernay, and being with her made him feel off-balance. Satiated,
but off-balance. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top
of her head.