“I tried to find out what this place was on the internet, but there’s no mention of its current purpose. It was sold to a private buyer back in 2010. They built it for a banker and his wife in 1897. They had eleven children and plenty of money, so I’m guessing there are quite a few rooms. He sold it when he went broke. I think it was used by the military during the first world war.”
The ornate wood and stained glass front door suddenly opened, and I grabbed a fistful of Brad’s shirt, dragging him behind a tree. It earned us the attention that I was trying to avoid, but only from passersby, curious about what we were hiding from.
“Uh, what’re you doing?” Brad looked pointedly down at his shirt still gripped in my fist.
I let go of him, smoothing out his shirt, while peeking around the tree to see who’d exited the building. Air hissed between my teeth when I caught a glimpse of Lindstrom and his associates. He was in a huddle with four other suits, looking like they’d just convened a meeting. On a Saturday. Not out of the question, I suppose. The four men left the grounds as Lindstrom waited. The door opened again, revealing a pudgy, red-faced man. He descended the stairs on dodgy legs to join the professor.
I felt Brad collect my hand in his, and realised I’d been smoothing his shirt the entire time. One more person emerged before the door finally closed. At that moment, I was so grateful that Brad was with me. Flick wiped her face as she joined Lindstrom in the yard. But before the door closed, I saw Candace and two other women. Dead women. Standing at the entrance, pointing their wispy fingers straight at me. My legs began to give way, but Brad’s strong arms propped me up. I buried my face in his chest not wanting to believe my eyes. My pulse raged, the taste of coppery blood lined my tongue as I started chewing on my cheek.
I focused on Brad’s clean, soapy smell, and the feel of his arms around me, as I tried to calm myself. I hoped like fuck they didn’t need to come this way. Please let them be parked on the side street, or even behind the residence. I didn’t think it was a residence. But whatever it was used for, bad things had happened there. That wasn’t a business meeting. What the fuck was Flick doing with Lindstrom and his cronies? Had she set up an internship with Lindstrom’s firm? She sure as hell didn’t look happy about it. And why were dead women haunting a law office?
Because that’s where they were killed.
“Veronica!” I lifted my head, as Brad gave me a gentle shake. “Jesus. You scare the shit out of me when you fade out like that. Where did you go?”
I kept my palms firmly attached to his chest, as I spun my head around to check that they were gone. “Um …” Shit. “Sorry, I don’t know what happened.” My head was fuzzy, stuffed with images and questions. Scattered pieces of a puzzle that I had yet to put together.
Frozen hands rested on my shoulders, plunging my body temperature and trapping the breath in my chest. It wasn’t Tish. I sensed it. I’d felt those icy hands tugging on my feet before. The shiver was uncontrollable, transferring from my body to Brad’s. I blinked up at him, unable to say anything. His face changed when he read the panic that must be so blatant it was screaming through my eyes.
“Come on. We can come back another day.”
Brad’s arm curled around my shoulders, shoving the frozen touch away, replacing it with his blissful heat. As we turned to walk back, I took one last look at the building. There she was again, in the corner window on the second floor. It was only a blurry outline through the sheer curtain, but I knew it was her. A delicate hand protruded through the curtain, through the glass, beckoning me to come. I felt the force of the gesture, as if she’d just reached into my ribcage and scooped out the contents. I heaved in some air to reassure myself that I still had lungs, and hurried away.
Fuck. I felt like the future was an endless black hole threatening to engulf me. I desperately clung to Brad’s gravity in the hopes that its force was powerful enough to change my path. To fill me with light and drag me away from the darkness. An unwelcome thought seeped in. What if I dragged him in with me, and we were both lost forever?
“Your juice is on the table for you. Do you want scrambled eggs this morning?”
“No, thanks. I’ll just have cereal.”
Brad has been so sweet even after seeing some of my craziness. First, my nightmares, and then the incident in the city. Not to mention my breakdown when I saw my mother and sisters. Instead of running the other way, or looking at me like I was a weirdo, he’d been more attentive. More doting.
And I noticed that the woman taking shape on the lounge room wall looked more and more like me.
He was peeling back my layers, getting to the damaged core. I was still afraid he wouldn’t like what he saw when he reached deep enough. But he was still here after all he’d seen.
I was utterly in love with him.
I had been for a while. When I thought I’d put him in danger by stupidly dragging him into my mess, I panicked. Mentally, I beat myself black and blue.
What if Lindstrom had seen him? I didn’t know if he did because I was too
