The Dead Come Calling Page 9

  “Um, Stony and Blaine are more like brothers than anything else,” I explained.

  Undeterred, my mother shrugged and continued, “What about Malachi? He’s very attractive and so patient when he deals with people. He’d be a great father with patience like that.”

  I was glad I’d put down my iced tea because I would have spilled it at her declaration. “Great father?” I parroted.

  “I always liked that your father was so involved with you when you were growing up. He always had more patience than I did. It was good for you.”

  “But Mal’s my boss,” I pointed out, purposely neglecting to mention that he and I were already involved.

  My mother waved her hand. “It’s not the same as a boss in the corporate world, and you know it. You seem more like partners and friends than boss and employee.”

  I picked at the frayed knee of my distressed jeans. “Well, our relationship is a little more than business.”

  I could swear that my mother perked up at my confession. “So, you’re dating?” she asked casually.

  I laughed. “Maybe. I mean, I think that’s what we both want. Things have just been a little…hectic lately.” I couldn’t go into more detail without having to explain everything that was happening.

  My mother sighed and I abruptly understood where I’d acquired the habit. I vowed to stop then and there. “Zoe, I know that I haven’t exactly encouraged you to date in the past, but—” she cut herself off, staring down at her hands.

  “But what, Mom?”

  She looked back up at me and I was surprised to see the sheen of tears in her eyes. “I don’t want you to end up alone. I was lucky when I met your father. If it hadn’t been for him…” Once again she trailed off, unable to meet my gaze. “I don’t know where I’d be today.” Clearing her throat, she then whispered, “Certainly nowhere good.”

  I decided to meet her confession with one of my own. “I think that things with Mal could get serious,” I admitted. “He’s told me as much.”

  My mother smiled, swiping quickly at the dampness beneath her eyes. “That’s great, sweetie. I hope it works out. I’m just sorry that I judged him so harshly when you first met him.”

  “It all worked out in the end,” I replied softly.

  Mom changed the subject and we had a nice little chat before Stony and Blaine came out of the kitchen, yawning. I glanced at the clock on the wall and saw that it was nearly nine.

  “Wow, we need to go,” I told my parents, giving them both hugs and kisses. “Thanks for dinner.”

  Stony and Blaine each kissed my mother’s cheek and shook my father’s hand, thanking them for the wonderful meal. As we trooped out of the house and climbed into Blaine’s car, I groaned when I realized I’d forgotten to call Jonelle and ask her to stay the night with me.

  I selected her name from my contact list and lifted the phone to my ear.

  “Where in the heck are you, Zoe?” she asked. “I’ve been sitting outside your house for ten minutes now, knocking on the door.”

  “Why are you at my house?” I asked, having forgotten that was the reason I was calling.

  “Mal called me earlier and explained what happened. He asked me to stay with you tonight. I figured you’d call me, but decided not to wait too late.”

  “Damn,” I swore. “I’m sorry, Jonelle. It was Thursday night dinner with my parents and I forgot to call you before we left.”

  “Thank God, I was just about to break in because your car is out front but you weren’t answering the door.”

  “Why didn’t you call my cell?” I asked.

  “I was about to,” she replied defensively.

  “Well, we’ll be there in another five minutes.”

  “Thank God.” There was a sharp click as she disconnected the call.

  When Blaine pulled up into the driveway, Jonelle was sitting on the top step of the porch, her legs crossed and her elbows resting on her knees. Though she had a spare key, I was glad she hadn’t gone inside.

  I climbed out of the car and walked toward her, noticing her pallor and the tension in her face even in the dim glow cast by the streetlights. I knew she was worried when she didn’t even bother needling Stony as she usually did.

  After I unlocked the door and let us inside, Jonelle glanced at me. “Can I talk to you for a second?”

  Stony and Blaine took the hint and moved from the living room to the kitchen, but Jonelle still wasn’t satisfied. She gestured for me to follow her, climbing the steps to the second floor and heading straight for my bedroom.

  Teri appeared in the hallway, just in front of the bathroom. “What’s wrong with Jonelle?”

  I shrugged, too concerned with why Jonelle seemed so upset to notice that my resident ghost finally called my best friend by name for the first time. Teri followed us into the bedroom and perched her butt on the windowsill. It looked a little strange since half her ass was outside the window, but I ignored it.

  “What’s wrong, Jonelle?”

  She faced me, her movements agitated and jerky rather than her usual grace. “I’m not sure.” Taking a deep breath, I could almost see her internal fight to control her body. A few seconds later, she opened her eyes and seemed noticeably calmer. “I just have this horrible feeling. It’s like I know that something bad is going to happen, but I can’t remember when or how. It’s almost as if I’ve already witnessed the event, but it’s been wiped from my memory. Yet the space where the knowledge remained is still there, like a big empty room in the center of a house that no one enters. It’s there and it takes up space, even though no one ever sees the inside of it. I’ve never experienced anything like it before and it’s freaking me out.”

  Though her analogy seemed strange to me, I understood her meaning. In all our years of friendship, I’d learned that Jonelle was an excellent judge of character or situations. If she had a bad feeling about someone or something, then I listened to her advice.

  Still, she’d never talked like this before and it was unnerving.

  Before I could formulate an appropriate response, she laughed harshly. “I know it sounds crazy. I’m chalking it up to stress, but I just had this urge to tell you as soon as I saw you.”

  “It’s been a rough week,” I commented quietly.

  She laughed again and the sound grated against my skin as though it had a physical presence. “More for you than me, I think.”

  I shrugged. “Maybe, but I know I would definitely be freaked out if I woke up in the middle of the night and found you being choked to death by a huge black cloud of evil.”

  Her mouth turned up at one corner for a split second before her expression became hard once again. “True.” Jonelle studied me for a few moments. “Just promise me you’ll be careful and stick close to Teri when you’re home.”

  I glanced toward Teri, who’d been silent during my exchange with Jonelle. She nodded, looking more serious than I’d ever seen her.

  “I will.” It was a promise to them both, though Jonelle didn’t know that.

  Blowing out a big breath, Jonelle rolled her shoulders. “Good. Let’s change the subject. Tell me something that won’t depress me or scare the hell out of me.”

  “Well, I made out on the couch with Mal two days ago, but Teri interrupted us before we got to the good stuff.”

  Jonelle laughed and this time it was genuinely amused. “What a cockblocker!” She paused. “Still, I want details.”

  Teri mumbled something too quietly for me to hear, but I ignored her. Curled up on my bed, me leaning against the headboard and Jonelle sprawled at the foot of the mattress, I felt like I was back in high school and talking about boys.

  Except this time, I didn’t have a crush on a boy who didn’t realize I existed. I was falling in love with a man who accepted me exactly as I was.

  Chapter

  After Jonelle left for work the next morning, I settled on my couch with my laptop, determined not to lose focus on my research into Teri’s death. Between Mal
, Stony, and Blaine, I had every confidence that I would soon know what I was dealing with in regards to the dark entity. I tried not to obsess over the fact that I couldn’t figure out what it was, or even sense it as I did a typical ghost.

  That alone should have tipped me off to the fact that I was facing something much more dangerous and lethal.

  Instead, I put my efforts into researching deaths similar to Teri’s during that time. I started with Texas and worked my way out to Oklahoma and Louisiana. It was tedious and depressing work, reading through articles and reports of deaths by hanging. It made me sad to think that so many women had chosen to end their lives. Even worse was the idea that some of them might have been murdered and no one ever knew. Their families might never understand that these women hadn’t wanted to die.

  After lunch, I had to take a break. Reading about death for hours on end was beginning to take a toll on me. I needed to relax and clear my mind, so I shoved some of the furniture away from the center of the living room and dug my yoga mat out of the coat closet. I hadn’t practiced in a while since I’d been on the road, filming the show.

  Stony and Blaine watched me do all of this with confused expressions.

  “Um, what are you doing?” Stony asked.

  “Yoga,” I stated, unrolling the mat and arranging it on the floor.

  He chuckled. “Oh, this I have to see.”

  “Even better, how about you join me? I have a couple of old mats.”

  Stony and Blaine looked at each other and shrugged. “Why not?”

  That was one reason I loved working with them. They were always curious and up for new experiences. Most of the men I knew before would have turned their nose up at the idea of practicing yoga. They would have dismissed it as a chick thing. Not Stony and Blaine, though.

  “Take off your socks,” I told them as I moved back to the coat closet and brought out two more mats.

  We had to do some creative arranging, but I managed to make enough space in the center of the room for all three of us. Then I loaded my beginner DVD. I had several workouts that were higher difficulty levels, but I didn’t want to torture Stony and Blaine. I wanted them to enjoy the exercise and maybe I’d be able to talk them into practicing with me on the road. While we traveled for filming, the long hours, bad food, and inevitable snafus kept our stress levels high. Yoga might help smooth out the rough edges.

  “Remember to breathe,” I told them. “The instructor in the video will talk about it as we go through the poses, so listen to what he’s saying and try to follow along the best you can. If you aren’t flexible enough, just take the pose to where you’re comfortable.” I didn’t have any blocks or straps, but I figured they could make do without them for one session.

  The beginner video was short, only twenty-five minutes long, but we were all sweating freely by the time we were done.

  “Wow,” Stony said, still lying on the floor in Savasana. “That was a lot harder than I thought it would be.” He paused. “What’s this pose called again?”

  “Savasana or Corpse pose,” I explained.

  “Corpse?” Blaine asked. “Well, I guess that’s fitting since I feel like I’m dying.”

  I laughed. “I’m glad y’all tried it. Most of the men I know would have said no without a thought.”

  “That’s because they’re smarter than us,” Stony joked as he sat up, wiping the fine sheen of sweat from his forehead. “They know how hard it is and don’t want to look like idiots when they can’t manage it.” My smile faded and he waved a hand at me. “Don’t look like that. I liked it. I don’t think I’ve felt this relaxed in months,” he admitted.

  “Me either,” Blaine agreed, rising up on his elbows.

  I studied them both, weighing their sincerity. “Would you want to practice with me while we’re on the road for filming?”

  “Every day?” Stony asked.

  He looked so horrified, I had to laugh. “Maybe not. Two or three times a week?”

  They both nodded. “We could do that.”

  We rolled up the mats and set the living room to rights. I was about to head upstairs and take a shower when my cell phone rang. I smiled when I saw it was Mal.

  “Hey,” I answered.

  “Hey, how’s it going today?”

  “Quiet. We’ve all been working on our laptops in the living room.”

  “That’s good.” He paused. “Well, I have two pieces of good news, which do you want first?”

  “I’ll let you choose,” I replied.

  “Okay then, I’ll start with this. The network definitely wants to pick up the show. They’re working on all the details and paperwork now, but we should be on the air by next year.”

  “That’s awesome!” I exclaimed.

  Stony and Blaine looked up from their laptops, clearly curious about what had me so excited.

  “I’ll let you tell the guys,” Mal continued. “Since I’ll be busy here for another couple of hours.”

  “Are you sure you don’t want to do it?” I asked. “I mean, y’all worked together for a long time before I joined in.”

  “You’re part of the team now, Zoe. I doubt they’ll be upset about you being the one to share it with them.”

  I hoped he was right, but I still agreed to tell them as soon as I hung up.

  “Secondly, I found a medium who should be able to help us. She’s dealt with paranormal attacks before. She said she couldn’t be sure until she comes to the house and sees the entity, but that it’s probably not a ghost that’s attacking you. Manifestations strong enough to physically harm someone are rare.”

  I knew that was likely true since Teri had to use intense focus when she wanted to interact with objects or people. The most she could usually do was touch or move things a couple of feet. I was still surprised by the fact that she’d been able to untie us the night Steve Dwyer tried to kill Mal and me.

  “She’ll be flying in from Atlanta on Sunday,” Mal explained.

  “That’s good,” I replied carefully. I wanted to believe that she could help me, but I was also afraid to hope. The dark entity that I’d twice encountered frightened me more than anything I’d ever seen before. I realized then that I’d felt this entity three times, the first being the night Hank Murphy crossed over, moving on to the next plane of existence.

  I heard a male voice in the background and Mal’s muffled response, though I couldn’t understand the words.

  “I’m sorry, Zoe, but I have to go. I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

  “Okay, Mal. Thanks for calling.”

  We said our good-byes and disconnected before Stony and Blaine pounced on me.

  “What did Mal have to say?” Blaine asked.

  “Yeah, what’s so awesome?” Stony made air quotes when he said awesome and I had to stifle a laugh.

  “Well, there’s good news and better news. First, he’s found a medium to help me with my problem.”

  “But you’re a medium,” Stony pointed out. “Why can’t you fix it?”

  “Well, I may be able to communicate with the dead, but I’ve been avoiding my talents most of my life. I’m sure a medium who has been working on their skills for years will have more to offer.”

  Stony didn’t look as though he believed me. While it warmed my heart that he thought I could handle something like the dark entity, I knew there was no way I could best it.

  “Was that the good news or the better news?” Blaine questioned.

  “That was the good news. The better news is that the network definitely wants the show! Mal said they’re going to start the paperwork and other stuff as soon as possible.”

  Blaine and Stony stared at me in silence, their faces frozen in shock.

  “Are you kidding me?” Stony yelled.

  I shook my head, unsure of what to make of their reaction.

  Suddenly, they erupted into movement, jumping off the couch and whooping. They grabbed me in a hug, squashing me between them as they talked loudly and in unison. Tho
ugh my ears rang from their yelling, I was still smiling and laughing because I was as happy as they were.

  When they released me, still asking questions so quickly that I could barely understand them, I lifted my hands in surrender. “Hey, hey, hey! Mal didn’t give me any details, just that information. He said he’ll call later, so you can hound him then.”

  “This calls for a celebration,” Stony stated. “Let’s go out for Mexican food and margaritas!”

  When I called to invite Jonelle to dinner, she begged off. “I can’t,” she whispered. “I have a migraine and I just want to lie in a dark room and sleep.”

  Immediately, I offered, “I’ll come over and make you some soup or something.” She rarely suffered from headaches, but when she did, they were terrible. Every noise or bright light bothered her. I’d even seen her get sick from the pain.

  “No, please don’t. I just want some quiet and a comfortable bed.”

  “Do you need a ride home?” I asked.

  “I canceled my appointments and went home as soon as I realized it was coming on.”

  “Okay, well, call me if you need anything.”

  “I will.”

  When I told the guys that she wasn’t coming with us, Blaine looked at me in consternation. “She’s not spending the night tonight?”

  I shook my head.

  “But Mal didn’t want you to be alone, even when you’re sleeping,” he pointed out.

  I’d forgotten about that. I’d promised Mal that I would have someone with me at all times. I didn’t want to break the promise, but it wasn’t like I had lots of girlfriends I could call.

  “We’ll figure something out,” he stated, seeing my hesitation. “If I have to, I’ll sleep on the floor in your room.”

  I hated that idea, but only because I knew he would be supremely uncomfortable.

  After a lively dinner, we returned back to the house and watched television until I couldn’t keep my eyes open any more.