CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
WORRIED ABOUT THE PEOPLE WORKING IN THE DILAPIDATED TUNNEL, Eve’s anxiety began to build. She escaped to her office, planning to work while she waited. Seated at her desk, she reviewed Bethany Parson’s file, adding a couple of fresh thoughts to the notes she had made during their last session.
Her concentration faltered. Concern for the people in the tunnel mingled with thoughts of Ran and the harsh ending to their brief affair.
Whatever Ran had felt, last night was one of the most incredible moments of Eve’s life. Ran had made her feel precious, almost worshipped. She had hoped it had been special in some way for him, hoped she wasn’t just another of his women. This morning in the harsh light of day, Ran had made it clear that was nothing but a beautiful illusion.
She didn’t blame him. She had been the seducer, not the other way around. Her behavior might have been an embarrassment, but instead, she replayed every moment she had spent with him again and again.
Eve checked the time and went back to the house in case the police had returned from the tunnel. At the sound of heavy footfalls on the stairs, she turned off the tea kettle and stepped into the hall just as Ran topped the landing.
He was carrying his boots and the damp rain slicker he’d been wearing, his big feet encased in a pair of white athletic socks. A few drops of water glistened in his heavy black hair.
Eve curled her fingers into her palms to keep from reaching out to touch him.
“The police are still working,” he said, heading for the mudroom. “Ozzie says they’ll need at least another hour. I’ll clean these up and be right back.”
He was wearing his boots when he returned, minus the mud, and they walked into the kitchen together.
“I could use a drink of water,” he said.
Eve pulled a plastic bottle out of the fridge and handed it over, watched him crank off the lid. Ran tilted his head back, the muscles in his neck working as he swallowed, so male and sexy her abdomen clenched.
She grabbed a bottle of water for herself and sat down across from him, drank her fill just to get her mind back on track.
“How did it go?” she asked.
“It was interesting. We were right about the bones belonging to a man. The coroner thinks the remains are only a few years old. He’ll need to do some testing, but he says there are rodent teeth marks on the bones. That’s the reason they were stripped so clean.”
Eve shivered.
“There was something else.”
Her hand tightened around the plastic bottle. “What?”
“When we found the bones yesterday, we were careful not to touch or move anything. If we had, we would have seen a bullet hole in the back of the skull.”
“Oh, no, the man was murdered?”
“Looks that way.”
“So whoever killed him used the tunnel to dispose of the body.”
Ran just nodded and took another long drink of water.
Eve thought of all that had happened since Ran King and his team had arrived. “I don’t think that man has anything to do with the ghosts.”
“That was your impression the first time you saw him. I think you’re right. His death was recent. The phenomena we’re investigating point to something that took place years ago.”
“Yes. If Herbie was a friend of Wally’s and Herbie lived in the orphanage, whatever happened to them happened after 1861, when the orphanage first opened.”
“We need to get in there.” He pulled out his cell phone to check for messages. “No service in the tunnel.” He scrolled through. “Here it is. Stanhope’s personal secretary, Mrs. Dupre, left a message. Says to call an estate agent named Tom Mason to set up an appointment. She left a number.”
“Are you going to tell him we’re hunting for ghosts?”
“I’ll have to play it by ear, try to get a read on him. He might like the idea. You never know.” He smiled, and for the first time she noticed the tiny dimple next to his mouth.
Her stomach dropped out. It simply wasn’t fair for a man to be so attractive. Memories of the night before sent heat rushing into her face.
Of all the men she could be attracted to, she had to pick one who didn’t want her. Or at least not anymore.
Ran walked away to make the call and returned a few minutes later. “Mason can let us in today at four o’clock.”
“You think the police will be finished with the bones by then?”
Ran nodded. “As you can imagine, they were anxious to get out of the tunnel. It shouldn’t be much longer.”
Eve took a deep breath. “Okay, then. If you don’t mind, I have some work to do. I’ll be ready to go when you are.” She started to walk away, but Ran caught her shoulder and turned her to face him.
“I wanted to take you for a drive.”
Her lips tightened. “Past tense. Don’t worry about it. I understand.”
“Damn it, Eve, that’s not the way it is.”
“It doesn’t matter. We’re both adults and it was only one night. As you said—you have your life and I have mine.”
She heard noises in the cellar, then footsteps on the stairs. “The police must be finished. I need to make sure they have everything they need.” Eve turned and walked out of the kitchen.
* * *
The sky was still overcast, but there was a lull in the storm. The weather forecast said the bad weather would continue for at least several more days.
At exactly four p.m., Eve stood in front of the House of Mercy Orphan Asylum. Ran stood a few feet away, speaking to the estate agent, Tom Mason, a burly man with a fringe of gray hair around his bald head.
Mason unlocked the front door, then handed Ran the key. “Yer welcome to stay as long as ye like. As ye said, place’s in fierce condition. Ol’ man Stanhope would likely entertain any sorta reasonable offer.”
“Thank you, Tom. I’ll have the key brought back to your office tomorrow morning.”
“Ye’ve got me card. Ye need anything, ye know where to find me.”
Ran just nodded. Mason walked back to his car, a light blue-gray Vauxhall, started the engine, and drove away. The car Ran had rented and had delivered before they left the house, a silver BMW, sat a few feet behind it.
Eve had offered to drive him in her little Ford Focus or let Ran borrow it, but he had refused.
“The other members of the team need transportation,” he had said. “And I’m tired of being at the mercy of a driver. From now on, I’ll have my own vehicle. I’ll drive us over and back. That way we won’t get wet if it starts to rain.”
“You’re comfortable driving on the left-hand side of the road?”
“I spent some time over here when we were getting the UK King’s Inn chain up and running.”
Eve’s gaze followed the estate agent’s car as it turned the corner and disappeared. “What did you offer Mr. Mason to get him to be so cooperative?”
“I gave him a hundred-pound note for his trouble and dangled the possibility of a sales commission in front of him.”
“You wouldn’t really buy the building, would you?”
He shrugged his muscled shoulders. “I’m always open to possibilities. At the moment, I’m more interested in discovering the past this building is hiding.” He checked his heavy wristwatch. “Violet and the others will be here any minute. Why don’t we take a quick look inside before they get here?”
Returning to the car, he grabbed the long-handled flashlight he had been using in the tunnel. Eve grabbed a smaller flashlight and they returned to the asylum. When Ran pulled open the tall, ornately carved front door, Eve froze in shock.
She had expected the place to be in bad condition, but the interior was far worse than anything she could have imagined. The wallpaper in the entry was shredded and water stained, the plaster crumbling into moldy piles on the floor, exposing the rotted wood underneath.
Most of the tiles on the entry floor were missing or broken, barely visible beneath several inches of dirty rainwater. But it was the graffiti on the walls—bloodred Satanic emblems, pentagrams, the painted head of a goat—that made it look like something out of a horror movie.
Dear God. Eve thought of the spirits, of Herbie and Wally and their possible connection to the asylum, and the flashlight fell from her nerveless fingers. She felt Ran’s firm grip on her arm, holding her upright.
“Let’s wait outside for the others,” he said.
Eve opened her mouth, then swallowed her objection. Ran King’s protective nature had surfaced. He wouldn’t allow any of his people to put themselves in harm’s way. Last night notwithstanding, that seemed to include her.
He led her outside and the heavy door closed behind him. “It’s worse than I thought,” he said. “If you can’t handle it, we’ll come at it from a different direction.”
What that could possibly be, she had no idea. It didn’t matter. This was her problem and she intended to see it through.
“I’ll be all right. I should have been better prepared.”
“Hard to prepare for something like that. What you saw was only the entry. It may be worse upstairs.”
How could it possibly be worse? Then she realized he meant up where the orphan boys had been kept, and her stomach violently knotted. She loved kids. Had always wanted a family of her own, a notion she had given up after her divorce. That everything happening seemed to revolve around children made the whole situation worse.
You can do this, she told herself.
The white Bentley arrived and Violet, Katie, Jesse, and Zane all climbed out.
In loose jeans, a sweater, and sturdy boots, her silver hair pulled back in a twist, Violet walked over and hugged her, sensing, perhaps, how much being there disturbed her.
“That bad, is it?” Violet asked.
“Worse,” Eve said. “And we only got as far as the entry.”
Violet squeezed her hand. “Well, all of us are here now, and we make a formidable team.”
Eve found herself smiling. “I know you do. I’m glad you’re here.”
“That all includes you,” Violet said, and Eve realized it was true. They would have made a lot less progress if it hadn’t been for her.
Katie walked up, honey-blond hair swinging forward as she leaned in and gave Eve a hug. “I have a hunch tonight is going to be very interesting.”
Jesse walked up next to Eve. He tapped his EVP audio recorder. “Whatever happens, we’re going to make sure we have proof.” He and Katie disappeared into the asylum with an armload of equipment.
Zane was the last to join them, a manila file under one arm. “I got some intel on the asylum. I figured you’d want to know.”
Ran had said Violet preferred to go in cold, just see what she and the rest of his team could pick up. Apparently the situation had changed.
“What have you got?” Ran asked.
“As the sign out front says, the orphanage was opened in 1861. For hundreds of years, Sunderland was the biggest shipbuilding town in England. The asylum was opened to provide an education for the male orphans of seafaring men, both legitimate and illegitimate.”
Zane’s gaze shifted from Ran to Eve. “The boys were taught seamanship and wore a naval-style sailor suit as a uniform.”
Eve thought of Wally and felt a sweep of nausea. Wally had been an orphan. That was how he knew Herbie. Ran’s hand settled at her waist, silently lending his support.
Violet gave Eve a soft smile. “So now you know where your little friend came from.”
Wally and Herbie had both been orphans. Wally had died when he was a little boy. Her throat tightened. After all these years, he was still imprisoned here on earth.
Determination welled inside her, replacing the sadness. If there was any way she could set the boys free, she wouldn’t stop until it was done.