CHAPTER TWENTY
THOUGH RAN WOULD HAVE PREFERRED DRIVING STRAIGHT TO THE hotel, Eve convinced him to stop at her house so she could pick up clean clothes and her toiletries.
While he waited downstairs in her living room, he phoned the hotel and made a room reservation. Just a few extra dollars for the inconvenience of moving the current guest, and the suite next to his would do nicely. He only wished Eve were staying with him, instead of next door.
Another call went to the estate agent, Tom Mason, asking permission to keep the key a few more days to continue his inspection of the building.
“No trouble, mate,” Tom said. “They ain’t linin’ up to buy the old place.”
“Thanks, Tom. I’ll keep you posted.”
Ran’s last call went to his close friend, Lucas Deveraux. After a few pleasantries, Ran got straight to the point.
“I’ve never seen anything like it, Luke. We can’t seem to get a fix on who or what it is, but it appears to be holding a number of souls captive.”
“A number? More than two or three?”
“It looks that way. It was an orphan asylum for more than a hundred years. I think something must have happened. We haven’t figured out what it was. Nothing shows up in asylum records, but we’re still digging.”
“You certainly make it sound intriguing.”
“Terrifying is more like it. There’s a lot more to the story, but I’d rather tell you in person. Can you help us?”
“I can try. You know I can’t guarantee success, but if it’s as bad as you’re saying, someone needs to do something.”
“Actually, there’s a woman involved who is doing her best to help. Her name is Eve St. Clair. She’s new to all this, but—”
“Let me guess. Pretty and smart, and you’re showing her the ropes?”
Ran sighed. “Eve’s all those things, but it’s not like that.” He only wished it were that simple. He glanced at the doorway just as Eve appeared, an overnight bag slung over her shoulder.
“I have to go,” Ran said. “I’ll call Constance, have her phone you. She’ll arrange for the jet to pick you up and bring you here as soon as you can fit us into your schedule. There’ll be a car waiting when you arrive.”
“All right. Take it easy, okay? I’ll be seeing you in a day or two.”
As Lucas hung up the phone, Ran wondered if he’d heard a hint of concern in his good friend’s voice. Luke was no longer a priest, but he was everything a priest should be, kind and caring, intelligent, and extremely discerning. Had he perceived deeper emotions when Ran had spoken of Eve?
He turned to where she stood in the doorway.
“Business?” Eve asked.
“Paranormal Investigations business. A former priest by the name of Lucas Devereaux. If you’re ready to go, I’ll tell you all about him on the way to the hotel.” Ran took the overnight bag off her shoulder and slung it over his own.
“Remember that locksmith you mentioned?” Eve said.
“I remember.”
“I’m ready to look inside the camelback trunk. Maybe there’s something in there that will help us figure things out.”
“I’ll make some calls as soon as we get to the hotel, see if I can arrange for someone to meet us tomorrow morning.”
Eve just nodded. She was still shaken, he knew, as she had every right to be. He was a little unnerved himself. They went out the front door of her house to where the rented BMW was parked. Ran opened the car door and settled Eve inside, then loaded her bag into the trunk.
The storm was building again, heavy gray clouds amassing over the town, wind whipping the leaves on the trees. The roads were slick, but the days were getting longer as spring moved toward summer. It wouldn’t be dark till nearly nine p.m.
“So . . . Lucas Devereaux,” Eve said, returning to their earlier conversation as the car rolled along A183.
“He’s a friend of a friend. Remy Moreau, my roommate in college, introduced us not long after Luke went into the priesthood. Apparently, he’d been in some trouble as a boy, got involved in a gang, that kind of thing. Someone got killed. Luke was determined to make amends. Joining the priesthood seemed like the right decision at the time.”
“You said former priest. What happened?”
Ran flicked her a glance as the Beamer cut through traffic. “Luke’s no wilting lily. He’s a good-looking man with the same sexual appetites as any other red-blooded male. To put it simply, he fell in love. Rather than break his vows, he left the priesthood. Unfortunately, his lady friend was more attracted to the forbidden love of a priest than to Luke himself. She turned down his marriage proposal and all Luke got out of it was a broken heart.”
“At least he realized he wasn’t cut out for the priesthood.”
“In some ways he was. Lucas has a certain . . . ability. While he was still in the church, he got involved in the exorcism of a woman supposedly possessed by demons. An older priest taught him the necessary church rituals, and apparently, working together, the two of them rid the woman of the evil that possessed her. After that Luke took on other cases and he was highly successful. Even now, the church occasionally calls on him to use his abilities.”
“How does that work if he’s no longer a priest?”
“In certain cases, the church gives special dispensation.”
Eve fell silent. Then her hazel eyes widened as the implications set in, the reason Ran had phoned one of his closest friends.
“Oh, my God. You think the voices are demonic. I don’t even know if I believe in such a thing.”
“I’m not sure I do, either.”
“Wait a minute. You’ve been doing this for how long?”
“I started right after my wife and daughter died. Almost five years.”
“If you don’t believe in demons—”
“I’ve seen what Luke can do. I’ve used him on two different occasions. Both times, he was able to clear the house, and the problems the owner had been facing disappeared.”
“What did he do?”
“You’d be better off asking Luke. He’ll be here as soon as it can be arranged.”
They arrived at the hotel. The clerk checked Eve into her suite and handed her a key card. Ran escorted her upstairs to the room next to his, but she made no comment. Ran carried her overnight bag through the living room into the bedroom and set it on the bed.
It was exactly the wrong thing to do. Memories of the night they had spent together burned through him and his groin tightened. He glanced to the doorway where Eve stood, and hungry need rose like a beast inside him. He might have been able to ignore it if he hadn’t seen the same need reflected in Eve’s pretty hazel eyes, dark now, without a hint of green.
Before he could stop himself, Ran strode over and pulled her into his arms. Sliding a hand into her thick dark hair, he tipped her head back and his mouth crushed down over hers.
The kiss was hot, wet, and deep. Fresh desire knifed through him. Eve didn’t bother to pretend the kiss didn’t affect her. A little sound came from her throat as she went up on her toes, slid her arms around his neck, and kissed him back.
Ran’s whole body tightened. Palming her breasts, he cupped them through her sweater, remembering the exact shape and fullness, the smoothness of her skin, the way her nipples pebbled beneath his fingers.
He wanted to strip away her clothes and carry her to the bed, to taste every inch of her lithe, feminine body, then bury himself to the hilt.
“I want you so damned much,” he said, kissing the side of her neck. “I’ve never wanted a woman the way I want you.”
The words he’d never said before hit him like a splash of cold water. The guilt inside him swelled. He had loved Sabrina, his wife and the mother of his child. This was different. Eve stirred a yearning unlike anything he had ever felt before.
She gave a soft little moan as he began to ease away.
“I’m sorry,” he said, tipping his forehead down to hers. “I didn’t mean for that to happen. Please forgive me.”
Eve’s gaze found his. “Forgive you? What sin is it you think you’ve committed?”
Ran forced himself to turn away. He raked a hand through his wavy black hair. “I don’t know. I just . . . It eats at me, the feelings I have for you, Eve. I thought we could just enjoy ourselves until it was over. But I don’t seem able to do that. I feel things I don’t want to feel, and I can’t handle it.”
Eve made no reply. He was afraid what he read in her face was pity.
“I need to go,” he said. “As soon as you’re settled and get something to eat, you can join us next door.”
Her shoulders straightened. “I’m settled enough. I want to hear what you and your team have to say.”
Ran took a deep breath. “All right. I’ll call room service. Order something for both of us. If you’re ready, we can go.”
Eve checked her appearance in the mirror over the dresser, smoothed her hair, and applied fresh lipstick to her plump pink lips, sending his mind straight back to the bedroom. Ran didn’t dare glance at the bed as she walked past him out of the room, just followed her out and closed the door behind them.
As soon as they reached his suite, he went into the bathroom and stripped off his jacket and his blue oxford shirt. Flying pieces of metal had cut into the back of his neck. There was a cut in his scalp and a gash on his cheek. Though the nicks and cuts were fairly minor, he was glad he’d had a recent tetanus shot. After soaping a rag, he was trying to clean the cuts when he looked up to see Eve standing in the doorway.
“Good heavens, its worse than I thought.” She frowned. “It’s almost as if the spirit was targeting you.”
Ran felt the pull of a smile. “Maybe he was jealous.”
“Very funny. Give me that washcloth and sit down on the toilet seat. You don’t want these cuts getting infected.”
“I had a tetanus shot before I went to Mexico. We were building a King’s Inn down in Mérida. I figured better to be safe than sorry.”
“Well, that’s a relief.”
Ran tried to ignore the feel of Eve’s fingers sliding gently over the back of his neck, delicately washing the cut in his scalp and the gash on his cheek, but his body noticed and he went hard.
“There,” Eve said. “That should do it.” She tossed the washcloth in the sink, turned, and walked out of the bathroom.
Ran breathed a sigh of relief. He didn’t trust himself where Eve was concerned. He was a man used to having what he wanted. He was tired of fighting himself, tired of the guilt he shouldn’t be feeling after all these years. He wanted Eve St. Clair, and he knew Eve wanted him, too.
The doorbell rang, a welcome distraction. As he pulled on a clean long-sleeve T-shirt, he could hear Eve talking to the waitstaff who delivered the tray, a sandwich for him and a bowl of soup for Eve, who needed something to settle her stomach. Not surprising after what she had been through that day.
To say nothing of his untimely, unsatisfying pursuit.
For both of their sakes, he needed to do something about it. He just wasn’t quite sure what that was.
As soon as they finished eating, Ran set the tray with the empty dishes in the hall. He turned just as Violet walked up, followed by Katie, Jesse, and Zane. By eight p.m., the group was seated in the living room while Jesse set up the video he and Katie had made.
“We’re ready whenever you are,” Jesse said.
Ran turned to Zane, who sat in one of the comfortable chairs that matched the cream sofa, sipping a can of Cola Light. “I’m almost sorry you missed the action tonight. It’s something you’d have to see to believe.”
Zane set his soft drink down on the coffee table. “I look forward to seeing the video.”
Ran nodded. “You were with us when we walked through the asylum. You remember the room off the kitchen?”
“I do. It’s in way better shape than the rest of the building. Looks like it’s still being used.”
“That’s where you come in. I want to know who’s using that room and what it’s being used for.”
“Okay, I’ll find out.”
“Not tonight. I definitely don’t want you going back there tonight. And don’t go by yourself. Either Jesse or I will go with you.”
“I was a Green Beret. I’m not afraid of ghosts.”
“In this case, it isn’t malevolent spirits I’m afraid of. It’s criminal activity.”
Zane straightened in his chair. “As I think about that room, I see what you mean.”
“We’ll go back and nose around first thing in the morning.”
“Yes, sir.”
Ran’s gaze turned to Jesse and Katie, two solid people who formed the core of his team. “All right, let’s take a look at the video you two made.”