CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
ZANE WAVED DOWN ONE OF THE TAXIS PARKED IN FRONT OF THE hotel. He was on his way back to the General Registrar’s Office to look for any records pertaining to the asylum he might have missed, in particular, orphanage death records.
Catching his wave, the driver cranked the engine of a white sedan with red markings that read STATION TAXIS and included a phone number. The vehicle rolled away from the curb and pulled up in front of the hotel.
Just as Zane opened the door, he saw Kate walking toward him. She was wearing a short white skirt and a lightweight yellow sweater that displayed the perfect amount of cleavage. To say Kate Collins was a blond bombshell would be understating the obvious.
She smiled as she walked up to him. “Want some company? I hear you’re doing more research on the asylum. I thought it might go faster with both of us working on it.”
“I wouldn’t turn down the help.” Though up until now he had done his best not to spend time with her. Zane liked his job, and he made it a rule not to get involved with people he worked with. Still, she was a valuable member of the team.
She smiled. “Okay, great. Let’s go.” As she stepped past him and slid neatly into the back seat, strands of long blond hair slid against his cheek. Damn, an attraction to Kate was the last thing he wanted.
The taxi pulled away as Zane settled himself in the seat beside her. “You didn’t have anything more exciting to do than examine musty old records?”
“I’ve done all the sightseeing I can stand, and I feel sorry for Eve. I can see how difficult this is for her. I want to help any way I can.”
Zane understood the sentiment. He had missed a lot of the ghostly happenings in the house and asylum—assuming what the video and audio equipment showed was true—but the stress level for the team members was palpable.
And Eve was carrying the brunt of it.
The taxi wove its way through the streets, then made a sharp turn. Katie leaned forward at the change in direction. “Where are we going?”
“Register office is in Tyne and Wear. It’s about twenty miles away. Take us half an hour or so to get there. Jesse borrowed the Beamer to run some errands, which was fine by me since I’m not that comfortable driving on the left-hand side of the road.”
“So what’s in Tyne and Wear?”
“In 1974, the historical records for Sunderland were transferred there from Durham. We’re looking for information on deaths that occurred in the orphanage, particularly in the 1880s.”
“Got it.” She relaxed back in the seat. “Jesse says you’re from Arizona.”
“Northern Arizona. My family owns a ranch in a place called Skull Valley.”
Her dark blond eyebrows arched up. “Seriously?”
He chuckled. “Seriously. I never gave it much thought, but considering the job I’m working now, I guess it is kind of an odd coincidence.”
“I’d say. How long since you were a cowboy?”
“Not for a long time. I went into the army after college, ended up in Special Forces. I pretty much left ranching behind. Now that I’m out of the service, I go back every Christmas. That’s about it.”
“I’m from L.A.,” Kate said. “I moved to Seattle for a job after I got out of Cal State. Then Ran King offered me more money and a job I couldn’t resist, so here I am. That’s about all there is to my story.”
Zane doubted it. A woman as gorgeous as Kate had to have plenty of stories to tell.
The ride was surprisingly companionable. Neither of them felt they had to speak. Enjoying the scenery was enough. The taxi pulled up in front of an old, historical brick building that had been added onto. Zane got out and so did Kate.
“I hope we find something,” she said.
“So do I.” And soon. The less time he spent with her, the better off he’d be. He’d been attracted to Kate Collins from the moment he’d met her. He had no idea what Kate thought of him, and he didn’t want to find out.
He just wanted to do his job and get back to Seattle before his willpower ran out.
* * *
Eve was back in her suite at the hotel. Ran had insisted she nap for a while, and though it had crossed her mind to ask him to join her—and the look in his eyes said he was hoping she would—she had decided against it.
They would be returning to the house this evening. An afternoon in bed with Ran would leave her deliciously satisfied but drained of the energy she needed to face what might be waiting for them tonight.
Determined to be practical, she slept instead and dreamed of him, woke up in the middle of an erotic fantasy that left her body flushed and unfulfilled—and Eve was sorry she hadn’t asked him to stay.
She checked the time, saw it was nearly five p.m., and went in to shower and dress for what could be a very long, disturbing evening.
She was tying the laces on her sneakers when her cell phone rang. At the sight of Ran’s name on the caller ID, her stomach contracted. Lord, she had it bad, and it seemed that wasn’t going to change.
“Lucas Devereaux is here,” Ran said. “I’d like you to meet him. Can you come over?”
“I just finished dressing. I’ll be right there.” She checked her makeup, no longer deluding herself that she hadn’t made a special effort for Ran, fluffed her dark hair, which she’d left loose around her shoulders, grabbed her purse, and headed out into the hallway.
A few steps down the corridor, she knocked on Ran’s door and he immediately pulled it open. She could feel those hot blue eyes assessing her and a curl of heat slipped through her as she walked past him into the entry.
Another pair of eyes, these a warm brown rimmed with gold, moved over her as she made her way into the living room. The man’s dark gaze was less intense than Ran’s, but somehow equally compelling.
Ran led her farther into the room. “Dr. Eve St. Clair, this is my good friend Lucas Devereaux.”
“Mr. Devereaux.” She extended a hand he captured between both of his. He was well over six feet, extremely handsome with his dark brown hair, solid jaw, and the faint cleft in his chin. And younger than she had expected, about Ran’s age, no more than midthirties.
“It’s Luke or Lucas,” he said, smiling. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Eve.”
Ran settled a proprietary hand at her waist that caught Lucas’s attention. Whatever he was thinking, he didn’t seem surprised by the gesture. Maybe Ran was that way with all of the women he dated. The thought made her sad.
“Would you like something to drink?” Ran asked her. “Cola Light?”
“Yes, please.”
“Why don’t we sit down?” Lucas suggested as Ran fetched the soft drink. Eve settled on the sofa, Lucas in one of the matching chairs. “Ran has filled me in on much of what’s been going on. He told me what happened in your office this morning.”
Unconsciously, she reached up to the base of her throat. There were bruises where Donny’s fingers had dug into her neck. It was slightly painful to swallow.
“It was terrifying, if you want the truth.”
“I’m sure it was. I understand all of this is new to you.”
She managed to nod. “Yes. I have no idea why the spirits—or whatever they are—have chosen to communicate with me, but that seems to be what’s going on.”
Ran walked up and handed her the glass of cola, then sat down beside her on the sofa.
“What happened in your office is extremely unusual,” Lucas said. “Ghosts are basically placid entities, most of them behave like a recording that plays the same image over and over.”
“You mean like walking up and down a staircase,” she said. “Or floating through a garden. That sort of thing.” The usual way people described ghostly encounters.
“That’s right. The kind of violent behavior you witnessed doesn’t happen often. Of course, there are a number of well-documented cases, but as I said, it’s not common.”
“According to Ran, this isn’t new to you.”
Lucas nodded. “Demon possession has been happening for thousands of years.”
A chill washed over her. Eve glanced toward the window, but it was solidly closed. “A demon? That’s . . . that’s what you think it was?”
“What do you think it was? From your own description, the body of a young man you’ve been treating for weeks was invaded by a shadowy figure who then tried to kill you. Is that about right?”
She swallowed. She couldn’t deny it. “Yes . . .” The word came out as a whisper. She felt Ran’s hand reach for hers, lacing their fingers together.
“Zane is digging for more information,” Ran said. “This should be a lot easier once we have all the facts. Or at least as many as we can come up with.”
Her gaze returned to the former priest. “Ran told you about Wally and the other boys in the orphanage?”
“He mentioned it. I know about Wally, your imaginary childhood friend. We haven’t had a lot of time to discuss the rest, not after what took place in your office this morning. That matter took precedence.”
Ran sat forward. “Eve thinks whatever caused Wally’s death happened to other children in the orphanage at the same time, or that their deaths were somehow linked.”
One of Lucas’s dark eyebrows winged up.
“That’s the feeling I get,” Eve said. “That something terrible happened and a number of children were killed.”
“Perhaps a sickness swept through the orphanage,” Ran suggested. “Could have been typhoid or measles, a flu of some sort.”
Lucas fell silent. As Eve tried to imagine what thoughts might be running through the former priest’s head, she steadied herself with a drink of soda.
“Something isn’t adding up,” Lucas finally said. “Maybe we’ll know more after tonight.” His expression turned kindly and she glimpsed the caring sort of priest he must have been. “Eve, are you sure you’re up to this?”
“To tell you the truth, Father—” Her face flushed at the error, though she was beginning to understood why people called him that behind his back. There was just something about him. . . . “I’m sorry. I know you left the priesthood sometime back.”
“That’s right. I couldn’t live within the rules. The truth is, I fell in love with a woman. Centuries back, priests were allowed to marry, but that was long ago.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. Turned out Maria was the wrong woman for me, and I was the wrong man for her. In a way, as it always seems to, God’s plan worked out for the best.”
She liked this man, Eve realized, liked his straightforward honesty, his sincerity, and the trace of humility he wore like a cloak.
She returned to their earlier conversation. “You asked if I was up to returning to the house tonight. The way I see it, Lucas, I don’t have any choice. Whatever this is, its attention is fixed on me. After today, I have no doubt of that. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to make this all go away.”
Lucas just nodded.
Ran gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “All right, let’s leave this for now.” He rose from the sofa and pulled her up with him. “The food in the hotel is surprisingly good. Let’s go down to supper. I’ll call the team, let them know what’s going on. We’ll meet in the lobby at eight for the trip over to the house.”
“What about the asylum?” she asked.
“One problem at a time,” Lucas replied. “Maybe we’ll learn something new that will help us.”
“There’s always a chance Eve won’t be able to make contact,” Ran said. “So far that hasn’t been a problem. I’m feeling a strong sense of urgency about all of this. I think something bad is going to happen. We need to stop it before it does.”