Chapter 26

As events unfolded, Bailey was glad he and Fiona managed a little sleep before the funeral. They delivered the crystal ball to Eva Grace. Then Fiona’s phone rang with a New Mourne resident needing help with an out-of-control ghost, and so it began.

In the middle of the night, Fiona convinced a newly-dead grandfather there was no need to be banging barn doors, setting hay bales on fire, and stampeding cattle at his family’s farm. She assured him he would be able to cross to the other side soon, and she summoned Minnie to help the ghost hide.

Bailey and Fiona were headed to her place when Ryan called. The rampaging ghosts of two former students had set off the fire alarm and bolted the doors to the library at the county high school. When Fiona and Bailey arrived, the two were ripping pages out of books and turning the sprinkler system on and off.

These hoodlums, who had spent decades haunting the school, did not respond to Fiona’s invitation to hide with the other ghosts. They were eager to use power from the demon and Albert to raise hell. Fiona finally evoked a binding spell that sealed them both in the 1950s bomb shelter behind the school.

“They should stay put until we get this under control,” she told Ryan and Bailey.

Only when would that be? The town’s most restless spirits were rebelling in the only way they knew how—by upsetting the humans near them. Bailey spent the entire day running from the scene of one haunting crisis to another with Fiona. Ryan stayed with them, recording most of the incidents.

Nearly twenty-four hours without rest had Bailey punch drunk as he sat in the van and studied video of Fiona trying to reason with a ghost at the big discount store on the highway south of town. All the computers had malfunctioned, adding charges to every transaction. The TV sets in the electronics section ran an endless loop of blood-filled gore, while female shoppers were touched and chased from the dressing rooms.

Thankfully, the ghost was an unhappy teenager Fiona intimidated with her witchcraft. Now she and her family were busy doing cleanup at the busy store with the Remember-Not spell.

Bailey never saw the ghosts, but he could see the toll they were taking on Fiona.

From the van’s dashboard, Fiona’s phone played the tune, “I Shot the Sheriff.” Having heard this ringtone a lot today, Bailey knew it was Sheriff Tyler and answered.

“I need Fiona now,” Jake told him.

“She’s still busy.”

“I need her more over at Fred Williams’ church. I’ve got trouble with some kids and a ghost.”

Bailey retrieved Fiona from the store, and they drove to a section of town he had never seen. They swept past security guards watching sturdy, electronic gates. Behind brick walls, he glimpsed McMansions with lush lawns and swimming pools.

“Who lives here?” he asked.

“It’s called The Enclave, and it’s mainly people who moved up from Atlanta. Their kids go to this church school.” Fiona turned into the parking lot of a sprawling church and school campus. Unlike the outdated public high school, this building was a modern glass and stone paradise.

A group of children and a few adults stood at one end of the parking lot, near an old oak tree. Fiona swung in beside two sheriff’s cruisers. She and Bailey got out of the van and headed toward Jake. He had his hands full with a trio of angry-looking women and about two dozen children, most of them crying.

“We don’t need the sheriff’s department,” one woman shouted at Jake.

“We got a call,” Jake told her. “Someone heard the kids screaming and thought there was a problem.”

Another woman pointed toward a little girl standing under the oak tree, crying. “This child is clearly disturbed. She stirred up the whole group before choir practice. We’ve called her mother.”

“We’ll stay until the mother’s here,” Jake said, though the women continued to protest.

Fiona’s cousin Brian, the sheriff’s deputy, was trying to reason with the child, but she was inconsolable. Bailey could not see what was upsetting her.

But it must not have been pleasant, as Fiona turned pale.

“What does she see?”

“A woman under the tree. She’s been beaten and shot. Her dress is covered in blood.”

Bailey saw nothing, but after this day, he did not doubt Fiona. She headed straight for the child while Bailey stepped up beside Brian.

Fiona crouched beside the sobbing little girl. “It’s okay, honey. I can see her, too.”

Instead of being comforted, the child’s storm of tears intensified.

“It’s okay to be frightened.” Fiona gently turned the girl away from the tree. “She’s scary.”

“Nobody else sees her,” the child cried. “Why do I have to see her?”

“Do you know she’s a ghost?”

The little girl drew in a trembling breath and shot a look over her shoulder. “A ghost?”

“She died a long time ago,” Fiona said. “Have you seen other people like her?”

“My mom says I’m making it up.”

“Your mom just doesn’t understand. She can’t see ghosts like you and I can.”

“I…don’t…want…to.” The little girl’s gulping sobs tore at Bailey’s heart.

“Oh, honey, I know.” Fiona drew the child into her arms. “I know it’s really hard. I could help you if you want, if your parents would let me.”

As if sensing she were truly with someone who understood, the girl leaned into Fiona.

“This is something you can do that most people cannot,” Fiona told her. “When you’re older, it won’t be as scary.”

“Can you help that woman? She’s bleeding, and she’s really sad.”

“I’ll try.” Fiona asked the girl to go to Brian. When the young deputy had the child, Fiona turned back to the tree. “Why are you here?” she asked the spirit.

Wishing he could hear the other side of the conversation, Bailey came to Fiona’s side. He wanted to be close if she needed help.

Fiona listened and replied, “That was a long time ago. Why would you come here now to frighten a child?” She paused, and then shook her head. “You don’t have to do anything the demon says.”

After another moment, Fiona told Bailey, “After decades as a wandering spirit, she wants to cross over. She’s haunted her husband, who got away with killing her, but what’s happened since Albert and the demon appeared has upset her.”

“Does she know the demon could steal her soul if she tries to pass?”

“That’s why she came to the church. She was a member of this congregation thirty years ago, when she died. She believes she can avoid the demon here.”

Bailey looked up at the soaring church steeple topped with a cross. “What’s your opinion?”

“That I respect her beliefs, and I want to help her.” Fiona moved forward, her hands outstretched.

A few days ago, Bailey would not have believed Fiona was holding the hands of a troubled spirit. Now, he could almost imagine the tragic figure in the bloody dress. He felt something electric emanate from Fiona and grow. A bright white light appeared near the tree and dimmed slowly until it disappeared.

Gasps ran through the crowd, and a woman’s voice rang out, “Witch! She has performed Satan’s magic right here on the church grounds!”

Bailey turned to see a well-dressed, slender middle-aged woman step through the crowd. “You are a witch, Fiona Burns,” the woman proclaimed. “You have blasphemed God and his holy church.”

She was the pastor’s wife, Bailey realized, the icy blonde woman he met Wednesday morning on Main Street. He started toward Fiona, ready to defend her, but Brian stopped him.

“Fiona can handle Ginny Williams,” the deputy said.

“You are a spawn of Satan, an evil presence in our good town,” the pastor’s wife shouted.

“You’re frightening everyone, Ginny.” Fiona turned to Brian. “Get the child out of here, will you?”

Ginny kept moving toward Fiona. “Something should be done about you and your family. I’ve always known what you are. We should return to the day when stoning witches was accepted.”

Jake turned from trying to herd the women and children toward the church. “That’s enough. You need to stop right where you are, Ginny.”

She whirled on him. “I know all about you, Sheriff. You’re sleeping with a witch too. The Connellys have bewitched you, the same as so many other men. What we need is someone who will get rid of them once and for all.”

Jake’s voice had a growl in it. “I said that’s enough.”

“Don’t you dare tell me what to do,” Ginny screamed, her face crimson with rage.

The women and children fell silent, and a man Bailey recognized as the pastor strode through the group. “What’s all of this?” he asked as he looked at his wife.

She tossed her head. “That strange little girl pretended to see something again, and Sheriff Tyler got this Connelly witch involved.”

The man turned to the sheriff. “Is that true?”

“It’s okay now,” Jake told the pastor. “Fiona calmed down the little girl and her mother is on the way. But your wife is very upset, and she needs to go somewhere and cool off.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Ginny said. “This is our church and you’re the one desecrating sacred ground. Get this witch and her wicked spells out of here.”

Bailey had been silent long enough. “You don’t know what you’re talking about, lady. Fiona just helped one of your church’s members pass to the other side.”

“What heresy.” Aghast, Ginny’s eyes went wide. “But I expect no less from another witch’s consort.”

The pastor took his wife’s arm. “Let’s go into the church. We’ll pray with the children and calm them down.”

“Good idea.” Jake went back to motioning for all the women and children to go to the church. “It’s time for everyone to calm down.”

Ginny tried to face Fiona again, but her husband held her tightly. “Let’s go. Now.” He looked at Jake. “We’ll talk later, Tyler.” Then he half-dragged the fuming woman into the church.

Just as the doors closed behind them, an SUV drove up and the little girl ran to her mother. Brian followed.

“That Ginny is a nasty woman,” Bailey commented.

“I think she’s starting to lose it.” Jake looked at Fiona. “Your family needs to steer clear of her.”

“Ginny Williams is not going to intimidate any of us,” Fiona replied. “You know how Brenna feels about her.”

“Yes, but when tempers run as high as Ginny’s, there’s cause for concern.” Jake nodded toward the little girl and her parent. “Is there something you want to say to this child’s mother?”

Fiona headed over to them.

Jake’s gaze followed her. “She’s running on fumes.”

“We all are,” Bailey agreed. “Are you going to call Brenna over here for the Remember-Not Spell? We left her and Lauren at the store.”

“No need. I imagine Fred and Ginny will convince them all that they saw nothing, and that this was just in the imagination of a child.”

Bailey saw the child’s mother turn away from Fiona and march toward her vehicle. She loaded her daughter in the back seat, got behind the steering wheel and sped off.

Fiona’s shoulders drooped as she and Brian walked back. “I imagine you’ll be hearing from that mother, Jake. She told me to get away and stay away when I tried to suggest what her daughter had seen. I feel so sorry for that kid.”

“You did what you could. Now you need to get some rest,” Jake advised her. “Let Powers drive you home.”

That was as close to a vote of confidence from the sheriff as he was going to get, Bailey supposed. He did convince Fiona to go home, and the two them were able to eat and sleep. Fiona was still asleep when Bailey woke in the darkness. She did not stir as he tucked covers around her and gently smoothed hair away from her face. She needed every bit of rest. No doubt, tonight would be another long night of ghost hunting.

He got up, dressed, and went in the other room to make some coffee. Checking the time, he decided to call his parents.

His father’s face came onscreen. “Son, I’ve been wondering about you today. How are you?”

Bailey did not want to go into everything that was happening until he had proper time to process it himself. The easiest thing to say was, “I’m working with Fiona.”

“Still?” His father looked interested. “I have to admit I was expecting you to have debunked her abilities and be headed home by now.”

“No debunking,” Bailey said. “She’s for real. In many ways.”

“Is that so?” A grin played about Dean Powers’ mouth. “Is her show still a possibility or has all of that been replaced by something personal?”

“I honestly don’t know. I’m working it out.”

“Do you need anything?”

“I’m fine. How are things going there?”

“Smoothly,” Dean replied and gave him an update on several projects.

“Sounds like I am not missed.”

The picture onscreen shifted, and his mother came into view. “I miss you. What’s up?”

Bailey laughed. “Dad will fill you in.”

“You look tired,” his mother added. “Are you eating well?”

“Sure. Have you ever heard of Coca-Cola cake?”

“Sounds like a lot of white sugar.”

“It’s amazing, trust me. Everything you ever heard about Southern cooking and Southern cooks is true.”

Beth looked concerned, but Bailey just smiled. He heard stirring in the bedroom. “Hey, I need to run. Fiona’s waking up.”

His mother cocked an eyebrow. “Waking up?”

“We’ll probably be out all night,” Bailey said. “Gotta go.” He cut off the phone, and Fiona came toward him looking rumpled and tired in her pajama pants and tank top. He pulled her against him and guided her to sit on the loveseat.

“I was hoping you’d sleep awhile longer,” he said, giving her a kiss and tasting the mint of her toothpaste.

“I woke up and missed you.” She laid her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah. I just felt like it was time to call my parents,” Baileys said.

“All’s well out there?”

“They’re fine.”

She nodded absently. “I’ve been thinking…”

“Which I’m learning can be dangerous.”

“The woman at the church was able to pass over. Maybe all the spirits that need to pass should go there.”

“Do you think it was the place or her faith?”

“You’re right.” Fiona sagged against him, looking disappointed. “I just want to find a way out for those who want to go.”

Her phone chirped before Bailey could reply. He put both arms around her. “Let it ring. They’ll leave a message. Just stay here with me a few minutes.”

Fiona sat still for only a few seconds. “Gotta get it. What if someone’s life is in danger?”

As she answered, Bailey laid his head on the back of the loveseat. He could hear the frantic voice on the other end and knew their interlude of rest was over. Giving a heavy sigh, he rose and went to grab some juice, fruit, and protein bars for Fiona to eat on the way to wherever they were going.

About a half hour later, he pulled into a lane leading to a farmhouse. A sheriff’s cruiser was parked out front. Fiona’s cousin Brian came to the van to meet them. Bailey got the video camera. Ryan, who was crashing on a cot in the studio, had decided not to come with them.

“Still on duty?” Fiona said to Brian.

He nodded. “The last few hours have been kind of calm. Almost too calm, if you know what I mean.”

“I do,” Fiona agreed. “Makes me wonder what will be next.” She turned as a crash sounded from inside the house. “What going on here? Annalee just called me.”

“We got a call from the girlfriend of one of the pack members,” Brian said.

“Pack?” Bailey looked up from the camera.

“Werewolves,” Fiona said as casually as she might say, “Plumbers.” She turned back to Brian. “Go on.”

“Anyway, the woman who called this in was worried after she stopped by here earlier and Annalee wouldn’t let her in. She’s human, and a new girlfriend to Rob’s brother, so she instinctively called the law.”

“Rob’s great-uncle took up residence in the attic three months ago after he died,” Fiona explained. “He went suddenly, and he just wasn’t ready to pass. I knew he was here and was afraid he’d be trouble.”

“Now he is,” Brian said. “I sent Annalee over to her mother’s house. Getting humans out of the way seemed prudent. Rob’s in there, trying to get his great-uncle to calm down.” Another crash sounded from the house. “Between Rob in wolf form and the ghost, they’re tearing the place apart. Annalee is really pissed, and trust me, Rob does not want her pissed. I’ve known her a long time.”

“What do we do?” Bailey asked. So he was about to meet one of the other creatures who lived here in New Mourne. Was it geeky of him to be excited?

A blood-curdling howl split the night air, and his excitement abated. He looked at Fiona in concern. “What can you do with a werewolf?”

“I’ll help,” a voice said from the darkness.

A tall man with chiseled features and hair graying at the temples stepped into view.

Brian straightened his shoulders. “Alpha.”

As in head of a werewolf pack? Bailey thought his head might explode, but he managed to stand still.

Fiona greeted the man, her voice respectful.

“I hear you’ve been very busy, Fiona.”

“Yes, sir.” She introduced Bailey.

The alpha greeted him politely enough, but he gave the camera a pointed glance. In the moonlight, his eyes were flat and feral, menacing. Bailey set the camera on the hood of the van.

“I’ll get Rob out of there, and perhaps you can deal with his great-uncle,” the alpha said. “It’s near the full moon, and Rob’s having trouble with control.”

“Rob.” Though said quietly, the words reverberated throughout the yard. “Come to me.”

In answer, a chair flew through the front window. Brian stepped back. Bailey moved to protect Fiona from flying glass.

The alpha didn’t even flinch. “Come, Rob.”

A wolf, larger than any Bailey had ever seen, jumped through the broken window. It landed and stood at least four feet tall with gray fur tipped in black, growling low in its throat and sniffing the air. Bailey fought the urge to drag Fiona away.

The wolf trotted to the alpha, who laid a hand on the creature’s head. The wolf showed long, sharp teeth, but sat down obediently.

To Fiona, the alpha said, “Rob thinks you should give it a few minutes before you go in. Great uncle’s spirit is disturbed tonight. It’s the evil in the air.”

“No doubt,” Fiona agreed.

“It’s stirring the dead and the living,” the alpha added. “This is the third member of the pack I’ve had to visit tonight. I hope the Connellys will rid us of it soon. Give my best to Sarah.”

The alpha and wolf strode away, Bailey heard a flurry in the underbrush, and then two howls lifted through the night.

He shivered though the air was warm and humid. “Jeez, those were werewolves.”

“And they don’t know about Sarah.” Brian looked in question to Fiona.

“Brenna doesn’t think we should let the other supernaturals know yet.” Sighing, Fiona turned back to the house just in time for a wooden table to fly out through the window.

Fiona pulled out of Bailey’s hold and headed toward the house.

“You sure you want to go in there?” Brian asked.

Bailey stepped up beside her. “She won’t be alone.”

“Well, shit.” Brian joined him. “You leave a guy no choice but to be brave.”

So they went inside, and Fiona talked down a ghost who was able to upend a sleeper sofa in the den and turn over a china cabinet. Fiona convinced him to shift out of wolf form and go back to his attic. Though Bailey couldn’t see him, of course, Fiona said he was upset about the demon coming close to his nephew’s home. Like the alpha, he wanted the Connellys to do something.

Fiona was so weak she could barely focus on unwrapping a Snickers bar in the van as they pulled away from the house. Her phone sounded again. She answered it without hesitation and listened for a moment, then said, “We’re on our way.”

Bailey slammed his palm into the steering wheel. “You’re dead on your feet, and if you don’t get something to eat besides candy and protein bars, you’re going to collapse.”

“It’s the hospital calling,” Fiona protested. “We have to go there.”

Knowing arguments would be futile, Bailey headed for the hospital. This time, he left the camera behind. His only mission was to support Fiona.

They walked through the quiet, deserted hospital lobby and took an elevator down.

“What’s the problem here?” he asked.

“Shades.”

Thinking of blinds on windows, Bailey frowned. The elevator doors slid open, and he caught a glimpse of something to his right. Then it was gone. “Did you see that?” he asked Fiona.

She nodded. “That was a shade. You only catch a little look at them in your peripheral vision. They’re very distracting.”

As he followed her down a hall, several more shades rippled in and out of sight. The effect was dizzying. “Whoa,” he said, putting a hand on the wall to steady himself. “That’s really strange. Why can I see them when I can’t see ghosts?”

“Shades are spirits that a lot of people can see.” Fiona stopped in front of double doors marked with a small, black placard.

“Morgue,” Bailey read aloud. He swallowed hard. “We’re going in the morgue?”

“The nurse who called said shades seem to be gathered down here,” Fiona explained.

“Then why can’t we leave them here? Seems like a good place.” A pale apparition darted in front of Bailey. He stumbled, and he thought he heard malicious laughter.

“See?” Fiona pushed Bailey back against the wall of the cool, dimly lit room. “These shades are working themselves up. We can’t have them in the rest of the hospital. There are sick people here, and not all of them need encouragement in dying. That’s what the shades could do.”

While Bailey watched, Fiona took off her backpack, drew a circle in salt, and set her candles at the five points. Her words were in Gaelic this time, so he didn’t understand. The shades that had dipped and darted about the room disappeared in a whirl of light.

Bailey helped Fiona pack her tools and clean the floor. She was so tired he was almost carrying her by the time they reached the van. When they got to her place, he walked her upstairs and straight toward the bed.

Her phone rang, and she reached for it, but he took it first and sent the call to voice mail.

“You can’t do that,” she insisted, gathering some hidden spark of energy to defy him. “I have to help them if they need me.”

“You can listen to the message later.”

“Make me some tea while I go get a shower. That will make me feel better.”

He grumbled as he went to her kitchen to comply. Bailey wasn’t sure he’d ever seen anyone so devoted to what she saw as her duty. He felt more tenderness toward her than he had anyone other than his family. Somehow, he had to get her to rest.

When the tea was ready, he took it to the bedroom and found Fiona asleep propped up against the headboard. She clutched her phone. She slapped at him when he tried to take it away.

“Okay, enough of this.” He picked her up and laid her down on the bed. She stirred and mumbled but fell into slumber. Now he had to guarantee she would stay that way, and he knew who could probably help.

He eased her phone from her and scrolled to find the name he sought.

Eva Grace answered on the first ring.

“It’s Bailey. I think I understand the value of an empath now, and I was wondering if you might help me.”