The next morning, Brett and Ellie arrived at Remer’s house. Ellie really felt bad that his grandfather might have been involved in anything to do with Matilda’s death.
Remer greeted them at the door and motioned them in. “I should have had you come over last night. I’m sure you must have needed some kind of resolution one way or another. I had a friend come over and help me move the steamer trunk from the attic to the living room. I don’t remember my grandmother at all. She died before I was born. From what Matilda had said, my grandmother had been friends with both her and Caroline. It wasn’t until after Caroline’s husband died that Theodore started to court her.”
Ellie took hold of Brett’s hand as they looked at the old camelback wooden steamer trunk, with its leather straps and brass fittings still in excellent condition.
Remer opened it for them, and they looked inside. They found a lady’s parasol, a faded forest-green dress, gloves, stockings, shoes, a few other articles of women’s clothing, and one man’s glove.
“Does that help solve the mystery?” Remer asked.
Brett handed him the picture of his aunt and grandmother with Theodore and Benjamin. “It appears to be the same dress she was wearing and the same parasol she had six months before her death. Though you can’t tell from the photo, Bertha Hastings said the dress was forest green.”
“I’m sorry. Dad said he’d been worried about his dad when he’d had a terrible fall around the same time that your aunt died. Granddad said he’d slipped on spilled water and hit his head. Dad thought he should move in with him, but Granddad said he was fine. Granddad didn’t go to Matilda’s funeral, and shortly afterward, he and Caroline broke up. We thought it was over her refusal to mate him. He’d told my father she’d marry him now that Matilda was gone. Dad thought he shouldn’t get his hopes up. I’m…sorry.”
“You didn’t have anything to do with it. It still might have been that she stood and fell out of the boat. Your grandfather worried how it would look to my grandmother. So he covered up the whole affair. He did want to marry her after all,” Brett said.
“Could be. But would Matilda come back to say she hadn’t died accidentally if it was an accident?”
“Yes,” Ellie said. “If she wanted her family to know how she died, whether it was accidentally or not. She didn’t want her sister marrying him because he hadn’t told anyone the truth.”
Remer nodded. “I don’t know what else to say except I’m sorry. Feel free to take her things with you. And…I hope you’re still agreeable to lessons?” Remer looked desolate about it.
“Oh, absolutely,” Ellie quickly said.
“Agreed. Thank you,” Brett said.
Ellie thanked him too, and then they left. “What are you going to do with her things?”
“What about displaying them with her memorial in the inn lobby? Make a glassed-in case and include the picture of her and her sister all dressed up.”
“With Theodore and Benjamin? Do you think she’ll object to Theodore being in the picture?”
“Maybe, but we could give it a shot. Or I can have the photo of her and her sister blown up and remove Theodore from the photo.”
“Okay, sounds good.”
With the movers scheduled to arrive at the house later that afternoon, Brett and Ellie returned there, made love, showered together, dressed, and headed downstairs for a late breakfast. She hoped this would resolve the piano-playing issue. If it didn’t, she wasn’t sure what else to try.
“Did you want us to move the piano back to Brett’s home?” Ellie asked Matilda, hoping she’d get an answer.
“Our home,” Brett reminded Ellie, and she loved that it was now her home too.
Matilda didn’t respond.
“I don’t normally eat big breakfasts, but I’m famished. What about you?” Ellie asked. “It must have been all of our workouts.”
He chuckled. “Breakfast will help give us energy for more.”
“Are you off from the paper today?” She made omelets filled with cheese, bell peppers, and ham while Brett made coffee and tea and set the table.
“Yeah. No way would they make me work today.”
“Good. I haven’t talked to my sisters about not going to work at the inn today, but I suspect they already understand I’d rather be with you for the day.” Ellie glanced at the piano. “Matilda might be feeling a bit unsure, not knowing where the piano should be now.” Ellie served the omelets.
Brett made some toast for them. “Why would she be upset about us taking it to the inn?”
“Maybe she just couldn’t communicate with you. Then she realized we could see Chrissy. I’m not sure. However, she liked helping to teach me to play. Maybe that made her feel alive again. This had been her calling. She failed at teaching Chrissy, but she’d failed with students before, so she knows that’s a hazard of teaching.”
“All right. I just hope she’s happy with the piano being back at the house.”
They had just finished breakfast when Brett got a call. “Hey, CJ? Okay, putting it on speaker.”
“I just got a call from Stanton that he and his brothers are stranded a couple of miles out of town headed in your direction. The classic Plymouth made them get out of the car, and then it drove off into the woods on that rarely used road to Lover’s Leap.”
“Are the brothers all right?” Ellie hurried to put away the food.
“Stanton says he has a broken leg. I’m headed over there, but I thought you might want to meet us out there. The other brothers only have scrapes and bruises.”
“We’re on our way.” Brett quickly told him what they learned about their great-aunt.
“Hell,” CJ said.
“Yeah, I know. Be there soon.” Brett ended the call, helped Ellie with the food, grabbed their jackets, and they headed out to the car.
Ellie was dressed in jeans and a sweater and boots. Brett was dressed similarly. She was glad they’d both had a chance to pick up a change of clothes that wasn’t Victorian.
“I can’t believe Stanton and his brothers were still driving that car. They should have buried it like I said,” Ellie told Brett.
“The show must go on.”
“It’s a good thing the car didn’t kill them.”
No matter how much Brett tried to believe the car was possessed, he had a really hard time envisioning it. “You don’t think it’s just a publicity stunt for their show? Just to dramatize things a bit? Then they got a little out of hand and Stanton was really injured?”
Ellie processed that for a few minutes. “Knowing Stanton, anything is possible, I suppose.”
“You really think the only way to end this is to bury the car?”
“If you can’t exorcise ghosts—and the brothers have already tried to do it with some of the conventional means—I’d say so. The only other way to deal with it might be if Shorty’s grandson attempted to communicate with him. There’s no guarantee that will make any difference. What if the car was buried and it still honked its horn from the grave? No telling, really.”
“Unless Shorty is buried somewhere in a private grave, I don’t see that we can bury it with him or near him,” Brett said.
“No. I want to see where it ended up. Maybe we can put the ghost to rest so Stanton can’t try to exploit it any further for his TV program.”
“Okay, well, you let me know how I can help.”
She smiled at him. “Thanks, Brett, for going along with all this.”
“We’re mated, Ellie,” he said. “That means we’re in this together. We’re partners in everything, including this ghost-buster business.”
“I love you.”
“I love you right back, honey.”
They saw Stanton sitting in the melting snow off the road, CJ’s taillights glowing red as he pulled over to park up ahead.
Brett pulled behind CJ’s car and parked. He and Ellie got out to hear the brothers’ story.
Vernon and Yolan had splinted Stanton’s leg using a couple of tree branches and Vernon’s shirt torn into strips.
“The ambulance is on its way,” CJ said. “So what happened exactly?”
“Shorty told us to get out of the damn car, or he was going to kill the lot of us,” Vernon said.
“You heard him?” Brett asked. “All of you?”
“Well, no,” Vernon said, both he and Stanton turning their attention on Yolan.
“He spoke through you,” Ellie said to Yolan.
“That’s what Stanton and Vernon told me. I blacked out and don’t remember anything. Not until Vernon shoved me out of the car and I hit the pavement.”
“Sorry, but at least Shorty slowed down for a few minutes so we could get out. Shorty inhabited Stanton’s body and used him to do what he wanted. Stanton didn’t have control, but he was in denial that Shorty had taken over his physical being,” Vernon said.
“So you pushed Yolan out of the car and…?” Ellie prompted.
“I told Stanton to jump while he had the chance. I jumped out after Yolan, who was just coming to. The car sped up, and Stanton was still at the wheel. I ran after the car and grabbed the driver’s door handle, yanked the door open, and seized Stanton’s arm. I expected him to fight me because he wasn’t leaving the car. Then I realized Shorty was controlling him. I jerked Stanton out of the car before it roared off, then took that side road. At that point, Stanton fell, landing harder than we had on the paved road, and broke his leg.”
“Are you all right?” Ellie asked Yolan, who nodded.
“Hell, I’m the one who was injured,” Stanton said, annoyed.
“Do you want to come with us?” Ellie asked Yolan. “We’re going after the car.”
“Yeah, unless you want me to drive it. If that’s the case, I’ll pass.” Yolan gave her a half smile.
“No. You’re going to help me get rid of Shorty or the car.”
“That works for me.”
“Hey, we need to return the car to its owner in good shape,” Stanton said.
The ambulance’s siren told them it was on its way, and Ellie, Brett, and Yolan climbed into Brett’s car.
“Vernon?” Brett offered.
“I’ll go with Stanton,” Vernon said. “He’ll be hell to live with if one of us doesn’t go with him to the clinic.”
Stanton grunted.
“Don’t get yourselves killed over this,” CJ warned. “We’ve got enough damned ghosts running around.”
“We’ll be careful.” Brett had no idea how they were going to manage that. He drove his car to Lover’s Lane and saw the fresh tracks in the snow. “It’s a one-lane road, so if he decides to come back while we’re trying to catch up to him, we could have a collision.”
“Will he be able to pick up speed out here? The road is rough, and it curves so much.” Ellie was staring straight ahead, Yolan in the back peering between them.
“His car is bigger and heavier, but everything you mentioned will help to slow him down.” Brett glanced in the rearview mirror. “Yolan, you need to sit back and put on your seat belt.”
“Can’t see anything from back here.”
“You’ll fly headfirst into my windshield if he hits us with any force.”
Yolan snapped his buckle in place.
“So you said the side road goes to Lover’s Leap. Does it loop around, or would the car have to come back this way?” Ellie asked.
“It dead-ends at a cliff. To my knowledge, no one has ever leaped off there, but it is a scenic spot where trysts occur occasionally, I’ve heard.”
“Not you though, right, Brett?” Ellie was smiling when she asked.
He laughed. “Not me.”
“Why in the world would the car go this way and not continue on down the main road?” Ellie asked.
Yolan cleared his throat. “This is where Shorty turned to lose the feds and the local sheriff’s men, but they saw his tracks in the snow, continued to follow him, and then shot at his car. He hit the tree and died.”
“I remember hearing that story. At the time, I didn’t know about the bank-robber part of it or the shooting. Just that someone had hit a tree and died out here. It was that tree right there.” Brett slowed down so everyone could get a look at the pine tree.
Some of the bark was gone, there was a big dent in one side, and the tree was leaning over a bit, despite how tall it was.
Brett drove past the tree.
Ellie’s heart was beating faster like his was. “So the road has a turnaround up ahead?”
“Yeah, and a parking spot. It’s always been a narrow road, but the trees have encroached even more.”
They heard a distant crash, and Ellie looked at Brett. He wondered if the car had driven off the cliff. But then they heard the engine revving up and the horn sounding ahh-woo-gah, and Brett knew the Plymouth was headed back their way.
“It’s coming.” Brett started to back up, but the curves were making it difficult as he looked backward and twisted and turned the wheel, navigating down the narrow road. The Plymouth’s engine roared as it approached. They’d never make it back to the main road and out of the Plymouth’s path in time.
“Brett!” Ellie braced for impact.
“God, we’re all going to die!” Yolan shouted.
Brett wanted to sock him for being such a damn alarmist. Brett’s car nearly slid into a tree on an icy patch. “Keep your cool, man.”
“I had to say it,” Yolan said, and this time his voice was unsteady, but he sounded like he’d been trying to make a joke. “They always have an ass screaming that in a movie.”
“Brett!” Ellie grabbed his arm.
He turned to see the menacing car with the big steel grill and heavy-duty bumper only feet away. A man wearing a suit, tie, and white hat with a black band around it stared back at him. He looked to be mid-twenties, his face clean-shaven and his expression hard.
Everyone braced for the car to strike. It hit—and yet nothing happened. It was as if the Plymouth had driven straight through them and vanished behind them.
In shock, all three of them sat there staring out the back window.
Was the car still parked at Lover’s Leap?
“The bang we heard earlier.” Ellie sighed with relief. “Do you think he drove the car off the cliff?”
“Maybe.” Shaken, Brett drove back toward the cliff, having a devil of a time fathoming that a ghost could have taken the car, destroyed it, and created a ghost car. Ellie had had years to process this stuff. He was such a newbie that it all seemed so unreal. Disquieting.
Her heart was racing like his was, so it must have been just as genuine for her, and she was just as upset about it as he was.
When they arrived at the parking area, they saw the car sitting at the edge of the cliff, the engine running. It looked tangible. Was it?
Brett wasn’t sure what to do. Should he block it in, move out of its path, or park next to it? At least if he parked next to it, the car couldn’t hit his.
He left space between them and parked. The car’s engine was still revving. “What do you want to do?”
“I think it’s already done. I think that’s the ghost car, though it looks so real.” Ellie got out of the car, and Brett and Yolan hurried after her.
Suddenly, the car tore off over the cliff and fell to its demise on the rocks below. No resounding crash occurred this time. They all moved to the edge and stared down at the crumpled car on the jagged rocks, the river rushing by. On the bank stood a man wearing the same 1930s suit, white hat, and shoes as the car’s earlier driver. He glanced up at the cliffs, tipped his hat to them, turned, and walked across the river. He didn’t wade in it, instead floating on top of it, and then his body faded to mist and he was gone.
Brett wrapped his arm around Ellie. She was shivering, either from the cold or the shock of it.
“Hell, the owner isn’t going to believe we had nothing to do with this.” Yolan folded his arms and blew out his breath in the frosty air.
Ellie cast him an annoyed look. “You had everything to do with it.”
“How do you figure?” He gave her a growly look right back.
“You drove the vehicle in winter.” She looked back down at the car. “I think he’s found his resting spot.”
“He got away.” Brett didn’t think he’d ever make it as a ghost psychologist, but that’s what he assumed had happened. The ghost had to make his escape from the Feds and other police officials, and then he could go on his way.
“Yeah. The feds can’t chase him anymore. And”—Ellie glanced at Yolan—“no one else will ever drive his car again.”
Yolan snorted. “Stanton is going to be pissed.”
“Better pissed than dead.” Brett moved Ellie back to his car. “Ready to go home?”
“And do what?” Ellie asked.
He knew she meant about the piano.
“I’ll call the movers and have them take it back to our house.”
Yolan climbed into the car. “Maybe we should toss it down there with the car.”
Ellie rolled her eyes at him.
“Hey, what if they hit it off?” Yolan actually looked serious.
“My great-aunt and a bank robber?” Brett could just imagine her scolding the guy for taking up a life of crime. He backed up, turned around, and headed toward the main road.
“So what do you want me to do?” Yolan asked.
“Go with CJ to the hospital. We have other business to take care of,” Brett said.
“I can help. I’d much rather help you try to deal with your great-aunt’s situation than see Stanton at the hospital.”
“We’ve got this.” Ellie relaxed a little in the seat.
Brett sure hoped so because he truly wanted his great-aunt to be happy, but he didn’t want her to disturb them if she chose to play the piano at inopportune times.
He called CJ and asked if he was still there.
“Yeah, just determining what happened here by the tire tracks in the snow. What happened with you?”
“We’re returning. Can you give Yolan a lift to the hospital?”
“Sure. What about the car?”
“At the bottom of the cliff.”
“Okay. I heard a really distant bang but then heard your engine, so I knew you were still driving and figured you were okay.”
“Yeah, we’re okay, but Lover’s Lane visitors might have a ghostly experience if they come this way.”
“The car’s really at the bottom of the cliff?”
“Yeah. No more ghost story for Stanton.” Brett made it to the main road, drove to the site where CJ was parked, and let Yolan out.
CJ leaned against Brett’s car door as he rolled down the window. “I’ll go check it out.”
“Can we leave it there?” Ellie asked.
“This land is pack territory. If the Plymouth’s owner wants to pay to haul it out of there, he can. It would probably cost too much to be bothered with. He can just get the insurance money and go from there. Otherwise, I’m sure Darien will agree to leave it there as a wildlife refuge.”
“Just be careful when you drive that way. If the ghost car comes at you, threatening to smash you, it seems real.” Brett didn’t want his brother having a heart attack over a ghost car.
“Or it might be gone now completely,” Ellie said.
“Okay, gotcha. Come on, Yolan. We’ll take a drive on Lover’s Lane, take a look over Lover’s Leap, and then I’ll get you back to town.” CJ waved at Brett, then they took off.
“At least that resolved the issue of anyone driving the car and causing an accident,” Ellie said.
“As long as he doesn’t scare somebody to death on Lover’s Lane. I can see word spreading and everyone heading that way to see the car at the bottom of the cliff and attempting to witness the ghost car.” Brett couldn’t quit thinking of what had happened to them. “Why did the car come back toward us after it crashed? I would have thought that if Shorty had found peace, the car wouldn’t have been driving on Lover’s Lane again.”
“He died when he crashed his car into the tree, yet the need to get away must have been so great that he was tied to that car until he could make his escape from those who would incarcerate him. By sending the physical car over the cliff, he made sure no one else could have it. He must have realized that he couldn’t have escaped the men going that way. That he had to head back the way he’d come, return to the main road, and disappear. That’s when we saw the ghost car drive through us.”
“Then we saw him with the car at the bottom of the cliffs,” Brett said.
“Right. He was ready to leave his physical car behind. He tipped his hat in greeting, thanking us for releasing him.”
“We didn’t.”
“Shorty was a man who was used to being in charge. He wasn’t going to go quietly. He had to prove to himself that he could do it. Don’t you think?”
“Could be. What if we had buried the car near his body like you had first suggested?”
“It might not have worked. It’s really hard to second-guess what a person is thinking, whether alive or in spirit. I think this was where he needed to be to actually be free.”
Brett was glad, as long as they didn’t have any more trouble with Shorty’s ghost.
When they arrived at the MacTire sisters’ house, no one was there. Brett suspected Laurel and Meghan were at the inn.
He kissed Ellie. “I’ll help you pack some of your clothes and take them to our new home. And I’ll move things around at the house again so the piano can be dropped off.”
“Okay, sounds like a good idea.” They packed her clothes in a couple of suitcases, and she called Meghan to ask if she could use hers too.
Brett hauled the bags downstairs and out to the car, so glad he and Ellie were now mated. He still couldn’t believe he had seen a ghost car drive straight through him. It was so real that he’d expected to hear the crash and he’d been so worried that Ellie might be hurt.
“Movers will be here in just a bit. I’ll be back after I get this done,” he said.
“Maybe you should just stay there and be ready for us.”
“You might be right. I’ll unpack your bags and then move the furniture and wait. And I’ll see if anyone can have a memorial display box made, pronto, to store Matilda’s dress and parasol.” He gave Ellie one long, lingering kiss and hug and hoped they wouldn’t have any further trouble with Matilda.