Chapter Fourteen

The moment Danielle uttered “Lucas,” the apparition vanished. She remained standing, staring into the now empty corner.

“That was him!” Walt said. “That’s the other spirit who was in the house today!”

Chris looked at Danielle. “What did you call him?”

Frowning, Walt looked from the now empty corner to Danielle. “You said Lucas. Why did you call him Lucas?”

“That’s who it was,” Danielle whispered.

“Are you saying the second spirit is the ghost of your dead husband?” Chris asked incredulously.

Danielle nodded.

“That’s impossible. Danielle’s husband has been dead over a year now. She never saw him after he died. Why would he show up here now?” Walt asked.

Danielle glanced from Chris to Walt. “He looked…he sounded…just like Lucas.”

“It doesn’t work that way, Danielle. Once a spirit moves on, he can’t just come back,” Walt told her.

Turning from the corner, Danielle looked at Walt. “What about my Christmas dream? Was that nothing more than something you orchestrated? My parents…Cheryl…it was just an ordinary dream?”

“It wasn’t an ordinary dream.” Walt’s voice softened, his eyes focused on Danielle’s face. “But visiting a dream after a spirit moves on…is not the same thing as staying on this plane, as I am…as those other spirits are doing…the ones you and Chris see.”

“What makes you so certain about that?” Chris asked.

Walt looked from Danielle to Chris, “What do you mean?”

“How do you know a spirit can’t come back after it’s moved on?”

“It’s just something I feel,” Walt told him.

“But you don’t know for certain,” Danielle said.

“As certain as I can be,” Walt insisted.

“Okay, let’s say you’re right. Maybe a spirit can’t come back after it’s moved on. But how do you know Danielle’s husband moved on? Maybe he never did. And now he’s here.” Chris looked around. “But where did he go?”

“That doesn’t make sense. Danielle didn’t see him at his funeral, he never showed up at the house they shared. It sounds to me like he moved on. I think this spirit just looks like her husband.”

“It was Lucas.” Danielle sat back down on the sofa. “But where did he go?”

Walt paced the room. “I want to know what he has to do with Peter Morris’ death.”

“Maybe he has nothing to do with Morris,” Chris suggested. “It could all be a coincidence.”

“This is so strange,” Danielle muttered. Holding her hands on her lap, she looked down and closed her eyes for a moment before opening them again and looking up. “Why would he show himself now? And where did he go?”

“Maybe he wants to talk to you alone,” Chris suggested.

“Absolutely not!” Walt said.

Chris frowned at Walt. “Why not? And since when have you started monitoring Danielle’s paranormal associations?”

“If it is Danielle’s husband, he needs to beat it! But I’m not convinced it’s him.”

Danielle stood up. “Maybe Walt’s right—it isn’t Lucas. I mean, why would he be here now, after all this time? If he had something to say to me, why didn’t he come before?”

“He died in a car accident, didn’t he?” Chris asked.

Danielle walked to the corner and looked at where the apparition had been standing. “Yes. Right before Christmas.”

“Did you ever go to the site of the accident?” Chris asked.

Danielle reached out to where Lucas had been standing just moments ago. There was nothing there. She turned back to Chris. “Yes. Well, I drove down the street once. But, I couldn’t get myself to stop the car and get out.”

“It’s always possible his spirit lingered there,” Chris suggested.

“But wouldn’t I have seen him when I drove down the street?” Danielle asked.

“Not necessarily. I remember this one spirit. He haunted a movie theatre at the beach. People would tell stories of their popcorn flying out of their hands in the middle of the show, or how someone would knock a soda out of their hands, yet no one would be there. I decided to check it out, and sure enough, the theatre was being haunted.”

“What does this have to do with Danielle’s husband?” Walt asked.

“It turned out the guy had been murdered in the alley behind the theatre. After his death, he ran into the building and never left. He wasn’t murdered in the theatre, but that’s the place he haunted.”

“What happened to him?” Danielle asked.

“I helped him understand what had happened, and once he realized he was dead, came to grips with his murder, he moved on,” Chris explained.

“You’re a regular do-gooder,” Walt muttered.

Ignoring Walt, Danielle said, “Sometimes that’s all it takes for them to move on…to realize they’re no longer alive.”

Chris looked over at Walt. “Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work that way. Sometimes they hang on and on, like that uninvited house guest.”

“If it was Lucas, where did he go? Why is he here?” Danielle asked.

“He might have left when he saw us here. I’d think after not seeing you for more than a year, he doesn’t want an audience,” Chris suggested.

“I’m going to my room.” Danielle started for the door. Sadie lifted her head and looked around. She had slept through Lucas’ brief appearance and had no idea another spirit, other than Walt, had just been in the room.

“You shouldn’t be alone,” Walt said. He started to follow her.

Danielle turned to him. “No. You stay here. I want to know why Lucas is here. And Chris is probably right. I doubt he’ll come if either of you are with me.”

“Danielle, you don’t want to do this,” Walt insisted.

“Walt, let her go,” Chris told him.

A few moments later, after Danielle had left the room, Walt directed his attention to Chris. “Why would you encourage this?”

“Don’t you think Danielle deserves closure? This could give it to her.”

“Closure? Her husband’s been dead for over a year now. She’s just fine. Let dead husbands lie,” Walt said.

“Danielle’s not just fine. Don’t you think it’s been eating at her, not having a chance to confront her husband? She probably feels guilty for being angry with him.”

“She has no reason to feel guilty.”

“I know that. But he left her in limbo. And then when she starts dating again, it’s with Joe Morelli and—”

“Morelli was all wrong for Danielle.”

“I don’t disagree. Both men basically betrayed her. Her husband by having an affair and Morelli by not believing in her when she needed his support.”

“What’s your point?”

“Unless she works this out, she’s never going to feel confident enough to trust a man again.”

“Danielle trusts me,” Walt snapped.

“I’m speaking about a living, breathing man.”

Walt lifted his brows. “You?”

“I understand Danielle, in a way Morelli never could.”

“I understand her too,” Walt insisted.

“I hate to be the one to point this out, but you’re a ghost, Walt.”

“I loathe that term.” Walt turned from Chris and walked to the window. He stared out at the side yard.

“Don’t you want Danielle to fall in love someday, with a man she can marry—have children with?”

Walt gazed out the window, his back to Chris. “Danielle’s always telling me things have changed since I was alive, that a woman doesn’t need marriage and children to be fulfilled.”

“You don’t have to necessarily need something to want it.”

“You think she wants that?” Walt asked.

“She might, if she found a man she could trust.”

“Do you think you’re that man? Are you saying you want to marry Danielle?”

“I haven’t known Danielle that long, but I’d like to get to know her better. I’ve never really considered getting married before.” Chris sat on the sofa. Sadie stood up and rested her chin on his knee while Chris absently stroked her ears.

“You say you want to get to know her better, but you never considered getting married. Are you saying your intentions are to enter into some casual relationship with her—no different from the current Valentine’s Day guests? Use her and then what?”

“Settle down, Walt. I know we have this generation thing going on, but really, get off your soap box.”

“Generation thing? I happen to be younger than you!”

“Just because I happen to be older than you were when you died, does not mean I’m older than you now. Anyway, I was referring to the era you lived in. And when I said I never considered marriage before, what I actually meant—I never imagined I could date a woman and feel confident she wasn’t with me for my money. I don’t worry about that with Danielle.”

“You want to marry Danielle because she has money and isn’t particularly interested in yours?”

“That’s not what I meant. I’m interested in Danielle—because of who she is. But when I say I’m interested in her, I mean I want to get to know her better—go out with her. And someday, if things would progress with us, I could see her as someone I could consider marrying. I wouldn’t be afraid she wanted me for my money. And you have to admit, we’ve a lot in common.”

“What, that you both see ghosts?”

“I thought you loathed that term.”

“Only when someone applies it to me.”

“I think it gives us something unique in common—something we can’t share with anyone else.”

“Danielle discusses her abilities with Lily—and with Chief MacDonald.”

“Yes, but not in the same way she can with me. Lily or MacDonald will never really truly understand all that Danielle’s had to deal with because of this thing we share.”

“I wonder…if you were unable to see spirits…how would you react to Danielle? In the same way Joe Morelli did?

“I suppose I could say the same about Danielle. But the fact is, for both of us, our ability to see and communicate with spirits has shaped us into who we are, what we’ve become.”

“What happens if you and Danielle get closer, and then you decide she’s not the one—maybe you fall in love with someone else.”

“Walt, there’re no guarantees in life. Have you really been dead for so long that you don’t remember what it was like to want to get to know a woman better?”

“Those types of feelings don’t necessarily die with your body,” Walt said, his voice almost a whisper.

“I want to get to know Danielle better—I understand there’s no guarantee either of us will want more than friendship after we do. Yet, there is one thing I am fairly certain about, as long as she carries around the baggage of her marriage, I don’t see anyone getting too close to her. And as long as you…”

When Chris failed to finish his sentence, Walt asked, “As long as I what?”

“I know Joe Morelli is still interested in Danielle. Considering they’ve a brief history, I imagine some might see him as my competition, but I don’t. But the same can’t be said about you.”

“Are you saying you, see me as competition?”

“I see how you look at her, Walt.”

“Chris, I’m not a fool. I know there’s no future for Danielle and me. I won’t interfere if something develops between you two. I didn’t interfere when she went out with Morelli. But don’t expect me to simply move on. I’m staying here.” Walt vanished.

Sadie jumped up and let out a bark. She looked around and then raced from the library. Chris could hear the golden retriever running up the stairs. He guessed the dog was headed for the attic, where she would probably find Walt.

“Where is Bella?” Walt asked Max when he got to the attic.

Max let out a high pitch meow.

“Sleeping where?”

Max yawned.

“As long as you didn’t do something to her.”

Max rolled over on his side.

“Yes, the police are finally gone. I just wish I was downstairs last night, when Morris was here.”

Max meowed.

“Morris is the man who was killed. The body the police took out of here.”

Just as Sadie raced into the attic, Walt asked Max, “What do you mean you saw Arlene go downstairs around the time Morris was killed?”