| |
The job at the prison had taken three weeks longer than he had expected. He arrived back in Sage at midnight and Echo welcomed him with open arms and into her bed. They had missed each other so much. Telephone calls and text messages kept them in touch, but not in the way their souls demanded.
He smiled softly as he realized Echo was talking in her sleep. He raised onto one elbow and looked down at her. Expecting to find her looking relaxed, he was surprised to find her face contorted in distress and pain.
...Echo... tell Randall!
“No, I won’t. Besides, Rand would never believe me.”
Then I’ll just have to tell him myself. Rand, I need to talk to you. I need to tell you something!
What the hell was she saying? Something in her voice sounded like Ann. How could this be?
“No, please let me tell him. I’ll do it... please let me!”
“Echo?” Rand sat up in bed. “What’s the matter? Wake up!”
He shook her by the shoulder. He looked down at her face and saw her features had relaxed, but her body jerked and moved as if she struggled with some invisible inner turmoil. He had to wake her and get her to tell him what was wrong.
Suddenly, her eyes popped open. In the soft moonlight that filled the room, her eyes seemed much darker, almost blank. Something was dreadfully wrong. The feel of her body chilled him to the bone.
“Echo! Wake up!” He pulled her into his arms. Fear raked through his body like a rusty dog brush, causing tears to flow freely down his cheeks.
“Rand, I have to tell you something,” Echo whispered.
His mind must be playing tricks on him, he thought, as he continued trying to wake her. Echo had just sounded like Ann. It was eerie just how much.
He’d been in a deep sleep, so maybe he just thought he heard Ann’s voice. He wished Ann could come back, even as a ghost. Then possibly he could get answers to the questions he had.
“Randall, you’re hurting me,” Echo moaned. “Put me down!” He laid her back on the bed.
“Are you all right? Were you having a nightmare? You were acting so strangely...not like yourself at all.”
“N-not like me? What do you mean?” Echo reached out and switched on the lamp beside the bed. The faint light did little to chase the shadows from the room.
“You were talking in your sleep. Actually, it sounded like you were arguing with someone.”
Echo pushed herself up into a sitting position. “We need to talk, Rand. I’ve been keeping something from you. It—it happened at Ann’s funeral. Remember when you saw me talking to Paul McGuire?”
“Ann’s funeral? What does that have to do with your dream?”
“When I took Paul’s hand to offer my condolences, something strange happened. I—I had a vision.”
“A vision?”
“Yes.” Her lips trembled, tears gathering at the base of her eyelashes.
“Honey, this must really be bothering you. Tell me about it. I’ll listen. I’ll try to understand.” He brushed a strand of hair from her face and traced the curve of her ear before he dropped his hand to hers.
“You won’t understand. I don’t even understand it myself. But Rand, I know what I saw when I touched that horrible man! I saw what happened to Ann.”
“What do you mean, you saw what happened to Ann? You weren’t anywhere around when she died. Only Paul was,” he said in a strained whisper.
“Rand, I saw Paul kill Ann.” Echo looked into his eyes, hoping he’d see the truth.
Rand returned her look, trying to comprehend what she was saying. He couldn’t have heard her correctly.
“Echo, please—what are you talking about? You think you actually saw Paul kill Ann?”
She dropped her head, hiding her face behind a curtain of hair. Through it, he could only detect her slight nod of yes.
“Echo, look at me,” he whispered, reaching under her hair and pulling up her chin. He raked back her hair from her face, found her terrified eyes, and saw the tears streaming down her cheeks.
“You think I’m crazy, don’t you?” she asked.
He shook his head as he gazed deeply into her eyes. “No, darling, I don’t think that. I’m not sure what I think, but I don’t think you’re crazy at all.” He pulled her to him, comforting her as he rubbed her back.
“Echo, I had an experience I don’t quite understand myself.” Randall took a deep breath and continued in a quiet voice. “When I was on the flight to Hawaii after Paul called me to say Ann was in a coma, I saw Ann’s spirit and she talked to me. Told me that the ‘truth’ could be found at the ranch. She also told me goodbye. When I landed, I found out she died around the same time I saw her. I couldn’t believe it at first, but she walked right up to me, she sat down beside me and talked to me! Echo, I’ve had doubts about my sanity too because of that.”
Echo looked up at him, her eyes filling with tears and a look of compassion.
“Tell me what happened to you—can you?” he asked as he shifted her to a more comfortable position against him.
She nodded and he felt the struggle going on inside her. “Well, if I don’t tell you, Ann threatened to tell you herself.”
Rand pushed her away to look into her eyes. “Ann threatened...? Are you saying Ann can talk to me?”
She looked up at him. “I guess so. That’s what we were arguing about just now.”
Rand shook his head. “I don’t know. It’s not that I don’t believe you, it’s just so damn hard to believe. How could it be possible? Ann’s dead.”
Echo shook her head slightly. “She said you would doubt it. Her actual words were, ‘He’s gonna say, huh-uh, ain’t no way, you’re a liar and a half!’”
Annie was the only one who knew that old phrase of his. Randall swallowed hard. “Well, if anyone could come back, I suppose it would be my sister. I’ve never met a more determined person in my life. Echo, I need to talk to her. Do you think that could happen?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t even know how this is happening. All I did was touch Paul’s hand at the funeral and these pictures raced into my mind. But Rand, it’s more than pictures. As I understand this, she’s invaded my body and is inside me, watching everything that goes on.”
A chilling shudder raced up his spine. He didn’t like to think about the remote chance Ann had watched everything that had happened between Echo and him.
“Echo, there are so many things I want to ask Ann. I must know what happened. If she can help, maybe there will be a way to prove Paul killed her.”
“I have an idea of how we can do this,” Echo said quietly.
“Go ahead, explain.”
Echo grinned. Relief flooded her soft features. “I can’t understand why I was so afraid of telling you this, and now, having you believe in me...you just don’t know how it’s helped.”
He laid her back against the pillows, kissing her softly. “I do not know what you’ve been going through, but I want to help you. Maybe together we can put Paul behind bars where he belongs. Now, tell me your plan.”
Moments later, Echo closed her eyes, trying to drift off to sleep again. He watched her for any changes that would show Ann was indeed in control of Echo’s body. He could see Echo struggling to stay in that twilight sleep, trying so hard to let Ann take control.
“It’s okay, Echo. I’m here. I won’t let anything happen to you,” he whispered to her in a soothing monotone. “Drift off to sleep. Let Ann through. Relax your mind.”
Her breathing changed to short little pants, and he could detect rapid eye movement under her closed lids. He sat quietly watching.
Suddenly, Echo’s eyes flew open.
Rand swallowed hard, fearing the very change he expected. “Annie, is that you?”
“Oh, Rand, Rand! I’ve missed you so.”
Ann quickly sat up and threw her arms around him, and their tears mingled. The twins whose souls could never be separated. Rand wasn’t sure he’d believed in life after death...until then. He knew Ann’s physical body was dead and cremated, but here was her soul intact through the gift Echo was giving them. He didn’t know how this was happening, but he was ecstatic it was.
“Sis.” He hugged her hard in return, then looked down at her. “Is what Echo told me true? Did Paul kill you?”
She nodded. “Yes. He pulled the breathing apparatus from my face and kept me from getting it back. He killed me, Rand.”
“But why?”
“I knew too much. I found out what he wanted to do with the ranch. He sold the mineral rights in the northern section without me knowing. There’s a ton of coal on the land, Rand. The rest of the ranch was next. Paul planned to sell the whole place, get what money he could and forget he had ever been to Wyoming.”
“I need proof, Ann. Without that, I can’t do anything.”
“I’m all the proof you need! I must go now, Randall.”
He held her by the shoulders and her head fell backward, cascading the long black hair into a puddle of ink onto the snowy-white sheets. “No! I need more. Ann... tell me more.” He shook her.
Dark eyes opened and Echo asked,” Did you get to talk to her? What did she say?”
Rand groaned, laying Echo back onto the bed. “She verified Paul killed her. She told me why.”
“Why? Why did he do it?”
“He was selling off the mineral rights, and the rest of the ranch was next.” Rand drew his knees up to his chest, wrapping one arm around his knee.
“Now that I’m not fighting her...maybe she’ll tell us more about her life and death.” Echo stroked her nails across his back to comfort him.
“Do you really think she will?” he asked, his voice flat, without emotion.
“Hey, I know how upsetting this is. You just talked to your sister. If it was so important for her to have contact with me, to let me see her death, I’m sure she will guide us along. Maybe she knows how to trip Paul up.”
Rand nodded. “This whole situation changes my way of thinking about life, Echo. It really changed me. I—I have a tough time trusting women because of my mother. Annie was different. I always trusted her.”
“Thank you for saying that. Oh, Rand, this is all so complicated. I think we should just be thankful Ann came through me and she insisted I tell you what had taken place between Paul and me.”
“I was watching you the day of the funeral. I thought you and Paul had something going on because of the way you held his hand. I didn’t know what was happening to you.”
Echo shuddered. “Randall. What if Paul knows? If you felt something between Paul and me...”
“Oh, my God, Echo! I hadn’t thought of that. I just assumed the gunshots at the hotel were directed at me.”
“When all along I could have been the target!” Echo cried, throwing herself into Rand’s arms. “What am I going to do?”
~ * ~
ECHO LOOKED AT THE digital clock on the dash of Rand’s car as they pulled into the parking lot. They had taken the day to go out of town to a club store to pick up supplies for The Yellow Bordello. It was two hours one way, and she was tired and hungry.
“Do you want a sandwich or something from the kitchen before we go upstairs?” Echo asked as they got out of the car and walked around to the rear of the SUV. “Do you want to unload this stuff now or eat first?
“Eat!”
“Won’t Jerrica get upset with us rummaging around her kitchen?” he said with a lilt of laughter in his voice.
Echo laughed. “I’m so hungry right now, I really don’t care. Did you forget? I am the owner of this monstrosity.”
“Monstrosity? I thought you loved this place.” He chuckled.
“I do,” she said, “It’s just that I had a day away from here and when I see how much work I have to do, it makes me tired to think about it. Don’t get me wrong. I love the work and this place.”
“I know what you mean. It’s like restoring paintings. I would love to have people send me their old photographs and oils, but...”
“You need a place to have your studio, right?” Echo opened the kitchen door and switched on the lights.
“That’s right. And with Paul living at the ranch, there’s no way I would even think of using that place.”
Suddenly, the lights flickered. “That’s strange. Did you notice if there is a storm coming in?”
“No, why? I think I would have noticed a storm, though.”
“The lights flickered. Sage’s power comes from generators fifty miles west of here, and when that area has a storm, it affects our electricity.”
She looked up at the chandelier in the middle of the room. It glowed brightly.
Lolly appeared directly in front of them. She began waving her arms, trying to get their attention. They were in danger. There was a stranger hiding in the basement, but they didn’t see her. This was one time she wished Echo would notice her. Of course, she didn’t.
“Rummage through the kitchen and see what you can come up with to eat. I’ll unload a few boxes.” Rand moved through the kitchen’s swinging doors into the dining room.
Echo walked over to the refrigerator. As she opened the door, the lights flickered and went out, pitching the room into total darkness.
She straightened and took a step toward the window over the sink to look out. Strange, she could see streetlights down the block. This electricity problem had to be hers. The breaker box was in the basement, and the only way to reach it was through a door hidden in the dining room. She had wallpapered the thing, so it didn’t stand out in the middle of the wall. It had really been an eyesore.
Echo spun around at the sound of the kitchen stool moving slightly against the ceramic tile floor. “Rand. Is that you?” she called into the darkness.
No one answered.
Her heart hammered in her chest, and anxiety squeezed the breath from her lungs. She could feel someone in the room with her. She wanted to scream, but she just didn’t have enough air to make even a peep of a sound.
Keeping her back to the cabinets, she edged her way toward the swinging kitchen door. If she could get out, she could run down the street toward the police station four blocks away.
Was Paul in the house waiting for them to return?
What had happened to Rand? Where was he?
Dread pulled at the pit of her stomach. If she ran for help, was she leaving Randall at the mercy of the unknown menace?
Her gaze darted around the dark kitchen. She could see nothing out of place—no dark shapes hiding, ready to leap out at her. Reaching the kitchen door, she had to decide. Run for help or run for Rand. Echo propelled herself across the room toward the swinging doors.
“Rand!” she screamed as she burst into the dining room’s darkness. “Where are you?”
Her eyes adjusted to the darkness of the dining room. It was much darker there than in the kitchen, where the moonlight filtered in through the windows. Here, the thick velvet material of the drapes at the windows blocked the moonlight.
Think, she chided herself. Where was she? Moving slowly forward, she bumped into a chair. Feeling around, she regained her location in the room. This was the first table.
The sound of a door opening on the second floor filled her with security. Someone upstairs called out, “Hey! What’s going on with the lights?”
Surely, if anyone were trying to harm her or Rand, they wouldn’t do it now with customers in the building. Where was Rand, anyway? At that moment, she heard the creaky hinge on the back door as it opened, then the sound of it closing.
“Stay where you are!” Echo called. “I’m going to find a flashlight and check out the breaker box.” If she could find her way to the registration desk.
“Ahhh,” someone groaned in the darkness.
Echo stopped in her tracks. Was that Rand? She listened again, but she could only hear the movements of the guests and their murmuring voices.
“Rand? Where are you?”
Again, someone moaned.
“I’m coming.” She moved toward the muffled sound. She bumped her hip on the edge of a table and swore under her breath. She could make out the shape of the curved staircase. At the foot, she found Rand sitting on the floor, holding his head.
“Rand, are you all right?” She kneeled beside him.
“I hit my head on something... I—I can’t see anything!” Terror and fear edged his voice.
“No, Rand, you’re okay. The lights are out, that’s all. Weren’t they out when you hit your head?”
“Hell, no,” he said with disgust. “I bent forward to set the freezer bag down and felt a sharp pain. Then I found myself in darkness. God! I thought I’d lost my sight.”
“I’m going to get the flashlight and check out the breaker box in the basement.”
“Not without me, you aren’t. I don’t like the feel of this.”
“I know what you mean. I thought someone was stalking me in the kitchen.”
“Well, we know who’s behind this...”
Echo shuddered. “Let’s not discuss this right now. Let’s get the lights on—then we can talk about it.”
Echo edged her way to the registration desk by following the wall around. She did not know the building could be so dark. Emergency lighting might have to replace her plans for a swimming pool.
She found the flashlight with little difficulty now that her vision had adjusted to the darkness, and she made her way the short distance back to Rand.
“Where’s the door to the cellar?” he asked, taking the flashlight from her hand.
Irritation built, filtering through her. She felt strong and secure. She didn’t need him to save her. Just as quickly, she realized she really dreaded going down into the basement by herself.
Echo sighed. “Over here.” Guiding him to the hidden door, Echo pushed against it, and it popped open. She handed the flashlight to him. “I’ll stay right behind you, Rand,” she whispered, glad he was there.
Echo could smell the musty scent of damp earth as they slowly edged down the wooden stairs. The cellar was comprised of cement walls, but the floor was dirt. The only things in the basement were a huge water heater, the large boiler system for the heat and the breaker box.
While she had been cleaning out the trash that had been collected there in the past, Echo was surprised to find two small rooms built back into the walls. The first room was empty, and the second was filled with shelves and a few jars of canned vegetables. It had dark paneling and a cement floor. She hadn’t been able to figure out what it had been used for until one of the older women from town stopped by and told her it had been a storage room for fresh vegetables. She revealed her closely guarded secret during their tour of the newly renovated bordello.
She had worked there, actually met her husband there when he’d been her client. She left the business to marry him.
At one time, all the shelves had been filled with canning. Fifteen ladies lived at the house, along with Miss Fire, the madam, who had been extremely strict with her girls. During the day, they each had specific chores. Some cleaned, some cooked and canned, while others did the massive amounts of laundry the facility produced.
Rand moved the bright beam around the room, looking for the open breaker box, and drew Echo back to the present moment.
“There’s our problem! Someone’s thrown the main breaker.” He stepped over several pipes on the floor. When he pushed one switch, the lights flashed back on. “I think we need to call down to the police station before we disturb the evidence.”
“What evidence?” she asked, looking around the room. It looked the same as it always did.
He pointed to the stairs. Dusty shoe prints led up the steps.
~ * ~
AFTER THE OFFICERS left, Rand and Echo sat at the staff table in the dining room under the stairs. “I don’t think the police are taking this seriously,” Rand said.
“You’ve got that right. They act like I’m some hysterical woman.”
“You’d think they would have the officers keep a watch on the place. After all, someone was shooting at us, and someone hit me on the back of my head.” He grimaced as he rubbed the sore spot.
Echo shook her head in wonder and took a sip of hot coffee. She would not be able to sleep tonight, anyway. “I hadn’t thought about that. But Rand, what are we going to do?”
“I really don’t know. I wish Annie had given me more information.”
Rand reached over and stroked Echo’s hand, then squeezed it reassuringly. “Well, sitting around here worrying about this is solving nothing.”
Echo looked up into Rand’s eyes. “I feel guilty about all of this. I’ve been blocking Ann out. I’m not letting her in, am I?”
Rand shrugged. “I suppose so, but I understand why you are fighting against her. I’m not blaming you. It must be grueling to let someone take over your body.”
Echo took a deep breath, then raised the coffee mug to her lips and finished the drink. “I’m so darn tired, but I don’t want to go to sleep. I’m afraid I couldn’t manage any visions tonight.”
“Well, don’t worry about that. You’re not sleeping by yourself tonight. You’re staying in my room with me. I couldn’t handle it if something happened to you.”
“Rand, did you forget about the condition of your room and the bed?”
“Oh, yeah. I forgot it was a mess, even after the roof repairs were done. I wonder if yours is any better,” he said with a grin.