CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

Jake paid JT a hefty tip and his cab fare as he stepped out into the Abandon Inn parking lot.
“Thanks, man.”

JT adjusted his ball cap. “Nice hanging out. Good luck with your girl.”

“Thanks. Let’s hope I won’t need luck.” Jake waved and went inside the inn lobby.

Pearl stood quietly behind the desk and glanced up at him over her glasses. “Did you have a fun time at Raw McShuckums?”

“I did indeed. Thanks for getting me JT’s number.”

“You have a good night. See y’all in the morning.”

He waved, practically sprinting up the stairs to their room. When he entered, no one was there.

“Amanda?”

Maybe she had stepped into the restroom? He checked. No one there. Not in the closet, nowhere to be found. Her suitcase remained in the same place, so she hadn’t left.

A sinking feeling punched him in the gut. What if she’d gone back to Zephyr Land, and alone? He scrambled to get his cell from his pocket and called her.

His call went to voicemail, where he left a brief—and he hoped not as panicked as he felt—message. Picking up the hotel phone, he began to call downstairs to ask Pearl if she’d seen Amanda leave.

That’s when a knock came at the door. “Hello?”

“It’s Amanda.”

Relief flooded through his veins. Good. She’d returned. Safe. He flung open the door and hugged her.

“Hi?” she asked. “What’s going on?”

He released her, sat on the bed, and gestured for her to sit beside him. “When I returned and saw you weren’t here, I worried you’d returned to Zephyr Land. Thought you might be in danger again.”

“No, nothing like that.” She brushed her hair back nonchalantly with her fingers. “I couldn’t bear to stay alone in the room anymore.”

“I’m sorry about the way I stormed out—”

“I shouldn’t have dumped on you like that,” she said. “I know it’s a great deal to process. Most people don’t even stick around to find out the details.”

“I’m glad you’re safe, is all.” It was the most honest comment he could think of, because he didn’t want to give the impression he believed in her supernatural tales. But thankful she was safe and in one piece? Absolutely.

“Thanks. You too,” Amanda said.

“Wait a minute. Where did you go?”

She shrugged. “I called my aunt. We went stargazing in Fairhope.”

“Stargazing?”

“What about you? You did run out of here pretty damn quick,” she said.

“JT took me to a pub called Raw McShuckums. Pretty cool spot. Had a drink.”

She stood up and went to wash her face. Was she avoiding him or waiting for him to spur the conversation on?

When the silence had moved to deafening, he spoke up. “Listen, JT the cabbie had some good things to say. So while I’m not really thrilled with your claim to supernatural ability, I thought maybe, if you provide some proof, I can try to understand.”

She settled on the bed beside him. Her eyes flickered with…skepticism? “Proof?”

“Yes. If you can see and talk to the dead, I want to have a conversation with my mother.”

“Jake, it doesn’t exactly work that way…”

Here came the excuses. “Why not?”

“Spirits are tied to different places. I can’t just go talk to John F. Kennedy and ask who really shot him. Not that he knows anyway. Or your mom, or anyone who died in another place or time.”

He rubbed his temples, trying to keep the sarcastic comments to himself. “Then how does it work? I don’t understand.” She rubbed her hand along his arm. It didn’t comfort him, and he resisted the urge to push it aside.

“Where did your mom die?”

His stomach clenched at the memory. “Park Hospital in Atlanta.”

“I couldn’t guarantee it, but if you wanted to speak to her, we would need to go there. I’d need to be close to the area where she left this place—”

“You do understand why it’s difficult to believe anything you say about this?”

Her hazel eyes shifted to brown, the color they turned when she guarded her feelings. Most of the time, they were a shade of green, but not now. He swallowed hard, unsure what her next comment might be.

“For every relationship I had in the past, the minute they found out about my gift and freaked out, I ran. I never gave anyone the chance to understand. I don’t want to run away from you. I hope you don’t want to run away from me.”

He absorbed her words, let them enter his psyche. She had a good point, but he wasn’t about to start believing in ghosts now.

“I don’t want to run,” he said. His statement was true. He wanted to seek help for her, get her to understand her delusions. “However, some form of proof would be good.”

“How about if I tell you, yet again, that Randall Kern is the one who sabotaged the roller coaster? That Pearl had two daughters who died. One on the coaster. One who hangs out in the lobby.”

For a split second, he felt inclined to believe her. Ghosts who hung out in a hotel lobby? Even the most imaginative mind couldn’t make up that shit, could it?

“Why the lobby?” he asked. For curiosity, and to keep the two of them talking.

“Sarah said Randall poisoned her. Gave her something to drink when Pearl and Clive weren’t looking, and she died.”

Jake clenched his jaw. He didn’t want to get into another big fight, not after they’d already spent the night apart. But her accusations were verging on the ridiculous.

“Why would Randall poison a young girl?” he asked with as calm a voice as possible.

“Because she was a twin, he figured she might have known something about her sister being killed on the coaster,” Amanda said. “So he wanted to make sure she kept her mouth shut.”

“And she did, except now her ghost is telling you Randall killed her?”

Amanda gave an exasperated sigh. “I know it sounds strange, but yes. I’m telling you the truth.”

“I believe that…” How could he word his thoughts? “I think you believe something you think is true—”

“Don’t be an ass. You don’t have to accept my supernatural ability, but don’t treat me like someone in a rubber room.” She scooted away from him.

“I’m trying not to, but your explanations are unexplainable.”

She glared at him with dark-brown eyes, every hint of green disappearing. “I know I’m not crazy. Stop treating me like a child.”

The words “then stop acting like one” were on his tongue, but he held them back. He had been the one to storm out earlier, the one who lost his temper first. Not her. He wouldn’t make that mistake twice.

He took a deep breath. “Listen, we’re not going to resolve this tonight.” With a tentative hand, he reached out and touched hers. She didn’t yank it away. Good. “Let’s get some sleep. We’ll spend as much time tomorrow at Zephyr Land as you need for your report.”

A flicker of green entered her stern gaze. “And after that?”

“We leave town, hopefully in a car with its tires intact. No more safety hazards to threaten us.”

She turned away, spoke to the window overlooking the moon hanging in the sky rather than to him.

“Tomorrow night is Thursday. I’m not sure I can leave by then. Definitely by Friday noon, though, once my report is turned in.”

Some things weren’t worth splitting hairs over. If he could keep an eye on them both, ensure they remained safe for the next day—or worst case, two days—then he could live with that option.

“Okay. Tomorrow night or the next day, depending on how your research goes,” he said. “Are we agreed?”

She turned to face him. The glints of moonlight shining across her face made her appear like an angel. How could he stay angry at her for long?

“Agreed,” she whispered.

He leaned in, kissed her cheek. “Good. And about your ability…the proof I need…”

“Yes?”

“We can discuss some options later.”

She smiled and stood up to get dressed for bed. Tonight, he would give her some space. Tomorrow, he’d keep an eye on her and ensure their safety. Then, when the time came for them to leave Abandon and return to Georgia, he would need to find a way to get her a psychiatric evaluation. Get her the help she needed, once and for all.

The thought she might be telling the truth, that she might not need help, niggled at the back of his mind. With a resolved breath, he pushed it down. Of course she needed help.