Places like this change people, but it’s usually subtle and over time, Jessica thought. I think Eddie and I have become a kind of accelerant, not to mention Alice and Jason. We have to get out of here.

Jessica said, “Luckily, they showed Eddie and me a little hiding place yesterday. I don’t think they’re hurt.”

Daphne inspected them from head to toe in the dusky light. The kids remained eerily silent. Jessica assumed they were in shock. She had no idea what they encountered in the clearing, but it wasn’t good. What would turn the EB children against them?

Their mother gasped when she saw the state Eddie was in. “Oh my God, what happened to you?”

“I kinda took a fall. Nothing broken. I do want to change out of these clothes, though.”

It was slow going back to the house. At one point, Alice looked back at Jessica, her hand firmly in her mother’s. Her clear, bright eyes harbored something gray and secret, the eyes of a child that had seen something not fit for an adult.

“Something’s up with them,” Jessica whispered to Eddie.

“I can see it too,” he said. “I’ll try probing a little after I’ve gotten my bearings back. To me, it’s like they’ve been wiped clean.”

“If that’s true, where did they go?”

The crash of glass gave them all a start as something sailed through one of the front windows.

“You all right if I let you go?” Jessica asked.

“I’ll be fine. Go.”

Daphne said, “Kids, I want you to stay with Eddie. I’ll be right back.”

Paul’s curses spilled into the front yard. It sounded like a mosh pit had broken out inside the house.

“I’ll go in first,” Jessica said to Daphne.

The glass knob turned in Jessica’s hand the moment she touched it and was yanked from her grasp. The door flew open. Rusty stood poised to run, shouting when he saw Jessica in his way.

“It’s all gone to shit,” he said, breathless.

Jessica pushed past him.

The mayhem stopped. Whatever forces were at work laying waste to the house turned off as quickly as flipping a light switch.

Tobe was crouched over Paul, who was in obvious pain. Mitch was sitting on the floor, his back against the wall, rubbing an eye that looked like it would have one hell of a shiner.

Nina crouched in a corner, her hands clasped over her ears like a frightened child on the Fourth of July.

The sound of a glass rolling off a table and splintering on the floor broke the silence.

Jessica stood over the psychic.

“Too much to handle?”

Nina uncovered her ears, a tremor running through her hands. “I think they’re still here.”

“They’re always here,” Jessica said. “And now it’s too late to just walk away. We’re going to have to finish what you started.”

She left the house to get Eddie and the kids.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Renae Rudd was shutting down her computer when the front door chime buzzed. She heard the agency’s administrative assistant, Kathy, talking to a man. It was almost five. She’d promised Steve grilled marinated steaks, her garlic and herb mashed potatoes and fresh green beans she’d picked from her garden. Stevie Junior was working at Taco Bell tonight, so they had the house all to themselves. She prayed Kathy would send the man to Phil or Dottie. They still had another hour to go.

“Sure, you can talk to Renae,” she heard Kathy say to the man.

Dammit.

This was the one time she didn’t want the honor of being agent of the month. Aside from a cash bonus and several free lunches, the other perk was getting first crack at new potential buyers. Normally, that was just fine with her.

She could practically smell those steaks.

Renae shuffled her briefcase under her desk and did her best to put on her game face.

A slight, older man walked into her office. His wiry, gray hair was in need of a brush, and possibly some shampoo and water. He had beautiful, cobalt eyes, but she could see instantly that there was something strange at work behind them.

She stood up to meet him. Unless he was some eccentric with a stash of money, she didn’t see a sale in this one.

“Are you the one that sold the Ormsby House?” he asked, casting aside all formalities.

“Excuse me?”

“The house on Ormsby Island. Are you, or are you not, the woman who sold it.”

Uh-oh, we have a crazy. Good thing Phil is still in the office.

She pasted on a smile. “I’m sorry, if you were interested in the island and the house, it was sold a little over a month ago.”

“I don’t want the damn island,” he hissed. His eyes flicked to the doorway. He’d spoken low enough not to attract any attention. “I need to know who you sold it to.”

Renae remained standing. She didn’t want the man to have any advantage over her. She had to find a way to calmly get him out of the office.

“Unfortunately, I can’t give out that information,” she said. “I have to respect the privacy of the new owners.”

“You shouldn’t have sold it. You like damning people to hell? Sometimes, there are more important things than a fucking commission.”

This time, he did raise his voice. Renae spied Kathy as she peeked into the office. She hoped the girl was smart enough to get burly Phil.

“I’m sorry, I don’t understand. Are you a relative of the previous owner?”

He wagged a gnarled finger at her. “I know who you are. You should have been smarter than that. You’re not some outsider. You know all about that place. Ormsby Island should have been burned and demolished. No one would listen to me. So it sat there, waiting for some greedy bitch to pawn it off to someone else.”

That got her blood boiling. The b-word had always been a trigger for her anger.

“Now look here, sir, I don’t need to take that kind of nonsense from you. Despite what you said, you don’t know me, and I’d appreciate it if you got out of my office.”

The man began walking in a tight circle, growing more and more hysterical. “I saw it! I saw it with my own eyes! That place is a tomb. A giant tomb. You don’t send people to live in a tomb. Especially one where the dead aren’t dead. Fucking morons. Goddamn, fucking, ass-eating morons!”

Phil’s tall and wide girth filled her doorframe.

“Okay pal, time to go,” Phil said, reaching out for the man’s arm.

“Don’t you touch me!”

Kathy and Dottie stood behind Phil.

“Kathy, call the police,” Renae said.

“The police?” the man cried. “You think the police are a threat?” He gave a short, frantic laugh.

“We don’t need the police if you’ll just come with me,” Phil said.

Dottie brushed the big man aside. “Peter?” she said.

The older man stopped his pacing, his entire demeanor relaxing in an instant.

“Peter, we all need you to calm down. Okay? I’ll even get you a cup of coffee if you want.”

He looked at her with pleading eyes. “She shouldn’t have done it. You know that. She shouldn’t have done it.”

Holding his hand, Dottie walked him out of Renae’s office. “It’s all right Peter. It’s all right. Everyone’s fine.”

Renae, Phil and Kathy watched her pour the man a cup of coffee, talk quietly for a minute or so and walk him out the door.

“What the heck just happened?” Renae said.

Kathy replied, “I have a new nickname for Dottie. She’s now the Crazy Whisperer.”

“You okay?” Phil asked.

Renae nodded. “I’m fine. What a way to end the day, huh?”

When Dottie returned, Renae waved her into her office. “You know that guy? I thought he was going to attack me.”

Dottie gave her a sad smile. “That was Peter Montgomery. He’s harmless. I hadn’t seen him in about ten years. Time has not been kind to the man. Poor soul.”

Renae waited for her to expand on the idea that a lunatic was a poor soul.

“We went to high school together. He was always a bright guy. We even worked on the school newspaper. There was a time I’m pretty sure he liked me, but I guess he never got the courage to ask me out. I would have said yes.” Dottie sat down, her gaze lingering on something in her past.