Old Bones (Haunted Series) Read online

  “It isn’t too early for a beer if you want one,” Millie offered.

  “No thank you, coffee would be wonderful. The B&B’s pot was so tiny, Ted and I barely had a shot glass worth of caffeine before we left.”

  “The pot’s on the warmer, and the milk’s in the fridge,” she informed Mia. “Mugs are in the cupboard over the dishwasher.”

  Mia opened the cupboard and laughed as mug was an understatement for the giant cups residing in there. “I feel like Alice in Wonderland,” she said as she grasped the cup with both hands.

  “Those were a gift from Ted. You know how he loves his brew. There are smaller mugs behind them.”

  “This is just fine. I feel like I’ve fallen down the rabbit hole today as it is.”

  Millie turned around and faced Mia. “It must be a bit overwhelming meeting us all at once.”

  “At first, but I adapt quickly. I led quite a quiet life before I met Ted,” Mia explained. “I envy him this loving family.”

  Millie nodded and turned back to the stove. Mia poured herself some coffee and took a sip. “This is good. Is there anything I can do to help?”

  “Not this moment. Sheila’s done the table. The beans are in the oven…”

  “Beans, baked beans?”

  “Yes, Ted said they were your favorite,” Millie said, stirring the pot of fragrant sauce on the stovetop.

  “I love them. Hot, cold, three days old…” Mia agreed. “Thank you for thinking of me.”

  “It’s not every day we get to meet a girlfriend, let alone a fiancée, of Ted’s. He’s our late bloomer when it comes to socializing,” she explained. “He’s not everyone’s cup of tea,” she admitted.

  “He’s perfect, Mrs... er… Millie, Mom,” Mia said. “He’s everything to me. I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life. I love your son.”

  Millie’s eyes watered. She pulled the dishtowel off her shoulder and wiped her eyes. “Forgive me but…”

  “You made my mother cry? Mia, what the hell?” Ted said teasing as he walked into the kitchen.

  “Ted, watch your mouth. Your great aunt may be old, but she has ears like a rabbit,” Millie cautioned. “Mia just hit my sensitive bone, and the tears are happy tears.”

  “Good, I wouldn’t want to beat her so early in the day,” Ted said.

  Mia raised an eyebrow.

  Millie watched the two of them, and the drawer in her mind where she kept her fears for her son quietly closed. The young woman was small, but she had a strong presence. Ted was a handful of stubborn, but she sensed he was putty in Mia’s hands. She remembered the phone call when he first talked about the new investigator in the PEEPs group. There wasn’t an unkind adjective in the conversation. He sent candid shots of Mia to his mom’s cell phone. At first she worried that he was going to get his heart broken. She feared he had reached too high. Reg told her not to worry, that Ted was playing an elaborate joke on them. But Millie knew different. The tone in his voice said it all. He was in love.

  “Earth to Voyager, come in Voyager,” Ted’s voice cut through her memories.

  “What? Oh sorry, just got caught in a memory maze. Ted, make yourself a cup of coffee and then show Mia the house. I’m sorry we couldn’t have you here, but my aunt and cousins…”

  “We’re just fine at the B&B. It’s not far from here and close to Connie’s, so if we get bombed, we can walk back.”

  Mia looked at him oddly and repeated, “Bombed.”

  “My sister’s husband Kirk is a bartender over at Friday’s, and he makes the best drinks,” Ted explained. You may arrive with resolve not to indulge, but dollars to donuts, you’ll be calling a cab home.”

  “Cool beans,” Mia said, liking the idea that alcohol would be served at the picnic. It would help keep her at ease. She wanted to make a good impression, but the idea of meeting a hundred members of Ted’s family tied her up in knots. She glanced out the window and saw an older woman tending the flower border in the backyard. She had on a sun hat, but Mia could see her hair was the same rich auburn that Ted and his mother shared. “Did this house once belong to your mother?” she asked Millie.

  “Yes, but how did you know? Ted must have told you.”

  “Actually, I can feel the love in this house. It radiates with warmth. It’s female, nurturing and calm.”

  “Calm? We’re usually in chaos here,” Millie argued. “She died here. Cancer took her too young,” she said sadly.

  Ted squeezed Mia’s shoulder tenderly. “You can see her, can’t you?” he said softly.

  “She, or more correctly her residual image, is out in the backyard tending the flowers. She’s moved on, but her love stayed. It’s why you got interested in ghost hunting in the first place isn’t it?”

  “How did you know that? I never told you or anyone,” Ted said amazed. “I used to see her in the house but was never able to communicate with her.”

  “That’s because only the memory of her is here. She’s long gone, Teddy Bear, I’m sorry.”

  Millie took in the strange conversation as she completed her tasks. She was used to Ted’s hobby/profession but never knew why he was so hell-bent on communicating with ghosts. Now she knew. It was nice to think that part of her mother was still in the house. Even nicer to know she had moved on, possibly to be with her husband who died in the war. She had raised her large brood on her own after that. She even took in her cousin’s kids when times were hard for the couple. The backyard was a vegetable garden then. The fruit trees supplied apricots and plums for the bottles of cordials she made and sold from the back of the station wagon after church services.

  “You look just like your dad,” Mia observed.

  “Then plastic surgery is in my future,” Ted said, pulling at his face with his hands as if he could remove it.

  She lightly slapped his hands away. “He’s a handsome man, you idiot.”

  “Yes, he is or I’d never have married him,” Millie said, turning from the stove. “I used to follow him around town, riding my bike, spying on him,” she admitted.

  “My mother the stalker, the truth finally comes out.”

  “How old were you?” Mia asked.

  “Twelve,” Millie answered. “I’d just come out of the five and dime when he walked by. He was carrying a yellow paper kite with a skull and cross bones on it…”

  “Jolly Roger kite,” Mia interjected. “I have one. Please, go on.”

  “Reg was a few years older but much younger in many ways, sort of like my son here. Martin men never grow up, I ought to warn you.”

  “Consider myself warned.” Mia smiled up at Ted. “I like him this way.”

  “You’re a rare one. Anyway, Reg was carrying this kite, and from what I could tell, there wasn’t a spit of wind out there. I got on my bike and followed him. After a half hour of watching him stroll all over the small town we came from, I found the courage to ask him, ‘What are you doing?’ ‘Looking for a breeze,’ he said, looking me over. I was about to call him a few rude names, when I figured out it was my bike he was looking at and not my bod. ‘How fast can you ride that thing?’ he asked. I told him I never timed myself. He pointed down the street and asked if I could give him a lift. He said he would sit in the back saddle basket, and I should pedal as fast as I could. I nodded, and after a few misadventures, he managed to get his big feet and long legs settled, and I started pumping the pedals. The street had a slight slope downward which helped, and soon we were speeding by the shops and shoppers, who for some reason pointed at us. I glanced at our reflection in the big shop windows and saw that Reg was standing up in the back and, yes, the kite was flying behind us.”

  Mia leaned back against Ted. He put his arms around her as they listened to his mother’s story. He asked, “So you’ve been together since you were twelve?”

  “Oh no, he ignored me for four years. One day at the end of the school year, he was walking down the hall in our high school with a bunch of his friends. He called out, ‘Hey, Breezy, w
anna go to the prom?’ I said yes, and that’s when we got together.”

  “Wow, that’s a wonderful story. Thank you for sharing it,” Mia said.

  “My pleasure. Ted, see if you can help your father with the grilling. Mia will be safe from Aunt Mildred with me. I promise not to let auntie eat her alive.”

  Ted nodded and went in search of his dad.

  Mia felt at ease with Millie. They talked about Mia’s cookies, and Millie jotted down the recipe. Millie related stories about Ted and his sisters as children. Mia drank it in and stored it in her happy memory place. Sheila walked in and began to complain about this and that to Millie. Mia took this opportunity to leave the kitchen and walk outside and check her phone.

  Ralph had left instructions that she should text him periodically and tell him how she was fairing. She wrote, In love with his parents, you’ll love them too.

  Chapter Four

  Burt stepped inside the old parish house. He wrinkled his nose at the stuffiness. The building hadn’t had a good airing. The outside heat was kept at bay by the light brick and the shaded windows. Sunlight streamed through the pinprick tears that time brought to the coated canvas. He stood still, listening. He heard faint footfalls echoing through the upper stories of the building. He sought out a way upward and was rewarded with a sturdy set of wooden stairs. He noticed as he gripped the handrail that years of elbow grease and hard work had the wood gleaming even after all this time and had brought to life the intricate carved birds that decorated the spindles.

  His memory snapped back to Cold Creek Hollow where similar carvings donned the staircase of one of the houses. Could this be the work of the same carpenter? Did Adler Street Parish House have the same builder as those residences that housed the monsters who still gave him nightmares at night? Mia should be here or Mike. He needed their sensitivity. Mia with her sight and Mike with his gut. They would know instinctively if they were walking into a problem the moment they stepped inside the house. He regretted the impatience that brought him here alone, seeking out answers that had plagued him for the last month.

  A distant tick of a clock and the whirl of gears and springs accompanied him up the last few steps. Before him stood a massive grandfather clock carved in the same design of the steps. The birds flew and glided on the polished mahogany. At the top just above the face, a mother fed her young nestlings. The gold face of the timepiece glimmered in the half-light that permeated the hall. The glass front showed the slow swing of the pendulum with his reflection overlaying it. Burt couldn’t resist a smile at the image of his trimmer but yet stout body in the glass.

  He heard another creak and turned in the direction of the noise. Beads of sweat, produced by fear, emerged from his tanned skin. He moved towards the sound slowly, taking in the worn but clean flooring. Pictures of Jesus and his sainted mother decorated the walls of the large corridor on either side in between the polished heavy doors that no doubt guarded the secrets of the past inhabitants behind them. He saw, a few rooms ahead of him, a beam of light coming from an open door. The sunlight was accompanied by dancing motes of dust looking for a place to reside as they moved downward.

  What had caused this disruption of air? He heard a groan of wood and a faint sigh. Burt steeled himself and approached the room. He wanted to turn back, but going back was no longer an option. He was sure the lone occupant of the building had heard him approach. Hell, he was sure that his heavy breathing as he climbed the stairs had wakened the dead. What would he find as he turned into the room? And what if there was no one there? What if he was alone in the upper story of this abandoned property of the Church? He was alone to face the answers he would find in that room.

  Burt took a deep breath and walked into the room. He was struck dumb by the vision in front of him. She had her back to him as she gazed out the window. He cleared his voice, and she turned her head. Red curls bounced with her movements, and she greeted the explorer with a wide smile.

  “Burt! It’s great to see you!” she said with real enthusiasm. Audrey McCarthy’s brown eyes danced with pleasure. “What brings you here?”

  “Your father said you were doing an assessment here. I wanted to discuss something with you. Would you like to go to lunch, sit and…”

  “Why so serious? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost,” she said with concern. “What’s wrong?” Audrey crossed the distance between them and picked up Burt’s sweaty hand. “You’re overheated. This place has no central air, and the windows are a beast to open. Come here, I’ve managed to get this one open.” She led him to the window.

  Burt leaned out and looked over the large empty lot behind the house.

  “I was disappointed to see all that concrete. I was hoping for a proper yard,” Audrey said. “I’m looking into whether or not this would be a viable halfway house for unwed mothers, who want to keep their children, to start out. The neighborhood’s coming back, and it’s close to several free clinics, not to mention a hospital.”

  “Perhaps Cid could give you a price on breaking up that concrete?”

  “That would be helpful, but I’d have to give the job to a local company with union affiliations. This is Chicago and unions rule,” she said with no malice. She looked at Burt who had gotten his color back. “So what brings you to town and here?”

  “Oh, sorry, I came to offer you a full-time research and investigator position with PEEPs. The team voted you in unanimously at the last meeting. You would get a cut of the profits, and although I suggest you hang on to your job, the money’s not horrible, but it’s not a lot. Mia and Ted have waved their cut so I could offer you more.”

  Audrey’s face was hard to read. Her mouth was set in a line, and her eyes moved as if she was thinking. “I’m my own boss, so I think if there were a bit of flexibility with PEEPs, I could manage both gigs – do people say gig anymore?”

  Burt shrugged his shoulders.

  “I would love to become part of the team. Do you think we could work out a trial time for me to see if I’m up to the task before I sign any binding contract?”

  “I don’t see why not. Mike’s in charge of that. I will leave you two to work out the details. We are presently on hiatus because Mia has gone to Kansas to meet Ted’s parents. We’re following tomorrow for the engagement party and to spend some time with our families back home,” Burt explained.

  “That must be nice. I’m from a big Irish family, and even though they can get in your business at times, it’s nice to know they are there when you need them. We’re fortunate to have them.”

  Burt nodded. “I agree, but I have found that I have made a family here too. The present PEEPs group has given me brothers that I never had as a child. Their friendship I value. Hell, even that axe-carrying ghost has accepted me and I him. Who would have thought that little chubby Burtie Hicks from Kansas City would be buds with a hundred-and-fifty-year-old farmer from northern Illinois?”

  “Or have a successful ghost hunting business with a real sensitive on his team.”

  “Yes, Mia was a surprise.”

  “Burt, I know this is personal, and we have sort of talked about it before but…” Audrey’s voice fell off as she searched for the right way to phrase her question.

  Burt decided to help her out and finished, “How am I dealing with working with a former lover who is marrying my techie?”

  “Yes. I’m not blind. I see the way you look at her and she at you. Mia has told me that if it weren’t for you, she would never have progressed in life. She says she owes you so much.”

  “Really?” This surprised him. Mia was closed-mouthed unlike her fiancé who couldn’t keep a state secret if his life was in danger.

  “Really. She admitted that she still loves you but not in the passionate way,” Audrey said studying his face.

  “That’s good to know. To answer your question, I’ve accepted that we were meant to meet, to be together and grow. She brought me confidence in myself and taught me a hell of a lot about the paranormal world
. But we weren’t meant to stay together. Her and my ideals aren’t the same, too much conflict and too many fights. It killed the flame of passion and drove me away. We’ve found a balance. She needs someone that understands her and accepts that Stephen Murphy is as important to her as Ralph and Bernard are.”

  “Ted’s the guy that fits the bill,” Audrey mused. “He is a unique critter.”

  “That’s one way of putting it. I’m glad for him and for her. They are an unusual couple. They don’t shut you out. Most times when two people in a group hook up, they shut the others out. These two haven’t changed. The only thing we have to put up with is the way they look at each other and the sugary sweet comments over the com.”

  Audrey laughed. “The pet names can bring up one’s lunch at times.”

  “I know, but they’re unaware of this, and I wouldn’t hurt them for the world by mentioning it. I’ll leave that to Mike.”

  “Ah, Mike Dupree, cast in the handsome villain role,” Audrey said with an ominous slant.

  “He’s not a bad person. I think he’s a great guy, but he does break a lot of hearts,” Burt warned.

  Audrey looked at Burt and wanted to say more, but it wasn’t the right time. Instead she reached out and took his hand in hers and shook it. “I accept the position of researcher and apprentice investigator for the Paranormal Entity Exposure Partners.”

  “Thank you. Now tell me about the origins of this property.”

  “Sure, but first tell me, is this idle curiosity or something more?”

  “More. You read me like a book.”

  “I have good instincts, but I’m not a mind reader, spill it,” Audrey ordered.

  “The carvings on the staircase and the grandfather clock, I’ve seen them before. Unfortunately they were in a place that evil has a death grip on.”

  “Cold Creek Hollow?” Audrey asked.

  Burt was blown away. “How did you know?”

  “Burt, I’m a researcher. You may not have aired the complete investigation of the hollow, but the rumors on the internet, combined with the facts of Father Santos’s involvement, convinced me it was worth my while to do a little digging.”