Page 14 of Dead Calm (Cold Case Psychic #38)

“We knew the storm was coming. Preparations were being made to board up the building and evacuate all the guests. I’m not sure what happened, but the storm came faster than the radio said it would.

We thought we had one more day, but Walt saw the surf building.

The waves had started crashing past the beach and onto the lawn leading to the hotel.

We both grabbed our bags and hurried to the car.

In all the anxious rushing around, I realized I’d left my purse in the Taproom.

I told Walt I had to get it and ran back to the hotel.

I thought for sure he’d follow me, but he didn’t.

Water was starting to seep into the bar.

I knew it wouldn’t be long before everything was underwater.

I grabbed my bag and was hurrying toward the door when I heard strange laughter.

I hadn’t realized Walt had followed me after all.

He was standing beside the wooden door that protected the bar from prying eyes.

I ran toward him, but noticed there was something wrong with his eyes. ”

“What was it?” Everly asked.

“They were just wrong.” Vivienne shook her head, as if to hope the right word to describe Walt’s eyes would be jarred loose.

“Wrong?” Ten had no idea what Vivienne meant.

“It was Walt’s body and Walt’s face, but his eyes weren’t his own.

He rushed at me, shoved me back against the bar and wrapped his hands around my throat.

He shouted horrible things, none of which were true.

I was doing everything I could to get him to let go, hitting, kicking, pinching, but he didn’t stop.

Soon my vision blackened and then nothing.

” Pulling out a handkerchief, Vivienne dabbed her damp eyes.

Everly swiped at her own tears. “When did you realize your spirit was still here?”

“I’m not sure. When I woke up again, the hotel was empty, mostly destroyed.

I found my body lying behind the bar. People came and found me.

Took me away. I knew I was dead and that it was my fault.

When the light appeared, I ignored it. Time and time again, I walked away from it.

I didn’t deserve to go to heaven after all I’d done. ”

“That’s not true,” Ten said. “You didn’t do anything wrong. I promise.” He paused. There were several more questions he needed answered, but didn’t want to upset Vivienne any more than necessary. “Did you ever see Walt again?”

Vivienne shook her head. “I’ve been so frightened that he’d find me and hurt me again.”

“He can’t hurt you, Vivienne,” Everly said. “Have you seen or heard any other spirits here at the hotel?”

“I’m not sure. From time to time, I feel darkness, it’s a heavy feeling of dread and fear. When I sense that power come over me, I run and hide in the widow’s walk. Whatever this darkness is doesn’t follow me up there.”

“Do you feel it all the time, or just when there are guests in the hotel?” Ten asked.

“Only when guests are here and more than that, when women are hurt by their husbands. I think whatever it is likes it when women are abused, scared, and bleeding.”

It was on the tip of Ten’s tongue to tell Vivienne about the spirit who’d tried to attack him yesterday, but was stopped by the white light appearing near Vivienne.

The spirit gasped. She stared into the light at the crowd of people waiting for her.

Everly got off the sofa and walked Vivienne, toward the light. “Your family is so excited to see you.”

“I’m excited to see them, but I can’t go with them. I don’t deserve to go to heaven.” Fresh tears spilled from Vivienne’s eyes.

“Yes, you do,” Everly said, gently. “The light wouldn’t be here if you didn’t deserve to find peace. Go with your family. My Dads are gonna take care of everything here. I promise. You’ve done such a good job protecting women all these years, but now it’s your turn to go home.”

Vivienne smiled. Dropping to her knees, she hugged Everly. “Thank you for helping me to see the light. I will never forget you.” With one last squeeze, Vivienne regained her feet and stepped into the light.

Ten watched as her family surrounded their long lost member. He heard laughter until the light faded. “That was amazing, honey.”

When Everly turned around, her face was streaked with tears.

“Are you okay?” Ten asked.

Everly nodded. “When she hugged me, I could see all the others. All the girls who’d been hurt here. The girls Vivienne helped. There were so many, Dad.” She climbed onto Ten’s lap and set her head on his shoulder.

A million thoughts ran through Ten’s head.

Everly needed to hear all the warnings about getting tangled up with men who hurt women.

He needed to reaffirm her need to be strong and independent.

What Ten settled on was much simpler and more to the point.

“I’m so proud of you, little miss. I love you to the moon and back. ”

“I love you to Jupiter and back!” Everly giggled.

The door beeped and in walked Ronan. “Yeah, well I love you both to Uranus and back!” Ronan laughed, shutting the room door behind him.

“I’m gonna change for the beach.” Everly hugged Ten and then Ronan, before running into her room.

“What did I miss?” Ronan asked.

“We spoke to Vivienne and Everly got her to cross over. She told us what happened to her that last day.” Ten shook his head. He’d been able to see what happened in the Taproom. It was horrible. Ten hoped Everly hadn’t seen it as well.

“Did Walt kill her or did she drown in the storm surge.” Ronan looked as though he already knew the answer.

“Walt sort of killed her.”

“Sort of?” Ronan asked.

“Vivienne said that Walter confronted her in the Taproom that last day, but that his eyes didn’t look right.

Which could mean that something came over him, rage, maybe.

You hear that all the time when victims of violence say that their attackers eyes go black and blank.

It could also mean Walter may have been possessed. ”

“By who?”

“I’m not sure. I haven’t sensed any other spirits here, but I suppose that particular spirit could have crossed over,” Ten said. “To be honest, it’s the least of my worries. We have bigger fish to fry. What did you find out about the hotel’s hurricane policies?”

“There is no refund policy.” Ronan rolled his eyes. “The manager I spoke with was certain the storm wasn’t going to hit Rhode Island. I asked if he planned to warn the guests that the storm was coming? He said no.”

“Asshole,” Ten muttered.

“You got that right! Anyway, Fitz, Jude, and I talked about it and we want to be packed and ready to go home on Saturday. The storm is due to hit on Monday. So if we leave two days early, that will give us more time to get home and prepare for the storm hitting Salem. We need to food shop and gather supplies, batteries, lanterns, rubber rafts.”

Ten snorted and wrapped his arms around Ronan. “I agree with your plan. Getting everyone home, safe and sound is our first priority.”

“What about Walt or whatever it was who possessed him? Are you just going to leave him here?” Ronan asked, looking as though he didn’t want to hear the answer.

“Walt spoke to me a few days ago. It’s not going to take him long to realize Vivienne is gone.

I’m willing to do whatever I can to help him, but time is running out.

” Ten felt ice cold just thinking about the angry spirit who’d come to visit him the other day, claiming that the women in this hotel were his to hurt or kill.

He was going to find out soon enough that his favorite punching bag was gone.

Before they left, Ten would reach out to Walt and try to help him. He didn’t like the idea of the spirit being able to influence the behavior of men to hurt their wives or girlfriends.

All Ten could do in the meantime was prepare for the coming storm; the hurricane and the unadulterated rage the spirit would bring with him.