Page 40 of The Unseen

N ICOLE COULDN’T SLEEP . E VEN AFTER L UCAS’S SKILLFUL LOVE -making, she lay awake, thinking about what she had witnessed in the house, thinking of the danger her aunt was facing in the evil spirit Simone.

Lucas slept fitfully beside her. She knew he was worried, too. At dawn, she finally gave up, slipped quietly out of bed, went into the kitchen, and brewed a pot of coffee. Lucas followed a few minutes later, looking nearly as tired as she was.

“I saw a light on upstairs at Belle Reve,” he said. “I’m going over to check on your aunt.”

Nicole felt a twinge of guilt. “I probably should have stayed with her last night.”

“I don’t think she was in any danger last night. No matter how strong a spirit is, once it expends its energy, it has to recharge. Kind of like a battery. Simone expended a lot of energy last night.”

“Rachel didn’t want me to stay. I think she was hoping Francois would come to her.”

“He would have been facing the same problem. I don’t think he would have been able to return last night.”

“Rachel loves him. How is that possible?”

“Anything is possible,” Lucas said, repeating the same words he had spoken a number of times before.

Nicole sighed. “Sean’s still sleeping. I’ll go over with you. I promised to help her clean up the broken figurines.”

“I understand they were very valuable.”

“I wish she’d sold them. Now they’re gone—and the money, along with them.”

Lucas made no reply, but his jaw looked tight. They pulled on jeans, T-shirts, and sneakers. Once they reached the house, Nicole used her key to get in through the back door.

“Aunt Rachel?” They made their way through the kitchen into the hallway. “It’s Nicole, Aunt Rachel. Lucas is with me.” They climbed the stairs to the second floor and saw the light under Rachel’s door.

Nicole knocked. When she heard the weak whisper of her aunt’s voice, she opened the door and rushed in. “Aunt Rachel!”

“Not feeling … well.” Rachel looked weak and pale, and worry jolted through Nicole.

“I’m calling Dr. Marlowe.”

Rachel merely nodded, which made Nicole even more worried.

She flicked a glance at Lucas as she pulled out her phone and called the doctor on his personal cell.

Dr. Raymond Marlowe had been the family physician since Nicole was a little girl.

Always there when they needed him, he picked up on the second ring.

“It’s Nicole Belmond, Dr. Marlowe. I’m sorry to call you so early on a Sunday, but Rachel needs to see you. Is there a chance you could stop by this morning? Maybe after church?”

“I’ll stop by before church, go to a later service. Tell Rachel I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“I’ll tell her. Thank you so much.” She hung up and turned to her aunt. “He’s coming over this morning.”

Rachel just nodded. Her breathing was labored, the pulse at the base of her throat beating faster than it should have been.

Nicole moved to her aunt’s bedside and looked down at her pale face. “I should have stayed last night.”

“I thought … Francois would come, but he … didn’t.”

“He couldn’t come, Rachel,” Lucas explained. “He expended a great deal of energy in the parlor. He would have needed to recharge. That’s the way it works.”

Rachel’s shoulders relaxed and a hint of color rose in her cheeks. “Thank you for … telling me.”

“I should have mentioned it last night,” Lucas said. “With so much going on, I wasn’t thinking as clearly as I should have been.”

Rachel’s voice sounded reedy, but she managed to force out the words. “I guess I wasn’t thinking … too clearly, either, or I wouldn’t have … gone head-to-head with Simone.”

Lucas moved closer to the bed. “She’s dangerous, Rachel. If she shows up again, keep that in mind.”

Rachel nodded, but her eyelids were drifting closed.

“I’ll stay with her,” Nicole said.

“You’ve got your phone. Call me if you need me.”

Nicole watched Lucas walk away, thinking he was the first man who had ever said that and actually meant it. If she needed him, he would be there. She knew it deep in her heart. And yet there was a part of her that still needed convincing.

The doctor arrived within the hour, a tall man with slightly stooped shoulders. As thin as he was, in his black suit, with his graying hair, he looked a little like a cadaver.

“I’ll be right outside,” Nicole told him.

She forced herself not to pace the floor of the hallway, rose from her seat when the doctor walked out of the room, closing the door softly behind him.

“How is she?”

He released a slow breath. “I gave her a mild sedative, which will help with her breathing. I called in a new prednisone prescription. Unfortunately, her heart rhythms are growing more and more erratic, and her muscles continue to weaken. That’s just the way the disease progresses.

She needs to rest and regain some of her strength, not push herself too hard. ”

“I’ll talk to her. A lot of things have been going on around here lately.”

The doctor nodded. “In a couple of hours, she’ll feel better, but the truth is, she’s failing, Nicole, declining more and more rapidly. Her heart is fragile. There is no getting around it. She could suffer an attack at any time.”

Her throat tightened.

“I know that isn’t what you want to hear, but she’s already beaten the odds. Rachel’s been alive far longer than anyone expected.”

Nicole’s eyes stung. “I know.”

“She still has the strength to make it up and down the stairs, to spend a little time in the garden. It won’t be long before that ends.”

Nicole inhaled a steadying breath. “I have a woman lined up to take over her care when the time comes. She’s a friend of Rachel’s, a home care nurse named Maggie O’Conner. We have a place fixed up for her down the hall, not far from Rachel’s room.”

“I know Maggie. She’s very reliable. You won’t need her just yet.

” The doctor rested a fine-boned hand on her shoulder.

“But the truth is, Rachel could suffer an attack at any time. You need to prepare yourself, Nicole. The disease affects the heart muscle. It could be months, or only a few weeks. Or a heart attack could strike completely out of the blue.”

“But she’s been doing so well. I thought it would be a long way off.”

“It’s entirely possible. On the other hand, it could happen any day.”

Her throat ached. She wasn’t ready to accept such a terrible loss.

“Your aunt has no regrets,” the doctor said. “She told me she’s been very happy—especially lately.”

Nicole swallowed past the lump in her throat. She didn’t tell the doctor that a handsome blue-eyed ghost was the reason Rachel was happy, that she was in love with him.

The doctor checked his watch. “I’m afraid I have to go.”

“Thanks for coming over on such short notice, Dr. Marlowe.”

He smiled. “Probably better not to tell her, but I’ve had a crush on your beautiful aunt for years. If she needs anything at all, just give me a call.”

Nicole managed a watery smile. “I will.” She walked the doctor downstairs and out the front door, watched as he climbed into his older-model Chevy Malibu, turned the car around, and drove away.

She planned to skip church this morning and let Sean go with Lucas.

She had promised her aunt she would pick up the pieces of the broken figurines in the parlor, saving any of them that survived, and she wanted to be near if Rachel needed her.

It was good to know her aunt would be able to maintain her independence for a while longer.

Perhaps Rachel would have a little more time with Francois.

Nicole thought of last night and what had happened with Simone. The evil entity haunting Belle Reve was definitely a threat. Nicole prayed Lucas would be able to make the threat go away. He was preparing himself, she knew. She didn’t understand how that worked, but she prayed it would happen soon.

She thought of Simone, and a chill crept down her spine. Lucas would be taking on a demon. She’d had a glimpse of what an entity like that could do. She prayed God would keep him safe.

It was Sunday evening. Lucas was putting away the last of the supper dishes. By now, Sean would be back at the youth center, Nicole on her way home. Lucas figured the boy was probably debating whether to tell his friends about the night he had spent in a haunted house.

He almost smiled. It would be a tough decision for the teen—and a risky one. It was fun to be the center of attention for a while, but kids could be cruel. Lucas trusted that Sean would make the right call.

He was putting the last dish into the cupboard when his cell phone rang. Grabbing it off the kitchen counter, he recognized Nathan Silvers’s number and pressed the phone against his ear.

“Hey, Nate. What’s up? I hope this means you’ve found something useful.”

“Hello, Lucas, and yes, I did.” Nate was thirty-two years old, olive-skinned, dark-eyed, scary smart, and a computer genius.

“It was buried deep,” Nate said. “I hit a couple of dead ends, had to make a few U-turns and backtrack a little, but once I found the path, everything fell into place.”

“I’m listening.”

“Phillipe Villard is in financial trouble—big-time. For the last three years, he’s been illegally siphoning profits from Villard Investments.

Every dime he could beg, borrow, or steal is tied up in his Belle Reve Resort project.

His investors don’t have a clue, but sooner or later, it’s bound to come out.

If Villard can’t get his hands on Belle Reve, he’s going down in flames, maybe even going to prison. ”

Lucas’s jaw tightened. “I had a hunch it was something like that. Rachel refuses to sell the property. From what you’ve said, I think Villard is behind a series of problems costing her money she can’t afford to pay.

Broken waterlines, electrical fires. His last effort was to release thousands of cockroaches into the house, forcing her to pay for major pest control work. ”

“I hate damn bugs, especially roaches.”

“No kidding,” Lucas said.

“If you can get me a name, I might be able to track down the guy Villard hired to do his dirty work.”

Lucas’s mind was already jumping ahead. “I’ll see if I can find out. Anything else I should know?”

“Maybe. It isn’t something I’m willing to talk about until I have proof.”

“How long will that take?”

“Not sure, and it might turn out to be nothing. I’ll let you know as soon as I can.”

“Thanks, Nate. I really appreciate it.” The line went dead.

Lucas’s next call went to Remy. “I’ve got a problem. I’m hoping you can help.”

“What’s going on?”

“Someone’s been breaking into Belle Reve, sabotaging the house, running up a fortune in repair bills.

” He told Remy about the flooding, the electrical malfunction, and the bugs.

He told his friend about Phillipe Villard’s financial trouble, and Lucas’s belief that Villard was the man behind everything that had been happening to Belle Reve.

“Villard.” Remy spat the name. “I never liked the batard. How can I help?”

“Villard’s interest in the Golden Spike gives him access to the kind of people willing to do his dirty work. I figure you might be able to find out who the guy is.”

“Perhaps. I know people at the Golden Spike. I will see what I can do.”

“Thanks, mon frere. ” Calling Remy his brother was truly the way Lucas felt; he ended the call.

Thinking of Villard, Lucas’s temper morphed into cold, hard fury. He looked up to see Nicole walking into the house, stopping in the doorway at the dark look on his face.

“What is it? What’s wrong?”

Lucas clamped down on his simmering rage. He reminded himself he wasn’t that man anymore.

“Sorry. I just found out there’s a more than likely chance Phillipe Villard’s responsible for the trouble at Belle Reve.”

“We already suspected, but what have you found out?”

“Apparently, Villard’s in very deep financial trouble. The Belle Reve Resort project is his last hope of extricating himself from disaster. He desperately needs the project to succeed in order to repay money he took from Villard Investments. If he can’t pay it back, he could wind up in prison.”

“Wow. Is there any proof?”

“Not enough, but I’m pretty sure Villard paid someone to sabotage the house to force Rachel to sell. Remy and my friend Nate Silvers are working on getting the proof we need.”

She set her purse on the kitchen counter. “It’s hard to believe Villard would go that far.”

“Really?”

She stiffened, inhaled a deep breath. “You’re right. In a way, I’m not even surprised—the rotten bastard.”

He smiled at her use of the same name Remy had called him.

Nicole sighed. “And to make matters worse, the house is haunted by at least one very evil spirit.”

Calmer, he eased her into his arms. “I’m working on that problem as well. After Grandmere’s visit, I think we know enough to see what can be done about Simone.”

Nicole looked up at him. “What are we going to do?”

Lucas’s features hardened. “Exorcise the bitch. It’s time for her to go.”