The Whisperers: A Three Book Box Set Page 14

  “Alex!” Mik screamed for help as she caught Teddy.

  Alex hurried to Teddy’s side, she and Mik cradling her limp body between them.

  “What can I do?” Jake yelped. “Call 911?”

  “No. No, come here,” Mik, said. “Here. Pick her up and hold her on your lap.”

  Jake did as directed. With Teddy’s unconscious form in his arms, he was flanked on either side by Alex and Mik.

  Mik put one hand on his shoulder and reached across his body for Alex’s hand. Alex mimicked her actions, but placed her free hand on the side of Teddy’s face.

  Mik looked at Jake. “We need to go in after her.”

  “How do we do that?”

  “Just open up and follow me.”

  He nodded. Mik looked at Alex and she nodded as well. Mik closed her eyes and reached out. Teddy? Teddy, honey where are you? We’re here. Me and Alex. Jake’s here, too. Help us get to you, baby.

  She felt the tug of Alex’s mind and then Jake’s, all three of them reaching out for Teddy. And then reality shifted.

  The only light came from the oil lamp on the sheriff’s desk. The boy felt sweat roll down his sides despite the chill in the jail. He didn’t want to be there, didn’t want to talk to his mother. What was there for him to say? They were going to hang her tomorrow and there was nothing he could do about it.

  The sheriff unlocked the cell and Jacob stepped inside. His mother’s embrace was almost brutal she held him so tight. “Jacob, my precious Jacob.”

  He tore away and she grabbed his hand, clinging to it. She smelled and there was a wild look in her eyes. A look he remembered.

  The last time she looked like that, his father died.

  She pulled him to the far side of the cell, backing him into the corner. “We have to be quiet,” she whispered and cut a look over her shoulder. The sheriff was sitting at his desk, drinking coffee and reading the paper.

  His mother fumbled in the folds of her skirt then pressed something into his hand. Jacob winced and looked down. A silver dollar lay in his palm, the metal feeling like a burning brand against his skin.

  “You will be my weapon,” his mother whispered. “My vengeance.”

  “Mother, please, I—“

  Her hiss was like a viper and her eyes sharp as a blade. “Be silent. You are my son. My flesh and blood. Through you and all who come after you I will have revenge on those who have wronged me.”

  “You killed that man!” he insisted. Yes, she was his mother, but she was also a murderer. Not one, but two lives had ended by her hand.

  “He forced me. He forced me! I offered him forgiveness. Love. He laughed at me. Scorned me. Me! The women he seduced. He stole my innocence, Jacob. Used me then cast me aside. It was because of him I was forced to endure the torment your father inflicted on me year after year.

  “But I bore it, Jacob. My darling boy. I bore for you.”

  “You killed him!”

  She cut another look at the sheriff who had leaned in his seat to look in their direction. “Keep your voice down,” she warned.

  “I killed him for you. So that you would not have to suffer at his hands the way I suffered.”

  “Mother, he never put a hand on me. Never. Father wasn’t an evil man.”

  “He was the devil! The devil, I tell you.”

  Jacob knew better. Malacai Whitestone, his father, had been a hard man but a man of God. A preacher who fought the powers of the devil with whatever means necessary.

  “Now you listen to me, Jacob. You are mine. And I will be a part of you as long as you live. You will do what I say. This coin is the symbol of the pact we make tonight. No matter how long it takes, you will hold this symbol and follow the directions I give.

  “Those who wronged me will pay. Their evil powers will be their doom. They will be denied that which they desire the most. Never will they feel the love of hearth and home, the comfort that comes from knowing they are loved and cherished. Their lives will be mere shells, cheap imitations. They will love and lose until the day my vengeance is complete.

  “That’s insane!”

  Her scream prompted an answering one from him as she flew at him, hands formed into claws, nails raking at his face. Filthy words and spit flew from her mouth, her eyes wild, face red, and distorted in rage.

  He held her off as best he could, screaming for the sheriff.

  When finally he escaped the cell, he hurried to the door, stopping to cast one final look at her. “Do my bidding or see yourself as damned as they.” She intoned.

  Jacob fled, running as fast and as far as he could until his strength failed. They would hang her tomorrow and by the time she drew her last breath he hoped to be far away.

  All he could think to do was run and pray. Pray that the evil in her soul died with her body and set him free.

  Teddy’s scream snapped them all out of the vision. She shoved the coin back into the box and closed it, her body trembling.

  “What the hell was that?” Jake asked, his normally tanned face a bit pale.

  Mik shook her head, her mind racing. She jumped up and ran into Jed’s office, snatching up the laptop from the desk.

  “We have to write all this down,” she announced as she came back into the den. “Here,” she handed it to Alex. “You type the best.”

  Alex took the computer and booted it up. Mik paced the room. “Okay, we have to record what we saw.”

  Everyone started talking at once. Alex kept nodding and typing, her fingers flying over the keyboard. Finally she stopped.

  “I think I’ve got it. Damn, Mik, that was …”

  “Creepy,” Teddy finished.

  “Fucking creepy,” Jake added.

  “And meant what?” Mik asked. “If this was left to me by my biological parents then what does it mean? Am I a descendant of that… that witch?”

  No one responded. Mik looked at Teddy whose delicate brow was furrowed. “What?”

  Teddy looked up at her. “I think there’s more. Maybe if I—“

  “No!” Mik snatched up the box off the coffee table. “No one’s touching this again.”

  “Maybe I could find out more,” Alex suggested.

  Mik considered then dismissed the idea. “No, if that woman was half as evil as she felt in the vision the last thing we need is you calling her.”

  “Then we’re pretty much at a dead end,” Teddy proclaimed.

  “On too many fronts,” Mik agreed. She just hoped Jesse’s investigation turned up something because unless it did, they’d hit a dead end.

  “So what now?” Alex asked.

  “I wish I knew,” Mik said. She didn’t have a clue and half the time it was hard to keep a straight line of thought. Jed occupied her mind most of the time. Where was he and why hadn’t he even called?

  She’d tried to stay mad at him, be indignant at the way he’d accused her. But the more time that past, the more she realized how it must have sounded to him. How the pieces had come together to paint a picture that even she found suspicious.

  She was hurt that he’d let the anger or whatever emotion had seized him treat her that way. But she still loved him and still wanted a chance to explain so he’d know she hadn’t betrayed him in any way.

  If only he’d come home.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Jed turned off the engine and just sat there; staring out over the place he’d called home his entire life.

  He was torn between feeling guilty over abandoning his brothers to deal with things the last two weeks and relief at having finally gained some information.

  He’d spent two weeks calling in markers and favors and it had paid off. On the seat beside him was a thick folder with information that just might help him and his family get through the mess they were in and bring the guilty parties to justice.

  That, however, did nothing to ease the ache in his heart. He’d stomped the emotional shit out of Mik, accused her of terrible things. He had no idea where she was right now, but chan
ces were good that wherever that was, she was carrying a whole lot of hurt and hate for him.

  He’d screwed up in the worst possible way. And he had no excuse. None at all. He’d let jealousy over the idea of another man’s hands on her turn to something dark and ugly. And he’d turned that darkness against her, wanting to hurt her for his own jealously and fear.

  Jed wasn’t going to try and find her. What would be the point? To ask for her forgiveness? He didn’t deserve that. And maybe it was best this way. The curse had reared its ugly head, screwing up the one chance he’d had at happiness and reminding him that Nash men weren’t meant for certain things.

  Trying to shove those thoughts to the back of his mind, he climbed out of the truck. The house was dark except for the light of the television in the small sitting area off the kitchen.

  Ellen was in her rocker, a throw blanket draped over her legs, watching a sit-com.

  “Jake home?” he asked as he stopped in the doorway.

  “Jed! You scared the life out of me!” Ellen’s hand went to her chest. “No. I mean yes, he’s here on the ranch. He and Jesse are down at the lake house.”

  “Everything okay, Ellen?”

  “We’re holding it together. Glad your home.”

  “Same here. I’ll head on down and see what the boys are up to.”

  Jed took his time on the walk. It was good to stretch his legs after the long drive. Jake must have moved back into the lake house when Mik left. Mik. Thinking about her brought a stab of regret that damn near choked him.

  He shoved it back. He had to learn to get over it. Move on.

  Lights were on in the lake house. Jed let himself in the back door and crossed through the kitchen.

  “Didn’t take you long to move back—“

  His words caught in his throat. There in the den were his brothers. Jake sat on the couch with Teddy and Jesse and Alex were sitting on the floor, all four head bent over the coffee table, looking at a pile of papers.

  And there standing at the window, staring out into the darkness was Mik.

  She turned at the sound of his voice, took one look then raced across the room, throwing her arms around him. Jed had never been a religious man but at that moment, he thought there surely had to be a higher power, because the feel of her tight little body pressed up against his and her arms locked around his neck was nothing short of a miracle.

  He didn’t hesitate to return the embrace, fisting one hand in her hair to guide her into his kiss.

  That’s when he saw it. Saw inside her. She had no barriers erected to keep him out. He saw how wrong he’d been and how much he’d hurt her.

  And knew that she saw his regret and shame. And loved him in spite of it. It carried enough of a punch to make him weak in the knees. And more grateful than he’d even been in his life.

  Mik drew back from the kiss, extracted herself from his arms then slugged him in the gut. Jed woofed out a breath and lowered his eyebrows as she threw her hands on her hips.

  “You ever pull a disappearing act like that again and I’ll kick your sorry ass, Jed Nash!”

  “I’m glad to be home too, honey.” He said with a grin.

  She tossed her head then laughed and hugged him. Jed looked over her head at the eyes that watched. “What ya’ll in a huddle about?”

  “We’ve been busy,” Jake announced with a grin. “Pull up a sit-down and we’ll fill you in.”

  Jed and Mik crowded in beside Alex on the floor, Mik between Jed’s legs and one of his arms securely around her. “Okay, what you got?” He’d tell them what he’d discovered later. They all seemed excited to reveal their news.

  “First,” Jesse said. “Alex made an interesting discovery.”

  Alex turned slightly to face Jed and Mik. “It was actually an accident. I was going over a listing for one of the corporate clients and saw the address of Teddy’s store. The client is Manning Real Estate and Development. So, I dug a little deeper and discovered that not only do they own the shop, but the house she rents.

  “And,” she paused. “The company, I work for, RDM? It’s owned by Manning, too.”

  “Which means Manning had a hand in everything that happened to us,” Teddy added. “Alex getting the offer out of the blue to join the accounting firm, me finding a shop and a house to rent at prices too good to be true and Manning buying the farm.”

  “Too much to be a coincidence,” Jed agreed. “But what’s their game?”

  “Revenge,” Jesse said. “Mik went to see Manning and carved him a new one over the stunt he pulled coming here and trying to stir up trouble.”

  “Carved him a new one?”

  Mik looked back over her shoulder at him. “Figuratively speaking. He swears he wasn’t involved and tried to make me believe that it’s his stepmother who is and that he’s afraid of her. He said to check the public records and we’d find out why she had it in for your family.”

  “Interesting. And?”

  “And Jesse did some digging.”

  Jesse took up the tale. “I didn’t think about it until Mik told me, and then I remembered. It was a ways back. You were away. The sheriff showed up and they took the old man into custody.”

  “I never heard anything about that,” Jed remarked.

  “Cause nothing ever came of it,” Jesse replied. “At least not as far as we knew. He was home in two days and told us to forget about it. Anyway, I did some digging and as it turns out, a Mrs. Deidre Manning filed charges against him for rape.”

  “Rape?”

  “Yeah, like the old man ever had to resort to that,” Jake quipped then grimaced at the hard look Jed tossed him. “Sorry.”

  Jed turned his attention back to Jesse. “And?”

  “And the charges were dropped. As it turns out, the old man had a short but apparently hot affair with Mrs. Manning and when he ended it she decided to stick it to him.”

  “That was a long time ago. It’s hard to believe that she’d still be carrying a grudge”

  “It’s all connected somehow,” Jake said. “There’s an awful lot to just chalk it up to coincidence.”

  “More than you might imagine.”

  “Say what?”

  “I called in a few favors and came up with some interesting information on my own. Seems that the Mannings are pretty powerful people. And not ones to screw with. More than one company has taken a nose-dive, burned or suffered legal entanglements after being made an offer by Manning Enterprises.”

  “You mean they’re crooks?” Jake asked.

  “Could be. And the coincidences don’t stop with what you’ve told me. There’s another piece of the puzzle. I’d discounted it until now. Seems that Teddy’s husband wasn’t just in debt for gambling to just anyone. The loan shark who threatened to kill him worked for Manning.”

  “What?” Teddy looked stunned. “You mean they purposely broke up my marriage?”

  “I think your husband did that, honey. But they made it possible for him gamble you into bankruptcy.”

  “And set the stage for Teddy and me to end up back on the farm.” Alex said. “Then the offer to me out of the blue? Oh, damn! This is starting to paint kind of a creepy picture. What the hell do these people want and why have they been manipulating our lives?”

  “I wish I knew,” Jed said. “And there’s one other thing. When Manning Sr., died there was speculation that it wasn’t by natural causes. The official cause of death was listed as a heart attack, but the tox screens showed an unusually high level of nitroglycerine in his body.”

  “Isn’t that what people use to try and stop a heart attack?” Jake asked.

  “Yeah, but according to the widow, they were making love and he didn’t take any nitro, just croaked. They found the drug in a bottle of wine by the bed, but she claims she didn’t know anything about it and had enough money and influence to hush it up.”

  “You mean she killed him?” Alex asked.

  “Possibly.”

  “You think her step-
son knows?”

  “Hard to believe he’d be in cahoots with her if he did,” Teddy suggested.

  “Unless he was in on it, too,” Jake added.

  Jed shook his head. “I don’t know so much about that. Recently Manning Enterprises did some corporate restructuring. Manning, Jr., the man Mik knows as Rob – and honey his real name is Robert Dalton Manning, Jr. and he goes by his middle name. Anyway, he was pretty much booted off the board and given control of a new division. A division that doesn’t include banking, pharmaceuticals or manufacturing, their biggest money-makers.”

  “So things are not so swell on the old homestead?” Jesse asked.

  “Looks that way, but it could be a smokescreen. Who knows? All I do know is that these are people who have enough money to get what they want and nothing stands in their way.”

  “Which brings us back to square one,” Mik said. “What the hell do they want?”

  She reached out, scrambled through the papers on the coffee table, and dug out a newspaper clipping showing a photo of Deidre and Dalton Manning.

  Jed’s mouth fell open when he saw the photo. “That’s Deidre Manning?”

  “Yeah, why?”

  “I’ve met that woman.”

  Everyone looked at him in surprise.

  “It was right after I left the service. I met with Marvin, our attorney, to talk about having a will written. I wanted to make sure that if something happened to me, Jesse and Jake would be taken care of.

  “After the meeting, Marvin and I went out for a beer. Marvin got a call and had to leave and I stayed to finish my beer. This woman came up to me. Blond, attractive but older. Asked to join me.”

  “You had drinks with Deidre Manning?”

  “Apparently.”

  “You have anything else with her?” Mik asked.

  “No. She offered but I wasn’t interested so I made up some excuse and left. But she did show up at the ranch a week later claiming to want to board a horse. I was showing her the ranch and she made a play. This time not so subtle. Offered to get it on in the stable. I turned her down and she wasn’t happy. Told me I’d be sorry and left.”