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saw. Who was that guy? Why were you fucking him? Isn t your husband
enough? He loves you, and you do this behind his back. I always thought
you two were the happiest married couple in town. Shit!
Caroline s House 177
She continued crying, sobbing deeply.  Please don t tell Doc. It would
kill him. He loves me.
Jeff picked up her blouse and bra off the floor and threw them at her.
 You should have thought of that before. Get dressed. We ll talk
downstairs.
* * * *
She slid into a chair across the kitchen table from him but jumped up
immediately to shut the basement door and slide the lock into place.
 Why are you here? Who was that man you were fucking? Gee, sorry to
break up your little party. Jeff s sarcasm showed his anger.  Why did you
lock that door? Talk to me, Georgia, or I will take you in for crossing a
crime scene tape. And NOW!
Her voice was low, but the tears had stopped.  I came here to pick up
the animals since you have Larry in jail, there s no one to feed them. No
one but that man, as you call him. His name is Malcolm Hanson, and he has
been dead for 60 years. He kidnapped a married woman and kept her here in
a room upstairs. He died and has stayed here ever since. He loved her, and
apparently came to love Caroline. He seduced her, and then after she
married Larry, he used me the same way until she came home.
 You expect me to believe this hogwash, Georgia?
 Whether nor not you believe it, it s the truth. Then to make matters
worse, he began to do her again, even though she refused at first. He
threatened to kill Larry, and Doc, too, if we did not comply. Caroline grew
to hate Malcolm, as did I on a lesser plane. She raised her eyes to look
directly at Jeff s face.
 While he enjoyed the sex immensely, the main motive for all this was
something entirely different. Each time he used us, but apparently, it could
not be rape, we had to oblige. Hence the death threats. Each time gave him
more power. Neither Caroline nor I understood what or how it happened,
but he became more human and less ghost. At first, we heard him only in
our heads, but eventually he could speak. He was originally just a shape, but
today you saw the man. He was always a good lover, and then he became
exceptionally virile. His prowess left a woman fulfilled like never before
and made her wanting him repeatedly. That is my own feeling.
178 Beverly Sims
 Caroline loved Larry so much she hated to give in to Malcolm. He
would even make her have sex with him after Larry was asleep. She learned
that her sex did not help him toward his goal of being near living, but rather
was a punishment for her preferring Larry to him. Malcolm loved her, but
the love turned to hate when she rejected him.
 Malcolm would watch them make love and demanded whatever he had
seen them do, only more. He would take her anywhere he found her on the
floor, or standing up, in the wet grass, anywhere, even in that rotten old bed
upstairs where he kept Susan, the kidnapped bride. His jealousy was so
intense, I suspect Caroline was afraid he would kill Larry anyway. She
asked me once if I thought Malcolm would leave her and Larry alone if she
were dead, because she would be of no use to him anymore.
Jeff asked,  Have your read Caroline s book in progress?
 No, I did not know for sure that she was writing again. Malcolm seems
to have disrupted all our lives. Why?
 Come, let me show you. Jeff led Georgia to the little room Caroline
used for writing. He handed her the first page and watched her eyes widen
as she read. She handed it back to him and returned to the kitchen.
 Georgia, do you think Caroline might have drowned herself to keep
Larry safe? He could not believe he was even asking that question.
 Of course she would. And I m sure she did.
They sat without speaking. The critters banged on the door, and Jeff
rose to let them in. They raced through the house, obviously seeking
Caroline. Gilligan returned first, nuzzled Georgia s leg and made a little
woeful sound. She petted him and then watched as Jeff picked up Snowball
and petted her. She rose to feed them and returned to her chair.
 There is more, if you want to hear it.
He nodded.
 Malcolm is not the only ghost here. There are many others, some of
them bad guys. When this place was a speakeasy, many died in a shootout
with the revenuers, and a woman was hanged from a ceiling lamp. She is not
here, but the man who murdered her is, and he is beyond evil. People we
knew are here too: Dean Sloan, who was a thief, Sunny McLaughlin, who
committed suicide, and Don Conway and Heather Johanson, who were
drunk when they drove off the cliff on graduation night. There had been
others, too, but Caroline said they had gone.
Caroline s House 179
She looked at the clock.  I have to get back to the restaurant before the
lunch crowd arrives. I am asking again that you not tell Doc. It would not do
any good. If I don t comply with Malcolm, he will kill Doc, and he has even
threatened the kids.
 Okay, was all Jeff said as he watched her with a pet under each arm as
she climbed into her car and drove away. He locked the house on his way
out, drove to where the Gardiner s pickup had been parked, and climbed
down the hill. He walked in the sand to the log where Caroline and Larry
had started their picnic. He sat, staring into the roaring surf. Almost as if he
were praying, he asked,  Caroline, did you die peacefully? Did you die to
save Larry, or is it all a sick story? Oh, Caroline, forever gone.
180 Beverly Sims
Chapter 38
A man named Lucas Tyler came for a late lunch at the Oceanside
Seafood Restaurant. The place was nearly empty. Georgia was wiping down
the counter when he entered, taking a seat at a small table in the corner. She
brought the coffeepot and a mug, but he wanted a milkshake, vanilla, and a
cheeseburger with fries. As she set his order in front of him, he asked if she
had any idea why there were so many cop cars on the highway and cops on
the beach yesterday. She explained that a body had washed ashore. He
nodded.
 Say, Lucas said loudly,  Was it by any chance a slender gal with a
mountain of red hair?
 Yes, Georgia said slowly,  why do you ask?
 Well, I was driving south, kinda slow late in the afternoon and saw a
gal lookin like that wading into the surf. Thought at the time how damn
cold that water was and why anyone would want to risk getting frozen feet,
or worse. He chuckled.
 You saw her? You saw Caroline wading? Are you sure?
 Hell, I don t know her name, but the hair got my attention.
 Doc, come out here. Quick, Georgia yelled.  Please tell my husband
what you just told me.
Doc extended his hand to introduce himself, and the man did the same.
 So, Lucas, what did you tell Georgia that got her so excited? Georgia ran
to the phone. Doc heard her ask to talk to Jeff, and then she practically
yelled for someone to find him and send him to the restaurant immediately.
 All I said was that I saw a slim woman with red hair wading in the
surf.
Doc felt the same electricity surge through him that Georgia had felt. He [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]