She knew the house backward and forwardalong with its ghosts.
She fought to control her temper. Melody, a little spooking the guests is fun, but this time you and Hagen went too far. Im fighting to keep this place, but I cant do that if I dont make a profit. You two just scared all our weekend guests away. And Shelly, the poor girl who saw you, was beyond terrified. And from what she described, I dont blame her.
You did not listen to me, Hannah, Melody protested, staring at her with wide eyes, pleading to be believed. We did not do it. Hagen would never do anything like that. You know how squeamish he can be. And look at me. Do I look like a bleeding man with a knife? And who do I know? The same spirits you do! I do not know of a single spirit walking around Key West with a bleeding neck and a knife in his hand.
Melody and Hagen didnt refer to themselves as ghosts and didnt like to be referred to that way. Of course, tourists and most locals called the citys haunts ghosts, but Hannah was usually careful and polite, following their wishes and calling them spirits within their hearing.
And with her temper cooling, now that the brouhaha in the house had died down, she had to admit that she really couldnt picture her resident ghosts turning themselves into the terrifying apparition described by her now-gone hysterical guests. But if her two known household entities hadnt been playing tricks...
Then who...? she asked.
Someone drifted in through the closed back door and then materialized into an excellent imitation of flesh and blood.
Hannah was accustomed to such comings and goings. Hagen Dundee entered the kitchen and took up a protective stance at Melodys side, slipping a ghostly arm around her. I heard, Hannah, and Melody is telling you the truth, I swear it. As if anyone could ever mistake her for a man! And I promise you that it was not me, either. We were not even here. We were at the Hemingway House, playing with the cats.
Torturing the poor little six-toed creatures, probably, Hannah said, still angry. Shed lost business tonight, business she couldnt afford to lose. And she was fighting to believe it had been someones idea of a prank; it was too frightening to think that it might be something else. Something real.
I love cats. I would never torture cats. You know that I love all animals, Melody said regally.
Hannah swallowed, then pursued the hope that perhaps the couple had schemed with one of their island spirit friends to scare tourists.
Honestly, she said, weve talked about this before. Its charming and wonderful and helps business when you guys fool around and moan and groan in the middle of the night. Or, Melody, when you make an appearance at dusk, pacing the roof. Or, Hagen, when someone opens a door in the middle of the night and youre standing in the hallway, looking tall and strong and desperate to find your beloved. But what happened tonight...it was mean. One of those people could have had a heart attack.
Hagen looked at Melody and then walked over to Hannah and set his hands on his hips. His sandy hair was worn in a queue, and his bleached cotton shirt seemed to billow around his broad shoulders. She could have sworn she even saw specks of mud on his black leather boots. Hannah, he said earnestly, we did not do it. Then he turned his back on her and addressed Melody. Dear, I believe we need fresh airand different company. Shall we go for a bit of a walk?
She stepped forward and took his arm. Then, heads held high, they headed toward the back door.
Wait! Hannah said. Please. Help me. If you guys didnt do it...who could it have been?
This island has spiritsand spirits, Hagen told her. Most of your ghost tourists stay on at the Hard Rock when you are done talking, and maybe they imbibed too heavily of spirits of an alcoholic nature. What I do know is that we did not do itand you have deeply insulted us by suggesting we would do something so horrible. I really cannot stand here discussing this any further, Hannah. I am sorry. Melody, shall we take our stroll now? Perhaps down to the beach? he asked, then bowed in a courtly manner and moved as if he were really opening the door for Melody. She sailed out, and he looked at Hannah again then strode off in Melodys wake.
Hannah watched them go, surprisedand more than a little shaken.
Shed grown up in this house with the two of them for company. Nothing like tonights events had ever occurred before. She couldnt believe they would do anything so vile, but if not them... She didnt even want to think that a murderous ghost might be stalking the streets of the city she called home.
She sank down on a chair at the kitchen table, exhausted. Shed been sound asleep when shed been startled awake, stunned and terrified herself, by the sound of screams. And Melody and Hagen were right. They didnt begin to resemble the knife-wielding apparition that had threatened her guests out by the pool.
She winced. It hurt to lose so much business. Weekdays in the Keys were slow this time of year. The Siren of the Sea wasnt a major hotel to be found on every travel site on the web, though she did have a great website of her own. During Fantasy Fest and other Conch holidays, she had it made. And she had wonderful reviews on the sites where she could be found. It was still hard to make ends meet, though. She didnt want to overprice, but she only had six guest rooms.
Her house was worth a small fortuneshe knew that. Shed received enough offers for it. But she didnt want to sellthere was certainly nothing else in the area she could afford if she sold, and Key West was her home. Shed seen a fair amount of the world, many wonderful places, but she loved Key West.
So... she murmured aloud, drumming her fingers on the table.
Petrie, her humongous, long-haired, six-toed Hemingway cat, leaped smoothly up into her lap and meowed as if in deep sympathy.
Whats going on, big guy? Youre a catyoure supposed to sense things.
He merely swished his furry tail.
Hannah stood, gently sliding Petrie to the floor, and poured herself another cup of coffee before giving the cat a few treats.
It had all happened so fast. She had heard the screams and shot downstairs to see what was going on. Everyone in the place had been out by the pool within minutes, one college boy wielding a dive knife and Mr. Hardwicke, an elderly regular along with his wife, a heavy boot. But there had been no one there other than Shelly and Stuart, both of them hysterical. Their friends had been less than kind, insisting shed freaked out over the ghost tour, that was all. But Stuart had been adamant that there had been a ghosta vengeful ghostand only their screams had driven him away. Someone had suggested they call the cops; someone else had snorted and said that cops couldnt arrest ghosts.
The next thing Hannah knew, they were all leaving. And while theyd spent most of the night, shed decided it would be bad customer service practice not to refund their money.
Now the sun had risen on another beautiful Key West morning. Bright and early, just about 7:00 a.m., a westward breeze was coming in, the foliage was moving gently in the breeze, and the dead heat of midday was not yet burning the pavement.
She went to right one of her Victorian lawn lounges, which had toppled over in the commotion.
And that was when she saw them.
Drops of red that led off through the bushes and...
Disappeared.
The next thing Hannah knew, they were all leaving. And while theyd spent most of the night, shed decided it would be bad customer service practice not to refund their money.
Now the sun had risen on another beautiful Key West morning. Bright and early, just about 7:00 a.m., a westward breeze was coming in, the foliage was moving gently in the breeze, and the dead heat of midday was not yet burning the pavement.
She went to right one of her Victorian lawn lounges, which had toppled over in the commotion.
And that was when she saw them.
Drops of red that led off through the bushes and...
Disappeared.
She hunkered down to study the spots and froze.
They were blood. Real blood. Not astral blood, spiritual blood, ghostly blood or imaginary blood from an apparition of some kind. Real blood meant that someone or something living had come through the yardnot a ghost. There were outside lights by the pool, but at night these drops would have been invisible.
Hannah pushed her way through the foliage where the blood trail seemed to end, though the drops might have disappeared into thin air or they might have been soaked up by the dirt. She couldnt really tell. The yard here in back of the pool grew rich and lush all the way up to the bushes that lined the brick wall and the white wooden gate that led to the small alley behind her house. Vehicles couldnt traverse the narrow way; it was a footpath, normally used only by those who already knew it was there.
The gate was unhooked. There was a bloody handprint on it.
Gingerly, afraid of what she would find, Hannah pushed it all the way open.
And there he was. A man lying just two feet from the gate, sprawled faceup, staring wide-eyed up at the sun.
A brilliant crimson ribbon ran around his neck.
And his fingers curled as if he had been holding something....
Like the hilt of a knife.
* * *
How did you know there was a body in the alley? Dallas Samson asked, after introducing himself and flashing his FBI badge.
The young woman who had summoned the police was standing behind the crime scene tape that now stretched across the alley and up to her gate. Detective Liam Beckett was with her. Beckett was a city copand a friend of Dallass. Apparently Beckett was a friend of the young womans, too. She was extremely attractive, Dallas noted almost dispassionately. He filed away everything he noticed about possible suspects and witnesses in the back of his mind, so it was second nature to make a physical assessment. She was about five-five, maybe a hundred and twenty pounds, sleek and slim, with deep blue-green eyes and a mane of golden hair. She was, however, tense. She stood straightalmost frozen. Not panicked, but icy. Almost as if she were battling not to show any emotion, doing everything in her power to remain stoic and calm. He realized hed barely taken his eyes off her. And the tension he was feeling himself was making him come off like a drill sergeant. He couldnt help itnot with a dead body lying in the alley and her standing there not answering his question.
He sure as hell wasnt helping her any, but it rankled that shed been talking easily with Liam when Dallas had arrived, and now she was just staring at him without saying a word.
Her brows hiked up as she finally considered her reply to his query.
She was taking too long to answer. The tension he was feeling increased.
He pursued his question even more impatiently. Let me rephrase. Do you usually wake up bright and early and come out to the alley looking for bodies?
Liam cleared his throat reprovingly, and Dallas winced inwardly. Hed let his temper get the best of him, making him rude and sarcastic. He wasnt usually that way, but he was feeling a hell of a lot more tense than the blondethan any of them, at the moment.
But, then, hed known the dead man.
And he didnt like the way the man had been found.
Hannah called me immediately, Liam said, frowning. And, I assure you, its the first time shes ever called me about a body.
Of course, Dallas said. Sorry. So, you knew he was here because he paused, looking at Liam because he was in your yardand still alivelast night? He realized the implication that she might have saved him was in his voice. He hadnt meant it to be, but that didnt mean it wasnt true.
He looked around and noticed that there was a lot of confusion at the scene. A couple of uniformed officers had been first on the scene, followed by Liamand hed been right behind. Now techs were dusting and setting out numbers by everything they found, and looking for evidence, and the medical examiner was with the body. She had touched the body, trying to see what she could do for him before realizing he was dead. If shed been a screaming basket case, he would probably be having an easier time dealing with her. But though she was calm now, she had been screaming when shed dialed 911. The uniformed officers had probably arrived within secondsthey were just down the street from Duval, because the department always patrolled the bar and club scene there, no matter how lateor earlythat was.
I never saw him in my yard. Two of my guestsformer guestssaw him. But they didnt realize he was real. They thought they were seeing a ghost.
The young womanLiam had introduced her as Hannah OBrienseemed to be growing aggravated with him. He didnt really blame her. He was usually a lot better at a crime scene.
They thought a real manmortally injured and bleedingwas a ghost? Dallas demanded.
Yes.
How the hell...? he muttered.
I cant read their minds, she said sharply. There was something almost regal about her. Maybe that was what bugged him. It compelled him, and that irritated him. He took a breath and tried to regain a professional calm.
All right. Can you start at the beginning for me? he asked.
I was sound asleep. I heard a scream and came running downstairsthey were in back of the house by the pool. I looked out and saw two of my guests. One of them was insisting shed seen a ghost in my yard, Hannah explained. Sheher names Shelly Nicholsonhad been on my ghost tour. She and her boyfriend, Stuart Bell, were absolutely convinced theyd seen a homicidal ghost. But there was nothing there.
I tried to calm them down. I told them...I told them that ghosts werent real, and even if they were, it wasnt likely theyd be able to kill anyone. I got them to quit screaming and talk it through. Nothing budged them. They insisted theyd seen a bloody ghost holding a bowie knife. By then, everyone in the place was out there and freaking out. So I got everyone checked out and sent them down to the Westin, and then, when it was light, came back out to look around. She hesitated for a long moment, glancing at Liam. I dont even know of any Key West ghosts that supposedly run around bleeding and carrying a bowie knife. She stopped, struck by the thought that the man on the ground was now eligible to be a Key West ghost legend.
A bowie knife? Dallas demanded.
She nodded. Thats what Stuart said. He was one of the people who saw the...ghost.
How did he know it was a bowie knife? Dallas demanded.
How do I know? Maybe he saw The Alamo a zillion times! she snapped back, her irritation showing.
He doesnt have a knife now, Dallas pointed out.
No. He wasnt holding it when I found him, she said. I looked around, and I didnt see a knife anywhere. But if you looked at his hand...