“Is that a ramp?” he asked, peering through the dingy glass.
“Yep,” Haley said morosely. “An owner added that in 1993. They were going to turn this place into a bed and breakfast until the bats ran them out.”
She directed him into the hallway, where they passed a large built-in hutch on the way to the last room on the first floor. It was a huge formal dining room with a high coffered ceiling and built-in hutches on either side of an ornately carved buffet.
The smell had intensified, making it impossible for him to fantasize about using the space as a fancy conference room.
“That secret passage you mentioned. Is it nearby?” Nick asked.
“It’s actually a staircase,” she said, gesturing for him to follow. Back in the hallway, she stopped in front of the hutch. “You just push here.” She pushed one of the trim pieces until it recessed into the wall. With a creak, the entire left side of the hutch popped out of the wall by an inch or two.
The smell was overwhelming.
Nick gestured for Haley and Burt to stand back and gave the cabinet a hard tug. He shoved his gun into the open space and peered into the dark, trying not to gag.
Burt whined.
“Looks like we found our guy,” Nick said grimly.
36
11:20 a.m., Tuesday, August 18
The silence in the Jeep was oppressive as Riley navigated across the bridge toward her parents’ home on the West Shore. Elanora sat in the passenger seat, clutching her purse in her lap, her face painted in frown lines.
“Awkward,”Uncle Jimmy sang in her head.
“That was nice of you to help Nick and Kellen,” Riley ventured.
“One does not use their gifts to be nice. One uses their gifts to be useful,” her grandmother snapped.
“Has anyone ever told her she looks like Grumpy Cat?”UncleJimmy wondered.
“Still. You didn’t have to help Nick with his case.”
“Getting justice for the dead is a noble pursuit. When one is properly trained,” Elanora said pointedly.
“You don’t have to be so judgmental all the time, you know,” Riley said.
“You should respect your elders. Even the crabby ones,”Uncle Jimmy chimed in.
“Who is this person who haunts your vehicle?” Elanora asked with a disapproving frown.
“My uncle Jimmy. My dad’s brother. You can hear him too?”
“You will leave us in peace,” Elanora ordered, presumably to the spirit of her dead uncle.
“Look, I know you like being in charge. But he’smyuncle, and you can’t tell him to leave my Jeep,” Riley pointed out.
“You do not need any more distractions in your life. You have been blessed with great gifts that you seem determined to squander.”
Riley clenched her teeth. “Just because I don’t want to live my life the way you live yours doesn’t mean I’m doing it wrong.”
“That’s precisely what it means,” Elanora clipped. “You waste your time ‘living your life’ while ignoring your duty to hone your gifts, to be of service to this world.”
“I’m not interested in only being of service, Grandmother. I am a human being. That means I get to have a life.”
“A life,” she scoffed. “Look at what you’ve done to my most promising pupil. Gabe used to be practically inhuman in his focus. His mind was sharp, his body toned. His entire being was dedicated to service. Now he eats ice cream and lusts after my granddaughter. He’s soft and useless.”
