“You’re not the only one who’s having a hard time.” Her voice shakes and I want to hug her. “You and I both know Richard’s hands aren’t clean, but my hands are tied.”
Nina is never like this. She’s strong, too much for her own good at times. Things must be really bad at home, because outside of that place, Nina has always been happy.
“What’s going on, Nina?” I practically whisper, for fear that my words will cause a full-on sob fest and I’ll be joining right along with her.
She shakes her head. “I didn’t come here to talk about me. We all came here to help you and you’re acting selfish.”
My head jerks back. She might as well have popped me in the nose. Nina never speaks to me like this.
“Selfish? How?”
She stands and starts to pace, hands balled into fists, placed on her hips.
“Great. Now we have two members losing their shit.” Corinne stands. “I’m not going to be a witness to mental breaks without the gin in hand.”
She walks into the kitchen, leaving the three of us alone.
Nina spins on me. “You’ve made zero progress with ridding this house of ghosts. What are you waiting for?”
“Nick asked me to stop. I don’t think he entirely believes me about the ghosts.”
“So what if Nick doesn’t believe you? That shouldn’t come as a shock considering the man is a detective and you’ve provided him little in the way of evidence.”
“I told him where to find the body!” I practically shout. “What more evidence does the man need?”
“To believe you speak to ghosts?” She laughs maniacally.
Dear god. Nina is losing it and I really need to figure out why.
“You’ll need a damn miracle to convince that man of that. Get off your ass and find the physical evidence.”
I’m speechless. Nina is the soft-spoken friend. The supportive, help you navigate the issues friend. She’s not whatever this is.
“Okay, guys,” Lanie says, trying for soothing. “This isn’t helping. And if I’m honest, I don’t like you two fighting. That relationship belongs to Nina and me. You don’t get to be the favorite and the antagonist.”
Nina and I both look at Lanie with equal expressions to convey she’s also lost it.
“All I’m saying is we need to work together to give Nick a solid case.” She looks to me. “Assuming that’s possible?”
I sigh, making my way back to my spot on the hideous couch. “It has to be. I’m just trying to figure out how.”
Nina sits next to me. “How what?”
I take a breath, meeting her blue eyes. “Find the evidence. Help these spirits. Figure out who’s behind their deaths before someone else dies.”
Nina places her hand on my lap. “You’re putting too much pressure on yourself. These are serious crimes and you’re no detective. This isn’t something you can do on your own.”
A complete one-eighty from her comments minutes ago, but I’m done trying to pry Nina’s truths from her. That day will come, but we have bigger fish to fry at the moment.
“That’s why we’re here,” Lanie says, taking a seat on the floor at our feet. “Let’s build this case.”
For two hours the four of us research the dates of all the deaths and worked on the timeline and commonalities, jotting it down onto a yellow piece of paper.
Death Timeline
Billy Garet—August 17, 2021
Garrett Mann—September 23, 2021
