Page 23 of Haunted By the Mountain Man
"Find out the truth. Give them justice. Maybe then they can rest." She paused. "Maybe then Walt can rest too."
I thought about all the times I'd heard footsteps above us, the way certain rooms always felt colder than others, the occasional glimpse of movement in my peripheral vision that I'd attributed to exhaustion.
"Tomorrow's Halloween," Raven continued. "The veil between worlds is supposedly thinnest. If Rebecca and Jimmy are trying to communicate, tomorrow might be when they're strongest."
"You want to ghost hunt on Halloween. In the lodge where two people died. I suppose you want to film this too."
"Yes, but I also I want to help Walt find peace.”
“Well, if we’re going to do this. I’m bringing in backup,” I said.
“Back up?”
“My brothers.”
Chapter 6
Raven
"You called your brothers here but didn't tell them anything?" I stared at Shane as he checked his watch for the tenth time. "They don't even know why they're coming?"
"I told them I needed them. That's enough." His jaw was tight with tension. "They'll come."
"Shane, they're going to walk in here blind. No idea about Walt, about me, about what we're doing."
"I know." He ran a hand through his black hair, making it stand up in spikes. "I couldn't explain over the radio. Walt might have heard."
Walt had been increasingly agitated all morning, confused about why we were "preparing for a corporate inspection" on Halloween night. In his fractured timeline, Halloween meant the lodge's annual costume ball, and he'd been fretting about decorations and candy for the children who would never come. He'd spent the morning polishing tarnished doorknobs and straightening crooked picture frames, humming Christmas carols with that eerie harmonic undertone my equipment kept picking up.
"You sure about this?" I asked.
"No." His silver eyes met mine, and I saw real fear there. Not of ghosts or abandoned buildings, but of his brothers' judgment. "But after last night's episode, I need their help. Walt's getting worse."
The sound of large trucks approaching made me peer out a broken window.
“Here they come,” Shane said as three huge men climbed out of their trucks and then went around the passengers’ side and helped presumably their wives down. Shane had given me the barest descriptions of everyone, and I still wasn’t sure I had everyone’s name straight.
The first man to come in had to be Kevin. He had Shane's height but broader shoulders, with dark hair and wary eyes. Behind him, an absolute giant of a man ducked through the doorway. Six-foot-six at least, with gentle eyes that contrasted sharply with his intimidating size. Neil, the furniture maker. His scarred hands and careful movements confirmed it.
The third brother vibrated with barely contained energy, shorter than the others but coiled like a spring. Sam's eyes were already exploring the abandoned lodge that we made into a home over the last week.
But it was the women who really caught my attention.
The one attached to Kevin's side was unexpected—a polished city woman in designer boots that were completely impractical for the mountain. She looked as out of place as I'd felt that first day, but the way Kevin's hand rested possessively on her lower back suggested she belonged here now.
Neil's woman was tiny, maybe five feet, with intelligent eyes behind thick-framed glasses and an expression of academic curiosity as she examined the lodge's architecture. She looked like she should be in a library, not standing next to a man who could break her in half with one hand.
Sam's partner surprised me most. Professional blazer over hiking gear, sharp eyes that missed nothing, the kind of put-together appearance that screamed lawyer or executive. She was already photographing the lobby with her phone, documenting everything with an efficiency I recognized.
"What the hell is going on here?" Kevin asked.
"Inside. All of you. And keep your voices down." Shane's tone brooked no argument.
Once they were all in, Kevin's gaze landed on me. "Who is she?"
"This is Raven. She's been helping me with something." Shane's arm came around me, holding me against his side. "She's with me."
The declaration was possessive, final. His brothers exchanged glances I couldn't read.
