Page 97 of The Lady on Esplanade
Jolene ran to see what was wrong, and I struggled to keep up.She’d already reached inside the car and pulled the familiar doll off the front seat by the time I caught up to them.
“Can you put it in the trunk, please?”Sarah asked.“It’s giving off conflicting vibes and I’m starting to get a headache.”
Jolene unlocked the trunk and dropped it inside.“I think we should put it back where we found it,” she said.“Maybe it just wants to go home.”
I looked at Sarah, waiting for her to agree.But her gaze was focused on the box in the backseat, her eyes narrowed in concentration.
“What is it?”I asked.
It took her a moment to raise her eyes to meet mine.And then, in a woman’s voice I didn’t recognize, she said, “Find the stones.”
CHAPTER 30
It was several minutes before the glassiness in Sarah’s eyes dissipated.She remained standing by the car, frozen in place by visions and voices no one else could see or hear.And then she blinked and she was Sarah again, looking around as if wondering where she was and why she was there.
“I’m fine, I’m fine,” she insisted as she climbed into the car.“I’ll explain later.Right now we need to leave.”
Jolene helped me into the backseat before sliding into the driver’s seat.“Maybe we should go home….”
“No,” Sarah said.“I’m fine.I have a lot of voices in my head right now and I’m trying to figure out stuff.And I only have until I leave on Sunday, so I don’t want to waste any time.”
“What did you mean by ‘Find the stones’?”I asked.
Sarah turned to look at me.“What?”
“That’s what you said—when you got to the car.You were looking at the box in the backseat, and that’s what you said.But it wasn’t your voice.”
She returned to facing forward, her gaze on the windshield infront of her.“I don’t remember,” she said quietly.“But I thought we already found the stones.In your backpack.”Sarah leaned her head back.“Apparently those aren’t the stones we need to figure out whatever it is we’re supposed to figure out.”She paused.“I think we should call Beau for backup.”
“Between you, me, and Jolene I’m sure we can figure this out without him.Besides, I’d rather set my hair on fire than ask for his help.”
No one spoke on the drive to Esplanade, the only sound that of Jolene’s cassette tape of Dolly Parton’s greatest hits playing through the car’s speakers.Beau called twice, but I silenced my phone and let his calls go to voice mail.I still hadn’t heard from Cooper, but instead of being disappointed I was grateful for the reprieve.I considered calling Alston to get any background on Lilly Hoffman, but decided against it just in case Cooper hadn’t told his family.As angry as I was, it wasn’t my secret to share.
Jolene parked at the curb in front of the house on Esplanade Avenue.I hadn’t seen it since the windows in the upstairs room had shattered for no known reason, and the boards temporarily nailed across them gave the house a shade of ominous neglect.
I wasn’t one to feel negative vibes from a house, and I hadn’t felt anything but hopefulness about this one since I’d first seen it.Maybe it was the dumpster at the side of the house that tinged my feelings now; it was filled with old plumbing fixtures and outdated lights and other detritus of past lives.More than likely it was the evil entity whose presence at the side of the house had been captured in a photograph.And the creepy baby doll that we’d found in the house—and that seemed determined to go where it wanted to—most definitely altered my perception.It was clear that the doll was trying to tell us something.I only hoped we could figure it out before someone had a heart attack looking in their rearview mirror.
Sarah was the first to get out of the car.While she helped me out of the backseat, Jolene retrieved the doll from the trunk.As we madeour way to the front door, she held the doll at arm’s length as if it were covered in wet paint, then dropped it on the porch so she could open the door with the key I’d given her.
“Do you smell that?”Sarah whispered.
I nodded.“Youth-Dew perfume.A bottle of it was found in the armoire.Joan told us that it’s the same perfume her stepmother, Sybil, wore.”
Sarah nodded.“The one who was murdered here.”
“Yes.”I swallowed.“Is she alone?”
Sarah gave an abrupt head shake.“They’re all here.”
The door swung open and the three of us peered inside.Drop cloths covered the wooden floors, and abandoned ladders and construction tools sat scattered around the front room.Formica countertops from the kitchen were stacked against a wall, ready to join their out-of-date friends in the dumpster.Sarah picked up the doll and led the way into the house, with Jolene and me following close behind.
Sarah’s gaze was focused on the doorway leading to the kitchen, from which a staircase rose to the upstairs room.“He doesn’t want us here,” she whispered.“Sybil is keeping us safe, but we don’t have much time.”
The sound of small feet scampered across the floor above us.I froze, listening as a footfall above followed and an icy chill blew through the room.“We have to hurry.”Sarah began walking quickly through the kitchen to the back bedrooms as the small running footsteps came down the stairs.“Stay here.”
“Not while I’ve got breath in my body,” Jolene said as she followed Sarah and I hobbled after both of them.I looked over my shoulder toward the stairs as I passed, telling myself that the dark cloud forming at the top was only in my imagination.
We found Sarah sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of the armoire, the doll cradled against her chest.I watched the reflection of her face in the full-length mirror appear to shift as if I were seeing through raindrops on a window.Her eyes darkened as she leanedforward, her lips moving silently.Jolene looked at me, and I held my finger to my lips and shook my head.I’d seen Sarah converse with empty rooms and vacated corners ever since she was a baby.
