Shaking Off the Dust Page 14

  “Hi, Jack. Hi, Bill. Why don’t you join Tom and me? You believe in him, so just do the reasonable thing.”

  “So here’s the big thing. The Spanish professor, Takeshi’s colleague in Madrid, was so impressed with the stuff they sent on you that he told his uncle, who happens to be a high-level government official. No surprise that it went up the Spanish government chain of command. Eventually, the agents investigating the plane crash were told of this psychic American woman who can talk to ghosts and relates details of the people and baggage handler for that plane. Now the Spanish government is demanding that you and Takeshi be brought there as a vital part of the investigation.”

  “Wow. When?”

  “As soon as possible. That is why they were pressing so hard, but afraid to use more physical techniques.”

  “How’d you find out those details?”

  “I listened in on the briefing the director got. He wasn’t happy. Called the boys into his office and chewed their butts out good for letting you nearly die. He took Thornton off the case. Let him know his hard-boiled tactics would not work here. Bill admitted that they believed your story. I thought they were just waiting for you to wake up.” Tom’s face took on an especially pleased expression. “Now, for the other part of my scavenger hunt.”

  “There’s more? You have been a busy boy.”

  “You commanded.” He touched my hand. “I went back to the evidence room. I found four women, who were hanging out together. Ladies of the night.” From the expression on his face, he expected me to be impressed. “All around case number 674170-P. The same psychopath killed them. He worked at a burger joint in the area where they did their business. Three of them are from Pittsburgh, the last, Cindy, lived in Boston. He relocated there and Cindy knew him from the diner near where she lived. He moved all of their bodies in his car. Cindy can even tell us where he lives now, because he had her blood underneath his nails and wiped it on a rug in his apartment. The four of them go to his car and hangout. She checks his apartment periodically. The case is now two years old and we can solve it.”

  “My God, Tom, that’s incredible.”

  “Think they’ll be impressed?”

  “I am. Jack, Bill, bring me Takeshi and I will give you information that can solve case evidence number 674170. If Shimodo doesn’t come, I don’t say a word. Oh and I know I’ll be heading to Madrid in a few days, so please don’t continue the power games. We can help you. I won’t do it without Takeshi with me and neither will Tom.”

  It was an hour before the door opened. Jack, Rachel and Bill came in with Takeshi following behind them. He scanned my face and then he was at the bedside reaching for my hand.

  “You got some sleep.” It was a statement.

  “You didn’t.” I scooted over, making room for him next to me.

  He sat on top of the bed, his back against the headboard. I scooted under his arm. He nearly crushed me as he pulled me up into his arms, but I didn’t mind.

  “We’re ready to hear about case 674170,” Jack said.

  “Tom’s been down in the evidence room. You have a lot of ghosts there by the way. Four women are all victims of the same man.” I repeated everything Tom told me, sentence after sentence. “According to them, bloodstains in the trunk allow the women to be at the car anytime. One of them can also be in his apartment, because her blood is on his rug. They gave Tom the license number of his car and his address.”

  Jack took notes on every bit of information I repeated, although I suspected they also recorded from the mic on the sprinkler. He left as soon as I finished. Bill and Rachel stayed.

  “Do you have more information on the plane crash too?”

  “Don’t you get it yet?” I said. “We don’t even know what questions to ask. Tom can talk to the ghosts left behind from the crash and they all believe they are still here because they know something. They just don’t know what. We came to you because you can ask the right questions, you can fit all the pieces into something coherent. Most of what he saw and knows means nothing to him. You need to solve this so Tom and all those others can move on, go into the light.

  “We’ve been in your care for how long? And now is good time to feed us a hot meal and let Takeshi sleep. We’re done talking until then. You check out the information we gave you. Then come back. I think you will realize what a help we can be to each other.”

  Rachel went to the door, beckoning for Bill to follow. “For the time being you can stay together in here. I’ll have food sent in,” she said.

  I scooted farther over and whispered, “I can’t believe they’re giving in. Now get out of your pants and get your butt in this bed with me, and if anyone tries to wake you once we’ve eaten, there will be hell to pay.” I considered that for a moment. “Well, maybe you might not want to. I might be stinky.”

  He took off his shoes, socks and the clothes they’d given us to wear, then slid into bed with that uncanny grace he had in all his movements. His arms opened for me to lie against him, and I did. Sometime later sandwiches and bottles of water arrived.

  Takeshi watched me like I would disappear before his eyes. I insisted he face away from me, and curled against his back. I hadn’t planned to go back to sleep, but I did.

  Something woke me, or maybe I’d just gotten all the sleep I needed. The bed was warm, and I was comfortable and drowsy. I smelled that spicy scent that was my man, so I inhaled deeper. I moved a little and saw that he was on the edge of slumber, responding to my small movement, but not quite awake.

  I lay there alert, but afraid to move and rouse him from his much-needed sleep.

  “You awake, Hannah?” Tom called quietly. “Ah, you are!”

  I lifted my chin from Takeshi’s back and stuck out my tongue at him.

  “You are such a tease. I’ve been sticking with Jack. They verified all the information I gave them. They ran the license number and address, and used his driver’s license to identify him in Boston. Then they verified his living address in Pittsburgh for the first three murders. Local Boston PD picked him up for questioning. His car is impounded and they got a search warrant on his apartment. Jack’s so excited he’s about ready to wet his pants. Apparently, he was one of the detectives on their cases.”

  The door to the room opened, and Rachel and Bill came in with food trays. “We let him sleep five hours. We’ll make sure he gets more sleep later,” Bill said.

  A third man followed them in with a folding table and two chairs. They set it up then Bill and Rachel put down the trays.

  I reached my arm over Takeshi, twining my fingers with his until he was scooting up in the bed. I followed suit by sitting up and stretching. “There a bathroom nearby? I need to be unhooked from the IV.”

  The guy who’d set up the table and chairs nodded and left. A nurse came in and unhooked me. She escorted me to the locked bathroom behind a door in the room. When I came back out, Takeshi was dressed and sitting at the table.

  The nurse drew my blood. She didn’t say much and from the expression on her face, she assumed I was a criminal.

  The meal tasted like hospital cafeteria food, but it wasn’t a sandwich and was still warm.

  “What now?” Takeshi inquired as we ate.

  Bill and Rachel brought in two more chairs.

  “The doctor will not release Hannah into our care until he’s rechecked her.” Bill tried to sound as if that wasn’t a problem. “If everything’s improved, he’ll allow you to go to Spain under the vigilant eye of a health professional. Rachel explained that Dr. Shimodo is a neurologist and would be watching over her. He forbids us from offering you anything with caffeine in it.”

  Now that I was rested I could appreciate that Bill had a warm and friendly voice. I turned to Rachel for my first real look at her. Her long blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail at her neck, I would guess her age to be in the late twenties. She wore a dark blue pantsuit, her face bare of any makeup I could detect. She was not beautiful, but striking, with a perfect no
se and dark green eyes. I couldn’t stop from turning to Takeshi. I’d mentioned him falling for an FBI agent. I hoped he’d forgotten all about that. He had spent most of his time in her company though.

  As if he could read my thoughts, he reached over and squeezed my hand.

  Rachel scooted her chair closer to our table. “You mentioned earlier that there were ghosts in the evidence room. The director wondered if you could name them. We can pull all their files and see if any other case might be solved.”

  “I guess we could see if Tom is willing.”

  Tom popped up, standing in the middle of the table. “You bellowed.”

  “Well now, aren’t you the big shot,” I teased. “Standing in the middle of the table minimizes the size of your head. You should work on always doing that.” I glanced at Takeshi and his lip twitched.

  “Somebody’s feeling feisty. What’s going on? You pulled me away from the director’s briefing.”

  “These…” I almost said nice, but realized my mistake, “…semi-smart people want to know if you could list the ghosts hanging around in the evidence room.”

  “No way can I remember that many names. I could walk through with them and someone could record as we go along. I’m not going to pop back and forth with names and stories.”

  “Okay.” I looked at Rachel, then Bill. “He could walk through with me and Takeshi and get names and stuff, but he can’t remember the names and stories of that many of them.”

  Jack came into the room a changed man. He smiled and nodded to Takeshi and me like we were old friends. “Thanks, Tom. We got him and they found bloodstains in his car trunk and on his steering wheel. If we get a match on any of the victims, it’s a done deal. This guy was never even a suspect.”

  “You know what’s interesting.” Tom sat on the edge of the table next me. “All these ghosts have been here a while. They’ve been watching the people and learned what information can help.”

  Takeshi avoided looking at me. I didn’t understand why, I didn’t want to ask him in front of everyone.

  “We need to do this before we go to Spain,” Takeshi said. “I think Tom wants to help you with your cases in the evidence room, but none of us should forget the ultimate goal for Hannah, Tom and I, which is to make it possible for him to move on. If we find answers about the plane crash or the ones involved in that plane crash, he won’t be around to interview others like himself.”

  “Yes, but we’ve established that Hannah can communicate with any spirit she is touching,” Jack said enthusiastically.

  “No. We haven’t established that,” I cut in. “I’ve never seen or heard anyone but Tom.”

  “Hannah, Takeshi is warning you that if they know you could do that, you’ll never be free of them,” Tom cautioned. “Make them believe that you can’t see anyone but me. You don’t want to be tied to them. These agencies find things to hold over you to force your cooperation. Don’t let them have a reason to need to do that.”

  I blinked at him and turned to Takeshi, giving him a confused look.

  His expression stayed impassive. “I have a personal theory that I mentioned in my report to the research group. If you read it, then you are aware that Tom was the neurosurgeon for Hannah two years ago, when she had bleeding in her brain after a car accident. During that surgery there was weather-related discharge of electricity directly into the surgical site while Tom was essentially touching her brain. She died on that table and was brought back. A similar discharge of electricity at his memorial services caused her to be able to see and hear him. I believe there is a direct psychic link between them, a spiritual connection. I doubt that she can see and hear other ghosts.”

  I was surprised to hear his theory, it kind of made sense. Did he believe it or was he giving me a plausible excuse if I followed Tom’s advice and denied being able to see other spirits? Of course, we had never tested the theory, so he could be right.

  I changed the subject. “Do you think they’ll bring me some clothes instead of this gown they put me in? When did that happen?” Tom knew the answer to that. “When you first got to the emergency department you were so tired that you fought with them when they tried to wake you up. You even called the doctor an arrogant prick and if he pinched you again you’d pinch him somewhere it would hurt.” He laughed so hard his eyes were tearing.

  “Did not,” I accused. “You’re totally lying.”

  With frustration in his eyes, Takeshi touched my hand across the table. “Hannah it would be nice to be included in this conversation.”

  “I’m sorry. But I think he’s telling a story.” I repeated what Tom said.

  Takeshi laughed. “It sounds like something you might do. You were very tired, Hannah, and you would say that because you think it’s funny. I bet the doctor did find it amusing.”

  “Two nurses undressed you and put the gown on you. One of them was male and he was very professional.” He was enjoying his tale of my indignities.

  I repeated this out loud and jumped when Takeshi slammed his fist down.

  “Tom,” he said. “You may not stare at Hannah being undressed. There was no reason for you to have watched that.”

  “He’s right.” I gestured at the FBI contingent. “You’re excused right now.”

  Rachel gave a tight smile, but they stepped out.

  “I was making sure nothing inappropriate happened to you,” Tom said.

  I repeated that too.

  Takeshi gave a look of disdain in Tom’s general direction. “I expect you to protect her, not stalk her. To that end, she will make me a promise not to be in the position of needing to be undressed by anyone else except me or her.”

  “Funny he didn’t protect me from that strip search when we first arrived here.”

  “Yes, but I was prepared to protect you,” Tom divulged.

  “Are you telling me you watched that too?” I was furious. “You are a…peeping Tom and I am so disappointed in you. Consider yourself on probation as far as I’m concerned.”

  “Hannah, he wants you. He can’t have you, so he’s enjoying what little he can. I don’t approve, but I understand,” Takeshi said.

  “Well, Shimodo, I’m so glad you understand, but your opinion doesn’t reflect my feelings on being goggled in demeaning situations. To me it’s tawdry and an insult. He doesn’t care about me, except for what I can do to help him. I’m not some pert twenty-year-old who shows her tits and wants that kind of attention. I’m older and plumper and can’t even imagine the spectacle of what I looked like. God, I’m sick of both of you right now.”

  Takeshi reached his hand out to mine, but I pulled away. “Don’t!”

  “He didn’t do anything wrong,” Tom muttered. “He’s already mad at me.”

  “Are you mad at Tom? He seems to think you are?”

  “He knows how I feel about you. He crossed some boundaries that normally would put a rift in our relationship. Yes, I am angry with him, but Hannah, I think you are beautiful. I believe he does too.”

  “You are both full of crap. I don’t want to discuss this. If it becomes an issue again, Tom, I’ll put you far away from me and never talk to you. Do you understand? Even if I suspect you’ve abused my trust in you. This makes me sad and you know how prone I am to crying.”

  “Okay, I get it. Move on, I’ve been chastised enough,” he said bitterly.

  We sat in silence for a few minutes. I felt violated and caged. “What are they waiting for?” I got up and paced.

  “Come sit with me,” Takeshi coaxed.

  “I’m tired of this room, Shimodo. I’m sick of being in all these small rooms.”

  “I am too. Come sit with me and keep me company. I missed you.”

  “I want to, but I’m still mad and, as a male, you are going to get the edge of it. I don’t want to be mean to you. So let me pace and fume.”

  “I can take it. Having you mad and listening to that scathing tongue of yours is good company after the last two days.”

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nbsp; I grinned. “Now I know why I threw myself at you. You are such a charming devil.”

  “I must have missed the throwing yourself at me part. I thought I dragged you to my bed.” He smiled at me.

  I went to the table and kissed his cheek. He was like Prozac in a gorgeous container. He pulled me into his lap and I let him.

  There was a brief knock, before the door opened. A doctor and the same nurse came into the room. He appeared to be in his fifties, with wire-frame glasses and brown hair. He turned giving me a look that said I should remember him.

  “Miss Campbell, I see you are feeling much more the thing. We’ve all learned not to pinch you to get your attention,” he said in a friendly voice.

  “Why don’t I remember that?” I frowned.

  “You were exhausted. I’ve been informed that you’ll be taking a trip to Spain. You’re electrolytes are still off. Until we get them improved, you will be observed for a couple of days.”

  He turned to Takeshi. “Dr. Shimodo, it’s an honor to meet you. I’ve followed your work for many years. I know you will take excellent care of Miss Campbell.”

  Takeshi nodded.

  “I’ll be back tomorrow morning to reassess your condition and decide when you can be up and around. For the time being rest, no stressors.”

  I shook my head at that. “Yeah right! Did you notice the FBI hanging around?”

  Rachel, Bill and Jack came back into the room. They weren’t even trying to hide their disappointment.

  “We will take Dr. Shimodo with us to a hotel until you are ready to be released,” Rachel announced.

  Upset, I reached out to Takeshi.

  “I need to stay with her,” he insisted. “You can see she’ll be more stressed if I am not here. Don’t do this. Keep us together or you’ll make things worse.”

  I let him pull me into his arms. “He needs to sleep, and I will fret if he’s not here.” When had I become this clinging female? I hated myself, but I was terrified that once he was out of my sight I’d never see him again.

  Bill glanced from me to Takeshi. “That’s not a big bed. I’ll have them bring in a cot for the professor.”