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Haunting Danielle 25 The Ghost of a Memory
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The Ghost of a Memory
(Haunting Danielle, Book 25)
A Novel
By Bobbi Holmes
Cover Design: Elizabeth Mackey
Copyright © 2020 Bobbi Holmes
Robeth Publishing, LLC
All Rights Reserved.
This novel is a work of fiction.
Any resemblance to places or actual persons,
living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
www.robeth.com
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
The Ghost and the Witches’ Coven
Haunting Danielle Newsletter
Haunting Danielle Series
Bobbi Holmes
Unlocked Hearts Series
The Coulson Series
Also by Bobbi Ann Johnson Holmes
Dedicated to Karen Dickey,
for all her help with the
Haunting Danielle series.
It is much appreciated.
One
Max stood in the open doorway of the attic bedroom and watched as the intruders ransacked Walt’s desk. Had he been a dog like Sadie or Hunny, he understood they would have been more concerned with his presence. One had stopped by him when entering the room, taking a moment to lean down and stroke his fur. Then the other one had hurried through the doorway, shoving his companion farther into the room, almost stepping on him.
But Max had avoided getting trampled and remained by the doorway, observing and wondering. He had been sleeping when they had first entered the house. Considering the thunder and lightning that had been rattling the roof overhead, he didn’t imagine he would have heard them coming in even if he had been awake. Max had been on the stairs leading to the attic when they first woke him; the sound of their shoes stomping up the wooden steps shook him from his afternoon nap.
Minutes later the rain had stopped falling, as did the thunder. Light now streamed in the bedroom window, suggesting the rain clouds had spent themselves and moved aside, allowing sunlight to brighten the afternoon sky.
Curious, Max strolled panther-like to the king-size bed, his eyes never leaving the two masked people dressed in dark clothing. They hurriedly opened and closed drawers, searching through file folders. Jumping up on the mattress a moment later, his black tail swishing back and forth, Max walked closer to the two strangers to get a better look. He sat on the edge of the mattress and observed, wondering why they were here.
Intently focused on their task, the two intruders did not seem to notice their audience, at least not until Max let out a loud, demanding meow. They paused a moment, glanced over at the curious golden eyes, and then returned to their search.
Max meowed again.
The taller of the two, the one who had barreled into the room and had almost stepped on Max, looked over to the persistent cat. Their eyes met. “Creeps me out, the way he keeps staring at me.”
Max, who did not understand the meaning of the spoken words, thought the voice sounded male, like Walt’s voice.
The shorter intruder, the one who had taken a moment to stroke Max’s fur when they had first arrived, glanced over to him and said, “He’s just curious.”
Again, Max did not understand the words, but he thought the voice was softer, like Danielle’s.
“And you know what they say; curiosity killed the cat.” The taller one snickered.
“Oh, stop. You wouldn’t hurt the cat.”
With a shrug he said, “It’s just lucky for him he can’t talk. Or I’d be shoving him in a pillowcase for a little swim in the ocean. We don’t need anyone to tell the Marlows we were here.”
“I doubt the cat will tell anyone about us. And you might as well get used to him. If you don’t want Walt Marlow to figure out we were here, you can’t be doing anything to his cat. And we could be here for hours before we find it.”
“At least the Marlows are out of town, and we have the house to ourselves. I’m just glad they don’t have a yappy dog. But I’m tempted to toss that nosey cat in another bedroom and shut the door. That staring is getting on my nerves.”
As if Max understood what the man said—which he hadn’t—he plopped down on the bedspread and began grooming himself, seemingly no longer interested in the pair.
The shorter intruder laughed and said, “Feel better now?”
With a shrug, the taller one slammed close the drawer he had been searching. Resting balled fists on his waist, he glanced around the room. “I don’t think it’s in here.”
“We still have the downstairs to go through. And I told you, I bet it’s in the library.”
“We were told Marlow does his writing up here. I just figured this is where he’d keep it.”
The shorter intruder glanced around the room and then fixed a stare on one wall. “Before we leave, I want to check out that hidden staircase.”
“Where do you figure the door is?”
“Not sure. But according to an article I read, there’s a hidden panel in one of the inside walls. Maybe we’ll find what we’re looking for stashed in the hidden staircase.”
As the shorter intruder looked for the hidden panel, her companion walked over to the window. They had been careful to avoid going near it, not wanting a neighbor to notice someone in the house. The blinds were only half drawn. Standing to one side of the window, he peeked out the opening, curious to see what the weather looked like outside. It had been storming when they had first arrived at Marlow House, yet the rain had stopped before entering through the kitchen.
“I found it!” she said.
“Crap,” he cursed under his breath, still peering out the window.
With a frown, she turned to him and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Someone just pulled up in front of the house,” he said.
“Get away from the window. You don’t want them to see you!”
“Don’t worry, they can’t from there. But they’re getting out of the car.”
“Is it the Marlows? They aren’t supposed to be back for a couple of days.”
He shook his head. “No, it’s a woman. She’s walking up to the front door.”
“She’ll go away once she realizes no one is home.” The shorter intruder remained standing by the panel door she had opened. Yet instead of looking into the dark passageway, she looked at her companion, who continued peering out the window.
“She just walked up to the house. I can’t see her. She must be on the front porch. But she hasn’t rung the doorbell yet.”
“Maybe it doesn’t work?” she suggested, turning back to the opening. Pulling out her cellphone, s
he turned on the flashlight app and used it to illuminate the hidden stairwell as she looked inside.
“I still don’t see her. She hasn’t gone back to her car,” he said, focusing his attention on the sidewalk below.
“Oh, this is so cool! You should check this out!” she said, walking into the stairwell, using her cellphone flashlight to light the way. “But I don’t see anything stored in here.”
“Something’s not right,” he mumbled. Turning from the window, he walked to the open doorway and stepped out onto the landing. Then he heard it, the front door slamming close. A moment later, he could hear someone coming up the stairs leading to the second floor. After the person reached the second floor, the footsteps sounded as if she was heading toward the stairs leading to the attic bedroom. Turning abruptly, he rushed back into the room and to the hidden staircase his accomplice had just entered.
“You should—”
“Quiet,” he hissed, entering the hidden staircase and closing the panel behind him, yet leaving it open an inch. “Someone is here.”
Standing on the top landing in the hidden staircase, flashlight in hand, she turned to him. “Are you sure?”
“Turn the flashlight off,” he told her.
“But it’s dark in here.”
“Do as I say,” he ordered.
She turned off the flashlight. They stood in darkness. A sliver of light made its way around the open edge of the panel door. Finally, a woman’s voice said, “Max, is this where you’re hiding?”
Leaning close to the panel door, now open just a sliver, they listened.
“Walt and Danielle are coming home today,” they heard her say. “They should be here in a couple hours. And I need to get the clean sheets put on their bed, so get off.”
Gingerly he closed the panel door completely, careful not to make any noise. It sent them into total darkness. He reached for his companion’s hand, urging her to turn the flashlight back on. It took her a moment to do it, but once they had light again, he motioned down the stairs. Together they walked to the second floor, careful not to make any unnecessary noise, for fear the woman might discover them.
When they reached the bottom of the stairs, she asked, “What are we doing?”
“We’re getting the hell out of here. Before she comes back downstairs or the Marlows show up.”
“How do we do that?” she asked.
“There has to be another panel. According to one article, this leads to a bedroom,” he said.
A moment later she held the flashlight while he felt around for another panel doorway. When he found it, he slid it open, not realizing how fortunate they were. Walt and Danielle sometimes kept it locked from the other side so their guests would not feel uncomfortable using a bedroom with a closet leading to a hidden staircase to their room.
But it was unlocked, and once open, they stepped into the closet of the master bedroom on the second floor. He closed the panel behind him, not wanting anyone to discover they had been there. They needed to return later, to continue their search, and they didn’t want the Marlows to take extra precautions to avoid a future break-in.
When they slid open the closet door a moment later, preparing to walk into the bedroom, the black cat with the white-tipped ears unexpectedly greeted them. Sitting before the now open closet door, the cat looked up and meowed.
“Oh, gosh, he scared me!” she gasped.
“Stay here,” he told her, rushing out of the closet and past the cat, to the open bedroom door leading to the hallway. He peeked out into the hall but saw nothing, yet he heard singing. It came from the hallway leading to the attic stairs. If he wasn’t mistaken, it was more accurately coming from the attic.
He looked back to his companion and motioned for her to follow him. Turning off the flashlight app, she rushed to his side. He took her hand, and together they ran down the hallway, to the stairs leading to the first floor, while the cat watched.
Ten minutes later, after running out the kitchen doorway and through the side yard to the alley, they reached their car. The shorter one held a soaked towel, which she had picked up from where they had dropped it on the kitchen porch earlier that day. It had been used to wipe off their wet shoes before entering the house. She was grateful the woman had used the front door instead of the kitchen door, or she might have noticed the towel sitting on the back porch. She tossed the wet towel on the floor by her feet. Pulling their masks off after getting into the car, her companion hastily started the engine, and a moment later they drove away.
“That was close,” she said breathlessly. “Was that their housekeeper?”
“Apparently so. And it sounds like they’re coming back today, so we’ll have to figure out something else.”
“We were told they weren’t coming home for a couple more days.”
“Apparently they changed their plans.”
“There’s one good thing,” she said.
“That you found that opening into the staircase before she walked in on us?”
“Well, that too. No, I was thinking it’s a good thing cats don’t talk. Or he’d tell Walt Marlow about our little visit.”
Two
Before leaving the Portland airport, Danielle adjusted the passenger seat in her car to make it more comfortable to nap. But there had been no sleeping. She and Walt had been chatting away since leaving the airport and heading home to Frederickport.
“I’m glad you like to drive.” Danielle snuggled under the small throw blanket she kept in her car.
“I don’t mind driving. And I seem to recall men did most of the driving when I first got my driver’s license.” Hands firmly on the steering wheel, Walt flashed Danielle a quick smile before looking back down the road.
“Yeah, well, it’s probably considered very un-feminist of me to expect you to do the driving.”
“I promise not to tell your fellow feminists.”
She giggled. “That’s kind of you.”
“Eager to get home?” Walt asked.
“I am. It was a wonderful trip, and Hawaii was as amazing as our honeymoon, but I’m looking forward to getting home to my bed. Seeing Max and the others.”
“Where do you want to stop to pick up something to eat?” Walt asked.
“I’ve been having this insane craving for Pearl Cove’s clam chowder. But that isn’t exactly fast food.”
“Did you say craving?” he teased.
Danielle laughed. “No, I’m not pregnant.”
“You might be if you stopped taking birth control.”
“We need to enjoy this time together alone before we start a family.”
“But you want to start one?” Walt asked.
“Of course.” She loosened her seatbelt, leaned over, and kissed his cheek.
“We’ve been married over two years,” Walt reminded her.
Settling back in her seat and adjusting her seatbelt, Danielle said, “So much has happened in that time; it’s like we really haven’t been able to enjoy being just us.”
The next moment Danielle’s cellphone rang. She picked it up from where she had placed it in the center console. Before answering, she looked to see who was calling and told Walt, “It’s Chris.”
“Hey, Chris,” Danielle said into the phone a moment later.
“Lily said you were back,” came Chris’s reply.
“Almost. We should be home in about twenty-five minutes.”
“Have you guys had anything to eat yet?” Chris asked.
“Not since we landed. We ate nothing on the plane. Figure we’ll stop at a drive-through when we get to Frederickport and pick something up to take home.”
“That’s why I’m calling. Some of us are getting together at Pearl Cove for dinner. About a half hour. Why don’t you meet us there?”
Danielle glanced down at her clothes before looking over at Walt. “Chris wants us to meet them at Pearl Cove for dinner.”
“You said you were craving their clam chowder,” Walt reminded her.
Chris laughed and said, “You’ll be fine. How was your trip?”
“It was great, but good to get home. Who’ll be there tonight?”
“Ian and Lily, Adam and Mel, and Heather.”
“Are they bringing Connor?” Danielle asked.
“No. Joe and Kelly are babysitting tonight.”
After Walt and Danielle walked into Pearl Cove thirty minutes later, the hostess led them to a large booth in the far corner, overlooking the ocean. The sunshade helped block the glare from the setting sun. Already seated at the booth were Chris and Heather. The minute Walt and Danielle arrived table side, Chris stood up and gave Danielle a quick hug before shaking Walt’s hand. Heather remained sitting at the table, her black hair tied in a knot atop her head.
“Nice suntan,” Heather noted as Walt and Danielle slid into the booth with them.
“Did you do any surfing?” Chris teased.
“No, but Walt took me sailing.” Danielle picked up one menu off the table.
“That’s romantic,” Heather said.
Danielle flashed Heather a grin. “Yes, it was.”
A moment later Lily and Ian joined the table, resulting in more hugs as the friends exchanged greetings. Before the pair sat down, Adam and Melony arrived.