Blackvine Manor Mystery Read online

  She wakes up early in the morning and slips out onto his balcony. Just as she is about to open her circle and try using Amelia’s pearl pendant again, the phone rings.

  “Alexis? Alexis Cole? This is Nurse Diaz, Ted, calling from St. James. Do you remember we spoke the other day about your mother?”

  “Yes, of course.” She reaches to hold the pearl necklace as he speaks.

  “Have you heard from her? There’s no news on our end. I’m sorry I don’t have anything to tell you.”

  She frowns. “I haven’t heard anything either.”

  “There’s something else,” he interrupts. “Would it be possible to meet up this morning? I can be in the city in about twenty minutes.”

  Alexis gives him the address of a bakery near Maxwell’s condo and agrees to meet Nurse Diaz there. Inside, she finds Maxwell still sleeping in his wide bed.

  “How about I run out for bagels and coffee?” she whispers to him.

  Maxwell opens one eye. “You trying to fatten me up?”

  She laughs. “Fine, but I’m craving real, strong coffee. Want anything?”

  “Just you,” he purrs as he pulls her into the bed with him.

  Alexis finishes getting dressed. Maxwell stretches out and goes back to sleep as she slips out of the condo, down the stairs, and out onto the street. The bakery has a short line and before she makes it to the front, Nurse Diaz joins her.

  They make easy small talk until they are seated at a small table in the back of the bakery. She spreads out a napkin and picks at a buttery croissant as she waits for Ted to put cream in his coffee.

  “I’m sorry to call you like this, I really am. I wish I could tell you that Amelia is back with us.”

  “There isn’t much you can do,” Alexis says evenly.

  “Except bring you this.” Ted pulls an envelope out of his coat pocket and slides it across the small table.

  “What is this?” She sees the letter has already been opened.

  “Its policy that we open all incoming mail. I’m sure there are rules about me taking that opened mail and showing it to people other than the recipient but I thought you needed to see this.”

  Alexis eyes the letter and sips her coffee, feeling unsure.

  Ted explains, “Amelia received a threatening letter a few years back. She was frightened that someone had found her but she would never tell me who. There’s no return address. I showed her all our security measures and it calmed her down substantially.”

  “Is that how she slipped out unnoticed? She knew your security measures?”

  He stops, his mouth open in realization. “Oh, God, probably.”

  “She must have been determined to leave.”

  Ted recovers, pulling the envelope to him and opening the letter. “The message and the tone are the same but it’s different handwriting this time.”

  Alexis looks at the letter. “When did Amelia get this?”

  “She must have opened it the morning of her disappearance. I think it must be why she was so determined to leave. It’s been years since she got a letter like this and it must have frightened her all over again.”

  Alexis reaches for the letter and the café melts away. She’s back in Lakeview Cemetery, covered in dirt as if she’s been digging. By the light of a flashlight she sees her hands: lithe, male hands with black dirt under the fingernails. One hand clenches into a fist, then the other. Past the white knuckles, Alexis can see an empty grave.

  “Are you okay? Alexis? Alexis!”

  She drops the folded letter as if the paper has stung her. The vision fades and she shakily takes hold of her coffee cup with both hands. Ted scoots his chair around the small table and puts a hand lightly on her shoulder.

  “It happened, didn’t it? You saw something when you touched the letter?”

  Alexis nods her head.

  “It took your mother years to get used to it, years not to be afraid of it. Amelia once described it to me as falling into a movie of someone else’s life.”

  “One blink and I’m seeing through someone else’s eyes. I’m in their body.”

  Ted nods. “Your mother practiced and practiced until she could look around in the vision, until she could move in the vision and see what she needed to see.”

  Alexis slumps in her chair. “I know where I was, I know what I was looking at. Can you open the letter for me?”

  He opens it and slides it in front of her so she can read:

  Put back what you took or I will take from you the things you hold most precious. One week and it’s done or I’m just getting started.

  Chapter Thirty

  ALEXIS SAYS GOODBYE TO NURSE Diaz at the bakery but cannot bring herself to go back to Maxwell’s condo.

  “Hey, sweetness, where are you?” He answers the phone sleepily.

  “I’m heading over to Blackvine Manor to pick up a few things. I’ll see you a bit later?”

  There’s a pause before he agrees. “How about I pick you up there around 5 p.m.?”

  “Great, see you then.” Alexis hangs up quick, sure Maxwell can hear her plans.

  She walks quickly the few blocks to Blackvine Manor, sighing happily as she turns up the sidewalk. Despite the small square footage of her studio apartment and all the restless spirits, she loves it there. It’s the place she found ways to connect with her mother, the place where she met Maxwell, and the first place she realized her abilities might stretch further than a ‘normal’ day job.

  It’s also the place she met the awkward and unlikely man she is starting to think of as her best friend. She knocks loudly on George’s door, hoping he is home this time.

  “Alexis! You’re back?”

  “I’m just stopping by, but don’t worry, I’ll be back soon.”

  George looks at his messy living room, “I’d invite you in but. . .”

  She laughs, looking at all the cords, cameras, and video equipment. “That’s alright. Actually I was wondering if you’d help me with a little field trip.”

  He pushes up his glasses and gives her a wary look. “Sure?”

  “Come on, any good paranormal researcher should love a peaceful day at the cemetery.”

  He throws a baseball hat over his curly, black hair. “Somehow I doubt the word peaceful is going to describe what you have planned. I don’t need to bring a shovel or anything, do I?”

  Alexis laughs again. “Not this time. We’re just going to visit a gravestone. Simple and peaceful, I promise.”

  He mutters under his breath but quickly grabs a handheld camera and follows Alexis downstairs. She heads straight for his junked out pick-up truck and he shuffles up to open the door for her.

  “What, Mr. Charles isn’t around to chauffeur you?”

  “Like I said, I want a simple and peaceful trip.”

  George starts the car with a rough rattle. “He’s still not big into your abilities, huh?”

  Alexis snaps her seatbelt on. “Let’s just say he’s making me hate the word ‘normal’.”

  “Yeah, I was never a big fan.” George is vague as to whether he means the word ‘normal’ or Maxwell himself.

  When they reach Lakeview Cemetery, Alexis directs George to take the gravel road around the back of the property to the oldest section. There he parks under a huge oak tree, careful not to slam his door out of respect.

  They amble along between the headstones and George finally clears his throat. “So, have your abilities … um … recovered?”

  Alexis shrugs. “No, not completely. Though something new has been happening. Think of this as an experiment. Do you remember when I asked you about psychometry?”

  “Yeah. You mean you can touch things and find out what happened? What’s it like? How does it work? Can you describe it?”

  “Calm down, George, we’re here. Let’s just see what happens.”

  Alexis leads him under the dark shade of the largest trees and to the cluster of oldest headstones in the cemetery. There, near the stretching roots of a tree,
is the moss-covered headstone marked Willow.

  Standing arm’s length from the headstone, Alexis breathes deeply. Feeling her energy get stronger, she stretches her arms out and creates a circle around herself. Slipping off her necklace, she lays it on the headstone and puts her hands on the cool marker.

  “Do you see anything? Or is more like hearing?”

  “Shh, George, let me concentrate.” Alexis opens herself up.

  The vision sweeps over her like a dark cloud blocking out the bright afternoon sun. The day fades away completely as she sees a shovel breaking into the dirt on a dark night. A woman’s running shoes steady the shovel before pushing it into the dirt next to the grave again and again.

  Alexis tries looking up and around, trying to find anything that will tell her whose memory she is seeing. A hand rests on top of the headstone as the woman leans far down, pulling a dirty burlap sack from the ground. There is a tiny flash in the darkness and Alexis sees her mother’s filigree wedding ring.

  Her hands pull at the wrappings and a pearl necklace slips from the folds. It is Fenton’s lost jewel stash, just as Alexis suspected. Amelia gathers it up and runs, leaving Alexis behind to blink in the sun of the present day.

  “She found it,” she tells George. “Then she must have hidden it before the security officer spotted her, before the incident that got her arrested.”

  “Your mother?”

  “Yes,” Alexis stops, remembering something else. “She wasn’t alone. Someone was watching her.”

  George shifts uneasily, looking over his shoulder. “I know the feeling.”

  “What?”

  “I think there’s someone watching us.”

  Alexis shrugs. “It’s probably just the caretaker. We aren’t doing anything wrong.”

  She claps a hand over her mouth to stifle a scream. A few rows from where they are quietly talking a woman is watching them. Amelia waves before arriving at Alexis’ side faster than humanly possible.

  “What? What is it?”

  “My mother. She’s here. You don’t see her, do you?”

  George admits softly, “No, I don’t.”

  Alexis feels tears well up. “I don’t know whether you’re a ghost or a wraith. Please, Mom, tell me, are you still alive?”

  The spirit of Amelia evaporates as another fierce spirit breaks through. Alexis stumbles back as an angry young solider advances on her and George. He thrashes his arms, warning them away, the burns from a blast clear on one side of his body.

  Alexis pushes George. “Move, get back.”

  “What? Why?” He is slow to move, fumbling for his handheld camera.

  “I don’t know, he’s just telling us to get back!”

  She shoves George just in time as a heavy limb cracks from the tree above and crashes down, narrowly missing them and the headstone marked Willow.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  MAXWELL IS TIPPED BACK IN his office chair when Alexis and George return to Blackvine Manor Apartments. He’s not surprised to see them walking in together but he cannot hide his annoyance.

  “Out ghost hunting again?”

  Alexis is immediately irritated. “Following up on a lead. Have you got to that lesson yet?”

  He scowls but calms himself down. “You went back to the cemetery? Did you find anything?”

  George excuses himself and leaves Alexis standing in the doorway of the small office. She refuses to sit down, fiddling with an old lamp on top of the file cabinet.

  “Careful, it might be ugly but I loved that lamp.”

  She closes her eyes, hoping what she senses is really happening but regretting the timing. When she opens them, Otto’s spirit is standing behind his grandson, shaking a finger at her.

  “It’s not good to keep secrets from a loved one.”

  Alexis ignores both Charles men and instead asks, “Is there any way you could figure out what jewelry was in Fenton’s stash? I mean, there has to be a list from the police reports, right?”

  “Sure, in my file.” Otto shrugs.

  Maxwell scrubs his chin. “I don’t know, I could ask. Otto still has a few buddies working in the precinct.”

  “Could it be in the file he kept on Fenton?”

  Maxwell pins her with a look. “What aren’t you telling me?”

  Otto crosses his arms and smiles.

  Alexis shakes her head before carefully starting, “I think I know a way to prove that Amelia moved Fenton’s jewel cache from under the Willow headstone.”

  He sits up, letting his shoes slap the floor. “And what makes you think she moved the supposed jewels?”

  She struggles for a moment, wanting to tell him she saw it happen through Amelia’s eyes, but she knows he will never believe her.

  “Wait, I have proof! Amelia was receiving threatening letters.” Alexis pulls the envelope from her purse.

  “Hold on, you found Amelia?” Maxwell stands up. “You think to tell me about weird visions you get from touching objects but you forget to tell me you found your mother!”

  “I didn’t find her; I found where she’s been: St. James Care Facility.” Alexis sinks into one of the straight-backed chairs. “I didn’t tell you because I … I didn’t want you to know she’s been in a mental institution. You already call me crazy enough.”

  He slumps against the side of the desk, and Alexis realizes she’s holding her breath when Otto fades and Maxwell says softly, “I don’t really think you’re crazy. I’m sorry, Alexis. You should have been able to tell me.”

  “Well, I’m telling you now. Amelia ran from Blackvine Manor that night, just like I saw. My father finally admitted he drove her to a friend’s house. Her name is Jane Dalton.”

  Maxwell sits down next to her. “Its okay, I believe you.”

  “Jane told me she dropped Amelia off at a street corner way out in Ridgedale. The closest place to that corner is St. James Care Facility. That’s where I met Nurse Diaz … Ted. He gave me this.”

  Maxwell opens the letter, his frown deepening. “And you said she’d gotten other letters like this?”

  “Yes, but then they stopped. This one came out of the blue and Amelia decided to leave St. James that same day.”

  He leans back and thinks for a moment. “But that doesn’t prove that she moved Fenton’s jewel stash, if there was even one there.”

  Alexis’ eyes flash as she stands up to leave. “I think I’ll have enough proof for even you if I could just see the list of stolen jewelry.”

  Maxwell goes to his desk drawer and pulls out the file Otto collected on notorious jewel thief Collin Fenton. Otto obsessed for years over the fact that Fenton never sold any of the items he stole. That meant somewhere there was a cache of jewels worth millions of dollars.

  When Alexis takes the file, Otto reappears. “It could have been a career-maker, finding that stash. I worked on it for years. Then I found out Delia was helping him, they were meeting in secret.”

  His spirit falters, as if some mottled darkness sweeps across him. Otto tries to tell her something else but the deepening shadow blots him out.

  “Alexis!” Maxwell is about to come around the desk and shake her. “Are you okay?”

  “Just fine,” she mutters.

  “What?” he snorts. “You touched the file and saw something? Is the case closed?”

  She snaps and lunges for his desk, grabbing a worn paperback book from the select stack he keeps there. “An ex-girlfriend gave this to you and you hate Hemingway but you loved her. Plus you like the macho image you think it gives.”

  He scoffs, moving away from her around the desk. Alexis advances, sick of him shrugging off every test of her abilities. She yanks open the top drawer and pulls out a hockey puck.

  “You quit hockey after Ian died. Cancer. This is the last puck you hit.”

  “Stop.”

  “Do you believe me yet?” She reaches up to the windowsill behind his desk and picks up a bronze turtle. “This was Delia’s. Otto gave it to her for the
ir 8th wedding anniversary.”

  “Enough, Alexis! What is wrong with you?”

  “Nothing. That’s what I’m trying to tell you!”

  Maxwell puts up both hands to calm her down. “You think this is normal behavior?”

  Gripping the bronze turtle in her hand, Alexis spins to the door. Maxwell catches her arm and tries to stop her but she yanks free. “I’m sick of you telling me I’m not normal. I don’t know what we had going but it was all pretend.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You can’t accept what I can do, you can’t think of me as ‘normal’ and I’m not going to pretend to be for you. It’s over.” Alexis slams the office door behind her.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  ALEXIS IGNORES THE EMPATHETIC YET hopeful look on George’s face as she tells him, “I’m done with Maxwell. If he can’t accept me or the ‘crazy’ things I believe are real, then it will never work.”

  “So, does that mean your abilities have come back?”

  She trips over an extension cord in his studio apartment and lands on his sagging Futon. “No. Except for this whole psychometry thing. It’s weird; I think there is something blocking the spirits here.”

  George perches on the arm of the Futon. “Actually I was going to talk to you about that. I haven’t gotten a single good video since the anniversary of Delia’s death. The footage just fades to black. I’ve checked every piece of equipment I have and it’s not on my end.”

  Alexis flops back. “I just saw it happen. Otto was telling me something when he was smudged out.”

  “Wait, Otto is telling you things?”

  She rolls her head away. “I know, I know, it does sound crazy. Now I’m not just seeing and hearing spirits but having full blown conversations with them.”

  “That’s amazing!”

  She smiles, glad George is on her side. “I’m glad you believe me. Now all I have to do is find proof that Amelia moved Fenton’s jewel stash and Maxwell will have to believe me too.”