The Guests on South Battery (Tradd Street #5)(46)

“Did you explain to Jayne what had happened?”

“Of course not. I want her to trust me to handle the sale of her house when the time comes. Making her think I’m crazy by confiding in her that I see ghosts isn’t a good way to foster confidence. And she seemed to just brush it off as her clumsiness in falling and her luck in not getting more seriously hurt. I mentioned that to Jack, and he thinks her years of trying to fit in with various foster families have sort of forced her to overlook anything out of the ordinary. Which is a good thing, since she’s living with us.”

Ginette was silent for a moment, thinking. “And you want me to go inside the house with you to see what I can discover since you can’t see it?”

“Correct. I can’t in good conscience sell a house with a violent ghost or encourage Jayne to live there without getting rid of it first.”

We reached Gibbes Street and crossed it, walking toward South Battery. “We’re not far from the house. I’m not going to ask you to touch anything, but just give me a sense of what you might be feeling.”

My mother’s face was filled with concern. “Do we need to stop?”

“Why?” I puffed.

“Because your face is dark red as if you’ve just run a marathon instead of walked a few blocks, and you’re panting like General Lee when I take him for walks in the heat of summer.”

I frowned at her but was saved from saying anything when I realized that we were standing in front of Jayne’s house. I hadn’t planned on it, but my feet seemed to have brought us here without consulting me. A truck from Hard Rock Foundations was parked outside, and a Dumpster sat in the driveway partially filled with debris, with the nineteen sixties–era kitchen appliances sitting next to it as if huddling to discuss their escape. Perched on the lip of the Dumpster was the black cat, its tail swishing slowly back and forth while its one good eye stared directly back at us.

“How did that fat cat get up there?” Ginette asked.

“I have no idea. And I don’t know who’s feeding it or how it gets into the house, but every time I’m here, there it is. I haven’t been able to get close enough to catch it to see if it has a collar, but if I do and I find out it belonged to Button, then I’ll have to figure something out. Jayne’s allergic to cats.”

“Poor thing,” my mother said softly. “Button was such an animal person. She once said that the more she got to know people, the more she liked her dogs and cats.”

I thought of Marc and Rebecca, and their invitation to rub Jack’s defeat in his face. “And sometimes I’d have to agree.” I turned back to my mother. “While we’re here, we might as well go in. You ready?”

She looked back with a soft smile on her face. “I couldn’t do it today, not with what I just went through. I need at least a week to regain my psychic strength. Besides, I don’t think I agreed to help you.”

“What do you mean? We work well together—remember that ‘together we are stronger’ mantra you make me say again and again?”

“I do. That’s why I asked for your help with Veronica. Because we are stronger together.”

I focused on the cat, as if it might put the words in my mouth that I needed. “Mother, whatever spirit came through you this morning is not a nice one and I’d be happy if I never heard from it again. I’m only involved with this one because of a real estate client. I didn’t go seeking it out.”

I took a step toward the house, but she remained where she was, her eyes studying something in an upstairs window. I followed her gaze and saw the image of a young girl in a white nightgown, her long blond hair tucked behind her ears, staring back at us.

“Do you see her?” I asked quietly.

“No. But I sense her.” She turned to me with troubled eyes. “But you’re seeing her now?”

“Yes,” I said with surprise. “I think I’ve seen glimpses of her nightgown, but this is the first apparition.”

“It could be Button’s niece,” she said. “Hasell. She died at the hospital, but she spent most of her life inside this house. It would make sense that she’d return to it.”

“But she’s a child. Why would she be sticking around?” Our eyes met.

“Unfinished business. Just because she was a child when she passed doesn’t mean that there weren’t things left incomplete.”

I looked back up, surprised to see the girl still in the window. “Her mother died in the house. Did you know that?”

Ginette shook her head. “No. I’d already left Charleston by then and wasn’t in touch with anybody who would have told me.”

“And she was buried in Aiken, and not at Magnolia, where Hasell and Hasell’s father are buried.”

“Sumter,” she said, her voice very low. “I remember Sumter. I had such a schoolgirl’s crush on him when Button and I were in high school.”

“Then help me, Mother. Help me figure this out. Help me to help Hasell.”

She faced me again. “That will depend, Mellie. Will you help me with Veronica? I think that would be fair, don’t you?”

I looked back up at the window just as a dark shadow appeared behind the girl and an arm grabbed her around the shoulders, pulling her out of sight. I blinked, wondering if I’d imagined it just as I had when I was a little girl and thought I’d seen a caped figure in my closet. I sucked in my breath. “All right. You win. But I’m not going to be the one to tell Dad.”