Suddenly Psychic (Glimmer Lake #1)(72)

“Shhh.” Monica brushed her hair back. “It’s okay. We get the picture.”

Robin stood and walked to the table. She stared at the plain hunting knife her grandfather had used to murder her grandmother’s first love. Gordon Russell had stalked Helen Moore, killed the man she loved, and then married her, all the while making Helen believe he’d been her rescuer.

Robin had known her grandfather as a hard man, but what Gordon had done was evil. Flat-out evil. Even in death, his presence was everywhere, driving wedges between his descendants, stoking conflict, and haunting his wife.

She turned in a circle, feeling the malevolent energy of the dark and dusty attic, the coldness of the house. Gordon Russell had left a legacy of darkness, secrets, and fear.

Enough.

Russell House had seen enough evil. It was time for Robin Brannon to clean house.





Chapter 26





Robin, Val, and Monica sat in Grandma Helen’s bedroom, watching over the sleeping woman. They had taken everything they could find that belonged to Gordon and loaded it in the back of Mark’s truck. He was driving it to their house. He’d put it in the garage until they could rent a storage unit somewhere.

“My knee is killing me,” Robin whispered.

“Same,” Monica said. “The stairs in this house are ridiculous.”

“Remember when we thought stairs were cool?” Val asked. “I did. When I was a kid, I thought houses with stairs were so fancy.”

“This house is fancy,” Robin said. “It’s kind of ridiculous for one family.”

She looked around the room, realizing that Helen had chosen to spend her later years in the maid’s quarters rather than the ridiculous and fancy house her husband had built her. Robin had always assumed it was because Helen didn’t want to deal with all the stairs, but Helen could have turned the downstairs library into a bedroom. She could have made her bedroom in the cozy den behind the formal living room.

But those were all rooms where Gordon had once lived. Only this room and the kitchen felt free of her grandfather. The kitchen, the breakfast nook, and the maid’s room.

“She loved being outside,” Robin said. “I can’t even count how many signs there were that something in this house was wrong. I just thought she liked the outdoors.”

“Do you think she’s why Billy stayed?” Val picked up a comb and smoothed Helen’s hair back. “Do you think he protected her?”

“Billy’s ghost said he couldn’t come in the house,” Robin said. “But that tells me he could be near her when she was outside. So maybe.”

“She spent as much time in the garden as she possibly could,” Monica said. “And the woods and the beach.”

“She used to tell me houses were for being sick and sleeping. But you lived outdoors.”

No one had told Grace, Phil, or the kids what they were doing. The rest of the family had been busy welcoming Jack and Uncle Raymond into the house and updating them on Grandma Helen’s condition. No one noticed the boxes or the many trips up and down the stairs. There had been too many things going on. Grandma Helen woke up and talked to both Jack and Raymond for a while. Then she’d had a short conversation with Grace and Raymond, after which they’d gone to the den on their own to talk.

“There are so many people in this house,” Robin said. “My mom and dad. The kids. My uncles. How are we supposed to banish Grandpa Russell’s murderous ghost without anyone knowing? Because I do not want to have to explain this to the whole family.”

“You don’t want to tell Raymond?” Monica said. “That his father—”

“He already knows Gordon wasn’t his father,” Val said. “I’m with Robin. It’s not like anyone liked the man. They’re not singing songs about him. Telling the whole story will only bring up too many questions. They’d probably never believe us in the first place.”

“I guess you’re right.”

Robin held Grandma Helen’s hand. “She would have believed us.”

“Do you think she knew?”

“No.” Robin shook her head. “She told me over and over he was kind to Uncle Raymond.”

“Leave it then,” Monica said. “But we need to get rid of him. He’s been hanging over her for decades. Once he’s out of this house…”

“I think that’s what she’s waiting for.” Robin stared at Helen’s profile in the low light. “I think on some level, she’s always known he’s still here. Still keeping her under his thumb.”

Val shuddered. “I just had the mental image of a ghost following her. If you died while a ghost was following you, would they get attached?”

“The more important question is, how do we banish a ghost? Do any of you have any idea?”

Val and Monica both looked as clueless as Robin felt.

“I just barely learned how call one,” she said. “And now I need to figure out how to send one away?”

“What do you do to call one?” Monica said. “The drawing thing?”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t suppose you saw Gordon up there?” Val asked. “That might be helpful.”

“I saw… something. A shadow. I could feel him up there, especially when we had his things spread out. But I didn’t see him. Not like I’ve seen Billy.”