The Spite House(88)

He asked Dana and Millie to join him in the living room as witnesses to the discussion. Not that their presence would make this more official, but he wanted them there just the same. He wanted Eunice to know how little he trusted her.

They sat in the living room looking at each other before Millie made her comment.

“You should have known they were real,” Eunice said to Millie. “I told you a long time ago.”

“Yeah, you did,” Millie said, sounding like she had a witty retort loaded. If she did, she kept it to herself and said, “You told me.”

“Did you tell her everything, though?” Eric said. “Or did you leave out the most important thing? Could be that’s why she never believed you.”

Eunice sat up straighter in her chair, and just that little movement made her wince. It was evident to Eric that recent events had drained Eunice, just as they had him and his daughters. The key difference was that Eunice knew ahead of time how bad things could get and didn’t warn anyone. He had little sympathy for her.

“I can understand why you’d be angry,” she said.

“I’m not angry,” he said.

She waved a hand. “Upset, then. You know what I’m saying.”

He smiled. “I do. And I acknowledge your best effort at an apology, even if I’m not ready to accept it. My baby got taken by a gunman today, after all.”

“I assure you I had no idea that would happen. There was more I should have told you, I’ll admit, but I couldn’t have anticipated that.”

“Definitely more you should have told me,” Eric said. He drank the whiskey Millie had poured for him earlier. “Like how this was less about finding proof than it was about switching the house all the way on.”

Eunice flushed red. Was she more angry or ashamed? “I don’t know what you mean by that.”

“You do. And I promise you, I did it. The house isn’t going back to sleep anytime soon. So what’s your next step exactly? I need to know so I can wrap up my part in this.”

“Your part is over. I don’t ask any more of you. You’ll get your full payout, and we’ll even help you find a permanent place to stay. Dana will meet with you tomorrow to go over the details.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Eric said. “But you’re not the one to tell me when it’s over, now. I made a promise to Masson and to the kids. Eleanor and Owen.”

“Eleanor and Owen,” Eunice said. “That’s them. I used to hear my mother pray for their spirits by name.”

“So you know I’m not making it up,” Eric said. “They helped me save Stacy, so I made a deal with them, and I need to see it through. I promised to give them a chance to confront their uncle. He’s been hiding from them in the house all these years. They want to see him. They want him to grovel for their forgiveness, and they want him to tell the full truth about everything. His whole story. I promised I’d get him to do that.”

“And how are you going to keep that promise?”

“I told Masson it was his chance to unburden himself and finally rest in peace,” Eric said. “I also told him that if he did this, there was a chance the last living Houghton might show up for it, and maybe he could get an apology out of her.”

Eunice nodded and looked energized. “That settles it. I’ll be going inside.”

Dana said, “You can’t be serious. That place is dangerous.”

“I know that. I’ve known for a long time. That’s why I’ve always sent others in my stead. But I’ll only get one chance to do this right. I can’t afford to wait, or trust it to anyone else. I don’t have much time left.”

Millie said, “And let me guess, you’re not going to go in alone. After everything that’s happened, you’re going to let other people go in there? You should burn the damn thing down.”

“And anger what’s inside?” Eunice said. “Release those spirits? No one knows what will happen if I do that. That’s the reason why I’ve done all of this, because there are too many unknowns. But if we make it known to the world that all of this is a ‘real thing,’ as you said, Millie, and we do it in a way that can’t be denied, then it will be the most important discovery in human history. We’ll have the attention of every brilliant mind looking for a new frontier. Every billionaire looking to pour a fortune into being able to say, ‘I did it first.’ Every religion with deep pockets looking to use it as proof that they’re right. Every government or institution that wants to research it on the off chance they could monetize or weaponize it. And I don’t care what motivates any of them. I don’t care if they’re competing instead of collaborating, they’ll still be working toward new, deeper discoveries, and they’ll be able to do a thousand times more than what I can do on my own. And then maybe, finally, one of them will find out how I can escape this curse.”

She was breathing harder and reached for the bottle of water near her. When she struggled to twist the cap open, Dana reached over and did it for her. After a few sips, Eunice was able to continue.

“I’m calling in a few favors to have a news crew at the site in less than a week,” she said. “I’ve already told Neal to be ready when I call him.”

“Lord,” Millie said, “you’re going to bring him into this, too?”