Sinister Entity (24 page)

“He’s cool. He wants me to come down to Florida on some business trip with him so we can visit a couple of haunted lighthouses. I don’t know about Florida in the summer, though. That’s when people fly out, not in.”

They laughed and Tobi told him about The Rhine’s newest recruits. “No one like you, though,” he added.
 

Eddie checked his watch. “Thanks for the talk, Tobes. I gotta get going. Jessica will be back any minute.”

“You take care of yourself. If you get lost in the weeds, you call me. Remember, two psychics are better than one.”

Eddie got back to his room just as Jessica pulled up in her Jeep.
 

Showtime.
 

Chapter Thirty-Four

They didn’t speak much on the way to the Leighs’, both lost in the thoughts of what lay ahead. To his surprise, Jessica didn’t make any death threats about her car. He was sure she would extract a limb if he so much as scratched it, but she just gave him the keys and said to call her after his meeting. She also shocked him by leaving most of her equipment back at the hotel. Tonight, it was all about making Selena feel safe and gaining some control over the situation.
 

He read what little credible information there was on doppelgangers back in his room and set out for Framingham at four. It was about sixty miles away, but he gave an extra hour cushion for rush hour traffic. The sun felt as strong as ever, pushing the temperature up to a balmy ninety. He drove with the windows wide open, listening to Jessica’s CD collection. Traffic was as bad as he had anticipated, so he was able to make it through discs of Metallica, Overkill, Enuff Z’Nuff, Celtic Frost and a few others he’d never heard of. When a convertible filled with girls with high, over-teased hair and shirts that fell off their shoulders pulled up next to him on I90, he thought for sure he had entered a time warp and was now in 1988.

Thanks to the GPS telling him where to go, he only made three wrong turns, finding Morgan Stern’s house ten minutes before six. Framingham was a quaint suburb just outside Boston. The house was a bright yellow Colonial complete with porch swing, filling him with a terminal case of house envy. Now this was a place he could settle into. It sure as hell beat his apartment in the Bronx.
 

Morgan Stern answered the door, his tall, broad-shouldered frame filling the doorway. He had long hair flecked with strands of gray and a beard to match. Eddie couldn’t help thinking he looked like a towering Moses.
 

“Eddie Home, I presume,” he said with a disarming smile. His voice was soft, inviting, in complete contrast with his physical appearance.
 

“Mr. Stern?”

“Morgan to you. Come on in. Gigi is just cleaning up dinner.”

The smell of meatloaf and roasted potatoes made Eddie’s stomach protest. In his eagerness to get here, he had forgotten to grab something to eat. Morgan showed him to a comfortable living room. The chairs and sofa were all soft, brown leather. A pair of tiffany lamps provided a cozy glow. The central air conditioning brought much-needed relief from the summer heat.

“Can I get you something to drink?”

“Water would be fine.”

As Morgan went to the kitchen, his girlfriend Gigi came in to greet him, wearing a dish towel over her shoulder. She was at least ten years younger than Morgan with long, blonde hair and lively eyes that reminded him of some of the surfer girls he’d met when he used to go to Los Angeles to visit his cousins for the summer.
 

“Thank you for letting me come here,” he said as they shook hands.
 

“Please, we’re happy to help, though I don’t know how much we can actually do for you. I’m just glad Dr. Froemer referred you to us. We know how difficult something like this can be.”

Morgan came back with three glasses of water and three bowls of ice cream on a tray. “It’s dessert time, so I figured why not share it with us.”

“Much appreciated,” Eddie said, hoping that some sweets would calm his stomach’s whining.
 

As they ate, they went through the obligatory small talk between strangers. Eddie didn’t want to hit them over the head with his dilemma or seem overanxious. He knew this was a tricky subject. Sometimes the long, meandering road was the best way to get to where you were going. He learned that Morgan was an English teacher at a nearby high school and Gigi, true to his gut reaction, was a West Coast transplant. She was an engineer at a pharmaceutical company. They had met at a book signing event fifteen years earlier and had been inseparable ever since. He could feel the warmth radiate from them. They were living proof that you didn’t need a marriage certificate to be a happy, committed couple. He got the feeling they must be a blast to be around at a backyard barbecue.

After the ice cream bowls were cleared, Morgan said, “Dr. Froemer tells me you worked with him at the center. He said you’ve come across something similar to what Gigi and I experienced with my father.”

Eddie was grateful that Morgan had been the first to dive in. “Yes. My partner and I were called in by a family in New Hampshire because they repeatedly saw their daughter when she wasn’t around. Things got kind of hairy when she saw herself one night.”

Gigi frowned, clasping Morgan’s arm. “The poor girl. She must be scared to death.”

“You could say that. How often did you see the double of your father?”

Morgan stopped to think a moment. “It had to be at least ten times.”

“It was twelve,” Gigi reminded him.
 

“I defer to the little lady. The first time was when I had just come home from work. He was sitting in the same chair you’re in now, reading the paper.”
 

Eddie suddenly felt a strong desire to stand.
 

“I was shocked, because we had just placed him in a nursing home two months earlier. He had Alzheimer’s and it had gotten past the point where we could effectively care for him. At first, I assumed he must have just walked out and come to the one place he knew. The nursing home is just a half mile away, you see. I said, ‘Dad, you scared me half to death. How did you get here?’ He just kept reading the paper, acted like I wasn’t there, which wasn’t so unusual at that point. I figured I’d let him stay for dinner, then take him back afterwards. I knew the nursing home had to be wondering where he was, so I went to the kitchen to call them. The line was busy, and when I popped in to check on him, he was gone.

“Now I was in a panic. I searched the house, running like a madman. I even went through the neighborhood shouting his name. I was worried he had wandered off and could get hurt. I went back and called the nursing home and told them what happened. The attendant was confused, and asked me to hold. When she came back, she said he was in his room, sleeping. He’d been there all day. Now, I knew there was no way he could make the walk back to the nursing home that fast, but he had to have done it somehow. Maybe he got a ride or something. The attendant was wrong, but as long as he was safe, I was fine.”

Gigi said, “It wasn’t until a week later that I saw him. I was out shopping for groceries and spotted him pushing a cart two aisles away. I thought, ‘Oh my God, he got out again,’ and rushed over to get him, except by the time I got there, which could have been no more than five seconds, he was gone. I went up and down every aisle of that supermarket four times looking for him, but it was as if he’d never been there.”

Morgan continued, “When Gigi got home, she was very upset. After calming her down, I called the nursing home and was told again that he was in his room, safe and sound. Now things were starting to get crazy.”

Gigi took a long sip of water and leaned forward, resting her arms across her thighs. “The next day, we both saw him when we pulled up to the garage after a night with friends at the movies. He just stood there in the glare of our headlights, staring at us. When Morgan stopped the car to get out, he was gone. Poof!” She snapped her fingers for emphasis.
 

“We saw him six more times, briefly, over the next week,” Morgan said. “Another time in the house, then by the mailbox, walking past the window when we were eating in a restaurant. Each time, I called the nursing home to the point where I’m sure they thought I had become unglued.”

Curious, Eddie asked, “Did you ever have a moment where you were able to confront it, I mean
him
?”

Morgan raised a reassuring hand. “It’s fine by me, now that I know what we saw was not really my father. And yes, the last two times, and they were both out in the yard, we did get to see him for more than just a few seconds. That’s when we knew we were dealing with something out of this world.”

Gigi shivered and Morgan reached over to massage her upper arms and back.
 

“When I think about what it said,” she said, her gaze drifting back to ten years earlier.
 

“Excuse me, did you say you spoke to it?” Eddie asked, his interest heightened exponentially.
 

“Oh yes, we talked,” Morgan said. “We talked for a long time. I don’t think I’ll ever forget it.”

Chapter Thirty-Five

Greg and Rita had decided to go all out for dinner, lighting up the grill in the yard and barbecuing everything from hot dogs to filet mignon lathered in garlic and butter sauce. The whole family looked well rested, thanks to the previous night spent away from the house, but Jessica could see the expectant fear take hold of them from time to time.
 

“Where’s your dog?” Jessica asked. It seemed like a dog playing fetch in the yard was the only thing missing from the scene of Americana.
 

“We’re having a good friend watch him. I thought you might want to keep him from being underfoot,” Rita said.
 

“Not that he’s done much good. All this stuff going on and not so much as a growl,” Greg said, flipping a steak.

“Believe it or not, not all animals are sensitive to this kind of stuff,” Jessica said. “Some of them can be as obtuse as people.”
 

Greg huffed and went back to grilling. Jessica hoped he didn’t think she was trying to compare him to the dog. One more miscue to add to the pile.
 

She was a little surprised when they were joined by two of Selena’s friends, Julie and Crissy.
 

When they arrived, Rita pulled her to the side of the house and explained that Selena had asked if she could have them sleep over for the first night. Jessica wasn’t keen on the idea.
 

“My daughter needs her friends right now,” Rita said. “It’s only for tonight, but there’s no way I’m not going to give her whatever she needs to feel secure. I hope you understand.”

The look in her eyes told Jessica it didn’t really matter how she felt about the wrinkle in the night’s plans. A mother’s concern overrode the wishes of a stranger.
 

Jessica did understand the concept of safety in numbers. She just hoped the girls didn’t experience something that would scar them mentally, although Crissy looked like the type of kid who sought stuff like this out for kicks. Julie, on the other hand, despite her tough talk, seemed as scared as Selena. She must be one good friend to swallow that unease and spend the night here.
 

By the time they had finished dessert, Jessica caught Rita alone in the kitchen and said, “I’ll need you and Greg to do me a favor.”

Rita put down the load of dishes in the sink and wiped her hands on a paper towel. “Sure. Anything.”

“If I call you into Selena’s room, I need you to get all of the girls out as quickly as possible. I know Crissy and Julie want to give her moral support, but I’m worried about how they’ll react if something happens tonight. It’s bad enough that the four of you are going through this.”

For the first time she could remember, Jessica wished she were older so she could have the weight of experience and authority on her side and insist to Rita that the sleepover wasn’t a good idea and couldn’t happen. Being just a few years older than Selena, she found it hard to tell the teen’s parents what they could do in their own home. She would just have to make the best of it.
 

“I understand,” Rita said.
 

“I’ll give you a walkie-talkie because I don’t want to shout across the house and frighten it off, if it shows. If you hear me beep three times, that’ll mean I need you in her room right away.”

“I’m sure we won’t be sleeping much tonight, so no need to worry. Ricky will be sleeping with us.”

“How has he been taking it?”

“He’s scared, but he’s still at that age where he believes mom and dad can protect him from anything. I wish that was true.”

They watched a couple of Adam Sandler movies after dinner, in need of a mindless diversion. There was very little laughter, but at least his movies didn’t add to the tension.

While they were in the living room, Jessica stayed upstairs, primarily in Selena’s room. It was just big enough to accommodate two sleeping bags. Jessica would sit in the desk chair, watching over them. She’d made it clear that when they came to the room, they had to sleep, so they needed to make sure they were good and tired before coming upstairs. It wouldn’t work if they treated it like a regular slumber party. It was her one demand and they willingly obliged.