House of Shadows Read online

  Miles had his iPhone out.

  “I’m calling Grandma Polly…” he said, holding the phone to his ear. He waited, then disconnected the call. “She’s not answering.”

  “She and Enid are traveling today,” I remembered. “We may not be able to talk to her until tomorrow.”

  We reached the guest house, where the House of Bannerman caretakers traditionally lived. Miles pounded on the door.

  There was no answer.

  “Guys…” Xander was straining to see through the slats of the blinds covering one of the front windows. “Miles, do you have a key to get in here?”

  “Yes,” Miles said. He took his keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door. By the look on Xander’s face, there was a good reason to do so.

  The door swung open.

  I clutched Miles’ arm and his grip tightened on my hand, as we stared in shock at the contents of the room.

  A bulletin board hung on the wall. It was covered in photos. Of Miles and me. All taken without our knowledge. Walking to class, leaving the apartment, having lunch outdoors at one of the campus cafes, together, with friends, and alone… I felt sick. I didn’t plan on being alone again, any time soon.

  We all stood surrounding the doorway, staring in shock, as Tony entered and made sure no one was inside.

  “It’s clear,” he said to Miles. “But be careful, we may want to dust for prints, in case the name this guy gave your Grandmother is an alias.”

  Miles and I took our gloves out of our pockets and put them on. Our friends followed our lead.

  We entered the guest house and spread out. Xander and Jenny searched the bedroom, and Annette and John looked through the kitchen. Miles and I walked to the small desk in the living room, where legal pads were stacked. On the top pages we saw that our schedules and a record of our activities on various days, were being recorded.

  Miles shook his head. “Unbelievable. Absolutely… unbelievable.”

  “Does May nineteenth mean anything to you?” Tony suddenly asked.

  Miles and I glanced at each other, as he answered.

  “Yes. We’re getting married on May nineteenth.”

  Tony shook his head, and indicated an eighteen month calendar taped to the desk. Various days had notations that didn’t mean anything to me, and several rows in late spring and summer had question marks.

  May nineteenth, was crossed out with a big red X.

  Miles and I stood and stared, then we looked at each other. I felt fear, but in Miles’ eyes I saw determination.

  “We’ll figure this out,” he said firmly. “Nothing is going to separate us. Nothing.”

  I let out a deep breath, and nodded. I cleared my throat, and turned to Tony.

  “There’s a closet over there. If that entrance leads here, and it almost surely does, then that’s the most likely place to find it.”

  Tony opened the door and looked inside, searching with his flashlight. He pounded three times on the back wall of the closet. There was an answering three knocks.

  “This is it, alright,” he said.

  Miles moved forward.

  “Is there a latch, or a place for a key, anything?”

  “Yeah…” said Tony. “I think here, this could be a keyhole.”

  He stepped back, and Miles used the key to the guest house. With a click, the entire back of the closet swung outward into the tunnel, where Jack and the other agent stood guard.

  I took out my iPhone and started snapping pictures of everything, especially the materials on the desk.

  I opened a desk drawer. “Jackpot!”

  “What?” Miles asked, as everyone turned to look at me.

  “Computer,” I said, holding it up.

  John rubbed his hands together in anticipation, then held them out. “Do you mind?”

  “Please, Mr. Computer Genius, be my guest,” I said, as I handed it to him.

  “Wait, Tony—dust that first, please. We’re taking it with us,” Miles said.

  “Whoever this guy was, he traveled light,” Xander commented, as he and Jenny joined us in the main part of the small guest house.

  “There’s hardly anything in the closet and drawers,” said Jenny.

  I sorted quickly through the legal pads, but didn’t see anything enlightening. I already knew what our schedules were. I went through the rest of the desk drawers, but they were empty.

  John, Annette, Jenny, and Xander, sat in the small living area. I joined them, as one of Tony’s guys finished dusting the laptop, and Miles gave directions to Tony.

  “Everyone about ready to go?” asked Miles, as he turned back to our group, and handed John the laptop. “There’s nothing more we can do here. Tony and his guys are keeping watch. If the caretaker comes back, we’ll know. They’re guarding the tunnels until I can get some guys out to either seal them up, or install steel doors to secure them from outside intruders.”

  “Yes, let’s go,” I said, and our friends agreed.

  My curiosity was exhausted. I was perfectly happy to let the security team handle the rest of the search. Whatever was found, I’d rather hear about it over the phone an hour and a half away, than see it for myself.

  We piled into Xander’s Yukon, and drove back to the city.

  An hour and a half later, we all sat in Jenny’s and my apartment trying to make sense of things. Night Furry lay across my lap and I absentmindedly pet him, while Miles kept his arm wrapped tightly around me. As always, Pandora was asleep on his knee. Night Furry’s purring, and being close to Miles in a room filled with friends, in a security controlled apartment building, was comforting.

  “This is so messed up!” Xander exclaimed for the hundredth time. We all felt that way, so no one minded the repetition.

  “At least now we know. The strange things at the castle, and the false accusations that have been going on all semester, are connected,” said Jenny.

  “Who would have access to your family home, and be able to find those passages? I mean you lived there all your life…” John said, as he worked to get past the security code on the laptop from the guest house. “You didn’t know about these secret passages, though. Your ancestors built the place, but you didn’t know.”

  We all thought about that.

  “A previous caretaker?” I mused. “Miles, why did the Henderson’s leave? I know Mr. Henderson died, but then his wife just up and left, without a word to Polly.”

  “Amelia Henderson is an elderly lady,” Miles explained to the rest of the group. “And I don’t know, Anika. Let’s see if we can talk to her and find out.”

  “Give me the info, I’ll look her up,” said Annette, who was closest to my laptop.

  While she searched for a phone number, we continued talking.

  “How about family?” Jennie asked. “Do you have any family or people who’ve stayed at the castle before, who may have had a chance to find the secret passage?”

  “Alfred….” I said, thinking. “A really distant cousin. He’s in prison though, for attempted murder.”

  “When Alfred visited, he stayed in the guest house,” Miles said suddenly.

  “He tried to murder someone? You’re kidding!” exclaimed Xander. “Who?”

  “Well, um—Miles, actually.”

  The room went silent.

  Moments later, it erupted in rapid, animated discussion.

  Miles and I didn’t go around broadcasting what happened the year before. It was just all too strange. It didn’t feel like part of Miles’ life, and for good reason. So if our friends didn’t see the news reports, they wouldn’t know anything about this. Apparently, Jenny was the only one that did.

  Xander’s hair was standing on end, he’d run his fingers through it so many times.

  “This guy—tries to kill you—he’s in prison—”

  “Okay, let me explain,” Miles said, to our short-circuiting friends.

  “Let me,” I took over. I could explain without having to lie. “Miles graduated from high sch
ool. Shortly after, he was hiking in the mountains and met Alfred, a very distant cousin. Miles recognized Alfred, as he’d been to visit at the castle in the past. Alfred asked Miles to join him on a hike, and when they reached a cliff overlooking another trail, Alfred pushed him. He lost his balance, and fell. Miles was in a coma as a John Doe for several months, because after he fell, Alfred took his wallet and ditched his vehicle.”

  “Actually, he returned the rental car,” Miles interjected.

  I did not know that.

  “Polly hired a PI who eventually located Miles, still in a coma in the hospital he’d been taken to. Polly moved him to a hospital that was better equipped to deal with his injuries. It didn’t look good, though… but a miracle occurred, and Miles woke up.”

  “I remembered what Alfred had done,” Miles said. “But there’s so much else that I don’t. The doctors call it partial memory loss, or partial amnesia.”

  “Wow…” John and Annette just stared at Miles, wide-eyed.

  “Good grief, man, I can’t believe you never said anything,” said Xander.

  Miles shrugged.

  “It just—didn’t seem important. Drama from the past, you know. I’ve got so much to look forward to, I don’t spend much time looking back.”

  “Is that why you were in physical therapy?” asked Xander. “I thought it was a sports injury!”

  “Why did this guy want to kill you?” asked Annette, her forehead creased with concern.

  “Miles is the heir to a large family inheritance, the sole heir. Alfred thought somehow he’d be able to take over as trustee if Miles was missing long enough, or dead,” I explained.

  “This guy’s in prison. So it’s been to trial, he was convicted?” asked John.

  “He’s in prison, yes, awaiting trial. It’s coming up in the spring or summer,” Miles replied.

  “Roughly the same possible dates as those marked with a question mark on the calendar,” I realized. I flipped through photos on my phone, until I found the right one.

  I don’t know about Miles, but I couldn’t believe I didn’t think of this possibility before. We just felt so separate from all of that, in a way. Miles had the memory of Second-Miles being pushed from the cliff, but it didn’t really happen to Miles. He didn’t lay in a hospital bed in a coma, for eleven months. Alfred wouldn’t see Miles as being separate from this though, he’d see him as the guy that was going to testify at his trial.

  “We need to find out if Alfred has any other family or friends, as crazy as he is,” said Jenny.

  “This is just so personal,” Xander declared.

  “It is,” I agreed. “Tormenting Polly, trying to plant doubt in our relationship…”

  Miles sighed quietly, and rubbed his forehead.

  “And putting an X on our wedding date. I don’t think doubt is all this person or persons, has planned.”

  Annette found and wrote down the number for Amelia Henderson, the caretaker’s wife who moved four years ago, without a word to Polly. It was late, so we had Chinese food delivered. After we ate, Xander, John, and Annette, called it a night and went home.

  “I don’t like it that you’re leaving,” I said, holding onto the front of Miles’ shirt. “I know you’re only going next door, but I worry about you. I don’t know you’re okay, if you’re not with me.”

  Miles hugged me, and sighed.

  “I feel the same way about you.”

  He finally held me back and looked at me.

  “It’ll be okay. Knock on the wall if you need me, and I’ll do the same. Text me if you can’t sleep. Or call me, I won’t mind.”

  He kissed me goodnight, then he and Trixie went next door to his apartment.

  As I tried to fall asleep later, it did give me comfort that Miles’ bedroom was on the other side of the wall from mine. We texted back and forth for a little while, as Pandora and Night curled up against me. Comforted by their purring, at last I fell asleep.

  Chapter 17

  It was Sunday morning, and I was up bright and early. For me, that is. Jenny left for work hours ago, a barista’s work starts early in the morning. Earlier than I do.

  I just finished drying my hair, when I heard Miles’ knock at the apartment door. I was glad to see him for all the usual reasons, and glad to see he was bearing breakfast.

  “Ahh, thank you,” I said, taking a sip of the latte Miles offered me, as he kissed my forehead on his way through the door.

  “Sleep okay?” he asked, as we walked together to the kitchen.

  “I slept okay, and oh wow, thank you!” I said, as Miles placed a dish of strawberries and whipped cream pancakes in front of me. “I love these!”

  “I know,” Miles smiled.

  The food was so good, we ate in silence. I hadn’t felt like eating lately, the uncertainty of everything took my appetite away. But this, was too good to allow stress to deprive me.

  We made it to the early service at the church Jenny attended. The people there were sincere and friendly, and Miles and I felt at home. Although, today, I noticed we were both looking over our shoulders a lot. When the service was over, we declined the invitation from some of the college students to go out for coffee, and returned to the apartment instead.

  “So, call Amelia Henderson?” I asked, as I stowed my purse in the desk drawer.

  “Let’s do that,” Miles said, then paused. “In fact, why don’t you call her. As a fellow caretaker, and a woman, she might feel more comfortable, and willing to open up.”

  “All right, I’ll do that,” I said.

  I was disappointed when my call got sent to voicemail.

  “Hi, Mrs. Henderson. My name is Anika Riley, and I worked as caretaker for the House of Bannerman estate for several months this past year. I would really like to talk to you about the house, some strange things have gone on there, and I wondered if you experienced anything odd while you were living at the estate.”

  I left my number and said thank you, then ended the call.

  “Well that was disappointing,” I grimaced.

  “Then shall we move on to researching Alfred, and whether he has any family?”

  “Sure, let’s do it,” I said, as I gathered up our breakfast dishes and cleaned off the table.

  Miles brought over my laptop, and we went to the genealogy site where we gleaned so much information in the past.

  “So, start on the Bannerman side of the family?” I asked.

  “That would be faster, I think.”

  Miles signed into his account, and began scrolling through relatives, searching for Alfred. Several minutes later, we still hadn’t found him.

  “We need to branch out, he’s got to be related by marriage somehow,” Miles said. “He visited the estate several times as a boy, I know that.”

  We started searching the families of those who married into the Bannerman family. Several minutes later, we found something.

  “There, he’s related to Cynthia’s husband,” I pointed at the screen. “His brother. And then there, down there is Alfred.”

  “No direct descendants,” Miles said.

  My phone rang. It was a Florida number. Amelia’s. I answered.

  “Hello, Anika Riley?” an elderly voice quavered. “This is Amelia Henderson. You wanted to talk to me?”

  “Yes, hi, Mrs. Henderson. Thank you so much for returning my call.”

  “Yes, yes… you said strange things have happened at the house?”

  “Yes, ma’am. Very strange. I wondered if you had any experience with that yourself.”

  “Oh, yes… I was very glad to leave that place. For years it was wonderful, perfect for my husband and I. But then things started to happen…” Amelia’s voice trailed away.

  “What things would those be?” I asked.

  “Oh my, why voices. Terrifying voices…” Amelia sounded distressed.

  “We’ve seen and heard things too, Mrs. Henderson,” I said quickly. “They have a very real explanation though, it’s the work of
a person trying to frighten people away, we’re sure of it. Is this why you left, after your husband died?”

  “Oh yes, yes… why, the voice said if I didn’t leave, I’d be next.”

  I felt chilled, and grabbed Miles’ hand for support.

  “Mrs. Henderson—you don’t mean—did this have something to do with your husband’s death?”

  “I don’t know,” she said in agitation. “I found him, he was already gone… I think he was frightened to death by the voice. It would come at night, while we were sleeping...”

  Mrs. Henderson’s voice grew stronger.

  “Get out of that guest house and away from that house, young lady! It isn’t safe. It isn’t safe…” her voice trailed off again.

  I thanked her for talking to me, and ended the call.

  “Well that was unnerving,” I shivered. “She sounds as though she might be suffering slightly from dementia, or something, the way she seemed to lose her train of thought. But what she did say, was extremely disturbing.”

  “Whatever was happening, I didn’t know anything about it,” Miles said in dismay. “I had no idea. I should have done something, looked around more, and kept a better eye on things.”

  “You were in Mission Control staying busy as best you could, you had no reason to think something was going on under the castle, or around the guest house,” I said firmly. “This isn’t your fault.”

  “But what is going on?” Miles wondered. “Nothing bothered you while you lived in the guest house… right?”

  “No, nothing,” I said.

  Miles sighed in frustration.

  “I’ll try calling Grandma Polly again.”

  He took out his phone, and dialed. A few seconds later, she answered.

  “Hi Grandma Polly, how are you?”

  I heard Polly’s voice as she responded, but not enough to know what she said.

  “Good, that’s good to hear. Yes, she’s right here with me,” Miles smiled, as he squeezed my hand. “I wonder if you could try and remember something for me. What is the name of the caretaker for the estate?”

  Miles wrote something down.

  “And how did you come to hire him? Okay. And I guess his references checked out, you wouldn’t happen to have those on hand, would you? And what does this guy look like, by the way?”