"Not until Roberta Franklin came along with talks of renovation. No one in my family dared go into that room."
"Are you sure the room isn"t haunted?"
"My dear, you can mark my word. I often wished it were true, as I sat by Constance"s side. How I craved some connection with her, but I"ve had to content myself with memories. Those are my only form of visitations, and the older I get, the more they fade."
"Do you believe you"ll ever see Constance again?"
"I certainly hope so. It"s a comfort I hold on to as I near the end of my life."
"Did Flax or Nell tell you about our experiences Sat.u.r.day night?"
"They both did, yes."
"Then you know we doc.u.mented what could be evidence of apparitions."
"Oh, phooey! The only people who look for ghosts are those who are too impatient to wait for their own pa.s.sing or too unimaginative to dream."
I looked at Hazel curiously. "You dream of Constance?"
"Almost every day," she said, with a childlike smile. "Why do you suppose I nap in the afternoon?"
1 returned her smile and pulled six photos from the Fielder mansion file. "I know you don"t believe in ghosts, but you should see these."
I laid the photographs on the table, and Hazel glanced at them without leaning forward. "What am I looking at? What are these supposed to represent?"
"They show anomalies," I said, "which match up with electromagnetic changes that registered on our equipment. I won"t bore you with the scientific details-Flax would be better at that."
Hazel squinted at the photographs but didn"t move to touch them. "I"m to believe this white splotch is a ghost?"
"The professionals prefer the term orb."
"These were taken in the main house?"
"In Constance"s room."
She looked stricken. "Oh, dear!"
"It might have been Constance trying to make contact," I said softly.
Hazel pursed her lips and shook her head deliberately to contradict me.
But her tender clutch of the photographs and the tears cascading down her cheeks demonstrated the heart"s triumph over reason.
Chapter 27.
That was the beauty of love...that it could go on forever.
Unfortunately, I was mired in the darker side of love...that it could go on forever.
To h.e.l.l with that!
Less than forty-eight hours remained before the start of the educators conference in Steamboat Springs, and I had to do something.
Earlier in the week, by chance, I"d come across one of the business cards Carolyn O"Keefe left on Destiny"s windshield. Never mind how I obtained it (all right, I stole it from the back of Fran"s top desk drawer), I had the superintendent"s direct line at work.
She"d handwritten the number on the back of the card, along with a peppy, "Don"t get discouraged. You know we can do this."
I thought Fran would never leave the office, but she finally did around five o"clock.
The instant her taillights faded in the distance, I dialed the number, my heart pounding.
She answered on the sixth ring. "This is Dr. O"Keefe."
"Destiny Greaves is my lover."
"Kristin," she said without missing a beat, "how good of you to call."
If ten miles hadn"t separated us, I would have killed her right then. "I said, Destiny is my lover."
"I"m well aware of that," came the cordial reply. "Why do you think I hired you? You certainly have no other credentials to speak of."
I bit my tongue. "How did you know about our relationship?"
"The day I met Destiny, I saw your photo in her office. I made inquiries, and it took less than two minutes to find out who you were and how to contact you. I should be a private investigator, don"t you think?"
I didn"t reply.
"You"re not her equal," Carolyn O"Keefe said matter-of-factly.
"You think you are?"
"Certainly. Destiny and I have missions. We were meant for greatness, as individuals and as a couple. You have a pedestrian job. You were meant for nothing. I saw you watching us at the Botanic Gardens. How did it feel to know that your lover belonged to me."
"Stop contacting Destiny."
"I can"t," she said pleasantly.
"You won"t."
"We have a professional relationship. You must realize these youth programs could define Destiny"s career."
"This isn"t about programs. You"re physically attracted to her, but she has no interest in you."
"I"m afraid she does. We share a pa.s.sion neither of us can deny."
"It"s all in your head."
"My head," Carolyn O"Keefe said with a wicked laugh. "I can a.s.sure you that"s not where it resides. Every time Destiny touches me, she"s in my skin, my nerves, my blood. She"s a part of me, and I"m a part of her."
"You are deluded," I said furiously.
"Nothing, and no one, can separate us. I"ve never felt a love this strong, and neither has she."
"You thought the same about Geri Cressman, and you were wrong, weren"t you? She loved Amy Mercer, not you. Nice try with the airplane banner, though."
"How dare you!"
"And Judith, she loved her consulting business, which you destroyed by shutting off her phone line."
"No, in fact-"
"And Sue, she loved plants, but you took care of that, didn"t you, when strangers stripped her yard bare? You never had s.e.x with any of the women you stalked, did you?"
I could hear a sharp intake of breath, but nothing else.
"Or any kind of meaningful relationship?"
After a long silence, Carolyn spoke in a low, ominous tone. "I didn"t presume you were capable of such clever revenge."
"Me? Revenge?"
"I rather enjoyed the greeting at the elementary school I dedicated this week."
"What are you talking about?" I said, genuinely confused.
"Too bad no one else understood the meaning, but that wasn"t your point, was it? You made yourself clear in two-foot tall letters. Geri, Judith, Sue and the students and faculty of Prairie Elementary School welcome Superintendent Dr. Carolyn O"Keefe. How much did you pay a maintenance man for that little trick?"
"I have no idea what-" I said, breaking off when I realized that this must have been Fran"s idea of an elementary exercise in free speech. I smiled at my partner"s ingenuity.
Apparently Carolyn didn"t appreciate my denial, because when she spoke again, she amped up the aggression. "Whatever you paid, you wasted it. I went about business as usual, holding meetings and fantasizing about your lover. I also enjoyed masturbating in the faculty restroom every break, knowing at that very moment, with every stroke, Destiny was doing the same."
"How disgusting!" I spat. "Destiny does not love you. She loves me!"
"But who does she imagine when she closes her eyes and endures the tiresome motions of s.e.x with you? Or does she bother?"
"She doesn"t close her eyes. We like to-" I started to say, before catching myself. "Stay away from her!"
"How can I when we have our lovely weekend in Steamboat Springs? Has she canceled our weekend plans without my knowledge?"
"No," I muttered.
"I must ask, if what you say is true, why isn"t Destiny making this call?"
"Because she thinks it"s all in my head," I screamed at the top of my range, hurting my throat.
"How intriguing. Would you like details to ponder while I"m two hundred miles away, with your lover in my arms?"
"This will not happen! Destiny will not go to that conference with you!
"Would you care to place a bet on your lover"s fidelity? Let"s make it charming. We won"t predict the outcome of the weekend-that would spoil the fun. As an alternative, let"s wager on whether Destiny arrives at the Grand Hotel in Steamboat Springs by five o"clock Friday evening, shall we?"
"You"re insane!"
"If she doesn"t, you win. I"ll conclude my business with Destiny and withdraw from her life. You can keep the ten thousand dollars I gave you as well-"
"I don"t want your money!"
"No, but you need it, don"t you? I"ll never tell your lover that you accepted cash to test her loyalty. Does that seem fair?"
"I can"t do this," I practically whimpered.
"A more interesting conclusion involves my winning. If Destiny arrives, you agree to pack up and move out immediately. You acknowledge she belongs to me, and you leave her life for good."
"This is absurd."
"By her behavior, she"ll exhibit her wishes. We"re simply agreeing to honor them. I"m willing to take the chance. Are you?"
"Destiny won"t come to Steamboat Springs. And if she did, she"d only come because of the GLBT programs."
"Your naivete is almost childlike. While you"re playing make-believe that you and the most beautiful woman in Denver share a precious bond, I"ll be stroking her lovely hair."
"You will not-"
"As I kiss your girlfriend"s lips, with a lingering tenderness she"s never experienced, I"ll unb.u.t.ton her blouse. Slowly, teasingly, one b.u.t.ton at a time-"
"No!"
"Swallowing her moans with my tongue, caressing them. I"ll slide my hand beneath her bra and skim her hardened nipples-"
"Try touching Destiny-" I began with a garbled shout.
"Moving in aching rhythm with her subtle thrusts, I"ll take her trembling hand and place it between my legs-"
"I swear, I will-"
"Where she will feel the heat of my wetness, as she lowers herself and enters me with her-"
"Kill you!"
I have no idea who disconnected first, because I"d thrown the phone across the room.
Long after the dial tone subsided, I couldn"t.