The Uninvited

It was unnerving that someone might want to kill her. She still couldn’t grasp that fact—and it might not be a fact at all. Julian might’ve been killed for an entirely different reason. Or he might have imagined that the painting had talked to him, and he might have imagined that he heard things—old houses creaked all the time. He might even have imagined that someone had pressed his head down.



As they walked to her house from the Tarleton-Dandridge property, she asked Tyler if that might be the case.



“Just because Julian’s a ghost doesn’t mean he knows everything, right?”



“No, of course not. He only knows now what he knew when he was living,” Tyler said.



“I can’t believe I’m asking you about ghosts.”



“No one does,” he said lightly.



“Do you always see ghosts? When you’re in the historic district, say, do you see our founding fathers walking around the Liberty Bell?”



He laughed. “A ghost can only be in one place at one time, and not all souls stay grounded to this earth. Of those who do stay, some are here to help others and some for justice. Some appear to many people, and some just to a certain few. Some remain shadowy figures for the time they stay—too shy or locked in their own worlds to make contact with anyone.”



“If there were other ghosts in this house, would Julian see them?”



“If they chose to be seen.”



“Do you think there are other…entities at the house?”



“Possibly,” he told her.



She shivered. “And if there are…could they move around, too?”



“Most likely.”



She felt another shiver rip through her. “I don’t know how you do this,” she said.



He shrugged. “I didn’t really choose it. It chose me. I could have decided to become a roaring alcoholic—which did occur to me at the time—or accept that I was seeing things and hearing things that others didn’t.” He paused, reflective. “But I worked with Logan, and we eventually realized that we shared certain…abilities? And we were thrown into working with Kat often enough, and Jane—and even Sean. That’s when we were in Texas.”



“And Kelsey?”



“Kelsey was a U.S. Marshal, as you know, and she was transferred to Texas specifically to meet Jackson Crow, the head of the first unit.”



“And she’s—wow, this is nosy. She’s with Logan now?”



“They’re engaged. They’re just waiting for a break between cases to tie the knot.”



“Oh! They met on a case?”



“Yep.”



“Julian might still have imagined what happened,” Allison said, returning to the previous subject.



“Hey!”



She nearly jumped a mile high when the voice came from behind them.



She swung around. She could see Julian walking a few feet to her side.



“Don’t do that!” she scolded.



“Don’t do what? You know I’m here,” he told her.



“You don’t need to follow me like a shadow.”



“I’m worried about you.”



“Julian, I’m with a federal agent. He carries a gun. He’s a big Texan. You should be at the house in case they need your help.”



“I’m here now. And it shouldn’t take you long to get a few things together.”



Allison sighed with aggravation.



Tyler grinned. “I can’t beat him up and tell him not to hang around.”



“I’m not intruding!” Julian protested. “I don’t follow people into the shower or anything. Hmm, that’s a thought.”



“Julian!” Allison said.



“Just kidding. I was a jerk, not a peeping Tom!”



When they reached her house, Allison left Julian and Tyler in her parlor and hurried up the stairs to pack her bag. Luckily, it was a short walk between her house and the Tarleton-Dandridge. It would be easy to come back and forth for what she needed or wanted—like a long hot bath now and then. Of course, Julian had been teasing, but she found it uncomfortable to think that a ghost could follow her anywhere she went.



She glanced in the bathroom mirror. Her eyes were way too wide. She looked like a cartoon character who’d stuck her finger in an electrical outlet.



Because she saw a ghost.



She couldn’t think about it; she didn’t dare think about it. She had to hold on to Tyler’s words. I could have decided to become a roaring alcoholic…or accept that I was seeing things and hearing things that others didn’t.



She could just imagine explaining this situation to some of her academic colleagues!



She understood why the Krewe kept quiet about what they did and why information about them could only be surmised by reading between the lines.



She thought about Adam Harrison, and how kindly and sane he had always seemed.



He was sane. He just knew what other people didn’t, that a lot lay beneath the surface of their daily lives, that the soul did exist and, sometimes, it lingered.



Allison gathered what she needed for a night or two, and hurried down the stairs.



Tyler stared up at her as she descended. Julian stood behind him, his tension unmistakable.



“What?” she asked suspiciously.



“I’m glad you decided to stay with us,” he said.



“Why?”



Julian stepped forward. “Mrs. Dixon—Todd’s mother—called Tyler from the hospital.”



“Did Mr. Dixon come to?” She couldn’t hide her anxiety.



“Yes,” Julian said.



“Thank God—he’s out of the coma!”



But Tyler shook his head grimly. “No, he fell back into it. He came to for about twenty seconds, sat up in bed and spoke one word.”



“What was it?” she asked.



“Allison,” Julian said.



“What?”



“That’s what he said,” Tyler told her quietly. “He said one word. Allison. He said your name.”



9



Tyler watched as Allison sat by Artie Dixon’s bedside. Unnerved, she’d been convinced that Haley Dixon had misheard what her husband said. Allison could have been a reason or any other combination of words.



But he’d noted right away that she cared about Todd and Todd’s family, and because Haley had asked that Allison come to the hospital, she had. Now she sat on the bed, holding Artie’s hand and talking to him. She kept telling him she was fine and he didn’t need to worry about her. He needed to wake up and be with his sons, who loved him and were worried sick, and his wife, who adored him. Bad things had happened, she said, but a wonderful federal unit had arrived to sort everything out.



The ghost of Julian Mitchell had accompanied them at first. He and Tyler had stood outside the room, watching through the glass. After a few minutes, Julian had looked at Tyler with a pained expression. “I’ve got to get out of here. I’m going to take a walk back to the house. Maybe if I just keep hanging around there, I’ll see something the living can’t.”



Tyler had merely inclined his head. Todd was with them, and he didn’t think the boy needed to wonder what invisible being Tyler was communicating with.



Tyler and Todd continued to wait and watch. Tyler rested his hands gently on Todd’s shoulders. Meanwhile, Logan and Kelsey were with Haley Dixon, going over everything that had happened when they’d taken the tour at the Tarleton-Dandridge House and later that night in the hotel room. Kat was reading to Jimmy Dixon and coaxing him to tell her what he could remember about that day, and Sean was searching for Dixon’s doctor.



Tyler doubted they’d learn anything new, but sometimes, one tiny bit of information could make all the difference.



“His hand moved!” Todd said suddenly. He gazed up at Tyler, eyes huge. “I saw it! My dad’s hand moved. He squeezed Allison’s hand—I’m sure of it!”



“Maybe he did, Todd,” he said. “Let’s see what happens now.”



They waited longer. He could hear Allison’s voice, filled with warmth and reassurance. She wasn’t going to give up easily.



But eventually, Sean found Dixon’s doctor, who walked past them and into the room. Allison rose, squeezing Dixon’s hand, telling him she’d be back.



When she joined them in the hall, Todd nearly jumped on her, he was so anxious. “My dad moved, didn’t he? I know he heard you. I saw his hand move.”



The doctor had followed Allison out. “That might just have been a physical reaction. It doesn’t mean she reached his mind. It doesn’t mean she didn’t. But don’t be discouraged, Todd. Your father’s vital signs are strong and the scans reveal he hasn’t suffered any kind of permanent brain damage.” The doctor turned to Allison. “Thank you for coming in and trying to talk to him.”



“I’m glad to,” Allison said.



“Did you hear Mr. Dixon when he spoke?” Tyler asked the doctor.



“No, but Clare—the nurse who was with Mr. and Mrs. Dixon when he spoke—is still on duty. I’ll call her for you.” He smiled at them and departed down the hall.



“Don’t look so shaken,” Sean said to Allison. “It could be a perfectly logical thing. You were one of the last people he saw before he lost consciousness, so…”



“I just wish I could help,” Allison mumbled.



“I wasn’t with my dad. I was with my aunt, getting chips from the machine,” Todd said. “I wasn’t there. He spoke and I wasn’t there!” Todd felt the anguish of a child who blamed himself for choosing something insignificant over being with his father.



“Don’t fret about that, Todd,” Allison said, smoothing the boy’s hair. “Your dad knows how much you love him, and we all believe he’ll be okay.”



“But why doesn’t he wake up?” Todd asked.



They were spared from having to answer when a young platinum-blonde nurse came walking over to them. She nodded at the group and told Todd, “It’s a good sign, you know. I heard your dad speak plain as day. It’s a really good sign!”