Читать книгу Tempest Court - Jan Walters - Страница 13

Chapter 7

Brett froze as he opened his office door. Donnellson sat on the corner of his desk with a Cheshire cat grin plastered across his face.

“About time you got here, O’Shea.”

Brett glanced at the clock on the wall. It wasn’t even eight o’clock. “Who are you trying to impress by getting here early?”

Donnellson shook his head and rose to his feet. “I’m in lust.”

“Don’t tell me that.” He frowned. “You know Lisa and Layla are good friends. Your ‘love ’em and leave ’em’ philosophy will get you in trouble someday.”

Donnellson grinned. “Hell, you’re worse than my mother.”

Brett dropped in his chair. “Whatever. I’m trying to save your ass.”

“Seriously, though, I like this girl. We’re going out tonight when she gets off work.”

“Great. Just don’t tell me any details. I don’t want to know.”

Donnellson muttered under his breath. Brett waved as his friend closed his office door. Brett turned on his laptop and started reviewing e-mails.

Hours later, he rose and stretched. He glanced out the window. The large maple and oak trees were dropping their leaves. An overnight frost brought a chill to the air. Fall had come to Des Moines. For the past couple of years, fall had been the harbinger of paranormal cases and crimes that kept him up at night.

This year, Brett felt optimistic. Life was good. No serial killers roamed the streets. No hocus-pocus activity was reported. For once, he was going to enjoy the fall season—after he opened the package from Morocco. He needed to verify whether there was anything to Michael’s accusation.

* * * * *

After dinner, Lisa headed toward their home office to prepare for an interview at work. As a news reporter, her work hours were as crazy as Brett’s. With Lisa occupied, he retrieved the unwanted package from deep in their bedroom closet and set it on the table. A large shadow ominously covered the wall. With scissors in hand, Brett jerked and stepped back.

Michael stood next to him. His fedora grazed the top of his brow, giving him an old-time, dashing look.

Ignoring his pounding heart, Brett grinned. “What’s up, Michael?”

Michael eyed the package in front of Brett. “Nothing. You haven’t opened that thing yet. What’s the problem?”

“Chill. Feel any vibrations?” Brett held his breath.

Michael tilted his head. “No, though I did hear something the other day.”

“Whatever.” Cutting the twine that held the package together, Brett peeled back the multiple layers of stiff brown paper. He lifted the rug, weighing it in the palm of his hand. “I didn’t realize it would be this heavy.”

“Spread it out. I want to see what a $300 rug looks like.” Michael jabbed him in the side.

“Don’t remind me,” grumbled Brett. As he began to transfer the rug to the living room floor, a piece of pottery rolled out on the table.

“What’s that?” Michael asked.

Brett picked up the strange-looking jar and turned it around. The lid on the jar looked like some animal head, maybe a dog. They didn’t purchase the jar. Why was it inside their package?

“I have no idea. What do you think it is?”

Michael leaned closer, tapping the jar with his finger. “Beats me. A vase? Why don’t you look inside?”

Brett tugged on the broken lid. “Ouch!” Blood welled up and ran down his finger. “You know, it reminds me of those jars in The Mummy movie with Brendan Fraser. What are they called?”

“I have no idea. I missed that movie,” Michael grumbled. “Just break the damn thing.”

Brett held the jar in the air, ready to smash it on the floor. At the last second, he lowered his arm, deciding that he would talk to Lisa first. She may know what it was. Whatever it was, he was worried. Did Hassan put it in their package? “I should talk to Lisa.”

Michael muttered under his breath, “Fine. We’ll do it later. By the way, who was the bombshell that was here last night?”

Brett rose to his feet and combed his fingers through his hair. “A friend of Lisa’s from college. She’s working on an exhibit at the Art Center.”

“What kind of exhibit?” Michael grabbed the remote and began flipping through TV channels.

“Drop the remote. You’re driving me crazy.”

Michael sighed and continued to change channels. “You never answered my question. What kind of exhibit?”

Brett grabbed the remote. “Ancient Egypt. They’re bringing in a mummy.”

“A mummy?” Michael yelped and jumped to his feet. “A mummy? A mummy in Des Moines?”

Brett scowled at Michael. “Yeah, a mummy. Why are you acting so weird?”

“I hate mummies. Hate them.”

“What do you even know about mummies?”

Michael’s face twisted with something that looked like fear. Why would a ghost be afraid of a mummy? Damn! What is going on?

“Crap, Brett,” Michael snarled. “I didn’t live in the Stone Age.”

“Chill. I was asking a question.”

“In fact, I bet your mummy movie was a remake of the 1932 version I saw—also called The Mummy. Boris Karloff starred in it. He was one scary son of a bitch back in my day.”

Brett drew in a breath. “They had mummy movies back then?”

“Of course, we did. In the movie, the mummy, Imhotep, was discovered in 1921. Imhotep was mummified alive for attempting to resurrect his forbidden lover. The mummy came back to life and started killing people. Karloff played the mummy so convincingly nightmares haunted me for months.”

“I didn’t know…” Brett burst out laughing. “How can you be afraid of a mummy? You’re a ghost. You can disappear before the mummy gets you.” Brett stretched out an arm and slowly walked toward Michael, moaning as he moved.

Michael punched him in the arm. “Ha ha. Very funny,” he replied deadpan.

“The good news is that Imhotep is not the mummy at the Art Center.” Brett chuckled.

Michael puffed out his chest as his eyes narrowed. “Laugh now. I’m sure there is something that gives you the heebie-jeebies.”

“You’re right. Several things scare the shit out of me, and you’ve seen them.”

Michael smirked. “Yeah, just remember, karma’s a bitch.”

Lisa walked into the room, pausing when she saw Michael. “Michael! I didn’t know you were here.”

Michael walked over and hugged Lisa. “Just wanted to check on you two. Brett’s been harassing me since I got here.”

Lisa swung toward Brett and winked. “Quit picking on poor Michael?”

Michael’s lips curled upward. “Geez, you make me sound like a sissy.”

“Hey, man, if the shoe fits, wear it.” Brett grabbed Lisa’s hand and wrapped her in his arms.

Michael adjusted his hat on his head. “Okay. I know when I’m not wanted. Catch you later.”

With that, Michael disappeared. Brett closed his eyes and sighed.

“What’s wrong?” asked Lisa.

“Michael is scared of mummies.”

Lisa’s eyes widened. “Really? I don’t… Never mind. Hey, before I forget, the exhibit opens tomorrow night. I told Layla that we’d be there.”

“No problem. I’m anxious to see the mummy.”

As Lisa turned toward the bedroom, she paused, pointing toward the table. “Hey, my rug came! What’s it doing here on the table? How come you didn’t wait for me to open the package?”

“Slow down. Hold your horses! Michael had never seen a $300 rug before and wanted to take a peek. I was about to spread it…”

“Oh, I think right here,” Lisa interrupted, pointing to the bare floor under the coffee table, “would be the perfect spot. Don’t you think?”

“Wait a minute! Before we go spreading this thing out, you need to see this. It rolled out as I was getting ready to unfold it.” Brett handed her the strange vase.

Lisa turned it from side to side. “What is it?”

“That’s what Michael and I were trying to decide.”

“It kind of looks like a vase, but the lid on top is throwing me. If we had been in Egypt, then it might be one of those jars, you know, the ones that body parts were stored in for burial. Since we were in Morocco, I don’t have a clue what it is.”

Brett shrugged. “Maybe it’s something that they used to store herbs in.”

“That’s a possibility.” Lisa brightened. “Do you think we should call Hassan and tell him that it was in our rug? I’m sure it accidentally got put in our package.”

Brett didn’t know about any “accident,” but calling Hassan was definitely a good idea.

“I’m putting it away before something happens to it.” Lisa turned and, grabbing a kitchen towel, wrapped the vase. “I’ll store it in our closet until Hassan verifies that he sent it to us.

“Uh, maybe we should…”

With fire in her eyes, Lisa stood with her hands on her hips. “I know that look, O’Shea. We should do what?”

“I don’t know.” He glared at the vase. “Don’t you think it’s weird that some antique vase was included in our package? I don’t think it was a mistake.”

“You’re starting to sound crazy. Maybe Hassan gave it to us because we paid so much for the rug.” Her narrowed gaze pierced through him. “Or it’s just a gift.”

“Maybe.” Brett nodded but he couldn’t help wondering what she would do if he “accidentally” dropped the vase and broke it.

Miffed because of Brett’s paranoia, Lisa abruptly turned and walked away. “I’ll deal with all of this in the morning. I’m going to bed. Don’t stay up late.”

Brett frowned as he headed to the bedroom. He watched as Lisa set the vase on the floor in the back of the closet. She quickly changed and climbed into bed. He stood silently, staring at the closed closet door. He didn’t want the thing in their bedroom. Something was off, and he couldn’t put his finger on what was wrong. He was lifting his hand to open the closet door when Lisa’s voice echoed behind him.

“What are you doing?” She glared at him.

Eyes wide, Brett turned and met her hard stare. “Nothing. And quit scaring me like that. I was going to look at the vase again.”

Lisa moaned and pulled up the covers. “Leave it alone, Brett. I think it’s very pretty. Just let it go, would you? I’m hoping it’s a gift from Hassan because I’d like to keep it.”

He bit his lip to keep from saying something he’d regret. Lisa was growing more attached to the vase by the minute. He rubbed his sleep-laden eyes. He’d think about what to do tomorrow—after he called Hassan.

Later that night, Brett woke from a deep sleep. He lay there in the dark, listening. Nothing but silence greeted his ears. What had awakened him? Maybe a bad dream? A car backfiring? He tossed the covers aside and went to get a drink of water. He walked past the closet and pushed the door shut. He could have sworn that he had closed the door before he went to bed.

Returning to bed, he pulled up the covers and rested an arm over Lisa’s hip, pulling her closer.

* * * * *

Brett fell instantly asleep, oblivious to the faint sounds from the farthest corner of the closet. The closet door vibrated for several minutes. The latch gave way, causing the door to inch open. Silence again filled the house.