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“I don’t think so. He was expending a lot of energy and he probably has to refill it. I think he’ll be back.”
“Can you banish him? The way you did with Alexis?” he asked as he guided her rapidly towards the stairs.
She should clean up the broken glass, but it would wait until morning.
“I don’t know.” Relief washed over her as they reached the safety of their apartment, even though she knew it was a false sense of security. Physical barriers wouldn’t keep him out. “I’ve only dealt with one other untethered spirit and in his case it was simply a matter of finding out what he wanted. What did Tim mean when he said land?”
“I inherited the land we logged from my mother’s parents. Apparently he always resented that, even though he wasn’t related to them and never met them. I wonder if he thought he’d inherit them after I died?” he added thoughtfully.
“He didn’t?”
“No. Under the terms of my will, the land went into a conservation trust. But it doesn’t make any sense. It’s not as if they’re any use to him now.”
“I know, but that doesn’t seem to matter. If someone is fixated on something when they die, it can be enough to keep them on this plane. Do you know what happened to him after he killed you?”
“I don’t know.”
“I think we should find out. Maybe that would help us get rid of him.”
She did her best to sound positive, despite the dread creeping down her spine. Even if she could figure out how to banish Tim, the effort might drain her so much that she wouldn’t have the strength to complete the ritual for Leo. But if Tim was still around when that happened, she had a horrible feeling that he would try to come back instead.
Leo reached for her hand and drew her down on the sofa next to him.
“Sweetheart, you’re stronger than this. We need to confront him together. We won’t let him win,” Leo said, his voice firm yet gentle.
“But what if the ritual makes everything worse?” she whispered. “What if I fail?”
He gathered her in his arms, his touch reassuring and comforting. “You won’t. You are the most capable person I know, and I believe in you. We can do this together.”
A small smile touched her lips at the determination in his voice.
“All right,” she agreed. “But where do we start?”
“Let’s start by finding out what happened to him,” he suggested. “And maybe you could go and talk to Gladys again tomorrow.”
Having a plan, even such a nebulous one, helped calm her fears, and her hand didn’t shake as she reached for her laptop. It didn’t take long to find the information.
“He died six months after you?” she asked, shocked. “He killed both of you and then he died before the year was up?”
“After driving my company into bankruptcy,” he said grimly, as he read through one of the articles. “And it doesn’t come right out and say it, but he looks like he was on the verge of being arrested for Fraud.”
“Maybe that’s why he was so fixated on the land—he thought it would have solved his problems.”
He shrugged. “It might have helped, at least in the short term, but I suspect he would have gone through that money just as quickly. Although I doubt we could convince him of that.”
Remembering Tim’s malevolent stare, she shivered.
“No, I don’t think so either. And the land isn’t something we can find or display. I once had a spirit who wouldn’t move on until I persuaded his daughter to display his collection of matchbox cars,” she added when he gave her a confused look.
He smiled for the first time since they’d encountered Tim.
“I had a collection like that once. But it wouldn’t have been enough to keep me here.” He gently stroked her cheek. “Not like you.”
“You give me too much credit.”
“Not at all. I think you’re amazing.”
The warmth in his eyes was enough to dispel the lingering chill, and she leaned against his shoulder.
