End of the Road (Ghost Stories Trilogy #1) Read online

  As I navigated the dark streets of Chino Valley, I replayed the past week. I still hadn’t told my parents that Eric and I were together. That was a conversation I needed to do in person. Things were progressing well, almost like when we had first started dating. I’d been operating in a sleep deprived state all week because either Eric stayed over at my place or I crashed at his. With our alternating schedules and renewed enthusiasm for each other, there wasn’t a whole lot of sleep going on.

  Where Eric and I were making progress with our relationship, Gavin was making headway with the medium. He called earlier in the day to report that they’d talked and were going to meet over the weekend.

  In addition to all of this going on I received an invitation out of the blue to my best friend from high school’s wedding. When she moved to San Diego for college, we drifted apart. I usually only heard from her on my birthday and at Christmas. I had been so absorbed in my divorce that I tried to stay away from happy people in love. At that time, Penelope was one of those people.

  I had to pull over as the full realization of how many people I shut out hit me. The wall I carefully constructed around myself crumbled into a million pieces. At first I had difficulties breathing and took huge swallows of air, willing my lungs to inflate. Then the tears came. This wasn’t me. I wasn’t used to being in such an emotional state. I was Elena, always in control, always staying one step ahead of everything. I was a survivor and here I sat, shuddering behind the wheel of my cruiser on a quiet street in the high desert of Arizona.

  I wasn’t alone. As I was trying to pull myself together a lone figure came into view under the street light. The person walking toward me matched the description of the girl we had an Amber Alert out on, right down to the NAU hoodie. I dried my eyes with a convenience store napkin and stepped out of the car.

  “Maria Alvarez?” I called.

  The girl jerked like a startled rabbit and looked up at me, her face partially concealed by a dark veil of long, unkempt hair. She turned and started to run.

  “Please don’t Maria!” To my relief, she stopped and spun back around. We stood there facing each other under the dim light. I noted her puffy eyes and tear stained face probably right around the same time she noticed mine.

  “Your family is really worried you know.”

  “I can’t go back there.”

  “Why not?”

  She didn’t answer. Her jaw stuck out defiantly, but that didn’t hide the tears trickling down her cheeks.

  “Are you in danger there?” I asked. For all I knew her dad or stepdad could have been assaulting her. In my line of work I had seen it all.

  “No!” she cried. “It’s nothing like that.”

  “Did you kill someone?”

  “No.” I heard her suppress a laugh and her lips twitched with a restrained grin.

  “Listen Maria, you caught me having a moment here. It’s late and I think you’ve had one hell of a day. Let me take you home and you can tell me about it on the way.”

  She stood there a moment longer before relaxing her shoulders and giving in. Breaking protocol, I had her sit up front with me. The girl slid her backpack off and climbed in. I called dispatch to let them know to cancel the Amber Alert; that Maria had been found and was unharmed. There was relief in the dispatch operator’s voice as she confirmed my report.

  “Want to talk about it?” I asked.

  “It’s complicated.”

  “I know complicated.”

  “Fine. I hate school so I cut to hang with this guy, but he was being such a douchebag. I knew I’d get in trouble so I didn’t want to go home. I hate this town and just want to leave, but it turns out, I don’t have anywhere to go.” Her words spilled out so quickly, it was as though she verbally threw up on me.

  “What you’re experiencing is completely normal.”

  “It is?”

  “Oh, yeah.”

  Maria wasn’t the first teenager to feel oppressed by her small town environment and she certainly wouldn’t be the last. Fortunately she was found before anything bad happened to her. I thought of Georgia and how she died. Maria didn’t know how quickly a desperate young girl could fall prey to the world and I was happy to deliver her home in one piece.

  I pulled into the gravel driveway, my headlights illuminating a small, beige stucco ranch, one of several on this street. An abandoned swing set stood at a crooked lean in the side yard. A middle-aged couple burst through the front door and ran out to meet us.

  Maria sighed and grabbed her backpack off of the floor from between her feet.

  “Maria, you may feel suffocated now, but there are a lot of girls out there who don’t have families to worry about them. Figure out what you want out of life and stick to it. Your parents will support you.” I handed her my card. “Call me before you think about doing something like this again and we’ll talk. Okay?”

  Maria nodded and took the business card, sliding it into the front pocket of her bag. “Thanks for listening,” she said before exiting the car where she was immediately enveloped in a group hug. The worry faded from her parents’ tearstained faces as they held their daughter and realized she was unharmed.

  I left the Alvarez’s after a tearful thank you from Maria’s mom. I drove back towards Prescott, my own crisis forgotten for the moment as I basked in the afterglow of doing my job and having a good outcome. I liked being able to help people, especially during a difficult time in their life. The high stakes made my adrenaline flow.

  I thought about the ghosts and finally being able to help them, as long as Gavin was successful in convincing the medium to work with us.

  Chapter Seventy-Two

  Sunday afternoon rolled around and since I wasn’t expecting Gavin, I knew what I needed to do. Sitting up in bed, I was careful not to wake Eric as he had worked later than me and didn’t get in until close to eight in the morning. After getting ready, I quickly scribbled a note, leaving it next to the coffee pot.

  I pulled in front of the house and stopped. A car was in the driveway and one side of the garage was open, revealing the tailgate of a silver Toyota pick-up. They were both home. Taking a deep breath, I got out and walked up the front walkway past the lamppost and terracotta planters full of cacti.

  Despite my warnings about home invasions, the door was unlocked and I walked into the house. Cool air greeted me and familiar voices echoed off the foyer walls. I followed them into the kitchen where my parents were having a heated debate over how much lunchmeat to put on a sandwich. My mother patted my father’s stomach saying he needed to watch his portions.

  “This is the fun you two are having with the kids out of the house?” I asked and my mom yelped, spinning around holding a hand over her heart.

  “Elena, don’t sneak up on your mother like that! Are you trying to scare me to death?” After being thoroughly chastised, she hugged me and told me to sit, then proceeded to make me a sandwich without even asking if I was hungry.

  “Good entrance, sweetie.” My dad kissed my cheek and sat next to me at the breakfast bar. “Thanks for the diversion,” he whispered.

  “You really should lock your doors and keep the riff raff out.”

  “The door’s always open for you.”

  A plate replete with a sandwich, pickle and barbecue potato chips was placed in front of me. Even though I wasn’t that hungry, I knew better than to refuse so I nibbled on some chips.

  “What brings you all the way out here, sweetie?” my dad asked, setting down his beloved sports section and focusing his full attention on me.

  Here it was, the moment of truth. They weren’t particularly fond of Eric. After the divorce, their homeless and heartbroken daughter moved back in. Like all the kings’ horses and all the kings’ men, they tried to pick up the pieces and put me back together again.

  They saw me through some very dark times and I learned that my mom had a miscarriage when I was still a baby myself.

  It was a month or so after I moved back in wi
th them. When I wasn’t working, I spent most of the time in my bedroom staring at the walls. Crying sometimes, but trying not to feel anything at all.

  There was a quiet knock on my bedroom door. I was lying in the dark on my twin bed, the one I’d had since fifth grade, and had to sit up to turn on the light. “Come in,” I said, blinking my eyes to adjust to the sudden intrusion of light.

  The door swung open and my mom cautiously stepped inside. “How are you doing today?” she asked with her hands clasped in front of her like she was praying.

  “I’m fine.” I lay back down, rolling over on my side to look at her and hugging a pillow to my chest.

  “Honey, I’m your mother and know that’s not true.” She sat down on the edge of the bed. “I know how it feels to lose a baby.”

  And just like that she opened up, revealing something about herself, about my parent’s marriage, never known to me or my brother. She said I was still in diapers, just beginning the potty training process, when she found out she was pregnant.

  “Times were tight, but we accepted it as God’s will and saw this pregnancy as a gift, not a burden. So we focused on getting you out of diapers.” She smiled and patted my leg. “I was twenty-two weeks along – well into the second trimester – when it happened.” Her eyes shone with tears as she recalled the traumatic memory.

  “Your Aunt Suzanna was over with your cousin Raul and thank God she was there. She was watching you and Raul while I made lunch. I remember like it was yesterday. I had the refrigerator door open and was squatting to get lettuce out of the bottom drawer when a massive cramp ripped through me. The pain was so immense that I lost my balance and fell backwards, landing on my butt. Another cramp seized me and I was drenched in sweat. When I looked down, I saw my yellow skirt was soaked with blood. I stayed on the floor and called for your aunt. By the time I got to the hospital, it was too late. I’d lost the baby.” She sniffed and a tear spilled down her cheek. “I have never felt so empty.”

  I absorbed her story despite the shock. She knew the pain – my pain. “Mom, I’m so sorry, I didn’t know.” Sitting up, I hugged her.

  She squeezed me back and said, “You’ve lost so much Elena and its okay to feel bad, but don’t shut us out.”

  Three months later when I moved into my own apartment, I was a less twisted mess, but not completely whole. I became used to seeing Eric at work. What hurt most was that I knew we weren’t going home together at the end of the day and I functioned at a detached level, purely out of self-preservation. Unfortunately, the detached level was interpreted as hostile. It was easier to be detached and angry than hurt and suffering.

  My parents stared at me, waiting for a response. I don’t know how long I sat there without saying anything, but it was longer than a normal delay.

  “Elena, what is it?” my mom asked.

  “Okay…I wanted to tell you this in person, so that’s why I’m here. You see Eric and me…um, well, we’ve reconciled and we’re seeing each other again.”

  I might as well have told them I was moving to Russia. My dad crossed his arms over his chest and frowned. His thick black eyebrows were drawn together as if on an invisible thread. Leaning back in his stool, he silently regarded me. While my mom opened and closed her mouth several times, she remained, miraculously, speechless.

  “I know it’s a surprise, but we really love each other and realize we both made mistakes. I’m not asking your permission because I’m an adult and don’t have to, but I thought you’d want to know.”

  With this little speech over, my appetite returned and I dove into the roast beef sandwich, giving them time to digest the news.

  “You have to understand we’re concerned,” my mom said. “But you’re right, we can’t control who you choose to date.” Her shoulders were squared and her hand movements reserved and controlled, not the usual dramatic gesticulations.

  “Just be careful, sweetie. We don’t want to see you get hurt again,” my dad added, patting the back of my hand before returning to the sports section.

  My mom glared at him, her lips pursed into a thin line. “Are you sure about this?” she asked me, her dark eyes met mine.

  “Yes, it’s what I want. He’s all I ever wanted.”

  “Okay, then.” She sighed and stood up and began to clear the counter, taking my plate even though I wasn’t finished.

  That was the only sign of my mom’s disappointment. Honestly I was surprised the news didn’t incite a riot, but suspected their calm response was due to shock and that an hour or two later, once back at my apartment, the phone would ring with panicked parents on the other end. I decided to wait to tell them about the ghosts and the research project. I didn’t want to push my luck.

  Chapter Seventy-Three

  Eric’s Jeep wasn’t in the parking lot at my apartment building. When I got in, I saw the note he left on the coffee table. It said he was at the gym and had laundry to do. He’d call me later. I curled up on the sofa and started flipping through the channels. Nothing held my attention and I grew drowsy, eventually falling asleep.

  An annoying buzzing broke through my slumber and I cracked my eyes. The living room was completely dark except for the glow from the clock on the cable box and my cell phone, which was shimmying on the coffee table.

  Yawning, I reached for the phone, but it had already gone to voicemail. Gavin’s number showed as a missed call. By the time I turned on the lamp next to the sofa, he had left a message. He was supposed to meet with the medium this afternoon and I quickly dialed in to retrieve it.

  “Hey Elena, it’s Gavin. So, uh, the meeting went well and Adele is willing to help us, but we need to go over some stuff first before she commits. Call me back.”

  My hands were literally shaking as I dialed Gavin. He answered on the first ring.

  “That was fast,” he said.

  “I didn’t get to the phone in time.”

  ‘Ah, I hate it when that happens.”

  “Yeah, so what happened with Adele?”

  Gavin launched into a recap of his meeting. He said Adele was very quiet and calm. She looked at some of the pictures we had taken of the handwriting in the sand. She listened as Gavin told her about the ghosts, who they were and what they wanted. “She really didn’t say much at all, just nodded her head. I thought she’d take notes or something, but she didn’t. I think she knew what was going on before we even met.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I only mentioned the ghosts who are still here, not the ones who crossed over. She asked about them.”

  “Holy shit!” I almost dropped the phone.

  “I told you she’s the real deal.”

  “So what does she want in exchange for helping us?”

  “Okay,” he paused and let out a sigh, “I don’t know if you’re going to like this…”

  I imagined the small amount I had stashed away in my savings account was about to disappear.

  “She knows we’ve been filming and I’m doing this as a project for school.”

  “And…”

  “She wants the whole process to be recorded and wants to be able to use the footage in her portfolio and on her website as proof of her abilities.”

  My stomach dropped at the idea of going public. Gavin’s class of twelve other film students, half of whom were probably stoned all the time, was a relatively controlled environment and a small concession I was willing to make. The experiences with my rescue video going viral did not endear me to Adele’s stipulation.

  “Uh, that’s not going to work. I think I need to talk to her.”

  “Yeah, she figured you might want to.”

  “Of course she did.”

  Gavin must have picked up on my tone. “She’s legit, you’ll see,” he said before reading off Adele’s phone number.

  “Whatever,” I mumbled, writing down the information on the edge of the newspaper. We said good bye soon after that.

  I was frustrated and immediately wanted to react by
calling Adele to tell her no way. Instead, I called Eric, knowing he’d be able to talk me down. As his phone rang it dawned on me how much I missed having him as an outlet. After avoiding calling him at all costs, I was quickly picking up where we left off.

  “Hey,” he answered after the third ring, sounding out of breath. Muffled music could be heard in the background along with metallic clanking.

  “Are you still at the gym?”

  “Yeah, what’s up?”

  “Can you come over when you’re done? I need to talk to you about the medium Gavin met with today. Oh, and I told my parents we are back together.”

  After a brief pause, he said, “Okay...be there in a bit.”

  Now I was wide awake, restless and hungry. Figuring Eric would be too, I went into the kitchen to make something for dinner. Unlike my mom, who has every possible ingredient and food item under the sun in her pantry, my stores had dwindled to nothing during the past week. I ordered a pizza to be delivered, then went to freshen up, hoping Eric would be spending the night.

  ***

  Eric showed up before the pizza. I opened the door and let him in. His navy tee shirt was traced with white residue from evaporated sweat. He set his bag down on the floor and pulled me towards him.

  “Ew no, you’re gross!” I shrieked, but he didn’t stop. I was pressed up against his damp shirt and he was kissing me despite my protests. I tasted salt on his lips. “You need a shower.”

  “Want to join me?” he asked, arching an eyebrow and giving me a crooked grin.

  At that moment I regretted having ordered a pizza. I shook my head and explained to him why.

  “Later then,” he promised, giving me another sweaty kiss before walking down the hallway to my bedroom.

  I sat at the dinette table and checked email. My parents must have still been in shock because they had yet to call.