Blood Kills by Nanci Rathbun

Author:Nanci Rathbun [Nan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dark Chocolate Press LLC
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 29

Monsters don’t sleep under the bed. They sleep inside your head.

Unknown

The following morning, I visited Rebecca Franken. Wearing an eye patch, she sat in a recliner in Papa’s study, clothed in pajamas, robe, and slippers. Aunt Terry occupied the adjacent love seat. Since Papa is not a tall man and buys his furniture accordingly, Franken looked comfortable, watching the news on TV, with a cup of tea on the end table.

I approached and bent down to place a kiss on her cheek. “How are you today? Did the transfer from the hospital go well?”

After a slight start—perhaps she was uneasy about physical touch—she smiled and patted my arm. “I’m fine, just sore. And my eye was troubling me, so Terry suggested I cover it. Much better, but I feel like a junior version of Jack Sparrow.”

Settling next to Aunt Terry, I gave a laugh. “Very dashing,” I told her. “Rebecca, is there anything else you’ve recalled since we spoke?”

She clicked the remote to turn off the program. “Not to say recalled. More like dreamed. Or nightmared, but that’s not a word, right?”

“No, but it probably should be,” I answered. “Can you tell me about it?”

“Might as well. I woke up the whole household, so there’s no need to hide it.” She closed her eye. “I’m at home, working in my garden, when Mick enters via the back gate. ‘Find the box,’ he says. Before I can ask anything, he fades away. I stand up to look around, and a man in a ski mask grabs me by the arm. ‘Lebedev—you call him Swanson—do you store anything for him?’ He shakes me and grins. Evil. Pure evil.” Her eye popped open. “That’s when I woke up.”

The doorbell rang and Aunt Terry rose. “That’s probably Ted,” she told me. “He called to see if Rebecca was up to a visit.”

In a moment Wukowski entered the study and greeted Franken and me. I noticed a slight coolness but put it down to his being on duty. “I’m glad you’re well enough to see me, Ms. Franken. I’d like to go over events again. We find it often helps a person remember something they missed the first time around.”

Franken explained about the nightmare. “I’m not a big believer in ghosts, but that sure sounded like a message from beyond.”

“Did Swanson have a safe deposit box?” Wukowski asked.

“He didn’t say so. I asked when I drew up the will so that we could include instructions for his executor, and he gave me an emphatic no. Wish I could tell you more.”

“What was his state of mind at the time?”

“Mr. Swanson was always very controlled when we talked or met, but he did say that he’d had a recent health scare.”

I wondered if that related to anticipation of bodily harm but kept the thought to myself.

“And his decision to appoint Ms. Hill as his heir and executor. Did he give you reasons for that?”

“Only that he had no family and he considered her to be principled and capable.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.