The Departed by Kathryn Mackel

Author:Kathryn Mackel
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook, book
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 2010-03-24T00:00:00+00:00

Thirty

BY SUNDAY MORNING, CREWS FROM ALL THE CABLE-NEWS OUTLETS were parked outside the gate. Dane had made sure of that. Ben did his best to keep them at bay. Beth had called Rebecca into the office to take calls, especially those rerouted from the home numbers.

All Joshua could do was lie on his bed, trying to block the memory of Annette’s bloodless face.

Afraid. He lingers . . .

“Maggie.” He pushed up on the pillows.

“I’m here.” She sat nearby on the lounge, reading a book.

“I saw her, Mags. She came right into my—”

“You need to forget all that for a little while. You were up all night again. Get some rest.”

He turned onto his side, closed his eyes, and there was Annette, with her dark hair and kind smile. Reaching out to him. Expecting him to rescue her, but all he had done was bring a media circus down on them both.

“Maggie,” he whispered. “She keeps coming.”

She sat next to him, smoothing his hair, touching his face. “Try to sleep.”

He sat up. “I need to tell you something else.”

“We’ll talk later this afternoon. You’re exhausted.”

“I need to tell you this now. Do you know the patter I do at the beginning of the show? ‘The spirits are here with us tonight; let’s make them welcome.’ That stuff ?”

“Sure.”

“Before each show, and sometimes just when I’m in my office—I’ve been doing a ritual. I light a candle and stare at it. Emptying my mind, calling on Sola.”

“Who?”

“We heard about Sola that night in Lynn. Since then I’ve done a lot of research. She’s well-known . . .” Joshua paused, realizing how far-fetched it must all sound. But it was real, and Maggie would just have to stretch her mind to accept that fact. “Anyway, then I ask Sola to open the gate and let the spirits come to me.”

“You mean the people who . . . have passed on? The departed?”

“The first time they talked to me was in Los Angeles, of all places. I thought it was jet lag. Then I heard them here at home. I had Ben check it all out to make sure that there wasn’t someone scamming me. Some competitor or tabloid out to expose me.” He laughed. “That’s ironic, huh? Conning the con man. Ben even checked this room.”

“Our bedroom? You heard these spirits in here?”

He buried his face in her shoulder. “Yes.”

She pushed him away. “You didn’t see that Annette in here, right?”

“No, I’ve only heard voices in here. Here and the office. The first time I actually saw a spirit was Thursday night, when Annette appeared to me. And it was really her—I proved it, didn’t I? The sketch matched the poor woman in the morgue. The cops have to believe me now.”

Maggie blinked back tears. “Why did you do something like that? Your show was successful enough. You didn’t need to do anything beyond what you have been doing. Contacting spirits, not even knowing who or what they are . . . it just feels dirty somehow.

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