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Cassie blew hair away from her face. “Fair is fair, I guess. What do you want to know?”
“What happened this morning?”
“Went out to breakfast with my sister and a friend we knew back in high school. Long story short I found out my abilities didn’t originate from the run-in with Novak like we thought.”
David had the key halfway to the door when he turned around with his mouth wide open. “Seriously?”
“Seriously. They were talking about things I don’t remember. So, it sounds like something happened when I was a kid. Does Sarah Lennox ring a bell?”
David shook his head. “Should it?”
“It was a long shot. She was a little girl who went missing when I was about ten. A couple years after these murders. She wasn’t the only one. Apparently, I used to say she was hanging out in our backyard even after she was kidnapped.”
“Her ghost?”
Cassie nodded. “Seems like it.”
David whistled a
nd finished opening the door. When Cassie stepped across the threshold, a wall of hot, stale air hit her square in the face. The sweat beading on her neck dripped down her back, but when she looked over at David, he seemed comfortable.
“Definitely something going on in here.”
David freed his weapon. “Let me know what direction you want to head in.”
“You know that won’t make a difference against a ghost, right?”
“I know that.” A beat of silence. “It just makes me feel better.”
Cassie pointed toward the kitchen to their left. “There.”
David led the way and cleared the room. Cassie stayed close behind. The house was empty of any human threats, but she felt on edge and nervous. And it was transferring to David. He was calm and steady, but she saw his eyes darting around to every nook and cranny in the room.
It was harder to breathe in the kitchen. Like someone had thrown her into a sauna with all her clothes still on. The air was thick with humidity, and the sweat rolling down her back was getting uncomfortable.
To distract herself, she kept talking. “I got so upset at breakfast, I just threw down money and walked away. I left Laura with Michael and hoped he’d take her home.”
“I’m sure he did. I’m sure everything is fine.”
“I’m not doing a very good job of reuniting my family.”
“You’re doing the best you can.” He spoke in his most fatherly voice.
“No, I’m not.” Cassie pushed past David and walked into the hallway on the other side of the room. She heard his protests, but the sound of her own blood pumping in her ears muffled it. “I spent years ignoring my family. Years thinking they’d have me institutionalized if they knew the truth. Years thinking they would hate me. And all my sister has been doing is trying to get to know me and trying to be part of my life.”
“Hey, hey, hey.” David turned Cassie to face him. “What’s going on here?”
Cassie took two shuddering breaths. She touched her face and realized it was wet. When had she started crying? “The rooms are getting hotter. It’s making me anxious and angry and sad all at once.”
“The sooner we get out of here, the better, okay?”
Cassie let a sob escape. “I just want my family back.”
Realization dawned on David’s face. “I’m sure that’s how Robert Shapiro felt, too. He lost his wife in a car accident.”
“Down the hall and to the left.” Cassie pointed the way forward. “That’s the room.”
David nodded and crept along the hall. “A heroin addict killed his wife. I don’t know the whole story, but that’s enough to understand the connection between Shapiro and the murders he committed.”
