Jaxson's Song Read online

  Jaxson's Song

  Title Page

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Epilogue

  Chapter One

  Jaxson’s Song

  by

  Angie West

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Cover: Angie West. All models and stock images from freedigitalphotos.net, and Suwit Ritjaroon.

  Copyright© 2014 Angie West

  Published at Smashwords

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission.

  Books by Angie West

  The Shadows Trilogy

  Shadow Cave

  Return to the Shadows

  Shadow Borne

  The Fifth Hour

  Incubus

  Spirit of the Wolf

  Jaxson’s Song

  Chapter One

  A Dubious Beginning

  Kate Delaney took a good look at her future…and decided that she didn’t want to live.

  The last eight months had been bad enough, but this…this was the last straw. Kate eyed the ugly, spindly, yellow-and-cream Victorian with disbelief. She couldn’t live here, she just absolutely couldn’t.

  She had to.

  This hard knowledge rose above the shock and shoved its way to the forefront of her mind; if she wanted to put Lilly through school, the two of them would have to live in this creepy, sagging, yellow…thing.

  “It’s got potential.”

  Lindsey’s voice broke through Kate’s distress. Potential? Kate glanced at her best friend before casting a skeptical eye over the house. The potential to fall down, maybe…

  She turned a half step to the left, toward the taller of the two women who silently flanked her on the cracked, crumbling sidewalk.

  “You’re sure this place is sound?” she asked. Stability wasn’t the first word that came to mind when she looked at the house.

  Her cousin Olivia nodded. “Hard to believe, isn’t it?”

  “The inspection report was good, really?” Kate absently twisted the gold ring around on her thumb and cocked her head to one side. Next she tried squinting, but the house still looked like crap.

  “The file’s in the car,” Olivia confirmed, rummaging in her square-shaped, plum leather bag and coming up with a tissue that, much like the house, looked like it had seen better days. “This place is free of mold, fungus, and asbestos. Dining room and foyer contain lead paint, but it’s intact. Half of the roof is fifteen years old, but the furnace and water heater were new in 2008,” she recited from memory, in full lawyer mode now.

  “Half of the roof? Hey, are you okay?”

  “Allergies.” Olivia smothered another sneeze. “Apparently, six years ago, Aunt Viola had half of the roof replaced. Not an uncommon practice for an older woman on a budget, I’m told.” She shrugged and tucked the Kleenex back into her purse, then closed the bag with a swift snap. “Well, are you ready to go inside?”

  “I…” Kate caught her bottom lip between her teeth and shook her head. “Go on without me, please. I’ll catch up in a minute.”

  Olivia reached out an ivory, manicured hand and squeezed Kate’s arm, briefly, before nodding and heading for the house. Lindsey hung back, hitching her brown leather satchel higher onto her shoulder and inching closer to Kate.

  “It’s free?”

  It was posed as a question, in typical Lindsey fashion. Kate knew exactly what her friend was getting at; Lindsey wasn’t asking if the house was free, she was aware Kate had inherited the place. This was her attempt to help Kate focus on the brighter side of the situation. And it worked, sort of.

  “Well,” Kate sighed. “There is that.”

  “You don’t have to go in there, you know.” Lindsey wound the thick, pliant leather purse strap around one tan finger. Iridescent pink polish caught the combined light from the bright, late afternoon sun and the street lamps that were just beginning to kick on. “Not yet, anyway. Come back to Georgia tonight. You can sign the papers, then we’ll pick up Lilly and head back home tonight. You’ve got, what, another three weeks before the fall semester starts, right?”

  “Two and a half.” Kate’s lips curved wistfully. “Thanks, Linds, but I can’t. I’m supposed to be at the hospital tonight.”

  “Already?” Lindsey groaned, visibly dismayed.

  Kate nodded. “One of the nurses went on emergency sick leave. They called the hotel last night and asked me to fill in. I couldn’t really afford to say no, so…” She shrugged, letting the rest of the sentence hang in the air between them. Neither needed a reminder of Kate and Lilly’s current less-than-ideal financial situation.

  “Okay…well, in that case, we’d better get this over with, so you can catch a few hours’ sleep before your shift. If you’re sure, I mean? Because you and Lilly can stay with me; You’re my best friend, and I feel like Lilly is my little sister, too. You know that. I’ll make room. We’ll get by.”

  Moisture stung Kate’s eyes. She blinked rapidly to clear her vision and pulled Lindsey into a quick embrace, accepting that neither Olivia nor Lindsey intended to let her have those coveted “alone” minutes right now. It was probably just as well. Dwelling on the hours, days, and weeks ahead was probably a pointless waste of time.

  “Thanks, Linds, but no, we can’t. Besides, everything is already set up here and…it’s what Mama would have wanted, for Lilly and me to be more or less financially stable. For Lilly to finish school. It’s what Mama would have done if she were here. We will be fine,” she said, raising her chin a couple of notches and narrowing her violet eyes.

  “If you change your mind…”

  “I won’t,” she said automatically, then gave a quick smile in order to erase the hurt look from her friend’s face. “I won’t need to change my mind, because everything will be okay. Promise.”

  “Then let’s do this, eh?” She held out one arm, which Kate accepted, laughing a little as they made their way up the broken sidewalk.

  “So, how many words do you think there are for ‘run down’?” Kate asked, slowly getting into the spirit of her friend’s enthusiasm.

  “Hmm.” Caramel-hued skin glistened in the fading sunlight and one finger tapped plump, pink lips as she seemed to devote great consideration to Kate’s query. “Definitely ‘established neighborhood,’” she giggled.

  “Too easy,” Kate scolded. “Olivia already gave us that one.”

  “Oh, right, right. Okay…‘urban.’”

  “Yeah, but not always.”

  “Most of the time, which is close enough,” Lindsey argued good-naturedly, her flip-flops slapping against the faded, white porch. “Fine, then…distressed.”

  “Ghetto,” Kate countered, squinting at the abrupt change from light to dark, hot to cold, as they entered the dusty foyer.

  “Neglected, impoverished.”

  “Slum.”

  “It’s not that bad.”

  “No, but it’s damn creepy,” Kate said, rubbing her hands up and down her arms, referring to the house now. “Wow
.” One hand came up to rest against faded, antique rose-and-stem wallpaper, and the other tucked a wayward section of tawny hair behind her ear. “This is just…eerie.” She moved her head left then right, for a panoramic view.

  “A little. Probably because it’s got that whole musty, abandoned thing going for it right now. I could stay, we could pick up Lilly, grab an early dinner after this, and you could go sleep while Lil and I fix the place up a little. You know, replace light bulbs, open windows.” She shivered again. “Jeez, why’s it so cold in here?”

  “No, not that,” Kate murmured, leaving the foyer behind and taking a few tentative steps into what looked like an old-fashioned sitting room. “Look at this place…”

  “Yeah,” Lindsey walked ahead a few paces and trailed one hand along the wine-and-cream colored floral print sofa. Delicate dull gold buttons marched up the arm rests, its faded splendor matching the rest of the room. “It’s not that bad. This stuff is actually kind of pretty.” She frowned. “I’d expected the inside to look even worse than the outside.”

  “So did I. But it looks like time hasn’t touched this place in…” Kate blinked and shook her head. “At least fifteen years,” she finally said, drinking in the grimy, pink-champagne Tiffany lamps which framed the same settee that had graced the same corner of the room the last time she’d been in this house.

  “The place looks like all it needs is a good cleaning,” Lindsey repeated. “And as it just so happens, I’m free tonight.” She smiled, bumping her hip lightly against Kate’s side.

  “Thanks, but no, you’ll miss work tomorrow if you stay tonight.”

  “So?”

  “I’m fine, Linds. Really.” Kate gave her friend a small smile as they left the sitting room and ventured down the long, central hall off the entry foyer.

  “Okay, okay. I give up. But if you need me, you’d better call or text, or e-mail. Hell, send smoke signals if you have to.”

  Kate snorted and led the way up the stairs. “Smoke signals? Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. Livi!” she called.

  “Up here! In the back bedroom!”

  She picked up the pace, glad she’d opted for sneakers versus heels that morning. The staircase was huge, wide enough for Kate and Lindsey to walk side by side, and it was long, easily twenty steps to the second floor.

  A memory flashed through Kate’s mind. Her and Lilly as children, legs stretching wide as they took each deep step, childish voices keeping count as they climbed. Twenty-six. The answer came to Kate suddenly as they reached the second-floor landing. Lilly’s raspy childhood soprano echoed through the more remote corners of her mind. There were twenty-six steps here.

  The second floor was even colder than the first…

  “I’m over here, ladies.” Olivia’s muffled voice carried faintly down the hall.

  “Either the AC in this place is top notch, or the house is well-insulated,” Lindsey remarked, mirroring Kate’s thoughts and shivering a little. “Who would have known we’d need sweaters in Florida?” she teased, turning left, toward the sound of Olivia’s voice.

  They found the blonde on all fours, crawling the perimeter of the bedroom at the end of the hall.

  “Olivia, what are you doing?” Kate asked, crouching beside the woman. She winced when the bruise on her knee came into contact with the floor. Why didn’t old houses ever have carpet in the bedrooms?

  “I’m seeing where this cord goes. I think this is your Internet cable. It’s too thick to be a phone line.”

  “Couldn’t you just scoot the furniture over?” Lindsey asked, moving to stand beside the four-poster, full canopy bed the dignified lawyer was now practically underneath. “Wow, look at this bed. I’m jealous.” She ran an admiring hand over one of the glossy, dark chocolate posts that held up a section of lacy lavender canopy. Her purse hit the hardwood floor with a heavy thud and a split second later she hopped onto the king-size mattress, bouncing twice and laughing as she used one hand to shove shiny brown curls away from her face.

  “Jesus, Lindsey!” Olivia exploded, scrambling out from under the bed. “What if that thing had fallen on me?”

  “Guys,” Kate admonished as Lindsey fell back across the bed, arms out, and rolled her eyes toward the purple canopy as Olivia continued to glare. “So, why didn’t you just move the bed?”

  “Do you have any idea how much furniture like this weighs?” she demanded, pointedly refusing now to look at the bed in question or its occupant. “Even without all the extra weight on it.”

  Kate pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger. “Okay, so what did you find? What cord?”

  “Oh. This.” Olivia reached down and used one arm to fish around the dark, cavernous space beneath the bed.

  “Better watch your arm, Liv, my big fat ass might make the bed fall on it,” Lindsey huffed, pulling her hundred and twenty pound frame into a sitting position and scooting to the edge of the bed.

  “It’s your Internet cord,” Olivia announced a moment later, holding up a frayed end. “But you’ll need to get a service tech out here to fix it.”

  “Huh.” Kate briefly fingered the cord. “It looks like it’s been chewed.”

  “Yeah, you might want to get an exterminator out here, too, while you’re at it.” Olivia wrinkled her nose at the cobwebs that clung to her and smoothed a hand over her skirt, leaving dark, dusty streaks across the fabric.

  Lindsey rolled her eyes again. “Kate, we’ll stop off for some mouse traps before I head back.”

  Kate nodded absently, leaving her cousin and best friend standing in the middle of the room, squared off like gunslingers in the old West, while she wandered to the window and looked out over the aging, sun-baked neighborhood. Most of the houses in the immediate vicinity were also two and three-story monstrosities, so she didn’t see much beyond roof tiles in varying shades of gray and the occasional patch of blue sky.

  “At least the inside is in better shape than the exterior.” Olivia moved to stand next to Kate.

  “Yeah,” she agreed. “This place looks just like I remember it from when you and Lilly and I were kids.”

  “Dustier, maybe.” A rare smile curved Olivia’s mouth. “Are you going to be okay here?”

  “Sure. Yeah. I’m good.” Kate nodded, biting her lip and turning away from the window. “Let’s just go sign the papers. Everything looks to be in order here.”

  “Look,” Olivia eyed her cousin and frowned, “I hate to say it, but maybe Lindsey is right. You shouldn’t spend your first night here alone. One of us should stay with you.”

  “You’ve got to get back to your practice, and Lindsey has to be at work in the morning. I’m fine. Really, guys. This house is fine. It’s old and the neighborhood is a little bit dismal, so what?” Kate shrugged, moving toward the door.

  “We aren’t talking about the neighborhood,” Lindsey said quietly.

  Kate paused and hung her head. “I know.” She sucked in a breath, squared her shoulders. “But I got over that a long time ago. Okay?”

  “Being back in this house doesn’t bother you?” her cousin asked, blunt now.

  Hell yes, it did. “No.” Kate lied. “Anyway, Lilly will be here tonight, so I won’t be alone.”

  “Right.” Olivia shrugged, not looking thrilled but apparently willing to let it go, for now at least.

  “Okay,” Lindsey sighed, trailing after Olivia into the hallway and down the stairs.

  Kate followed, bringing up the rear and wishing she could find the words that would undo all of this. Wishing she could take Lindsey up on her offer to return home to Georgia. But pride was a powerful thing, and the words stuck in her throat. Sure, she could sell the house, but how long would that take. And how much would she even get for it? No, she shook her head. She was doing the right thing for herself and for Lilly Ann. The sensible thing.

  A flash of movement to her left brought Kate’s head up. What in the hell? She paused on the stairs, one hand shooting out to grip the
chestnut handrail. What was that?

  A long, dark shadow raced past the half-open door and disappeared into the bedroom at the other end of the hall, opposite to the one they’d been in a moment ago.

  “Olivia! Lindsey!” she called out, heading back up the stairs, her sneakers pounding the faded red-and-cream floral runner that stretched the length of the hall.

  When she reached the doorway, she pulled the door shut and wrapped her hand firmly around the knob to keep it closed until the other two women ran up the stairs.

  “What are you doing?”

  “What’s going on?”

  “I think there’s someone in the bedroom,” Kate gasped. “I’m pretty sure I saw someone’s shadow as they ran into this room.”

  “Should we call the police?” Lindsey asked, backing up a few paces.

  “You didn’t actually see a person?” Olivia frowned, looping her purse strap around her knuckles and kicking off her heels.

  “No.”

  “Okay, then open the door, Kate.”

  “Are you sure?”

  She nodded. “It’s probably nothing. This place was locked up tight when we got here. Why would someone hide the entire time we’re up here, then suddenly decide to move before we’re even out of the house? It doesn’t make sense,” Olivia reasoned. “You probably saw light from those tall windows by the door. But we’ll check it out,” she added, wielding her designer bag like a club. “On three, Kate.”

  “One, two, three!” she shouted, flinging the door open.

  The three women burst into the room and froze.

  “What the hell…”

  “What in God’s name is this?” Lindsey breathed.

  “Uh, Liv.” Kate’s eyes were wide as she turned a slow circle in the obviously empty room. “Was Aunt Viola into kinky sex?”

  “Oh, gross, Kate. Gross.” Olivia grimaced.

  “Well? Why else would someone have all these mirrors?”