“You gonna let me die of thirst?”
“Come in. Sorry, I’m just surprised to see you here.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Jasper had only been to my home a few times since I’d moved in. As soon as I started renovating the garage, he wanted no part of it, and stayed away. “You walk down here?” I asked, because I hadn’t seen his car.
“No, I flapped my arms and flew.”
“Ha ha.” I handed him a water bottle from the fridge. “How’s your knee?”
He sat down at my kitchen table and drank some water. “The knee is good today. Figured I’d come down to see how you are.”
“Oh. Well, thanks. I’m fine. Have you eaten yet?”
He took another drink of water then sighed. “As it happens, I have not.”
“Stay for dinner then.”
His nose wrinkled. “What, frozen pizza pockets?”
I laughed. “I’ll throw some steaks on the grill.”
“Steak?” His eyes widened. “All right, then.”
An hour later, we were out back at my patio table, eating steak and salad and strips of grilled yellow squash. Jasper was cheery and talkative, and though he poked fun at me as always, there were no insults or put-downs. I dared say Jasper and I were officially in a good place again. And it warmed me more than I could say, because I needed this right now. To feel like I had family. That someone who mattered cared about me too.
“This is a nice place,” he said. “I like what you’ve done with the yard.”
“Thanks. You want to check out the garage?”
“No, I do not.”
I held my hands up. “Okay. Relax. Not trying to lock you away.”
“Those woods back there, that your property too?”
“For a few yards out, yeah.”
“Huh. If you cleared those trees you could make the yard even bigger.”
“I don’t know.” I sipped my Shed Mountain Ale. “I like the trees. Gives me privacy. And I like the sound of all the birds and crickets.”
He rolled his eyes, and cut a piece of steak. “Suit yourself. I hate bugs. They make good fishing bait, though. Hey, did Kora come by and solve your ghost problem?”
“Yeah. No problems in the house anymore.” I glanced over at the woods. The sun was going down, the space between the trees fiery orange. “Dad, what can you tell me about Mom’s mother, Nanna Janeane?”
Jasper’s fork paused halfway to his mouth. “Why you asking about her?”
I gave my father the rundown of all the activity I’d had from the beginning, told him all about Kora’s experience cleansing the house, and ultimately, about the nightgown figure I’d seen twice now. Then I retrieved the sheet of paper I’d written the odd text messages down on, and showed it to him. “That name. Jan,” I said. “It popped up when I asked who it was texting. I don’t know any Jan. Nanna’s the closest I could think of.”
Jasper scowled at the paper, rubbing his chin. “Hmm.”
“What do you think?”
“Ah, I don’t know. We’re both probably making shit up in our heads to make it jibe with things, but it probably means nothing. Probably just a wrong number.”
I watched as he took a big gulp of beer. He then continued to frown at the page I’d given him. He seemed troubled. “What do you mean we’re both making shit up? Does something click with those words?”
“Possibly.”
“Then tell me!”
“Oh, Squirt, I don’t want to get you running around like Nancy Drew over something stupid.”
“I won’t. Just tell me what you’re thinking.”
“All right. You got a pen?”
I went and retrieved a pen from the kitchen, then came back out and handed it to Jasper. He scooted his chair over next to me. Tapping the pen on the paper, he grunted as we both frowned at the words.
Liars
Thieves
Rig
Jan
“All right,” he said. “Don’t know anything about any liars or thieves. However. If we’re going to assume this is your grandmother…” He added letters to ‘Jan’, making it ‘Janeane’. “And that she’s got a bee in her bonnet over something from beyond the grave, then I’d guess this, is actually supposed to be…”
He crossed out ‘Rig’ and wrote ‘Ring’ in its place.
“Ring.” I looked at him.
He set the pen down and pointed his index finger on the word. “I suspect that was a ghost typo. Probably meant to say ‘ring’ if I’m thinking straight on this.”
“Why? What ring?”
Sighing, he drained his beer. “I lost something very precious, and I feel terrible about it. Been digging through your mother’s things and all the places I thought she’d kept it, but…somehow, I lost it. I’m an idiot.”
“A ring?”
He nodded. “When your grandmother died, she left her wedding ring to your mother. Beautiful ring. Valuable. Antique setting with diamonds and rubies. Your mom kept it tucked aside. Always said she wanted to give it to Mia for her eighteenth birthday. Her oldest granddaughter. With the twins’ birthdays coming up, I’ve been killing myself trying to find the damn thing, so I can respect her wishes. But it’s gone.”
“Shit. You think all this could be about that ring?”
“Don’t know. But it’s the first thing I thought of when you showed me the list. If your shadow phantom is Janeane, then think about it. Going through the jewelry on your dresser? Knocking over that jar of washer rings?”
“Oh, fuck, you’re right.” I perked up. “And Kora said the entity that rushed her said something about Mia. But it was swearing and angry and saying ‘that bitch’ and so on. Would Nanna be that angry all over you losing this ring?”
He chuckled. “You mean am I that bitch?”
“Why the hell is she haunting me, not you?”
Jasper wheezed with laughter. “I don’t know, but I’m glad she’s not haunting me. We never got along so well when she was alive. But I guess a lot of men have problems with their mother-in-law.”
I drummed my fingers on the table.
“See, I knew it,” Jasper said. “Now you’re all gung ho.”
“I’m just curious now, naturally. I’m Mia’s father, so there’s that. So assuming Nanna’s trying to get a message through, maybe it’s because I’ve been hanging out with Orion and met his freaky psychic-medium foster siblings. Maybe she knows where the ring actually is and thinks they could help.”
“Then why didn’t she just tell Kora where the damn thing is?”
“I don’t know. She might have tried. Kora said it rushed up on her and startled her. Scared her, I think. Then Kora banished the spirit really quick.”
He shook his head. “I wish I could just ask your mother where the ring is. Wish she’d have come through when I did the reading with Chapel. Breaks my heart, really. I try to tell myself she forgives me. But…she didn’t come through when she had the chance. Obviously, she doesn’t forgive me at all.”