Part 23 (1/2)
Ditto.
Grabbing three bottles and the bag of bowls, Eve knocked the lid back down with her elbow and handed a water to Linda. Then, she filled a bowl and set it down on the floor for Freddy.
”So, when will you know if you're staying?” Linda asked.
”We're waiting for Gadara to get back from a meeting with the post commander.”
There was a pause as they all drank, then Linda said, ”Honestly, this place gives me the creeps.”
”You hide it well.”
Isn't she a gem? The others freak out, but not Linda. She's always got it together.
”I'm left-brained,” Linda explained. ”My imagination is dull and boring, so I don't think about zombies chasing me or ma.s.s murderers leaping out of dark corners. I don't believe locations can be haunted by those who once occupied them. People once lived here, and now they don't. It's just that simple. That's why the vibe from this place really bothers me.”
”You say that,” Eve smiled to soften the sting of her words, ”but if you didn't believe at all, why would you dedicate so much time to researching the validity of other people's claims?”
”I don't believe, but people close to me do.”
”So you want to prove them wrong?”
”I want to help.”
”I'm intrigued.” And hopeful that there was an exploitable hot b.u.t.ton in the story somewhere. Linda set her half-full bottle on the counter. ”Do you have any siblings?”
”A sister.”
”Are you close?”
Eve nodded. ”She's younger, but she married before me and has two beautiful children. She lives out of state, so I don't see her as much as I'd like to, but we talk often and she sends lots of pictures.”
”That's wonderful.”
”And you?”
”Only child. But I had a best friend who was like a sister to me. We were inseparable until after high school. I was all set to go to college; Tiffany joined the Army.”
”Brave girl.”
”Practical. Her parents died when she was young and joining the military was the only way she was going to get college money.” Linda sighed. ”When word came back that she was killed in action, I was devastated. My grades suffered. I dropped out of school. My boyfriend and I broke up. Everything fell apart.”
”I'm sorry.”
Linda accepted the condolences with a grim nod. ”Have you lost someone close to you, Eve?”
”I recently lost my neighbor, who was also a dear friend.”
”Then, perhaps you can understand how difficult it was to learn that Tiffany wasn't dead at all.”
Eve frowned. ”You lost me.”
”It was all a great big cover-up, including a letter from the Department of Defense and a military-provided funeral service.” Her voice hardened. ”I should have known something was wrong when they couldn't produce a body.”
”Why would the government fake her death?”
Freddy moved from his spot by the cooler to sit at Linda's feet. She stroked the top of his head with a distracted rhythm. ”I don't know for sure why they did it, but my guess is that she was exposed to some whacky chemicals out in the desert. Something that really messed with her head and they didn't want us to find out about it because of the scandal that would ensue.”
”But you figured it out?” Eve suddenly had an inkling of what she must sound like to Reed when she went off about Gadara being shady.
Linda nodded. ”My parents took me to Europe in the Spring, hoping the change of location would help my grief. We weren't there a week before I spotted Tiffany at a bakery in Munster, Germany. I called out her name, but when she caught sight of me, she ran. I've never seen anyone move that fast until you. Today.”
Eve s.h.i.+fted her gaze away to avoid revealing her dawning unease.
”Fact was, Tiff wanted us to believe she was dead. Whether she was protecting her grandmother and me, or the government, or all of us . . . I have no clue. It took me a week to track her down after that incident in the bakery. I looked for her everywhere, haunting the neighborhood until I finally spotted her again. She didn't run that time. She knew I wouldn't let it go. I'm too stubborn.”
”What was her explanation?”
”She swore she had been chosen by G.o.d to save mortals, like Joan-of-f.u.c.king-Arc or something. She said there were demons among us, hunting us, and it was her mission to kill them.”
Eve reached out to the counter to steady herself. ”Yikes.”
”That's an understatement,” Linda muttered. ”She was completely delusional, pointing at normal people and saying they were evil, that she could smell their souls rotting. She saw marks and tattoos on her skin that weren't there. She said I couldn't see them because I'm not one of the chosen.”
”Lucky you,” Eve said sincerely.
Someone has to fight the good fight.
Eve wrinkled her nose at Freddy.
Just sayin'.
”Tiff could tell I didn't buy a word she was saying. I begged her to come home with me. I told her how much her grandmother missed her. How much I missed her. I promised to help her get back on her feet. But she wouldn't budge. She said it was better if she was dead to us, because the demons would hurt us if they thought they could get to her that way. She said the only thing I could do was believe. 'When you believe,'
she said, 'then I'll come to you for help.' ”
”Wow.”
”No kidding.” Linda straightened. ”I never saw her again after that. We stayed in Germany another two weeks, but she didn't contact me at the hotel, even though I gave her the information. I came back to the States and hired a private investigator to find her, but he never did. Sometimes I wonder if I dreamed up the whole conversation in some sort of grief-induced delirium. Then I remember that I have no imagination. I couldn't make that stuff up. So I've been trying ever since to believe her, or at least give the impression that I believe her. I have a blog detailing our investigations, hoping she'll find it and realize I am trying. I figure the show is another way to reach Tiff, too.”
”You're a good friend.”
Eve couldn't help but consider her own obligation to Mrs. Ba.s.so. Her friend and neighbor had died because of Eve's connection to her. What had she done since then to justify that sacrifice? Nada, aside from making a sorry, half-a.s.sed attempt at going through the motions. She was shamed to realize how little she'd done to honor the memory of such a wonderful woman.
Shrugging, Linda said wearily, ”I wouldn't go that far. Tiffany always did more for me than I did for her and that hasn't changed. Because of her I began researching paranormal investigations, which is how I met Roger. I think he's the love of my life. And we receive letters every week telling us how much Ghoul School helped someone in one way or another. It's very rewarding.”
Eve wondered where Tiffany was now. Was she still alive? Was she still marked? ”What's her last name?”