Part 4 (2/2)

”Yes,” Roy said. ”Let's hurry this up. It's cold in here. Put on the blindfold.”

”You can't have the blindfold,” Steven said. ”You have to do it without it. She said you could not be wearing any kind of clothing.”

”G.o.dd.a.m.nit,” Roy said. ”Fine then - yes, I remember what to do. Let's start.”

”Alright,” Steven said. ”Yell if you need me. I'll be listening.”

Roy nodded, and Steven walked out of the room. He went back down the hallway and joined June in the living room.

”Everything OK?” June asked.

”Yes,” Steven said, sitting on the sofa. ”He's about to try another trance. I'll need to listen for him in case there's any trouble, so we'll need to be quiet out here while we wait.”

”Alright,” June said, sitting back in her chair.

They waited in silence, June twisting the token back and forth between her tightly pressed palms. More than once while he was sitting in the sofa, Steven wondered what was happening with Roy, and he felt the hair go up on the back of his neck. He was trying to think of a blank wall, per the instructions from Judith, but he'd never been good at clearing his mind or meditating. His mind always ran a million miles an hour.

After twenty minutes, they heard the bedroom door open. A fully clothed Roy emerged carrying the kitchen chair, which he walked into the kitchen to replace before joining them in the living room.

”How'd it go?” Steven asked.

”June,” Roy said, ”we'll be back tomorrow to pick up that lantern. I will need to speak with your daughter. Can we come at a time when she'll be here?”

June looked worried. ”Well, she's here in the mornings until 10. If you come before then, you should run into her. Should I tell her you're coming?”

”No,” Roy said. ”I'll explain everything to her when we arrive. Let's go, Steven.”

”Are you sure you need to involve her?” June asked. ”I was hoping we could keep her out of this.”

”I'm sure,” Roy said.

He must not want to explain in front of June, Steven thought. He rose from the sofa and followed Roy as they made their way out the front door, said their goodbyes to June, and got in Steven's car.

”So?” Steven asked. ”Did you find it?”

”The only thing I saw,” Roy said. ”Was the daughter. And I have a hard time believing I needed to be naked to see that.”

”She's the opening?” Steven asked. ”She's the Ouija board?”

”Don't know,” Roy said. ”But I can tell you I don't care for the vibe I got. The trance was very uncomfortable, just like the last one.”

”Now you know how I feel,” Steven said. ”That's the vibe I get whenever we're in there. So I'm guessing the token worked no threat to June's life this time?”

”None,” Roy said. ”But this trance Judith had me do was very specific. I might have seen more had I just conducted a regular trance. I would have tried one, after I was done with hers, but like I said, the vibe was very bad. I just wanted to get out.”

”What now?” Steven asked. ”Go back tomorrow and pick up that lantern, then back out to Gig Harbor?”

”And meet with her daughter tomorrow,” Roy said. ”See what she knows.”

”I'd like to talk to you, but I'm in a hurry,” Evelyn Williamson said after shaking both Roy and Steven's hands. She turned to go into the kitchen.

”We need a moment of your time,” Roy said. ”In the interest of the safety of your mother and your son.”

Evie walked back from the kitchen. ”What is this?” she asked. ”Some kind of threat?”

”We're not the threat,” Steven said. ”Something in the house is.”

Evie rolled her eyes and walked back into the kitchen. ”You're both wasting your time, and I have to be somewhere in ten minutes.”

”Evie,” June said, following her back into the kitchen, ”please listen to them. They know what they're doing.”

”Why are you holding your hands like that?” Edie asked her mother.

Steven and Roy followed June into the kitchen. Edie was pulling leftovers from the refrigerator and placing them in a padded lunch bag. She saw them enter the room and stopped.

”Really?” she asked them. ”Now?”

”It's important,” Steven said. ”People have already been hurt.”

”Whatever,” she said, resuming her packing, ”Talk while I get ready. I'm going to be late.”

”You don't work until 10,” June said. ”Why are you packing up so early?”

”I have appointments,” Evie said, grabbing a briefcase from off the floor and placing it on the kitchen island. She opened it and began ruffling through folders inside.

”Your mother asked for our help,” Roy said. ”We've been looking into the bangings.”

”What bangings?” she said, her focus on the briefcase and the papers she was shuffling.

”We've heard them,” Roy said, ”and your mother has heard them. So has your son. They were both attacked the other day, you can still see the bruises on your mother. Your son's room was ransacked. There's something wrong here.”

”There's nothing wrong here,” Evie said, continuing to move papers around in her briefcase. ”My mother fell, and Robbie needs to clean his room.”

”We know you have the gift,” Steven said. ”Both Roy and I have it too.”

She turned to her mother. ”Why did you invite them here? You know how I feel about these things.”

”We need the help, Evie,” June said. ”I know you don't want to see it, but there's something wrong here. Your father would have known what to do, but I don't have a clue.”

”No, you don't,” Evie said, ”if you think they can do anything to help.”

”I've consulted an expert,” Roy said, ”and with her a.s.sistance I think we can get to the bottom of it. But the next step is you.”

”Me?” Evie asked. ”I'm not involved.”

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