Unquiet Spirits Read online

  "Couldn't Robert give you the information about Elizabeth Anne?"

  "I'd rather talk to Helen about it. I've never met Robert. I'll be able to tell if Helen were trying to hide something from me. We need the truth about her sister right away."

  Bart blew out an exasperated breath. "Yeah, unfortunately our main suspect has an alibi. Betsy is the only woman connected with the lodge who's the right age. And she was with you this afternoon," Bart said.

  "I'm glad. I didn't want to think I was so wrong about her," Kit said.

  "Don't relax your guard though. She would probably have an accomplice."

  "Like her husband."

  "Too bad he has an alibi too. According to Mike, Joel is also a hunter."

  "But he was in a golf foursome at the crucial time," Kit said, throwing her hands up in frustration.

  Another brilliant flash of lightning lit Bart's face. He looked very tired. "Did you get anything at all to eat today?"

  "I don't think so. Did you?"

  She shook her head and said, "I'm not too interested in food right now."

  "We should try to eat something," he said with a distinct lack of enthusiasm. "Why don't you try to reach Robert Dagwood while I dig the leftovers from Paavo's cold supper out of the refrigerator. We can serve ourselves whatever we want," he suggested.

  Kit went directly into her bedroom and dug out her address book. Yes, she had put Robert's phone number down under Helen's as a backup number. Unfortunately, his voice mail informed her he wasn't available at the moment... whatever that meant. She left the message that she needed to reach his sister as soon as possible.

  The insistent rumble of thunder and almost constant flashes of lightning were getting to her. Electrical storms fascinated her, but they always jangled her nerves. When she put down the receiver, she stood at the bedroom window for a moment rubbing her arms and looking out at the dark, turbulent world. She turned to find Bart standing beside her.

  "I'd forgotten for a few minutes how thunderstorms affect you," he said. "Let's get away from the window." He led her to the doorway of the bathroom, then placed his hands on either side of her face and tilted it up for long tender kiss.

  That's all it took for the glowing ember low inside her to flare into flame. One touch of his mouth on hers and she was wild for him. She opened her mouth but when he tried to deepen the kiss, she laughed and fought him for control. She had felt so helpless in the face of today's events that she didn't want to be passive. She needed to be the one nibbling and sucking at his lips and tongue. She wanted to thrust her own tongue into his mouth. He joined her laughter and brought the tender battle back to her. His mouth was hot and delicious as his tongue tangled with hers.

  Bart's hands were everywhere--in her hair, stroking her back and her sides, tantalizing the sides of her breasts.

  She was hardly aware that he had already unfastened her bra and was sliding the sleeves of her sweatshirt off her arms. In spite of her murmured protests, he broke off the kiss long enough to pull the shirt off over her head.

  "I'll take your mind off the storm," he murmured into her hair. "You won't see or hear it in the shower. A nice hot shower will relax you. I'll make your whole body slick with suds." Why was he coaxing? He must know she didn't need persuading. "And I guarantee I'll keep you distracted."

  She was so distracted already she was almost out of her mind.

  He was sliding her sweats and panties down over her hips as he spoke. She kicked off her shoes to help with their removal. They joined her shirt and bra on the cool tile floor. She had a flash of embarrassment when she realized she was totally naked while Bart still had all his clothes on.

  "Now you," she commanded in an oddly hoarse voice.

  "No sooner said than done!" he said, stripping off his shirt and jeans in one swift motion.

  He quickly retrieved a condom from his shaving kit on the bathroom vanity and put it in the soap dish. Then he bent to turn on the water and adjusted the shower head to a very light spray. Kit simply stood admiring his strong well-muscled body. Bart was more beautiful than any Greek statue she'd ever seen. She was floating on such a supercharged hormone-induced cloud that she marveled that he apparently still had some active brain cells that could work efficiently.

  He stepped under the spray, then reached for her hands to help her into the tub.

  "Come on in. The water's fine."

  He positioned her with her back to him and touched the sensitive sides of her waist. Involuntarily, she jerked away. "You know how ticklish I am," she said with an accusing giggle.

  "A little soap will clear us of that," he said. "Slippery fingers won't tickle, Kittle, my love. Hold this." He placed a tube of lavender bath gel in her hands. "Just squirt some on my hands."

  He rubbed his hands together until they held an amazing quantity of suds. Slowly, he proceeded to slick them over her stomach.

  He nibbled on the back of her neck as he moved his hands upward. "See. No tickles," he mumbled against her skin.

  No tickles, but as his soapy fingers caressed her breasts, wonderful sensations traveled over the surface of her whole body. Then he turned his electrifying attention to the silky hair that covered her sensitive mound.

  She needed to press her soapy body against him. This was taking too long.

  As if he could read her mind, he turned her around to face him. He held her at arm's length. No one had ever looked at her with such longing!

  "You are truly beautiful," he whispered. Then he grinned. "But you've rinsed off all the suds. Keep your back to the water. We'll have to do it again."

  She tolerated his exquisitely pleasurable torture for another minute or two. His zealous kneading of her breasts loaded them with suds. It also made her knees ready to give way.

  "My turn!" she decided, handing him the tube.

  She filled her palm with gel and began to massage his shoulders, then rubbed thick suds down over his hard biceps, his forearms and his long-fingered hands. She refilled her hand and spread gel on his chest. When she tweaked his flat little nipples, they instantly hardened under her fingers and she felt his penis jerk against her abdomen. Then she had an idea. She gave him what she hoped was a seductive smile and stroked sworls of suds into the golden hair that began at his nipples and arrowed downward.

  Only then did she allow herself to look down at his truly heroic equipment where it thrust proudly out of its nest of blond hair.

  "In the interests of efficiency..." she said, dropping to her knees. She continued to massage his nipple with the tips of the fingers of one hand while she slowly drew her soapy right breast along his rigid sex.

  "Will I get enough suds on it this way, Bart?" she asked.

  He moaned appreciatively. She twisted her torso to drag her other breast over his swollen tip. She repeated the movements until most of the suds had been transferred from her body to his. Bart's hoarse moans were becoming more intense and Kit's nipples had become so hard and swollen she thought they would burst. She couldn't keep this up much longer. Every cell in her body craved his touch. The welcoming emptiness between her legs had become so insistent she thought that she'd die if he didn't fill her soon.

  "Brat! You're killing me. Time to get serious here." He hoisted her to her feet and turned her so that her back was against the tile wall. When he lifted her leg and hooked it around his waist, his penis was almost where she wanted it.

  "Hate to do this, sweetheart," he said, reaching around to unhook the shower head," but if I don't rinse off some of these slippery suds, I'll never get the condom on."

  "Let me," she said.

  "Not this time." He dipped his head to give her an open-mouthed kiss while his hands dealt with the rolled condom. "I'm too close."

  Bart's tongue searching her mouth while the warm water coursed over her swollen petals was almost too much for her.

  She tried to say "Hurry," but it wasn't necessary. Bart lifted her and she guided him safely inside. She wrapped both legs around h
is waist, pulled him tight and wriggled against him.

  The sensation of his hardness filling her almost triggered her release.

  "Don't move," he warned. The strain of holding back showed in the lines of his face. "I want to make this last."

  "Next time," she urged. "Make it last next time."

  "I promise, sweetheart," he breathed. Then he began to move. Slowly at first, then with more and more urgency until he was pounding into her like a piston in an engine. And with every thrust of that piston the hot coil deep inside her tightened.

  "Look at me, Kit." She opened her eyes to meet the deep, deep blue of his. "I want to see your eyes this very first time."

  One more mighty thrust and the tense coil within her snapped. She screamed his name as a powerful orgasm rocked her. She had never felt anything like the tremors that pulsed on and on.

  With a triumphant shout and violent series of shuddering spasms that matched hers, Bart reached his own release.

  They clung together under the spray while the world came back into focus. Bart leaned against her for a moment. Kit tried to slide one foot down onto the slippery porcelain of the tub to take some of their weight, but he hoisted her back up so that they remained connected while he turned off the shower.

  "Get used to this, Brat," he whispered into her wet hair. "Now that you're mine, I don't know that I can ever let you go."

  With her body still vibrating from their lovemaking, skin to skin with the man she'd loved all her life, she couldn't imagine ever wanting to leave.

  Bart stepped out of the tub still holding her securely in his arms, grabbed a couple of towels from the rack and headed for the bedroom. Dumping her unceremoniously on the bed, he clambered after her to kneel over her as he proceeded to dry her with one of the large rough towels.

  Laughing at nothing, they pulled the feather duvet up over them and snuggled their damp bodies together. Kit was trying to remember if anything had ever felt this right to her when a blinding flash of lightning lit the windows. Thunder was still rattling the panes when the lights went out.

  Bart pulled her head onto his shoulder and she curled up in the shelter of his arms and turned her face into his damp chest. He smelled deliciously of lavender and recent sex. She slipped her leg between his thighs. She thought she felt a slight stirring of his sex. He pulled her closer still and said, "Let's cuddle a while, Kittle. I want to enjoy the storm."

  What would be the best way to avoid thinking about the lightning? In a minute or two she would initiate something. She inhaled a couple more deep breaths of Bart's musky scent and closed her eyes for a minute.

  When she opened them agan some time later, they were still under the duvet, but it was tented over Bart's back as he knelt over her, laving her breasts with his tongue.

  "Ready for the long slow version of the loving?"

  "Do I get to be on top?"

  "As often as you like." He went back to his task.

  And he was good as his word. Kit got to choose any position that pleased her and she was astounded at how inventive she became as the time went on. They loved and laughed and dozed in each other's arms all night long while the storm raged around them almost unnoticed.

  She awoke with the unfamiliar sensation of having a man's body spooned around hers. Warm breath tickled the back of her neck, a muscular arm was heavy across her middle and a hairy leg trapped one of hers. Sensuous memories of last night filled her mind for a lazy moment before other, much less pleasant, memories crowded in.

  The person who'd been trying to kill her had killed Elsa by mistake. It was time to confront the horrible truth. The sniper was going to try again and probably be successful. She didn't see how Bart and the security men could prevent it. The longer she stayed here, the more likely it was that someone else would be injured or killed. She couldn't stand it if Bart were killed trying to protect her. She was going to have to leave. Maybe charter a plane for... where? She wasn't used to living her life without a plan. There must be a way and somewhere she could go without alerting anyone here that she was leaving.

  That would take some thought.

  Bart would be devastated if she simply left him now. But he would be out of danger.

  She made herself concentrate on the here and now. The winds had quieted and she couldn't hear any rain but the bedside light had not come on. The power was still out. Probably trees had come down on the power and telephone lines. And the roads!

  There would be reports on the local radio station. She tried to extricate herself from Bart's sleeping embrace and reach for the radio. He stirred, then moved his leg so that, although she could turn a little, it now effectively trapped both of hers.

  She twisted around so that she could look at him. Asleep, he looked like the innocent boy she'd grown up with. Oh, Bart! An overwhelming wave of tenderness swept over her. She brushed a light kiss over his warm sleeping lips.

  "Mmm. Nice way to wake up." He opened one blue eye. "Does this mean you want to play some more?"

  "No," she said. "You have to get up."

  He shifted slightly so that she could feel his morning erection.

  "Hey, I'm mostly there. Give a man a minute." He grinned at her. "One night in the sack and she's insatiable."

  "Bart!" She clipped his shoulder. "Get off me."

  He lifted his leg off hers and allowed her to sit up. But he looked at her warily as if he expected her to regret being so uninhibited last night.

  "Thanks," she said, getting off the bed.

  "What for?" he asked cautiously.

  "For letting me out of bed," she replied. Then added, "Where I spent the best night of my life."

  She didn't know what she expected after saying that but she didn't expect him to simply swing his long legs out of the bed and give her a relieved smile as he stood up.

  "Well, then... Neither of us has any regrets." He raised one eyebrow and waited.

  "None!" she told him.

  "Okay." He expelled a breath he'd been holding and flipped a switch on the bedside lamp. "Apparently the power is still out. But it's past time we had something to eat."

  "Something cold, I guess," Kit said.

  She was thankful that they were past the morning-after's slight awkwardness and getting on with the ordinary business of living but wished she knew what was going through his mind.And wished he could have used words that were a little more emotional than "okay"!

  The storm had blown itself out and the morning was bright and clear. The cabin, however, had cooled considerably.

  Bart lit the fire that had been laid in the fireplace to take the dampness out of the air while Kit took some rolls and fruit cocktail out of the refrigerator.

  "This will have to do for now," she said. "The lodge has backup generators. We can get something hot over there later."

  They soon discovered that the power outage had affected the telephone lines and the local radio station in addition to the electricity. They were able to get the North Bay station which apparently had backup power. It seemed that because of the number of downed trees, many areas could be without power or telephone service for several days.

  That was not what Kit wanted to hear. The realization that they were isolated without power or telephone at the mercy of a mysterious enemy with a .22 and deadly aim was chilling. As if he could read her mind, Bart gave her a reassuring hug and a light kiss.

  "Let's head over to the lodge and see what Johanna and Mike know about our situation here."

  The air was quite cool, probably in the low sixties, but was clear and the sun was shining brightly. The paved path was littered with small branches and leaves ripped off by the high winds.

  They met one of the security men on the way. "What a night!" he said.

  "You weren't out in that storm!" Kit exclaimed.

  "Had to be," he replied with a grimace. "Your electronic security won't work without power. I was on my way to tell you the generator is working fine at the lodge."

  "Thanks. We're
on our way," Bart said.

  The lobby was deserted when they arrived but Mike was getting off the elevator. "You saved me a trip," he said. "I was heading to the cabin with a thermos of hot coffee but you can come up to the apartment and have a cup with Johanna and me."

  It was a subdued Johanna who greeted them in the cheerful breakfast nook. The reality of Elsa's death had hit her sometime in the long hours of the night. Her red-rimmed eyes had lost some of their luster. Although her makeup was fresh and she looked quite smart in her navy track suit, somehow, for the first time, she looked her age. Her stepdaughter had been part of her life for over forty years. It must be hard to think of the lodge without her.

  Kit gave Johanna's shoulder a squeeze and sat down beside her.

  "Were you able to get any sleep?" she asked as she poured mugs of coffee for herself and Bart.

  "Mike insisted I take one of the sleeping pills Dr. Sedgwick gave me when I broke my arm last summer." Johanna made a grimace of distaste. "I resist taking pills but it did let me get to sleep for a while."

  Kit raised the mug to her lips and breathed in the fragrant steam before taking her first energizing sip of coffee.

  "Mike and I have been talking. We don't know when the police will release Elsa's body," Johanna said, her voice breaking a little. "But Elsa wanted to be cremated. She didn't want a funeral... simply asked for her ashes to be buried in the family plot."

  After a pause, she continued, "I visited the funeral home quickly last night to set up visitation for a couple of hours this evening and from one to three tomorrow afternoon. Elsa's minister will conduct a short memorial service at three o'clock."

  Apparently Mike could see Johanna was close to tears again because he continued for her. "And, as soon as the remains are released, we'll have an interment service at the graveside."

  "Bart and I will do anything we can to help." Kit suddenly remembered the hordes of people who had come back to the lodge for refreshments after Laila's funeral.