Rachel told me later how she and Colin went inside. The woman at the front desk made another call and waved them through.
Rachel knew Colin well enough to see how nervous he was, even without any psychic sight. She put a hand on his arm. “It’s going to be okay.”
“I know.” He sighed. “What did you mean, don’t do anything stupid?”
She sighed. “Tom has a tendency to get into trouble. Drives me crazy.”
Lillian’s door was half open. Colin knocked, then pushed it open. “Grandma?”
Her head jerked up, as if she’d been dozing. The TV was on, muted, to CNN. “Colin. Weren’t you just here? What is she doing here?”
Rachel could feel her anxiety. Her fear. “Do you remember me?”
She blinked. “You were here before. With the other man. And Colin. I don’t remember your name.”
“It’s Rachel,” Colin said. “Look, Grandma, I know Kirk was here today. What’s going on?”
Her arm trembled as she reached for a teacup on the table next to her. “In the closet. I’m not supposed to have it. There’s a bottle.”
They looked at each other. Rachel opened the closet and looked around. “Where?”
“In the boot. In back.”
Inside a black boot Rachel found a pint bottle of vodka, half empty. She closed the door to the room and brought it to Lillian.
She poured it into the teacup and drank it down. Then she poured more, and thrust it out to Rachel. “Put it away. They can’t see it.”
After Rachel closed the closet she folded her arms. “What are you afraid of?”
“Him.” Her voice was a hoarse whisper.
“Who?”
“Bradley.” She sipped some vodka. “I’ve always been afraid of him. Ever since he was little.”
“But he’s dead now,” Colin said. “Isn’t he?”
“He talks to me.” She waved a hand around. “In my head.”
“What does he say?” Rachel asked.
Lillian closed her eyes. “He wants to come back.”
“Come back?” Colin looked at Rachel, confused, then back at Lillian. “Um, how?”
“I did it,” she whispered. “A long time ago. That night . . .”
“Does he talk to Kirk?” Rachel asked. “Like Eileen talks to Colin?”
She nodded. “He came to see me a few weeks ago. Kirk. I didn’t see him for years, and then suddenly he was here, asking questions.”
“Right after your father died in prison,” Rachel said to Colin. “What did Kirk want today?”
“The house,” Lillian whispered.
“What house? What about the house?”
“Our house.” She seemed annoyed that they didn’t get it. “Where we lived. He didn’t remember the address.”
Rachel looked over. “Do you remember?”
Colin shook his head. “I haven’t been back there in—”
“What’s the address?” Rachel snapped.
Lillian recited it from memory. Rachel put it in her phone. “It’s only a few miles. Come on.” She grabbed Colin’s arm.
I was parked in front of a ranch-style house, one story, with a “For Sale” sign planted in the front lawn. The windows were dark, the lawn needed a trim, and Kirk’s van was sitting in the driveway.
He’d left the apartment about 10 minutes after Rachel’s call that they were going into the nursing home. He went through a McDonald’s drive-through, which made me hungry. I was out of sandwiches. He must have eaten as he drove to the house, not stopping to enjoy his burger and fries inside.
Other houses were scattered up and down the street, none close. I drove past, turned in a driveway, and parked across the street just in time to see Kirk pull his new shovel from the back of the van, along with the buckets and plastic. He walked around to the side of the house and headed to the back.
Now what? One light shone in the front window behind closed curtains, but otherwise the house looked deserted. Kirk wouldn’t have walked straight to the backyard if anyone was home, right? Should I go back and confront him?
I waited, nervous. Then my phone buzzed.
“He’s going to a house at—hang on, I’ve got it.” She read an address.
“Yeah, I’m there right now. What’s he up to?”
“No idea. Kirk only started visiting when the father died. Lillian’s afraid of the father, he talks to her. Hey! Stop sign!”
“How close are you?”
“About two minutes, according to the map thingy on my phone.”
“Okay, I’ll wait. Don’t get into an accident.”
They pulled up in Colin’s car five minutes later. Rachel wore a long coat, one pocket hanging down.
I frowned. “Did you bring Daffy?” She’d trained with the handgun—a big Glock. She’s actually a better shot than me.
Rachel shrugged. “I just had a feeling.”
I’d learned not to ignore her feelings, but I didn’t feel much calmer. “Try not to shoot anyone, please.”
“Where is he?” Colin was in a windbreaker, breathing hard and looking nervous.
“In back, with a shovel.” I had a flashlight. “Let’s go.”
We walked around the house. The sun had fallen and shadows surrounded us. We were quiet as we stepped carefully across the grass, although I could hear Colin’s raspy breathing next to Rachel.
At the corner of the house I held up a hand. We could hear harsh, heavy breathing from the back yard, and the rhythmical sound of a shovel hitting the dirt.
I looked at Rachel and Colin. Colin nodded. Rachel slid her hand into her pocket. I shook my head. She pouted, but pulled her hand out.
I stepped around the corner of the house. “Kirk?”
He jerked around, slamming the shovel into the ground. Kirk was stockier than Colin, a little shorter, with a longer beard. “Who the hell are you?”
I started to speak, but Colin stepped forward. “I’m Colin Mannes.” His voice was firmer than I expected. “I’m—your brother.”
Kirk cocked his head, staring at him. He looked us over. Then he yanked the shovel up out of the dirt and held it in front of him.
“Who are these guys?” he asked.
“They’re my friends.” Colin glanced at Rachel and me. “They’re helping me. I started getting messages from—from mom.”
Kirk blinked. “Mom’s dead.”
“Yeah. So is dad. You been hearing from him?”
Kirk stared at us.
“What are you digging up?” I asked.
He looked down at the hole. “Dad told me to find it.”
“So he’s sending you messages too?”
Kirk took a step forward, blocking the hole. “It’s mine. He told me so. You can’t have it.”
Colin spread his hands. “That’s fine. I don’t even know what it is. You can have it. I just want mom to leave me alone.”
“Mom?” Kirk snarled. “I don’t have a mom. They never let me—they only told me about dad. He was gone.”
“He killed mom. He was in prison. Didn’t they ever tell you that?”
Kirk lifted the shovel with both hands like a weapon. “Just stay away.”
“No one wants to hurt you,” I told him. “We just want to know what’s going on with you and your parents.”
Kirk stepped back, around the edge of the hole he’d dug. He dropped the shovel and knelt, reaching down. Grunting, he hauled something up out of the ground—a big metal box, about two feet long and 12 inches deep. He dropped it on the sheet of plastic.
He grinned. “Just like dad said.”
I looked at Colin. He shrugged, as puzzled as me. I looked at Rachel. She stared at Kirk, her hand clutching the handgun in her pocket as she tried to read him.
“Anything?” I whispered.
Rachel shook her head. “I’m not sure—”
Kirk unsnapped the metal lid and pulled it up. I couldn’t see inside, and I took a tentative step to the side. He didn’t say anything as I leaned over, slowly moving the flashlight’s beam toward the box.
I caught a glimpse of green—cash. Something wrapped in plastic—the shape of a handgun. And a small white envelope.
Kirk picked up the envelope. It was sealed. He ripped it open and bent his head to look inside. Then he turned it over, dumping out something bright and shiny. A gold ring. Two rings. They dropped onto the plastic.
“What’s that?” Colin asked. “Is that—”
Rachel gasped. “He’s here. They’re here.”
I looked around. “Who?”
Before she could answer, Kirk had slipped one of the rings onto his finger. His eyes flared wide, and he sank back, suddenly breathing hard. He blinked rapidly, and held his hand up to his face, staring at the ring.
Then he stood up, holding the other ring. “Put this on, son.”
Colin’s jaw fell open. “Dad?”
“Put it on.” Kirk tossed the ring.
It hit Colin’s chest and fell into the grass. Colin stared at his brother. “What the hell?”
I glanced at Rachel. “Is that—”
“The rings,” she whispered.
Eileen’s wedding ring was gone when they found her body. Did Bradley take it? Could he—
“Put it on!” Kirk—Bradley?—bent over the box. He snatched up the plastic, scattering a handful of $20 bills across the ground. Then the plastic fell away, and Kirk was holding a handgun. “Put it on!”
Colin stood in shock, his mouth open. Before Kirk could shout again he was on his knees, frantically searching the grass. “Okay—okay—wait—wait!” He jumped up, the ring in his fingers.
“Go on, son,” Kirk snapped. “Do what I say.”
Colin nodded, his eyes locked on his brother’s face. His hands trembled as he slid the ring down one finger, and then he staggered back, catching his breath as if a cold wind had pushed him off balance. He blinked, rubbed his eyes, and looked again at Kirk.
“B-Bradley? Brad?” His voice quivered, like an old woman.
Kirk smiled. But it wasn’t a friendly smile of welcome. “Hi, Ell.”
“W-what’s going on?” He turned his face to look at me and Rachel. Then he looked down at his body. Then Colin stared at Kirk. “How are you here?”
“Mom. Lillian, you know?” He shuffled on his feet, unsteady. “She took my ring when they came to the police station. After I fuckin’ killed you.”
“You took Eileen’s ring too,” I said, surprised to hear myself speaking without my voice shaking.
“She threw it at me.” Kirk—Bradley—gestured toward Colin. Eileen. “Told me to get out of there. Told me you didn’t want to see me anymore. Yelled at me to stay away from your son. You didn’t know—” He laughed. “After I was done I put it on my other finger. The cops didn’t notice. Mom took them both. She said—it would bring me back.” His eyes flickered. “I didn’t know what she meant. Not then.”
I looked over at Rachel. She glanced down, toward her pocket—her hand on the gun. I nodded and edged closer to her.
“What’s with the money there?” I looked at the hole. Then I remembered. Three meth dealers murdered. Just a few days before Eileen. “You killed those meth dealers? Nineteen years ago?”
Kirk cocked his head, as if searching his memory. “Yeah. Yeah, I did that. Went to their house to buy, and they tried to rob me, so I—I was pretty drunk, but I managed to get their gun and shoot them, and then I took their money and burned the place down.”
“And buried it in your mom’s backyard.”
“When?” Colin’s voice cracked. “When did you—”
“The night before,” Kirk snapped. “The night before you got me so mad, so goddamned mad—you bitch. You worthless bitch!”
He pointed the pistol at Colin.
Rachel pulled the Glock from her pocket. I held my hand out, and Rachel passed the Glock to me.
I pointed it into the sky and squeezed the trigger.
The gunshot roared in the air. Kirk jumped back, his eyes wide, and his finger jerked the trigger of his pistol.
Nothing happened. He looked down and yanked the trigger again. This time the gun barked, jumping in his hand, and Kirk dropped it, cursing.
Rachel rushed forward for the shovel. I moved to have a clear shot at him if I needed it—hoping I wouldn’t—but Rachel snatched up the shovel as he lunged forward. She hit Kirk on the side of his head before he could get near her, and he dropped to the ground, groaning and clutching his skull.
I dropped my gun and raced toward him. “The ring,” I ordered as I grabbed his arms. “Get the ring.”
Kirk struggled, rolling on the ground, but Rachel caught his wrist and clawed at his fingers. It took her a moment, but she managed to pull the ring free and clutch it in her fist.
Kirk sagged on the ground, gasping.
Colin stood over us. “Bradley? Is he—”
Rachel scrambled to her feet, took Colin’s arm, and yanked his mother’s ring from his finger. Colin staggered back, blinking, and looked around as if he’d forgotten where he was and who we were.
I picked up Kirk’s pistol. When I’d bought my Glock, the woman who trained me and Rachel on using it had warned us to keep it clean even if we didn’t fire it. I’d figured a handgun buried underground for 19 years wouldn’t behave well or fire accurately. Fortunately it hadn’t blown Kirk’s hand off.
I scampered around, gathering up the loose bills, the envelope, the plastic covering, and everything else, and pushed it all back into the metal box, slamming it shut. Then I sat there, letting my heart return to a reasonably normal rhythm, listening to everyone catching their breath.
Rachel put a hand on my shoulder. “Now what?”
I turned. Kirk was sitting up, looking confused. “Who are you people?”
Colin stepped toward him, his arm out to help him stand. “I’m your brother. Colin.”
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