Allegra Fairweather_ Paranormal Investigator - Janni Nell [58]
“You must keep away from the cairn,” I said. “I think the shade of Vanora has joined Leith there.”
“But Vanora wasn’t murdered here. She was murdered in England near Everington Hill. How could her spirit have moved so far from the place of her death?”
“The desire to be reunited with Leith. Love is a very powerful motivator.”
“So you think I should keep away from the cairn?”
I nodded. “But the best thing would be to leave Beag Glen altogether. Vanora would have no use for you if you no longer lived near the cairn.”
“But where would I go?”
When I first met Jenny she had mentioned moving to Beag Glen after winning The Pools.
“Where did you live before you came to Scotland?” I asked.
“In Everington Hill.”
A shiver ran through me. “The same place Vanora was murdered.” Somehow I didn’t think it was a coincidence. It seemed that the shade of Vanora had attached itself to Jenny and brought her to Beag Glen, presumably to help provide a heart for Leith. Why had Vanora chosen Jenny? I didn’t know. Only Vanora could answer that.
Jenny whispered, “I don’t want to help Vanora and Leith commit murder. Isn’t there something you can do? What if I hired you to get rid of Leith’s spirit?”
“It’s not easy to remove a spirit who’s been entrenched for hundreds of years.”
“You could try.”
It was highly unlikely I’d succeed.
“Jenny, I have to be honest with you. I don’t have the skill for that. The best advice I can give you is to build a fence around the cairn to keep people out. Then, for your own sake, you should leave Beag Glen.”
“There’s no other way?”
I shook my head but I knew she wouldn’t follow my advice. She was like an addict with a drug. And there were no rehab clinics for an addiction to the paranormal.
After leaving Jenny’s cottage—I hated that I couldn’t help her—I headed back to Furness.
On the way I reviewed my meeting with Scarlett Gordon. She had lied to me about the type of spell she had put on the loch, and she had refused to let me meet her houseguest. Those things might mean everything or nothing.
Frankly I was no closer to solving this case. I should have been annoyed but secretly I was pleased. When I finally solved the case, Casper would return to Cloud 9. The longer the case lasted, the more time I got to spend with him.
Okay it was crunch time—time to admit how I really felt about him.
I was alone in the car but I didn’t say the words aloud in case Casper was hanging around. To myself I said, “I want him.”
Maybe I didn’t want him bad yet. But I wanted him. And I couldn’t have him. Any physical intimacy between us could set his chances of entering Heaven back thousands of years. If I really cared about Casper, I must never ever let him know how I felt.
But how could I continue to work with him and keep my feelings hidden?
I told myself I was strong. I would find a way.
Chapter Fifteen
When I reached Furness, I called Wanda. It was evening in San Diego so I didn’t wake her, which was just as well because Wanda hates to be woken up in the middle of the night.
“Allegra, I’d love to talk but I’m late for a date with the most gorgeous guy.”
“Lucky you.”
“Can I call you tomorrow?” she asked. “We can have a long talk then.”
“Sure, but I need some information. The case isn’t going well.” I paused while she murmured something sympathetic, then I went on. “Why would a teenage girl put a spell on a loch?”
“What kind of lock? On a door? A diary?”
“No a loch. L-O-C-H.”
“Oh.” Wanda sounded stumped. “Now if you were talking about a lock on a diary, I’d say she was trying to keep secrets—boyfriend secrets—to herself. That’s what I did when I was a teenager. Of course my spells didn’t work. Except for that time—”
I interrupted. “The woman who cast the spell. She said it was to help her catch more fish.”
“Oh bull,