The Silent Ghost (6 page)

In response, Tanisha gave her a shrug and a small, lopsided grin.

Kelly went back to checking out the documents. “Seems the previous owner was a Rhoda Saatela.” Kelly looked up. “I wonder if we’d be able to find her? Doesn’t sound like a common name.”

Again, Tanisha went to her desk. This time she fired up her laptop. “I subscribe to a pretty good people search site. Let’s see if she’s listed anywhere.”

Granny followed Tanisha to the desk. “Now you girls are cookin’.”

While Tanisha searched for Rhoda Saatela, Kelly buried herself in the real estate documents, hoping to find more clues to past owners. “Says here the building was converted from a warehouse into lofts in the late 1990s.” She held up a real estate flyer.

Tanisha glanced over at it. “Yes, I remember that. It’s the sell sheet the seller’s realtor was handing out.” They both went back to their tasks.

After a few minutes, Kelly heard Granny say, “Leave Tanisha alone.”

Whipping her head around, Kelly saw Granny confronting a ghost standing directly behind Tanisha. Granny was next to it, her head tilted up as she shook a finger in the taller spirit’s face. “She
can’t help you if you’re bothering her.”

At the laptop, Tanisha was still working away, but her fingers were moving slowly. Every now and then, she stopped and shook her head like a dog shaking off water.

Kelly jumped off her stool. In two long strides she was at the desk. “Tanisha, you okay?”

“Yeah,” she answered, but her words came slow. “I’m mentally fighting her off, like you said, but it’s hard.” She kept working, her hand guiding the mouse through a list of names. “Can you see her? The ghost—can you see her clearly?”

“Yes.” Kelly studied the ghost standing behind the desk. She didn’t appear to be angry or vindictive. She simply hovered in silence over Tanisha like a heavy rain cloud, her face tragic and forlorn.

“I can see and hear you,” Kelly said to the spirit. “We’re all here to help you. Tell me what you want.”

Granny wedged herself between Tanisha and the spirit, their hazy forms blurring around the edges. The other ghost backed up a few feet. “These girls want to help you,” Granny explained to the spirit. “They’re friends to us on the other side.”

Kelly grabbed a large notepad off of Tanisha’s desk, then pulled a pen from a heavy mug pressed into service as a pencil holder. “Can you tell us your name?” she asked as she quickly went to work sketching the ghost.

The spirit said nothing, but backed up a few more steps. The further she moved away from Tanisha, the less her hold on her seemed to be.

Tanisha stopped working and took several deep breaths. “My head’s clearing.” She swiveled in her desk chair until she faced the ghost. “I’m Tanisha. This is Kelly and Granny,” she explained to the spirit. “I asked them to help me help you.”

The wary spirit said nothing but looked at the two living women, then at Granny, her head moving slowly as she took in each.

Continuing to sketch, Kelly asked Tanisha, “You look awful. How do you feel?”

“Better, but still pretty low.” Tanisha rubbed her chest. “It’s almost like a weight sitting on my chest.” She turned back to the laptop. “There are more Saatelas than you’d think in New England, but I found a Rhoda Saatela Browne in Weston.”

Kelly stopped drawing. “Weston’s west of here, isn’t it?”

“Yes, about twenty miles away, if that.” Tanisha got up and went to the kitchen counter where she’d set her cell phone. She brought it back to the desk and started punching in numbers as she read them from the screen.

“You’re just going to call her up?” asked Kelly.

“Why not? I cold-call leads on stories all the time. Nothing to it.” While they waited for the call to be answered, both of them watched the spirit hovering a few feet away. Granny had posted herself as a guard, keeping the unhappy ghost away from Tanisha.

“It’s voice mail,” she said to Kelly. “Hi,” Tanisha spoke into the phone when the tone sounded, “My name is Tanisha Costello. I bought the loft in Cambridge earlier this year from you and wanted to ask you a few questions about it. Nothing major. I just thought you could help me with some history on the place.” She left her number.

“Hopefully,” she said, putting her phone down, “that’s the right Rhoda Saatela, and she’ll be willing to have a little chat.”

Tanisha walked away from the desk and paced, continuing to shake off the depression the ghost had layered on like thick icing. “You think maybe Saatela sold the place because of the ghost?”

“There’s a thought.” Kelly held the drawing up, looking between it and its subject, comparing and making a few changes. “Even if she couldn’t see or hear it, she might have felt negative vibes in the loft.”

“This ghost still trying to drain you?” Granny asked Tanisha. Kelly relayed Granny’s question to her.

“Not as much, Granny,” Tanisha answered. “But boy, I’m whipped. Every time it happens, I feel like I can hardly move.”

“Well, this is sort of what your ghost-friend looks like.” Kelly held out the hasty drawing for inspection.

Tanisha came back to the desk and took the notepad. “Wow, you’re pretty good at this. Maybe you have a career ahead of you as a sketch artist for the police.”

“Very funny,” Kelly shot back.

On the pad Kelly had sketched a young woman wearing jeans and a snug light-colored t-shirt with a slightly bare midriff. On her feet were hiking boots. Her hair was shoulder-length, straight, and layered.

Tanisha glanced up from the drawing to the hazy blob, but saw no resemblance. “And her age?”

“Hard to say, but if I had to guess, twenty-something, and I think her hair is light to medium brown.”

“You know, she looks sort of familiar, but living around here, with so many students in the area, I see tons of girls this age. And jeans and a t-shirt—that style has been pretty generic for the past few decades.”

Kelly nodded in agreement. “True, but the hair is sleek and modern. I mean, it’s not teased or flipped on the ends or anything like that. And look at her jeans. They aren’t skinny jeans. They’re much looser than what we wear today. And see here?” Kelly pointed to a dark spot on the leg of the jeans just above the knee. “That’s a rip or hole.”

Tanisha looked confused. “So she’s fairly contemporary but not too much so?”

“Exactly.”

“I guess that blows the idea that I might know her.” Again, Tanisha looked back and forth between the drawing and the hazy figure. “So this is what she was wearing when she died?”

“I think so. At least my mom says ghosts wear what they last had on.”

“But she’s not talking?”

Kelly shook her head. “Not yet.”

Tanisha started to ask another question when her phone rang. She answered it. “It’s Rhoda Saatela,” she hissed to Kelly with a hand over the mouthpiece.

“Hi,” Tanisha said into the phone, infusing her voice with an energy she didn’t feel. “Thank you so much for calling back. I just have a few questions for you about the history of the loft and the building here and was hoping you could help.” Tanisha listened, then looked at Kelly and rolled her eyes.

“Oh, no,” said Granny, after catching the gesture. “She does it, too. Must be contagious.”

Kelly shot Granny a scowl and put a finger to her lips, letting Granny know to be quiet. The other ghost seemed to have disappeared.

“Why?” asked the cranky spirit. “You’re the only one who can hear me.”

“Yes, I know I might be able to ask the title company to run some sort of report, but they’re not open today. I really need some information this weekend.”

Tanisha listened again, then said, “Look, here’s the thing, I understand this building has a unique history and I’m a writer. I thought it might make for a good human interest story. I’m interviewing other owners in the building, too.”

She paused again, but this time it was much longer. Kelly didn’t know if the other person was giving Tanisha a rundown on the place or giving her an earful for calling out of the blue.

Finally, Tanisha said, “I understand, Mrs. Browne. Yes. You have a nice day, too.”

When she finished the call, Tanisha went into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge. She held it up to Kelly, asking by gesture if she wanted one. Kelly nodded and walked towards the kitchen. Before she got there, Tanisha tossed the bottle to her and got another out for herself.

“My news nose tells me she knows something.” Tanisha twisted the top off the water bottle and took a drink.

“About the building or about the ghost?”

“I’m not sure, but she sounded nervous when I asked about the building. Almost like she wanted to help, then decided not to for some reason.” She looked around, but the only spirit she saw was Granny. “The other ghost is gone, right? I don’t see her or feel her.”

“Yes,” answered Kelly. “She took off while you were on the phone.”

Tanisha continued sipping water while thinking. A minute later, she put the water bottle down on the counter with a determined thud and headed for the closet. “Feel like a road trip?”

“To where?” Kelly asked after taking a drink of water.

“Weston, where else?”

Tanisha returned to the sofa, sat down, and started pulling on a pair of short boots. “I’ve interviewed enough people in my short career to know Rhoda Saatela knows something important. I think with a little personal nudge, she’ll talk.” Once her boots were in place, she went to the laptop and hit a few buttons. The printer on the desk came to life and spit out a piece of paper, which Tanisha grabbed.

“So you’re just going to go out there, without an invitation, and start grilling her?”

Tanisha grabbed a light jacket from an antique coatrack by the door. “Isn’t that a little like the pot calling the kettle black?”

“I wanna go,” said Granny, levitating with excitement.

“Listen, Kelly, what’s the worst that could happen?”

Kelly shrugged.

“She’ll either say yes or no.” Tanisha returned to the kitchen counter to retrieve her bag and the keys she’d left next to it. She slipped the phone into a side pocket of the bag. “If she says no and I get pushy, maybe she’ll threaten to call the cops or turn the family dog on us, if they have one. But that’s about it.”

“What about her family?”

Tanisha smiled. She had a lovely smile, though her eyes drooped with exhaustion. “That big silent
period just now on the phone?” Tanisha slipped into her jacket. “She was talking to someone. I think it was her husband. I heard him say he’d probably be back after suppertime. And she said not to worry, she had stuff to do around the house and would just heat something up for herself.” Tanisha flashed Kelly another smile. “That woman is going to be home alone, and that’s a perfect time to convince her to talk.”

“Go on, Kelly,” Granny urged. “T needs backup.”

Kelly wasn’t so sure.

“In or out, Whitecastle?” Tanisha dangled the car keys in front of Kelly and shook them. “If not, I’ll drop you off at your dorm on my way out of town.” She picked up Kelly’s drawing. “Mind if I take this?”

Before Kelly could answer, Granny sidled up to her and whispered, “What would Emma do?”

It only took a few minutes to drive from Tanisha’s place to Kelly’s dorm. Halfway there, Kelly said, “Okay, I’m in if you let me shower and put on clean clothes before we go.”

“How long is that going to take?” Tanisha glanced over at her. “You one of those girly-girls that takes forever to get ready?”

“Come on, I’m pretty sweaty from my run.” Kelly grinned at her. “But today I’ll cut you a special deal. Fifteen minutes tops.”

True to her word, Kelly was back at Tanisha’s Mini Cooper in just under fifteen minutes, freshly showered and dressed in jeans and a sea green sweater. In one hand was a jacket and in the other her backpack. Her long hair was clipped up off her shoulders. Her face was makeup free. Kelly removed the clip and let her hair fall free. She squirmed in her seat. “I’m still wet and soapy in some spots.”

Tanisha laughed and started the car.

As soon as she was buckled up and they were on their way, Kelly dug into her backpack and pulled out some fruit. “I brought along a couple of apples and bananas. That bagel isn’t going to last long.”

“You didn’t need to do that,” said Tanisha, glancing over. “I’m sure there are plenty of Dunkin Donuts along the way.”

“Not exactly healthy.”

Tanisha shot another look at Kelly Whitecastle. “And if I light up a cigarette, you going to picket for a smoke-free car?”

“You don’t smoke. If you did, I’d have smelled it by now.”

“Don’t give me a reason to start.”

“Apple or banana?” Kelly held one of each up.

“Apple,” answered Tanisha. “Bananas are too phallic.” Kelly held out an apple, which Tanisha grabbed with her right hand. In short order she took a big bite. It was delicious.

“Don’t worry,” Kelly told her. “I rinsed it before I left.”

“Sure it doesn’t need to be rolled around in antiseptic hand gel, too?”

“Go ahead and laugh,” Kelly told her as she peeled a banana. “It wasn’t me huffing and puffing the other night after leaving Gabby’s. I take care of myself.”

“Your mother teach you that? I’ve seen photos of her. She’s beautiful.”

“Mom exercises almost every day and watches her diet, but she’s not a fanatic about it. Both of her parents are in great shape, and Grandpa is a retired surgeon. So eating right and exercising runs in the family. My dad takes care of himself, too. Guess that comes from being on TV.”

Kelly held up the banana so Tanisha could see it and took a big, almost obscene bite of it. Tanisha laughed so hard, she nearly choked on her apple. “Now if I was a gossip-rag reporter, I’d be snapping off photos of that and selling them to the highest bidder.”

They ate in silence as they traveled along Route 20, finishing up just before Watertown. While she waited for Kelly to clean up, Tanisha had plugged Rhoda Saatela’s address into her GPS. “So where’s Granny?” Tanisha asked as they drove along the route mapped out for them.

Kelly was staring out the window. The further they got from busy Boston, the more charming and quaint the area became. As much as she missed California, she liked New England and the changing seasons and lush foliage of the spring, summer, and fall months. She didn’t even mind the snow and cold. “She’ll pop up when she feels like it. Ghosts need to disappear and recharge every now and then. They materialize by drawing on the heat energy around them,” she explained. “That’s why it gets so cold when they’re around. When that’s used up, they have to go away for a while.” Kelly looked over at Tanisha and smiled. “Trust me, she wouldn’t miss interrogating the Saatela woman for anything, even if
she can’t do it personally.”