Free Haven by Kay Hooper Page B

people took what work they could get, even if that meant the illegal transport of liquor. Besides, it’s not like it was a popular law with broad support.”
    “True enough. And at least that ancestor of ours had the sense to share the wealth with the town. Anyway, given the…temperament…of those times, I’m guessing this house saw a fair amount of violence.” She drew a breath, and let it out in a quick sigh. “I’m told spirits generally don’t bear the marks of whatever killed them, and that’s been my experience up ’til now, but that woman has a bullet hole over her left breast.” Jessie paused, then added dryly, “I find that unnerving, and I’d rather not look at it.”
    “Which is why you’re going out again.”
    “Well, that and the practical need to look at the rest of the properties on this list Trent gave me and decide if I want to keep any of it. My reasonable excuse for wandering around, remember? Penny had the cook pack a lunch for me in case I’m out the rest of the day.” She lifted the lightweight backpack at her feet and shrugged into it.
    “You’re going alone?”
    “Sure. It’s a nice day for a hike, and none of this property is all that far from town. And since the houses are farther apart and we can’t claim a war battlefield in this area, I’m not quite as likely to encounter more distracting spirits while I ramble around.”
    Frowning again, Emma said, “This psychic stuff really is bothering you, isn’t it? I thought working for Haven had helped.”
    “So did I.”
    “Maybe you should call them, tell them what’s going on.”
    “I’ve reported in.” Jessie kept her voice casual. “But we learn to control this stuff by being exposed to it, so maybe it’s a good thing that Baron Hollow is so…haunted. Anyway, Maggie told me to concentrate on what I came here to do, and that’s settle with the past.”
    “You said you talked to Victor.”
    “Yeah, nice and civilized.” She hadn’t confided in Emma about the flash of memories that meeting had triggered, and didn’t intend to. Not, at least, until she could clearly recall what had happened at that particular party; she wasn’t about to leave Emma here in what should be her safe home with the certain knowledge that three or four men she quite likely knew had brutalized her sister fifteen years before,
especially
not when she couldn’t be sure just who had been in that room.
    “Jessie—”
    “I’m okay, Emma. Just jumpy today, and a long walk sounds like a good idea.”
    “Just be careful, will you, please?”
    Jessie looked at her curiously. “Now you’re sounding as jumpy as I feel. Any special reason?”
    “No. No reason. Just…there are a lot of tourists in town, a lot of strangers.”
    “I’ll be fine. See you later, probably by suppertime.”
    Emma watched her sister walk out of Rayburn House, and bit back a sigh. They were still strangers, or as good as. Jessie was restless inside the house, quick to leave on her own to “ramble” aroundelsewhere, and she never had much to say when she came back. On top of which, Emma was positive she was having nightmares.
    She had nearly confided her own nightmares more than once, but the timing had never seemed right. Besides which, she hadn’t had a nightmare since before Jessie had come home, and had already half convinced herself that it was just as the doctor had said, her recovering brain reliving a traumatic event.
    Which was why she had been so caught off guard when Jessie had asked her about recent murders.
    I should have talked to her about the nightmares then.
But she had let that moment pass because the nightmares had seemed so…insignificant. Just dreams, and with a logical explanation for them—her accident. How could they be anything else?
    HE HAD ENJOYED tracking her. He knew the forest, the mountain trails, like the back of his hand, so it was a simple thing to shadow her, to move parallel to the trail she followed.
    He didn’t need a