Free Resurrecting Harry by Constance Phillips

one word about this? Bess, this throws a big wrench into that plan. You can’t be the seated medium.”
    “I realize that.” Bess’s posture loosened. Her shoulders dropped. “I apologize. I was being selfish. I wanted to learn, so that Harry might contact me before the séance.”
    Gail wrung her hands on the table as she scowled. “I do understand that, and if I’m to be honest I had selfish reasons for wanting to help you. I hoped teaching you might undo some of the damage Harry caused to my reputation.”
    Now filling Gail’s cup, Erich had to fight his — no, Harry’s — reaction to the accusations. As if he were somehow responsible for the lies she told. Whatever the public now thought of Gail, she deserved. Defending the man whose soul breathed inside him might satisfy the spirit, but could very well damage the progress he’d made with Bess. So, he bit his lip and moved on to Martin’s cup. 
    “I thought as much,” Bess answered. “And that’s why I’ve decided to ask you to take the honored seat. Would you serve as medium, Gail?”
    “Bess!” Martin said. “You know that as much as Harry adored the spotlight and the drama, he will not show. He may have loved to escape the inescapable, but will not give credence to the very spiritualists he cursed, especially Gail. Anyone who believes differently is a fool.”
    “This world holds so little for me now that Harry is gone, but I believe in our love and his word. He promised to come back. If it can be done, he’ll get the message through. If he fails, I’ll forgive him.” Her words may have shown conviction, but her trembling hands and the slight tilt of her jaw told Erich just how much uncertainty existed beneath the surface.
    “I want to do it,” Gail answered as she straightened her spine. “Bess is right. Harry’s commitment to her will outweigh any distaste he had for me.”
    Erich stepped away from the table, but continued to eavesdrop as he leaned against the counter. Martin had unraveled the heart of his plan — no one would ever falsely claim to have contacted him in death, the way many  spiritualists — including Gail — claimed to converse with his dead mother. No one would steal his spotlight with lies. He’d made sure of that.
    But Gail, in all of her arrogance, believed she could come away from this the victor. That Harry would really allow her to ride his coat-tails to fame?
    But if Bess holds her séance on the anniversary of your death, she’ll draw your spirit from its new home and you’ll be condemned to an afterlife of vast darkness.
    Erich’s heart ached as if Jaden were squeezing it tight between his massive hands. Those words rang over and over in Erich’s mind. How could he use the séance to prove Gail’s dishonesty? He was mandated to flat-out stop it.
    “Remember why you are here,” Jaden had said.
    To save Bess was the only acceptable answer. Erich had become so caught up in reclaiming Harry’s life, that he’d forgotten his first and foremost goal: getting Bess to abandon the séance.
    “You said a small gathering, Bess. You want no press or theatrics?” Martin asked, drawing Erich’s focus back to the conversation.
    A Cheshire-cat smile curved her lips. “I said we’d honor Harry; of course there’ll be theatrics and publicity. He wouldn’t have it any other way.” She pulled a paper from her purse and unfolded it.  Laying it on the table in front of Martin, she smoothed it with her hands. “I just came from the newspaper, where I ran this advertisement.”
    Martin’s eyes scanned the page. The color faded from his face. “Have you really thought this out, Bess? Offering a $10,000 reward to the person who can deliver the message is inviting a long line of crazy and greedy people to your doorstep.”  He flipped his attention to his wife. “This could easily become a circus, Gail. I don’t think it’s a good idea to associate with it.”
    Had Hell frozen over? For the first time in a