Free The Dead Drop by Jennifer Allison Page B

psychic investigator, aren’t you? Maybe Lincoln’s ghost just wants to get to know you.”
    “I guess. . . .” Gilda’s voice trailed off. She caught her breath because a light suddenly flashed in her room. She put the telephone down and watched as it happened again—and then again—a repetitive series of flashes: on, off, on, off.
    “Gilda? Are you there?”
    “Something’s going on here, Wendy,” Gilda whispered.
    “What’s happening?”
    “I need to check this out. I’ll call you later.”
    “But—”
    Gilda hung up the phone and realized that the light was coming from outside her window. She opened the blinds and looked across the courtyard into rows of apartments that were dark—except for one fifth-floor window where lights were flashing: on, off, on, off. Gilda watched for a minute, transfixed. What was going on in that apartment?
    Gilda remembered how the mousy woman had stared through that same apartment window. Her face had been plain. Maybe she wore glasses. There was nothing striking about her at all, but the simple fact of seeing her staring with such intensity through the window had filled Gilda with trepidation.
    TO: GILDA JOYCE
    FROM: GILDA JOYCE
    RE: ADDENDUM TO PSYCHIC REPORT--MYSTERIOUS ELECTRICAL ACTIVITY IN CATHEDRAL TOWERS APARTMENTS
     
     
    Following recording of potentially psychic dream and conversation with Wendy Choy, lights are seen flashing in a 5th-floor apartment where a suspicious-looking woman lives.
    Is this a coincidence, or is there a connection between the dream about Lincoln and the lights? Could the lights be a signal of some kind--or possible evidence of a poltergeist?
    Now feeling even more bewildered and intrigued than when she had first awoken from the dream about Abraham Lincoln, Gilda pulled a book entitled Haunted Government: The Famous Ghosts of Washington, D.C. from her suitcase and turned to a passage about Lincoln’s ghost.
    LINCOLN—OUR “GUARDIAN GHOST”?
    Abraham Lincoln’s ghost has appeared to many visitors at the White House. Some have claimed to see his somber silhouette standing at the window of the Oval Office, gazing out at the nation with an attitude of concern.
    Lincoln experienced personal tragedy and profound grief during his term in office, and the weighty emotions associated with his life may be one reason his spirit continues to linger after death. Adding to Lincoln’s deep concern over the plight of the nation during the bloody battles of the Civil War was the trauma of the death of his beloved son Willie, who passed away from an illness during Lincoln’s presidency. Lincoln’s wife held séances in the Green Room of the White House, some of which Lincoln was reported to have attended.
    President Lincoln was also known to sit for hours by his young son’s tomb, weeping openly and even asking that the crypt be opened so he could view the boy’s lifeless body once more.
    While the moments of anguish associated with Lincoln’s family are sufficient explanation for his ghost’s moody presence around the White House, a perhaps more intriguing theory put forth by some psychics is the notion that Lincoln remains a “guardian spirit” of the nation, appearing at times of danger. Whether his ghost’s message is perceived depends on the emotional and psychic sensitivity of the officials in the White House at any given time.
     
    If Lincoln’s ghost is a “guardian spirit” of the nation, is it possible that he has a message for me, is it possible that this word “Oakhill” and those flashing lights are pointing to some type of spy activity I’m supposed to investigate?

11

    The Museum Ghost
    Surrounded by an assortment of antique toiletries including “Southern Rose” hair oil, “Dri-Dew” deodorant, perfume bottles, and a silver hairbrush and mirror, the Spy Museum’s manager of exhibit production stared at the lipstick pistol and secret-camera brooch he had just installed in the Sisterhood of Spies room. His name was