Free C.F. Fowler - Marion Rogers 01 - A Ghost's Vengeance by C.F. Fowler

the address. She didn’t tell Gordon she was flying directly into San Diego. She hoped it would be a nice surprise.
      As she was finishing her tasks, Beth and Katie came out and asked if they could have a snack. Marion stood and wondered how best to determine whether this was okay or not when the doorbell rang. Katie squealed and ran to the door.
      She opened it to find a woman about her age with a suitcase in hand. Her brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail; she stood about 5’6” and wore a New York Football Giants t-shirt and blue jeans.
      “There are my girls!” Aunt Helen said happily.
      Both girls embraced her. Marion thought how great it was to turn a bad situation into a good one.
      Marion walked to the door and put her hand out, “Hello, I’m Marion. I assume you are the famous Aunt Helen?”
      Helen smiled and shook her hand. “Absolutely! Addy said you would be here. I was hoping to have a few words.” She hugged the girls again and suggested they go to the playroom and she would bring them a snack.
      As they sat on the sofa Marion said, “You must have been reading their minds, they just asked me if they could have something to eat.”
      Helen smiled, “With kids you can always count on them wanting something to eat. No supernatural gift here. But I hear very differently about you.”
      Marion smiled but said nothing.
      “Have you really been communicating with Catherine as Addy says?”
      “Yes.”
      “And what does my sister-in-law have to say?”
      Marion was startled. She was unsure as to Helen’s relationship to the family, but it was now clear she was Peter’s sister. “She is obsessed with a man in San Diego. Someone she feels is harming children.” She was intentionally vague.
      “A pedophile? Like my brother?”
      Marion was startled. She was unsure on how much to say. “Yes.”
      Helen shook her head. “Peter condemned her to this. Damn him to hell!”
      Marion felt uneasy about this conversation. She felt ill-equipped to discuss pedophiles with family members. All she could muster for a response was, “I’m sorry’”
      Helen smiled and apologized. She explained that she only found out about her brother after Catherine had died. She had stopped by the house to check on the family and found Peter completely blitzed and babbling about Catherine’s accusations. She packed up the girls and took them to her house for a few days. When she returned to check on her brother, he had no idea what she was talking about. He said he wanted the girls returned to him immediately. Evidently Helen was no pushover. She told him to send the police to take them from her. The next day, Addy came by and told her Peter was relinquishing custody to her. She was happy to let Addy take the girls. The next week her brother was dead.
      “Fell down the stairs. Blood alcohol level was 30%!” Helen stood and walked toward the fireplace. She turned toward Marion and said, “I hope he burns in hell!”
      Marion stood and said. “I have an early appointment in the morning in New Rochelle.”
    As she turned to leave, Helen asked, “Could you bring Catherine here? Now?”
    Marion turned and said, “No, I see spirits. I don’t call them. Catherine goes where she wants, when she wants. That’s why I came here. I had hoped to be able to talk to her without her prey present. He’s a squirrelly little man that can’t sit still for more than a few minutes.”
    Helen nodded. “I just wanted her to know that I never knew. I would have done something, said something if I had even the slightest inkling he was … what he was.”  Her voice trailed off. She seemed to be living with the guilt despite the fact she had no part in Peter’s monstrous activities.
    “The next time I get the opportunity to talk to her, I’ll mention that. She’s not always rational. She exists on her anger, it drives her, motivates her. It’s not easy having a casual conversation with