same kid. Except that ghosts didn’t exist.
“Is it possible that someone could have tampered with these files?” he asked.
“Toby and I had our cameras all night, and she gave me her memory cards before she left. After that, we went to your room. No one else has had access to any of the cards.”
“And after you left, there’s no chance that anyone could have tampered with the images?”
“No. I live alone. I didn’t see anyone else until you pulled me over; and if you’re subtly suggesting that I Photoshopped a missing child into wedding pictures…” The pitch of her voice rose with her anger.
“I’m just trying to understand what’s happening.”
She pushed away from the table and stood. “What’s happening is that apparently this kid is dead and wants someone to know it!” Blowing out a puff of air, Meaghan stared at the ceiling. “I know you don’t believe me, but my sister is a medium.”
“Meaning?” he asked.
She met his gaze. “She sees spirits. And can communicate with them.”
Meaghan could read the disbelief on Eli’s face.
“And you can, too?”
“No. Kind of. No. Once.” She took a breath. “I saw spirits once, but there were extenuating circumstances. It’s not something I can just do. I’ve never taken pictures of them before. This is new to me.”
She chanced a look at Eli. He sat there in his uniform, studying her as one might study a particularly odd species of insect. “Are there more pictures of her?” he asked, nodding toward the screen.
Slumping back against the wall, she nodded. “There’s at least one more. After I made the connection with Ava, I headed straight here. I haven’t been through the rest of them yet.”
Eli reached over and clicked to the next picture. Looking at the fear on the child’s face sent chills down Meaghan’s spine. She glanced at him. He looked decidedly unnerved by that image.
“After I saw that one, I decided to come in and project them onto the screen.”
Nodding absently, he moved to the next photograph. The subject was someone else, but the bride’s uncle was still visible in the corner of the frame. And so was Ava.
Eli clicked through the pictures, scanning each one, looking for the ghostly figure while Meaghan did the same. The next photo made her catch her breath, and it wasn’t because Ava made an appearance. It was a photo of her and Eli dancing. Toby must have taken it before she’d tucked her memory cards into Meaghan’s camera bag.
She was surprised that the computer didn’t spontaneously combust because of the heat generated in that photograph. They’d clearly been oblivious to the rest of the world, and Eli looked as if he’d wanted to slam her against the wall and fuck her right there. She couldn’t honestly say she would have stopped him.
Clearing her throat, she glanced at Eli. He lifted his gaze, meeting hers, and she had to look away. “I don’t see any ghosts in that shot.”
“Me neither.”
He clicked to the next picture, and Meaghan wanted to fall through the floor. He’d slid his fingers into her hair, and his lips hovered just above hers. It was the hottest thing she’d ever seen. Partially because she remembered in excruciating detail how amazing his kisses were and what it felt like being pinned against him and partially because the expressions of desire on their faces were so raw.
“I don’t see her there, either,” he murmured, his voice sounding raspy.
Finally, he put them both out of their misery and clicked again. Only this time, it was worse. They were actually kissing in this shot, bodies pressed tightly together and her hands clutching the back of his head and his shoulder, his hands on her ass.
He shifted in his chair and was moving his hand back to the keyboard when something caught her eye.
“Wait!”
“Not done looking at this one yet?”
She moved back to the chair she’d been sitting in and pushed his hand away from the computer. Zooming in to the far
Sharon Kleve, Jennifer Conner, Danica Winters, Casey Dawes