The air in the townhouse was different, and not just because the micro burst of wind had died down. It was fresh, like an air filtration system had kicked on, immediately sucking out the tainted, polluted air and replacing it with crisp, clean air.

“Is he gone?” Reese asked Paul although she knew the answer.  She inhaled deeply, silently marveling at the atmospheric change.

Paul sighed heavily and Reese wondered if he too noticed the transformation. “For the time being. I don’t know if he’ll be back, but if he does come back, I’m pretty sure he’ll be more pissed than ever.”

“Then we need to find Luke before it’s too late. He’s stuck.” She was well aware of the fact that in addition to finding her brother’s lost soul, she needed to find Heather and her girls. If it became a tossup, what would she do? In her heart, she knew the girls took priority, but it killed her to think of Luke loss forever in some purgatory existence. She knew that if they could reach Luke, she would have to convince him to crossover. The emptiness which accompanied that thought was so deep, so vast, her heart felt as if it would seize.  

“Stuck? What do you mean?” Paul asked.

“I don’t know exactly. I just know he is stuck. I think Mr. Albreck locked his spirit up.”

“Like a jail?” Wayne asked with genuine interest.

“I don’t know,” Reese answered him although she wanted to jump across the table and wrap her hands around his neck. Whatever part he was playing in this screwed up game he was at least partially accountable. She was about to ask Wayne a question when Paul interrupted her train of thought.

“Who was that upstairs, Reese?” Paul asked.

“There’s nobody upstairs!” Mr. Caldwell yelled and yanked his hands from the circle which was still in formation. He stood up rigid like a soldier in protective detail. “Paul, you need to stop feeding her with this bullshit. Reese, you need to get some help.”

Reese tried to imagine her father from thirty years ago when he was strong and held the family together like all true patriarchs, but the man before her was barely a shell of who he once was. He was fragile looking, but even before now, he had become weak in her mind. He had abandoned them when she and her mother needed him the most. He had chased his demons but left them to fight their own battles with dull swords.

“Dad, I am going to say this to you once and once only. I do not need help. I am not a danger to Addie. As a matter of fact, if I don’t do something now, she may end up like Luke did.”

“How can you say that? Mr. Albreck is dead. He cannot harm her.”

“Dad, let me ask you a question. You confessed something to me earlier about Mr. Albreck.”

“Reese, don’t,” Mr. Caldwell said as his face flushed; his cheeks grew hot with deep crimson anger or embarrassment, she wasn’t sure.  From behind her father, she saw Wayne shift his body so he was watching her.

“Do you not want me to say it in front of Wayne?” She asked.

“I don’t want you to bring up the past. It’s not healthy. It’s not necessary.”

“My past is on the table. I have nothing to hide. But somewhere along the line, you think there is more to the story, and I need to know why.”

“You talk to your dead brother. Need I say more?”

Reese snorted a chuckle. “I’m going to ask you one question and I want you to answer it honestly. Then I am leaving to save your other daughter, my sister, from a possible horrible death.”

“Reese, I’m confused,” Paul said with an edge to his voice.

She glanced at him and smiled ever so slightly, a reassuring smile. Then she turned back to her father. “Why did you kill Mr. Albreck?” Quicker than a blink, Reese refocused on Wayne. His expression did not change. There was no look of horror, no anger, and no surprise.

“You know, don’t you, Wayne? Is that why you came back here? When did you figure it out?”

Wayne hesitated long enough for Mr. Caldwell to speak up. “I know what he did to you, Reese.”

It was not what she expected to hear. She shifted her weight and the gun at her back reminded her she had business to tend to. She best get to it before it was too late. “Who did what to me?” She asked in enunciated syllables.

“I know Mr. Albreck hurt you like he hurt Heather.”

Reese furrowed her eyebrows and she became acutely aware of the tension at her forehead. She rubbed it out, taking her time to absorb her father’s words. “You killed Mr. Albreck because you thought he was hurting me?”

“Well, that and I think he killed Luke.” Mr. Caldwell suddenly seemed to lose all of his steam as he reached behind him to grab the back of his chair. He stumbled into it and collapsed like a rag doll, relieved to not be standing anymore.

“Why did you go after Wayne earlier?” She asked, suddenly struck with a bizarre realization. Just how long had Wayne known that her father had killed his father? At first she figured her dad went after Wayne to protect himself, assuming Wayne was there to harm the man who killed his father. But who told her dad that Mr. Albreck had hurt her, the same as he hurt Heather? Which was a blatant lie. And more importantly, why?

Mr. Caldwell shook his head and cupped his hands over his face. He was shutting down. She resisted the temptation to go to him, to stroke his head in comfort. She stared at his limp body slumped over at the waist, crying into his hands.

“Reese,” Wayne said meekly.

She drew her attention away from her father. “He came after me because I threatened him years ago. I told him that if he ever turned me into the police, I would come after you.” Wayne hesitated and seemed to struggle for the next words. “I said I would do to you the same as what happened to Luke.”

Mr. Caldwell shot his head up and nearly screamed, “He told me what that son of a bitch had done to you and Heather. I would have killed him myself if he wasn’t already dead. He didn’t need to threaten me. I was happy to help bury that asshole. But when I saw him here, I thought he was making good on his promise.” Mr. Caldwell lowered his head again but this time he didn’t cover his face, just merely balanced his elbows on his knees and peered down to the floor, seemingly defeated.

Reese rubbed her hands together and felt a sweaty sheen between her palms. “So you didn’t kill Mr. Albreck?” She asked, directing the question to her father.

He shook his head no without looking up.

With her hands clasped together and her two pointer fingers triggered at Wayne, she said, “You killed your father?”

Wayne nodded. His posture was stiff and his face still washed out. “Are you going to call the police?”

“And you killed him because he harmed me and Heather? Or did you make that up?”

Wayne looked baffled. “I didn’t make that up.”

“Your father never laid a hand on me. So where did you get your information?”

Mr. Caldwell looked up at his daughter and Wayne continued to appear puzzled as he said, “Gregory.” He said it in such a tone that Reese figured everyone should have known that tidbit of information.

Reese nodded. All these years she had been stupidly blind. And Luke had kept his mouth shut. Why? The only answer which came to her mind was that he hadn’t known.

She gathered her thoughts and her determination. “Paul, will you try and reach Luke for me? Please?”

He nodded. “You’ll be joining us won’t you?”

“No. If you find him, tell him I love him and I always will, but he needs to go. Mom’s waiting.”

Paul couldn’t hide the look of surprise on his face. He glanced to the ceiling as he connected the dots between the female ghostly voice upstairs and Reese’s comment about her mother. He looked at Reese and she gave him a slight nod of her head and a faint smile.  Mr. Caldwell looked to Paul for some explanation as Reese turned from the small gathering toward the front entry.

“She’s got a gun!” Wayne called out.

“Reese,” Paul called her name as he scrambled from his chair for her. He grabbed her arm and she allowed him to turn her toward him.

“I’m licensed to carry, Paul,” she stated matter of fact.

“But you’re not licensed to kill,” he said.

“That’s true,” she answered and pulled away from him, but didn’t drop eye contact. Paul’s hand stayed in mid-air as if he was too stunned to move it.

“Where are you going?” He asked barely above a whisper.

“Where this all started.” Again she nodded slightly as she reached out for Paul's hand. She squeezed it briefly and said, “Find my brother.” She turned and exited through the front door, her car key in hand.