Mirror Image

Twenty-Five

"Holy shit, Sara. I hope you're okay." Zee ran up to her bestie and threw her arms around the stunning brunette.

"I have to admit I was beyond terrified when the flight attendant stopped me from deboarding and asked me to wait. I was sure I was up the creek for something. The passenger behind me was a pain, and this is my very first flight on my own. Mom dropped me off at the check in counter. She helped me deal with my bags and told the clerk I was okay to travel on my own. After all I'm just about eighteen." The words tumbled out so quickly, Zee almost had to ask her to repeat it.

"Lace is out with her Mom. We're parked at the doors. We ended up having to ask Aunt Deanne to bring her car."

"What the hell happened? I can't wait to hear." Sara snagged her luggage, a soft sided duffel bag, slinging it over her arm. Her tote bag with her laptop and phone went over the opposite shoulder. "Like it was a hardship hanging out in their first class lounge watching all the hot businessmen trying not to look bored and getting quietly drunk. Creepy though, there was one guy who kept staring at me."

"We'll tell you all about it." Zee led the way out to her aunt's Tahoe. "Stow your stuff in the back, I'll pop the hatch for you."

"I'll take the back seat. I can sit in the middle and talk to you both that way." Sara dropped her bags into the storage compartment before she climbed into the white SUV.

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Zee felt the speed change as they turned up the hill into their driveway, heaving an inward sigh. After the first hour of their trip, silence descended on the car, and before she knew it Lace and Sara were asleep. She wasn't surprised about Sara, and Lace well, not much of surprise there either. Getting shot at wasn't something you could deal with in a hurry. Her own brain wouldn't shut down, and she didn't want to talk about it anyway. She wanted to forget the sound of gunshots that still rang in her ears.

Detective Blade was clear about the danger they were in. Uncle James called her dad, and he was there in minutes. She had to wonder how many speed limits he broke on the way down.

After a hard fought argument, Lace managed to convince their dads to let them go. The detective agreed with Lace, there wasn't much of a chance anyone would come after them now. Not after coming so close to getting caught. But then she called for an an ambulance to check them out. So much for them going into Concord alone.

Officers found the car the shooter was driving in an alley not far from Mario's. They towed it into their impound lot but admitted they would need to call for help from Concord's CSI teams to get the evidence in it.

"Hey, wake up. We're almost home." Zee reached over to poke Lace in the ribs. Her twin jerked awake.

"Crap, you scared me," her voice trembled.

"Sorry, Sara, wake up!" Zee raised her voice.

"What? Are we there yet?" Her friend pushed her hair out of her face.

"Yeah, we are. Two minutes and we'll be at Pettigrew Mansion."

"Ghosts and all. I can't wait to see the rooms in the attic." Sara admitted.

"I hope she doesn't lock us in again," Lace said.

"Even that was cool. I've never had anything like it happen to me." Sara sounded like she was up for the adventure.

"Dad said the state troopers are bringing a dog to search the grounds. We might have a body buried somewhere. We're going to try and find it. She committed suicide as far as we can tell from her diary." Zee said.

"Poor woman, I hope we can figure out who she was and where she came from." Lacey said.

"Well, for now, I can't wait to meet your Papa Juan. He sounds like a pretty amazing groundskeeper." Sara said. "Does he let you help him? You did all the flower beds at your old place in Denver."

"He does. We've got an amazing rose garden, but we've put them to bed for the winter. Frost got them last week." Zee told her.

"And if you're hungry, Mama Rosa is the best cook." Lace pointed out as Zee heard her stomach growl. "Hey Mom, can I stay and eat here. That's what we were planning before everything went boom."

"Only if you have your father check on you a couple of times Zee. I want you to go to the hospital if either of you start with a headache, okay? Other than that, I don't see why you should have to change all your plans. The gates are working now, it's much harder for anyone to get on the grounds. So, yes, I think you're going to be safe enough up here." Her aunt sounded like she was trying to convince herself everything would be all right.

"I'll make sure they get to the ER if they come down with headaches, Mrs. Pemberton. Thanks for coming with them to get me." Sara opened her door as she spoke.

"I'll get Dad to call you, Aunt Deanne. He's as worried as you are." Zee said as she jumped out of the Tahoe.

"Thanks Mom."

Zee watched as Lace leaned forward to give her mother a kiss on the cheek. An unbidden tear rolled down one cheek. She wished her mom was there.

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"Can you believe it? Someone was climbing up the maple tree and living in here." Terry stood at the newly installed window in the back attic room. Lacey stood beside him, and Sara was on the other side.

"The installers did a great job. This window is three times the size of the one that was here. And we can crank it open. We had an arborist up here during the week, and they pruned the trees so that none of the branches reach the house anymore." Zena said.

They were watching the dog handler as she directed her bloodhound across the side of the hill between the greenhouse and the back of the ballroom wing.

"I think they found something. He's digging." Percy said.

"I hope it's her, and not some unknown cemetery from years gone by. The mansion has been here for over three hundred years." Zena said.

"Papa Juan says those graves are on the other side of the east wing, behind where they live," Lacey said. "We planted Shasta daisies and forget-me-nots there. And a few other perennials. You haven't seen it yet have you, Zee?"

"No. I didn't think it was legal to bury people on private property."

"Not anymore," Sara said. "Unless you have special permission, and it's a special request by the deceased. I think I read something somewhere about it."

The woman with the dog knelt beside it and placed a neon orange flag in the ground. She turned, looked up to see them all staring at her, and crossed herself. They could see her lips moving, and Zee wonder if she was saying a prayer for the dead. Cold shivers ran down her back, the hair on her arms stood up, and she leaned against Percy, hoping to leech some warmth.

"What happens now?" Sara asked.

"The coroner will come out. Then they will do some DNA tests and a forensic sculptor will take the skull to reconstruct the person's face." Zena had asked all the questions she could think off when her father started looking for help finding the owner of the diary they found.

"Can we have a little ceremony for her. Let her know we found her?" Terry asked.

"Let's go down to her room. I'll bet she's there watching," Percy suggested.

"Cool," Sara stroked her hands over her arms.

"Then again, maybe we should leave her be." Lacey jumped as a door slammed. "She was locked in there for years from what we can tell, and that doesn't sound like she's very happy."