A Triple Scoop of I Scream Page 5

  “And you call it psychic hypnosis?” Liam asked.

  Bridget nodded. “It’s a rare but recognised paranormal phenomenon.”

  “And you think that’s what happened to Toni and me upstairs?”

  Toni crossed her arms over her breasts and stared up at the ceiling. She waited for someone to say out loud what they were probably all thinking. Liam finally did so in the form of a question.

  “If it’s so rare, does Toni have something to do with it?”

  And…there it was.

  Toni stopped examining the kitchen ceiling and scanned the other faces at the table. Bridget gave her yet another sympathetic look. It somehow irked Toni. The annoyance must have shown on her face because Bridget looked away.

  Bridget nodded towards Mike. “We’ve discussed this quite a bit—”

  “Oh really?” Toni asked, making no attempt to hide the irritation in her voice. She looked back at Thomas. He rubbed his forehead as if trying to massage away a headache.

  Bridget shrugged. “It was a pretty remarkable thing, Toni. We all felt it and so originally we thought we were all experiencing something external at the same time, something caused by one extremely strong entity—”

  Mike picked up the thread. “But then we started going through our notes. Bridget reminded us that you’d had the paranormal frottage.”

  Mike looked at Liam as if to gauge his understanding. Liam wrinkled his forehead so Mike explained, “Paranormal frottage is like ghost dry-humping. The entity would rub up against Toni—sexually.”

  “Sometimes bringing her to the brink of orgasm,” Bridget added.

  Toni uncrossed her arms and threw up her hands. “Thank you, O’Malley!”

  “Well, it’s true,” Bridget muttered.

  “It is true, Toni,” Mike said. He went on, “And then there was the ménage à trois with Thomas and the ghost—”

  “For the love of… C’mon, Briggs!” Toni yelled.

  “Well, he asked,” Mike said.

  “He asked if you thought it had anything to do with me. He didn’t ask for all the smutty details!”

  Mike frowned as if considering her point. “Yeah, right. Um, well, yes, we think it does have something to do with Toni. See, we all have different energies—kind of like radio stations all have different signals, so when you turn the dial you can get country music or rock ‘n’ roll, classical or whatever.”

  Mike looked at Liam, presumably gauging his understanding. Liam leaned in. “And Toni’s ‘station’?”

  “Yeah, so, when you turn Toni’s dial, all you get is pure sex.”

  Toni planted her elbows on the table and covered her face with her hands. She heard Thomas spray his beer across the tablecloth on one side and Bridget’s stifled laughter on the other.

  Toni waited until Bridget’s laughter was under control before lifting her burning face from her hands.

  “Oh. My. God! What the hell are you talking about, Mike? ‘When you turn Toni’s dial all you get is pure sex’! What the hell is that all about?”

  Thomas moved to the chair next to Toni’s and laid his hand on her forearm.

  “Toni, it’s not something you can control. Like I told you back in Soldiers Orchard, you’re a medium. You’re a conduit for spirits. And, as far as we can tell, your energy—the energy they use to come through—is not only exceptionally strong, it’s almost exclusively sexual in nature.

  “We weren’t completely sure after the Buckman thing—since it was only that one time—but after seeing you and…him…upstairs, we’re all pretty convinced.”

  Toni looked over at Liam. She realised that everyone else at the table had been through this kind of thing at least once before—and Thomas and Bridget studied paranormal phenomena for a living. Liam was probably thinking he was stuck in a very real, very bizarre dream. She searched his handsome face for some sign of his state of mind. He finally let out a single-syllable laugh.

  “Wow. I’ve seen stuff here. Lots of people have seen stuff here. But this is… This is…”

  Mike took advantage of the pause. “Liam, what were you feeling when you were with Toni upstairs?”

  Liam answered with a look that screamed ‘You’re kidding, right?’ but finally said, “I felt overwhelmed with passion for her. I wanted her—no, I needed her. I craved her. I wanted to be a part of her. I was absolutely desperate to be with her. It was amazing. And it was terrifying.”

  Toni reached out and laid her hand on Liam’s arm. “I’m really sorry I brought this here, Liam. Until five minutes ago I didn’t even know that I had anything to do with it. I…”

  Liam covered her hand with his. “Don’t apologise, Toni. I’m not blaming you. It’s just a lot to digest.”

  Liam looked at each of the three ghost hunters in turn, then back at Toni. “You’re obviously here for a reason. Tell me what I can do to help figure out what it is.”

  Chapter Eight

  Toni leaned against the candy counter at the back of the ice-cream parlour. She barely recognised the shop. While she’d been upstairs in her psychic stupor, the other four had taken turns cleaning downstairs. The paper had been pulled from the windows and the glass cleaned, letting in the sunlight. They’d managed to get the dishwasher working and had run through all of the serving dishes and the topping dispensers. Every surface had been scrubbed and the sour smell had been washed away. If not for the three ghost hunters milling about setting up paranormal investigation equipment, the place would look ready for business.

  Thomas sat down at a tiny bistro table and stared at his cellphone. He shook his head and slid the phone into his front pocket. He frowned at Bridget, who was sitting on one of the red vinyl counter stools. “Do you even know how to use that thing, O’Malley?”

  Bridget wrinkled her nose at him then turned back to the EMF meter in her hand. “Yes. Of course I know how to use it. You just… No. I have no idea how to use it. It would be really helpful if Brad were here.”

  “Working on it,” Thomas said. “I’ve left two voicemails. He’s not answering his cell. ”

  “Knowing him, he probably can’t find it,” Bridget said. Toni had met the team’s original cameraman at the Buckman Inn and recalled that he was notoriously absentminded.

  Bridget turned the EMF meter over. “Ha! There you are, you little bugger,” she said and clicked a button along the side of the device. Tiny red, yellow and green lights flashed on.

  “Good job, babe,” Mike said as he moved a camera and tripod to the centre of the shop. He stooped to look through the viewfinder. “Just move around a little, Liam.”

  Liam paced back and forth behind the soda fountain counter while Mike made adjustments to the camera.

  “Okay, the thermal imager is a go,” Mike said.

  “What about the night vision camera?” Thomas asked, nodding towards a second camera and tripod a couple of yards from the first.

  “It’s framed up. We’ll make final adjustments after dark,” Mike said.

  The words ‘after dark’ sent a shiver over Toni’s skin. She pushed away from the candy counter and walked to the windows. Main Street sloped downhill, due west, to the river. The belly of the sun was just above the tree line on the opposite bank and flashes of orange lit up the surface of the water. A surge of anxiety coursed through Toni. It would be dark within an hour.

  And then what?

  “Who knows?” Liam said.

  Toni spun around. Liam was folding a stack of bar towels as if he didn’t realise he’d just answered Toni’s unspoken question.

  Bridget didn’t look up from the EMF meter but asked, “Who knows what?”

  “Exactly,” Liam said.

  “Huh?” Bridget asked.

  “Right. Who knows what?”

  Toni walked towards the counter. Could Liam hear her thoughts? And if so, could he hear all of them or just some?

  As she passed in front of the door it swung inward, narrowly missing her. Toni yelped in surprise. A short, round
man in white work clothes was backing into the shop, dragging a dolly stacked two wide and four high with three-gallon tubs of ice cream.

  “Geez, sorry to startle ya,” he said. “Miss Bianchi?”

  “Yes?”

  “Glad you’re still open. This is the last delivery then I can power down the chillers. Gotta hose out the truck tonight.”

  The man swung the dolly around in front of himself and pushed it behind the counter, nodding hello to Liam when he passed by. He slid open the dipping freezer and began dropping in the tubs.

  “I’ll just go grab the cones and sauces and get out of your hair so you folk can get back to… Say, what are you doing here, filming a commercial? My brother Joe was in a commercial once. He played a customer at our cousin Don’s auto repair shop. Got a free oil change outta the deal.”

  Toni waited for the man to pause for a breath. “I didn’t order any ice cream.”

  The delivery man dropped in the last tub of ice cream, slid the freezer door shut, then lifted a clipboard from its slot on the back of the dolly.

  “Nope, says right here. Two vanilla, one chocolate, one rocky road, one strawberry, one mint chocolate chip, one butter pecan, and one cherry cheesecake—that’s the new flavour. Then I’ve got ya down for a bucket of chocolate sauce, one of caramel, one of fudge, half a dozen cans of whipped cream, a jar of Maraschino cherries and a case of waffle cones. All that’s in the truck yet.”

  The delivery man left the clipboard on the counter and started wheeling the empty dolly back towards the door. Toni tried to intercept him, but he just swerved around her. She leaned in to read the name on his work shirt.

  “Bob, is it? I didn’t order any ice cream. I don’t know when we’re going to open, or even if—”

  Bob pulled a small card—the kind that usually comes with a bouquet of flowers—from his shirt pocket. He tilted back his head to see through the bottom of his bifocals “Compliments of the Main Street Merchants Association. Wishing you sweet success.”

  Bob passed the card to Toni and went out to retrieve the rest of the order.

  “How awesome is that?” Mike asked. “And it’s Gowers brand. That’s the best. It’s got a high percentage of butterfat and they make it in small batches so it’s denser—not a lot of air bubbles.”

  Toni shrugged. “And you know this how?”

  “I worked in an ice-cream parlour all through high school.”

  Of course you did.

  Bob returned with another full dolly. He put the whipped cream and cherries in the fridge and the case of cones on a shelf under the counter. He pulled the pump tops from the three labelled dispensers and emptied the corresponding sauce into each. He worked quickly and didn’t spill a drop.

  He tossed the empty containers into the trash and held out the clipboard for Toni to sign.

  Toni took the pen from Bob and as she signed mused, “Main Street Merchants Association, hmm, maybe I should join.”

  Bob chuckled. “Yeah, and that would bring the membership up to what, two, Liam?”

  * * * *

  Toni slid back the dipping freezer door and looked at the eight brand-new tubs of ice cream inside. She glanced over at Liam who stood beside the sauce dispensers with his thumbs hooked in the front belt loops of his black jeans.

  “For the record, I ordered the ice cream before the, um, incident in the bathroom,” he said. “Like I told you, it’s in my best interest to have this business succeed.”

  “Right, what with you being the president of the Main Street Merchants Association and all,” Toni teased.

  Liam winked and Toni’s face heated. He made no attempt to be discreet as he looked her over from head to toe and back again, lingering on her curves. She mirrored his actions, raising an eyebrow when her gaze reached the bulge at the front of his jeans.

  “It’s almost dark,” Thomas said from across the counter.

  Toni startled at the sound of his voice. She’d been so engrossed in her examination of Liam that she hadn’t heard Thomas approach.

  “What should I be doing?” Liam asked.

  I could think of a few things.

  Liam turned and winked at Toni as if responding to her thought. She was about to ask him if that was the case when Thomas answered, rather too curtly.

  “You shouldn’t do anything. Just watch.”

  Liam made another lecherous scan of Toni’s body. “I can do that.”

  “Easy, pal,” Thomas muttered.

  Liam turned to Thomas and laughed. “Problem?”

  “I don’t have a problem. You’re the one with the problem. Why don’t you show a little respect and stop looking at her like a piece of meat?”

  The men glared at each other across the white marble and Toni looked from one to the other. The air felt charged, as if an electrical storm was building.

  “She doesn’t seem to mind,” Liam said and stepped towards the counter.

  The windows glowed orange with the last rays of the setting sun. Thomas stormed to the opening in the counter and approached Liam until they were less than a yard apart. Their chests heaved and their hands were balled into fists.

  The ceiling lights surged. Toni was close enough to the men to reach out and touch them, but she was immobilised. She couldn’t take her eyes from the standoff, but she was aware of scuffling out on the shop floor.

  “Here we go,” Mike said. “Bridge, hit the lights. I’ll pull down all the shades.”

  A moment later the front half of the ice-cream parlour went dark and the sun slipped below the horizon as Mike pulled down the last shade. A single bulb burned above the candy counter at the back of the shop. Toni was now able to see an irregular pulsing halo of fiery light outlining Thomas and Liam. It rolled off them in waves of red and orange and yellow.

  They were radiating anger and Toni knew she had to stop it before it escalated. She reached out to touch Liam’s and Thomas’ hands. Their fists relaxed and they each entwined their fingers with Toni’s. They slowly turned to face her and their expressions softened. The aura that engulfed the men cooled to a blue-green. It rolled off them and gathered Toni in as well. When the three of them were within the light, its colour turned pink and purple. Toni looked from one man to the other and back again. As her gaze passed between them, movement in the shop caught her attention.

  Mike walked towards Bridget, took her hand and led her to the seating along the opposite wall. He dragged the table away from one of booths and sat back on the red vinyl bench. Bridget straddled his lap. Toni watched the couple kiss and pull off each other’s clothes, even as she felt hands stroking her arms. The shop began to glow with a soft pink light. A long, lean body slid behind hers.

  Liam.

  She glanced down to see his corded forearms encircling her waist. Liam drew her back against him, and bent his knees, rubbing his erection against her ass.

  Thomas stepped into her from the front and nuzzled her neck.

  Toni dropped back her head and closed her eyes. “Ah,” she breathed.

  Thomas placed a hand on her breast and Liam slid his between her legs.

  Toni’s head rolled to the side and she peered out over the counter through half-closed lids. She opened her eyes fully when she realised that, though the shop still glowed with the strange pink light, the décor had changed. The furnishings were similar, but looked brand new. Tall leafy potted plants stood in the corners and enormous feathery ferns hung in baskets from the ceiling. The walls were papered with advertisements for hair tonic, pipe tobacco and headache powder. An egg cream, she noted, was only five cents.

  The shop was deserted except for Mike and Bridget, who were now naked and grinding together in a booth. The two were partially obscured by a magenta cloud of energy that surrounded them.

  Thomas kneaded Toni’s breast through her shirt and Liam squeezed the fleshy mound between her thighs. Her panties and jeans were sodden with her juices. She wanted to close her eyes and bask in the heat of their touch, but she felt compelled
to keep her attention on the shop, as if she were waiting for curtain to rise at a play.

  Though she’d never seen his face, she knew instantly that the man who emerged from the kitchen door was Vinnie. He was leading Daisy by the hand.

  Toni was vaguely aware that she was being manipulated by Thomas and Liam, but the sensations seemed far off as if she were detached from her body. Her laser focus was on the young couple as they jogged hand in hand into the centre of the shop. Daisy wore the same dress from the mirror encounter. Vinnie was in a short-sleeved work shirt with his name monogrammed on the chest and a bow tie shoved in the breast pocket. Toni could see that they were laughing but no sound registered. She wondered why she couldn’t at least hear Daisy. What made this haunting different from the last? Residuals. The thought slipped away as the pantomime played out.

  Vinnie held a finger to his lips as if shushing his lover. She covered her mouth and batted her lashes in mock contrition. He pulled her hand down and scooped her into a graceful embrace. Toni felt her clothing stripped away, but even when she was standing naked behind the counter, she could only concentrate on the ghost lovers, who were now lost in a passionate kiss.

  They abruptly separated, and looked towards the ceiling as if they’d heard a noise. They kissed once again then walked apart, holding hands until their arms were outstretched and they were connected only by the fingertips. The two reacted to another noise then turned and hurried away. Vinnie passed through the front door. Daisy ran towards the back of the shop. She turned a sharp right at the end of the counter and headed straight for the shelves that lined the wall between Toni’s ice-cream parlour and Liam’s bookshop. Daisy passed through wood and bricks without breaking her stride.

  The instant the ghost disappeared, Toni’s awareness rushed back to her body. The jolt of sensations took her breath away. Thomas’ mouth was on her nipple. Liam was sucking her neck. She didn’t bother asking if they’d seen the ghosts’ magic trick. They were obviously unaware of anything that existed outside of the pulsing pink aura that still surrounded the three of them.

  Thomas stood and kissed Toni. He probed her mouth with his tongue. “Mm. You taste so good, Toni.”