Share
Chapter 35
I’d wrestled with the temptation to free only Jason and not bring attention to ourselves. To my relief, Nora had settled my mind’s debate by making sure that all of the cell doors got opened. I understood why she felt compelled to release them all. No matter how much I didn’t want the chaos, I know in my heart that I couldn’t have walked away and left those poor people to such a fate.
My hesitancy in freeing the mob because of the raucous they’d cause soon turned to relief. The madness distracted the guards to the extent that I doubt we were even missed.
The sounds of the chaos that ensued after the release of the captives slowly faded as we raced into the woods that bordered the city. I was fairly confident that we were safe, but I didn’t want to take any chances.
Lance was surprisingly winded when we stopped for a short rest. “The sun will be setting soon.&nbs
Related chapters
Esmerelda Sleuth: Beyond the Portal (Book 3) Chapter 36
Unlike when I passed through the portal to rescue Nora, winter was no more. It was clearly summer.It was dusk and the gnats were out full force. I brushed at a few that were attempting to feed on me while I studied our surroundings.“Amazing,” I mused. “This is the same place that the portal Gail and I used was located.”“It is a power point,” Lance explained. “Unfortunately, the power is predominantly dark.”“That would make sense, since the land belongs to a very dark man,” I said. “He had me kidnapped and used most of the magic that you put in the box so that I couldn’t contact you.”A look of hate filled his normally gentle eyes. “Tillman and I have some business to settle.”“He is locked up,” I assured him. “In fact, the society that holds him was supposed to be holding your brother
Esmerelda Sleuth: Beyond the Portal (Book 3) Chapter 1
A thin layer of powdery snow blanketed the ground. Beneath it was an icy crust that had assaulted the landscape just hours earlier. The frozen moisture on the trees gave them a glassy appearance. We’d had one of the worst recorded snowstorms in Virginia history and it was still coming down. I stomped the snow from my boots and took them off. Setting them on the boot tray, I slipped my feet into my office loafers. Then, I opened the door to shake my jacket outside of the building. I worked as fast as I could so that minimal falling snow replaced what I was shaking off it.“You’re fighting a losing battle,” Nora said as she snuggled under an afghan while sitting in a tapestry covered winged back chair that she’d taken from one of the rooms in the unused west wing of the mansion sized house that Lance turned over to me when we were married back in time. She’d strategically placed it in fron
Esmerelda Sleuth: Beyond the Portal (Book 3) Chapter 2
It was surprising how much of the snow from Mother Nature’s onslaught didn’t stick around. By the time Monday night arrived, we could see large patches of green glistening grass that had been beaten down, but was, once again, reaching for sunlight.As she’d expected, Nora came down with a whopper of a cold. The five days grace that I gave her to be ready to go to dinner was all that she needed to aggressively treat it with vitamins, herbs, and chicken soup. She managed to kick it out of her system enough that she could attend the dinner without ruining the experience for herself and our host - or even me- by showing up with a runny nose, watery eyes, and a cough.I swear that the woman had a natural remedy for everything.“Are you sure that you’re up to this?” I asked as we rang the doorbell. “I know that you claim Agatha set you straight, but we have no idea what awaits us
Esmerelda Sleuth: Beyond the Portal (Book 3) Chapter 3
I spent the next few days learning the purpose of and how to use the equipment that Nora had purchased in preparation for our taking on the paranormal. I found it both interesting and frustrating. There were gadgets for almost everything one might imagine, such as electromagnetic detectors and thermometers. Apparently, ghosts use electricity to help them manifest and, when they do, the temperature in the room will change even if you can’t see them. Being a skeptic at heart, I found the equipment both interesting and amusing.Although she insisted that she was up to task, I was adamant that we stick with our original arrangement of her handling the office affairs and me doing the investigations. The last thing that I needed was for Nora to freak out if I uncovered ghosts in the Havershaft attic.Fully armed with my newfangled paraphernalia and fairly confident that I knew what to do with it all, I trekked on over to Cecil’s home
Esmerelda Sleuth: Beyond the Portal (Book 3) Chapter 4
Nora and Roger gave us time to move past the awkwardness of realigning our relationship before rejoining us. We spent the evening playing scrabble and teasing each other about made up, screwed up vocabularies. By the time my best friend and her lover were ready to call it a night, Killian and I were back on track with our friendship.“I should probably go home,” he said with hesitation as he watched Nora and Roger climb the stairs.“You shouldn’t have moved out,” I complained with conviction. “This house already felt too big without the void that was created when we lost you.” Then, after a brief moment, I giggled and added, “Nora saw us in the closet.”He stifled a snicker. “How much did she see?”“She yelled at me for having sex with you and driving you away,” I admitted.“Ouch,” he moaned. “I’m really sorry.&r
Esmerelda Sleuth: Beyond the Portal (Book 3) Chapter 5
Although I was fairly certain that Jason wouldn’t return right away, Killian refused to leave my side. While I was in the shower, he’d cleaned up the mess from when I’d pushed things off of my nightstand to gain his attention and then changed the sheets on my bed so that I was able to snuggle into fresh ones.I offered to have him lay beside me, but he insisted on holding vigil in the club chair that was located in the sitting area of the room. He was of the opinion that Jason might very well return to untie me and remove my gag. He was certain that, if he did, he wouldn’t think to look to the far side of the room for someone sitting in the chair.My very brave and intuitive detective was right.It was about an hour after he’d left me tied and gagged that Jason stepped out of the cheval mirror and approached my bed. It was still quite dark, but if you were awake and alert like Killian and I were, it was
Esmerelda Sleuth: Beyond the Portal (Book 3) Chapter 6
Cecil was waiting for us at the door when we pulled into the drive and got out of the car. The temperature was just above freezing, but the sun shone so intensely that we forgot about the bitter cold for a brief moment while we turned our faces toward the glowing orb to bathe in its warmth.His face took on an odd look when he saw that Nora had accompanied me. “What a surprise to see you here, Nora. I was under the impression that Esmerelda worked alone.”“She does,” Nora sweetly explained as she moved past him through the doorway, took off her coat, and handed it to Henry. We’d decided to explain my stiffness with a lie. I was amazed at how smoothly it rolled off her tongue. “I’ve just come to help her set up some equipment. She slipped on the ice and is a little stiff today.”His eyes opened wide with concern as he addressed me, “Are you alright? Should you be out of bed?
Esmerelda Sleuth: Beyond the Portal (Book 3) Chapter 7
We went back to the office and finished hooking up to the cameras through the special app that Nora acquired for situations just like the case we were working. Since I hadn’t studied that part of the new equipment usage, I let her tend to our remote connection while I called a nearby Italian restaurant for dinner delivery. Because we expected it to be a long night, I also made sure that our supply of coffee was up to snuff.Pasta had a tendency to make me sleepy. This time, it was no different. We’d been so preoccupied with collecting our gear and then taking it to Cecil’s to set up that neither of us had thought to eat lunch. Therefore, we ate more of the sleep inducing cuisine than was advisable for a night on the job.I was aroused from the light dosing state that my body couldn’t refrain from going into by the sound of the door opening and a disgruntled male voice. “I saw that your eyes were closed through
Latest chapter
- Esmerelda Sleuth: Beyond the Portal (Book 3) Chapter 36
- Esmerelda Sleuth: Beyond the Portal (Book 3) Chapter 35
- Esmerelda Sleuth: Beyond the Portal (Book 3) Chapter 34
- Esmerelda Sleuth: Beyond the Portal (Book 3) Chapter 33
- Esmerelda Sleuth: Beyond the Portal (Book 3) Chapter 32
- Esmerelda Sleuth: Beyond the Portal (Book 3) Chapter 31
- Esmerelda Sleuth: Beyond the Portal (Book 3) Chapter 30
- Esmerelda Sleuth: Beyond the Portal (Book 3) Chapter 29
- Esmerelda Sleuth: Beyond the Portal (Book 3) Chapter 28
