HALLOWEEN CHALLENGE -2005
Intro Story - Halloween Night - 9pm

Sue hadn’t meant to cry out, it was a knee jerk reaction. In her heart, she hoped she hadn’t. But a moment later Jack seized her hand, and she knew she had said something. His shoulder was against hers now, the reassuring scent of his cologne tickling her senses, left blank by the darkness. He squeezed gently, and she squeezed back as lightning flashed, revealing a peek at the scene around them. A light flickered across the room, matches, and candles, and Jack O’Lanterns burst to life as waiters made their way from one end of the room to the other. Dressed as ghouls, their eerie makeup did nothing to soothe the situation. Candelabras were added, the effect surreal, and while she could now see around her, she was grateful Jack didn’t let go. “It’s a good thing Levi isn’t here… he wouldn’t appreciate this, even though it would seem planned.”

“It would have been nice if they had let us know before killing the lights. Levi’s probably much happier following Lucy around back at headquarters.” Jack answered, still looking around. Hardly as bright as it had been before, there was more than enough light. Sue finally seemed to relax a bit, although her eyes sensually deeper…sparkling now in candlelight. Wetting his lips, he looked away, searching for Bobby and Tara where he had last seen them. Finally Jack spotted him, his Indiana Jones Hat hiding most of face, at attention, he was clearly now scanning the room. Realizing Myles and Dimitrius were most likely assisting the staff as was their cover, Jack turned. Sure enough, Myles in full ghoul makeup, was by the door, Dimitrius, complete with artificial wounds, stood by the large window overlooking the lake below. Jack turned back to Sue. “Any sign of Mulligan?”

“No. He had just said something about payment, when the lights went out. Do you think he knows he’s under surveillance?”

Jack held up his hand and paused, then met her eyes and shook his head. “They just announced the bridge is out, and there is no other way off this private island. They won't be able to work on it until morning. Remind me never to work Halloween again.”

“It’s not like we had much choice, Mulligan’s been in hiding now for six months… it’s the first real break to find the bank robbers.” Sue answered.

“Maybe so… leave it to a bank robber to pick a Halloween Scare Party.”

“Scare party?” she echoed, worried by the implication.

“It’s no big deal… they just dim the lights, dress a few staff in costumes… a few effects…” his voice dropped under Sue’s gaze, the cravat from his costume suddenly tighter. The costumes had been Lucy’s responsibility, blending them in amongst the guests, and the perfect cover… but dressed as Christine and Rauol, he had not missed the implication…the couple engaged by the end of the story…Phantom of the Opera. In reality, he had done little to nothing since Sue had made the decision not to move to New York… although he had vowed things would be different. Too nervous to lose a friend, too focused on the present, but then he assumed he had all the time he needed, and he knew better. It had been the worst of ironies to find Mulligan dressed as the Phantom himself, the perfect excuse for wearing a mask, although fortunately it didn’t hinder Sue’s lip reading.

“There he is… near Tara.” Sue whispered, and nodded. Mulligan, not more than two people away, seemed oblivious of Tara. Dressed as Marion from Raiders of the Lost Ark…she seemed perfectly in character, working her way through the crowd, until she was close, Myles shadowing her from the other direction.

“So all we need to do is hold the fort… and wait for morning, and reinforcements.”

“And between now and then, hope Mulligan says or does something that we can use…and maybe even lead us to his accomplices.” Sue added.

“Shouldn’t be hard.”

Sue didn’t need to hear his voice… the doubt clear in his eyes. Jack was worried and rightfully so. They were no longer in control, the situation no longer secure. Mulligan could be alone, or there could be several suspects… all in costume… it was going to be a long night.

All I Ask of You

Squeezing the hand that he still held, Jack released her only long enough to sign, “YOU-ME DANCE?” His eyebrows raised, his head tilted in question, and Sue couldn’t stop the shy grin that tugged at her lips. Meeting his eyes, she knew at once that she’d made a mistake, her heartbeat now an erratic rhythm and her breath a ragged sigh. The brown pools even darker than normal, a lingering sparkle, whether from the candles or…something else…she wasn’t sure.

“Sure,” she managed to whisper, hoping her voice didn’t sound as shaky as it felt.

He grinned warmly, capturing her hand once more and leading her to a spot on the sparsely populated dance floor. Sliding his arm around her waist, he pulled her gently closer, the incredibly distracting scent of his cologne once again heightening her awareness of the man who held her. Her gaze drifted over the familiar face, the chiseled features made all the more handsome by the flickering lights that illuminated the room. Jack noticed the softening of her eyes and wondered at its origin, feeling her hand tremble in his grasp and losing himself briefly in the moment. Clearing his throat awkwardly and drawing a shaky breath, he glanced around to find Mulligan and pivoted Sue accordingly.

“Can you see him okay from here?” he whispered, dipping his head to add to their illusion as a couple.

Sue met his eyes with a startled blink, understanding sinking in and chipping another piece of hope away from her heart. The dance was nothing more than a means to get closer to Mulligan, the romance merely part of the cover, part of her dreams. Glancing over his shoulder, she spotted Mulligan and watched for a moment as he talked with the man to his left. “Yes,” she murmured, focusing her eyes on Jack’s shoulder, unable to raise her face for fear he would see her disappointment and ask questions she didn’t feel like answering.

Feeling his light chuckle, she finally dared to look at his mouth as she asked, “What?”

“The song… I just realized… It’s from ‘Phantom of the Opera’,” he answered with a fond smile.

“Oh.”

Her simple reply troubled him, her demeanor noticeably more tense than she had been a few minutes ago. Unless he had completely misread her expression, she had been enjoying herself in his arms, her affectionate gaze doing crazy things to his pulse. And then suddenly, she had changed… withdrawn, stiff, no longer relaxing against him, the smile gone from her eyes.

He squeezed her hand, bringing their clasped fingers up to brush across her cheek when she still didn’t direct her attention toward him. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, Jack. I’m working,” she replied testily, her eyes clouding with emotion before she returned her focus to the mission at hand.

Soberly taking the hint and trying not to dwell on her sudden shift in mood, he let her concentrate and took the opportunity to enjoy her close proximity. Her curves brushed against his solid chest as they moved gently to the music, the light fragrance of her perfume bringing back memories of last night’s dream. The sensual images overwhelmed him again, and he fought to change his thoughts before they got him in trouble.

Fantasy collided with reality as Sue’s lips began to nuzzle just below his ear. His grip tightened at her waist, his teeth clenching with restraint as her soft caress feathered to his earlobe, then returned to his jaw. A low moan gurgled in his throat before he could stop himself, and he felt Sue stiffen as his breath tickled her hair.

“He’s looking this way. I think he’s getting suspicious,” she whispered into his ear, her lips gliding back to his cheek, gasping as his mouth connected with the top of her own ear. He kissed the soft cartilage lightly, stopping himself from letting his tongue enter the mix just in time. She shivered in his arms, and he deftly moved her across the floor to settle a good distance away from Mulligan as the music slowed to a final crescendo.

Waiting for Sue to look up at him, he tipped her chin when it became clear that she wouldn’t of her own volition. “Did he say anything that we can use?”

“No. Unless you count Peyton Manning’s stats for the year.” She managed a grin, her eyes regaining some of their normal sparkle.

Jack chuckled and took a hesitant step back, rubbing the back of his neck nervously as her gaze lowered again. He couldn’t help but feel that he was responsible for her uneasiness, but didn’t quite know what to do about it. A movement behind her caught his attention, and he gripped her arm with a gentle urgency. “Mulligan just left the room.”

Meeting Bobby’s eyes across the room, silent communication passed between the long-time friends. Jack nodded, his hand gravitating to the small of Sue’s back, gently nudging her forward. They would follow Mulligan, the rest of the team would cover the other guests for now. The weight of his gun against his shoulder, under his costume jacket, reminded Jack that the protection was there if he needed it. He hoped he wouldn’t.

The hallway seemed darker than the main room, the candelabras farther apart, no windows to utilize the flashes of lightning that sporadically peppered the atmosphere. Sue moved closer to Jack, needing the security of his presence, and he smiled with pleasure at the gesture. “MULLIGAN WHERE?” she asked in sign.

Jack shrugged, shaking his head with his lips pursed, his fingers absently caressing her back as they strolled along the faded carpet. Hearing voices, he held up his hand and unnecessarily pressed his finger to her lips. He motioned her toward a room on their left, the door ajar, positioning them both flat against the wall in the hallway and leaning as close to the door as he could without detection.

“THREE MEN,” he signed to Sue, his focus remaining fixed to the room. “M SAY, MONEY GONE,” he continued, referring to Mulligan with just the initial. “M ASK, WHO TAKE? M SAY HE KNOW, THEY KNOW.”

Sue watched as Jack tensed, his jaw tightening and his hand reaching for hers. Dragging her swiftly into the room next door, he backed her against the wall and covered her mouth with his hand. No time to shut the door without being noticed, he held his breath, hoping Mulligan would pass by quickly, praying that the darkness of the room would hide them. Sue stared back at him, her eyes luminous, her breathing labored.

Jack heard Mulligan’s steps, his body sagging slightly with relief when the footfalls passed by their hiding place, tensing again when they paused. Biting back a curse, Jack met Sue’s wide eyes and knew he only had seconds to think of something. No time to clue her in, no time to ask permission or forgiveness. Barely enough time to…

Before he could react, Sue raised her hands to his face and crushed her lips to his, arching her body in a desperate attempt to be closer to him. Jack’s eyes widened in shock, closing slowly as surprise melted into ecstasy, catching a glimpse of Mulligan’s shadow falling into the room just before he turned his focus to the woman in his arms. He tangled one hand in her hair, the other sliding around her waist to press her closer under the guise of protection, running his tongue over her lips when his hunger got the better of him. She whimpered against his kiss, and he took advantage of the sigh to gain the deeper access that he craved. Her fingers drifted down his neck and lightly brushed his chest, almost as though she were fumbling for an anchor to steady her trembling muscles. Finally splaying her hand across his cheek again, she tilted her head to taste more of his kiss.

She knew this would end just as their previous undercover kiss had, she knew her heart would shatter a little more when the embrace died. But for now, all that mattered was that she could express, even for a moment, the intensity of her passion for this man. Her partner, her best friend, her prince… She gave and took almost recklessly, the kiss unlike no other she had ever experienced, her defenses lowered, her desires emboldened.

Jack felt his restraint crumbling, knowing that he couldn’t take much more of this kiss without her knowing exactly how deep his hunger for her ran. Throwing caution to the wind, no longer caring whether or not Mulligan was still watching, he let his hand drift lower, grazing the curves below her waist, becoming nearly frantic with the need to be closer to her.

Through the hazy fog of passion that swirled through his brain, Jack heard an awkward cough and reluctantly broke the kiss to meet Mulligan’s curious stare. “Sorry,” he grinned with a cocky smirk, solely for the other man’s benefit. In truth, his mind scrambled for the ability of intelligent speech. “We…uh… decided to take advantage of the power outage.”

“Don’t let me disturb you. I… didn’t mean to intrude.” With a nod, Mulligan left them alone, and Jack propped his chin on Sue’s head to compose himself before facing her. Was it possible? Could she really share his feelings? Would this destroy their partnership or strengthen it?

Sue rested her face against Jack’s chest, struggling to regulate her breathing as he stroked her hair lightly. Thoughts raced through her mind, keeping pace with her rapid heart rate. Would Mulligan buy it? Would he know they’d been following him? What must Jack think of her right now? How could she have been so brazen with her affection? Would she ever be able to look him in the eye again?

A gentle finger under her chin nudged her face upward, and she reluctantly focused on Jack’s lips. Memories of their kiss reddened her cheeks and shallowed her breath even further. How in the world could she concentrate on what he was saying anymore when all she could think of was how soft his lips were, how crazily they made her stomach flutter, how much she wanted more…of his kiss, of his touch, of him.

“He’s gone,” he whispered, his eyes dark with something Sue knew was mirrored in her own gaze. His gaze caressed her face, a look of breathless wonder gracing his features.

Turning her face into the light touch of his fingers against her cheek, she closed her eyes and prayed for a hole to open up and swallow her to end the humiliation. He cupped her jaw, her eyes fluttered to his, both of them catching their breath in surprise. They shouldn’t have been surprised at what they discovered in that split second of eternity, but they were. Relieved that their hearts were safe, stunned that they were standing on this threshold, amazed that anything could be that wonderful.

“That was…uh…quick thinking,” Jack stumbled over his words, not yet daring to believe that the fire in her eyes meant what he hoped it meant.

Sue cleared her throat, her eyes lowering to his chin, and forced a shaky smile. “Well, it worked before,” she reminded him softly. “You’ve trained me well.”

Jack sighed as he felt her begin to withdraw again, his heart desperate to remain in the moment. Getting her attention, he forced his own walls to dissipate, praying that she could read in his eyes what he hadn’t yet worked up the courage to speak.

She studied him carefully, her eyes flashing with hope, then disbelief, then flooding with tears. Rooted in place, she watched with bated breath as his head lowered, his lips touching hers and melting her with one caress. Jack reached out with one hand and shut the door, not wanting anything to interrupt them this time, quickly returning to lace through her hair and tug her closer. Mulligan wasn’t going anywhere, Sue needed to be his priority right now. Their mouths danced together, tasting and exploring with the hesitancy of new lovers, embracing with the intimacy of lifelong friends.

His fingers traced her face, gliding over her skin with a reverent touch, brushing over her jaw and along the slope of her neck. Every taste of her lips, every whiff of her perfume, every sigh from deep in her throat embedded themselves in his heart, and he eased away reluctantly to nuzzle her cheek with his nose.

“I thought you said Mulligan was gone.” Sue’s wide eyes dared to meet his, faltering at the hurt that flashed in his own.

“He is.” Jack held his breath, watching as she processed his admission.

“So what just happened?” she whispered, her vulnerability quivering in her voice.

“I’m not sure, but I think we just kissed.” His shy grin contagious, it coaxed a matching response at her lips. He grazed her jaw with his knuckles, sucking in a ragged breath when she shivered. “Maybe we should try it again, just to be sure that’s really what happened.”

She glanced up sharply as his suggestion registered, her cheeks flushing but her eyes beginning to sparkle in response. “Might not hurt,” she murmured, her voice breathless as her hands slid over his chest and clasped behind his neck, bringing her face temptingly closer.

Their lips met with mutual sighs, their bodies drawn together of their own accord, their minds incapable of any thoughts beyond this moment. He framed her face with tender hands, silently asking to deepen the kiss, moaning quietly when she willingly obliged. One hand left her jaw to roam down her side, brushing past soft curves and resting at her hip as they both shuddered from the contact. She gripped his shirt, gathering fistfuls of the thin material and trying desperately to get closer to him, needing more than she realized, aching for this to be real. Recognizing what she didn’t, the alarms going off in his brain, Jack slowly broke the kiss and rested his forehead against hers to catch his breath.

“I think it’s safe to say that we did indeed kiss,” he managed to gasp out between shallow gulps of air.

Sue looked at him almost numbly, her mind on overdrive, her heart not far behind. “Jack… please…” She pushed him away, needing some air, needing space to assimilate all that had just happened. Walking a few paces away, she crossed her arms over her stomach and bent slightly as tears once again won the battle she had been fighting all evening.

“Sue,” Jack whispered, his own heart breaking at her apparent rejection. Still… he had to know for sure. Closing the distance between them, he gripped her elbow with infinite gentleness and pivoted her to face him. “What’s wrong?”

She met his eyes, so full of concern for her, and she could see the traces of pain that lined the corners. He was hurting, and it was her fault. “I…I don’t know what you want,” she choked out, her voice thick with emotion.

“What I want?” Jack repeated, sliding his hand to her waist and nestling her against him, marveling at how quickly the world righted itself when he held her. His fingers traced the contours of her face, his eyes following his movements until they settled on her mouth. He outlined her lips with his finger, speaking as soon as her glazed eyes focused to read him. “I want you,” he whispered simply, replacing his finger with a lingering kiss that spoke loudly what words could never fully explain.

Sue clutched at his shoulders, steadying herself with the anchor of his words. He wanted her… The meaning was clear, the implications less so. But there would be plenty of time to think about that later, provided this didn’t end with Jack backpedaling as he had done so many times before. She knew she couldn’t handle that rejection again, not after these kisses, not after the passion so evident in his touch.

A throat clearing startled Jack from the embrace, his arm tightening protectively around Sue as he turned toward the door, relaxing only slightly at the face he encountered.

“Mulligan came back. You didn’t,” Myles stated matter-of-factly, his ghoulish disguise still bringing a bubble of laughter to Jack’s chest, despite the mood of the moment.

“I thought I closed the door,” Jack retorted, shooting Myles a testy look.

“Yes. And I opened it.” He smiled blandly. “The rest of us will be doing our jobs if you need us.” Turning, he left the room, pointedly leaving the door open and Jack shaking his head in frustration.

“Oops,” Sue winced. “I guess we should be out there working instead of in here…” Meeting Jack’s gleaming eyes, she coughed awkwardly and lowered her gaze to his slightly-rumpled shirt. He caught her hands as she was smoothing out the wrinkles, raising them to his lips and brushing her fingers with a gentle kiss.

“Instead of in here making out?” he supplied for her, his flirtatious wink releasing another round of flutters in her stomach. She pressed her hand to her abdomen to squelch the sensation, her breath lodging in her lungs with his tender smile.

Needing to feel that she was on some semblance of familiar ground in this ever-complicated relationship, Sue made a point of gazing around the room, shrugging indifferently, her eyes sparkling as they returned to Jack’s face. “I guess it’s better than… What did Bobby call it?… Dragon Lady’s office?”

“Yeah,” Jack admitted slowly, his gaze twinkling affectionately at her. “And here I’d been thinking all this time that it would be impossible to top that kiss.” He grinned when her eyes fell bashfully, and he raised her chin to press his lips briefly to hers. “Remind me to tell you how much I think about that night one of these days.”

Sue nodded mutely, her mind precariously close to total meltdown as she struggled to keep up with him. For all their dancing around each other for the last three years, especially the last two months, this still seemed to be happening so quickly.

“And don’t worry about Myles,” Jack told her with a wry smirk. “He’s just mad because he didn’t get to be Indiana Jones.”

Sue laughed, the sound surrounding Jack’s heart and setting its rhythm on end yet again. “I wasn’t worried about Myles,” she assured him, flicking the ruffled pleat of his shirt. “Matter of fact, Myles was the last thing on my mind!”

Before she could lose her nerve, she leaned forward and gave him a dizzying kiss, releasing him abruptly and scurrying from the room with a breathless giggle. Jack stood where she’d left him, stunned and amazed and utterly in love. If this was how working on Halloween was going to turn out, he would never complain again.

Halloween night, 10:00 PM

Sue wasn’t in the hallway when Jack exited the room, and his heart fluttered nervously as worst-case scenarios flew through his mind. Forcing himself to remain optimistic, he quickly returned to the main room and breathed a sigh of relief when he spotted Sue standing near the stage with Tara. His hand to his heart, he started toward her, not completing more than two steps before Bobby stepped into his path.

“That lipstick is a nice shade on you, Sparky,” he grinned mercilessly, laughing at Jack’s groan of dread.

Swiping at his lips with the back of his hand, Jack ruefully eyed the offending smear of shimmery mauve and grimaced with a sheepish cough. “I take it Myles talked with you.”

“Nope,” Bobby replied cheerfully, clearly enjoying the opportunity to make Jack uncomfortable. He tapped the side of his forehead with his index finger. “I’m just an intelligent bloke, able to put two and two together at a moment’s notice.”

Nodding in Sue’s direction, he leaned conspiratorially toward Jack and murmured, “Sue came downstairs looking a little worse for the wear. Hair tousled, cheeks flushed, an expression on her face that I can only describe as a cross between scared to death and deliriously happy.”

Jack shifted uncomfortably, his neck feeling as though it had suddenly swelled to triple its size, as Bobby turned his theorizing glance his way.

“Then you come sauntering down the same stairs. Sauntering, mind you. Pure, unadulterated, I-just-got-the-girl, sauntering. Hair all amuck, lipstick smeared all over your mouth. Actually…” Bobby peered more closely at Jack, his wide grin slowly deepening. “Awh… good on ya’, mate! You’ve got a little bit of something pink and glittery by your ear, too.”

He hooted in absolute delight as Jack hurriedly rubbed at his ear, and he patted his shorter friend on the shoulder. “So how’d it happen, Sparky? Decide to recreate your previous make-out session for old times’ sake? Get a little caught up in your costumes? Figuratively, of course,” he clarified with a wink.

Jack knew he was blushing, his hand rubbing the back of his neck as he looked uncomfortably around the room for a diversion to avoid answering Bobby’s interrogation. “Sue…”

“Yah, mate. Glad you still know who you were manhandling upstairs. Now…”

“No, Bobby,” Jack interrupted urgently. “Where are Sue and Tara?” He scanned the room, his eyes frantically scanning their surroundings as his heart fell to his stomach. He knew there was probably a reasonable explanation for their whereabouts, knew he was most likely worrying unnecessarily. But he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong…

“Mulligan,” he whispered, gripping Bobby’s arm. “He’s gone too.”

“Relax, mate. They probably just saw Mulligan leave, couldn’t get our attention, so they followed him themselves. We’ll stumble across them any minute now, waiting for us to come rescue them from the doldrums of surveillance.”

Jack shot Bobby a sidelong glance, recognizing his friend’s attempt at calming both of them through humor but not completely appreciating it at the moment. “I hope you’re right, Crash. I hope you’re right.”

As they rounded the corner of the hallway, a petite form barreled into Bobby with a surprised ‘oof’. “Hello, Marion,” Bobby quipped with a quirky grin and his best Harrison Ford impersonation.

“Why does your voice sound like that?” Tara scrunched her nose at him, still held loosely in his arms, his hands locked at the small of her back.

His face fell slightly at her question, his answer a bit subdued. “I was quoting Indiana from the movie.”

“Oh.” Tara smiled apologetically, her eyes drifting to his chest as she realized the position they were in. “Ummm…”

Bobby dropped his arms and stepped back, his cough awkward. “I…uh…I guess I need to work on my Indy voice, huh?”

“No, it was fine,” she told him. “I…”

Jack broke in tersely, “Where is Sue, Tara?”

“She’s not with you?”

Jack’s heart plummeted, his stomach turning over as a wave of nausea hit him. “No,” he swallowed.

“We thought you sheilas were together,” Bobby added worriedly, watching Tara’s eyes widen with fear.

“No,” she shook her head. “Well, I mean, she was. But I got caught in a conversation with this really neat Princess Leia costume in the ladies’ room. Well, I mean, I wasn’t talking to the costume. I was talking to the lady wearing the costume. Her hair buns were amazing!” Looking at Jack’s broiling expression, she clamped her lips shut, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. “Anyway…Sue wanted to find you. I just assumed she had.”

Jack cursed and whirled back toward the main room, heading for it at almost a dead run. He scanned the crowd for any sign of Sue, pushing through the people in his way as he frantically tried not to panic. Catching a glimpse of blond, flowing hair, he grabbed the shoulder it belonged to, his relief shattering into distress when the face that turned wasn’t the one he wanted. “Sorry,” he mumbled, heading in the other direction before the woman could act on the flirtatious spark he’d noticed in her eyes.

Where was Sue? His heart pounded painfully in his chest, his mind racing with all the words he hadn’t said after their kiss, all the declarations that he had chosen once again to suppress. His lips still tingled from their kiss, desire shuddering through him as he recalled their embrace. She was the only one he wanted, had been for a long time now… why couldn’t he bring himself to tell her?

“Jack!”

Hearing his name coming from across the room, he turned, exhaling a loud breath as he watched Bobby sign, “S-U-E, OUTSIDE, P-O-R-C-H.”

Switching directions, Jack hurried to where Bobby had indicated Sue would be, and his knees went weak as he saw her leaning against the railing, gazing out onto the lake below. Distant traces of lightning on the horizon illuminated her hair, drawing him like a spell to reach out and touch the blond locks with trembling fingers. She startled, then turned toward him with a small smile.

“Hi.”

He breathed out a relieved sigh that ended up being more of a sob than a laugh, reaching out with one hand to cup the back of her head and draw her against him. Their lips met, his urgent, hers surprised but quickly recovering. He plundered her mouth with the desperation of a husband after a long separation from his bride, her muted whimpers spurring him to continue. He tangled one hand in her hair, placing the other at the small of her back and pulling her to him with barely contained restraint. Pressing her against the railing, he tasted and explored without finesse, driven by his need to know she was his, deepening his assault on her mouth for every time he remembered that he’d thought she was in danger. Releasing her abruptly to suck in much needed air, his eyes drifted regretfully over her bruised, swollen lips. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, brushing his fingers down her cheek and grazing her lips with a gentle, soothing kiss. “When I couldn’t find you, I thought Mulligan had you.”

She swayed against him, her eyes dilated and glazed over from his passionate kisses, her hand resting on his chest in a futile attempt to steady herself. “I came out here to get some air,” she murmured as though in a fog. “My oxygen levels hadn’t really replenished themselves from those other kisses yet. And now…”

She blinked slowly, the light breeze tousling her hair even further, adding to the damage he’d done with his fingers. To Jack, she’d never looked sexier, and he couldn’t wait to draw that reaction from her…and more… in other ways. She was his life; she was every beat of his heart, every thought in his mind, every moment of his days.

“I love you,” he declared raggedly, tears misting his eyes at the intense emotion that flooded through him at his own confession. After three years of holding it back, it felt so good to get it out in the open.

“What?” she gasped in disbelief, her senses already reeling, this doing nothing to bring her back to earth. She looked around in a dumbfounded, almost desperate, stupor. “Is there a freezer I can stick my head in for a minute?”

“What?” It was his turn to question, his heart stopping at the startling realization that she might not return his feelings. He had feared it for years, used it as an excuse so many times he’d lost count, but now that he was faced with it as reality, he wasn’t sure he could handle her rejection. “I…I’m sorry… I didn’t realize…I’m sorry.”

Finally focusing on the change in his demeanor, the stammering of his words, the anguished tension in his face, Sue reached out and grabbed the lapels of his tuxedo jacket when he started to walk away. “Not so fast, Hudson,” she grinned. “If you’re gonna sweep a girl off her feet like that, you can’t expect her to be coherent for at least a solid minute. Maybe even longer.” As she talked, she slowly drew him closer until their bodies brushed, her face tilted and her smile slowly breaking through the hastily built walls around his heart.

His breathing grew strained as she hovered her lips near his, teasingly keeping him from making contact, her breath tickling his face, making him ache for her caress. “I love you, too,” she whispered, finally closing the distance and kissing him tenderly as he moaned into her mouth.

Breaking the kiss, he swung her around by her waist, throwing his head back and whooping loudly, capturing her with another kiss just as dizzying as his spin. She wrapped her arms around his neck and crushed her curves against his solid lines, their hearts beating as one, their lives finally on the same page as they lost themselves in each other for a few precious moments.

A lone figure watched from the shadows, eyes narrowing at the display of affection in front of him. Their kisses, their soft sighs, their loving embrace, all reminding him of what he’d lost… and what he hoped to regain tonight. Seeing a ghoulish figure appear on the porch, he drifted back into the darkness, not ready to be discovered, needing to keep himself hidden for now. But they would know soon enough… He looked at the clock… almost 11. Yes, all would be revealed in due time. To everything there is, after all, a season. A time to be born, a time to die. A time to kill, and a time to heal. A time to weep… A time to mourn…

Halloween night, 11 PM

“Are you sure you saw Mulligan come this way?” Bobby asked Tara again, beginning to doubt the accuracy of her observations.

“Yes, Indy,” she replied in frustration. “I’m positive. He’s too creepy looking to be inconspicuous.”

She shivered for effect and Bobby chuckled at her antics, draping his arm casually over her shoulders as they walked down the hallway. “He came in from outside right after Myles went outside to find Jack and Sue.”

Bobby frowned at her words. “I wonder if he was watching them.”

“Hmmm… maybe,” Tara allowed softly, the dark hallway adding to the eerie feeling that was already chilling her. “Does it feel really cold in here all of a sudden to you?”

“Ummmm… no, not particularly,” Bobby replied, tucking her closer against his side. “Probably that flimsy little getup you’ve got on,” he teased. “Hardly enough to cover a…”

“Did you hear that?” Tara whispered, stopping her progress down the hall and gripping his hand urgently. “It sounds like someone crying…”

She cocked her head to the side, listening intently, trying to determine the source of the noise that had captured her attention. “It’s from in there…” Turning toward the room to her left, she pressed her ear to the door, slowly turning the knob and pushing the door slowly inward.

Scattered candles dimly illuminated the room, and a quick glance around revealed that Bobby and Tara were its sole occupants. “That’s weird,” Tara murmured, confused. “I know I heard someone crying in here.”

“Maybe there’s another way out,” Bobby suggested, walking around her to enter the room and exploring the walls with expert hands.

“Bobby…”

Tara’s gasp sent Bobby to her side, her gaze transfixed to a portrait hanging over the large stone fireplace. “Do you see what I see?” she whispered, an awed hush muting her words.

Bobby nodded silently, his mind trying to process the image before him. It looked so much like… but no, that couldn’t be her… That picture had to be at least 100 years old, but still… That was… “Sue.”

****

Jack held Sue close, breathing in the scent of her hair as they danced together to the music. He let his hands splay across the small of her back, nestling her against him and sighing happily as her fingers toyed with the hair at the nape of his neck. “Careful, Jack,” she whispered in his ear, her voice revealing her grin without him needing to look. “Distracting me makes it hard for me to pay attention to anyone but you.”

He nudged her away just enough for her to read his words, his disarming wink releasing the butterflies in her stomach. “Is he saying anything we can use yet?”

Sue smiled tenderly, running her hand along his jaw and leaning forward to kiss his chin. “Not really. About the only thing I’ve learned from him tonight is that the Colts are 6 and 0 for the season.” Nuzzling his cheek with her nose, she tucked her head in the crook of his neck and discreetly focused her attention on Mulligan again, her eyes catching Myles’ wink as Jack swayed closer to the suspect’s table.

“Correct me if I’m wrong,” Myles droned in a low voice, his eyes darting around the porch for any observers. “But I was under the impression that we were here to work, not to spend the entire evening making out with someone with whom we should have shared our feelings three years ago.”

Jack released Sue, his eyes sparking angrily, his fist clenched at his side. “Myles, if you’ve got a problem with how we’re spending our evening, keep it to yourself.”

“Jack…” Sue murmured, grabbing his arm lightly when he started toward the other agent. Focusing on Myles, she smiled apologetically. “We’re sorry, Myles. We haven’t been acting very responsibly tonight. I guess something about the costumes and this beautiful old house just brought out the romance in us. We’ll try to be more discreet from now on.”

Myles looked appropriately subdued at her words, his smile softer and laced with a hint of his own apology. “I’m the one who should be sorry,” he began awkwardly. “After three years of waiting for you two to come to your senses, I should be expressing my congratulations.”

“It’s okay, Myles,” Sue told him, laying her hand on his arm as she moved to stand in front of him, her skirt swishing against the stone floor. “We’re all a little tense tonight.” Smiling conspiratorially, she leaned forward and whispered with a wink, “For what it’s worth, I think you would have made a great Indiana Jones.”

She watched Mulligan’s lips as casually as possible, missing snatches of the mundane conversation when she averted her eyes to avoid detection. Biting back a sigh of frustration that her surveillance hadn’t been more productive, she shivered when Jack began lightly playing with her hair. “Jack, stop,” she hissed on another shiver. “I can’t concentrate when you’re playing with my hair.”

Jack leaned back so she could see him speak, his eyes narrowed in confusion. “I’m not playing with your hair. My hands are right here.” He squeezed her hips to prove his point, Sue’s forehead furrowing in disbelief.

“But I felt…” She broke off as a cool breeze touched her arms, ruffled her hair. “Never mind. I guess it was just the wind.”

His expression not entirely convinced, Jack simply nodded and drew her against him again, kissing her hair as she dipped her head to his shoulder. He felt her shiver once more as another icy gust of wind enveloped them in a chilling embrace, his hands tightening their grip on her waist as she burrowed closer. “I love you,” he whispered against her hair.

Sue stiffened in his arms, pushing back slightly and trying to disengage herself from his grasp. “Jack… I need to…” She broke off in confusion, her breath catching in her throat as she met his concerned eyes.

“You need to what?”

“I need to…go…to the stables.”

“Why?” Jack tilted his head, the hairs on his arms bristling without explanation. “Did Mulligan say something?”

“No.” Sue shook her head, her forehead crinkled in helpless consternation.

“Then why…?”

“I don’t know.”

Halloween night, 12 midnight

Bobby glanced up from the shelf of books he was rifling through, grinning fondly at the picture that Tara made in the large leather chair. Her legs were crossed, her index finger caught by its nail between her teeth, her eyes transfixed to the book in her hand. “Finding anything interesting, luv?”

She nodded without speaking, turning the page with a sense of awe. Focusing on the books again, he pulled at a dusty volume and flipped through the pages, discovering nothing particularly interesting and shelving it again with a sigh. Giving up on his task for the time being, he leaned against the nearby mantle and surveyed the room they had discovered earlier. He purposely kept his back to the picture over the fireplace, refusing to believe it was anything other than a very strange coincidence.

The room appeared to be a bedroom, one that obviously hadn’t been used in years yet was oddly preserved. It almost looked as though the occupant had just stepped out to use the facilities and would return at any moment. An eerie feeling spread down his spine, and he cleared his throat, embarrassed that he had let Tara’s vivid imagination affect him like this. “So… what are you reading?” He propped himself on the edge of the desk and tapped the leather-bound volume to get her attention.

“A journal. Written by someone named Jacques,” she answered without tearing her eyes from the words inked on the page with an elegant script. “From 1905. I’m in March so far.”

“A hundred years ago…” Bobby mused, his gaze flicking to the portrait looming overhead. “Jacques, huh?”

“Yeah,” Tara murmured, finally looking up when the significance of the name dawned on her. “Jacques… Jack… this is getting very freakish.”

Bobby mumbled something noncommittal, about to resume his book rifling when a gasp from Tara stopped him in mid hop. “Okay… this just went from freakish to freakishly freakish.” She stared at the journal for another moment before shoving it at Bobby and pointing frantically to a paragraph halfway down the page. “Read that.”

I’ve always laughed at those who believed in love at first sight. Never again. For I have now experienced the reality of finding one’s soul in the eyes of another, even at first glance.

Groaning and rolling his eyes, Bobby looked incredulously at Tara, who would not be swayed. “Keep reading,” she insisted. “And don’t roll your eyes. It’s beautiful.”

She marched into my library this morning, telling me in no uncertain terms that she wasn’t hired to be the chambermaid. She had only accepted the employment with my family with the understanding that she would be the governess for my sister’s children. I sat there, unable to move, unable to speak, unable to think of anything except how beautiful she looked. Her dark eyes sparking with indignant anger, her porcelain skin flushed, her hair flowing over her tense shoulders. Even now, the thought of her sends my heart into rhythms I have never before known. Suzette… Needless to say, she spent the rest of the day with the children.

Bobby slowly lowered the journal, handing it back to Tara without a word. His face seemed a bit paler than it had been before, and she waited expectantly for some sort of reaction. “Well?”

“It’s uh…” He cleared his throat, trying to shrug nonchalantly, his eyes darting to the journal in spite of his attempts at indifference. “I think you’ve been reading too many of those bodice-ripper novels you sheilas are always drooling over.”

“Oh come on, Bobby,” Tara argued, gesturing wildly at the portrait and the journal. “Don’t you think it’s even the slightest bit weird? A Jack and Sue from a hundred years ago, similar first encounters… the picture?”

“It’s a bit… eerie, I’ll give you that,” Bobby acknowledged with a reluctant cough. “But it’s just a coincidence. Nothing more. All that nonsense about ghosts and haunted houses is just that… nonsense.”

Tara crinkled her face at him and signed something that Bobby didn’t understand. “What was that?” he huffed.

“You can ask Sue later,” she answered primly, returning to her reading, an impish smirk tugging at her lips. “Or maybe Suzette would know.”

****

Jack hovered close to Sue as they made their way across the dark, damp lawn to the stables. No lights lined the path to illuminate their steps or their words. They were silent, but they were together. He squeezed her hand, pulling her closer to his side as they approached the wooden door, the smell of hay and horses wafting through the fog.

She reached out a graceful hand and hesitantly pushed at the door, stepping back into Jack’s chest when it swung open with no resistance. His arms encircled her waist, waiting to see what she was going to do, not surprised when he felt her take a deep breath and move forward. He followed close, his hand at her shoulder, then sliding down to grasp her trembling fingers. Glancing at him, she gave him a nervous smile. “Places like this give me the creeps.”

Chuckling tenderly at her, he kept her hand securely in his grip and kept his eyes moving everywhere in anticipation. Sue paused in the middle of the stables, her spine stiff, her breathing shallow.

“WRONG WHAT?” Jack signed when he got her attention.

She swallowed, her eyes wide. “DON’T-KNOW,” she admitted. “FEEL WEIRD.”

“WEIRD, HOW?”

Shrugging, she crossed her arms, rubbing her hands up and down along her forearms against a sudden chill. “COLD,” she signed, although she didn’t need to. He had felt it, too.

He cocked his head to indicate he was ready to leave, and they started for the door when he heard a noise from one of the stalls. Holding up his head, he listened intently until he heard it again. “WAIT HERE,” he instructed her sternly, squeezing her hand in reassurance to them both as he crept forward to investigate.

Sue shifted her weight from one foot to the other, unable to shake the fear that clutched at her heart in Jack’s absence. Feeling him come up behind her, his hand on her back, she turned to smile at him in relief, her heart quickly plummeting at who she encountered instead.

November 1st, 1 AM

“This is so sad,” Tara sniffled as she turned another dusty page in the old journal. Bobby sat on the edge of the desk, having long since given up on finding anything relevant in the ancient books he had been searching.

“What did you find now?” She had been breaking the heavy silence every now and then for the past hour with little anecdotes from the story of the budding romance between Jacques and Suzette.

“He’s so in love with her, but they can’t be together because of the rules.” She glanced up at Bobby with a watery grin. “Kinda like their modern day counterparts.”

He grinned fondly at her as she swiped at the tears that moistened her cheeks, and an overwhelming sense of affection for her flooded his heart. Disturbed at the intensity of these new feelings, he stood and paced away from the desk, needing to put some distance between them.

“Listen to this…” She found the words she wanted to read and leaned back in the chair as her hushed voice began to fill the room.

Why was I born into a world of social classes and traditions? Why couldn’t I have lived in a day where wealth and position made no difference, where love between two people was the only criteria for blessing a union? I love Suzette with my entire being, more every day, more even every second. And yet we are forbidden to see each other, much less marry. She has been banished to live above the stables, studies now solely taking place in her quarters. She is not allowed to come to the main house, and I am not allowed to go to her. And yet, in the cover of darkness, we still find a way to meet. We dance in the moonlight for brief moments, not daring to stay long in each other’s company for fear we will be discovered.

“Gotta love the irony in that,” Bobby drawled as he poked through a drawer in the nightstand. “Wishes for a world where wealth and position don’t matter and yet our Jack and Sue are still bound by rules. Just a different set.”

Tara hid her grin at the way Bobby seemed finally to be getting into the history behind the star-crossed couple, not wanting to discourage his interest. “Yeah… but not so different when you think about it,” she murmured, twisting a lock of her hair between her fingers. “Jacques and Suzette were kept apart because of their jobs, too… his ownership of the family business, her status as a lowly employee in his parents’ eyes.”

“Have you found anything about the picture yet?” Bobby asked, rooting a rusty key from the depths of the drawer and examining it in his palm.

“Yeah… I was just getting to that.” She ran her finger down the page until she found the paragraph she had just discovered a few moments ago.

My one anchor in our separation is the portrait I commissioned of my beloved just before we were forced apart. It hangs over my fireplace, a constant reminder to me of her beauty, of her gentle spirit, of her fire and her tenderness. One look at her smile and my heart is somewhat comforted. How can I imagine the rest of my life without her here beside me? Without her presence as close as an embrace? The thought sickens me, and I know that it is impossible to consider. My family’s money be hanged. I can live without their wealth. I can live without their approval. I can not live without her love. If we can only endure for a few more weeks, my path will be clear to leave all behind and begin my journey as a husband, a friend, a lover.

“Where are you at in the year?” Bobby held a yellowed newspaper in his hand, his eyes locked to what he was reading, his voice somewhat distracted.

Tara glanced back up at the date in the corner of the page. “September 14th. Why?”

“Skip ahead to October 31st,” he instructed vaguely. “I’ll tell you why in a minute.”

“Okaaay.” She flipped through the book until she reached the date he had requested, turning ahead one page to find it blank. “Hmmm… this is the last entry in the journal. I wonder why he just stopped here.”

“Go ahead and read it out loud,” Bobby urged. “I have a feeling a whole lot of things are going to make sense after you do.”

I picked up the ring from the bank today, and for a moment I was afraid that Mother had beat me to it. But it was still there, safe in the pouch it was in when Grandmother gave it to me. I fear it may burn a hole in my pocket before I can place it on my beloved’s hand tonight. The enormity of what I am preparing to do overwhelms me. To leave my family, my business, my wealth… everything and everyone I know…And yet, exchanging these things seems like such a small price to pay to spend the rest of my life as Suzette’s husband. She wrote me a letter last night and delivered it to me by the stable boy, telling me how much she loves me, how much she longs to be my wife. I think she suspects that I am about to propose, the twinkle in her eye sparkling in the moonlight even more than usual, the spark in her smile ever brighter.

Tara stopped reading, her forehead knitting at the scrawl across the page. “It looks like he might have been interrupted all of a sudden. The ink kinda jerks over the page.”

“Is there more?” Bobby asked hopefully, his heart beating faster when Tara nodded.

I can hear Suzette in the garden, arguing with Mulligan again.

Tara looked up sharply, her eyes wide as they met Bobby’s gaze. “Did I just say Mulligan?” He nodded, and she sat back heavily in the chair. “Why don’t you look all that surprised?”

“I’ll tell you in a minute,” he promised, gesturing toward her with an impatient wave. “Keep reading.”

I can hear Suzette in the garden, arguing with Mulligan again, though the hour is late. Night has long since fallen, and I know she was waiting for me by the stables as is our habit for meeting at midnight. My mother delayed me, as is her habit, and I am now an hour late. Yet, I had better not go down now unless it escalates. As much as she loves me, her fiery streak of independence does not appreciate my interference in her battles.

Mulligan is not worthy of her company, and yet I can do nothing to stop him. He is determined either to have her for himself or send her away. His brazen audacity makes the bile rise in my throat, and every time he leers at her I want to choke him and marry her on the spot. I have been checking into Suzette’s suspicions regarding his dishonest practices with his division of my family’s company, but so far I am unable to find any proof that her worries are well-founded.

I cannot listen to their heated words any longer, my heart twists at every insult directed toward my beloved until I can no longer stay still. I am putting the ring away for safe keeping, lest Mulligan or my mother would take it from me. If the fates are with me, I will return to my quarters an engaged man…

“That’s where it stops,” Tara observed, rifling through the last few pages of the leather book just to make sure. “He never wrote anything else.”

Bobby tapped the newspaper in his hand and nodded. “Yeah, I would imagine not. It’s hard to write when you’re dead.”

Hearing Sue’s startled cry, Jack leaped over the stall he was investigating and hurried to where he’d left her, only to find her crumpled in a heap on the floor, Mulligan standing over the still form. “Sue!” Jack cried, falling to his knees and cradling her head in his lap. “What did you do to her?” he snapped accusingly at the other man, his eyes flashing as he glared up at Mulligan.

“I didn’t do anything,” Mulligan protested, kneeling helplessly at Sue’s other side. “I was coming to ask her a question, and she turned around, saw me, and passed out.”

“Why would she do that?” Jack asked, not trusting the criminal to tell him the truth. “Sue doesn’t just pass out for no reason.”

“I don’t know,” Mulligan insisted. “But I promise you that I didn’t do anything to her.” He hesitated, his eyes darting around the room with a nervous gleam. “Maybe she saw…someone else.”

“Was there another person here?” Jack tensed, his senses alert to possible danger.

“Not that I saw,” Mulligan hedged, shifting uncomfortably, his eyes flicking to the stairs at the far end of the stables. “Did you… did you say her name is Sue?”

Jack narrowed his gaze, turning his attention swiftly to Sue when she began to stir in his arms. “YOU O-K?” he asked as soon as her eyes fluttered open.

She nodded slowly, looking first to Jack, then to Mulligan, then nervously around them. “I’m fine.”

“WHAT HAPPENED?” Jack helped her sit up, stroking her hair, not liking the ashen tone to her cheeks.

“Nothing, I just… I think the smell of the hay just got to me,” Sue mumbled, waving her hand to brush off his concern.

Not convinced that she was telling him the whole story, Jack braced her as she stood to her feet, steadying her when she wobbled slightly. Kissing her temple, he smoothed his hand down her hair and glared defiantly at Mulligan. “I think we’re fine here,” he clipped out.

Taking the ‘subtle’ hint, Mulligan nodded and stepped back a few paces, his eyes drifting once again over Jack’s shoulder before he turned and left the stables. As soon as he was gone, Jack eased Sue away and ran his finger along her cheek. “YOU SCARE ME,” he signed with a sheepish grin.

“I’m sorry,” Sue voiced and signed, leaning up to brush a quivery kiss to his lips. “Can you… can you just hold me for a minute?” she whispered, sighing in relief when his arms willingly closed around her. She buried her face in his chest, breathing deeply of his scent and clasping her hands at the small of his back. Pulling him closer, she trembled at his nearness, her lips grazing the pulse beating wildly at his throat. He groaned, the vibrations tickling her chest as she pressed tightly against him, his finger tilting her chin to capture her lips with his.

“I love you,” she murmured against his kiss, feeling his absence as he lifted his face to speak.

Taking her hands, he placed one against his lips, the other lightly at his throat. “I love you, too,” he whispered and signed, his tongue touching her fingertips on the second word. She inhaled shakily, her eyes filling with tears as he repeated the sentiment, this time just speaking.

Ducking away from the hand at his mouth, he pressed his lips to her forehead and said again, “I love you.”

He trailed kisses to her cheek, her hand trembling at his throat as he again whispered, “I love you.”

Moving his lips along her skin to her ear, he murmured, “I love you.”

He dragged his mouth down the slope of her neck, finding the hollow of her throat and nuzzling her pulse with his tongue. Repeating the words she was learning to identify by the motion of his lips, the puff of breath as he spoke, the vibrations in his voice box, he told her again, “I love you.”

“Jack,” she breathed, tugging his face to hers and covering his mouth with hers. “Say it again,” she pleaded into the kiss, holding his head in her hands so he couldn’t pull away.

“I love you,” he said against her lips, absorbing her shiver with his own at the intensity of the sensations that overwhelmed them both. There was something about this place, he noted. Something that made it impossible for them to conceal their feelings. Something that lowered their inhibitions and magnified their emotions. Almost as though this night was created for them…

“So, Jacques and Suzette killed themselves?”

“That’s what the paper says, luv. Jumped off the cliff by the stables into the lake,” Bobby summarized as he handed the yellowed newspaper to Tara for her own perusal. “Landed on the rocks near the shore, and death came instantly.”

“I don’t buy it,” Tara declared, stubbornly shaking her head. “Jacques was too happy about proposing to Suzette to do something that desperate.”

“Well, maybe Suzette turned him down,” Bobby suggested with a small shrug. “He was so distraught that he jumped, she had a change of heart and followed him in her regret.”

Tara pursed her lips and considered his theory for a moment before sighing dismally and reading the article again. “I wonder if this Mulligan is any relation to our Mulligan. It says here that he was a cousin of Jacques’ family, the only heir to the business after Jacques’ death.”

“Yeah, and a bloody good job he did of it,” Bobby snorted. “Instead of a thriving business to leave his descendants, they are left with an old abandoned house on a deserted island. Not much of a legacy.”

“It just didn’t sound like Suzette would refuse Jacques’ proposal,” Tara went back to their first topic. “In his journal, she seemed so happy.”

“Well, maybe he only saw what he wanted to see. He wouldn’t be the first man to exaggerate a lady’s affection for him.”

Tara chewed on her fingernail for a moment, unwilling to accept the fate prescribed to them by the article. “Wait a minute,” she exclaimed, tossing aside the newspaper to grab the journal again. “In his last entry, Jacques said that Suzette had written him a letter, telling him how happy she was, how much she loved him. I wonder if he saved it.”

She began fiddling with the drawers of the old desk, rummaging through the contents in search of the elusive correspondence. A thudding noise drew their acute attention, Bobby and Tara both bristling, their spines straightening. Noting Bobby’s pale face, Tara turned in the direction he was looking, her own features blanching in the flickering candlelight. A book lay open on the floor where it had fallen from the dusty shelf, its pages revealing the parchment it had been preserving for all these years. A letter, penned in flowing feminine script, beginning with, My beloved Jacques…

November 1st, 2 AM

“See?” Tara announced triumphantly after reading the letter. “I knew Suzette wouldn’t have refused Jacques’ proposal. These are the words of a woman who is completely in love, not about to say no to a proposal and definitely not about to kill herself.”

“So what really happened then?”

“I don’t know,” Tara sighed. “But I know it wasn’t suicide.” She started rummaging around in the desk again, bringing a curious smile to Bobby’s lips.

“What are you doing now?” he chuckled, coming around the desk to stand at her side and gaze down at her fondly.

“I’m looking for the ring.”

“The ring?” he repeated, confused.

“Yes, the ring.” Tara looked up at him and blew a puff of air from the corner of her mouth to move her bangs out of her eyes. “In his journal, Jacques said he was putting the ring away for safekeeping before he went down to meet Suzette. I want to find the ring.”

“Luv, he could have put that ring anywhere. How do you expect to find it after all these years?”

“Don’t rain on my parade,” Tara groused. “We found the letter, didn’t we?”

“Someone found the letter,” Bobby corrected. “But I don’t think it was us.”

“Stop it,” Tara ordered. “I’m creeped out enough as it is.”

Bobby chuckled and leaned against the bookshelf to watch her rifle through the desk. Her excited gasp drew him back to her side, her hands buried deep in a drawer, her smile bright. “I found a secret compartment,” she explained, biting her lip in concentration as she struggled to retrieve the contents of the hiding place.

“Aha!” She pulled out a suede pouch, holding it reverently in her hand as Bobby stared down at it in disbelief.

“Aren’t you going to open it?” he whispered.

“I don’t know,” Tara whispered back. “It seems wrong somehow.”

“Here, let me…” Bobby’s word died in his throat as a creaking noise from behind startled him into silence.

Jack pulled a piece of straw from Sue’s hair and chuckled as she crinkled her nose in embarrassment. He brushed his hands down her dress, ridding her of the hay that seemed to cling to her, grazing her curves with a hungry shudder. Meeting her eyes, he leaned down for a lingering kiss, his hands cupping her face, his thumbs rubbing lightly over her jaw.

“We’d better get back before Myles comes to find us again,” Sue whispered when Jack rested his forehead against hers, giggling as he sighed heavily in response.

“YOU-ME MAKE-OUT MORE,” he signed, a predatory gleam in his eyes.

“Jack!” Sue squealed, darting from his grasp and scurrying out of reach with a breathless laugh. “We’re supposed to be working.”

“DON’T-WANT WORK. WANT MAKE-OUT.”

“I gathered that,” Sue retorted dryly, muffling another shriek as he cornered her in an empty stall. Her eyes were wide, her cheeks flushed, her chest heaving as she sucked in air. “Jack,” she warned, holding a hand to keep him at bay. Taking her hand in his, he raised her fingers to his mouth, lightly drawing them between his lips and swirling his tongue over the tips. Sue sagged against the wall, her breathing shallow, her eyes darkening. “Jack,” she murmured on a soft moan.

“I love you,” he spoke, her fingers still held captive by his tongue. She shivered at the words she was learning to recognize by feel, by sensation… sound unnecessary with the light in his eyes.

“I love you, too,” she whispered huskily, drawing her free hand up to stroke his jaw.

Releasing her hand, he found her lips again, the kiss turning almost desperate as he sought to communicate the depth of his desire for her. The more he tasted, the more he craved. She had become his addiction with one kiss, and he knew he would never recover.

A rush of cold air, coupled with a rattling behind them, tore Jack from the kiss, his face turning anxiously in the direction of the noise. “What is it,” Sue asked quietly, her hand seeking the warmth of his heartbeat through his shirt.

“I HEAR NOISE,” he answered, his senses alert to any repetition. Hearing it again, he grabbed Sue by the hand and crept with her toward the stairs at the far end of the stables. “YOU STAY WITH ME,” he ordered in sign, knowing that there still wasn’t enough light for her to see his lips well.

“Don’t worry,” Sue chuckled nervously. “I’ll stick to you like glue.”

Liking the idea of Sue being that close, Jack felt himself blushing at his train of thought but slowly began climbing the stairs, Sue’s hand still firmly clasped in his. Reaching a musty wooden door, he reached out and turned the cold knob, bracing himself for whatever lay on the other side.

“I’ll go in first,” Bobby whispered, but made no move to approach the door now visible behind the askew fireplace. The portrait of Suzette now tilted, the large stone hearth had swung open to reveal a yawning tunnel.

“I’ll let you,” Tara murmured back. Glancing over at him when he still took no steps, she nudged him with her elbow. “You know, in order to ‘go in first’, you have to actually go in.”

“Unless you want to go first,” Bobby turned toward Tara, not hiding his uncomfortable swallow. She gave him a deadpan stare, her expression more than clear that his latest idea did not appeal to her in the least. “Okay,” he amended with a nervous clearing of his throat. “I’ll go.”

His hand to his shoulder holster, he motioned for Tara to grab one of the lit candelabras and follow him into the darkness. She placed a hand on his back, not willing to let him get too far ahead of her, nearly walking on the back of his heels in her effort to stay close. Throwing her an amused glance over the back of his shoulder, Bobby cautiously approached a rickety wooden staircase at the end of the short passageway. He took the candelabra from Tara, sweeping it around the small space to make sure they weren’t missing anything before handing it back to her.

Climbing the stairs, made slightly difficult by Tara practically riding piggyback, he neared the door and turned the knob only to find it locked. Tara groaned in disappointment, but Bobby shook his finger in the air disdainfully. “My dear Miss Williams, you are forgetting who you are with here.”

“Oh that’s right,” she murmured in a hushed voice. “The world’s greatest lockpicker.”

“Well… yes,” Bobby agreed with a dimpled grin. “But in this case, I meant that you are with someone who scavenged up a rusty old key that just might fit this rusty old lock.” He put the key in the lock, turning the tumbler and sighing in contentment when it opened easily. “We’ll talk later about how you can thank me.”

The wink he gave her did nothing to settle her nerves, and she stood frozen to the spot as he entered ahead of her. Realizing that she was about to be left alone, she gave a little yelp and hopped forward to collide into his firm back.

“Don’t worry, luv,” Bobby crooned, a mischievous lilt to his voice. “I wouldn’t leave you.” Giving her time to process his words, he added, “You’ve got the light.”

Rubbing his smarting shoulder from the fisted blow he’d just received from an indignant Tara, Bobby tested the strength of the wooden floorboards before venturing even further into the attic room. “Looks like there’s another way in,” he whispered, indicating the descending stairs at the other end of the room.

“Probably from the hallway closet,” Tara theorized quietly, scurrying to catch up to Bobby when he continued his perusal of the room. “Quit doing that or I’m going to take my light and leave.”

“Really? Back down the secret passage all by yourself, to wait for me in the room with the ghost that keeps throwing books off shelves and opening hidden doors?”

Bobby chuckled when Tara swatted at him again. “It’s not a ghost,” she insisted in a harsh whisper. “I don’t believe in ghosts.”

No sooner had the words left her mouth than a gust of wind pushed her slightly backward, her arm swinging the light to a different area of the attic as she stumbled. Her eyes falling to the newly illuminated section, she nearly dropped the candelabra in her shock. “Bobby…” Her voice trembled as furiously as her hand, the light she held casting a shaky shadow on the wall. She felt him come up behind her, his breath hitching at what she’d just discovered.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Jack and Sue stood in the middle of the deserted apartment, their eyes taking in the furniture and possessions that hadn’t been touched in decades. “WOW,” Jack signed, his lips pursed in a whistle.

“It looks like a museum display,” Sue observed, her voice hushed as she used the light of the moon streaming through the room’s single window to begin a cautious exploration.

“Clothes still in the closet,” she noted, pulling out a muslin sleeve for Jack’s inspection.

“FLOWERS,” he signed, pointing to a vase of dried wildflowers on the desk. Reaching out to touch a petal, it dissolved into dust, taking the rest of its flower with it. “Oops,” he chuckled.

“I can’t take you anywhere,” Sue laughed softly, running her hand along the armoire near the bed. Jack watched her, a low groan tickling his throat at the beautiful picture she made in the moonlight. Stepping toward her, he circled her waist with his hands and pressed a kiss to her jaw.

“BEAUTIFUL YOU,” he signed from behind her, lowering his lips to the exposed skin of her upper back and whispering, “I love you.”

She shivered in his arms, her head falling back to rest on his shoulder as she quietly moaned his name. Her hands gripped his, her face turning to meet his lips as he trailed kisses up the slope of her neck. “I feel so close to you in here,” Jack murmured as he cupped her jaw in his hand.

Wrapping one arm around his neck, the other still covering his hand at her waist, she fully returned his kiss with a urgency she had never before experienced. Releasing his hand to lift her fingers to his temple, she brushed against something on the nightstand, accidentally knocking it to the floor and jumping when Jack startled at the noise. She remained in his embrace as she bent to retrieve the simple metal frame, her hand trembling violently when she saw what it contained.

“Do you see what I’m seeing?” Tara stammered, the candelabra still trembling in her grasp.

“If you’re seeing Jack’s face in that portrait, then yes, I’m seeing what you’re seeing.”

Both stood in dumbfounded silence, taking in the features they knew so well on a person they had never met. “I want to go home,” Tara finally announced, a pitiful quiver to her voice.

“Can’t argue with ya there,” Bobby mumbled, rubbing his chin nervously.
“My goosebumps have goosebumps,” Tara continued as she stepped closer to Bobby.

He chuckled in spite of the eerie chill to the room. “Where did you come up with that?”

“I read it on a message board the other day,” she explained, not taking her eyes off the portrait in front of her. “It’s not original to me.”

Bobby shifted forward, lifting the ornate frame with his hand and bringing it nearer. “This gets stranger by the minute,” he muttered. A thick envelope fell to the ground as he moved the painting, both pairs of eyes staring mutely at it, unsure whether they wanted to know what was in it.

“You were saying?” Tara retorted wryly.

Bending to retrieve the envelope, Bobby held it in his hands for a minute, contemplating its contents. “Well… can’t stop now, I don’t suppose.” He slid his finger along the edge, slitting the envelope and gently tugging at the papers inside, moving closer to the light to read the words penned in a clumsy script.

I didn’t mean to hurt her.

He looked up at Tara, his gaze a little stunned. “I think this is a confession,” he stated unnecessarily.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” she demanded, tugging on his sleeve impatiently. “Read it.”

I didn’t mean to hurt her. All I wanted was for her to choose me. I wanted to make her mine, to spend the rest of my life showing her how happy I could make her. But she was blinded by Jacques, immune to real love, under his charms. She couldn’t see clearly when he always hovered. I was trying to make her understand that I was the one for her, that she should come away with me and leave Jacques to his family’s money. That is ultimately what he would have chosen anyway, but she refused to believe me.

I reached for her, knowing that if I could only show her the passion she stirs within me, she would willingly become my bride. But she never gave me the chance… Jacques chose that moment to appear and she pushed me away to go to him. If I couldn’t have her, he shouldn’t be able to possess her either. A quick flick of my wrist over hers, the damp rocks, her thin shoes… Before I could stop myself, she had plunged over the cliff, her beautiful body lying broken on the rocks below.

Bobby and Tara exchanged stunned looks, though they shouldn’t have been surprised. “I knew it wasn’t suicide,” Tara whispered.

“At least for Suzette,” Bobby countered. “Jacques could still have jumped after her or something tragically romantic like that.”

“Okay…I’m gonna pretend you didn’t just use the words ‘tragically romantic’ because I don’t want to think about how you know that term. It spoils my image of you.”

Bobby’s dimples deepened, his eyes twinkling at her. “You have an image of me?”

“Ummmm… I did say that, didn’t I?” Tara bit her lip, shuffling back and forth on her feet. She reached out and plucked at some invisible lint on his shirt, her actions not reducing the embarrassed flush that crawled over her face.

“I’d like to hear about that image of yours sometime,” Bobby flirted, sidling closer to her and dipping his head to meet her shy gaze with a wink.

Tara opened her mouth to say something sassy when footsteps on the stairs silenced her even before Bobby’s hand covered her mouth. She turned around slowly, holding her breath and backing into Bobby’s solid chest as a shadowy figure came into view.

Thank you all for your feedback. I'm glad you're enjoying the story! I can't take all the credit for the idea though...a certain friend (*cough* Marie) helped me brainstorm when I was doing nothing more than aimlessly wandering through this story lol.

“Sue, sweetheart, I’m sure it’s just a weird coincidence,” Jack soothed, trying to calm Sue’s quivering limbs.

“Jack…this is you. One hundred years ago,” she whispered. “If it’s anything, weird would certainly be at the top of my list. And if I believed in coincidences, I would have to agree with you.”

“What about ghosts?” Jack quipped, only half-joking.

“I don’t believe in those either.” Her voice seemed weak to his ears, and he used her anxiety as an excuse to take her in his arms. “You’re not a ghost, are you?”

He chuckled softly and tipped her chin. “No,” he rasped, his breath catching as he was again overwhelmed by her beauty. “I can assure you that I am a living… breathing… virile… man.” Punctuating every word with a gentle kiss, he grew more passionate with each one, coaxing a response from Sue that left both of them a bit shaken.

“A living, breathing, virile man who needs to get out of this bedroom while he still has any semblance of control left,” he added huskily. Taking Sue by the hand and dragging her from the apartment, he hardly dared to breathe until he reached the safety of the outdoors.

“So what do you think about this picture?” Sue pressed, waving the frame near his face as he sagged against the outer wall of the stables.

“I think…” he began, pushing away from the building to take the frame from her, laying it on a nearby ledge and tenderly clasping her hands in both of his. “I think that we don’t need to worry about that right now.”

“Why not?” Sue continued, her eyes on the picture until he directed her face back to his with a light pressure of his finger against her soft cheek.

“Because they’re playing our song, and I want to dance with you.”

Sliding his arm around her waist, he drew her close and held her other hand against his chest, swaying gently in the moonlight to the music wafting from the main house.

“What song might that be?” Sue asked with an amused smile as she melted into his embrace. “And won’t we get in trouble if Myles catches us slacking off again?”

“All I Ask Of You,” he answered with a shy dip of his head, his lips pursed in an adoring grin. “It’s the song that Raoul and Christine sing to each other in Phantom. And I really don’t care what Myles says.”

“Oh yes…I meant to ask you that earlier,” Sue needled, cocking her head curiously. “How do you know so much about that musical?”

Jack looked around uncomfortably, clearing his throat and puffing his cheeks in a soft cough before answering. “Ummm… well… it was…uhhh… Allie’s favorite. We had to go whenever I visited her in New York.”

“Oh.” Sue’s eyes lowered, her vision misting a bit at the painful memories that seeing Allie’s name brought back to mind. His fingers under her jaw lifted her eyes to his, and she sucked in a shaky breath at the depth of love she saw reflected in the brown pools.

“No more talk of darkness,” Jack uttered, barely above a whisper, when Sue managed to tear her gaze from his smoky eyes to focus on his lips. He spoke the words, knowing that Sue couldn’t read his lips if he sang, his simple consideration making it even more romantic as far as Sue was concerned. “Forget those wide-eyed fears. I’m here, nothing can harm you. My words will warm and calm you. Let me be your freedom. Let daylight dry your tears. I’m here with you, beside you, to guard you and to guide you.”

He rested his cheek against her hair as Christine’s part played, imagining a future with the beautiful woman who had so completely captured his heart. Feeling her tears soaking through his shirt, he lifted his face to gaze into her damp eyes, bending slightly to brush his lips across hers.

“Let me be your shelter. Let me be your light,” he continued in a hushed voice. “You’re safe; No one will find you. Your fears are far behind you.” He kissed her tenderly again, tasting the salt of her tears through her smile. “Say you’ll share with me one love, one lifetime.” His voice choked on his last two words, his own eyes filling with moisture as he let his gaze caress her face. Pulling her closer, he hovered his lips just far enough away for her to read him, stealing more kisses between words, his heart pounding furiously at the intensity of his love for her. “Let me lead you from your solitude. Say you need me with you here, beside you. Anywhere you go, let me go too.”

His hand trembled as he stroked her cheek. “Share each day with me, each night, each morning… Love me, that’s all I ask of you.”

By the time he was finished, Sue was openly crying, wrapping her arms around his neck and clinging tightly to him. He smoothed her hair, kissing the slope of her neck, inhaling deeply, and running his hand down her spine then back up to tangle his fingers in the soft blonde locks. They continued to move to the music only they could hear, the orchestral sounds from inside fading into empty air. The crunching of footsteps on the leaves along the path raised the hairs on Jack’s arms, his eyes locking with Mulligan’s steely gaze over Sue’s shoulder.

Thank you all for the sweet birthday wishes! God has led me to some great friendships on this board, and you guys always bring a smile to my heart!

This post is rather long, but I couldn't find a good place to stop it. LOL And before I post it, I wanted to mention that I personally believe in an eternity with God (or without Him, as the case may be) that begins immediately after death. That said, I took some liberties for the sake of the story....

November 1st, 3 AM

“Myles!” Tara shrieked, her hand to her heart. “Don’t do that!”

“Don’t do what?” he countered, obviously confused. Looking around, he added, “What are you two doing up here?”

By the time they had finished explaining the whole situation to him, he was eyeing them with a mixture of skepticism and interest. “So… an ancestor of Mulligan’s… perhaps an ancestor of Mulligan’s,” he corrected at Tara’s look. “Perhaps an ancestor of Mulligan’s killed this woman a hundred years ago, a woman that strongly resembles our Sue, because she was in love with Jacques…who looks like Jack… and not 1905 Mulligan.”

“Yes.” Tara waved the letter at him after snatching it from Bobby’s hands. “We were just getting ready to find out what happened to Jacques.”

“Well, don’t let me stop you!” Myles encouraged, parking himself on an old trunk and crossing his legs at the ankles to wait for the conclusion of the saga they had uncovered.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“What do you want, Mulligan?” Jack ground out, holding Sue possessively as the criminal came closer.

“I don’t know what you mean,” Mulligan answered smoothly, still advancing on the couple.

“You’ve been stalking us all night,” Jack retorted. “I want to know why.”

“I’ve been stalking you?” Mulligan raised his eyebrows. “I thought it was supposed to be the other way around.”

“I don’t know what you mean,” Jack threw back at him, his arm staying firmly at Sue’s waist.

“Who are you?” Mulligan’s eyes were on Sue, not Jack, as he asked the question. “What are you doing here?”

“Uhh… I’m Sue Thomas,” she answered hesitantly. “And I’m here for the Halloween party, just like y…”

“Don’t toy with me,” he growled, his fists clenched. “You’re… You could be the reincarnation of Suzette.” He ran his hand through his hair, causing it to spike sloppily.

“Well, I don’t know who Suzette is,” Sue told him, leaning closer into Jack’s chest. “But I can promise you that I’m not the reincarnation of anybody. I’m just here for the Hallo…”

“I said not to toy with me.” He took a step nearer, halting when Jack reached for his gun. Holding up his hands, he moved back, glancing around nervously. “I’m sorry. It’s just… I’ve seen your picture in my father’s things… You look just like her.”

“Just like who?” Sue demanded, straightening her shoulders and crossing her arms at her chest.

“Suzette Thornton,” Mulligan began with a tired sigh. “She worked here,” he swept the area with his hand, “as a governess to the family’s grandchildren. My great-grandfather was a cousin to the family that lived here, and he was desperately in love with Suzette. But she didn’t return his affections…”

“And I look like her?”

Mulligan’s eyes grazed her face and hair, his nod almost imperceptible. “When I saw you earlier, I thought you were her ghost. They say that she and the man she did love still haunt this island, caught between this life and the next until they can be together.”

“What happened to them?”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“I’m getting there, Myles,” Tara fussed. “Be patient.”

Bobby exchanged an amused glance with Myles as Tara once again bent her head over the written confession, trying to sort through Mulligan’s rantings for something useful.

“Okay… Here we go. After three pages of everything he loved about Suzette…” Tara began reading from the top of page four without further preamble.

Jacques went mad when he saw Suzette’s lifeless form on the rocks, his fist meeting my face violently before I could react. His training much more formal than mine, he was the easy victor and I knew I would be dead if I allowed him to have the upper hand for even a brief second. We fought desperately… Jacques trying to avenge the death of his beloved Suzette while I was trying to save my own life. His hands closed around my neck, my breathing hampered under his vise grip until I was struck with a bolt of sheer brilliance.

“She was pregnant…” I lied, knowing the second I saw his reaction that they had not been intimate. At least that gave me some comfort… He had not known her the way a husband knows a wife. We were still evenly matched, and there was no need for me to add to my deception by naming a father. All that mattered to Jacques was that it wasn’t him.

His hesitation as he debated the possibility of the truth of my words gave me the opportunity I needed. One well-placed shove, and he joined his beloved in death. Fitting, I suppose some would say. Romantic, in the most tragic sense.

I had succeeded in gaining the company, and yet I had lost the one thing that mattered to me more. Suzette would never be mine, she was eternally his, bound by death and the life hereafter, at my doing. In trying to keep them apart, I had merely united them forever.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“So your great-grandfather killed Jacques and Suzette?” Jack repeated as Mulligan finished his story. “And inherited the company?”

“In a manner of speaking,” Mulligan answered bitterly. “He hung himself the next day. In an old attic in the main house, off of Jacques’ bedroom.”

“So, if he died, how are you here?”

Mulligan smiled grimly. “Turns out, he had been partially telling the truth. Someone was pregnant, just not Suzette. When she kept refusing his advances, he met his needs elsewhere… with a chambermaid that attended to his side of the estate. My great-grandmother.”

“And all of this happened on Halloween night, a hundred years ago?” Sue reiterated, shivering as the air turned cool around them.

“Yes,” Mulligan nodded, his eyes darkening, his mood changing from reflective to pensive to angry. “You ruined his life that night,” he spat at Sue. “He may have pushed you over the cliff, but you killed him.”

Before Jack could react, Mulligan had Sue in his arms, a switchblade to her throat. “You know what they say,” he whispered menacingly. “History has a way of repeating itself.”

“Let her go, Mulligan. She’s not Suzette.” Jack moved cautiously, trying to gauge how serious the man was about hurting Sue. His heart pounded in his chest, but he forced himself to remain calm. Now wasn’t the time to be a man in love; he needed to be an agent until Sue was safely back in his arms.

“She ruined his life. She ruined my family.” Mulligan tightened his grip around Sue’s waist, pressing the blade closer to her chin. Sue couldn’t see his words, but she felt his breath against her ear as he talked. She kept her focus on Jack, drifting between his eyes and his lips, taking comfort in the love and strength reflected in his gaze.

Mulligan slowly began backing up, bringing Sue with him, Jack inching forward to close the ever-widening gap. “When he died, there was no one left to inherit the company so the family sold it to a longtime friend. Jonas Fisher.”

“Of Fisher Bank and Trust?” Jack asked, flicking his gaze over Mulligan’s shoulder and inhaling sharply at how close the man was dragging Sue to the cliff.

“The bank that was robbed,” Sue murmured, reading Jack’s words and making the connection quickly.

“Yeah,” Mulligan snorted derisively. “I figure it should have been my money in the first place. I’m merely helping myself to the family fortune. When I saw you here tonight, I knew my vengeance would be complete. I get the money and the girl.”

He stepped closer to the cliff, his eyes turning wild, a trickle of blood dripping down Sue’s neck as the knife clipped her skin. Jack’s jaw tightened, his fists clenching at his side, his control threatening to snap. Regaining some restraint, he took a step toward the pair, halting instantly when Sue winced, her body pinned tightly against Mulligan, the slight cut beginning to sting as the blade continued to press against her neck.

“You could make this easy on me,” Mulligan breathed at Jack, cocking his head toward the drop-off. “Just go ahead and walk willingly over the cliff, and the lovely lady and I will be on our way.”

“I could,” Jack pursed his lips and nodded, aware that somewhere along the line Mulligan’s sanity had gone the way of the family fortune. Reasoning with insanity was always more difficult…not impossible, but it certainly required different strategy. “Or,” he added, stepping closer while Mulligan was distracted by his words. “You could let Sue go and tell me where the money is and who your accomplices were, and I’ll do what I can to get you some kind of deal with the DA.”

“Now why would I want to do that?” Mulligan retorted.

“Because so far, all we have you for is the bank robbery… You do something stupid, and I can’t help you.” He inched nearer, almost within reach now, Mulligan only subconsciously aware of how close he had gotten, backing up as Jack approached. Jack’s eyes lowered to Mulligan’s feet, returning quickly to Sue’s eyes, communicating silently with her and breathing deeply at her slight nod.

“You can’t help me… We both know I’m going to prison no matter what you do.” Mulligan adjusted his hold on Sue, the knife not as tight at her skin… the opportunity Jack had been waiting for. Suddenly realizing that he had reached the edge of the cliff, Mulligan looked down at the drop behind him, and Jack started forward. Before he could close the distance, a blast of icy wind swept in between them, and Mulligan stumbled backward.

Jack’s arms shot out, grabbing Sue’s outstretched hand and frantically reaching in vain for Mulligan’s sleeve as the man began to fall. The material he managed to clench slipped through his fingers, almost as though someone else was tugging in the opposite direction. Pulling Sue into the haven of his arms, Jack held her tightly against his chest, able to do nothing but watch helplessly while Mulligan grabbed in desperation for something to hold onto. He knew if he tried to save him now Mulligan would only succeed in pulling him over as well, a sacrifice Jack wasn’t willing to make.

Mulligan’s hands slapped onto the edge of the cliff, his body twisting to grab hold of the rocky ground, stopping his fall with a violent lurch. Dropping to his stomach, Jack reached out a hand, digging his toes into the ground and trying to gain a good hold on Mulligan’s wrist. Rocks peppered the ground below as Jack’s rescue efforts dislodged the loose stones, his face bearing the strain of his valiant attempt. More rocks fell, and Jack felt the ground beneath him beginning to crumble. His eyes met Mulligan’s, the horrified realization of death flashing in the dark gaze, and reluctantly Jack released his grip, scooting back just as the edge crumbled to the lake below. Mulligan let out a blood-curdling scream, partly from fear, partly from anger, and partly because he knew it would echo in the agent’s dreams for many days.

~November 1st, 4 AM~

Jack slowly stood to his feet, his hands shaking as he reached for Sue, tugging her close and enveloping her in an embrace that he needed even more than she did. He met Bobby’s eyes over Sue’s shoulder, knowing with one glance that his friend had witnessed the whole thing, his gaze flicking briefly to Tara, Myles, and D before the sticky warmth of Sue’s blood against his neck distracted him. Easing her away, he touched the slight cut, noting with relief that it seemed to be no deeper than a surface nick.

“It’s fine, Jack,” Sue murmured softly, her hand covering his as his fingers lightly traced the bloody line. Pulling a handkerchief from his back pocket, he dabbed at the wound with tender caresses, placing a kiss to her chin when he was satisfied that the bleeding had stopped. Only when she was again in his embrace did he turn his eyes back to the team.

“You saw what happened?” Jack asked Bobby and Tara, briefly watching D and Myles peer over the cliff at Mulligan’s lifeless form.

“We got here in time to see you grab Sue back from him, saw everything after that.”

“It was weird,” Jack shuddered, adjusting his hold on Sue as she shifted to see the conversation. “He had been hovering around us all night, always watching Sue, showing up everywhere we went. Then, he started telling us this crazy story about his great-grandfather and someone named Suzette and the company owned by the family who lived here. It was like he just… snapped.”

“Not such a crazy story,” Tara corrected, her voice still a bit shaky. Finding out from his confession that Mulligan most likely hung himself near where they had been standing in the attic, and then rushing outside to watch present-day Mulligan fall to his death, had spooked her more than anything else so far this evening.

“What do you mean?” Sue asked, her spine tense. Jack cast a curious look in her direction, getting the feeling that she was hiding something from him, the same way he’d felt after she passed out in the barn.

“Come on,” Tara insisted, reaching out and taking Sue’s hand. “You’ve got to see what we found.” She dragged her toward the main house, Bobby and Jack hurrying to catch up, leaving Myles and D to take care of Mulligan. The foursome plodded up the stairs and made their way to the bedroom where Tara and Bobby had stumbled across the tragic romance.

“You’re not going to believe this!” Tara crowed as she pushed open the door and stepped back excitedly to allow Sue and Jack to enter first. Following with Bobby right behind them, Tara skidded to a stunned halt, Sue and Jack turning perplexed eyes to her shocked gaze.

“What are we supposed to see?” Sue asked gently, not seeing anything special in the musty old room.

“The… the… Bobby, what happened? Did I get the wrong room?”

“No, this is the right room,” he whispered huskily, swallowing hard.

Glancing around at the dusty sheets covering furniture that obviously hadn’t seen the light of day in years, Bobby tried to steady the wild pounding of his heart. Where Suzette’s portrait had hung, a massive cobweb now covered a faded painting of the landscape. Where Tara had sat reading at the desk, an empty space now resided, dust covering the floor in inch-thick layers. No more books lined the shelves and hadn’t for a long time, from the looks of things.

“I…I don’t understand,” Tara stammered, looking to Bobby for reassurance, Jack and Sue watching skeptically. “We were in here not even an hour ago… there was a painting of Sue over the fireplace, a bed in that corner, a desk right there, shelves full of books. We found the…the journal…and the ring… Bobby!” Tara gasped suddenly, her eyes lighting up, her petite figure almost bouncing in her excitement. “The ring! You put it in your pocket!”

“Righto, luv, I’d forgotten about that,” he mumbled as he dug in his pocket, retrieving the pouch with a briefly relieved smile that quickly faded to a stunned frown.

“What?” Tara demanded, snatching it from his numb fingers and gaping as she instantly realized it was empty. “Where…where did it go?”

“I don’t know,” Bobby stuttered helplessly, his hand patting down his pocket in hopes that maybe the ring had simply fallen from the pouch.

“What did it look like?” Sue asked, her voice almost thoughtful in her question.

“Uhhh… I just got a quick peek at it,” Bobby admitted sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand as he tried to make sense of the dizzying turn of events. “But I think it had some sort of red stone… a ruby, probably… and a cluster of diamonds… very elegant, not too gaudy.”

“Kinda like this?”

Sue’s question had three pairs of eyes jerking to her upturned hand, the unmistakable glimmer of precious gems winking at them from her left ring finger.

“Where’d you get that?” Jack breathed, taking her trembling hand in his and caressing her fingers lightly.

“I don’t know,” she confessed with a small shrug. “I felt something snag my dress while Bobby was searching for the ring. I looked down and it was on my hand.”

“That’s the ring,” Bobby declared in a hushed voice.

“What is happening?” Tara demanded, hugging herself with her arms and shivering under the eerie chill in the room. “My goosebumps now have grandchildren.” A mouse scurried past her foot, making her ‘eek’ and jump backwards into Bobby’s embrace.

“I’m not sure,” Bobby answered, placing a comforting hand at her waist and squeezing lightly. “Maybe it’s a dream.”

“One that we’re all dreaming?” Tara retorted. “I don’t think so. Maybe it’s one of those things where the past and the present collide.”

“Or maybe we’ve done whatever we were brought here tonight to do,” Sue added quietly.

“Or maybe…” Jack sighed, looking around the room and wondering where his normally logical friends had gone. “Maybe there’s a completely reasonable explanation for all of this and we’re letting the creepy old house get to us.”

“I saw Jacques,” Sue whispered, countering his argument and sucking in a shaky breath under Jack’s sharp and intense gaze.

“The picture?” he asked, his eyebrows raised.

She shook her head. “No… in the barn.”

“When you passed out?” His eyes sparked with understanding, his touch tensing at her elbow.

Sue nodded, lowering her gaze sorrowfully. “I… I felt a hand on my back, and I turned around, thinking it was you. And it was you… only it wasn’t. I didn’t know what to think… and then, when I saw the picture in the apartment, I knew even less what to think.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Jack wondered softly, his finger stroking her cheek tenderly.

“I didn’t want you to think I was going crazy.”

“Why would I think that?”

“Because I thought I was going crazy.”

Jack chuckled quietly and pulled Sue into a gentle hug, smoothing her hair with an unsteady hand and kissing her forehead. “Let’s get out of here,” he told her, including Bobby and Tara with a sweep of his eyes. “With everything that’s happened, I’d prefer to spend the rest of our time here around people. Lots of people. With lots of distractions so I don’t have to think about this anymore until I’ve had some sleep.”

Laughing nervously at Jack’s suggestion, Tara was only too happy to oblige, Bobby following her from the room, saying something to make her laugh even louder. Jack grinned at his friends’ antics, stopping Sue from leaving with a slight tug on her wrist and spinning her into his arms again.

“That ring looks good on you,” he smiled down at her, holding her hand to his face for a better inspection and kissing her fingertips.

“I guess I should take it off,” she reasoned, frowning as she glanced around the room. “Although, I’m not really sure what to do with it. It doesn’t really belong to anyone.”

“You could keep it on,” Jack suggested, shrugging casually, his lips puckering as he tried to act nonchalant. He stroked her hand in his grip, raising vulnerable eyes to hers when he felt the slight tremble. His breath leaving him in a rush, he struggled to speak, to finish the thought that hadn’t been far from his mind for the past three years. “At least…at least until I can replace it with one that we pick out together.”

Sue inhaled sharply, her eyes welling with tears as his words registered. “Jack…”

“Besides,” he grinned shakily. “It seems like they wanted you to have it.”

“You don’t believe in ghosts,” Sue whispered, unable to come up with anything more coherent.

His slow grin sent shivers down her spine, curling her toes. “I never said that.”

She bit her lip as she considered his denial, her own grin tugging at her cheeks. “I guess you didn’t.”

“So what do you say?” he pressed hesitantly, the twinkle in his eyes dimming somewhat at her lack of response to his implied question. “Will you let me put a ring on your finger to tell the world that I’m yours?”

“That depends,” Sue cocked her head to the side, sticking her tongue in her cheek.

“On what?” he dared to ask, his nervous breath puffing his cheeks, his gaze uncomfortable.

“On whether or not you’ll let me put a ring on your finger to tell the world that I’m yours.” She smiled at his obvious relief, drawing her fingers along his jaw and brushing a kiss to his bottom lip. “I’m thinking a simple gold wedding band, maybe an engraving on the inside.”

“What would you engrave on it?” His curiosity got the better of him, his grin dazzling, his wink disarming.

“Oh, I don’t know,” she hedged teasingly. “Maybe something neutral like ‘Hands off, he’s mine’.” She winked, cuddling closer and pretending to think. “Or… maybe ‘If found, please return to Sue’.” Laughing with him, her voice and eyes softened as she added, “But I think my favorite would have to be ‘One love, one lifetime’.”

“So is that a yes?” Jack’s eyes lit up, tears misting his vision of the deliriously happy woman before him.

“That’s a yes.” She had barely finished speaking when his mouth captured hers in a passionate kiss, their hands tangling together, their soft moans mingling with their tears. A cold breeze blew around them, swirling Sue’s dress in a swishing motion at her ankles and ruffling Jack’s jacket, almost embracing them with its soft caress. Neither of them noticed, the warmth generated between them making them immune to anything except the sensations they were evoking in each other. This was love… this was the lifetime they wanted to live.

~THE END~

How about we get them to Maryland to find a preacher fast or how about a sequel? That was yet another perfect post! It's not over yet is it?

that was beautiful.......I don't know how you could possibly top that wonderful post!


A halloween story filled with spooky, eerie, fuzzy, fluff. Who could ask for anything more!! As Jack Hudson said........."It doesn't get any better than this!"

I was just given permission to end it there... so I guess I need to add "THE END"

Ooooo -

That was wondermous! How do you do it?

Very spooky, but I'm loving it uhm....I was loving it

I think it's amazing how you're able to wave angst, romance, and laughter in your story just wonderful

This tastes for more :whistle:

Yb, I just caught up on the last two posts. Eerie, definitely ghosts involved in Jack and Sue's fate!! How do you do it?? It was brilliant how you had the whole story come together, leaving fleeting questions about what we believe happened!! Perfect Halloween fare!!

The last post? I won't repeat myself - I'll just lie here!!

Marie, I'm sorry I didn't come to the rescue right away. I could have sworn Jacques was under here at one point. I was checking it out!! I think we should probably stay under the bed until after Halloween!! What if Yb adds an epilogue?? Maybe Jacques will come back!! Do we have a mop under here??

Joy

Stupendous story!
thanks so much for giving us your time and talent.
Terie

Outstanding job. Another story to add to my list of favorites.


AlaskanFan

Bravo! Outstanding story!!!!

That was such a great ending! I loved the ideas for what Sue was going to put on Jack's ring! I wish that the story wasn't over already so I could read more, but glad that I don't have to deal with the suspense any more!

In the immortal words of Phantom: Bravi, Bravi, Bravissimo!!!!

Absolutely spectacular

Although an epilogue might be an good idea!!!! So long as it has a wedding in it!!


Vickie

What a fantastic story...loved all of it!!!

My aching back really doesn't like it when I do this, but for you ybnormal I'll just grit my teeth and handle the pain ...



That was simply AMAZING!

Katinka

Awesome. Plain awesome! Awesomely done!



LOVED THIS... THIS IS SOOOO BEAUTIFUL! It has incredibly great humour and yet fluffies EVERYWHERE!

need to remember the "If found, please return to Loesie" one! lol

Loesie.

Bravo YB bravo

I jump at your greatness

thank you for writing this...

amazing.. super sweet way to end such a great story

Marvellous, YB! Simply Marvellous. A work of Genius!

Thank you for sharing your incredible writing ability!

I loved ALL OF THAT PART!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I could envision all of it and need I say, it left me breathlesss!!!!!!!!!! You are a beautiful writer YB!!!!!!!! absolutely beautiful!!!!!!!


Thanks for this WOnderfully, creative, funny, romantic, VERY SCARY, story!

Love,
Matalyn

I especially loved this part. THe engravings on the band were precious.

I loved the fuzzies in your story and the suspense you created with such a unique plot. Great work!

WOW - this was such a wonderful ending yb, i was welling up as i read the final part such a perfect happy ending to a brilliantly written story

Wonderful job YBN! A beautiful ending to a beautifully written story!

Okay, I must admit . . . that was one great read, YBN. Wonderful Halloween plot! Romantic. Great characterizations of all our favorite agents. You made the stereotypical hanted house and ghosts seem fresh. Even the "unbelievable" elements were believable. Great wit and humor sprinkled throughout. Quite a masterful piece of writing on many counts.

I love when people say this, THEN WHY DID YOU STAND THERE AND COUGH IF YOU DIDN"T WANT TO DISTURB THEM!

This line speaks volumes, I love it!