A/N I have amended the last couple of chapters of this story where I inadvertently had people who can't see and hear the ghost answering his questions. Writing conversations where not everyone can see and hear everyone else is actually the hardest thing I have ever attempted to write. Naturally I managed to mess up before I even got to chapter four. Ooops.
Hopefully that won't happen again but if it does just e-mail me and tell me to switch my brain out of neutral and correct it.
Chapter Four
"So what do you think?" Tru asked Davis after she had relayed Jack's interpretation of the appearance of a ghost on a rewind day. Davis was silent for a minute on the other end of the phone. Tru watched the ghost in question as he talked animatedly with Jack, and through him, Harrison. She caught the words 'full house' from one of them and groaned inwardly. Talk about a one track mind.
"Did Jack say who he'd heard about these rewind ghosts from?" Davis finally asked.
"He wouldn't say," Tru replied with another frustrated glance at Jack.
"He could be lying."
"About the reason Alan's here, yes. But about hearing about this happening before, I don't think so. He was so excited he was talking more than he usually would."
"I'll see what I can dig up on ghosts and call you if I find anything useful," Davis suggested. "You'd better stick with them 'cos if Jack is telling the truth Alan could be in serious trouble if you don't keep an eye on them."
"You're right," Tru answered, no surprise there as Davis was usually fairly spot on with his assessments. "I won't let him out of my sight. Pity I can't shake Jack off though. He seems as excited about having a ghost here as you were."
"My interest was purely scientific," Davis huffed over the line.
"Sure it was," Tru grinned. "'Have you seen Elvis?' is obviously a crucial question that science requires an answer to."
Davis laughed in response.
"Okay guys," Tru said as she walked back over to the others. "What's the plan of action now?"
"We thought –" Harrison started.
"No," Tru cut him off.
"You don't know what I'm going to suggest yet," Harrison pointed out.
"Okay," Tru compromised. "As long as it has nothing to do with card games, fire away with your suggestion."
Harrison remained silent.
"Well?" Tru asked.
"You take all the fun out of this," he teased.
"Okay, any sensible suggestions?" Tru asked, not in the least bothered by her brother's comment.
"How about roulette?" Jack asked with a wicked grin. Tru glared at him with a look that would have sent most people running for the hills. He stood there unfazed.
"How about we try asking at a church?" Tru suggested and watched as the faces of all three men fell. She was about to ask Alan which religion he belonged to when his face lit up again at something he saw over her left shoulder. She turned her head to see what had caught his attention.
Walking towards them was a tall, beautiful blonde haired woman who would not have looked out of place on a catwalk. Tru could tell that even from a distance she had an air of sadness about her. She turned back to Alan and the others. Harrison's gaze had also drifted to the woman and he stood looking across at her with a similar expression of appreciation on his face. Jack's gaze too was following her steady walk down the path towards them.
"I saw her first," Harrison said with a grin. Tru considered telling him that the woman was well out of his league but reconsidered quickly. If he actually managed to pick her up it would be one less person bending her ear about card games. Which could only be a good thing.
"Actually I saw her first," Alan said.
Something in his voice stopped Tru from pointing out to him that he was dead and there was practically no chance that the woman would be able to even see and hear him. Something in his voice told her that he knew who the woman was.
"You know her," she said. It wasn't a question, she was sure enough of her guess to make it a statement.
"She's my wife," Alan said. "Or rather, my widow," he amended with a frown.
That explained the sadness about her, Tru realised. She looked back to the woman as she drew nearer, trying not to make it look as though she was staring.
"I don't think she knows I'm dead yet?" Alan said.
"She looks like she does to me," Tru replied.
"No she doesn't," Alan argued. "Trust me on this. You have to tell her."
"I can't just walk up to her and tell her something like that," Tru replied in shock. "She'll ask too many questions."
"You'll just have to tell her what's happened," Alan insisted. "Hurry up, she's nearly here."
Tru looked at the woman again, undecided whether to try to explain anything to her. She watched as the woman waved in their direction. For a moment she thought she could see Alan and was waving to him. However a closer look revealed that that was not the case and that she was in fact moving towards a second woman who was coming towards them from the other end of the path.
"What's going on?" Harrison asked, not having been able to follow the one-sided conversation.
"She's our ghost's wife," Jack replied.
Tru continued to watch the other woman approach them. Alan turned round to see who his wife was going to meet and let out a loud choked gasp.
"What is it?" Tru asked in a quieter voice, both women were now within earshot.
Jack turned towards Alan and raised an eyebrow in question. Harrison meanwhile had turned to see the other woman who was a direct contrast to the first but just as beautiful in an exotic Mediterranean sort of way. He let out a low whistle.
"I didn't know they knew each other," Alan said as he watched the two women greet each other hesitantly.
"Care to explain?" Tru asked, though she had a sneaking suspicion which direction the conversation was heading in.
"The other woman?" Jack guessed and laughed loudly at Alan's shrug and nod.
"Kind of makes me wonder why there is a problem with your soul moving on," Tru said with a roll of her eyes.
"A little judgmental today, aren't you Tru?" Jack smirked.
"So says Death," Tru retorted.
"I don't kill people, I just keep you from messing up the balance," Jack repeated easily.
"This argument's old and pointless," Tru replied. "There's nothing you can say to convince me you're anything more than a murderer."
"Harsh Tru, real harsh," Jack replied, placing his hand over his heart as if wounded by her words.
"I tell it like I see it," Tru answered before turning her attention back to the two women on the path.
Enough was enough Tru decided as she watched the two women move over to one of the benches. It was bad enough that Jack was still hanging around, she'd be damned if she would let him see he had thrown her off balance with this rewind. It was just like any other rewind, her against him, and she would win.
She had lost to him once. She had underestimated his deviousness. She hadn't known how far he would go to prove his point. She knew better now and would not make the mistake of underestimating him again.
She might not be able to shake him off but she might be able to put him off balance enough to let him slip up and reveal something that might help her. If he was going to be sticking around, and it looked like he was, then he was just arrogant enough to open his mouth and let something slip.
Something told her that he had not meant to let her know that he knew others who either rewound or knew about the rewinds. Maybe, just maybe, he would accidentally reveal who it was he had been speaking to.
Her mind made up she turned back to the others. With a bright but fake smile she turned to Jack.
"So what do you suggest we do now?" she asked with deceptive sweetness.
Jack looked off balance for a moment, but quickly recovered. "I think we should go have a chat with them," he suggested with a nod in the direction of the women.
"Good idea," Harrison agreed.
"Not you," Tru said, holding up her hand to stop her brother from walking past her towards the women.
"Aww, come on Tru," he pleaded.
Tru took his arm and dragged him away from the others for a moment.
"I can help," Harrison said. "I have before."
"I know you have," Tru replied. "I just can't deal with the three of you all at once right now."
"And you'd rather have Jack stick around than me?" Harrison asked in a hurt voice. Tru cringed slightly as she realised that this time he was not pretending and was genuinely hurt at her decision to cut him out of things while Jack stayed.
"Harry, I don't know what to do today. This is as new to me as when I first relived a day. I have no idea what's really going on and I trust Jack about as far as I can throw him. But he seems to know something and I'd rather he was here with me than somewhere else, up to something that will cause even more problems."
"He's tempting him," Harrison interrupted with a serious expression on his face.
"What?" Tru asked, her train of thought lost at her brother's words.
"Think about it Tru," Harrison said, his voice lowered to barely a whisper as he glanced back at Jack and Alan. "You're life and he's death. With a soul at stake instead of a life what do you become?"
Tru nodded as she realised that her brother had a very good point. Jack was as tricky and devious as the devil himself and now he had the chance to prove it. She watched him smiling and laughing with Alan. Tempting him with goodness only knew what.
"I can help you," Harrison repeated.
"Not this time Harry," Tru replied with a shake of her head.
"Why not?" he pressed on.
Tru looked at her brother and hesitated to tell him the truth. She knew he wouldn't like it.
"Well?" he asked.
"Because…" Tru hesitated, but at her brother's expression she knew he wasn't going to let it go until she gave him an answer. "Because you're as much a temptation to him as Jack is. You two together would have him helping you cheat at cards within an hour. I can't argue with all three of you at once and you haven't exactly been helping so far."
"You think I'd deliberately endanger his soul?" Harrison looked aghast.
"Not on purpose," Tru hurriedly replied. "But…"
"You really think I'd…?" Harrison threw up his hands in defeat and turned to leave.
"Harry!" Tru called after his brother as he walked away from her.
"Just forget it Tru," he called back.
Tru watched her brother disappear from sight and stupidly felt like crying. She loved Harrison more than any of the other members of the family and she hated that he was angry with her.
"Trouble?" Jack called over to her with a sympathetic look. Unlike when she had first met him, Tru now recognised the lie in his face and voice for what they were.
"Not at all," she lied back as she walked back towards him and Alan. She would worry about Harrison later. "So what do you think we should tell them?"
Alan looked at the two woman, "I guess the truth is out of the question?"
