It was a well. Patrick had gone down hard, his foot breaking through the ground and straight into a well that none of them had even known existed. Bradley and Saskia had both come running out through the bulkhead seconds after he’d fallen and between them, they’d managed to get Patrick out of the ground and away from Gabriella.

Mr. Ramsey was there too now, having rushed back when he heard the commotion. He and Gabriella looked at the newly uncovered well as Bradley guarded Patrick against the side of the house, a kitchen knife conveniently placed so no one could accuse him of threatening the captain. Madelyn made her way over to the well too, leaving a shaken Saskia behind.

“Do you think this is what we’re looking for?” she asked Gabriella.

“It could be,” Gabriella said, kneeling down to brush more snow off of the well cover with a shaking hand. “I mean, it looks like this well was covered. See the cap? The rot went clean through it. His foot hit it just right.”

“Good, because he was about to hit you,” Madelyn said. “He grabbed you. I’m so sorry I couldn’t get there fast enough to help.”

“No!” Gabriella protested. “No, you – you would have gotten hurt.”

“Still,” Madelyn said. “How are you doing?”

She’d asked Gabriella that question in the exact same quiet tone after Robin died. Gabriella gave her a grim smile and the same answer. “Alive.”

Madelyn laughed a little, looking down at the rusted cap that was now sitting beside the entrance of the well. “Unbelievable,” she murmured.

“We never would have found it,” Gabriella said, thinking out loud as she looked down into the darkness. “Maybe-”

“Don’t even finish that,” Madelyn said sternly. “We would have found another way.”

Elliot was hanging back a little and Gabriella couldn’t quite read his expression. Part of her wanted to go to him, but the nearness of an answer outweighed that want, even if she was still shaking.

“I bet it’s down there,” Gabriella said. “Whatever it is, I’ll bet anything it’s down this well.”

She took out her flashlight and shined it down the hole. The way its beam was swallowed by darkness made her stomach lurch. “I can’t see,” she admitted.

“Could you lower a camera down?” Elliot asked.

Gabriella looked at him, unsure how to take that. He was closer now, looking at the well with a strange expression on his face. She could tell he was trying to justify what had happened, trying to rationalize this back into something he could be comfortable understanding.

“We don’t have any,” she said. “I think one of us is going to have to go down there.”

She exchanged a look with Bradley, who was listening to the discussion from where he was standing beside the injured Patrick. He shrugged and nodded. The idea of going down the well was not appealing, but it could be what ended this thing. And if this ghost could be gone, and she never had to deal with Patrick or his team ever again, Gabriella would climb down six terrifying wells a day.

“That’s not a safe idea,” Mr. Ramsey said.

“I know,” Gabriella said. “But if there’s something down there, we need to know.”

It’d be a close fit, but she knew she could get down there if she had to. If they had a rope ladder, then that would make things a lot easier. But she’d taken her car, and she knew Bradley had driven his. And despite some of the oddities she’d gleaned from his personal life, he didn’t seem like the type to carry around a rope ladder.

“If we can get down there somehow,” Madelyn said, lost in thought as she looked down the hole. “We’ve got a rope ladder at headquarters. I can drive back and get it.”

“Ours is closer,” Saskia said, her voice more confident than it had been all day. “Actually, let me check my car.”

“You have a rope ladder in your car?” Gabriella asked.

“I always have one. Hang on.”

Saskia turned toward the house and gave Patrick an uneasy look. He didn’t look at her, just stayed where he was against the foundation. Elliot had wanted to call the police on him. In fact, he’d almost done it even though Gabriella asked him not to. The Foundation had been notified, and so had the North County headquarters. But no one was quite sure what any of that would mean. He technically hadn’t hit her. He’d grabbed her jacket and threatened her, sure. But Gabriella was pretty sure none of it would stick.

Still, she was glad to have the others there. Patrick’s words were still ringing in her ears and even after months of therapy and nearly a year’s time, she could still smell the forest and feel the burn of fear and regret in her lungs.

Bradley crouched beside Patrick, the kitchen knife still held loosely in his hand as he looked at the other man. “Does this plan have your approval, Captain?” he asked, voice light, yet dripping with contempt.

Patrick didn’t answer. He just nodded miserably and stared at the ground. Gabriella could tell he knew he was screwed, and she wondered how Robin would have acted if he’d survived his own attempt.

Saskia was back a moment later, holding an old rope ladder. She and Gabriella lowered it carefully down the well, anchoring it into the frozen ground with the help of a hammer Mr. Ramsey had in his truck.

“So who gets to go down?” Gabriella asked.

She knew the answer to that. Madelyn couldn’t do it. Bradley was busy threatening Patrick. And Saskia had nearly a head on Gabriella, she wouldn’t fit. Neither would either of the other two men. So that left her the privilege.

Grateful that neither her mother nor James were here, Gabriella lowered the ladder the rest of the way. It was a long drop, and she was even more appreciative when she felt it hit the bottom. There was no splash, so the well must have dried up long ago. So long ago that nobody even knew it was here.

Madelyn smiled grimly at her as Gabriella tested her weight on the ladder. It was strong enough. Elliot looked like he wanted to protest, but he held back. Still, they locked eyes for a long moment as Gabriella positioned herself on the ladder. He looked… sad? She couldn’t quite tell. But right now, she had to focus on her work, anyway.

If the air was sharp above ground, the chill seemed to smooth out as she slowly climbed down the ladder. The snow and the ground must have insulated it somewhat, though it was clammy down here and she worried about her hands slipping on the ladder. The walls were lined with stone and, in a different situation, Gabriella might have been excited to investigate an authentic old well. But right now she was completely reliant on the small light on her helmet to see anything, and it was way too cold to get distracted. Plus, her mom was going to be back at any point and even though this was literally her job, Gabriella didn’t want to get caught down here.

“Are you alright?” Madelyn called down to her.

“Fine,” she said, gripping the ladder tightly. “I think I’m almost at the bottom.”

She’d guessed the ladder was about twenty feet long and had to appreciate that small amount of foresight from Saskia. Looking up at the top, which felt very far away now, she could see Saskia and Madelyn looking down at her. The distance made her queasy, so Gabriella just focused on the ladder under her hands and tried to keep breathing.

She was near the bottom now, and unsure what she was going to do when she got there. It was so small that she might be able to squat, but definitely wouldn’t be able to get on her hands and knees to look around. And what if whatever they were looking for was buried? She wasn’t even sure where to begin if that was the case.

One step at a time, Gabriella reminded herself. She reached the last rung of the ladder, which was lying on the dusty floor of the well. Breathing steadily and trying not to think about even the existence of claustrophobia, Gabriella ran her hands down the cold, damp stones of the curved wall around her. There was nothing out of the ordinary. No secret compartments, no small cracks where trinkets could be hidden. Nothing.

Shifting carefully, she pressed against the side of the well and knelt down as best she could, reaching awkwardly between her legs to feel the well’s floor. It was covered in soft dirt that had not been disturbed in decades. Again, that professional interest sparked, but she tried to tell herself she could look into the historic facts later. For now, she was focused on ghosts.

Her fingers brushed against something thin and hard in the dirt almost instantly. Heart pounding, Gabriella carefully lifted it and brushed some of the dirt off. In the thin light of her headlamp, she could make out that it was a metal coin or medallion. Maybe one of the St. Christopher ones like she’d had as a kid. As carefully as she could, she brushed the dirt off and tried to read the tiny text on the tarnished surface.

One side had been worn almost smooth, the writing far too gone to decipher. She flipped to the other side. LOVE was the only thing she could work out, the letters much larger than tiny decorative trim. It was an artifact. And it looked like something a young woman would leave behind. It could have been a gift from a suitor. Maybe a remnant of a love affair gone wrong. What if a broken heart led her to toss the medallion down the well? Maybe it didn’t have to end with her death. She could have done it just before disappearing to live a happy life somewhere far away from here.

Gabriella knew it wasn’t likely, not with the fury shown by the spirit inside the house, but she could hope. For Virginia Richelieu’s sake. She slipped the medallion into her pocket and had her foot on the first rung to climb back up when she realized she should do a little more searching, just in case. It wasn’t like she wanted to come back down here for round two later.

She’d barely reached back into the dirt of the well’s floor when she felt the unmistakable texture of a tooth against her fingertip. Beside it was another. She picked them up and gently brushed the dirt away, holding them in her palm to confirm what she was seeing. And then Gabriella’s heart sank as she realized that, despite her hopes, the young woman in question had never actually left the tavern.

---

Gabriella left the teeth and medallion where they were. They had to stay together while they figured out what to do next. The climb to the top of the well went faster than the descent had, the prospect of moving toward the light and fresh air making it far more appealing than going in the opposite direction. After a few minutes, she was climbing out and carefully pulling herself to her feet.

“She was down there,” she said.

“The ghost was down there?” Madelyn asked.

“No, her body. I found teeth and her necklace.”

Madelyn looked down at the well, her expression soft and sad, with none of the surprise Gabriella might have expected. “Well, let’s take care of her then,” she said simply.

“It should be us,” said Saskia.

Gabriella turned to argue, that hot flare of anger welling in her chest, but Saskia didn’t look like she was hunting for a fight. “The three of us,” she elaborated. “She was a woman in love and it killed her. We should take care of her now.”

Gabriella and Madelyn eyed each other. On one hand, a ritual was a ritual. But on the other hand, Saskia had a good point. And of the men, the only two who knew how to do this were currently by the house, one guarding the other at knifepoint.

“You’re right,” Gabriella said. “I have some holy water in my car.”

“Bradley’s got a cleansing kit,” Madelyn said. “Want me to…”

Gabriella shook her head. “I’ll get it.”

“I’ve got supplies too,” Saskia said, looking down into the darkness of the well. “How do you think it happened?”

Gabriella thought for a second. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “Maybe she was going to toss the necklace away. She’s heartbroken and distraught, maybe not thinking clearly. So she takes it off and throws it down. Then maybe loses her balance. Or changes her mind at the last second and tries to catch it.”

Her heart hurt even as she said the words. “We’ll never know, but at least we can do right by her now.”

Saskia nodded solemnly. Then she started toward the driveway, walking past Patrick with her shoulders set. Mr. Ramsey had been watching this whole time, his eyes sad.

“So you found Virginia Richelieu?” he said.

“I think we did,” Gabriella replied. “She didn’t deserve that. We’re going to help her move on.”

“You’re a good girl,” he said.

Gabriella smiled grimly, then turned to Elliot, who was silently watching. She opened her mouth to say something to him, then realized she had nothing. He didn’t either, apparently. So they just held eye contact for a long second, then she broke away and went back to her team.

She and Madelyn went over to where Bradley was still guarding Patrick. “It’s her,” Gabriella said. “I found an old medallion and a couple of teeth. So unless we have one incredible coincidence here, it’s Virginia. We’re going to help her move on, then call the Foundation to handle the remains.”

“Do you want me to-” Bradley started, but she shook her head.

“We’ve got it.”

It took a second, but she saw the realization dawn. He nodded, then turned back to Patrick with his knife at the ready. “Don’t you fucking move,” he snapped.

“I’m not,” Patrick said, a hint of his former belligerence back in his voice.

Still holding the knife, Bradley reached awkwardly into his coat pocket, fished out his car keys, and tossed them at Gabriella. She caught them, then started toward his car for supplies, trying to will away the unexpected emotions causing her to well up. This poor girl was so young, and she’d lived a hard life. While they couldn’t be sure that everything or anything they read about her in the archives was true, they could know that her ending was tragic and her ghost was still here.

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CONTINUE TO CHAPTER 18