PROLOGUE
Tennyson
Kansas City, Missouri, August, 2005…
For the first time in his life, seventeen year old Tennyson Grimm was about to leave his home state of Kansas. David and Kaye had packed the car for a nearly weeklong trip to Kansas City, Missouri. Crossing the bridge from one state into the next, Ten gasped out loud when the city skyline came into view. “I can’t believe I’m here!” Ten pinched himself just to make sure this was really happening.
Since he was a kid, Ten wanted to get out of Kansas and see a bit of the world and now, he wasfinallydoing it. He’d always been a bit jealous of the kids who’d gone places during their summer vacations. Some families road tripped to Mount Rushmore or Yellowstone National Park. Others flew in airplanes to swim in the ocean on the Outer Banks, to meet Mickey Mouse at his home in Disney World. A few had gone to New England, where, rumor had it, you could drive from Massachusetts to New Hampshire and into Maine in half an hour. It had taken nearly two hours just to cross into Missouri from Kansas.
Arriving in Kansas City for the first time, Ten was blown away by the skyscrapers. They made him feel small, antlike, in relation to their soaring edifices. The tallest building in Union Chapel was the First Kansas National Bank. It was four stories high, dwarfing all the other buildings in town.
Ten’s father, David, pulled off the highway, and pointed to the Hilton Tower Hotel. “There’s our home sweet home for the next five nights.”
“Awesome! I can’t wait to go to a Chiefs practice and the zoo. Mom, they have gorillas. I’ve never seen one in real life.” Ten hadn’t wandered far from his hometown, except to go to tent revival meetings an hour away in Severance. There wasn’t going to be any tent revival or bible study on this trip, just five glorious days in the big city.
David pulled their late model Toyota up to valet parking in front of the hotel. A young man dressed in black pants and a red shirt, hurried to open Kaye’s door. He held out a hand to assist her out of the car. Meanwhile, another valet pulled their suitcases out of the trunk and stacked them on a wheeled cart. David handed over the keys to the valet and ushered everyone into the hotel.
Ten couldn’t believe how large the lobby was. His entire high school could fit in this one room. The front desk featured four stations with sharply dressed workers, each of which had several people in line for service. His favorite part of the room was a large fountain with semi-circular couches surrounding it, set in the center.
“I’m gonna check us in,” David said, pointing to the front desk. “Why don’t you have a seat and relax.” He took Kaye’s hand and joined the line of waiting guests.
Taking a seat in front of the fountain, Ten stretched his legs and sighed happily. He’d never stayed at a hotel before and was looking forward to riding in the elevator and seeing what the world looked like from the tenth floor, which was where their room was located. Even better, they’d be going out to dinner every night and the hotel had room service. Ten couldn’t believe that with a simple phone call, people would bring food right to his door.
A high-pitched scream startled Ten out of his daydream, scaring the life out of him. He turned around looking for the source ofdistress and saw a young woman, whose neck and white dress were covered in blood flowing from a wound at the back of her head.
“You have to help me!” the woman screeched, making a beeline for Ten.
Ten took a quick look around him. No one else took notice of the young woman. Unease rose in him as the distressed ghost ran to his side. Drops of her ruby red blood left a gory trail of bread crumbs in her wake.
Panic flared through every cell in Ten’s body. His hands began to shake with stone cold fear. His parents were twenty feet away standing in line. If either one of them turned around and saw the look on his face, they would think he was sick or hurt, and might just get back in the car for the return trip to Union Chapel to take Ten to see Doctor Kimball. He took a deep breath and tried to wipe the terrified look off his face. “What’s your name?” Ten asked, trying not to move his lips.
“Sandy,” the young woman answered. A puddle of blood formed around her. “You have to help me find Michael.”
“Your boyfriend?” Ten’s gift had supplied the information along with a vision of what happened to Sandy, who’d come to KC to seePhantom of the Operaat the Municipal Auditorium Music Hall. Michael had surprised her with an engagement ring during intermission. Things started to go wrong later that night at the hotel bar. Michael had a few too many and took exception to the way men kept asking to buy Sandy drinks. She’d refused them all, but that hadn’t mattered to Michael. He'd dragged her back to their room, yanked the diamond off her finger and punched her in the face. Sandy stumbled and crashed against an end table. Michael climbed on top of her prone body and beat her head into the floor until she was dead. He’d then grabbedhis things and fled the room, leaving a horrified member of the housekeeping staff to find her broken body the next morning.
Sandy nodded. “We’re getting married. I have to find him.”
It was obvious Sandy didn’t know she was dead. How the hell was Tennyson supposed to tell her? The only experience he’d had with spirits over the last four years were the elderly residents of Union Chapel, grandparents of kids at school, neighbors or members of the church. He’d never met a spirit who’d been brutally murdered. “Sandy,” Ten said softly. “I hate to be the one to tell this to you, but you’re dead. Michael killed you.”
“What are you talking about!” Sandy shouted. “We’re getting married! See!” She thrust her bare left hand out toward Tennyson, gasping when she realized her ring was gone. She spun around. “Where’s my ring? It’s gone! Someone stole my ring!”
Taking a quick glance around, Ten saw his parents were at the front of the check-in line and would be back soon. “Sandy, tell me what else you see when you look at your hands?”
The spirit frowned, but did as Ten asked. “Blood. There’s blood on my hands. Oh, God, there’s more on my dress and on the floor. Call 911, I need help.”
Ten sighed. “Sandy, we can’t call 911. You’re dead. For a while, I think. Do you remember the date you got engaged?” He hated seeing the panic and fear in the spirit’s eyes.
“August 5, 1989.” Sandy sounded a bit calmer than she had when she realized she was covered in her own blood.
“That was sixteen years ago. This is 2005.” Ten’s attention was caught by the white light shimmering into view behind Sandy.Thank goodness. At least he’d be able to see Sandy off to the other side where people who loved her were waiting.
“No, that’s not possible! That can’t be right.” Tears streamed down the spirit’s face.
“I know this is hard, but there are people who can help you. Turn around.” Ten could see several members of Sandy’s family waiting for her. One older woman jumped around as if she’d just been called as a contestant onThe Price is Right.
“Grandma Joan? Is that you?” Sandy asked. “How is this possible? She died when I was fifteen years old.”
“The white light is for you, Sandy. Go to your grandmother. Everything will be okay, I promise.” Ten offered her a smile.
