The Accused and the Damned: Book Three, the Eddie McCloskey Series (The Unearthed 3) Read Free Page B

she was doing. Her eyes were squeezed shut. Her body tensed. Hands fisted. At first he thought she was praying but then he took a second look at her.
    “Alice, honey…”
    Her mouth moved but no words came out.
    “What the hell are you doing?”
    He put his hand on her shoulder. Through the shirt, her skin was icy. The cold made him jump.
    “The hell?”
    Alice’s eyelids opened and revealed only milky whiteness.
    “Sweet Jesus!”
    Anson grabbed her, afraid she was going to faint, but Alice stayed vertical. Her body was as hard and cold as a block of ice. He shook her because he didn’t know what else to do.
    “Alice, honey!”
    Suddenly her eyes rolled back down like sevens on a slot machine and her knees buckled. She collapsed against him, still icy cold like she’d spent ten minutes locked in a freezer.
    “Anson…” Her voice was groggy, faraway. “She’s here.”
    Anson got a better grip on his wife and propped her up. “You okay, honey?”
    “Anson…”
    Anson didn’t like the way his wife looked. Her skin was flushed, she looked about to lose consciousness, and she was unnaturally cold. Was it possible to get spontaneous hypothermia? Anson didn’t think so but he was no doctor.
    “Okay, honey, we need to call the ambu—”
    Something pushed him from behind. Anson toppled forward and he lost hold of his wife. She spilled onto the floor, almost as lifeless as a corpse.
    Anson fell into the kitchen counter, sent the dishes flying. They hit the floor and shattered.
    Anson wheeled around, fists ready. Somebody had pushed him. He didn’t know who, and he didn’t know how, but whoever it was the son of a bitch was going to get it.
    But there was no one there.
    Anson checked the floor where he’d been standing but it was clear. He hadn’t tripped on anything.
    On the floor, Alice started moving. He kneeled, gripped her arm. “Slow down, honey. Just stay like that a moment.”
    Her eyes were clenched shut and she gripped her stomach like she was about to vomit and she moaned.
    Something knocked into Anson’s shoulder and he fell away from his wife. Okay, this time he knew he’d been pushed.
    But there was no one or no thing in the room with them.
    A chill ran down Anson’s spine. There was nobody else in the house. But that left one explanation, and that explanation terrified him.
    The spirit had pushed him.
    Alice was right. It was becoming more aggressive.
    His wife opened her eyes and the color returned to her face. “I’m going to throw up.”
    “Honey, I think it’s—”
    Another shove. Anson slipped, kept his balance, then got pushed again. His ass hit the handle on the cupboard.
    Another shove, this time from the side. He almost cartwheeled into the kitchen table. His wife screaming. Him yelling.
    He was flung off the kitchen table through the threshold. Landed in the living room. The blows weren’t that powerful. If he could see where they were coming from he could have easily braced for them but he was fighting blind.
    Then the invisible hand got stronger.
    It forced him backwards. The back of his legs hit the couch and he flipped. His feet crashed into the coffee table as he fell off the couch.
    “Anson!”
    His wife hurrying into the room. Despite how lousy he’d been to her, she was rushing to help him. Her love shamed him. He didn’t deserve it. Like all the men she’d ever given herself to, he’d been a no-good son of a bitch.
    But that would stop. From now on, he’d be the man she deserved. No more drinking. No more anger. No more intimidating her. He could be better than all that. He could listen. He could provide. He could be a better man. He just had to try.
    “Anson, are you okay?”
    “Honey, I love you. I’m sorry.”
    “I know.” She closed her eyes. “Hold on.”
    “What are you doing?”
    Alice didn’t answer. Her mouth started flapping again. Her eyes became white slits. Her skin translucent.
    Anson felt a pressure on his arm, like the spirit was trying to