Ghosted on the Gulf Coast (Gulf Coast Paranormal Trilogy Book 1)

by M. L. Bullock

  “All right,” I said, keeping my face free of expression. “What happened next?” We were both standing by the wall now, and Mark was clearly uncomfortable.

  “I swear to you, on everything I hold valuable, there was a woman in that hallway. And I think her neck was broke or something was wrong with it. She came up behind me and just stood there. I wanted to go back the way I came, but she was blocking the way. I don’t know how she got there. I touched her,” he said, shivering as the color drained from his face. “I could feel her dress under my hand. She had blond hair, so blond it was almost white. And what was even weirder was she was covered in dust. I don’t know what to make of that. Anyway, I was so freaked out I ran away. Since I couldn’t get around her, the only way I could go was toward the stairway at the other end of that hallway. I can’t explain this either, but I could feel other spirits around me, in the hallway and in the rooms off the hallway. It was get out of there or die!”

  “This might seem like a stupid question, but how did you feel when all this was going on?”

  “Feel?”

  “Yes. Any nausea or lightheadedness?”

  “Come to think of it, I did feel sick to my stomach, but I figured that was because I was scared out of my damn mind. You know, I must be crazy. I feel like a fool now. Do you think I was seeing things?”

  “No, I don’t think anything yet. Just collecting data. Please tell me more.”

  “The feeling of dread was pretty powerful. It overwhelmed me. I remember walking down the stairs, and that’s the last thing I remember until my wife found me.”

  “And where did she find you?”

  “In the middle building on the bottom floor. The buildings aren’t connected on the inside.” He shook his head as if he couldn’t even believe what he was saying. “They had to call a locksmith to get to me because I hadn’t even unlocked the doors. Thankfully, they could see me from the windows. I have no idea how I got in there. Unless somehow or another I walked through the wall, which seems impossible.”

  “Mark, it sounds like you had a full-on paranormal experience. I know you want me to approach this in an objective manner, so that’s what I’m going to do. My team and I would be happy to come check this out for you. We’ll do some research on the buildings, take some readings for variations in the EMF fields and rule out anything we can.”

  “And how does that work?” He shifted nervously; I couldn’t blame him. He was clearly in unfamiliar territory here.

  “We usually do a two-night investigation. On the first night, we set up equipment and get baseline readings to kind of get a feel for the place. The real heavy investigation occurs on the second night; we do much more intensive investigation then. We do things like record EVPs, which are voice recordings, to see if we can capture voices you wouldn’t hear with just your ears. We test our debunking theories and then get together and go over our data to see what theories we come up with. On occasion, we actually record activity.”

  “So this is for real? You guys do this stuff for a living?” Sweat was popping out on Mark’s forehead.

  “Absolutely. You might be surprised at our client list, if I could tell you about it. But we do things as scientifically as possible.”

  “I like that. I hope to God you can find a scientific reason for all of this. If not, I guess I’m just nuts. My wife thinks it’s because I’ve been under a lot of stress. She thinks I’m hallucinating.”

  I smiled sympathetically. I wasn’t going to tell him my story now, but I totally understood where he was coming from. No one would believe me when I told them I’d seen Dominic. “We will do our best to get you answers, Mark. I can assure you I have quite a bit of talent on my team, and we will work as quickly as possible. I know you’re on a tight time frame here.”

  “Not to be blunt, but what is this going to cost me?”

  “Not a dime. We don’t sell our services.”

  Mark tilted his head as if I were trying to sell him the George Washington Bridge. I got that a lot when I told people I worked for free. “That hardly seems like a good business plan, Midas,” he said with a chuckle.

  “Tell me about it. But we have other ways to get funding. Maybe later we can tell you more about that, but for now I want to focus on the investigation. And I want you to know that there are no strings attached.”

  Mark stretched his hand out to me, and I shook it. It was kind of a gentlemen’s agreement, I supposed. He said, “Okay, I will get you copies of the keys. I have them in the truck. The construction crew won’t come back until this place is clear, so you don’t have to worry about them. I don’t want to be here at all, but let me know when you plan to show up so I can tell the security company. I’m trusting you guys to keep this quiet.”

  “We’ve got you covered, Mark.” After I got the keys, I headed back to my SUV. I had hardly gotten in the truck when my phone rang. It was Sierra.

  “Midas, I need your help! I did a horrible thing. I should have never told Josh about Jack, but I told him. And now he wants me to get out. Can you believe he threw me out? Please come pick me up.”

  She was a blubbering mess. She’d been crying and maybe drinking, which was a sure sign of trouble. Little Sister couldn’t hold her liquor at all. “What? What are you talking about? What do you mean Josh threw you out?”

  “I mean he threw me out, Midas. I told him what I did. I told him about me and Jack, and oh my God, he was so angry. After all the crap he’s done, he’s going to be angry with me about this?”

  I slapped my forehead with the palm of my hand. “Sierra, why would you tell him about that? Why would you do that? How else did you expect him to respond?”

  She cried some more and finally said, “I don’t know! I just wanted him to hurt as bad as I did. You know what he did?” She was crying furiously now, and I could see the situation was not going to get any better. It certainly wasn’t going to be resolved over the phone.

  “Where are you now?”

  “I’m at the library. Near my house. All I have is a bag of clothes; he wouldn’t let me take anything else. Please help me. I really want my dog too. I just got a dog.”

  “I’m on the way. Just sit quietly, and I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

  “Okay, okay.”

  I hung up the phone, shifted into drive and screamed toward the library.

  So far, this had been one hell of a day.

  Chapter Four—Cassidy

  I didn’t hear from Midas again that night except for a text around seven o’clock that read: Sorry for the late notice, but something has come up. Rain check again? By that time I was covered in paint and completely exhausted, with Sabrina’s terrified eyes peering back at me from the canvas. I was kind of glad the date had fallen through because I was an emotional wreck after my painting session. I still felt the pressure of Oscar Long’s fingers around my neck. Poor girl! I hoped he hadn’t murdered her.

  Once again, touching Kylie’s painting hadn’t brought me any closer to her but had taken me into the middle of another mystery. Witnessing these crimes and hearing the cries of the victims always set me on edge. I told myself I needed to toughen up if I was going to survive.

  After taking a shower and changing into pajamas, I found an old black and white movie to watch and lay on the couch with my favorite blanket. I fell asleep there and didn’t dream about a thing, but I woke up stiff all over the next morning.

  A group text from Midas to the Gulf Coast Paranormal team woke me up: Morning, all. We’ve got a new client. Let’s meet at ten this morning at this address.

  I texted back a smiley face, even though I wasn’t in a smiley mood. I only had a couple of minutes to get ready, but I was usually a low-maintenance kind of gal. I opted for a soft gray t-shirt, blue jeans and soft black boots. I’d fallen asleep with wet hair, and rather than spend time straightening and styling the red mess I pulled it back in a ponytail and popped in some stud earrings. My stomach growled, and I remembered I had a pastry in the kitche
n. I gobbled it up with coffee and walked through my gallery to visit Kylie and Sabrina Elizabeth. I didn’t dwell on Kylie too much. I just couldn’t. I still had questions for Midas, and he wasn’t going to get out of answering them forever.

  Sabrina Elizabeth, on the other hand…the painting gave me chills. I took photos of her just in case we needed them. I didn’t think it was a coincidence that we had a new client and I was painting again. That just seemed to be how things worked now. Like I was connected to the GCP team in some weird, spiritual way.

  Sabrina Elizabeth’s blue eyes were clearly frightened, and there was a pale hand around her neck. She had white-blond hair that pooled around her like a cloud, and the shadow of her attacker loomed along the edge of the painting. I couldn’t see his face clearly, but she knew him as Dr. Oscar Long. Before I knew it, it was 9:30 and time to go. I found the place easily enough, thanks to my phone’s GPS.

  Midas wasn’t there yet, but Joshua was, and he was clearly not in a good mood.

  “Hey, Joshua.”

  “Hey. Sierra with you?”

  I couldn’t hide my surprise. “No. Was she supposed to be? Does she need me to pick her up? Is everything okay?”

  He didn’t answer me. Midas’ truck pulled up behind my car, and there in the front seat was Sierra. Joshua frowned but kept his handsome mouth shut. They got out, and another vehicle pulled up, carrying a woman I’d never seen before. Huh, must be the client. She was a short blonde who looked so much like Reese Witherspoon I did a double take.

  “Hey, y’all. I’m Jennifer McGinnis. My husband is the one who called you guys here. You mind if I walk around with y’all while you set everything up?”

  Midas answered for us. “You’re welcome to join us, Jennifer. I’ve got the keys right here. I don’t think you’ll find it too exciting, but we don’t mind at all. This is Sierra, Joshua and Cassidy. And I’m Midas Demopolis. Cassidy, would you mind helping Joshua with the equipment?”

  I looked from Sierra to Joshua. The two weren’t even looking at each other. Okay, this is damn strange. I shrugged and said, “Sure, why not.” So much for asking about Kylie’s painting this morning. Midas, Jennifer and Sierra walked into the building and left Joshua and me to do all the heavy lifting.

  “What gives, Joshua? You and Sierra are obviously on the outs. What did you do?” I was half-joking about it, but I apparently said the wrong thing. I was good at that.

  “Why does everyone assume I’m the screw-up? What would you say if I told you that my wife cheated on me? With Jack. Scrounger, jerky Jack.”

  I reached for one of the black cases. “You can’t be serious. That guy and Sierra? Are you sure? I just can’t believe it.” We walked toward the door together, and Joshua made a disgusted sound.

  “You know, until she confessed, I always thought I was the asshole. But I guess you never really know about people.” We stopped outside the door, and I contemplated Joshua’s words. For some reason, I thought about my Uncle Derek. “Enough about all this crap. Let’s get the gear in place. I don’t even know where to begin. I haven’t been here before. Have you?”

  “Nope. Never.”

  He was clearly in pain and not taking the news too well. I couldn’t blame him. I didn’t say so, but I agreed with his assessment. I would never have pegged Sierra as the cheater. It was Joshua’s flirtatious ways that everyone, including me, assumed would get him into trouble eventually. I had known the couple for only a few months, but I never thought Sierra would step outside her marriage. I was sure she loved Joshua.

  “About Sierra…”

  “Are you gonna give me some advice? Because quite frankly, I’m done with listening to people’s advice. I don’t want to talk about it. You asked, I told you. Let’s leave it at that.”

  “Fine by me,” I snapped back. Geesh. Try to be there for someone. Oh well. I didn’t take it personally; his whole world just turned upside down. I supposed I could have some compassion for him.

  We walked inside and set the cases down before walking back out to gather more supplies. Thirty minutes later, we were sweating and setting up a temporary headquarters on the bottom floor of the first building.

  I liked the look of this place. Laminate flooring, tin ceilings with a copper finish and recessed lighting; this would make a wonderful bookstore. While we worked, I couldn’t help but overhear some of the conversation between Midas and Jennifer. She was clearly not pleased to have us there, but she was willing to go out on a limb for her husband. I felt both proud and ticked off at how persuasive Midas could be when he set his mind on something. She left after getting assurances that we would keep everything private, and I could see Midas was relieved that she was gone. He gave me a wide-eyed, frustrated glance after she walked out. I just shrugged.

  Sierra had apparently sobered up after her drunken mess yesterday because I could hear her footsteps clunking around upstairs. That wasn’t too good. That meant the flooring hadn’t been finished properly.

  “How are things looking, guys? I didn’t get a chance to tell you before, but we are investigating all three of these buildings; they were once attached through inner hallways upstairs and downstairs. They were called Bloodgood Row. Ever heard of it?”

  “Can’t say I have, but seriously, dude? That is going to stretch our resources big time.” Joshua popped batteries in a camera and scrutinized Midas like he was a crazy person.

  “Yeah, you’re right. Not to mention manpower. But for now, the four of us will just have to make do. I figure we can investigate this building the first night, do the second and third buildings the second night, and that will be that. Like most clients, Mr. McGinnis is ready for this to be done quickly. I’m sure I can get some help, but it won’t be tonight.”

  Joshua looked like he was ready to spit nails. “I know you aren’t suggesting bringing Jack in.”

  “Don’t be a jackass, Joshua. I wouldn’t do that. And I can assure you that if I’d had any idea about anything, I wouldn’t have invited him last time. I hope you understand that.”

  As Sierra continued to clunk around upstairs, I watched them eye each other and then interrupted, “That sounds reasonable to me. What about our friends from the last investigation?”

  “Helen will be back in town tomorrow and has agreed to come, but Bruce isn’t available. Like I said, at least for tonight it’s just the four of us, but we can handle it. So let’s do the walk-through. Sierra?”

  She walked in from the other room. “Yeah?”

  I looked at her and then at the staircase. She’d been nowhere near it! “Wow! I thought you were upstairs. Don’t tell me I’m the only one hearing the footsteps…are you sure there’s no one else here?”

  “I thought I heard something too,” Joshua said, glancing up nervously.

  Sierra shook her pretty blond head and gave him a sad glance. “I haven’t gone upstairs yet. I was checking out the supply rooms down here. And there’s a small basement, but I didn’t pick up much there. You say you heard footsteps?” She walked toward the end of the stairs and looked up.

  “Yeah, clearly. Did you hear them, Midas?”

  “No, but I was talking to Mrs. McGinnis.”

  “Hello? Is anyone up there?” Sierra shouted up. Thankfully, no one answered. But what did I expect? A ghost to shout down, Yes, we’re up here? I’d seen Midas unlock the building. There was no one else here. She called up again, “We’re coming upstairs now. We don’t mean you any harm.”

  “God, I hope the feeling is mutual,” I whispered to myself. How had I wound up working with a bunch of ghost hunters? “So what happened here? Why are we here? What are we looking for?” I asked Midas with increased curiosity. “I might have some clues for you.”

  “Mark had such an unusual experience; I would rather wait to tell you about it after we set up. I hadn’t planned on investigating anything now, but since you’re hearing things, we might as well check it out. I can tell you that much of the activity has occurred upstairs and next door.�
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  Sierra crossed her arms and hummed to herself. “Yeah, I can feel that. It’s very unsettled in here. There’s nothing much as far as activity downstairs, but up there it’s another story.”

  “Yeah, you and your feelings.” That was Joshua’s smartass contribution. He hadn’t followed us to the staircase but instead was hooking up a computer and straightening out cables. We all looked at him, but nobody said anything. It wasn’t my place to scold him. Sierra appeared to hesitate but in the end kept her peace. Instead, Sierra, Midas and I began walking upstairs, with Sierra leading the way.

  She pulled her blue sweater tighter around her. “It’s freezing up here.” I didn’t feel anything unusual, but I didn’t doubt Sierra was feeling something. She was a sensitive and often picked up on feelings and echoes from the past—supernatural echoes. “This place is horrible, Midas. It’s horrible. Ugh. I smell blood, and it’s so oppressive. You can’t tell me you guys don’t feel that!”

  The back of my neck was tingling like someone was touching it. It gave me the willies. “Hey!” I rubbed it furiously and looked at Midas, who was at least three feet behind me. “Was that you?”

  “Was that me what?”

  “Touching my neck. Like this.” I showed him what I meant, and he shook his head.

  “Nope. Let me take a look.” He examined my neck but said he didn’t see anything. “Did you bring your K2?”

  Uh-oh. Rookie mistake.

  “Um, no. Sorry. I’ll pop down and get it and the digital recorder.”

  I scrambled down the stairs and grabbed the items from Joshua. Then I heard Sierra yelling in pain. Joshua and I both ran up the stairs in record time.

  “What the hell? Sierra Kay?” He sprinted to her and squatted down to examine her.