The spirit narrowed her eyes as if challenging her to say her next line.
“And I care about him.” She crossed her arms. “This conversation is over.” She’d idolized this spirit when she was young, but she was done blindly taking orders…from anyone. Gage was the man she was meant to be with, and no one could take him away from her.
The ghost inclined her head, peering down her nose at Erica. “I see. If that’s the case, I suppose I’ll have to live with it. But please, darling, can we keep my existence here a secret for a while? I’ve been trapped in this mirror for seventy years. People have tried to free me before. To send me to the other side.” She shuddered. “It’s painful.”
“You can feel pain?”
“More than you can imagine.”
She’d had no idea a spirit could feel any sort of physical sensation. They were pure energy, so how could they? They didn’t have bodies or flesh to register the feelings of touch or temperature. But it didn’t matter in this case. “I really don’t think Gage will try to get rid of you. If I explain…”
The image of a tear rolled down the spirit’s cheek. “Please. The pain is unbearable. Like being trapped inside a raging inferno. Surely you understand.”
A sickening feeling formed in her stomach. She understood far too well the feeling of flesh searing in the flames. As her thoughts drifted back to her terrible accident, she shuddered. “Okay. I won’t say anything yet. But I’m going to have to tell him eventually.”
Colette smiled. “Give it a month. Once he’s satisfied of your safety, you can break the news easily. Let him see how well we work together.”
The sound of the auditorium door opening echoed through the building. “Okay. Make yourself scarce.”
The spirit’s image dissolved, and Erica trotted onto the stage. Gage carried a huge black duffel bag on one shoulder and a backpack slung over the other. He smiled at her as he trotted up the aisle, and her heart raced.
She hurried down the steps and ran to him, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing a kiss to his lips. He let the bags slide off his shoulders and drop to the ground as he snaked his arms around her waist.
“It’s good to see you, too, sweetheart.”
Lindsay stepped through the door, followed by a round man with a beard and a tweed jacket. “Hey, Erica. How are you?”
She released her hold on Gage’s neck and wrapped her arm around his bicep. “I’m good.”
Gage patted her hand. “This is Richard. He’s the founder of our little group.”
“Hi, Richard. It’s nice to meet you.” She shook his hand. “Where is your medium?” She’d have to make sure she kept anyone who could actually see spirits away from Colette.
Gage wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “You’re playing that role tonight. Allison is still out of town.”
“Oh.” The tightness in her chest loosened. With Colette trapped inside the mirror, the chances that their equipment would pick up on her were slim. A powerful medium might be able to force the spirit to show herself, but she didn’t have to worry about that tonight. At least for now, the secret of her spirit mentor would be safe. “What do I need to do?”
“Right now, help me set up. Lindsay and Richard are going to take some baseline readings of temperature and EMF around the building so we’ll know if we get anything abnormal later.”
She followed Gage around the theater as he set up cameras and other gadgets to record movement and changes in the atmosphere. Lindsay and Richard split off to get their readings, and an hour later, they met on the stage.
Gage balanced a laptop on one hand and typed something on the keyboard. “Find anything interesting?”
“Everything is steady for the most part,” Richard said. “We got a slight EMF spike around the mirror in the wing over there.” He pointed to Colette’s mirror.
Erica held her breath. Had they discovered her?
“Yeah, but it faded in and out,” Lindsay said. “Probably some residual energy or maybe Leroy or Stanley playing with us.”
She exhaled. “I’m sure that’s what it is.”
Gage closed his laptop and rested his hand on the small of her back. “Let’s get this show on the road, guys. Erica, come with me.” He grabbed his backpack and led her off the stage to her office.
Closing the door behind them, he set his computer and bag on the desk and pulled her into his arms, roaming his hands down to cup her butt.
She playfully swatted him away. “I thought we were investigating.”
He flashed a devilish grin. “I’m trying to investigate what’s underneath your clothes, if you would cooperate.”
She let him pull her close, losing herself to the comfort and warmth of his strong arms holding her. “I think you know exactly what’s underneath my clothes.”
“Doesn’t mean I’ll ever get tired of investigating it.” He took her mouth with his.
A slow heat spread through her body from her lips to her chest to her toes. He held her face in his hands, deepening the kiss until her muscles felt like they’d fall right off the bone. As he pulled away, his intense blue-green eyes bore into her soul, searching for something she hoped he’d find in her.
“If you’d have told sixteen-year-old me that someday I’d be making out with you in the theater office, I never would have believed you.”
A sour sensation twisted in her stomach, and she pulled from his embrace as a wave of dizziness made the room spin. Her skin crawled as she sat on the edge of her desk. “Shouldn’t we be helping them?”
Gage gave her a quizzical look. “They always do their thing first. Allison and I watch on the monitors while they try to gather physical evidence. After they’ve done their best to stir shit up, we’ll go in and see what you can pick up on.”
A little spark of anger ignited her chest at the mention of Allison again, but she ignored it. Where had it even come from? “How long have you known Allison?”
A wistful look flashed in his eyes. “Six or seven years, I guess. Why?”
She clutched the edge of the table as her stomach twisted tighter. “If she’s so great and powerful and can communicate with spirits at her will, why do you even bother with all the technical stuff? Can’t she go in and vanquish them all and be done with it?”
He put a hand on her knee, and she fought the urge to pull away. Where was this sudden onset of negative emotions coming from?
“I don’t know if vanquish is the right word. If we’re dealing with a demonic entity, then yeah, we do our best to send those suckers back to hell where they belong. Ghosts don’t necessarily need to leave, unless they’re causing trouble for the property owner.” He took her hand. “Most people want proof they can see and hear for themselves.”
His touch helped ease the strange disquiet rolling through her system, but something didn’t feel quite right. “Does it hurt the spirits when they cross over?”
“Hmm…” He furrowed his brow. “I never thought about it before. It doesn’t seem to. I mean, I’ve never caught any screams of anguish on the recorders as they crossed. Allison would be a better person to ask. She’s an empath too, so she’d know. She can feel other people’s emotions.”
She gritted her teeth. If he didn’t stop talking about Allison…what? Why was she letting this get to her? She shook her head to rid herself of the strange thoughts flitting through her brain. “What if the spirits don’t want to leave? Does it hurt them if you force them to cross over?”
He inhaled deeply. “I can’t say we’ve ever had to force a human spirit to cross over. Sometimes they take a little convincing, but in my experience, Allison can convince the orneriest ones it’s time to leave. She’s good. When she gets back in town, you should meet her. I think you’d get along.”
She pulled her hand from his grasp and wrapped her arms around herself. “How long did the two of you date?”
He laughed. “I never dated Allison.”
“But you wanted to.”
His mo
uth opened and closed as if he wasn’t sure how to answer. “What makes you say that?”
She shot to her feet. “It’s obvious. You get this…faraway look in your eyes whenever you mention her name.” Didn’t he? Or was she imagining it?
He stood and reached for her hand. She let him take it. “I can assure you, sweetheart, Allison and I have always just been friends.”
“Friends like you and me?”
“No. Baby, no. The way I feel about you is…I…” He sighed. “I never felt this about Allison. Or anyone for that matter.”
“But you liked her.”
“You have no reason to worry. Where is this coming from?” He rummaged through his backpack and pulled out a device with red and green lights.
“I…” She swayed on her feet as her thoughts clouded in her mind. What were they talking about? She’d been angry with him a moment ago, but she couldn’t for the life of her remember why.
He waved the device in the air around her, frowning at the darkened display. Shrugging, he dropped the tool into his backpack and pulled her into his arms. “Allison is my friend. Nothing more. Okay?”
That’s right, she’d been jealous of the way he talked about his colleague. But why? It had never bothered her before. Maybe since she’d made herself vulnerable…sleeping with him, sharing secrets…now her insecurities were surfacing. She’d have to work harder to keep herself in check. She slid her arms around his waist. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I said those things. I guess I got a little jealous.”
“I promise nothing has ever happened between Allison and me.”
The strange thing was, she wasn’t a jealous person. Gage was a smart, sexy, sweet man. His talents in the bedroom proved he’d obviously been with other women. So what if he had? She was his present and hopefully his future. Being jealous over something that happened in the past would do her no good.
“Gage,” Lindsay’s voice crackled over the walkie-talkie. “We’re ready for Erica.”
He let Erica slide from his arms and reached for the doorknob. He hadn’t lied about Allison. Not really. He just hadn’t fully answered the question about whether or not he’d had feelings for her.
Besides, how he’d felt in the past was irrelevant. Sure, he’d wanted to take his relationship with Allison past the friendship stage, but it hadn’t been mutual. And the feelings he’d had for her paled in comparison to how he felt about Erica.
He’d never felt this way about anyone before. There was no need to complicate their relationship with talk of the past. He led her by the hand to the stage.
“We caught some curtain movement and flickering lights.” Lindsay sat in a chair in the front row. “All the same Leroy and Stanley stuff we’ve gotten before. If there’s someone new here, he’s not letting us know.”
Gage sat on the stage and let his feet dangle over the edge. “Let’s do an EVP session and see if anybody wants to show himself to Erica.”
She settled on the stage next to him so close their thighs touched. His pulse raced just being near the woman; he definitely didn’t need to complicate things by talking about the past.
Richard pointed a camera at Lindsay. “Go ahead and start with the questions.”
Lindsay nodded. “Whatever spirits are here with us tonight; will you please tell us your names?” She paused to give the ghosts time to answer.
Gage looked at Erica, but she shook her head.
“Erica is here with us. Maybe you know her? She owns the theater now.” Lindsay set the recorder on the arm of the chair. “If you will show yourself to her, she’ll probably be able to see you.”
Silence hung in the air for a moment until Erica sucked in a sharp breath. “Leroy is standing by the chair to the right of her.” Her voice was a whisper only Gage could hear.
“Our right or her right?”
“Ours. Oh, and Stanley is next to him now.”
Gage’s heart thrummed, and he instinctively took her hand. “Hey, guys. Were you around when I stopped by to see Erica here yesterday?”
Her ears reddened. “I don’t want to talk about that in front of your friends,” she whispered. “Did you tell them what happened?”
He squeezed her hand. “I didn’t give them any specifics. Did the ghosts answer?”
She rubbed her forehead. “Yes. They were here.”
“So you saw what happened?” he asked the ghosts.
“Oh, God.” Erica shrank in on herself. “They saw.”
He rubbed her back. Though the situation made her uncomfortable, he had to push the spirits for answers. “Now, I’m not making any accusations, but did either of you have anything to do with it?”
She placed her fingers against her temples. “No, Gage, they didn’t. Can we stop now?”
He focused on the empty space next to Lindsay. “Do you know who did?”
“They’re gone.” Erica shot to her feet. “They looked at each other, and they disappeared.”
Lindsay rose and stepped toward the stage. “Let’s play back the recording and see if we caught anything.”
Erica crossed her arms to hug herself. “They didn’t speak. Only nodded their heads like they usually do when I talk to them. You’re not going to hear them.”
Gage stood next to her, and she hugged herself tighter. “Probably not, but let’s give it a listen anyway. Tech is our only means of communicating with ghosts, since we aren’t gifted like you.”
She chewed her bottom lip as Lindsay played the recording.
“I don’t hear anything.” Lindsay handed the device to Gage.
He held it against his ear and listened. Other than their own voices and the low hum of the air conditioner, he couldn’t hear a thing. Not a trace of the supernatural. Shaking his head, he handed the recorder to Lindsay.
Erica huffed. “I told you it was nothing.”
“Okay. All right.” He placed a hand on the small of her back, hoping his touch would calm her. “I think we’re done anyway, right guys?”
“Yeah.” Richard shook his head. “Let’s pack it up.”
As they gathered their supplies and Lindsay and Richard said goodbye, Erica’s shoulders moved away from her ears into a more natural position. She locked the theater and held Gage’s hand as they strolled toward their cars in the parking lot, but her eyes still held a tightness as if she were worried…or keeping a secret.
He shoved his bag in the passenger seat of his Jeep and put a hand on Erica’s hip. “Thanks for letting me check the place out. I’ll sleep better knowing no sinister spirits are hanging out in there with you.” None that made themselves known, anyway.
She met his eyes, but only for a second. “You’re welcome.”
“I still worry about what happened, though. Are you sure everything is okay?” A strand of hair had come loose from her braid, so he tucked it behind her ear.
She rubbed her arms as if she were cold. “Yeah. Fine. It’s…” Her breath came out in a huff. “I’ve had this secret all my life, and telling you…I was okay with that. But talking about my ability to see spirits and actually doing it in front of Lindsay and Richard didn’t feel right.” She chuckled. “You’re so open about everything. That probably doesn’t make any sense to you.”
A little pang shot through his chest. He hadn’t been entirely open, but he didn’t want to steer the conversation toward his little un-truth. “It does, actually. You don’t have to do it in front of them anymore.”
“I don’t think having a secret or two is such a bad thing.”
He rubbed the back on his fingers down her cheek and rested his hand near her neck. “It’s not. I agree. The world doesn’t need to know everything about us.”
She smiled, and the tightness in her eyes released. “Thanks, Gage.”
“Anything for you, sweetheart.” He pulled her into a hug. “Let’s get out of this parking lot. Want to go to my place? I never did get to inspect what’s beneath this lovely, pink shirt.”
“Only if you promise a th
orough investigation.”
Chapter Fourteen
“Try it again,” Erica said as her cast finished the scene. “Amber, remember your character is doing something she thinks she shouldn’t be doing. She’d be looking around, afraid she’s going to get caught. Make sure that comes across as emotion.”
Amber nodded and scurried off stage to reset the scene. Erica looked at her notes. Colette’s insight into the nuances of these characters was amazing. With her advice, Erica had taken her cast of teenagers to an almost professional level in only three weeks.
She couldn’t give the ghost all the credit, though. The show was coming together under her own direction, but the little bits of advice Colette offered made a big difference.
She glanced at the empty light booth and sighed. Gage, still worried something in the theater might be affecting her, had come to rehearsals after he got off from work every night for two weeks. He’d made himself useful, trying out different lighting effects for the show until he was satisfied Erica and the kids were safe. She’d been teaching her classes on her own for a week, but she had to admit she missed him hanging around.
“Ms. Miller? Did we do okay?” The concern in Amber’s voice pulled Erica out of her daydream.
Had the kids already run the scene? What had she been thinking about to miss the whole thing? She pretended to write something on her notepad to hide her confusion. “That was great.” She looked up and smiled.
“I told you something’s wrong with her,” Caitlyn whispered. “She’s got that blank look in her eyes again.”
Jason stepped toward the front of the stage. “You’re okay, right, Ms. M?”
She rose to her feet and made her way toward the students. “I’m fine. I’ve had a lot on my mind lately.”
Daniel snickered. “I’d have a lot on my mind, too, if I had a hot boyfriend like yours. Why’d he stop coming to rehearsals?”
She shook her head. “Daniel…”
He raised his hands. “What? It’s true.”
Her student had a point. And if it moved the focus away from her apparent black out, all the better. “He is easy on the eyes, isn’t he? Anyway…I think we’ve done enough today. Go home and get those lines memorized. I don’t want any more stumbling tomorrow.”
To Free a Phantom (Spirit Chasers Book 3) Page 15
