Ghostly Interests

by Lily Harper Hart

  Ghostly Interests

  A Harper Harlow Mystery

  Book One

  Lily Harper Hart

  Text copyright © 2015 Lily Harper Hart

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  One

  Two

  Three

  Four

  Five

  Six

  Seven

  Eight

  Nine

  Ten

  Eleven

  Twelve

  Thirteen

  Fourteen

  Fifteen

  Sixteen

  Seventeen

  Eighteen

  Nineteen

  Twenty

  Twenty-One

  Twenty-Two

  Twenty-Three

  Twenty-Four

  Twenty-Five

  Twenty-Six

  Up Next

  Author’s Note

  Books by Lily Harper Hart

  Prologue

  Twenty years ago

  Harper Harlow woke up to an odd feeling.

  She was in her bed, turned on her side in the same position as when she fell asleep hours before, but something was different.

  Harper was braver than most eight-year-olds and yet the sense of panic settling in her chest was something she couldn’t explain or control. She wasn’t alone. She could feel it.

  She opened her mouth, a scream on her lips, but then she heard a familiar voice in the darkness.

  “It’s just me, kiddo.”

  “Gramps?” Harper’s voice was thick with sleep. “I … what are you doing here? Is something wrong?” Harper rubbed her eyes, trying to clear them so she could see through the murky darkness. When she finally caught sight of the figure standing next to the bed he brought more questions to her mind than answers. “You look funny.”

  Earl Harlow graced his favorite grandchild with a sad smile. “I feel funny,” he said. “I … just wanted to see you before I go.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “Away,” Earl said. “I’ll be away for a long time. I didn’t want to leave without saying goodbye, though. I knew you wouldn’t like that.”

  “Did you say goodbye to Mom and Dad?” Harper was having trouble understanding what was happening. Her grandfather lived in the same small town she did, so he often stopped by to see her. He took her to the New Baltimore pier so they could fish and eat hot dogs. He took her to the Detroit Zoo because she loved the animals. He took her to the Henry Ford Museum because he loved history and wanted to pass that love along to her. In all his visits, though, Harper could never remember him showing up in her bedroom in the middle of the night.

  “I said goodbye to your parents,” Earl said, choosing his words carefully. “They might not realize it, but I did.”

  “I … how come you’re here?” Harper asked, her mind still muddled.

  “Because you’re the one who is going to miss me the most,” Earl said. “I have faith that you’ll … understand … why I had to go one day.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “To a … new … place,” Earl said.

  “A better place?”

  “No place can be better without you there,” Earl said. “It’s a happy place, though.”

  “Is Grammy going with you?” Harper asked, confused. “Why didn’t she come to say goodbye?”

  “Grammy is staying behind,” Earl said. “She’s going to be sad for a little while so I need you to spend time with her – even if you don’t want to. Take her to the pier. She’ll put up a fight at first, but she’ll enjoy it eventually. When you go there I want you to talk about me.”

  “But you won’t be there?” Harper’s lower lip trembled. “Why not?”

  “I can’t go there with you,” Earl explained. “I have to leave.” He tilted his head to the side as a phone rang in the bowels of the house. “I can’t be here much longer,” he said. “I’m almost out of time. I wanted to tell you how much I love you before I go, though. I’ve loved you since the moment your father introduced us.”

  “I love you, too,” Harper said, pushing her flyaway blond hair away from her face. She slept hard and her hair reflected that every morning. “When will I see you again?”

  “Not for a long time, kiddo,” Earl said. “I’ll always be watching you, though. Sometimes you’ll think you see something out of the corner of your eye. That will be me. I’ll always be watching you and I’ll always love you. Never forget that.”

  “But … .”

  Earl shook his head. “Your mom is coming now. She has something bad to tell you. It’s okay. I’m okay. I’ll see you again. I promise.”

  “I don’t understand,” Harper whispered. “I … why do you have to go?”

  “It’s my time,” Earl said, shifting his attention to Harper’s bedroom door as it opened.

  Gloria Harlow, her eyes red-rimmed and glassy, moved into her daughter’s bedroom. “Harlow, what are you doing up?”

  “I … .”

  Gloria shook her head, her own blond hair mussed from sleep as she jerked her chin back and forth. “It doesn’t matter,” she said. “Sweetheart, I have some bad news.”

  Harper glanced at her grandfather. He was watching the scene from the corner and she could almost swear he was disappearing in front of her very eyes. What was going on here? “Mommy?”

  “We lost your grandfather tonight, Harper,” Gloria said, her voice soft.

  “What do you mean?” Harper was on the verge of tears, warring thoughts colliding in a manner that caused mental clanging in the back of her mind.

  “Grandpa passed away,” Gloria said. “That was your grandmother on the phone. He had a heart attack in his sleep. He didn’t feel any pain.”

  Harper’s blue eyes darted to the corner. Earl was almost completely gone now. “He’s here, though,” Harper said. “I … he came to see me.”

  “I’m sure he’ll always be watching you, Harper,” Gloria said, reaching for her daughter to soothe her with a hug. “He loved you so much.”

  “But he’s here,” Harper argued. “I … .” She turned her head so she could stare into the corner again. It was empty. “He was here. I saw him. I talked to him.”

  “He’s been gone for hours, Harper,” Gloria said. “I think you had a dream. It’s nice you dreamed about him on the same night we … lost … him.” Gloria choked up and struggled to refrain from body-wracking sobs in an effort to protect her daughter. “You’ll always have good memories.”

  Harper couldn’t wrap her head around what was going on. “But he was here,” she said. “He said he had to go away but I would see him again. He said … he was right here.”

  “Shh, Harper,” Gloria said, smoothing her daughter’s hair down as she rocked her. “It’s okay. Everything is going to be okay.”

  Was it? Harper wasn’t so sure. The only thing she could be sure about was that nothing was ever going to be the same again. She didn’t know how she knew that … but she did.

  One

  Present Day

  “Look out behind you!”

  Zander Pritchett was beside himself as he watched his best friend duck behind an ornamental column, sliding on the glazed hardwood dance floor as she careened out of the way of something he couldn’t see and yet still knew was there. A glass vase shattered against the floor in the exact spot she was standing only seconds before.

  They were at Undercurrents, a fancy waterfront restaurant on Lake St. Clair on Harsens Island in Southeastern Michigan, and their current job was turning into a righteous fright fest.

  “What do you see?” Harper asked, her shoulder-length blond hair standing out at odd angles as she surveyed the room.

  “You know very well I
don’t see ghosts,” Zander said, his hands on his narrow hips as he regarded Harlow from across the room. “I don’t think now is the time for jokes.”

  “I wasn’t making a joke,” Harper snapped, rolling her eyes despite the circumstances. “I wasn’t even talking to you. I was talking to Molly.”

  “Oh,” Zander said. “I … you don’t have to be so snippy.”

  “A ghost is trying to flatten me, Zander,” Harper shot back. “I think now is the time to be snippy.”

  “Whatever,” Zander said, pressing his back to the wall and lifting the walkie-talkie to his face. “Molly, what do you see on the thermal scanner?”

  From the manager’s office where she was set up, twenty-one-year-old Molly Parker enthusiastically regaled Zander with a litany of mumbo jumbo that essentially meant she had no idea what she was looking at. She was extremely enthusiastic about it, though.

  “Be specific,” Zander ordered. “Is there more than one ghost in here or not?”

  “I’m only seeing one cold spot,” Molly said primly, and although Zander couldn’t see her pert features he could imagine the face she was probably making. “It’s right by Harper.”

  Don West, the owner of Undercurrents, hired Ghost Hunters, Inc. – GHI for those in the inner circle – the day before because he couldn’t handle one more interrupted wedding or tearful bride complaining that a pesky poltergeist ruined the biggest day of her life. He didn’t believe in the paranormal, but he saw no way out of his predicament other than hiring Macomb County’s leading ghost hunters. From his spot next to Zander, he was less than impressed. “There’s nothing there,” he said. “Your friend is ducking like something is there, but so far all we’ve seen is a glass vase hurtling across the room – and I haven’t ruled you guys out as somehow causing that.”

  Zander shot West a hard look. “You hired us, remember?”

  “I remember,” West said. “You also promised you would handle my … little problem … with the utmost delicacy. This doesn’t look delicate to me.”

  Zander pushed his floppy brown hair off of his forehead as he wiped the accumulating sweat away from his angular face. “We can’t do anything until we identify what kind of spirit you have here.”

  West narrowed his eyes. “Are you sure this isn’t a scam?”

  As if on cue another vase lifted from a nearby table and flew through the air, not stopping until it smashed into the wall about a foot from West’s head.

  “Do you think we faked that?” Zander asked pointedly.

  “I … .” West broke off, worrying his bottom lip with his teeth. “You have to do something about this. We’re going to lose money if it gets out that we’re the place for haunted weddings. We’re coming up on our busiest six months of the year.”

  “To be fair, some people would love a haunted wedding,” Zander replied, ducking as another vase smashed into the wall. “This might be a little extreme for most people, though,” he conceded. “I … .”

  “As much as I’m enjoying this conversation, can you focus on me?” Harper interrupted, her blue eyes flashing impatiently. “I’m the one exposed here.”

  “You’re such a pill sometimes,” Zander grumbled. “What do you want me to do? You know darned well I can’t see anything. I’m supposed to be your emotional support and tech guy. I don’t do well with the hands-on stuff.”

  “I need you to set the trap,” Harper said, making a face. “Throw it out in the middle of the room. I’ll take care of leading the ghost there.”

  “How?” Zander furrowed his brow. “Are you going to run out into the open and lead the ghost over the trap?”

  “Yes.”

  “But … what if it catches you?” Zander asked, hoping he didn’t sound as terrified as he felt. He made a living catching ghosts with his lifelong best friend, but he was less than thrilled with the means they utilized to do it. “What if it … hurts … you?”

  “I’ll be fine, Zander,” Harper said, meeting his gaze evenly from across the room. “I’m right here. The spirit is attracted to me. It’s going to be watching me. That’s going to give you the opportunity to set the trap.”

  “What if it decides I’m better looking?” Zander asked, buying time as he tried to tug on his hidden courage. “You said the spirit’s energy felt female. She’s going to find me more attractive than you.”

  “You’re gay.” Harper was nonplussed as she straightened and wiped her sweaty palms against her pants.

  “She doesn’t know that,” Zander replied. “All she knows is that I’m hotter than anyone she’s ever seen before and she’d like to take a ghostly bite out of my shapely butt. She doesn’t know or care that I’m gay.”

  “I see you’ve given this a lot of thought,” Harper deadpanned, smirking. “Whoever this woman is she’s been haunting this location for years. I don’t think she’s worried about your rear end – no matter how shapely it is.”

  “Maybe she died of a broken heart because the man she was in love with looked like me,” Zander suggested. “She could totally fixate on me because I could be the reincarnated soul of her dead lover.”

  “You really have to start watching something else besides Lifetime,” Harper said, her aggravation growing with each passing second. “Now get the trap and get moving. I don’t want to spend all day here and Mr. West mentioned something about a lunch serving that starts in an hour. We have to do this, and we have to do it now.”

  “And you have to do it with minimal property damage and as quietly as possible,” West chimed in. “Don’t break anything.”

  “We’ll do our best,” Zander said, clicking his heels together and mock saluting before he leaned over and started rummaging through the duffel bag at his feet. A few moments later he straightened again.

  West eyed the contraption in his hand dubiously. “What is that?”

  “It’s a ghost snare.”

  “But … it looks like one of those things you can buy at the flea market … what do they call them … dreamcatchers,” West said. “It looks like a dreamcatcher.”

  “It is,” Zander said, gritting his teeth to keep from snapping at the man who would be handing over a paycheck in about ten minutes. “It’s infused with holy water, salt and rosemary.”

  “And that catches ghosts?” West looked dubious.

  “Kind of,” Zander hedged. “One other thing needs to happen, too.”

  “What?”

  “Watch,” Zander said. He exchanged one more look with Harper. “Here I go.”

  Harper smiled at him, the expression not quite making it to her eyes but still heartfelt. “Good luck.”

  “You, too.” Zander clutched the dreamcatcher in his hand and then sprinted into the middle of the room, surprising West with his speed and agility. Zander dropped the dreamcatcher on the dance floor and continued running until he was on the other side of the room. He was still separated from Harper, but he was a lot nearer than he was only seconds before.

  Harper lifted her walkie-talkie to her ear. “Eric, are you ready with the EMF to take measurements for us to study later?”

  From his spot at the far end of the room, Eric Tyler shot Harper a thumbs-up. Even though it was hot in the room he was still wearing a leather jacket and his long, black hair brushed the top of his shoulders as he hopped from one foot to the other in anticipation.

  “Okay,” Harper said, sucking in a breath. “Here we go.”

  “Harper … be careful,” Zander warned.

  “I’m always careful.”

  That was kind of the truth and kind of a lie at the same time, but Zander let it slide as he watched his best friend in the world gear up for her big run. “I’m right here,” he said. “I’ll be close.”

  “You always are,” Harper said, grinning as she collected her courage.

  When Harper raced to the center of the room it looked as if she was going to overshoot her mark. The haunting howling chased her and the ethereal spirit seemed surprised when it realized Harper was n
ot only stopping but also turning back.

  Harper placed one foot on the dreamcatcher and faced off with the ghost. “I release you to the other side,” she said, clapping her hands together and causing a “spark” to flood the room.

  West sheltered his eyes with his forearm while Zander tried to watch the scene in its entirety and failed.

  The light swallowed up Harper as an angry ghost descended upon her.

  It was time.

  “I DON’T know what to say,” West said, eyeing Harper as she handed the dreamcatcher to Zander a few minutes later. “I … where did the light come from?”

  Harper wasn’t one to discuss her abilities – or how they worked. That could have something to do with the fact that she had no idea how she managed to do the fantastical things she did – and it could also have a little something to do with the fact that people didn’t believe her no matter what she told them.

  “That was the trap being activated,” Harper explained. “There’s a bright light associated with the gate opening. It sucks the ghost in.” That wasn’t technically a lie. It wasn’t technically the truth either.

  “But … how?” West pressed.

  “It’s an old tactic handed down through the centuries,” Harper said. “We read about it in a book, tried it, and it worked.” Zander glanced at Harper, a silent warning on his pursed lips. Harper ignored him. “It’s folk magic.”

  West made a face? “Magic? I don’t believe in magic.”

  “You said you don’t believe in ghosts either and you just watched us catch one,” Harper pointed out.

  “I’m not sure what I saw,” West said. “How do I know what really happened? You guys have a lot of equipment. It could’ve been a fancy light show and nothing more.”

  “I guess it’s your prerogative to believe that,” Harper said, forcing her face to remain neutral. She was used to people calling her theatrical. That was actually one of the nicer terms bandied in her direction. It was when they called her a liar that she started taking offense.

  “How much do I owe you?” West asked.

  “A thousand dollars,” Zander said. “We settled on a price over the phone. That’s why we agreed to come out here in the first place.” He was feigning patience, but Harper could see his hackles rising.