by K. M. Waller
Either way, Samuel was the key to solving the haunting.
Chapter Five
Amira tossed her suitcase onto the bed and considered calling Ally for a pick-me-up chat. Only she couldn’t because the ghost could be listening. She checked her closet and under her bed. Nothing there, but she couldn’t risk it. Texting all her frustrations would take too much energy. She huffed and dropped onto the bed.
Lex was only doing his job, and he’d never compromise a mission by hooking up with a viper like Ramona—at least she didn’t think he would. Lex had used his “Romeo” technique before on her. Maybe she should’ve claimed Lex as her boyfriend. Or maybe she should focus on the assignment and squash her jealousy.
If she’d just gone out to the stable like she’d planned, then she would’ve never found him coming out of Ramona’s room. Dee had caught her in the hallway and reminded her that they still needed their room assignments. Bad timing on both their parts. Dee appeared to be used to seeing Ramona paw at other men.
Amira glanced around the room, noting the black and white photographs on the wall. The subjects of the pictures weren’t dressed to be from a time of older photos, it just seemed to be the color scheme of the room. Closer inspection showed several photographs featured Samuel and what appeared to be people from his Ghost Getters crew. Some pictures were older, with Samuel as a child and then as a teenager with friends. His high school graduation photo and another of him at prom were in the mix. Someone had made the wall a photographic shrine to Samuel. His mom? Not creepy at all to have the owner staring at guests while they slept. She fought the urge to take them down and place them in a drawer.
The furniture was all black as well as the bedding and pillows. White pieces accented the rest. Not very ghostly, yet not very homey either. It was as if a theme hadn’t been agreed upon. The décor definitely conflicted with the room’s name “Happy Spirit.” Hard for any spirit to be happy in such an uninspired room.
She moved over to the window and watched Cookie mosey toward the stables with a couple of apples in her hands. Now was a good time to catch her alone. Two birds with one stone. Amira quickly changed out of her dress and into a pair of jeans and a cool cotton T-shirt. The weather had warmed considerably since morning and she slid her feet into sandals.
She ducked her head out of the door and checked the hallway for occupants. Sure she was alone, she quickly marched down the hallway, grimacing at every creak from the hardwood floors. She didn’t relish any awkward encounters with Lex, Samuel, or Ramona.
Once down the stairs and out the back door, she slowed her pace and walked as if she were a tourist in an unknown city taking in all the sights. If anyone watched from the windows, it wouldn’t appear as if she were purposely going after Cookie.
Once inside the stables, she noticed the lack of horses in the stalls. Whom were the apples for? Maybe she’d missed Cookie coming back inside the house. She turned to leave when she heard low voices coming from the tack room. Did the other voice belong to the man on the four-wheeler she’d seen when they arrived?
Amira crept along the edge of the stalls and stopped at the last one before the tack room. The voices were too hushed for her to pick up any of the conversation. Frustrated, she turned and glanced in the nearest stall in time to see a black shape advance.
A rather tall black horse butted her hard with its head, and she yelped when she hit the ground.
Cookie and a man she placed in his mid-thirties came out of the tack room as she scrambled to right herself. Above her elbow, a light blue circle turned darker as a bruise began to settle on her skin. At least she hadn’t broken anything.
The man reached down, his handsome face and green eyes lined with concern. “Are you okay?”
His blond hair fell over his ears and hung around his face. When he helped her to standing, she realized he towered over her and she estimated his height at just above six feet tall. Almost the same height as Lex. Not that she compared every man she met to Lex—okay, she did—but she was trying very hard to kill that habit.
“I thought all the stalls were empty,” she muttered, her embarrassment growing with each blink of her lashes.
Cookie bit into her apple and spoke while chewing. “You have to beware of that stallion. Charcoal is not a nice horse when separated from the ladies.”
Amira brushed dirt off her legs. “The horses are separated on purpose? I thought it looked like the horses didn’t want to come near the house when we arrived.”
The man smiled and rubbed the length of Charcoal’s nose. “The mares have been a little spooked lately. We’ve been trying to do some breeding, but not a single filly will let him mount.”
Cookie pulled a paring knife out of her pocket and cut a piece of her apple. She held out her hand and Charcoal used his thick lips to pull the piece into his mouth. “This is my nephew, Timofey Petrov. He minds the stables.”
“Where are my manners?” he said, and extended his hand toward her. “You can call me Tim.”
She grasped it and smiled. “You don’t have an accent like your aunt.”
“Born and raised in the American state of Georgia, so the Russian accent never took hold.” He released her hand but held her gaze. “Does that make me more… or less attractive?”
He’d ended the sentence with a heavy accent much like his aunt’s.
Amira laughed, trying to remember why she’d come out to the stables in the first place. She’d needed time alone with Cookie, but apparently that would have to wait. At least she understood why the horses in the fields were reluctant to come to the stables. Charcoal was a bit of a brute.
Cookie tossed the remainder of her apple into the horse’s stall. “I have chores. Dinner will be served in the kitchen at six-thirty sharp if you wish to join us. The hoity-toitys will eat at seven.”
Wanting to stay in Cookie’s good bacon-frying graces, Amira waved after her. “I’ll be there at six-thirty.”
She turned back to Tim. “I’m not keeping you from your chores, am I?”
“I actually have a fence post that needs mending. Very cowboy cliché, but if you’re not busy, I’d appreciate some help. Dee usually gives me a hand, but she’s been busy with Mr. Chase.”
Tim’s tone shifted when he said Samuel’s name.
She glanced back toward the house. There was plenty of time to kill between now and dinner, and getting another perspective on the hauntings from Tim might be worth a splinter or two. He might have the same belief in the ghosts as his aunt. Perhaps an origin theory. “Sure, I’d be happy to help. Lead the way.”
“Let me grab some tools from the shed. You can hop in the blue truck parked beside the bunkhouse.”
When Tim joined her in the truck, she pointed to the small house. “Who lives there?”
“My aunt and I take up two of the rooms. When the B&B is open for business, a couple other employees bunk in there with us too.”
“I heard there are actual hauntings in the big house and that’s the reason it’s closed. Have you seen anything strange?” Amira thought back to the girl in the window, almost certain she hadn’t imagined her.
“Not a thing.” He chuckled. “That doesn’t stop my aunt from spouting off nonsense about ghosts. A gust of wind blows in through an open window knocking over a vase and suddenly everyone wants to blame the spirit world.”
“Nothing else?”
“Dee came to the bunkhouse late one evening and asked me to help a family of guests pack their stuff into their car. They couldn’t get out fast enough. Their teenage daughter had seen something spooky in the hall, but I think it was bogus.”
It seemed Tim wasn’t a true believer either. Not sure what else to ask, she took in the long stretches of fields and oak trees. The leaves were just shifting colors outside the truck window as they drove across the field to the far end of the property. When she turned her head, she could still see the main house.
After they exited the truck and Tim unloaded his tools, he asked h
er to sit on the tailgate. He used cutters to remove the part of the wiring attached to the toppled fence post. Amira enjoyed her task of supervising. After he pulled up the fence post, he wiped his brow and removed his shirt.
Amira’s mouth popped open. Holy goddesses! The man spent some time in the gym.
Ogling him filled her with a small measure of guilt and she realized a second too late that she should be keeping safety a top priority. She glanced back at the house, measuring the distance. He appeared harmless enough and she didn’t get a threatening vibe from him. If need be, she could use the sparkle magic to temporarily distract him, and make a run for it.
He looked up and smiled, his white teeth flashing against the sun. “Tell me about the television show your boss is pitching to Mr. Chase.”
Amira smacked her lips together and regained her composure. “It’s really still in the early developmental stages, but the gimmick is that Samuel will chase ghosts on a haunted property, rid it of said ghosts, and then a team comes in to flip the house to make it worth more on the market.”
Hopefully, some of that made sense.
“So you’ll need someone to lead the remodeling team?”
Amira watched a droplet of sweat run down his chest toward his ab muscles. “Remodeling team?”
“I’ve done some commercial modeling in the past, and a few guest bits for television. As you can see, I’m handy with a hammer and nail.” He gestured at the fence post. “I can give you my headshot and resume when we get back to the bunkhouse.”
Ah. This was Tim’s audition. Well, hello there, ulterior motive. As if she had the nerve to call someone out on their motives. The lack of a shirt, the pose, and whip of his hair all made sense. She’d almost thought he’d been flirting with her. At least she didn’t have to worry about him making a move on her or being creepy. Probably. “I’ll be sure to pass it along to Mr. Dimas.”
His smile widened. “I do really need your help with the fence, though. When I get the new post in, I’ll need you to hold it upright while I fill in the dirt.”
“Sure.” She hopped off the tailgate and joined him by the post.
After twenty minutes of fence mending, they loaded up his tools and drove back to the bunkhouse. As they passed the back terrace, Amira caught sight of Ramona and Dee having an intense argument. Ramona flicked the ashes from her cigarette at Dee, and Dee stomped down the stairs to the path that led to the stables. Amira could make out a few curse words coming from the assistant’s mouth.
“Do they always fight like that?” Amira asked.
Tim released a long sigh. “Only if they’re discussing Samuel.”
Once again, Amira picked up on the shift in his tone when he mentioned Samuel’s name. Jealousy perhaps? Then again, until she’d seen the recently mopey version of Samuel, she hadn’t spoken his name without a bit of disdain either.
After he parked the truck, Tim bounded from the driver’s side with a good deal of enthusiasm. “Wait here and I’ll grab that headshot.”
“Great,” she answered with a forced smile that didn’t feel as convincing as she hoped it looked. Her shoulders sank as she watched him stroll into the smaller house. It was easy to forget that she wasn’t here to connect with people or make friends, no matter how nice they were. The assignment came first, and she needed to step up her undercover game. How did Lex keep all his emotions in check? Especially when they got people’s hopes up about opportunities that didn’t really exist. Much like how he’d pretended to be interested in buying her tea room, she reminded herself. The complexities of the job settled in her gut.
At least she could move Tim to the list of most likely not a suspect. Her instincts told her he wouldn’t have the knowledge to manipulate a ghost.
She glanced back at the big house and the outline of a form moved from behind a window at the far end of the second floor. Wait? Wasn’t that her room? She counted the windows from the end. Lex’s disapproving face appeared in the window beside hers and she still saw another shadow behind the sheer curtain of her room.
Anxiety blasted through her. Someone was snooping inside her room.
What would an experienced agent do? They’d catch them in the act. Amira exited the truck and took off at a sprint. It didn’t take her more than three seconds to regret it. One sandal flew off behind her but she didn’t slow her ascent up the terrace stairs. She blew past Ramona while the burning in her lungs crawled up her esophagus. The six chocolate chip cookies from the night before and the thick bacon mocked her from inside her stomach. Halfway up the stairs to the second floor, she paused long enough to suck in much needed oxygen.
Refusing to give up, she pushed her heavy legs up the stairs and down the hallway. She paused in front of the door, taking a moment to compose herself. Ramona, Dee, and Tim were outside. Lex wouldn’t have any reason to be in her room. That left Cookie or Samuel. If anyone found the packed candles and surveillance equipment, they’d be exposed.
She twisted the doorknob, but it didn’t give. She retrieved her key from her pocket and slid it into the door.
“Is everything okay?” Lex asked.
She blamed the ringing in her ears as the reason he was able to sneak up on her. Between deep breaths, she forced out the words. “There’s someone in there.”
He narrowed his eyes and reached for the handle. “Let me go in first.”
Only because she still couldn’t breathe normally did she back away and let him in first. He unlocked the door. She placed a hand on his upper back, following closely behind him. She stayed by the open door as he moved toward the bathroom.
He leaned his head inside and turned to face her. “There’s no one here.”
Lex moved to the middle of the room and kneeled down to check under the bed.
“Nobody?” Amira peeked inside the bathroom and looked inside the closet. “There was someone here. I saw them pass by the window.”
“Are you sure it wasn’t me?” Lex gestured to the wall. “I’m in the room right next door.”
“No. I saw you, and I saw someone in the window here too.”
“And you didn’t pass anyone on the way in?”
“No. I would’ve mowed them down trying to get here.” She sat on the edge of her bed and smoothed her hand over the quilt. “Dee and Ramona were outside arguing and I watched Tim go into the smaller house.”
“Who’s Tim? That shirtless guy you were in the truck with?”
Did Lex sound jealous? She kept her tone neutral even though the thought of provoking his jealous side excited her a little. “He’s the groundskeeper and an aspiring actor too. I met him in the stable and he asked me to help him mend a fence post along the property line.”
“You went off with a stranger?” His chastising tone filled the room. “That’s a blatant disregard of Safety 101.”
“We were in sight of the house the entire time. I can’t check with you about everything.” There was so much more she wanted to say but couldn’t because the ghost could listen in.
He placed his hands on his hips and leaned toward her. “You should check with me.”
Mother of goddesses. Her patience with his overprotectiveness had reached its limits. Little did he realize she’d spent countless hours arguing with her sister, Ris, during her defiant teen years. Backing down wasn’t in the Walker DNA.
“Is everything okay?” Dee asked from the entrance to the room. She held Amira’s sandal in her hand. “You left your shoe behind.”
Amira moved past Lex and took her shoe with a muffled “thank you.” She slipped it on her foot with an irritated jerk. There wasn’t any doubt that someone had been in her room. “I saw someone at my window. I think I’ve seen the ghost Cookie mentioned. Twice now.”
Dee coughed into her hand. “I told y’all that Cookie’s stories are full of nonsense.”
Lex joined the conversation but his expression remained grim. “Samuel Chase has built his business on ghosts—real or fake doesn’t matter. Why wouldn’t he t
ake the opportunity to exploit the rumors of a ghost at his B&B?”
“He’s retired from ghost hunting,” she said, her tone taking on an edge. “As far as I’m concerned, he should stay that way.”
“Dee!” Ramona’s voice bellowed from down the hall.
“Excuse me.” Dee walked away, her shoulders squared and her back stiff.
Amira wondered if she could take the answer at face value. Could Dee’s reluctance to admit to the haunting be as simple as her concern for Samuel’s health?
Chapter Six
Lex spent the remainder of the afternoon stealthily installing thumbnail-sized cameras in the main areas downstairs and the hall upstairs. The cameras had a special infrared feature that would record any spectral images. One of the benefits of working with paranormals was having the best surveillance equipment designed by them.
He dressed for dinner in dark slacks and a light purple shirt. He rolled the sleeves a couple of times. He’d put a camera meant for Samuel’s room inside his pocket. During the evening, he’d have to find a way inside. He hoped the invasion of privacy would be worth the information gathered. As of yet, other than Samuel’s weird mentioning of his mother, not a single person in the house other than Cookie admitted to the presence of a ghost. Whenever Gramps had forced a ghost assignment on him in the past, everyone came forward with sightings and theories. The fact that the entire household blew off the ghost kept him on edge.
At the bottom of the stairs, he found Tim loitering in the main entryway. Thankfully, the man had found his shirt. Not that Lex was jealous, but competing with a beefy cowboy didn’t exactly top his list of ways to spend the next couple of days. When he’d watched the truck pull up earlier, Amira and Tim appeared a little too cozy in the front cab. He didn’t want any distractions on this case. For either of them.
Tim extended his hand. “Hello, Mr. Dimas. I met your assistant earlier this afternoon.”
