Haunted Renovation Mystery 1 - Flip That Haunted House (13 page)

Chapter Twenty-Three

His eyes widened and he turned to face me.
“How about tomorrow morning? I have a few men who can start as long
as the rain stops. I know you’re in a hurry to shape this joint
up.”

“That would be great, thank you.” I
grinned.

“What about Max Daniels?” He shoved his
hands in his pockets.

I coughed. “Excuse me?”

“You gave Max the money to do work, didn’t
you?” His eyes narrowed.

“How did you know that?” I scowled.

“I have my ways.” He smirked. “This isn’t a
big town, remember?”

How could I forget?

“You have no right to spy on me,” I said
through clenched teeth.

“I’m not spyin—”

A piercing knock rumbled from the front
door, saving me. I spun around, sprinted to the door, and jerked it
open. Carolyn’s eyes grew as wide as saucers.

“Whoa.” She brushed her arm back and forth
as if putting out a fire. “The energy almost knocked me down when
you opened the door.”

“Yeah, it’s heated in here.” I pointed
toward Reed.

She didn’t seem to notice my dejection.

“Whatever spirit was just there isn’t there
now,” she said, as she stepped inside, propping her umbrella
against the doorframe. “He’ll be back down in a minute though, I
can sense it.”

“He?” I asked.

She nodded. Forget the investigating
tools—Carolyn was all I needed. Well, Carolyn and Lacey. And
speaking of Lacey, she was on her way over. She’d be even more
upset when she saw Carolyn.

“Come into the parlor. We’ll have to sit on
the floor, I hope you don’t mind.”

“I don’t mind at all.” She followed my
lead.

“I feel a bit woozy,” I said as I eyed Reed,
although it was not his fault I had been suckered. I guess my anger
came more from embarrassment.

“I’m so happy you kids will be working
together,” she said.

A smile twitched on his lips, then he winked
at me.

I sat down on the hard wood floor,
stretching my legs out in front of me. “Uh-huh.” I mumbled.

“The spirit here doesn’t mean you harm.” She
continued as she eased to the floor.

“That may be true, but it kind of feels as
if he doesn’t want me in the house.” I felt Reed’s stare, but
didn’t look his way.

“I’m sensing a lot of sadness in this room.
There is a female spirit here, too. She’s so sad.” Carolyn closed
her eyes and rubbed her temples.

“Do you know why?” I questioned.

No longer could I avoid Reed’s gaze, so I
glanced his way. He seemed entertained as he watched us. Amusement
evident in his eyes and a lopsided grin on his face. Mostly he
watched me as he leaned against the mantle.

“She’s sorry. That’s all I can understand.”
Carolyn’s eyes remained closed.

“She’s sorry?” I repeated her words.

“What she’s sorry for, I’m not sure.” She
paused, then opened her eyes. “Do you mind if I walk through the
rest of the house?” Carolyn furrowed her brow and twisted her
hands.

“Of course not. I’ll go with you.” I
stood.

“No, honey, that’s not necessary. You stay
here and discuss business with Reed. I’ll show myself around.” She
averted her eyes, tilting her head toward the foyer.

“Are you sure?” I asked.

Carolyn walked away with a wave over her
shoulder.

I picked at the wallpaper again. Reed stood
a few feet away and picked at the paper with me. We didn’t talk. We
just worked, and I felt his stare several times. An electrical
energy hung between us. Instead of thinking of business, I was
thinking of his lips, chest, and cute dimple. So much for
controlling my hormones.

After a few minutes, Carolyn paddled back.
Tension hung in the air.

“You definitely have a male spirit in the
house,” she said bluntly, as she stood in the middle of the room.
“But I’m afraid he’s a quiet one. Either he’s shy, or just doesn’t
like me.” She chuckled.

“What does he look like?” I asked.

“Middle aged with dark hair and clothing
from the 1800’s. I saw sadness in his eyes. I’ve never seen such a
somber look.”

“How awful.” Along with the tension, now
sadness filled the air. Was the ghost in the room listening to us
talk about him?

“I’m sorry to tell you, but I’m getting
another one of those headaches again. It’s throbbing, but,
thankfully, not as strong as it was before.”

“I’m sorry, Carolyn. I appreciate the
sacrifice you made by coming here. I shouldn’t have asked.”

“No, you needed help and I wanted to. It’ll
go away once I leave.”

Before she left, I wanted to ask one more
question. “Any clue why they’re hanging around?”

Reed listened. Although, I wasn’t sure he
believed a word his aunt spoke.

“I think you only have one real spirit here.
The female presence is just an imprint.” She untied the
multicolored scarf that hung around her neck. Her yellow dress
reached all of the way to the floor, covering most of her brown
high-heeled leather boots.

“That’s good, I guess,” I said.

“She lived here years ago. She had so much
emotion. The walls absorbed all of it.” Carolyn’s rings jingled as
she talked with her hands.

Reed covered a laugh with a cough. I shot
him a cross glare.

Carolyn didn’t pause a beat. I guess she was
used to Reed’s disdain.

“She’s not haunting the house.” Carolyn
shook her head. “It’s the male spirit. I’m not sure who he is. What
he wants or why he’s here.”

“Can you have him go to the light or
something?” I smiled. “It’s harder to sell a haunted house.”

Reed snorted.

“Afraid not, sorry. I’ve never been any good
with that. I’d make them all move on if I could. I hate to see a
spirit trapped in this world.”

She walked toward the door and I followed
close behind.

“The spirit won’t talk or acknowledge me. I
surely can’t get him to cross over,” she said over her
shoulder.

If I thought Reed laughed earlier, wait
until he heard what I said next.

“My paranormal investigative team will be
here any minute. We use scientific methods to investigate the
paranormal. You sure you don’t want to stick around and watch?”
Although, if I hurried her out now, maybe Lacey wouldn’t know. I
didn’t want to hurt her feelings anymore.

I didn’t look at Reed, but I felt his stare
on the back of my head.

“I wish I could, but it’ll only make my
headache worse. I’d better get to town. I’ve got a lot to do and
Frank will be waiting for me.” She reached the door and grabbed her
umbrella.

“Thanks for stopping by. It means a lot to
me. I’ll call you soon.”

“You’re welcome, darling.” She reached her
arms around me and squeezed. “You kids have fun working together,”
she whispered.

I waved to Carolyn as she moved off the
porch.

“I’ll see you in the morning, Ms. Hargrove,”
Reed quipped as he walked past, following Carolyn out.

Why didn’t I have a clever comeback? At
least he didn’t mention the ghost hunters.

Before I could think of a good one-liner,
Sam’s white van pulled up in front of the house. She had invested
in lettering for her van.
Kentucky Ghost Hunters
was written
in bold letters across the sides. No way to hide what she did.

“Wow, they look like they know their stuff.”
Reed smirked.

He walked down the steps and I followed. Sam
climbed down from the driver’s seat. Nate trailed her like a shadow
and Steven stretched. They all paused in unison and stared up at
the house in awe.

“Hi,” I said.

Reed shuffled his feet as he stood beside me
and coughed. I ignored him. Well, as much as anyone could pay no
attention to Reed O’Hara.

Sam didn’t snub him, though.

“Who’s the muscular yummy, er, I mean guy?”
She whispered, all the while giving Reed the once over. Yeah, he
was tall, dark, and handy. I didn’t need her to remind me.

“Ugh. The handyman. He’s helping me with the
house.” I grimaced.

“Aren’t you going to introduce us?” She
grinned.

“Reed O’Hara, this is Sam Thomas, Steve
Lyons, and Nate Willis.” I gestured to each one.

“Nice to meet you,” Reed said.

“Nice to meet you, too.” The corners of
Sam’s mouth lifted revealing her perfect white teeth.

Steve and Nate nodded to Reed. They were the
strong, silent type.

“Do you guys have those guns like in the
Ghostbusters movie?” Reed laughed.

“Don’t mind him, he’s a non-believer,” I
said, and then rolled my eyes.

“Well, we just might make a believer out of
him.” Sam gave Reed a wink.

If she didn’t stop ogling him, we wouldn’t
collect enough evidence to make him believe anything.

Chapter Twenty-Four

“He’s gorgeous,” she whispered again.

I got it. He looked good. So what. Normally,
I wasn’t the jealous type, but…I did have a touch of the green-eyed
monster. The feeling grew as Sam eyed Reed’s backside as he walked
away.

Reed waved over his shoulder. Darn him, I
knew he heard us. He may be egotistical and I may be upset, but
that did not change the fact that he looked good in his Levis.

Nate frowned. He was Sam’s
on-again-off-again boyfriend. She did have a wandering eye, a sore
subject for Nate. He was a good-looking man— short blonde hair and
wide chestnut-colored eyes. He worked out a lot, too. His big
biceps flexed whenever he lifted our heavy paranormal
paraphernalia. On investigations, I expected him to rip off his
shirt at any moment and flex his muscles at the ghosts. Why she
flirted with others, I had no idea. Just because she could, I
guess.

“Hey, Nate. How are you?” I offered a
pitying grin.

“You like him,” Sam sang.

“What?”

“You like the handyman?” She gestured in his
direction.

“I do not. He has an annoying swagger and he
smirks too much. Not to mention, I repulse him. He detests me. I
think he wanted to buy this house and I beat him to it. He doesn’t
say anything about it, but I think there are some hard
feelings.”

“Bummer,” she said.

I sighed. “Yeah.”

“So why is he working for you then?” She
looked in the direction of Reed’s house.

I paused, then shrugged. “Beats the hell out
of me.”

“Love the place, Alabama,” Steve said as he
unloaded bags and boxes from the van.

“Thanks.” I beamed as I turned and looked up
at the old place.

Steve hoisted the crate of equipment with
ease. With his long, dark ponytail pulled back tight and large
framed body, he looked like a professional wrestler. If I were a
ghost, I’d be afraid he’d body slam me. Steve and Nate both wore
black pullover shirts with South Kentucky Ghost Hunters written in
the upper left side. Every investigation you could count on them
not forgetting their prized SKGH shirts, even if it was only the
four of us on the scene. They took the job seriously.

“Sorry we’re a few minutes late, I was
talking and not paying attention so I missed the turn.” Sam
smiled.

“No problem. Go on in and set up. Make
yourself at home.” I gestured my hand behind me. “I’ll help all I
can, but I can’t stay long. I have an errand.”

“Again?” Sam snapped as she sat her bag and
camera down. “No, way. It’s your place, you have to stick around.”
She pointed at the house, then at me.

“One time I left early and you’ve never
forgotten it.”

She shrugged, shot me a disparaging glance,
and picked her things up from the ground. Nate laughed. I ignored
both of them and glanced over to Steve. He didn’t seem interested
in taking sides. Sam strolled by, carrying equipment in her arms.
Her tall, willowy shape glided through the door. Her tight
straight-legged jeans added to her slender appearance and her olive
tone sweater deepened her brown eyes.

“Can you at least show us around the house
before you take off?”

“I planned on it. Give me some credit, will
you?”

“Come on. You can stick around for a little
while, can’t you?” Nate pleaded.

“For a little itty bit.” I pinched my index
finger and thumb together to show just how small the amount.

After the tour, I retrieved my digital
recorder from my car. Maybe I’d pick up a few disembodied voices.
Nate clutched his thermal imaging equipment as if carrying an
infant. He’d sold his car to pay for it, so I guess he considered
it his baby. We’d collected quite a bit of equipment in a short
time we’d been together. Digital video and photography equipment,
various recording devices, EMF detectors, and digital thermometers,
to name a few. We were high-tech all the way.

Sam set up her equipment in various spots
around the parlor and the library. Wires and cables snaked across
the floor. She placed the digital video recorder on the mantle and
wireless motion detector on the opposite side. Nate and Steve set
up the video and audio upstairs while I did the kitchen and dining
room.

“I think we should stay all day and part of
the night. At least until around eleven tonight. Get in some dark
time,” Sam said.

Nate and Steve nodded.

Ghostly activity is most active after dark.
Go figure, ghosts prefer the cover of night. Maybe that’s why all
the scary movies have the ghouls come out after midnight. I felt
bad, but I just couldn’t stay.

“Y’all can stay as long as you want, you
know that.”

Sam ignored my comment and placed batteries
in her recorder. “Let’s get to work guys,” she snapped, looking up
at Steve and Nate.

I walked around with a digital thermometer,
looking for cold spots brought about by spirit activity.

“I just got a huge temperature drop.” I
called out, waving the gun through the air.

“Where are you?” Nate called from somewhere
upstairs.

“Out in the foyer by the staircase.”

The cold encircled me and made goose bumps
spread across my arms. He stood behind me and scanned the area with
the EMF detector. Those little doodads detect fluctuations in
electric and magnetic fields—invisible lines of force that surround
any electrical device. Pretty cool in my opinion. Disturbances in
the field may indicate possible spirit activity.