Someone clapped and the two of them turned to see Phil and Doc Coleman approach. The clapper was Phil.
"I couldn't agree more, Matt," he said and stopped a few feet away. "I've already told Jeff and his team we're going to handle the editing this time."
"You can't do that!" Margo hissed. "His team is what put us on the map. We
need
his editing."
"No Margo," Phil said. "We need to step things up like Matt said, and not do the same thing over and over. And Matt—you're gonna ride with me. You need rest. And after I finish up a few things, I'm going to check in on you several times."
"Oh…that's okay. You don't have to do that. I'm not an invalid."
"I know. But doctor's orders." He nodded to Doc Coleman. "Margo you need a ride?"
"No. I have my car." She glared at Matt and walked off. "Don't forget we have an interview at seven. Meet me in the parking lot at five, Mr. Hunt."
Matt watched her disappear into the darkness. "I think I pissed her off."
"Eh…she'll get over it. Come on, let's get you back to your place."
"I really wanted to go see Chloe."
Doc Coleman chuckled. "I'll call Chloe and tell her you need a relaxing night, okay?"
Matt laughed. He took in a deep breath. "Hey Doc—where's at pretty lady that was with you?"
"Nana had to leave. She's a photographer and sometimes works for the local law enforcement taking pictures of crime scenes. Seems there's one about six miles north of here."
"Oh no."
Henry spoke up. "It's okay. She's already called to tell me Ogden's taking care of it. He's my assistant and he's capable of handling it." He stepped forward and winked. "You look much, much better. You should take afternoon breaks more often."
Well if that didn't set him blushing nothing would. Who were these people? This town was crazy. It was obvious everyone was up in everyone else's business, but as far as he could tell, there wasn't a lot of judging going around. Or maybe this just wasn't in the right hen party.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Chloe and Kevin arrived back at the shop close to eleven. The reporters and TV crews were long gone, except for the soda cans, food wrappers and other bits of litter. After checking on the office Kevin and Chloe grabbed a few garbage bags and cleaned up the front parking lot.
The night was cool and now and then she thought she heard thunder rolling around the sky. She hadn't had time to check the news for the weather and wouldn't at all mind if rained all night while she and Matt made love.
"Would you please get that ridiculous look off your face?" Kevin said as he opened the front door for her. "Geez…you look like the happiest zombie in the movie."
Chloe laughed and took Kevin's bag with hers to the break room. "Oh Kev…is it okay that I feel this good?"
"Is it okay? What kind of society have we become when we have to find out if it's all right to feel
good
? I mean,
The Secret
says you're supposed to feel good all the time."
"Yeah well…" she faced him. Kevin leaned against the sink, looking as perfectly coiffed as ever. "Relationships in my life haven't always given me the happy. Not like this."
"What makes him so different?"
"I don't know. Something I feel in here," she said as she put her hand on her chest. "I can't remember ever feeling like this with someone. He talks to me and I believe him. And when I hear his voice, it's like I can tell when he's not being honest."
"So he's being honest now?"
"Yeah since this afternoon. And he came clean about what they'd planned on doing with me, or anyone that decided to take the spot on their show tomorrow night."
"You know they'll still try and do that. You and I both saw what Margo's capable of."
"Yeah." Her happy turned to a frown. "Exactly what is her deal?"
"I dunno. She's been with him since the show started. He trusts her. She helped him make haunted houses at one time, which is just cool in my book."
"That's weird. You know last night while we were waiting on the police, he told me a little bit about his ex. About how they met and his mother didn't like
the haunted house job either." She slipped her hands into her jeans pockets. "He did mention a girl that was his best friend. But her name wasn't Margo."
"Did he call her Carmin?"
Chloe sat forward and snapped her finger. "That was her name. Said she was a lesbian but the ex got all up in his grill about it anyway."
"Mmhmm. The news said that after Sarah was asked to leave the company, Carmin left too. The only one that stayed with him was Margo Murray."
Talking about Margo brought Chloe's mood down and she leaned back in her chair. "I wish I knew Margo's deal. It's obvious she doesn't want me around Matt, but she's also the one that wanted me on the show."
"Well, first off, from what she told me, she didn't do her homework thoroughly. She thought you were some fifty year old psychic doing palm readings in town. So when she told her people to call us, her perception and the reality didn't gel. Not to mention she started complaining about how Matt always found girls in every town they visited and when he found ones he wanted to have a relationship with, she had to shake it lose because he'd forget to show up, he'd start spending time with her and they'd go over budget on time. So the producers made her his keeper in a way. It's her job to keep Matt away from the pretty asses that he can't resist."
Hearing this confused Chloe. "Well, that doesn't match what Matt said. Or what the articles online said. Matt even admitted he hadn't had a real relationship since Sarah. He said he was afraid to—he was having trust issues. And since his last real relationship tried to hill him, I can imagine why. He even admitted to there being stories about him being gay. But Margo's saying something different."
"Yeah that is weird. Why tell me about his exploits? What does that do?"
Chloe pursed her lips. "It makes me feel bad about Matt is what it does. Oh I think Margo's a lot smarter and lot more devious than we give her credit. She's got to know you'll tell me what she said, and she's banking on me getting angry about it and not wanting to see him." She pulled a chair from the table and sat down. "I'd almost guarantee she's got a crush or a fascination with Matt. She watches over him like a mama hawk and she doesn't want anything getting between him and the show."
"Well that I can agree with. She is a bit obsessed with him. But I don't know if it's sexual. I doubt it." Kevin shrugged. "She talked a lot about them taking the show to California in January."
"He didn't mention going to California."
"That's because Margo hasn't told him yet. Apparently one of the major networks wants to buy the show, but the deal is Matt and Margo have to sign exclusive contracts and move the show to the west coast. She doesn't think he'll go for it."
Chloe wondered what Matt's reaction would be the moment he saw the contract. Would he agree to it? Would he cut his losses here and run, this being his ultimate goal? To actually be on national TV and not just YouTube or subscription? She leaned back, thinking about the things he'd said to her in her bed, of the things he'd said in the kitchen.
It made her realize there was a lot to him she didn't know.
"She talked to you a lot, didn't she?" Chloe looked at Kevin.
He shrugged. "She was just venting. I got the feeling Matt's never really gone off on her like that before. And she didn't like it." Kevin slid off the desk. "Okay well, I need to get home, and you have to take me home because I don't want to ride the train."
"Oh I uh…" she wanted to say that she was waiting on Matt's call, to see if he wanted her to pick him up at his apartment, which she wanted to see.
And as if on cue, her phone rang. She pulled it out of her purse and glanced at the front. It was Matt. "Hello there."
"Hey Chloe."
Immediately she knew something was wrong. His tone was low and he was hesitant. "Are you okay? Did you still want to get together again?"
She heard another voice and then Doc Coleman was on the phone. "Chloe—this is Henry."
"Hey Henry. What's going on?"
"Matt nearly had another attack after he and Margo got into it. So I'm prescribing a full night's sleep. Though the boy's not that happy about it. He'd rather spend it with you."
Chloe laughed and she heard a little bit of arguing.
Then, "It's me. This doc is a bit of a nightmare."
"Yeah, but he's a great nightmare. So you almost had another attack?" She listened while he filled her in. When he was done, Chloe wanted to smack that woman. What the hell was her problem? If she was that great a friend, why was she purposefully trying induce more attacks?
"Chloe?"
"Oh I'm sorry. I was just thinking hateful thoughts about Margo."
"Yeah…don't do that. She's just worried about the show." She heard him yawn. "And I am about to fall asleep. Say, you wanna meet up tomorrow between appointments and grab lunch? Or coffee?"
"Oh beautiful, I would, but I have a full day of readings. I start at eight and they run solid through five. What time do I have to be at the Barrett House?"
"Oooh…I don't know. Margo has the schedule. Why don't I call you tomorrow and we can make plans. Maybe I can pick you up, treat you to dinner, and then we can arrive together." He laughed softly. "Is it weird that I sort of liked you calling me beautiful?"
"No. Not at all."
He paused and his voice lowered. "I really enjoyed this afternoon. I could have stayed there with you."
"Me too. Matthew?"
"Hmm?"
"Get some sleep."
"I could get used to you, Chloe Stohl."
She laughed and hung up after saying good night. Kevin was making a face. "What?"
"I'll take the train, 'cause there is no way that sappy, sweet, sickening, gushy feeling is gonna rub off on me."
She stood and grabbed her purse. "Oh please. I'll drop you off." But she did feel all those things. In fact, she felt…as if she were falling in love.
And once again, as she followed Kevin out of the back of the shop, the feeling of danger returned.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Matt's ringing phone woke him. He groggily opened his eyes and started smacking at the nightstand to find his phone and shut it off. He finally managed to get the phone in front of him but the ringing stopped. He sat up and turned the light on and blinked furiously at the phone's screen so he could see what was going on.
The call had come from Margo.
In fact…he had seven missed calls from Margo.
What the hell?
He pinched the bridge of his nose and hit redial. After a single ring it went to voicemail. He didn't leave a message and disconnected just as his message alert chimed.
It was from Margo.
Meet me at the b house. I got something u need to c.
He sighed. He really hated text speak. And why was Margo using it?
Meet her at the b house. The Barrett House? At three thirty in the morning?
Another message came through.
Please matt.
Ah…nuts. There wasn't any real mention of time in the message. She hadn't left a voice mail. He wanted to take a shower before he left but the texts seemed urgent. The entire time he dressed in jeans, tee, and sneakers he wondered why she was at the Barrett House in the middle of the freak'n night? He grabbed his jacket, his keys and started to walk out without his inhaler. Luckily he remembered it and grabbed it off the counter. A few shakes and he decided he had enough medicine in it.
It was bad enough he didn't know his way around Roswell in the daylight; navigating back to the house in the dark was twice as unnerving. Eventually he pulled into the drive and parked next to the Ghost Hunt vans where some of their equipment was stored. He thought it was kind of odd that Phil would leave the vans in the parking area of an abandoned house.
Then again, he probably didn't think any thieves would go near the house on the night before Halloween.
He didn't see any other cars there, not even the promised police presence. Was he before Margo? Was he supposed to wait?
Irritated and missing sleep, Matt got out of the car, grabbed his flashlight from the center console, and walked toward the house. The front door was locked, so he went around the side and then the back. To his surprise, the kitchen door was open. He looked around and slipped inside. Once the door was closed he moved the beam of light around the floor and ceiling. "Margo?" His voice sounded small.
Digging into his jeans pocket, he pulled out his phone and dialed her number.
He hadn't expected to hear it ringing inside and close by. With the beam of the flashlight in front of him, the phone to his ear, Matt followed the sound of the ring. He moved through the kitchen, the dinning room and into the parlor.