Page 63 of The Legend of Lovers Hollow

“Whatever.” Roger waves a hand. “You incapacitated them for over three hundred years, when they hadn’t done anything wrong, justin casethey were dangerous?”

“You say did nothing wrong, but at least two of them are murderers.”

“Which two?” I ask.

“We’re not a hundred percent sure. Recordkeeping was somewhat more spotty back then.”

“No wonder they’re mad as hell,” Roger mutters. “I would be too if I’d been locked up for that long.”

“We didn’t lock them up.” Stanley sighs in exasperation. “We just put them into a dormant state, where they couldn’t move or communicate.”

“Same thing, honey.” Roger pats his clipboard.

“And now they’re loose,” Stanley says unhappily.

“What?” I interject. “Are you worried they’re going to sue for wrongful imprisonment?”

“He’s probably more worried about them going on a murderous rampage fuelled by revenge and retribution,” Skid says mildly.

“Oh my gosh, this is an absolute disaster!” Stanley bemoans.

Admiral Hilary huffs again. “Why are you even here? Why aren’t you off tattling on us to your beloved Bureau?”

“Are you mad?” Stanley exclaims. “I’ll be sacked!”

I pinch the bridge of my nose. I haven’t had a headache in nearly fifty-one years, but I’m feeling one brewing now.

“So what are we going to do about this?”

“We need to find some way to put them back to sleep,” Stanley says.

“Well, how on earth are we supposed to do that?” I ask.

“I have no idea. I told you, it’s not my department.”

“Can’t you just go ask the right one, then?”

“Then they’ll find out.” He shakes his head. “I think it’s best that we keep this between just us.”

“Oh, good grief.” I roll my eyes. “How did they get woken up in the first place?”

“I don’t know.” Stanley shrugs. “Maybe all that electrical equipment the ghost hunter people brought in? Maybe all the ramped-up psychic energy from your misbehaviour lately?”

“Yes, well,” I say quickly. “Let’s not dwell on the why and figure out a solution. Any ideas? Anyone?”

“Oh, oh!” Edwina flaps her hands. “That nice young man who came to stay, the one with the tall lady who was a spirit guide or something.”

“Yeah, she wasn’t a lady, Eddy,” Skid corrects her.

“She wasn’t?” She blinks in confusion. “What was she, then?”

“A honey trap is what she was,” I lament. “A statuesque stunner with all the wrong parts underneath.”

“Actually, she doesn’t have all the wrong parts, she has all the right parts. They’re just not parts you’d be interested in playing with,” Skid says with his usual bluntness.

“Yes, well, moving on. What was the lad’s name who was with her? Timothy?”

“Tristan,” Skid corrects.