Page 19

Chapter

Fifteen

“ O kay, guys. I like that right there, but let’s move the dining table about six inches to the left to give Law more room with the camera.”

The guys scrambled to do Colton’s bidding, and he checked to make sure the rugs had been taken up. Filming at night with low-light or night-vision cameras meant that obstacles had to be cleared ahead of time, or someone could hurt themselves.

“Good deal. About ten minutes to filming, guys.”

Iago glanced at his clipboard. “All right, guys. We’re doing the murder down here first. Then upstairs to the bedrooms. Then the third floor where Jeremiah and the babies were killed.

Points of focus—here were four alphas murdered with an axe.

Horus Marken was the only regular absent. Any questions?”

“We can ask on camera,” Mason said. “They were doing poker night, yeah?”

“Yep. Okay, cool. Law, you think you’re all set?” Iago asked.

“I am. The lights-out test was perfect. I am good to go.” The table was set with brandy, cards, and smattering of pistoles and quarter pistoles. The coins were vintage and ought to make the spirits comfortable.

They liked to have things that were familiar to the ghosts they were working with. They had other items upstairs, but they’d check those again after filming down here.

“All boyos. Let’s do our walk-through. Let’s roll.” Law grinned and picked up the camera.

Mason chuckled. “Boogly oogly.”

Colton rolled his eyes, but he got it. This was an incredibly, incredibly active place, and they needed to get it together.

“So, this is the room where Abraham Belle was murdered, along with three of his friends, Jack Osso, Victor Lira, and Josephine Linde. We have some brandy and cups that are original to the time period, along with some coinage. But best of all? We actually have the deck of cards that was found at the crime scene.”

Colton held the surprisingly tiny faded cards up so that the camera could see them. He tried not to worry about where the tiny drops of blood spatter were, tried not to think about that too hard. It would make great TV but God, the implications.

Mason came up behind him, in the camera frame. “And where did this come from?”

“Apparently everything from that night was placed in a trunk, including the axe, and had been stored away for a couple of generations when the trunk was found. Everything remains in place, except when it goes out to historical museums or special exhibits. This is the first time it has been open in the house since the murder.”

“Whoa,” Mason said. “I don’t see how you could keep it in your house. That would freak me out.”

Colton shrugged. “Apparently, it hasn’t been a problem for the family.

” Hopefully. If he was lucky, it wouldn’t be today.

That might just irritate his omega and infuriate him.

“Now, naturally, since activity has increased just recently in the home, we thought it might be interesting to put out some items.”

He paused to walk a few steps, but Law made a go-on motion with his hand.

“We have an EVP recorder set up here. It’s a machine that we’re going to turn on here in a minute, then Mason and I are going to sit and deal out four hands of poker.

” Colton sat in the delicate chair and mixed the cards up.

He didn’t dare shuffle and destroy them.

Then he turned the recorder on. “We’re hoping if anyone’s here and would like to talk, we have this box here. You can just talk right into it.”

Mason nodded and faced the camera. “Abraham, are you here? Do you know who did this to you? Was it Horus? Lots of people say it was.”

A book fell from the bookshelf, slammed onto the ground making everybody jump, including Law, the camera swinging over to the book on the floor. “Did you see that?”

“I didn’t see it fall, no. Is that you, Abraham? Are you letting us know? Can you talk into the box and let us know if it’s you and how we can help you? All of this activity is really hard on little Abby.”

“That’s it,” Mason added. “Talk to us. You who threw the book. Because if you did that, you can talk to us. No one’s here that’s going to hurt you. You’re, you need to just?—”

Another book fell, then another in rapid succession, and Mason leaped to his feet, which was handy because Colton sure as hell couldn’t. “I’m going to see what the books are.”

Mason picked up the three books. “They look like old novels, boss. Like almost romances.”

“Bring them over here and let me see.” He flipped through the books, hoping to find a note or a clue, anything? But there didn’t seem to be a thing there that would tell them dick. “Mason’s right. The books were Gothic romances. Obviously well-read, well gone over.”

“Okay, so if it’s not the books, what is it?” Iago asked him and Mason. They all shrugged.

“Maybe they’re just using what they have. Like maybe they’re just saying yes; maybe that’s the only thing they can do.” Mason suggested, and Colton shook his head.

“No, I don’t think so. They seem to be pretty powerful, to be honest.”

“Come on, sit back down. Let’s get this card game started. If any of you are here.” He picked up his cards. “Come on. Play with us. Let us know what you’re thinking.” He looked at his hand. It wasn’t bad. Two pair. “I need one card.” He put one card down on the table.

Mason rolled his eyes. “I need three cards. You dealt me a shitty hand.”

He reached for the deck of cards, and it slid across the table, like someone was spreading them out in a fan. “Are you getting this, Law?”

“Got it, boss, no problem. I totally got it.”

“The man who owns this house now is a tarot card reader. I kind of wish he was here to tell us how he’d interpret any of this.

Is there something you’re trying to say to us?

Do you need help? Do you want to tell us who did this to you?

Are you looking for your omega? Your children?

You know one of your great, great, great-grandchildren owns this house now and lives here with his little girl. ”

There was a huge slam from upstairs, someone stomping on the floor, and they stood, looked at each other, and then Colton got moving. “Come on, let’s go see what the fuck that was.”

Law chuckled. “You’ll have to bleep that, Boss.”

“Yeah, yeah, Gent will love me. Keep rolling. He’ll cut anything we can’t use.”

Mason took the lead up the stairs, bless him. “So, we heard what sounded like a real stompy boot up on the second floor, so we’re headed up the stairs to see what we can see. I’m leading, because I want an EVP reading as we go, right, Colton?”

“Exactly.” Colton chuckled. “And you all know how I do with stairs. Why don’t haunted houses ever have chair lifts?”

“Or elevators. Though after that one old hotel we did in Boulder? No more elevators.” Iago chuckled.

“Mmm. True.” That had been…ew. And slimy. Colton clumped up the stairs, glad Law was focusing on Mason. He felt so damn ungainly.

This was really getting old.

“Now, here we are, and as you can see, there’s—” Mason trailed off. “Dude. There’s big black footprints all over the landing.”

“No shit.” Law pressed past him, filming the floor. “Wow. Look at that. That wasn’t here before. We didn’t do that.”

“Okay, so there are some large, black footprints on the landing here, and I think they’re definitely from a large, old-fashioned boot.

Now, we did a walk-through of the house before we started filming to make sure no one else was in here, so I reckon we have more activity,” Colton said in his TV voice.

“It’s a little creepy,” Iago whispered.

“So if you’re the one with the boots, what is it you’re trying to tell us?” Mason asked. “Speak to us or show us a sign.”

The mirror above the console table on the landing started to wobble.

“Hey, no!” Mason snapped. “That’s bad luck. And you seem to have had plenty of that already.”

Colton chuckled. “Good point, Mason. Talk to us without breaking—whoa.” He stopped, playing his flashlight over the hallway. “That. Okay. Who put out the axe?”

“What?” Law’s voice rose, and it had nothing to do with drama, he thought. Not for TV.

“No one did, Boss.” That was Iago, and he was shining the flashlight all over the place, his hand clearly shaking some.

“Okay, shut it down.” He made the cut motion with his hand.

Law cut the camera, and Iago turned on the lights.

They all groaned while their eyes adjusted to the light. “Okay, so what the hell is going on, you guys. No one was supposed to have the axe out for public consumption.”

Law shook his head. “When were we supposed to get the axe out? We haven’t been apart. Hell, has anyone taken a bathroom break yet?”

“Why is this thing even in Bastian’s house?” Colton growled. “My daughter lives in this house. I’m not amused.”

“It’s going to be okay, boss,” Mason said. “We’re going to fix this.”

Suddenly a cold wind blew through the landing, and Colton saw a shadowy figure seem to fly down the hall and disappear into Abby’s room.

“Goddamn it, Law! The fucking camera’s off.” How did they always miss this crap? It was like the spirits knew.

“I’ll turn it on.”

“Good. Mason, you get that axe.” He was going to take charge and deal with this shit. “I don’t want anybody touching it. I want to talk to Sebastian about giving it to Hank Vargas over in Secret Springs for the museum; I don’t want it in this house.”

Mason went for the axe, and Colton went for Abby’s bedroom. Law followed Colton, and he wasn’t sure what the hell happened to Iago. He might be hiding in a closet. There was just no telling.

The figure was standing at the foot of Abby’s bed, shaking the frame hard enough that the headboard knocked against the wall. It was undeniable. The omega stood there in a white nightshirt, his short black hair and little beard clear as day.

Okay, Colton. Do your job . “Jeremiah. Jeremiah, is that you? Are you looking for your children? Your babies are gone. They’ve passed over.”

After all, no one—literally not one person—had seen or sensed a single child in this place.

The bed shook again, and suddenly, Colton could hear it.

“Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry.”

The whisper was huge, even as it was barely audible.

“Can you hear that?”

Law nodded to him. “I hear it.”

“Where the hell is Mason?” He needed his right-hand man. “He was supposed to get the axe. Where’s Iago?”

Law shrugged. “I’m not sure he was okay, boss. I don’t like this.”

“I don’t either. I’m calling it until the medium gets here. I don’t want anybody hurt.”

“Okay. I’m going to keep rolling until we find them, though. Just to have a record.”

“Not at the expense of your neck, okay? No falling down the damn stairs.” Colton headed back out to the hall, his cane thumping as he moved at speed. “Mason! Iago! Where the hell are you?”

Mason stood at the end of the hallway, holding, weirdly, the head of the axe with one hand, the handle sticking straight up. The other hand was pushing Iago back. “I’m not going to let you hurt him. He’s my friend. Back off.”

Iago seemed frozen, just standing there, and Colton couldn’t see whoever or whatever Mason was glaring at, but he’d be damned if he distracted Mason and got his buddy hurt.

“I’m serious, dude. Back the fuck off. You don’t get to mess with my friends. This is my crew.”

A deep sound like the buzzing of a thousand wasps seemed to fill the air, and the lights—which were on still—seemed to dim.

Then that shape flew down the hallway again, Jeremiah trying to escape with his children. All of a sudden, the axe handle dipped, and the thundering sound of boots seemed to ring through the house, following Jeremiah’s flight, and then stopping.

Mason stood there for a second, then he eased the axe back down to the floor. “Okay, that sucked, man.”

“What happened? What did you see?” Colton hoped the camera caught something.

“There was a great big dude. Burly like, um, Gaston from the Disney cartoons. You know, evil expression and popping muscles?”

“All right, all right. Well, we’ve got to regroup. I’m serious. I think we need to get the medium in here, and I think we need to talk to Hank. Vargas will know things about the history of this place that maybe even Sebastian doesn’t. He’s always done the digging, even if he doesn’t step on toes.”

“One way or the other, I don’t think that little girl should be here.” Iago was scared. Colton could read that in the guy’s eyes. “I mean, I don’t think that the omega ghost is gonna hurt them, but that big guy wanted to get me.”

Colton stopped and tilted his head and blinked. “I need to talk to Sebastian.”

“What?”

“I need to talk to Sebastian right now.” He headed downstairs and grabbed his phone, tapping his foot as it rang. “Come on, come on, babe, answer the phone.”

It took a couple of rings, but Sebastian finally did, his sleepy voice rumbling, “Colton, are you okay?”

“I need to know something.”

“Sure, sure what?”

“Are you the first omega? The first Belle omega to own this house?”

“Well, sure. My family tends toward alphas, you know that. Everybody was shocked when I ended up as an omega. Not disappointed or anything, just shocked.”

Colton shook his head. “So, good to know. Thanks, honey.”

“What? No, no, no, no, no. You don’t get to do that. You don’t get to just call here and say, here I have this question, and then just say, okay, thanks, bye.”

“Yeah. Look, we’re shutting down until we can get the medium in tomorrow, so I’ll come talk to you at the hotel. Is that okay?”

“Of course. Would you guys like some food? Xavi is off, but I can go to the kitchen and make something up.”

“If the ladies will let you? Sure. But don’t put yourself out, baby. We can just eat cereal.”

“I can make late-night pancakes.” Sebastian sounded kinda cheerful about it.

“Okay, baby. Thank you. We’ll lock up and be up there as soon as we can.”

“Got it.” Sebastian hung up, and he looked at the guys. “Let’s lock the axe—I guess in here until tomorrow so there’s no weapons at the hotel?”

“I can lock it in the van. We’ll leave it here and all ride up together in the SUV.”

“Oh, good idea.” They could lock the equipment in the house, and then all that would be in the van would be the axe. “Let’s lock this shit down and get out of here.”

“Thank God,” Iago murmured. He handed Mason the keys to the van. “Go lock that thing away.”

“Yeah. Ugh.” Mason went to lock up the van, and they all turned off and unplugged and made sure things were put away. No fire hazards or anything.”

“Okay, guys,” Colton called. “Keep it locked down tonight, okay?”

A hush seemed to settle over the house like the ghosts were listening to them.

That would be nice, wouldn’t it.