Something Wicked. Angela Campbell

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      “Yep. You made it there okay? No problems with the flight or getting checked into the hotel?”

      “The flight was surprisingly easy, and the place you chose for me to stay at is incredible. More like an apartment than a hotel.” Much better than the dumps where she usually stayed anyway. It had been her fortune, meeting Hannah Dawson three months ago. Not only was the woman richer than sin but she had a generous heart that extended to her friends and anyone she assessed had a dire need.

      In this case, that had included Alexandra on both counts.

      “Good. I wish I’d been able to come with you. You’re doing me as much of a favor as yourself.” Hannah’s voice lowered a notch. “Zach is still being stubborn.”

      Alexandra resisted the urge to roll her eyes. When wasn’t Zachary Collins stubborn?

      She’d come to appreciate just how pigheaded the man was when she accepted a job working for him at his private security and investigations agency a few months ago.

      The steady paycheck was hella nice, and she loved using her gifts as a psychic medium to help people. Already she’d assisted a family in finding their runaway daughter and helped a desperate single mother locate the good-for-nothing ex-husband who owed her thousands in child support.

      Dead people could be so full of useful information.

      But she and Zach had butted heads more than once—usually over the fact he refused to use their resources to track down his younger brother and make amends for something—what, she had no idea.

      None of her business. She got that. She was fine with that. She would’ve stayed fine with it, but Zach’s dead mother had taken up residence in Alexandra’s new apartment and refused to leave until her two sons had been reunited. Every time Alexandra lowered her guard, oh look, there was Rebecca Collins again, harping on about her sons. Zachary this. Dylan that. Nag, nag, nag.

      Stupid ghost was driving her insane.

      “Yeah, well, tenacity must run in the Collins family,” Alexandra told Hannah. “I’ve been trying for weeks to get his mom to cross over, or at least get the heck outta my apartment. She doesn’t listen either.”

      Hannah snorted. “I’d believe it. Once Zach gets an idea in his head, he doesn’t let go.”

      “Still pestering you to move in with him, huh?”

      “Yes.” Hannah drew the word out on a long-suffering sigh. “It’s not even that I don’t want to. It’s like I’ve told you before. I am crazy about the man, but we need to get to know each other better before we both dive into the deep end. Plus, I’d feel better if he patched things up with his brother first. I know it’s important to him, even if he won’t admit it.”

      “Hopefully, the lead that Spider got for us will pan out.” Alexandra twirled the ends of her long blonde hair between two fingers. Two guys at the bar hadn’t even noticed yet that the bar’s friendly spirit had switched their drinks while they’d been distracted checking out the female bartender. Oh my. This was a mischievous ole fellow. “If Dylan Collins is in Charleston like Spider thinks, I’ll find him.”

      The young female hacker Zach had hired to bring his security firm into the twenty-first century had become everyone on the team’s “little sister.” She was wicked smart and had tracked Zach’s brother from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to Charleston, South Carolina, in under ten minutes. Spider would have probably given them a phone number and address if Alexandra hadn’t opened her mouth to ask what the heck that weird action figure was on Spider’s desk. It looked like a demonic wild boar on steroids, wearing spikes and armor. Creepy.

      Alexandra rolled her eyes at the memory. After a lecture about how awesome the Guild Wars online game was, Spider had been offended enough not to offer any more help in the matter.

      Annoying little sister, more like it.

      So here Alexandra was, voluntarily in one of the most haunted cities in America, surrounded by freaking dead people, with no idea where to start looking for Zach’s little brother.

      “Is, um, Rebecca with you?” Hannah’s question about Zach’s mother drew her back to their conversation.

      Alexandra sighed. “Haven’t seen her since I boarded the plane. She’ll pop up. She always does. Hopefully she’ll point me in the right direction so I can get this over and done with.”

      She’d kind of been counting on Zach’s mother to manifest and lead her the rest of the way to the mysterious Dylan Collins. The fact it hadn’t happened yet was pissing her off. She’d left herself open to communication with Rebecca, which also left her vulnerable to any ghost, spirit or whatever in search of a conduit between dimensions.

      If she didn’t show soon, Alexandra was flipping her mental Open sign over to Closed.

      After promising to check in with Hannah with frequent updates, Alexandra ended the call and washed her hands to give herself an excuse for visiting the ladies room. She was a little hungry and a lot tired after her evening flight.

      She hadn’t mentioned it to Hannah, but she’d also been uneasy since touching ground in Charleston. The feeling had intensified the closer she’d gotten to her hotel. She’d never seen anything like the spiral gray beams whirling up toward the skyline from what she assumed was the city’s historic district. She’d never encountered so many ghosts so quickly in such a small area either. Not even when she’d lived in Germany, where ghosts were everywhere. A heavy, sick weight had sunk into her stomach, manifesting a mild headache as she’d watched the beams wave and shimmer against the setting sun. This city felt…unhealthy.

      Or she could be feeling ill because she’d skipped lunch. She hoped that was the reason. Hopefully a decent meal and a good night’s sleep would right things.

      This place had been highly recommended by the desk clerk at the inn, or she might have opted for junk food out of a machine and called it an early night. She rubbed her eyes and blinked them open again, only to see the man in the Derby hat standing directly behind her, grinning like the Cheshire cat. He lifted a finger and pointed at her in the mirror.

      “Ya can see me, can’t ya?”

      Crap.

      A woman came out of the stall behind her, so Alexandra kept her mouth shut and made a quick escape. Maybe if she kept ignoring him —

      “I don’t mean ya any harm.” The Derby Hat Guy followed her back to her table and took the seat opposite her just as the waitress appeared with her food. “I hear the food here is delicious. I know the brew is!” He lifted his mug and chugged back several gulps. The bloody gash at his neck shifted with every swallow. Since the mug gave off a slight orange glow, Alexandra knew it wasn’t visible to anyone else. Ghost mug. “Tell me, miss.” Reluctantly, she looked his way. “How can a pretty little thing like yer’self see me when no’un else can?”

      Alexandra kept her mouth busy, pushing spoonful after spoonful of soup between her lips, avoiding eye contact as best she could. Sometimes she forgot she was in public and launched into a full-fledged conversation with her unseen visitors, but she had no plans of doing so now. Nuh uh. No way. The place wasn’t overly crowded, but there were enough people around to notice if she suddenly started talking to The Invisible СКАЧАТЬ