Doing a family favour before a wedding is nerve-wracking at the best of times, clearing out the haunted venue is a nightmare.
Hecate’s social life is looking up. Her sister is getting married, the new brother-in-law-to-be is a really good guy, and his family is helping Hecate fill in the gaps of her knowledge of what the hell she is.
Her grandfather’s ghost is convinced that she needs to become a ghost hunter in her family tradition. She has attempted to tell him that her way is more appropriate, but it is hard to get a new idea into the minds of the deceased.
When her grandfather’s assistant arrives, Hecate is in for a shock. Not only is he pale as marble, but he is also as solid as the stone as well.
She doesn’t have time to deal with the new arrival. Her sister’s wedding venue has had a disaster strike, and the search is on for a new one. Hecate goes with them when they locate a prospective replacement. There is only one problem. It is the most haunted building in the province. It’s a good thing that Hecate has cleared her calendar for the week before the event. She has some work to do.
Buy Now!
Excerpt ~
“You are not serious enough about this, Hecate.”
She looked at him through narrowed eyes and yawned. “About what, Grandfather?”
“About your role as a ghost hunter.”
“I am not a hunter. I am an expediter, extractor, or remover. I don’t hunt them; I go when I am called.”
He muttered, “You should take an interest in breaking the family curse.”
She groaned and sat up, swinging her legs out from under her blankets. “Right now, I have an interest in a carafe of coffee and some hot breakfast. Is it even dawn yet?”
He blustered and got out of her way as she walked through her house and into her kitchen. Making coffee on automatic was something she had been doing for years.
She put pastries into the toaster, verified the setting, and pushed the lever down.
“You do not have a good diet. You consume too many calories.”
She gave the form of her grandfather a dark look as her coffee began to emit its life-giving scent. “I burn eight thousand calories on a day when I work. My body is constantly in a battle to keep itself heated and functioning. Being half-ghost and half-human is not something that comes with a lite grocery bill.”
She poured a coffee and took the cup out to the deck, where she watched the eastern sky turn pink.
In the last fourteen days, she had taken care of a jealous poltergeist that she had almost forgotten about, met her grandfather’s ghost, and been invited to the rehearsal dinner for her sister’s wedding. There were a few more ghosts extracted and released and the daily routine that never seemed to stabilize, but she was getting better at juggling.
“You need a structure to build on your strengths. Your instinct for your skills is tremendous, but there is never an excuse to reject education.”
“I will gladly welcome education. I just need materials to study.”
“Domerik should be here shortly. I don’t understand the holdup.”
She sipped at her coffee and muttered, “I think he had to hire a truck.”
“What?”
“When you made it clear that he was arriving with the furnishings, I knew that he had to bring them properly, at least for this community. I called Domerik back and explained things, so he was transporting stuff over and hauling it here in a purchased sea container. This community is small, and if something simply appeared without any means of approach, people would talk.”
“Ah. What did he say?”
“He would be driving in this week.” She smiled.
Ulysses was shocked. “I didn’t know he could drive.”
Hecate gave her grandfather’s ghost a stare. “I thought he was your driver.”
“No, he is a butler, assistant, and archivist.”
“Oh. Well, your question is answered. He’s about five minutes out. I just heard air brakes from the highway turn.”
“How do you know it is not for someone else?” He crossed his arms.
“You don’t understand how small this town really is. I would have heard if there were any other shipments coming in.” She smiled and headed in to get her toaster pastries and more coffee.
Four minutes later, a semi made its way down her drive with a forty-foot sea container hitched to it. She smiled, got up, and walked in front of the slowly moving vehicle, waving it on to the site that she had prepared for it.
The driver got out, and they discussed the placement of the doors. He made a slow loop around and then backed up until he was in front of the site. The bed the container was on tipped, and the sea can was gently eased into place, settled down with a thud, and when Hecate signed for the receipt, he handed her the keys.
All of the chains were unhitched, the transport bed was locked back in place, and the semi made its way off her property, leaving only the sea container behind.
Ulysses looked at the metal box. “It is most unseemly.”
“This is the country. And the new world, for that matter. Practical wins until I can arrange to have a proper outbuilding built for it.” She flicked through the keys and went to the unit, figuring out which way the key went in the lock before popping the first of three of them.
“How do you even know how to open it?”
She paused and turned to him with a frown. “Unsettled ghosts were often killed in this kind of container. I needed to get in, so I learned.”
Once the locks were off, she lifted the vertical posts that locked the doors into the base of the container via their handles. The metal moved with a hard squeak and a screech. She hauled the door outward, and it swung open and to the side.
Her grandfather stepped toward the door, and he called out, “Domerik!”
A figure stirred in the darkness of the stacked boxes. “Do I hear your call, Wakeman?”
Hecate was standing right in his path with the light blazing behind her. “You hear your old master, and you hear my voice once again. It is good to see you in person, Domerik.”
He stepped toward her, and he was a match to the deep voice that she had listened to over the phone. “Miss Wakeman? You have your grandfather’s eyes.”
He bowed low and looked up with bright, twinkling green eyes. The rest of him was more suited to a Nordic bodybuilder than a librarian. His blonde hair was tied neatly at the nape of his neck, and he smiled brightly when he stood straight in front of her again.
“Miss Wakeman, I stand ready to serve you as I have served six generations of Wakemans before you.”
Hecate stepped back. “Uh...”
~
Come Find Me!
Don't have a Kindle, no problem. I've got you covered! Read eBooks on your phone, tablet and computer no Kindle Needed!
The sun had set by the time she arrived in front of Mike’s house. She sat in the darkened car, staring at the familiar front door. Kate absorbed the silence around her and pulled her legs against her chest. She’d thought she would want to go inside and walk through the crime scene, but as she sat there, she didn’t want to move out of the silence.
Her mind sifted through all of the conversations, jokes, arguments and encouragement she had shared with Mike. He was like a second father to her. He had believed in her when she didn’t even believe in herself. She didn’t want to think about her life without him. He was always the person she relied on to keep her grounded and now he was gone.
A shadow in her peripheral vision caught her attention. She focused on it and watched as two figures moved up the side of Mike’s house before disappearing around the back. Kate jumped out of her car and followed them while dialing her phone.
“Andy! Someone is breaking into Mike’s house I need back up. I’m going in.” She heard him say something, but disconnected the call before she rounded the back corner of the house. She didn’t hear the crashing of glass or the splintering of wood. If the visitors were inside, they either had a key or they picked the lock.
She found the back door open and pulled her gun. She listened intently for any noise as she moved silently through the house. She heard footsteps on the second floor. She crept through the kitchen and into the living room. She cleared the office and the main foyer before she headed toward the staircase. She rose to the first step and heard a key in the locked door behind her. She backed up, the doorknob twisted and there was nothing she could do. It opened and, whomever it was, stepped inside.
Melissa.
Kate saw her, grabbed her in a hug, covering her mouth. Melissa struggled for a moment and then recognized her assailant. Kate spoke with her eyes and Melissa nodded in recognition.
In the same moment, the crashing of furniture came from upstairs. Kate looked to Melissa. She reached down, pulled Melissa’s shoes off her feet and then grabbed her hand. She pulled her through the foyer to the back door. Kate reached for the handle when they both heard the thudding of heavy footsteps descending the stairs. Kate waited. The footfalls reached the bottom of the stairs.
Kate made her decision. She yanked open the door, pushing Melissa out and followed her. Kate heard the cursing of men behind then. She turned and saw the men raise their weapons. She pushed Melissa to the ground. Two shots fired and she pulled Melissa back to her feet. She led her around the corner of the house and stopped.
“Go! I’ll hold them off!”
Kate heard the crunching of approaching footsteps and knew she had to give Melissa time to get away. Where the hell is Andy? She took a deep breath and stepped out from behind the house, her gun raised. “Stop, FBI.”
The pursuant moved within a foot of her position. He smiled and raised his hands in surrender.
Kate hesitated, and remembered there were two. She turned. A booted leg hit her arm, knocking the gun out of her hand. She ducked and retaliated with a sweep of the legs, sending the unseen attacker careening to the ground.
She heard him grunt when he hit the ground and got to her feet. Kate regained her balance, but was punched hard in the chest. She fell. A spike of pain rushed up her back when she met the ground. His heat on top of her, she clawed at his face. She angled her feet in front of her and pushed him away. She saw the gun to her left and rolled toward it. A steel boot crushed her stomach.
Kate struggled and was unwillingly lifted off the ground. Her arms were pinned behind her back. She faced her opponent and saw the claw mark she’d left imprinted on his face. A wide triumphant smile spread across her face and his eyes blazed unbridled fury at her mocking. He threw his right fist into her jaw, his left into her abdomen. Unable to defend, the blows hit her hard and fast. Her head swam in pain. She tried to burn his face into her mind.
She fought against the strong arms of his partner. She sustained another blow to her stomach and heard a crash. She dropped to the ground. Two shots echoed in the darkness, followed by two thuds. She struggled to reclaim power over her lungs. After a moment of coughing, she managed to lift herself upright.
“Jesus, are you alright?”
She felt Andy’s arm around her waist, helping her to her feet. “I’m good.” He walked her across the yard toward the blazing of lights on the street. They reached one of the standard black SUV’s and she leaned against it. Her head ceased to spin and heard him call for a medic. “Melissa!”
“What?”
“Melissa Reynolds. She’s a friend of Mike’s. She arrived at the house in the middle—”
“Kate, slow down,” he put his hands on her arms. “We met her down the street. Mitchell is getting her statement. What the hell were you doing in there?”
“Nothing…I mean I wasn’t even inside until I saw them going around the back of the house,” she said, her head beginning to throb. “I was sitting in the car and saw them. That’s when I called you.”
“Nighton is going to be pissed.”
“Fuck Nighton, I just gave him two suspects in Mike’s murder,” she replied in between gasps of breath. “He’ll get over it.”
* * * *
Come Find Me!
Don't have a Kindle, no problem. I've got you covered! Read eBooks on your phone, tablet and computer no Kindle Needed!
Happy Saturday, what have you been up to this week?
Here is a rundown of highlights for the week. I hope you find them useful in your life! My goal as a person and a writer are to always Pay-It-Forward, so please let me know how I can help you. YES, YOU!
Enjoy your weekend & this post! Amazing things to come!
~Amy
What am I Reading? - Life After This: 6 Heart Fire Stories To Pick You Up When Life Knocks You Down by Andrea Cadelli and Kate Michael Gibson ~ Designing Your Future Begins With Healing Your Past. How do you respond when life knocks you down? Are you merely going through the motions and calling it living? How do you bounce back and grow from difficult circumstances? In Life After This, storytelling coach Andrea Cadelli talks honestly and vulnerably about why our lives spiral out of control and how to get back in the driver's seat.
What am I Listening to? – Wired for Story: The Writer's Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers from the Very First Sentence by Lisa Cron ~ Imagine knowing what the brain craves from every tale it encounters, what fuels the success of any great story, and what keeps readers transfixed. Wired for Story reveals these cognitive secrets--and it's a game-changer for anyone who has ever set pen to paper.
What Quote am I Pondering? – The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible.
What am I Researching? – Hidden civil war gold. Truth versus legend. Any thoughts or stories? Please share!
Yummy Meal of the Week – Homemade omelet with cheese, hash browns and bacon. Kudos to my eldest son! There is nothing like breakfast for dinner.
What did I Learn? – I think we should all read who moved my cheese? I learned, once again—maybe this time it will stick—I do not do well with change. My life, as of late, has been chalk full of change. While I can ignore it all I want, until I get re centered and settled my little princess (aka my subconscious mind) will do all she can to torpedo all efforts to move forward in an effort to protect me from the unknown. Can anyone relate?
What am I Watching? – Dear White People ~ on Netflix. Season’s one & two were very interesting. Season Three was a little scattered. Look for my upcoming review. Here are the details. - At a predominantly white Ivy League college, a group of black students navigate various forms of racial and other types of discrimination.
That is all for this week, my lovelies!
I hope you have an amazing week, and I will talk to you all next Saturday!
*BONUS Content ~
Have any thoughts on my week’s activity or want to make a recommendation? Drop me a line or a tweet. One lucky commenter will win a free Romine book of their choice! Never want to miss a blog post or a Saturday Seven? Join my mailing list, and I will be happy to send it straight to your inbox!
###
.png)
