Be Our Ghost, page 23
part #1 of The Duchess Hotel #2 Series
He scooped up her key from the floor and waited until she was safely in the hallway before closing the door behind him. He still couldn’t figure out Maeve’s endgame. Was she vengeful or just plain lonely?
Charlie pulled out her phone. “It’s working again! Good thing since the front desk just left me a message. The crew is here.”
Taking her hand, he ran with her toward the elevator. A lightness flowed through him, like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. At the front desk, Logan and the four members of the film crew stood chatting with Preston. After a quick round of introductions, the clerk on duty handed the guests their key cards.
“Let me know when you’re ready to check out the storage room,” Charlie said to them. “I’ll take you up there so you can see the space and set up your equipment.”
Knox handed her one of the brass keys. “You need me to come with?”
“I’m good. I’m going to contact Joe from Facilities and have him meet us there. I need him to set up a barrier around the room so no one tries to get in. He can also make sure the door stays open while the guys are setting up. But thanks. I’ll stop by the Lily when I get a break.”
While the other members of the ghost-hunting team left to go up to their rooms, Logan lingered behind. “Got a minute?” he asked Knox. “I have a few updates for you.”
“Sure.” Knox gestured for Logan to follow him toward the Gilded Lily. “The bar’s not open yet, but I can fix you a drink.”
Logan grinned. “I wouldn’t say no to a cocktail.”
The entrance was closed off with two metal stanchions and a thick velvet rope, along with a sign declaring the lounge opened at four. Knox pushed past it. “I’ll be going on duty soon, but if your team needs anything tonight, let me know. Another bartender’s coming as backup.”
“If Charlie’s good with taking them to check out the haunted area, then we’ll be fine. After we break for dinner, we’ve got three interviews scheduled. You’re not doing one, right?”
Knox flicked on the lights and headed for the bar. “Nope. I didn’t experience any psychological turmoil when I was stuck in there. It seems like the room doesn’t affect men the same way it does women. Charlie, Celia, and Gertrude all said the storage room messed with their emotions. That never happened to me.”
“Interesting. The female member of our crew couldn’t make it for this visit, so I hope we still get some kind of ghostly activity. At least the others have plenty of experience with the paranormal.” He settled himself on a barstool and picked up a laminated card with the happy hour specials. “I’ll take a bourbon cranberry cocktail.”
“Good choice.” Knox went behind the bar and grabbed the bourbon. “One other tip about the storage room—if the negative energy gets too overwhelming, music seems to help. Charlie and I were locked in there just now, but when we started dancing to an old record album, the door opened.”
“You were dancing? Voluntarily?” Logan laughed. “What has this woman done to you?”
“Hell if I know.” Knox couldn’t help smiling. He slid the drink over to Logan. “You said you had some updates?”
Logan sipped his cocktail. “Ah, that’s good. Brace yourself. I reached out to a bunch of places, and Entertainment Weekly responded right away. They were all for it.”
“Are you shitting me?” Knox had been reading Entertainment Weekly since he was a kid, way back when it had been a print magazine.
“No lie. It helps that Lila promised them an exclusive interview, spilling the news about her divorce. I’m glad you were able to persuade Zack and Norah to contribute.”
“They also put me in touch with two other writers. I can’t believe the level of support I’ve gotten.” The more people Knox heard from, the more memories came flooding back, making him remember all the things he’d loved about working on the show.
“You totally deserve it,” Logan said. “Hell, everyone deserves a second act.”
“Thanks, man. I owe you.”
“You don’t owe me a damn thing. Except you need to start writing again. The world needs more Mac Iverson.”
Knox couldn’t help but smile. “Funny that you mention it. Last month, I started tooling around with a horror screenplay I wrote ages ago. But I’ll be writing it as Knox McIntyre. After this article comes out, that’s it for Mac.”
For so long, he’d worried someone would discover his alter ego, but not anymore.
He was done keeping secrets.
Thirty
When Charlie escorted the show’s film crew up to the storage room, she left nothing to chance. Joe from Facilities kept the door cracked open and stood guard, shooing away the few hotel guests who tried to peek inside. The crew set up their stationary cameras and digital recorders, then took baseline readings of the room’s temperature and electromagnetic energy. This time, Charlie didn’t catch the scent of roses or experience any emotional turmoil, which made her suspect Maeve was absent. Hopefully, she’d return for tomorrow night’s lockdown.
At seven, Charlie unlocked the Duchess’s breakfast room and ushered Celia and Gertrude inside. Since the room was usually off-limits to guests when not in use for the hotel’s daily breakfast buffet or occasional afternoon tea, it offered the crew the best chance at a little privacy. Along one wall, a row of tall windows provided a view of the back garden, including an old wooden gazebo that had once been used for outdoor events. Another wall displayed framed photos of Victoria, from the 1920s up through the present day. Charlie made a mental note to ask Knox if he’d be willing to add a few of his photographs to the room since they captured the natural beauty of the nearby beaches and forests.
Gertrude peered around the room. “Ooh, it’s nicer than I remembered in here. I’ll bet the food’s better, too.”
“We take pride in our breakfast buffet,” Charlie said. “The banana pecan muffins and lemon poppyseed loaf are baked fresh every day. Since the coffee is locally sourced from Alma’s Beanery, it’s better than the swill you get at most hotels.”
“Maybe Glen and I will have to spend the night here, just to take advantage,” Celia said.
“No need. Remind me before you leave, and I’ll give each of you some free coupons for the buffet.” It was the least Charlie could do, seeing as how Celia had refused payment for all the research she’d done.
“Thanks.” Celia sat at a table facing the window. “And thank you so much for offering to move in with Laurel. I’m glad she won’t be stuck with a stranger. She’s a great roommate. It’s just that…” She trailed off, a dreamy smile crossing her face.
“You’re in love with Glen and can’t wait to move in with him?” Charlie asked. “That’s wonderful. How long have you two been dating?”
“A little over a year. But after our first month together, I knew he was the one. Which isn’t like me because I’m not a romantic at heart.”
“When you know, you know, right?” Gertrude said. “That’s how I felt with Rupert. A few weeks after he started courting me, I was already imagining our wedding.”
Charlie could relate. Even if she’d spent over a year pining for Knox, she hadn’t expected to fall in love with him so quickly. She was glad she’d followed her heart and told him how she felt. And equally glad he felt the same way. Now that they’d both admitted their feelings, she was looking forward to everything that lay ahead of them—more nights in his cozy king bed, more hiking excursions and picnics in the park, more sexy teasing and quiet moments of relaxation.
As Logan and the other members of the team came in, she beckoned them over. The one carrying a handheld camera positioned himself at a table across from theirs. All the others sat beside him except the leader of the crew, a tall, bearded guy with a shaved head and a firm build that suggested an intense weight-lifting regimen. He was the first one Charlie had recognized when she met the team earlier since he’d featured prominently in the episodes she’d watched with Knox.
He greeted the women. “Good evening, ladies. I’m Burke, the lead investigator, and I’ll be conducting the interviews. Fair warning—they’re always edited for brevity, so you might not see much of yourself on the screen by the time the show airs.”
“That’s fine,” Charlie said. Based on the episodes she’d seen, she’d expected as much.
Celia went first since she was the one who’d discovered the tragic secret behind room 309. Gertrude followed, describing the harrowing incident when she’d been locked in for three hours. When it was Charlie’s turn, she summarized the research she’d done, including the accounts of numerous female staff members who’d had unsettling experiences in the room. She concluded by recounting the two occasions when she and Knox had been trapped in there.
After she finished her testimony, Burke addressed them while the camera was still rolling. “Thanks for sharing your stories. Given what you’ve experienced, what would be your best guess as to the source of the emotional manipulation? Is it coming from one of the people who died during that devastating event?”
Celia nodded. “I believe Maeve’s ghost has been the entity haunting the room.”
“I agree,” Charlie added.
“What makes you say that?” Burke asked. “Why couldn’t it be the spirit of Frances Delacroix since she committed the murders? I would have assumed she’d be the one who’d stick around as a vengeful spirit.”
“That would have been my first guess, but unlike Maeve, Frances wasn’t forgotten,” Celia said. “Her obituary appeared in the paper, and she’s buried at Ross Bay Cemetery next to her husband, Howard, where you can find their headstones. Since they came from prominent local families, they would have been mourned. Maeve—not so much.” She went on to describe everything she’d learned about the young clerk. “I don’t know why she hasn’t crossed over. I think she’s not just devastated at what happened to her, but also angry at being forgotten.”
Burke nodded enthusiastically. He turned to Charlie. “If that’s the case, why did Maeve allow the door to open when you and Knox were in the room?”
“I don’t know. I think our…love might have diminished her power.” Charlie’s face crackled with heat at sharing something so intimate on camera. “Both times, the door opened right after Knox and I grew closer.”
“All right, I think we’ve got all the testimony we need,” Burke said. “Do you have any advice for us when we’re locked in the room tomorrow night?”
Charlie frowned. “I’m not sure. Maeve doesn’t seem to affect men the way she does women, so I’m worried you might not experience the same sensations.” She turned to Celia. “Any chance you could join them?” Since Celia was so attuned to the supernatural, she would be a huge asset to the team.
Celia shook her head. “Originally, I was hoping to participate, but that was before the filming was set for the thirty-first. Every year, my family throws a huge party on Halloween night, and all our relatives attend. Missing it isn’t an option.”
Burke responded with a condescending smile. “We’ll be just fine without a female team member. Trust me, we’ve been doing this for years, and we rely heavily on our equipment. If there’s a spectral presence, we’ll detect it.”
His smugness made Charlie uneasy. She didn’t want him to grow frustrated if the room didn’t deliver a ghostly encounter. But she kept quiet. By now, she’d done everything she could.
“We’re planning to take some B-roll footage around the outside of the hotel tomorrow morning,” he said. “We’d also like to get some shots of the lobby and the front desk. Charlie, any chance we could grab your boss for a few minutes to get his take?”
Knowing Preston, he’d be all over it. “It shouldn’t be an issue, but I’ll check his schedule and let you know when he’s free.”
“Excellent. Tomorrow night, three of us will be locked in the storage room for four hours. We’ve already set up two digital recorders and two wireless cameras; one of our guys will also be circulating around the room with a handheld. Meanwhile, our ‘base camp’ team will monitor everything from one of the hotel rooms. That way, if things go sideways, they can break us out. It usually doesn’t happen, but you never know.”
“Can Knox and I stop by your ‘base camp’ and take a peek while you’re filming?” Charlie asked. “We promise not to interfere with anything.”
“No problem. Thanks for comping us the rooms. It sure beats doing surveillance out of our van.”
Once the film crew left, Charlie escorted Celia and Gertrude to her office, where she gave each of them a handful of coupons for the breakfast buffet. Though she didn’t know when the episode would air, she promised them she’d be in touch.
After they left, she congratulated herself on a job well done. Tomorrow night, an actual ghost-hunting show would be filming an episode at the Duchess, thanks to the efforts she and Knox had made. For someone who’d never considered herself brave, she’d ventured far beyond her comfort zone. Heck, she’d been locked in that scary room not once, but twice. Along the way, she’d also had the courage to pursue a relationship with Knox.
Not bad, Charlie Fraser. Not bad at all.
Before returning to the front desk, she popped into the Gilded Lily. Inching her way past the crowds—who filled every chair and high-top in the place—she sidled up to one end of the bar. Both Miles and Knox were slinging drinks, so she waited for a break in the action before gesturing to Knox.
He reached over the bar top and took her hand. “How’d the interviews go?”
“They were great. Tomorrow night, Logan and one of the crew members will be monitoring the lockdown from their hotel room. Do you want to stop by and watch? Burke said it would be okay.”
“Hell, yes. I already talked to Logan about it. They’re going to start at ten. Miles and Jordan will be here at the bar, so I should be fine. I wish I could be in the storage room with them when they’re investigating. What a rush that would be.”
A full-body shudder coursed through Charlie. “Are you kidding? What if something bad happens?”
“Good point. I guess we’ll have to settle for watching it from a distance. What time do you get done tonight?” At the sight of a patron approaching him, Knox held up one finger in the ‘just a sec’ gesture.
“God only knows. I want to make sure the crew doesn’t need anything else before I head home. What about you?”
“Eleven or thereabouts.” He cast his gaze around the bar and scowled. “I’ll be glad when all this is done. The Lily’s been too damn busy for my liking.”
Typical Knox. But she wouldn’t change a thing about him. “Why don’t you stop by my place after work?”
“You sure? I might not get there until midnight, and I know you’ve had a long day.”
“I don’t mind. If I’m not awake, you can use the code to let yourself in and join me in bed.” Even though they’d reconciled in the storage room, all they’d done was kiss.
That got a smile out of him. “I’d like that. We need to make up for lost time.”
Thirty-One
Charlie woke at seven, surrounded by a sturdy pair of arms. With a hum of satisfaction, she nestled her body into Knox’s. Last night, upon getting ready for bed, she’d stripped down to nothing and waited for him to arrive, eager to offer him a delightful round of make-up sex. Despite her best efforts to stay awake, she’d drifted off before he showed up.
Knox’s arms tightened around her waist. He nuzzled her neck. “Good morning, my little ghostbuster.”
She giggled. Like her, he was naked, his rigid length pressing into her back. A rush of heat flooded through her, settling squarely between her legs. “Morning, Knox. Can you believe today’s the day? The Duchess is going to be on TV. And it’s all because we did such a great job proving it’s haunted.”
He kissed the tender spot behind her ear. “We make a good team, don’t we?”
“We sure do. Maybe we should start planning the hotel’s Christmas activities. Remember those events we did last year? The family Saturdays with Santa and the hot cocoa bar? All those festive holiday-themed drinks? I’ll bet you can’t wait to get started.”
With a growl, he flipped her over so she was flat on her back. He hovered above her, giving her his stormiest, don’t-fuck-with-me glare. “I just got through one holiday season, and now you want me to dive into another? How am I supposed to catch a break?”
Even if he sounded like an angry bear, she knew he didn’t mean it. “Admit it. You secretly loved that sparkly vest I made you wear.”
He brushed his thumb over her nipple. “I admit nothing.”
When he gave it a tweak, little tingles settled low in her belly. “Maybe this year, I could convince you to wear a Santa hat. You’d look so cute in one.”
“Not. Another. Word.” Lowering his head, he ran his tongue over each bud, sucking on them until she moaned in submission.
She wove her fingers through his thick hair, arching her back as he gave her breasts his full attention, his beard tickling her bare skin. She wanted to keep teasing him about Christmas, but she could barely form the words. Not when each swipe of his tongue, each nip and caress, was driving her wild.
“You…you know you love all those holiday events,” she gasped.
He nudged open her legs and dipped a finger inside her. “Nope. I did it for you. So you wouldn’t think I was a Grinch.”
“Oh, Knox.” She closed her eyes, surrendering to his touch as he found the right spot. Stroking it with the perfect amount of pressure. She clenched her thighs as he took her close to the edge and left her hanging. With a whimper, she wrapped her hand around his wrist, desperate for him to keep going. But he pulled his fingers away with a throaty chuckle that let her know exactly who was in charge.
“You’re so impatient. The longer you wait, the better it’ll be.” His breath was warm on her skin as he trailed kisses along her rib cage and down her stomach. Parting her legs wider, he teased her with little pecks along the inside of her thighs until finally seeking out the warmth and wetness between them. When he placed his hands under her ass and gripped it tightly, she writhed beneath him.
