That did make me feel infinitely better. “Good. Okay, thanks.”
Beau’s wife and anchor walked in, her hair still in curlers, and waved a cell phone as if she intended to chop the back of Beau’s head with it. “Confound it, man, keep your phone on you! It was ringing off the hook.”
Not concerned, Beau didn’t even turn around. (I personally felt that was a poor life decision. Hannah really did look ready to hit him with it.) “You always answer it for me; I’m not worried. Who was it this time?”
“A ghost hunting group wants to do a special trip here and investigate the Crescent Hotel.”
“What’s that got to do with us?” I asked curiously.
Hannah tossed the phone onto the table and stole her husband’s coffee for a sip. “They want to partner with a medium for the hunting. They think it’ll be better to do it that way, as they can prove both the existence of ghosts and that mediums can legit see spirits.”
Having spent a good portion of my life fighting against society’s disbelief, I thought this was a great idea. It was funny. People believe in gods, angels, and miracles, but ghosts? Nope, that was pushing the envelope. You either had those who believed or those who didn’t. And it was hard to sway people over to the side of ‘belief.’ When I told someone I was a medium, even with an FBI badge, they either mocked me for being a charlatan or were in awe. I rarely met anyone who stood on a middle ground.
If these guys were going to record their findings and post them, I’d be happy to help.
Beau of course, had a different stance. He glared at Hannah. “You said yes, didn’t you.”
“Of course I did. It’s good PR. And you should answer your own phone,” she added with saccharine sweetness.
I jumped in before this became an argument or Beau called them back and cancelled the whole thing. “I’ll do it.”
Both of them looked at me: Hannah curiously, and Beau with a disgruntled expression. “Now Mack, why would you do that?”
“If they’re trying to prove both the existence of ghosts and a medium’s ability to see them, I’m all for it. And it sounds a way to pass a good time.”
Beau’s snort made it clear what he thought of that. “You’re crazy, but fine. You take it on. Hannah, when are these guys supposed to get in?”
“In two days.”
Uh-oh. “Uhhh…we’ve got a psychic with a ghost problem coming in tomorrow. That’s kinda a problem if they’re overlapping.”
“No, I think that’d be all the better,” Hannah said. “They can also document helping a ghost pass on.”
“If the psychic and his partners are okay with that.” Beau was back to staring at his wife as if she were deliberately trying to make his life difficult. (She probably was.)
“Um, I guess I can call and ask.” I didn’t mind doing that. It was better to double check now and give people time to adjust schedules before they left. I didn’t want to assume everyone would be fine with it and then have issues later. I frankly hated confrontation and avoided it when I could. “Do you have the psychic’s number? Or wait, I guess it would be his anchor, if he’s bad with tech.”
“I have his and the proby’s number. I’d call Proby first, as technically we’re working with him.”
That did seem like good manners. Beau found the number for me, and I punched it into my phone. Then I cleared my throat, trying to sound less like I was still sitting in my pajamas and more awake. I hit dial and waited as it rang three times before connecting.
“This is Havili.”
Wow. What a voice. Was he a mountain god in a previous life? I didn’t think I’d ever heard a voice that deep before. It kinda gave me tingles. “Hi, this is Mackenzie Lafayette, medium with the FBI.”
“Oh. Hey, nice to speak with you. I meant to call, actually, and touch base with you before we drive up. I’m Brandon Havili.”
Well, he was friendly. Thank god. I dealt better with friendly types. “Nice to talk to you, too. You have a minute?”
“Yeah, I’m good. We plan to drive up early tomorrow, probably be there mid-afternoon. I’m booking rooms for us at the Crescent, since that’s where I accidentally picked up my ghost hitchhiker.”
That was good information to have. “You know for a fact where she was?”
“Yup. I bought the snow globe at the hotel’s gift shop, so no question there.”
“That’s great. That was going to be my first question for you. It always helps if we can narrow her area of death down. Listen, the other reason I’m calling you, I need to run something by you.”
“Uh-oh, that doesn’t sound ominous,” he teased.
I got the distinct impression I’d like this man. I loved people who could dish it out. “Don’t worry, it’ll only cost your firstborn. Seriously, though, we’ve got a request in. A ghost hunting group wants to come in and work with us while they tackle Eureka Springs. They want to prove not only that the place is haunted but that mediums are legit.”
“Huh. Do you really have problems with people thinking mediums are faking it?”
“More than I care for. I’m game to work with them, but they’re overlapping your arrival. They’re due in on the twenty-seventh. If you’re not okay with working with them, tell me now. I can delay them or reschedule or something.”
“I personally think that sounds mega fun, going on a ghost hunt. But let me talk to the other two and see what they think about it. Can you hang on a second? I need to text my brother and Jon.”
“Sure.” I let the phone relax in my hand and covered the bottom part of the phone as I waited. To Hannah and Beau, I said, “Seems like a really friendly guy. I feel like I’m talking to James Earl Jones, his voice is that deep. If I had a voice fetish, I’d be in trouble.”
Hannah laughed as she went to make her breakfast. Beau just rolled his eyes. My mentor had taken me being gay in stride, thankfully. Not everyone could. Hannah didn’t even care. She just demanded I be safe when I picked up guys. Which, let me tell you, was a ridiculous statement. I’m attractive enough—I’m not a troll—and I have decent features, but I’m nothing remarkable. Brown hair, brown eyes, pretty average MO in the looks department. My numerous food allergies cause me to stay a little bloated at all times. Six packs and I were not a thing. I’m mostly fit, I just don’t look it. I don’t really have the looks of a player. Why she thought I would act like one was beyond me.
The phone made a weird fabric-sliding sound before Brandon came back on. “Hey, you still there?”
“I’m still here.”
“Jon’s with me; thinks this sounds fun. He’s the psychic, so he can’t see ghosts as such, just faint auras. My brother’s dead against it, but he’s okay with hanging out in his room while we go play. So, I guess it’s fine by us. You want to use the ghost we’re bringing along as further proof?”
“That was kind of my hope.” I couldn’t help but grin. “If you’re okay with that?”
“I mean, we both assumed you would. It’s okay by us. Should we delay a day, come up on the twenty-seventh so we’re all arriving on the same day?”