Prelude of Lies (8 page)

“I know who you are. I’ve heard of you. Ed wanted me to call and ask you to come here.”

“Well, I’m here. We’re working at the campground. When we’re done there, we’ll come and set up our equipment. That is, if you want us to?” Marshal’s excitement was catching. She could feel the vibes coming off him and they just made her want to get closer.

“Would you? That would be great. But . . .” Kay wrung her hands.

“No charge,” Marshal quickly added.

“I don’t . . .” Kay wanted to accept Marshal’s offer, at least she seemed like she wanted to.

“You don’t understand. I don’t charge unless it’s a corporation.”

Kay appeared shocked. “How do you make any money?”

Sydney raised a brow at him. She’d wanted to ask, but had been too chicken. Coming from anyone else the question would have been rude. Somehow, Kay’s worry over not being able to pay Marshal made it okay.

“Most of us have other jobs. Dave is a computer consultant. He works mostly from the road.” Marshal nodded to Dave, still hunched over a stack of forms, his laptop battery dead.

“I have a rotating crew and with enough notice, I always have enough help. We manage.”

“What’s your other job?” Sydney asked.

“Would you believe me if I said I work part time as a male stripper?”

“Yeah. I probably would.” The thought of him stripping down to a G-string was enticing.

“Too bad. Believe it or not, I own a chain of restaurants. I have the freedom to travel and do this, plus I get to cook when there’s nothing going on in the paranormal world.”

“You’re kidding.” Sydney couldn’t see him donning a chef’s hat and apron.

“You should see what I can do with whipped cream,” he said in a low voice with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

She smacked his arm.

“Ed and I would be grateful if you’d come here and find out about our ghosts,” Kay said, and Sydney wondered how much of their flirting she’d heard.

“We’ll look forward to it.” Marshal’s eyes crinkled and Sydney watched as Kay fell victim to his charm.

“What’s going on at the campground? I thought Del made most of those stories up.” Kay sat on one of the stools.

Sydney kept quiet. Her secret was going to bite her in the ass one day soon.

“I can’t believe Gramps knew there was activity there and never told us. I mean, Sydney and I sometimes thought we saw stuff, but Gramps acted like we were just playing.” Daisy leaned her cue stick against the table, the games forgotten as they gathered around to hear Kay repeat Gramps’ tales.

CHAPTER 7

“Del and I grew up in this town. I guess you knew that. What you don’t know is that I had my very first kiss in that campground. Behind one of the bathhouses.” Kay’s eyes sparkled in memory.

“And who was it that kissed you? Ed?” Sydney had a feeling she already knew the answer.

Kay glanced over her shoulder. “Not Ed. Del. He and I were an item for a while, but realized we were better off as friends. No spark at all. Anyway, Del tricked me into going into the trees by the bathhouse. Of course, I wanted him to kiss me. I didn’t expect what happened next.”

Sydney knew exactly what trees Kay talked about. They were the same ones where she’d had her first kiss.

“Well. I’d just decided that maybe kissing wasn’t for me. I think I was eleven or so. Del had just finished slobbering all over me when a cold wind blew through the trees. The next thing we knew, snow started falling. It was July. We were amazed and thought there was some kind of weather weirdness until we went to find out what was going on. At the entrance, the trees were almost like a little fort, there was a man. Half-dressed, with long dark hair and a bow in his hand. We stopped short when we saw him. He studied us for a few seconds and then went right through us. When we turned, not a bit of snow was anywhere and the temperature had returned to normal.”

“Wow.” Daisy leaned forward. “Anything else?”

“Lots of stuff. People have been coming in here for years talking about odd experiences in the campground. Let me think and I’ll write them down as I remember.”

“Excellent.” Marshal’s face mimicked Daisy’s.

“I think Del kept a journal about the strange stuff. If you have his records, you might find it.”

Sydney thought about the contents of the box she’d received with the campground records and other family items. Could the journal be inside?

Wait. Why was she getting excited? She wasn’t so sure she believed this stuff, even what she’d felt and seen with her own eyes. Now she was as bad as Daisy, believing any story without question.

Marshal’s excitement was rubbing off.

Oh. Bad way to compare.

Daisy couldn’t believe Gramps never told them about Kay or the ghosts. She hadn’t trusted the woman, but her first kiss story had convinced Daisy that if Gramps liked and trusted her than they should, too. She wasn’t sure what Sydney thought. Her sister was acting weird.

Having an ally that had the opportunity to listen to people discuss certain things was a benefit. Hopefully, they’d get time to ask if Kay had heard anyone talking trash about the campground. If she had, Kay would have probably already spilled those details by now.

Sydney took a swig out of her beer bottle and sat back, apparently fighting with herself over something. She and Marshal had been pretty cozy during their pool game. Daisy couldn’t help but wonder what their stakes were, and if they were the same as hers and Graham’s. How she let him talk her into five minutes of total privacy for every ball he missed was beyond her. Apparently, Marshal and Graham were scam artists. So far, neither had missed, which didn’t say much for their desire to collect on the debt.

Jackasses.

Ed called for Kay from the kitchen and she rushed away, assuring their group that this was their nightly routine and no, she didn’t need any help.

“Let’s play while we still can.” Graham tossed her the abandoned stick.

“Your ball.” She tried to ignore him as he lined up his shot and thought about playing her sister’s cleavage trick.

Except, she didn’t have any cleavage.

Damn.

Standing, she stretched, feeling a breeze where her shirt came untucked.

Graham stopped behind her, his voice nearly a whisper. “You did that on purpose. Your shot.”

“I did not.” Five minutes of total privacy. Oh, what she could do in those brief moments.

She couldn’t remember if she’d decided to purposefully miss and add to the time or play fair or let things happen as they may. Playing for time didn’t really mean anything, but it sure did a lot for her hormones. Sinking the shot, she moved around the table never missing a ball and ignoring Graham as she went. The table was down to one solid, one stripe and the eight ball.

Graham put his hand on her stick as she lined up the way too easy sink. “If you win, I get one whole night.”

“How’s that fair?” Her blood heated, as if it could get any hotter.

“What’s fair? You made me miss with that sweet tummy show.” He growled in her ear, his warm breath making it difficult to concentrate.

“Not my fault. Half a night.”

“All or nothing.” Graham leaned into her, his face only inches from hers. “I promise to make it worth your while.”

Oh shit. She was done for.

Marshal wiggled his eyebrows as he cleared the table of first his balls, and then hers.

“And you called me a con.” Sydney didn’t know what to think. One minute he teased and flirted and the next, he sank the entire rack, technically losing those promised kisses for each missed ball.

“Let’s play again.” He racked the table, moving the balls to order.

“Fine. I break.” Did she want him to kiss her?

“Let’s up the stakes.” He reached over her for the chalk.

“No. Our original agreement is fine by me.” She kept her tone playful, but wouldn’t look at him. Couldn’t. He’d see the confusion an
d hurt on her face and that would be a mistake.

“Whatever, but you’re missing out.” He leaned back over her arm to replace the blue square.

“Your opinion.” She broke, sending four balls home, and chose her mark. “Stripes. Corner.”

She didn’t pay any attention to him as she sank the next three balls without effort. Two could play at Marshal’s little game. She’d clear the board, call them even and forget about his seductive wager.

As she made her shot, the candles and lantern went out.

“That’s what I’m talking about. Mischievous, but not nasty,” Kay called from the kitchen.

“You missed.” Marshal almost gloated after relighting the lantern.

“Not my fault. I get to try again.” She held her stick in front of her like a shield.

“Nope. You wouldn’t let me shoot again after your boob show. I think Kay’s ghost wanted you to miss.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

As if in answer, the house lights flickered. Sydney tried to shrug off the feeling that Marshal was right. “Your shot.”

If Marshal had acted even a tiny bit superior, she could hate him. He lined up the ball, confident but not cocky, and she couldn’t think of a single reason not to like him. During his second shot, the lights flashed again and he missed.

“Guess Kay’s ghost isn’t only picking on me.” She moved past him, sliding her chest across his back though there was plenty of room to go around.

“Oh. Getting bold, aren’t we?” Marshal leaned against his stick and she resisted the urge to kick it out from under him. That would be playing gone too far.

“We’re even.” She met his eyes with confidence.

“Two kisses. In total privacy. Miss again.” He poked her with his stick.

“You miss again.”

“I might. On purpose.”

“Whose turn is it?”

“Yours? Don’t forget to miss.”

She lined up the shot, the scenarios that rushed through her head making it impossible to concentrate. This little game needed to end before things went too far.

Sinking the rest of the table, she leaned against the side trying not to laugh.

“You didn’t miss.” He pouted with sexy lips.

“We’re still even.” How many beers had she consumed to make her this bold?

“That we are.” He moved closer, filling her senses and making her crazy.

“In private,” she warned him off, not that anyone paid attention.

“The storm’s over. The weatherman said there’s about two hours before the next band hits. The next bunch of storms is supposed to be the worst yet. Doesn’t sound good,” Kay called from the kitchen.

“We need to get back, assess the damage, and see if we can prepare for the worst. What if the roof leaked again and your equipment is wet?” Anxiety overrode her sex drive.

“We do need to go. Though the equipment should be fine. We locked it in the van before we left.”

That relaxed her a fraction. The last thing she needed was a claim against the insurance for what was probably tens of thousands of dollars of Marshal’s ghost-hunting equipment.

Gathering beer bottles, they all pitched in to help Kay clean up. By the time they said their goodbyes, the place sparkled and Kay hugged each of them.

“Come in as soon as you can and let me know how the storm treated Brookside. I’ll worry until I hear from you.” Kay crushed Sydney in a tight hug.

“I promise.”

Kay moved on and Sydney turned to Marshal. “Where’s Dave? Did he leave?”

They’d all consumed several more beers than necessary. She’d been so involved in their game that she hadn’t paid a bit of attention to Dave. Of course, she got the feeling he preferred it that way.

“Dave’s still here.”

Dave held the keys up with a wink as he came out the door and Sydney wondered why she’d ever worried about these guys joining them at Brookside. They were wonderful and that wasn’t the beer talking.

In fact, Sydney felt fine, only a tiny bit tipsy. Maybe the heated innuendo and sexual bets had rushed the alcohol through her system.

The gates to the campground were lying on the ground. They would have to be repaired first thing in the morning. The last thing they needed was curious folks wandering in to see what they were doing. As the headlights cut through the darkness, she made out several downed trees. Besides the standing water everywhere, the campground seemed okay.

But it was still dark and more rain was expected. A lot more rain.

Lightning streaked the sky as a reminder the storms were coming back and long and low thunder rumbled across the sky. The whole scene—the brief bright view of the campground with the woods dark and looming—freaked her out in a way she couldn’t describe easily. Something felt wrong at Brookside and she didn’t know why. The campground had never scared her before, even after her horrible experience in that damned spooky cabin and her adventures trying to rescue the still missing and apparently injured dog.

The cabins appeared ominous as Dave stopped in front of the one the guys inhabited. She moved to get out of the vehicle when Daisy touched her arm.

“What is that?” Daisy pointed out the window to Sydney’s left.

Four ghostly figures moved through the trees. Like the misty forms they’d watched at the pond. Sydney couldn’t make out facial features.

The misty forms stopped at the clearing, the one in front holding his hand up in a signal to wait. He—Sydney assumed the form was male—looked back and forth before taking a step.

Another figure stepped out of the trees and toward them. The new presence was very different from the faceless mist that appeared to be on some type of journey.

A grisly face pressed against the glass of the opposite rear window, and she screamed.

Horror and evil, the mouth opened in a silent scream and eyes of red cast a gruesome glow over the interior of the van. Her fear vanished as she realized she was looking at a mask.

“That’s it.” Fury prompted her to jump out of the vehicle and rush around to the side where the “creature” teased them. Grabbing the cloth at the neck, she didn’t let go. Even when it spun and spurted what some kind of red, thick liquid from the gaping mouth.

“Knock it off, asshole. You’re stupid if you think any of us bought your little scheme.” She reached and grabbed off what she suspected. A rubber mask.

The bewildered face under the gruesome visage wasn’t one she recognized. As Marshal grabbed the guy from the back, twisting his arms behind him and making him grunt, Sydney looked for the rest of the ghostly bunch.

“Where are your friends?” she commanded, her tone hopefully conveying that she’d stand for no bullshit.

“What friends? There’s no one with me.” Scared. Young. And a little bit of attitude.

“We all saw them. They followed behind you in the woods. They took off when you tried to scare us.” Sydney was sure he lied.

“Come on. You have some explaining to do.” Marshal dragged him toward the cabin.

“I’ll call the sheriff.” Daisy moved into the clearing with her cell phone, the only place they seemed to get a decent cell phone signal after dark.

Dave followed Marshal, his expression the same as it’d been all evening, a mixture of boredom and apprehension. Sydney, not for the first time, wondered what his story was. Now alone and still furious, she hoped for a glimpse of the intruder’s cohorts.

What she saw wasn’t what she expected.

The ghostly figures moved right past her. Their shoulders slumped as if their journey threatened to suck the life out of them. They paid no attention to Sydney, even when she reached out and came up with nothing but air.

Oh.