The Secrets of Ghosts (19 page)

Barton’s face twisted slightly. ‘My spirit guide is on my side. She looks after me.’

Katie had Barton down as a cold-hearted fraud, but she was starting to wonder if he believed in his own hype. Intense self-deception? Or maybe real ability? She felt a spark of excitement. Maybe he could help her. Maybe she wasn’t alone in this.

‘Did you see Violet come out of your body?’

‘Violet?’

‘The spirit that possessed you. She’s called Violet,’ Katie said. ‘Don’t be angry with her — she’s usually very nice.’

‘I felt a loss of control of my own body. It was a violation. Nothing nice would do that,’ Barton said, his expression one of disbelief and anger.

‘Maybe she did it by accident,’ Katie said. Then something occurred to her: if Violet could move into a person’s body and move it according to her own will, she’d be able to write on walls, throw vases. Anything an alive person could do. Crap.

‘There’s a spirit in this hotel that I’m worried about. An angry one and I was hoping you might have some advice.’

‘We could hold a séance,’ Barton said. ‘I usually charge two hundred but as a personal favour I’d do it for one fifty.’

‘I can see ghosts. I don’t need to pay you to pretend to talk to them,’ Katie said, anger running through her body. ‘I just hoped you’d have some advice. For me.’

Barton leaned forward, an expression of interest on his face. ‘You can see ghosts? Communicate with them?’

‘Yes.’ ‘And you want my advice?’ He smiled like a lizard.

‘Yes, please.’

‘Start charging.’ Barton sat back. ‘Get some flyers printed up. Start small. You can’t expect to play places like this—’ he waved a hand ‘—until you’re more established.’

‘I don’t want to charge people,’ Katie said. ‘I want to know how to get rid of the angry ghost. And how to help the sad ones.’ ‘Then you’re a fool.’ Barton picked up his newspaper again.

‘Thanks for nothing,’ Katie said, backing out of the room. The disappointment was a bitter taste in the back of her throat.

Barton looked up. ‘I did meet a ghost-hunter type, once. When I was on
This Morning
. They had the most darling little canapés in the green room and the best make-up girl I’ve worked with.’

Katie paused, waiting for Greg to stop blowing hot air.

‘Anyway. He said that he exorcised ghosts by digging up their bones and burning them.’ Barton gave an elaborate shudder. ‘Ghoulish.’

Katie turned to leave and walked straight into Max. He caught her arms and stopped her from stumbling over, then did a double take at the room number on the door. His face hardened. ‘You know Barton. Of course you do.’

‘I don’t,’ Katie said. ‘I was hoping he could help me with something, but—’

‘I’ll bet,’ Max said. He looked disgusted. He stepped to the side, leaving an exaggerated amount of space for her to walk past. ‘See you around.’

Chapter 11

Katie watched Max walk into Barton’s room and shut the door. She wanted to tell him that he shouldn’t do that, that you should always leave a door open when visiting a MOP or cleaning a room, but she was still in shock from the anger in his voice. The look of betrayal on his face. Maybe she’d let him calm down first.

She was halfway downstairs when the smell of Chanel No. 5 and a blast of cold air alerted her to Violet’s presence. She ran the last few steps and went into the Ladies, hoping to outrun the ghost. She’d stepped inside Barton. She’d made him move like a puppet. For the first time, Katie felt frightened of Violet.

She looked at herself in the mirror. Her eyeliner had smudged so she wet her finger and swept it underneath her eyes, leaning close to the mirror to scoop the gunk from the corners. A slight movement in the edge of the mirror made her whip round. Violet was leaning against one of the stall doors. ‘You should take better care of your skin, you know,’ she said.

‘Hello, Violet,’ Katie said, keeping her voice even. ‘How are you?’

Violet shook her head, using that fluid motion that gave Katie a headache. ‘Why did you run away?’

‘How long have you been able to do that? Possession?’

Violet looked confused for a moment, then she giggled. ‘That was my first. Wasn’t it fun?’

‘It wasn’t very nice,’ Katie said.

Violet was peering at her own reflection, didn’t seem to be listening.

‘You shouldn’t do it — you shouldn’t take a person’s free will like that,’ Katie said, trying to catch Violet’s eye in the mirror.

‘I thought I was helping. Your young man doesn’t like him. I thought it would make him happy.’ She cast a disparaging look at Katie. ‘
You
don’t seem to be trying.’

‘I don’t have a young man,’ Katie said.

‘You’ll lose him if you’re not careful.’ Violet turned away from the mirror. ‘You talk to him too sharply. And he looked really angry just now.’

‘Were you watching us?’

‘You mustn’t make him angry,’ Violet said, her body vibrating. The air around her began to shimmer like a heat haze and her voice rose. ‘Men don’t like that.’

‘It’s okay,’ Katie said, putting her hands up. ‘Max is fine. We’re fine.’ In her desire to calm Violet down, Katie forgot for a moment that she wasn’t with Max, that this entire thing was a bored ghost’s fantasy. ‘And you’ve got the wrong idea — we’re not together.’

Violet shook her head again. ‘Well, that’s even worse. You should be.’

‘I don’t think so,’ Katie said, glad that Violet had stopped vibrating. She leaned close to the mirror and re-applied her liner.

‘He’s handsome,’ Violet said.

‘He’s a con man.’

Violet pressed her lips together. ‘You don’t know how lucky you are.’

‘That a man is interested in me? Oh, please—’

‘Not that.’ Violet waved a hand. ‘Someone interesting is interested in you. That’s far more rare.’

Katie had to concede that Violet had a point.

‘And he has a motor car.’ She wrinkled her nose. ‘It isn’t very clean, but you can’t afford to be so choosy.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Well…’ Violet tilted her head ‘…you’re getting on a bit.’

‘I’m twenty-one.’

‘Exactly,’ Violet said. She smoothed down her dress. ‘I’m so bored of this frock, you have no idea. I can’t even change my make-up or spritz on a little perfume. It’s hellish.’

‘You don’t need to spritz,’ Katie said. ‘You smell like Chanel No.5. It’s how I know you’re there even when you’re trying to be subtle.’

‘Oh.’ Violet’s mouth turned down. ‘That’s rather galling. One hates to be predictable.’

‘And I think you’re right and there’s another spirit around here, because I keep smelling pipe smoke and this whole place is non-smoking.’

Violet looked disgusted. ‘Poor you. I hate pipes.’

*

Katie went to find Max. He was in the ornamental garden, pacing up and down the gravel path, and muttering to himself.

‘Someone once told me that was the first sign of madness,’ Katie said.

He shot her a look. ‘What do you want?’

‘To clear the air. I’m not working with Barton or visiting him for his autograph or whatever it is you’re upset about. I think he’s scum.’

Max stopped pacing. ‘So, what were you going to see him about?’

‘You know I’ve been talking to a ghost called Violet? Well, she sort of stepped into Barton at the end of his act.’

‘The “fat man dance” bit?’ Max said. ‘I thought that was different. I didn’t think Barton was that good an actor and something funny happened with my eyes, too. I thought it was the lights.’

‘It wasn’t the lights.’

‘You are absolutely serious, aren’t you?’ Max said. He was watching her in an alarmingly intense way. After a moment, he said, ‘I watched that film.
Harvey
.’

‘Don’t tell me if you didn’t like it. It’ll only make me think less of you.’

‘I liked it. It also gave me an insight.’

‘Careful. Those can be dangerous.’

‘It’s his thing. Dowd. It’s the thing that lets him face the world, his comfort blanket. But rather than growing out of it, he’s kept it as a kind of personality trait.’

‘I’m not sure that’s—’

‘I just wanted to tell you that you don’t need to see ghosts to be interesting. You’re already interesting. To me.’

‘Thank you,’ Katie said. ‘But you’d have difficulty being further from the mark.’

‘I mean it.’ Max took a step forward. ‘You’re funny and clever and beautiful and different.’

‘Thank you,’ Katie said, a little off balance. She reached for her necklace and traced the shape of the charms with her thumb.

Max took her hand, folding his fingers around her own. ‘You always fiddle with this when you’re nervous.’

Her face went warm. ‘I’m not nervous.’ She was embarrassed that she had such an obvious tell and excited that Max was watching her closely enough to notice it. Plus, his fingertips were brushing her collarbone and it was making it difficult to think straight.

He smiled, ignoring the obvious lie. ‘I like it, by the way.’ He opened his hand and looked at her necklace. ‘I saw it the first day I met you. I thought perhaps you were a gambler.’

Katie frowned. She’d made the necklace years ago, using Gwen’s supplies. She didn’t know why she’d chosen the bone die, the silver feather or the tiny revolver, only that she always felt good wearing it.

‘You know,’ Max was saying. ‘Guns and dice, very Vegas.’

‘Death and chance and hope,’ Katie said, offended.
Bloody Vegas, indeed
.

Max’s smile got wider. ‘You see. You’re always saying things I don’t expect. You’re sarcastic and a bit mean but you have a good heart.’ He stepped closer. ‘A really good heart.’

‘You hardly know me.’ Katie was working hard not to be flattered. He was a con man. A professional liar. He knew how to charm people and she was a fool if she fell for his act. He was probably only talking to her because he wanted to get his watch back.

‘I know enough. And you don’t have to make yourself any more mysterious.’

Katie crossed her arms. ‘You think I’m pretending to see ghosts in order to make myself alluring to you?’

‘Not just me. Everyone. But you don’t need to hide behind that.’

‘I’m not hiding behind anything.’ Katie spread her hands. ‘I’m right here. Plain sight.’

‘I think you’re using it as a defence mechanism. To keep people away from you. To stop anybody from getting too close.’

‘That’s not true,’ Katie said. ‘I live in a different reality, though. That’s fact. You can’t understand. No one can understand. Not really.’

‘That’s very convenient, isn’t it?’ Max put his hands on her waist. ‘Why don’t you admit you’re scared of letting people get close to you.’

‘I’ve had a boyfriend. I’ve got friends.’ Katie forced herself to step away. ‘Has it occurred to you that I might not want to get close to you? That maybe I’ve got more sense than to get involved with a—’

‘I believe you kissed me the other day,’ Max said. ‘Or are you going to claim you have an identical twin running around? Which would be quite interesting, by the way.’

‘That was just lust,’ Katie said, then mentally slapped herself in the head.

‘Lust?’ Max quirked an eyebrow. ‘I can work with that.’

‘I don’t think so,’ Katie said. ‘You’re a con man. A thief. A liar.’

‘But I’ve been honest about my dishonesty. Do I get points for that?’

‘One point,’ Katie said. ‘Which doesn’t help you much. You’re still in minus figures.’

‘But you believe in redemption, remember?’

‘So, redeem yourself. You should.’

‘And then you’ll go out for dinner with me?’

‘No.’
Maybe
.
Yes
.

Max leaned closer, his lips brushing her cheek. ‘I think we’d be good together.’

Katie felt the breath leave her body. Max was too close. She could see the hairs of his stubble poking through his skin, smell the sweat on his T-shirt. His head was tilted, his lips close to hers. All she had to do was move a fraction of an inch and she’d be kissing him. They’d be kissing.

‘Katie?’ Max said.

She stepped back. Just because he had no morals didn’t mean she couldn’t do the right thing. She wasn’t looking forward to seeing him walk away, but there was no point prolonging it. She’d tell him about his watch and he’d disappear from Pendleford and she could get her mind back where it belonged.

‘I know where your watch is.’

‘Great,’ Max said, and he pulled his car keys out of his pocket. ‘Let’s go.’

Katie hesitated. Maybe she should give him a chance. ‘If I tell you, you can’t steal it.’

Max frowned. ‘I can’t steal it because it belongs to me. At most I can regain my rightful property.’

‘You said you wanted to redeem yourself. You keep talking about turning over a new leaf. Prove it.’

‘Fine,’ Max said. ‘I promise I won’t steal it. Where is it?’

‘Mrs Cole donated it to charity. The Red Cross, so I’m guessing it’s in the Chippenham shop but you can’t steal it because that would be stealing from a charity. It doesn’t matter how it got there. It was donated by Mrs Cole.’

‘I promised,’ Max said. ‘I’ll buy it back. Happy?’

Katie nodded, relieved. ‘It must be really important to you. Is it sentimental value?’

‘It’s not of sentimental value. It’s of real value,’ Max said. ‘I was playing poker and the pot was up to ten grand. I’d run out of cash, so I put it down.’

‘A watch worth ten grand? That’s obscene. You could buy a car for that.’

‘The stakes can go up quickly in poker. That’s part of the attraction.’

‘Jesus Christ.’ Katie shook her head. ‘I had no idea Mr Cole was that rich.’

‘Yeah, well, he wasn’t an entirely honest businessman, put it that way.’

‘But you won the game, right? So, you won this watch which is worth loads of money, but you didn’t actually see it? And he didn’t give it to you? That seems a bit—’ Katie was going to say ‘stupid’ but that seemed harsh, so she finished with ‘trusting’.

‘I knew he had it because he’d won it off me the night before. I met Oliver Cole in a back-room poker game the night before the wedding. I shouldn’t really have been playing with it, but, like I said, I ran out of cash and I wanted to stay in the game. It was a slight error of judgement.’