Larue Donavon 3 - The Ghoul Next Door (9 page)

“
I’m calm. I’m
calm.”

She wasn’t calm, but it was close
enough.

“
But yeah, maybe I could
tell them you’re my assistant and you have to be on the show too.
Can you believe it? We’re going to be on TV. Real TV.”

“
Yeah, not the cable access
channel either.” Mindy did a little dance around the
room.

“
I can give you a few tips
on entertainment if you’d like.” Elvis leaned against the door
frame with a smile on his face.

“
Well, yeah. That would be
awesome,” I said. Entertainment advice from Elvis? I’d take it,
although I knew for a fact I’d never be singing or dancing in front
of the camera. They’d pay me not to do that.

Candy Cherry rolled her eyes. “Please.
They must be desperate if they asked you.”

“
Hey, you don’t even know
me, so why the nasty comments?”

“
What did the ghosts say?”
Mindy asked, still trying to temper her excitement.

I waved off Candy’s smirk. “She’s just
being mean about the show. I’m ignoring her. Anyway, the producer
said we start day after tomorrow, but I have to meet them in the
morning. Tomorrow! How will we sleep tonight?”

“
I’m pretty sure we won’t
sleep at all. Guess we’ll have to have more margaritas to
celebrate.” Mindy raised her glass in a toast.

I grabbed my glass and clanked it
against hers. “I have to call Callahan.”

When I glanced over at Mindy, I
thought she was actually breaking out in a cold sweat. “Honey, do
you want me to get you a cold rag?”

“
I just remembered that
Elvis is here. This is too much for a girl to handle.” She took
another swig from her glass.

“
Too bad Elvis can’t sing a
song for us to celebrate.” I stared at Elvis in the hopes that he’d
take the hint.

“
I guess I could do one
song.” He winked.

Mr. Fine snorted. “Oh,
brother.”

“
Shut up, Mr.
Fine.”

“
Yeah, shut up and let the
hunk show us his moves.”

I scowled at Candy Cherry. She had a
point, but she was still rude and I didn’t like her.

The first lyrics of All Shook Up slid
from Elvis’ lips. The words came out smooth and floated across the
air to my ears like silk. It was then that I realized Elvis
couldn’t help but move. It was as if his lower body was controlled
by his vocal cords. And I was not complaining. Mr. Fine pouted in
the corner, while Candy Cherry was mesmerized. I wondered if Elvis
could keep her in that state permanently. I couldn’t blame her
though because he had the same effect on me. Electric buzzed
through my body as I listened to him sing.

“
This is so not fair. What’s
going on?” Mindy asked.

I felt bad that she couldn’t see
Elvis. I needed to remember to tell him to only perform when we
were around. The sacrifices I made, right? I wasn’t looking forward
to telling Mindy what Elvis was doing.

“
Um, Elvis was singing, but
he’s finished now.”

Mindy fell back on the sofa. “Oh my
God. I may faint.”

Next thing I knew she’d take off her
underwear and throw them in the general vicinity of where she
thought Elvis was sitting. I knew what she meant though. And to
make matters worse, I could see Elvis performing. His movements
were sexy even now in ghostly form. And that was saying something
because I’d seen everything on TV nowadays. More than I needed to
see most of the time. His voice was just like velvet.

We spent the rest of the evening
finishing off the margaritas. Mindy planned what we would wear to
the red-carpet premiere. I told her I was pretty sure there
wouldn’t be a red-carpet event. But she tuned me out and had me in
a red dress with killer heels and her in a lovely shade of blue
with a big flower in her hair.

That night passed by slower than pond
water. I tossed and turned. I mean, it was almost more than a girl
could handle—an appearance on a TV and Elvis somewhere in my home.
Not to mention my gorgeous boyfriend, Callahan. What was he doing
anyway? He’d seemed distracted when I’d told him the news, but then
again, he had been taking inventory. I was always out of it when I
did that.

Bright and early the next morning,
Mindy and I sat at a table in the local hotel’s conference room.
Why we had to meet the production crew at six a.m., I had no idea.
Were they trying to punish me? My mouth didn’t even work beyond a
few grunts until after eight a.m. and caffeine. Not to mention I
really needed to cut down on the margarita fests. It felt as if I
had tiny hammers pounding away in my head.

After the preliminary meeting this
morning, the show would pick me up at my house tomorrow morning and
take us to the undisclosed haunted location. We didn’t know exactly
where it was yet, but we’d been told that it wasn’t far from
Magnolia. That wasn’t a lot of information to go by. With any luck,
I’d convince them that I needed an assistant so that Mindy could
come along. Okay, they would probably think I was a diva, but it
was the only way I could think to get Mindy on the show
too.

As soon as Mindy had found out about
Chasing Demons, visions of traveling across the globe sprang into
her head. She talked about glamorous places like New York City and
Los Angeles, but I was content with staying in Magnolia.

Mindy had been talking non-stop since
we’d arrived. Not to mention my ghost friends had tagged along.
Strangely, they sat at a different table across the room, as if
they didn’t want me to know what they were saying.

“
All I’m saying is why can’t
they send you somewhere else? The whole point of doing a show like
this is so you can get a vacation. But, no, we’re stuck right in
the heart of good ol’ Magnolia.” Mindy shook her head.

I rolled my eyes. “The
producer promised different locations if I’m asked to do future
episodes.” He had emphasized the
if
part of the sentence.

Actually, I wasn’t surprised that we
were staying in Kentucky for the show. The area had been a hotbed
of paranormal activity as of late. I’d never seen so many ghosts
and shadowy beings, not to mention all the black magic flying
around. But the townsfolk had an inherent ability to ignore the
fact that there were things that really did go bump in the night.
They were oblivious.

Wicked people had been visiting our
little town lately. Plus there were the spirits who had a way of
slipping from the shadows right to my front door. Had another bad
one had crept through? I wondered why I hadn’t heard about the
haunting we’d investigate for the show before now.

Anyway, here we sat, waiting around a
small table covered with a white tablecloth in the middle of a
white room, a sea of tables around us. It looked like heaven’s
orientation room with all the white. A female hotel employee set up
water and glasses in the corner. The clinking of glass echoed
across the large empty room. Mindy tapped her fingers against the
table and I began to doze off.

After a couple seconds, Mindy tapped
me on the arm and I jumped. “What? Where are we?”

“
You’re drooling. Wake up
before the show-business people walk in and think you’re a complete
and utter nut.”

“
I’m pretty sure they
already think that. The psychic is always the nut, right?” I
snorted.

Psychic Medium. As long as I’d been
dealing with my gift, the title still seemed strange sometimes. I
tried to keep my ability a secret as much as possible. Magnolia’s
residents would now call me ‘special.’ That was their label for
anyone who was unique. They already thought I was a little odd, I
sensed it. Maybe they knew more about the paranormal than I
thought.

My ‘special’ wouldn’t be considered
the good special in their eyes. Yeah, now I’d be looked at with a
suspicious eye. Whispered about and watched everywhere I went. Was
being on TV worth all that? I wasn’t sure I was ready for the kind
of attention this show might bring. But even if they did talk and
give me odd looks, I would never leave Magnolia.

My grandfather had always encouraged
me to embrace my talent. I spent many hours with him on that old
fishing pond across town, and we’d talked the whole time. He liked
to use colorful phrases. His favorite being: let sleeping demons
lie.

I always asked, “Don’t you mean ‘let
sleeping dogs lie’?”

“
No, I mean demons,” he’d
said with a wild-eyed look.

I still wasn’t sure I knew what he had
meant, but I had my suspicions. Did he know more about the spirit
world than he’d let on?

Mindy broke my reverie. “Do you think
I’ll be possessed by a demon if I go on this investigation with
you? ’Cause that could throw a kink in my plans.”

I patted her hand. “I really don’t
think you have anything to worry about as long as you do what I
tell you.”

I wouldn’t lie to her and say that
having a demon become attached to her wasn’t possible. Possession
was no walk in the park. I’d seen it before and it still scared the
bejeezus out of me. I’d used a Ouija board once when I was young
and hadn’t known any better. A nasty demon had come forward that
night and it had stayed around me for a long time until one day it
just went away. I’d always wondered and waited for the day it would
return. Honestly, I’d known better than to use that darn board, but
I’d tried it anyway. My world had been turned upside down at the
time and I’d been in emotional upheaval, so it was no surprise. It
was the teenage years, what could I say? Boy problems, school
problems, and not to mention trying to get those little rubber
bands attached to my braces on a daily basis. All of that was
enough to make anyone a miserable mess, and therefore, quite
appealing to demons.

Had that demon from years ago popped
back up again like a nasty rash, only worse? There had to be some
explanation for what I’d seen the other night. Perhaps getting
involved in a show about demons wasn’t the wisest of decisions. It
was like I was just asking for trouble.

“
I’m getting a Diet Coke.”
Mindy jumped from her seat, breaking me from my thoughts again. “Do
you want one?”

“
No, I’m good.” I stretched
in the chair.

What was taking these people so long
anyway? If this really was a joke, I’d be more than a little
perturbed. I watched Mindy as she strolled toward the exit sign.
Within seconds the door rattled, and Mindy hurried back in,
allowing the heavy door to slam shut again. She panted and clutched
her chest.

“
My gosh, Mindy. What the
heck? Are you all right?” I jumped up from my chair and rushed
over.

“
I ran,” she said between
pants.

“
Is something chasing you?”
A fair question in my line of work. “Should I be
concerned?”

“
No, no.” She waved off my
concern. “The producer is walking down the hallway now.”

“
Is that all? No biggie.”
Okay, my stomach flipped. I was a little nervous too.

Mindy leaned down, attempting to catch
her breath. “You’re not going to believe who is with him. Go peek
out the door.” She gestured with her hand.

I hurried over to the door and eased
it open, trying to stop it from squeaking. “What!”

“
Exactly.” Mindy joined me
by the door.

“
What is Cooper Garrett
doing with him?”

Cooper ran the clothing boutique
across the street from my bookstore. He’d taken over after his
cousin Brianna had used the black magic on Callahan. I still didn’t
know how he’d managed to keep the store open and thriving. He had
zero fashion sense, but he had psychic ability and it looked as if
he was moving in on my gig.

“
I’m guessing that he’s
going to be on the show too,” Mindy offered as if she was the
psychic.

The producer had led me to believe I’d
be the only psychic, but now all of a sudden we needed another one?
Why he’d kept this a secret, I had no idea.

“
He’s probably eye candy for
the show. You know, to get ratings,” I said, as I shut the door. I
didn’t want them to see us gawking. “That’s the only reason they’d
ask him to be on the show. Eye candy.” I was trying to justify my
jealousy. There was room for both of us, right?

“
Did someone call me?” Candy
Cherry popped up beside me.

Great. I’d never be able to say the
word candy again. “No, we’re talking about something else.” I
wanted to shoo her away. Mr. Fine and Elvis still sat at the table,
waiting for me to make my next move.

“
Is everything okay?” Elvis
asked.

I nodded. “Everything’s fine.” How
could anything be all that bad with him around?

Mindy waited for me to finish the
conversation with the ghosts, then said, “Oh, and you’re not eye
candy?”

I lifted an eyebrow. “No, I’m not.
That’s not the reason they hired me.”

“
Calm down, I know, but it’s
an added bonus as far as they’re concerned. You two are going to be
like Paranormal Ken and Barbie.”