“Sam Juan Capistrano?” Sophie echoed. “The mission?”
“Yes.”
“What was it?” Gloria asked. “Was it a rogue priest or something?”
Sam shook his head. “No. It was a brujo. A witch.”
“A witch?” Gloria’s expression of shock mirrored the faces of the other guests.
“Yes. It’s rare that we encounter such things, but this time we did. Luckily we were able to prevail and to encourage him to let go and move on.”
Wayne did not look reassured.
“The vast majority of spirits we encounter are like Ellis here today. They’re caught up in traumatic emotions, perhaps traumatic actions, and they can’t break free. That’s where we come in.”
“What’s really sad,” Lacey said, “is when souls forge their own chains. From what we know about Ellis, he entered into this deal with the devil willingly, at least until it got to be too much for his conscience.” She tapped her phone. “We’ve seen many people who have made bad choices, expedient but bad, and pay for it with decades of spiritual imprisonment. They would have been better off in the long run if they’d done prison time and made restitution, or had simply made better choices.”
Wayne nodded thoughtfully. “Like all the characters we played this weekend,” he said. “Every one of us made bad decisions, took the easy way out, and it came back to… haunt us”—he smiled grimly—“in the end.”
“That’s so true,” Gloria said. “It was kind of fun to play villains for a little while, but it also felt, I don’t know… slimy. Dirty. There were times when I was very uncomfortable doing what I had to do. Being a bitch.” She deliberately looked at Lacey. Several of the guests nodded in agreement.
Don waded in. “That’s probably a good thing, that wearing these characters felt like a bad fit. It shows that the role was very different than your own personality.” He frowned. “We have seen some players that were entirely too comfortable in their characters.”
“We want this to be fun,” Irene said. “But I think having Ellis here, having Sam and Lacey release him, has shone a very different light on the role-playing.” She leaned toward Gloria. “I do hope none of this detracts from your enjoyment of the weekend. I would feel badly if it did.”
Gloria smiled reassuringly. “No, not at all. Let’s just say it was rather a Gestalt experience, and food for thought. No, it was definitely fun. And seeing a real ghost, watching Sam… that was amazing. We got a bonus for sure.”
“Unplanned,” Lacey said, “but we sometimes encounter challenges where we don’t expect it.”
“And we have no choice but to help out if we can,” Sam added.
There were thoughtful nods all around the table.
“Well,” Irene said, “you have certainly added a new dimension to our weekend here, that’s for sure.” She smiled at all the guests. “We all got more mystery than we signed up for.”
“I’ll say,” Harvey agreed. “That was a great way to cap off the weekend.”
“So,” Irene said, “unless there is anything else, I believe we have solved all our mysteries, and our work here is done. We do hope you all had a memorable weekend here at Starland.”
~~~
EIGHTEEN
Upstairs in their room, Sam and Lacey packed up the last few items and Lacey made a sweep of the room to make sure they got everything.
“Sure didn’t expect this weekend to turn out the way it did,” she noted.
“Nope, sure didn’t,” Sam said. “Did you have fun?”
“Oh, yeah, absolutely,” Lacey said. “I don’t think I’ll ever consider a career in acting, but it was fun for a short while.” She gazed thoughtfully at Sam. “I can’t imagine what it would be like for actors submerging themselves in hateful characters for weeks at a time. I would think that could actually have serious side effects at times.”
He nodded, shutting his suitcase and zipping it up. “I guess it could,” he said.
Lacey zipped her own bag closed and set it on the floor, then went to Sam and slid her arms around his waist. “I like being me and you much better,” she said, nuzzling his chin with her nose.
“Really?” he asked. “I thought the beard and mustache were starting to grow on you.” He grinned at his own pun.
“Yeah, no,” she said. She laid one hand along his smooth cheek. “I like this face too much to have it covered up.” She leaned up on her tiptoes and kissed him.
He circled her waist with his arms and pulled her close. “Wanna go home, Mrs. Firecloud?”
“Mmm,” she said. “I’d love to, Mr. Firecloud.”
Downstairs, they said goodbye to Harvey and Gloria, Wayne and Sophie, and confirmed dinner time with Christine and Ed. Mason, Irene, and Don all added their goodbyes and well wishes, and then David began bringing cars up to the front drive.
Irene sidled up to Sam and Lacey and bent close. “Would you two mind coming into the office for a minute?”
“Sure.” Sam took Lacey’s elbow and steered her toward the office door. Irene preceded them inside, and closed the door behind them.
“Mason will join us in a bit,” she said. She sat at the desk and motioned them to chairs. “We want to compensate for what you did today.” She slid an envelope out from under the desk blotter and passed it over.
Sam deferred to Lacey, and she took the envelope. The flap was unsealed. At Irene’s nod, she peeked inside.
“Oh,” she breathed. She showed Sam the check. “That’s very generous of you, but our costs… the food, the room…”
Irene waved that all away. “We want to do this. We appreciate so very much what you did. Plus, you gave the other guests a very… unique experience.” She chuckled.
Just then Mason came in. He pulled up a chair next to Irene.
“Well, thank you both so much,” Lacey said. “That’s very nice of you. Too nice.” She smiled.
“Well worth it,” Mason said. He took Irene’s hand. “And we hope you’ll speak kindly of the weekend to your friends.”
“Absolutely,” Lacey said.
Sam leaned toward them. “I hope you don’t mind, but I had some thoughts about the role-playing.”
“Oh?” Mason’s smile drooped a little. “In what way?”
“It stems from what Gloria said this morning. I had been thinking about it before, but until we had that discussion at the table, I hadn’t really put it all together.” He looked from Mason to Irene. “The role of Dr. Chowdhury. The back story on him was… jarring. Spiritually, I mean. Dr. Chowdhury would be of the Brahmin caste, and as such, dealing with dead bodies would be a grave”—he smiled at the pun—“betrayal of his caste. The illegality of it was one thing, but the spiritual crime would have been much worse. I just felt like the contrast between his past actions and his present spiritual nature was somehow… disturbing to his soul—and the universe.” He paused and clasped his hands before him. “I hope you can understand what I’m saying.”
Irene nodded slowly. “Yes, I believe we do.” She glanced at Mason.
“What do you suggest?” Mason asked.
“Perhaps just a bit of a rewrite,” Sam said. “I’m guessing you two can come up with a back story that is just as incriminating without being quite so… damning.” He spread his hands. “Something dastardly that’s more fun, if that’s possible.”
Mason and Irene traded looks. “Yes,” she said. “I’m sure we can.” She let out a breath. “We never looked at the characters from this viewpoint before, but now…”
“It seems obvious,” Mason finished. He glanced at Irene. “Maybe we should revisit all the characters. Develop back stories that aren’t quite so… mean-spirited.”
She smiled at her husband. “I think that’s an excellent idea,” she said. “It’ll be fun to think up some new stories. We haven’t changed them up in a long time.”
“Yes,” Mason said. “It will be fun.” He turned to Sam and Lacey. “Maybe, when we get the new characters, you two would like
to come back? Test them out, so to speak?”
Lacey glanced at Sam, but she was already grinning. “That’s certainly possible,” she said.
He nodded. “We’re always looking for new ways of having fun,” he said, taking Lacey’s hand. “Aren’t we?”
Lacey nodded. “Are you kidding?” she laughed. “Fun is our middle name.”
~~~
Thank You for Reading
I sincerely hope you enjoyed reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you did, I would greatly appreciate a short review on Amazon or your favorite book website. Reviews are crucial for any author, and even just a line or two can make a huge difference.
--MJB
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Melissa Bowersock is an eclectic, award-winning author who writes in a variety of fiction and non-fiction genres: paranormal, action, romance, fantasy, spiritual, satire and biography. She lives in a small community in Northern Arizona with her husband and an Airedale terrier.
For more information, visit
http://www.newmoonrising.net
or
http://www.melissabowersock.com
Find Me Online on Twitter and Facebook or visit my blog at:
http://mjb-wordlovers.blogspot.com
BOOKS BY MELISSA BOWERSOCK
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Burning Through (Paranormal Suspense/Romance)
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The Field Where I Died (Paranormal)
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Finding Travis (Time Travel)
No Time for Travis: Book 1
Travis Merrill’s life isn’t going according to plan. He’s quit several career paths, his wife has left him, and his only solace is volunteering to portray a cavalry surgeon at historic Fort Verde in Arizona, a place where time seems to stand still. When a weird trick of time actually sends him back to the year 1877, he’s boxed into impersonating the post surgeon for real. Unfortunately, he finds his medical knowledge is no match for the primitive practices of the day, and he’s forced to make life or death decisions, not always successfully. He wonders if he will ever be able to return to his own time, or if he might find a life—and a love—140 years in the past.
Being Travis (Time Travel)
No Time for Travis: Book 2
Two years ago, a weird trick of time sent Travis Merrill spiraling from 2016 to the year 1877. Committed now to his life in frontier Arizona, Travis is married with a child on the way and is homesteading a ranch. His knowledge of the future, however, keeps him at odds with his neighbors, his friends… and his wife. He finds it more and more difficult to protect his home without alienating his family, yet he can’t ignore what he knows is – and will be – true.
Fleischerhaus (Paranormal Suspense/Romance)
Julia Martin, newly-divorced but still reeling from her husband’s infidelity, takes a much needed vacation to visit old college friends in Germany. While touring a little-known concentration camp and museum, she spontaneously experiences a violent past life memory of being murdered in this very camp during the Holocaust. Efforts to understand her memories only lead to more questions, the largest being: is her killer still alive? Supported by her friends and comforted in the arms of a handsome doctor, Julia strives to uncover the mysteries of her past life and find justice for the person she used to be.
Ghost Walk (Paranormal Mystery)
Book 1 of the Lacey Fitzpatrick and Sam Firecloud Mystery Series
Lacey Fitzpatrick is an ex-LAPD detective with an axe to grind. Tainted by the betrayal of her drug-dealing cop boyfriend, she’s on a quest to prove to herself—and the world—that she’s still a competent crime-fighter. In order to do that, she teams up with Sam Firecloud, a half-Navajo man who communicates with ghosts. With his talent and her research, they tackle troubling unsolved crimes, but their latest case is the toughest. They have to solve a murder—where no record of a murder even exists. Can Sam glean enough information from the victim’s ghost to unravel the mystery, and can Lacey convince the authorities that the murder actually happened?
Now available as an audio book!
Skin Walk (Paranormal Mystery)
Book 2 of the Lacey Fitzpatrick and Sam Firecloud Mystery Series
Lacey and Sam are on the job again. This time, the ex-cop and the Navajo medium have been called out to the Navajo reservation to investigate the suspicious death of Sam’s cousin. What they uncover leads them into a realm of the supernatural beyond anything Lacey ever imagined; her years on the LAPD did nothing to prepare her for dealing with witches and shapeshifters. With clues few and far between, can they determine who the murderer is before they themselves become the target of deadly curses and feral shapeshifter beasts?
Star Walk (Paranormal Mystery)
Book 3 of the Lacey Fitzpatrick and Sam Firecloud Mystery Series
Ex-cop Lacey Fitzpatrick and Navajo medium Sam Firecloud are working a new investigation into paranormal activity. This time they’re called to clear an old Hollywood mansion of the multiple ghostly tenants that are threatening the home owner’s livelihood. At the same time, however, Lacey gets a call from her ex-boyfriend, now prison inmate, for help in a more earthly manner. He fears his sister is siphoning money from his elderly mother, and only Lacey can find out the truth. Between saving her ex’s mother from bankruptcy and researching deep into the families of the tortured souls haunting the mansion, Lacey finds the revelations of family dynamics to be both fatally flawed and heartbreakingly inspired.
Dream Walk (Paranormal Mystery)
Book 4 of the Lacey Fitzpatrick and Sam Firecloud Mystery Series
Private investigator Lacey Fitzpatrick and Navajo medium Sam Firecloud are usually called to clear haunted locations of their lingering ghosts using Sam’s unusual talent for communicating with the dead. This time, however, the dead—Sam’s ex-brother-in-law—comes to him… in a dream. Now Sam and Lacey have to figure out how to find the body and uncover a murder plot before the murderers bury them—forev
er.
Dragon Walk (Paranormal Mystery)
Book 5 of the Lacey Fitzpatrick and Sam Firecloud Mystery Series
Four months ago, a pretty young marathoner disappeared while training on the isolated trails of Griffith Park in Los Angeles. The police have few leads, no witnesses and no results. As a last resort, they call in private investigator Lacey Fitzpatrick and Navajo medium Sam Firecloud to pick up the rapidly cooling trail. Sam and Lacey, however, are on the outs. Their efforts to take their relationship to the next level failed miserably, and now they must redefine their working relationship, as well. Can they find the murdered girl and her killer, and still hang on to their partnership?
Demon Walk (Paranormal Mystery)
Book 6 of the Lacey Fitzpatrick and Sam Firecloud Mystery Series
Private investigator Lacey Fitzpatrick and Navajo medium Sam Firecloud are called in by the Director of Mission San Juan Capistrano to unravel the mystery surrounding an evil presence that is threatening the mission’s people and its liability, maybe its very existence. While Lacey digs into the research, Sam pulls out all the stops, planning to fight fire with fire and witchcraft with… witchcraft. Lacey finds his methods disturbing, but knows they have to combat the ancient, supernatural force that has killed before, and may very well kill again.
Soul Walk (Paranormal Mystery)
Book 7 of the Lacey Fitzpatrick and Sam Firecloud Mystery Series
Paranormal investigator Lacey Fitzpatrick and medium Sam Firecloud are making quite a name for themselves. When a TV network offers to feature them on a popular ghost series, they realize they could dispel misconceptions and bring credibility to their work. However, filming their process is more troublesome and complicated than they knew. Their goal to research and release the ghostly tenants of a haunted bed and breakfast in Malibu is at odds with the studio’s penchant for sensationalism. On top of that, Sam finds his connection to one of the ghosts to be painfully personal, and he and Lacey struggle to keep their work, their relationship and their newfound stardom from unraveling.
Mystery Walk Page 10