Harrison Investigations 1 Haunted Read Online Free PDF

seat
at the end of the table. Penny was happily talking about ghosts.
Roger was convincing his wife that there had been nothing there at
all, other than the excitement of the day.
    "And if there was a ghost, it was probably more scared than
you," Clint assured the bride.
    "Hell, there are ghosts," Sam said sagely, nodding his old
head.
    "Sam," Matt protested.
    "She meant to hurt me!" Jeannie said with certainty.
    "I don't think that ghosts are supposed to hurt people," Carter
said. His mustache twitched. He was as bearded as a goat, since he
enjoyed a high military position in the "Rebel" unit in which he
participated in many battle re-enactments.
    "She meant to hurt me," Jeannie repeated.
    "I've slept in that room," Clint said, "and honestly, nothing
ever happened to me."
    "I know the Lee Room like the back of my hand," Carter teased.
"It holds the fondest memories in my heart," he told the bride with
a wink.
    She flushed and laughed uneasily.
    "Matt," Penny said, "There's a cup of strong tea for you right
there, end of the table."
    "Thanks," he said. "I'll reheat it in a bit. I'm going to get a
few things out of the caretaker's cottage, so you two can slip on
over when you want."
    "Hey, Mr. Stone, I...I don't want to put you to any more
trouble," Roger said.
    "I can't sleep in this house!" Jeannie wailed.
    "It's no trouble," he assured them both.
    All he wanted to do right then was get out-he didn't think he
could bear to hear another of Penny's speeches on ghosts. He
allowed her, on Friday and Saturday nights, to give a "Legends of
Melody House" tour, during which she liked to go on and on about
various stories involving the house, and how it was rumored to be
haunted by different characters, including historical
figures.
    He had adamantly refused to let her call it a ghost tour. But
since she did attract dozens and dozens of paying tourists,
people staying as diversely far away as Williamsburg, Richmond,
Harpers Ferry, and even D.C., he had to allow the endeavor. She
served cider, tea, cookies, and pastries in the middle of the tour,
and he knew that she was right- they paid a whole lot of bills
thanks to those tours. He still didn't like them, or anything that
suggested that Melody House was
really
haunted. However,
he tolerated it all, for the sake of the house.
    "Go on, Matt-we'll keep them entertained for you," Clint told
him laconically. Matt arched a brow. Clint could be openly
lascivious. He had surely enjoyed the spectacle of the bride,
wrapped in the antique quilt and nothing more.
    "Thanks," Matt said dryly, and left them all to their arguments
on whether there was or wasn't a ghost.
    An hour later, he was moved back into his room at the main
house, and he and Penny and Roger had packed up the newlyweds, who
were now happily settled in the caretaker's cottage. Penny
returned to her apartment over the stables.
    Matt had barely gotten back to sleep before he heard a ringing
sound. He fumbled around to turn off his alarm, but it was the
phone instead. One of his officers was on the other end, anxiously
urging him to get moving; they had a domestic violence situation
threatening to turn explosive.
    Matt hurriedly dressed, his thoughts half on the night gone by,
and half on the day to come. There it was-the truth again. As his
dad had once told him, when he had shivered at the sight of an old
cemetery, the dead were the safest people around.
    It was the living you had to watch out for.
    That day was hell for Matt. He was so tired most of it, he could
have toppled over. It began with the situation at the Creekmore
house, old Harry threatening to kill his wife and kids, accusing
her of sleeping around, claiming he didn't even know if the kids
were really his or not. Thayer had kept the situation under control
until he got there. Matt had managed first to get Harry to let him
in, then pretended to share most of a bottle of whiskey with him,
convince him he could do DNA testing on his kids, finally get the
shotgun, and