Read Online Lost Soul (Harbinger P.I. Book 1) by Adam J Wright - Free Book Online

said, extending my hand, “and this is my assistant, Felicity Lake.”
    He didn’t shake my hand. Instead, he pointed at me with his own, his forefinger jabbing at the air between us. “What the hell are you doing here? Why are you in these woods?”
    “We’re just looking around,” I said enigmatically.
    “With a shovel?”
    “That just helps me look deeper.”
    His eyes might have been totally normal-looking, but they burned with fury. “You are going to get out of here right now or I’m going to call security.”
    “Go ahead,” I said. “We’re here at your mother’s invitation.”
    “Oh, is that right? And does she know you’re digging up our graveyard?”
    I couldn’t really answer that, so I just shrugged.
    “What is going on here?” came a voice from the trail. Amelia Robinson appeared, tottering unsteadily on her high heels. She made it to the fence and stayed there, leaning on it. “Mr. Harbinger, what are you doing? I told you that discretion was of utmost importance.”
    “He’s digging up our ancestors,” James said. “He said he’s here at your invitation. What’s going on, Mother?”
    She hesitated, looking from her son to me to the shovel in my hand. Finally, she said, “I asked Mr. Harbinger to come here and speak with you about what happened at the lake that weekend. You haven’t been the same since you returned, James. I’m just worried about you.”
    The fury in his eyes increased. “You hired a detective to question me? I don’t believe this. You’re treating your own son like a criminal.”
    “I … I’m sorry, James, but I didn’t know what else to do.”
    “I’ll tell you what you can do,” he said, pointing at her the same way he had pointed at me. “You can leave me alone.” Then he whirled on me. “And you can take your secretary and get off our property.”
    “That isn’t your decision to make,” I said. “Your mother hired me.”
    Amelia looked at me and said, “You should go. I don’t require your services anymore.”
    I sighed. “Amelia, if it’s because of what happened here, I can assure you that….”
    “Go,” she said, her voice firm.
    James chuckled. “I guess you’re off the case, Detective.”
    I ignored him and stepped through the open gate. I wasn’t sure why I felt disappointed; the case was a bust anyway. I hadn’t found any evidence of preternatural activity and I had lost my first client in Maine. Case closed.
    “Don’t forget to take your secretary,” James said, his voice light and airy now that he knew we were leaving.
    Felicity was already walking past him toward the open gate. James grinned and swatted her butt.
    Felicity moved with the speed of a tigress, pivoting on one foot and facing James before using both hands to push against his chest. He stumbled backward toward the iron fence, lost his footing and fell. He tried to stop his fall with his left hand, but as soon as it touched the fence, he withdrew it just like Felicity had withdrawn her hand from the hawthorn.
    But James’s hand wasn’t bleeding, it was smoking.
    A burn mark crossed his palm where the iron had touched it. He bent over and cradled his hand, pain etched across his face. Looking at Felicity over his shoulder, he yelled, “You stupid bitch, you’ll pay for that!”
    Calmly, Felicity walked through the open gate and joined me on the path, whispering, “That was interesting.”
    “It certainly was,” I whispered to her. Raising my voice to a normal level, I said, “Amelia, if you still want us to take this case….”
    “No, Mr. Harbinger, I don’t. Coming to see you was a mistake. Please leave before I decide to sue your assistant for assault.”
    Felicity made a move toward the older woman. I grabbed her arm before she unleashed a right hook. “Come on,” I said. “We’re done here.”
    She nodded and turned to face me. “Let’s go.”
    We walked back along the path, leaving Amelia and James at the graveyard. When we emerged from the