Read Online The Haunted Beach (Tropical Breeze Cozy Mystery Book 4) by Mary Bowers - Free Book Online
Authors: Mary Bowers
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were they?”
“She never said. But she kept looking for them and talking about how dangerous it was to play on the beach at night, and that they should stay out of the water, because there were rip currents.”
He waited, but she had stopped. “Anything else?”
“No. Ed, what have you gotten me into? I don’t like this feeling of being . . . possessed.”
“I know. But it’s not me doing it. You know that, don’t you?”
She was silent for a while, then said. “Yes. Ever since Bastet showed up . . . at lot has happened that I don’t understand.”
“I know. Something has changed in you.”
“I haven’t changed!” she snapped.
Ed closed his eyes and shook his head. She was still fighting it, this interface with something she didn’t understand. It had formed too late in her life for her to accept it as natural. Perhaps she would never accept it, but some force had decided that she would have it and use it, even if her mind rebelled.
“The situation is fluid here,” he said carefully. “The Double-Quick Maids just reported another encounter. I have decided to begin night vigils on the beach. If necessary, I will go into the house. I understand you can’t keep watch with me. I know you have a lot of responsibilities with the animal shelter. But perhaps we can meet on a regular basis and you can give me your thoughts.”
“If that’s all you want, that’s fine,” she said. Then she grumbled, “Unless my cat disagrees,” and hung up.
Strange, Ed mused. Strange were the ways of the unseen powers. Ed would have treasured the gift that had been given to Taylor. But for some reason, she was the chosen one, and he was left to try to measure and analyze the unknown with all the psychic sensitivity of a bar of soap.
Taylor already had so many gifts: a healthy body, a beautiful face, a mission in life which she had achieved by creating the shelter and rescuing hundreds if not thousands of dogs and cats. Teaming up with such a woman would have been an exciting life, not that Ed thought of Taylor in a romantic way. He was more excited by her paranormal gifts. She wasn’t much older than Ed: a mere six years, and after middle age, who cared? But Taylor had her man, and Ed liked Michael, and Ed had known for a long time that he was destined to be a solitary man.
In some ways, he mused, a solitary life was necessary for the paranormal investigator. Most people just wouldn’t understand him. And the only ones who would – those involved in paranormal research, like himself – were sometimes bizarre. He ran over the list of female psychics, ghost hunters and mediums he had met. They ranged from uber-feminine exhibitionists to vampire tramps to possessed demon-witches who were scarier than the phenomena they investigated.
No, Taylor was just about the only normal possessed person he knew, and she already had a boyfriend.
As to Willa Garden, he knew he would never stand a chance. Like everybody else in Santorini, she thought he was just a crackpot.
Chapter 9
Ed went to the beach at midnight.
He had pondered all day on the problem of how to keep his surveillance covert. The beach was wide-open, and the dune was protected by environmental laws. No climbing, no digging up plants, and no surveillance operations. In the end, he decided to set up his folding chair near the end of the walkover, on the side where the half-moon threw a shadow, tight into the corner by the dune. Hopefully, if he remained absolutely still, he would blend in with the surroundings.
He had once toyed with the idea of buying a ghillie suit – those really neat camouflage get-ups that made you look like a Bigfoot who’d just run through a haystack – since he spent so many nights hiding in graveyards, but in the end he decided against it. Making an unobtrusive exit in such a costume would be problematic. In this case, Frieda and Dolores would not be expecting to encounter anyone on the beach, so they wouldn’t be cautious
“She never said. But she kept looking for them and talking about how dangerous it was to play on the beach at night, and that they should stay out of the water, because there were rip currents.”
He waited, but she had stopped. “Anything else?”
“No. Ed, what have you gotten me into? I don’t like this feeling of being . . . possessed.”
“I know. But it’s not me doing it. You know that, don’t you?”
She was silent for a while, then said. “Yes. Ever since Bastet showed up . . . at lot has happened that I don’t understand.”
“I know. Something has changed in you.”
“I haven’t changed!” she snapped.
Ed closed his eyes and shook his head. She was still fighting it, this interface with something she didn’t understand. It had formed too late in her life for her to accept it as natural. Perhaps she would never accept it, but some force had decided that she would have it and use it, even if her mind rebelled.
“The situation is fluid here,” he said carefully. “The Double-Quick Maids just reported another encounter. I have decided to begin night vigils on the beach. If necessary, I will go into the house. I understand you can’t keep watch with me. I know you have a lot of responsibilities with the animal shelter. But perhaps we can meet on a regular basis and you can give me your thoughts.”
“If that’s all you want, that’s fine,” she said. Then she grumbled, “Unless my cat disagrees,” and hung up.
Strange, Ed mused. Strange were the ways of the unseen powers. Ed would have treasured the gift that had been given to Taylor. But for some reason, she was the chosen one, and he was left to try to measure and analyze the unknown with all the psychic sensitivity of a bar of soap.
Taylor already had so many gifts: a healthy body, a beautiful face, a mission in life which she had achieved by creating the shelter and rescuing hundreds if not thousands of dogs and cats. Teaming up with such a woman would have been an exciting life, not that Ed thought of Taylor in a romantic way. He was more excited by her paranormal gifts. She wasn’t much older than Ed: a mere six years, and after middle age, who cared? But Taylor had her man, and Ed liked Michael, and Ed had known for a long time that he was destined to be a solitary man.
In some ways, he mused, a solitary life was necessary for the paranormal investigator. Most people just wouldn’t understand him. And the only ones who would – those involved in paranormal research, like himself – were sometimes bizarre. He ran over the list of female psychics, ghost hunters and mediums he had met. They ranged from uber-feminine exhibitionists to vampire tramps to possessed demon-witches who were scarier than the phenomena they investigated.
No, Taylor was just about the only normal possessed person he knew, and she already had a boyfriend.
As to Willa Garden, he knew he would never stand a chance. Like everybody else in Santorini, she thought he was just a crackpot.
Chapter 9
Ed went to the beach at midnight.
He had pondered all day on the problem of how to keep his surveillance covert. The beach was wide-open, and the dune was protected by environmental laws. No climbing, no digging up plants, and no surveillance operations. In the end, he decided to set up his folding chair near the end of the walkover, on the side where the half-moon threw a shadow, tight into the corner by the dune. Hopefully, if he remained absolutely still, he would blend in with the surroundings.
He had once toyed with the idea of buying a ghillie suit – those really neat camouflage get-ups that made you look like a Bigfoot who’d just run through a haystack – since he spent so many nights hiding in graveyards, but in the end he decided against it. Making an unobtrusive exit in such a costume would be problematic. In this case, Frieda and Dolores would not be expecting to encounter anyone on the beach, so they wouldn’t be cautious
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