Seth Gets a Date
Chapter forty
Alex
The following day Brandon walks into the hotel, Kayla in tow. Shit. I’d forgotten she was granted bail.
“Wow, I’m glad to be back. Clearly this place has gone to hell without me,” she says as she looks around.
She sees me and her eyes go wide. “Alex! It’s um… so nice to see you. I hope we can put the… alleged murder behind us?” she asks hopefully as Brandon steps behind the desk to turn on his computer.
“Alleged murder?” I squawk. I wave a hand up and down my body. “I’m a ghost you crazy bitch!”
“You don’t look like a ghost. Aren’t ghosts supposed to be invisible?”
“I was at first, but I learned to harness the energy of the land in order to manifest a physical form. It takes energy, and I have to charge every once in a while.”
She looks stunned as I try to explain. “That’s so interesting,” she says avoiding my gaze by looking around the lobby. “I like what you’ve done with the place. Haunted manor was a genius marketing strategy.”
“Thanks!” I preen, and she bobs her head.
“So, since I’m here, I’d like to be put to work. That way you can tell the court what asset I am to the community, if I need a character witness. For anything.”
“Why the hell would I do that?! If anything, I’d be turning evidence against you! You killed me, or did you forget?”
Kayla looks at me with concern. “That was an accident, Alex. Allegedly. I’d like to put this behind us and work to repair our relationship.”
I rub my forehead. “This is too much. Kayla, you can stay up here and answer the phones. Brandon could probably use the help.”
“Yeah, absolutely. I can do that.” She looks at Brandon. “How’s the book thing going, by the way?”
“You remembered! It’s been going good. I’m just about done with my second round of revisions. Seth has been helping me iron out a few of the finer details.”
“Who is Seth?” she asks.
“A friend of mine. He kind of lives here now, on and off. He’s a psychic. He helped Alex and Jake a lot when they first became ghosts.”
She perks up at Jake’s name and tucks a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. “So, is Jake around?” she asks as her cheeks grow red.
“Back off babe, he’s taken. By me. We’re getting married.” We’re not even engaged yet, but she doesn’t need to know that. When the time is right, I’m going to put a ring on it.
Her face falls at that. “Oh… that’s nice. Put me to work Brandon. I have court ordered redemption to focus on.”
Brandon steps out from behind the desk and lets her take over the computer. As she walks by him, I notice her ankle monitor for the first time. “Don’t let any of the guests see that!”
“I’m behind the desk, Alex. No one will know. Plus, innocent until proven guilty. I could have been framed for all you know.”
“Are—are you serious right now? I literally watched you turn a guy’s brains into mashed potatoes, after doing the same to mine.”
She sighs. “This is the problem with our country. Nobody wants to do their own research anymore. You just take what you see at face value and don’t even stop to consider the other side.”
I can feel my blood pressure increasing. “I’m sorry, Kayla. I must have misinterpreted what you were trying to say when you bashed my skull in with a frying pan.”
I gasp as a thought runs through my head. “What did you do with my body? You didn’t stuff me and hang me on your wall, did you? Hide me under your bed so you could have your wicked way with me, you freak?”
She rolls her eyes. “You’re being dramatic. I have work to do, can we finish this debate later? Thanks. Bye.” She draws out the bye, and I take that for the dismissal it is. I fear that Kayla has learned all the wrong lessons during her time in jail.
***
Jake
As I walk down the stairs to head out to my garden, I expect to see Brandon in his usual spot at the front desk, but today Kayla is there. I do a double take and look around.
“Oh my god, Jake! How are you?” Kayla asks and runs her hands over her hair. “It’s good to see you again.”
“You too, Kayla. Where’s Brandon?” I ask, still confused as I walk up to her.
“Oh, I think he said he was heading up to the attic to work on his manuscript. I’ve taken over the phones for him. By the way, I really like what you’ve done with the place. It’s very…spooky. Was that your idea?” she asks and bats her lashes at me.
“No, that was all Alex. He pretty much runs the place now. I work in the gardens.” I say as I lean my forearms on the desk. “Have you seen him around?”
“No, he hasn’t been around. Sorry,” she says as she bites her lip. “Death looks good on you.” She blushes as she realizes what she just said. “Wow, no, I didn’t mean it like that. I just mean that you look good. The last time I saw you, you were pretty stressed out.”
I nod. “Yeah. Things are better now. Andrei’s gone. Thanks for that, by the way. My dad’s gone, his goons are gone, hopefully for good.”
“Wait. What do you mean your dad’s gone? Like, in jail?”
“No, he’s dead.”
Her face falls. “Fuck! Dead? Who did it?”
“Sasha. I’m sorry, I know you worked with him…”
Her mouth drops open. “I’m not sad that he’s dead, Jake. I’m sad that I didn’t get to do it! I can’t believe someone beat me to it. Fucking jail. That bastard tried to frame me for your murder and a half dozen other felonies. I had it all planned out, too.”
I’m a little taken back by her vehemence. “You and Alex both,” I chuckle. “I didn’t want it go down like it did, not really, but he gave us no other option. He was going to kill me. Again, I mean.”
“I’m glad he’s dead, then. If you ever need someone to talk to, I’m here for you.” She reaches out to touch my arm, but I pull back, trying to be covert about it. I don’t want to get on her bad side if I can help it.
“Thanks, but I have a therapist. She comes over once a week.”
She gives me a once over, gaze lingering on Alex’s necklace around my neck. For a second I think I see a scowl on her face, but she quickly schools her expression.
“Well, I’m glad you have people in your corner. The offer stands though, in case you want to hang out sometime. Have dinner, Netflix and chill, that kind of thing.”
I give her a polite smile. “Thanks. I need to go find Alex. I have a few ideas for the back yard I want to run by him.” I turn and start to walk away when she calls out.
“Wait, Jake.” I look back, surprised at her pained expression. “I’m really sorry about what happened with Andrei. I never should have given him your room key, but I didn’t know…” she trails off, but I get the gist of what she’s trying to say.
“It’s okay, Kayla. I don’t blame you for what happened,” I say and head out of the lobby before she can utter another word. This is not a conversation I want to have with her now. Or ever.
***
Alex
“What the hell happened in here?” Frankie screeches as she looks around the lobby. I scratch my head, trying to think of a reply that doesn’t make us sound like crazed lunatics.
“Water leak,” I decide, hoping she doesn’t notice the blood staining the wood floor. We’re going to have to tear this floor up.
She stares at me unconvinced before looking up at the ceiling. “Wow, good thing that water leak didn’t damage the ceiling. Or did you already fix that?”
The question flusters me. “Oh, um, yeah Sasha already took care of that,” I lie unconvincingly. Whatever, she’s my employee, I can lie to her.
“Who’s Sasha?”
“The new handyman. He’s around here somewhere.”
“Where did the rug go?” she asks and points to the bare wood floor, where the ornate Persian rug usually lays.
I scratch my head, trying to come up with another believable lie on the fly. “Oh, uh, I sent it out for cleaning. As one does.” I think I nailed that.
“And this stain on the floor, right over there?” she points. “Did someone spill their smoothie?”
“Something like that.”
“Okay well, I don’t get paid enough to ask questions. I’m gonna get to work.” She eyes me for a second before scooting by me and heading to the stairs.
***
I head to the kitchen and am surprised to see Seth.
Today he’s wearing a black button-down shirt with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, black ripped skinny jeans and…
ooh, blue converse today. His thick black hair is stylishly mussed, and his cast is now black to match his outfit.
He gives me a nod when he sees me, which I return, feeling cool.
“When do you get that off?” I ask, pointing to his hand.
“Oh, um, in a few weeks. It got fucked up pretty good, so… it’s slow going.”
I nod and look away.
“Where’s your partner in crime?” I ask.
“In the attic, working on his book. I came down for a snack.”
“Did you borrow that shirt from Jake?” I tease. He runs a hand over his hair and grins shyly.
“No, um, I was actually looking for Sasha.” He looks down at his feet and bites at his lip ring. This is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.
“You and Sasha, huh?” I subtly try and wring more information out of him.
“I just think we had… I don’t know. A connection. Chemistry.”
“I see. Nothing brings two people together like dismembering and disposing of dead bodies.”
He nods in agreement. “You get it.”
“Well, Sasha is around here somewhere. He’s staying in room twenty-eight now, you might check there if you want to go stalk him.”
“Oh, he moved out of the basement?”
“Yeah, he earned that promotion. He’s been super helpful around here, so…”
“Yeah, okay, I think I’ll go check on him.”
“Oh, I am so coming with. I need to watch this; I just wish I had popcorn,” I say and gleefully rub my hands together.
Seth just rolls his eyes. We make our way up the creaky staircase and head down the corridor to Sasha’s room.
We continue to head down the corridor. After what seems like an eternity, we continue to continue to head down the corridor. I throw my hands up in frustration.
“Who builds a house this big! Seriously! We’ve been walking all day, I should have called a fucking Uber. I’m tired Seth, can you carry me the rest of the way?” I ask dramatically.
“Shut up, no. We’re almost there,” he laughs.
“Finally,” I heave.