“…245 Wilson Lane. Ghosts. And hurry…”
Elly leaned forward, perking up. “Whoa, whoa lady, slow down.” Cradling the phone between her ear and shoulder, she grabbed her pen and scratched down Wilson Lane. She caught Lucas’s glance as he listened to her end of the conversation. He angled his head and slanted his sensuous mouth with professional interest. His concern obvious in his expression.
“My neighbors, they’re having sex like wild bunnies,” the elderly woman rushed out.
Elly crinkled her nose and did an imaginary tip of a shooter glass. Why, oh why, did all the drunken nutcases come out of the closet when she was on shift?
After rolling her eyes heavenward, Elly asked, “And you just thought you’d call to let me know?”
Or rub it in…?
“No, no you don’t understand,” the woman bit out, her voice crackling like brittle bones as she hurried on to explain. “Gloria and Phil don’t have sex. Ever. I should know. I’ve lived in the condo next to them for the last twenty years.”
Elly fought a chuckle and made circles around her ear with her index finger. “Hey, it’s Christmas eve, maybe they’re just celebrating.”
“This has been going on all day.” Annoyance seeped into the lady’s voice. “I think you need to come down here,” she said, the firmness and impatience in her tone bringing back haunting memories of old lady Hicks, her strict elementary teacher.
Elly frowned, remembering the day Mrs. Hicks confiscated her candy bar. Chocolate wasn’t good for growing girls, she’d said. What kind of bullshit was that? Elly just knew the old lady wanted it all for herself.
Marshalling her thoughts and redirecting her focus Elly said, “Okay, let me get the facts straight. They’re having sex, have been all day, so you think–”
The lady cut her off. “Yes, I think some spirit has possessed them and is using their bodies to celebrate the holidays.”
A holiday spirit? Now that was a first. Elly wondered if the lady had drunk too many holiday spirits, herself.
Her gaze locked with Lucas’s and she repeated the words for his sake. “So you think a holiday spirit has possessed your neighbors?”
“Yes and you need to get down here fast, before their hearts attack them and they die from all that fornication.”
Elly snorted. She hadn’t meant to snort, really she hadn’t, but how the hell could she be expected to take this seriously.
And who the hell used the word fornication anyway?
Concealing her disbelief, Elly pulled a professional face. “It sounds like Cupid is on the loose.”
“Cupid?” the woman asked, her voice rising an octave. “Isn’t that a Valentine spirit?”
“No, ma’am. It’s one of Santa’s reindeers. He’s always causing havoc.”
With that, Lucas laughed out loud. Elly covered the phone and chuckled.
Okay, so maybe it wasn’t so nice to play with the weak and elderly, although something told her this lady was far from weak.
Elly cleared her throat. “You’d better give me your name and that address again ma’am, so we can check it out.” Her cranberry juice rose in her throat and she shivered at the thoughts of walking in on poor old Gloria and Phil while they were…fornicating.
After jotting down the woman’s name and her address, Elly jumped to her feet, grabbed her winter coat and pointed a finger at their equipment. “Grab the toaster, Lucas. There’s a shagfest on Wilson Lane and it must be stopped.”
Lucas tossed her his best sexy grin, and then grabbed the electrometric gage, the pulse meter, strobe light, and cage – the office’s state of the art ghost hunting gadgetry.
“Poor old Cupid is not going to know what hit him,” he said, offering her his best panty soaking grin. And suddenly, as Lucas’s sexy smile warmed the greedy little spot between her legs, Elly was the one who felt like she’d been toasted.
Chapter Two
Less than thirty minutes later they pulled up in front of 245 Wilson Lane. “Over there,” Elly said, nodding toward the little old lady peering through her blinds, her eyes as bright as the Christmas lights framing her door, and her hair as white and fluffy as a freshly made snowball. “Must be Grace.”
With his voice full of teasing warmth, Lucas leaned in and whispered, “You think she just wants in on the action?”
Acutely aware of the moisture pooling between her thighs, Elly shifted in her seat. Christ, no wonder the guy had his own harem of women. That husky voice of his warmed her blood quicker that a double shot of rum and eggnog.
“I just hope we don’t walk in on the action,” she responded with a mock shiver.
They climbed from the car, grabbed their gear from the trunk and made their way up the snow covered walkway. Lucas pulled out the pulse meter and watched the way the needle red lined. They exchanged a knowing look while Elly rang the bell. No answer. Just then Grace inched open her door.
“I have a key,” she whispered.
Technically they weren’t supposed to enter without the occupant’s permission, but under the circumstances…
“I’ll open it for you,” Grace said, reading their hesitation. After Elly nodded, Grace quickly opened the door and then hustled back to her condo. “I’ll be listening from in here,” she said, shutting the door behind her.
“I just bet you will,” Elly murmured under her breath, waving her flashlight around while looking for the switch.
The second she stepped through the threshold, a burst of heat raced over her body, flushing her cheeks and warming her from the inside out. Okay, that was odd. Cold she expected, but the hot spot really caught her off guard. She tugged on her scarf and moved to the center
