Navy Seal's Match. Amber Leigh Williams

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Navy Seal's Match - Amber Leigh Williams Fairhope, Alabama

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The theory is that ghosts are able to manipulate them. Our EMF meters can detect this.”

      “And this is how you find Casper? Beetlejuice? Bruce Willis?”

      She stared at him a second or two before answering with amusement. “If you will.”

      “The audio was most revealing,” Zelda said, excitement growing. “Tell him about the audio.”

      Mavis spared a weary glance for Miss Zelda before continuing. “We often take voice recordings, particularly in areas of EMF anomalies,” Mavis told him, adjusting her glasses. “While playing back the Isnard tapes, we found something.”

      “You heard voices?” he asked, back to skeptic.

      “Just one,” she said, nonchalant. As if they were discussing the ingredients of minestrone soup.

      “What did it tell you?” he asked. “Have you unlocked the mysteries of the universe? Should we call Stephen Hawking or—”

      “No,” she replied. “After passing what we heard on to Vincent and Phyllis, they told us about twin brothers who owned the planation jointly before being called off to service in 1862.”

      “Here’s where it gets intriguing,” Zelda said conversationally.

      Mavis paused. “Neither Josiah nor Daniel returned from battle,” she said finally. “Those who remained were convinced that the family line ended there. Until, of course, a kitchen girl revealed that she was pregnant with an Isnard heir.”

      “So?” Gavin said.

      Zelda smiled. “She didn’t know which twin was the father.”

      “Which means either one of them cornered her in one of the secret passages under the cover of night,” Mavis said admonishingly.

      “Or she was having an affair with both,” Zelda finished.

      “The first theory’s more likely,” Mavis murmured. “I don’t see a ménage à trois happening in the grand master suite.”

      “People back then were no different from people today,” Zelda informed her. “There was scandal. And secrets aplenty. Besides, I like the idea of the servant girl getting her own.”

      “Was this voice you heard on the tapes by chance female?” Gavin asked.

      “Why, yes,” Zelda said, glad he was catching on.

      “So you think it was the kitchen girl,” he surmised.

      “It’s a sound theory,” Zelda said. “One Mavis, Phyllis and I are in agreeance on. But what’s most interesting is that she spoke two names. The first in what remained of the living quarters above stairs. Josiah.”

      “And the second in the chamber Phyllis told us about behind the servants’ stairwell. Daniel,” Mavis added. “That’s where the family claims most activity has occurred throughout the years.”

      Gavin scraped what remained of his soup from the sides of his bowl, mulling the information. “Did this baby and its mother wind up reaping the estate benefits and carrying on the line?”

      Zelda laughed. For once, it didn’t ring true. “Hell, no, she didn’t. Cousins came in, Phyllis’s ancestors, and turned the place over. The servants were dismissed and nothing was heard of the girl or her baby. The place wasn’t fit for living for another whole generation. The cousins eventually gave it up cold turkey.”

      “Phyllis’s grandfather eventually inherited the mess and decided to rebuild most everything from the ground up,” Mavis told him. “It took years because workmen kept walking off, claiming they felt a tap on the shoulder or they could hear whispering when they were alone.”

      “Phyllis’s first encounter herself was in the chamber behind the servants’ stairs,” Zelda divulged. “She was playing hide-and-seek with friends from grammar school. She was alone in the dark, but someone brushed the hair from her face. She lit outta there like someone had planted live firecrackers in her saddle shoes.”

      Gavin sniffed. “And which of you ladies volunteered to take your recorder into the servants’ stairwell?”

      “Oh, that was Mavis,” Zelda replied. “She usually volunteers for the tight spots. Attics. Basements. Crawl spaces. You name it, our Mavis is there.”

      “That’s great,” Gavin said. He downed half his water before letting the glass clack against the counter next to his empty bowl. “Does your family know about this?”

      “Did yours know anything about your combat injury for six months after it happened?” she responded in kind. “I didn’t think you were judgmental, Gavin. And I didn’t think you believed in this stuff anyway, much less cared.”

      “I’m having trouble with the belief thing,” he admitted. “But I never said anything about not caring.”

      “If you don’t believe, why’s it necessary to care?” Mavis asked. “It’s all just a racket. Right?”

      “It’s big creepy houses that belong to strange people,” he told her. “Sure, Zelda’s friend Phyllis might be all right, but her family home sounds like it’s been a meal for more generations of termite colonies than you can trace. How carefully do you screen callers before showing up? It’s just the two of you? No muscle?”

      “Well, Errol,” Zelda said. “He likes the country drives.”

      “How old is this Errol?” Gavin wanted to know. When neither of them answered, he scowled. “Uh-huh.”

      “Our screening process is thorough enough,” Mavis explained. Her tone had grown taut from irritation. “You can’t tell us that the process we’ve operated under for the last five years isn’t up to standard. Who do you think you are?”

      “I’m a goddamn navy SEAL,” Gavin told her. “I think I know a sight more about the ugly parts of humanity than you do.”

      “Try me,” she invited.

      “Don’t tell him about that meth lab two weeks ago,” Zelda suggested. “He’ll blow a gasket.”

      “You’ve got to be kidding me.” He groaned. The slow-roasting coals were growing in temperature. “Did you know they were cooking meth?”

      “They didn’t announce it,” Mavis responded.

      “They weren’t hiding it, either,” Zelda noted. “They were nice boys. If you like mullets and missing teeth.”

      “These are drug dealers we’re talking about,” Gavin said. “Drug dealers.”

      Mavis rolled her eyes when he slowed the words down to mocking speed the second time. “Yeah, we got that.”

      “But we scored,” Zelda said. “EMF and confirmed audio.”

      “Wait,” Gavin said. “You walked in, saw what they were doing and you went ahead and did the job anyway?”

      “Well, sure,” Zelda

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