Page 6 of All You Want
Parking my large body in her path, I growl, “Miss King. This here’s an unlawful assembly. You’ve stuffed up traffic in town, heaped up trash, and have no security plan or authorization for this gathering. Why didn’t you let me know about this?”
“Why, I invited you, but you refused to come along for a look-see.” Her tone is saucy, as if she thinks everything is one grand ol’ game.
“You didn’t invite me. You told me to get dressed for opening night.” I wave my hand broadly at the melee. “This is not opening night. This is an unauthorized gathering.”
She hooks her hand around my elbow. “Then join us. Hey, everyone! This here’s Sheriff Colson. Who wants to take a selfie with our lawman? Who knows what ghosts he has hanging around his neck? Maybe a notorious bank robber or outlaw from the past.”
Before I can counteract her, the beach-blond sorority sisters surround us, chanting, “Eta Epsilon Chi, Eta Epsilon. Hex for Sex. Hex for Sex.”
Selfie sticks whip out, and everyone’s all over me, snapping away when a howling scream rises above the party sounds.
I look up at the balcony in time to catch a woman in a white flowing gown float out one of the windows and hover over the edge of the railing.
Chills creep down my spine as I realize I can see through her.
Four
~ Tami ~
I’ve got Todd Colson right where I want him, and I’m not a letting go. My hand is like a bear trap around his arm, and I’m surrounded by my loyal HEX Sorority sisters.
Todd gapes at the apparition floating over the balcony, and I can feel his body tense.
“Did you see that?” I gasp. “It’s the Weeping Widow. Quick everyone, whoever gets her in their selfie wins.”
With a coordinated scream, my HEX sisters rush into the foyer of the hotel and trample up the stairs.
“Wait, that’s a construction site,” Todd says. “It’s not safe. You have tools and stuff lying around.”
“It’s fine,” I assure him, now that I have him to myself.
His lips are puckered with worry, and his brows are knit low. How I wish I can kiss his anxiety away.
“This is an unauthorized event,” he says. “I’m going to have to disperse everyone for their own safety. Then you’re coming down to the station with me.”
“Are you arresting me?” I wiggle my bounteous boobs at him and extend my hands, wrists together. “Handcuff me, please.”
He brushes me aside and heads for his motorcycle. I don’t know how he’s going to disperse everyone, especially since more ghosts appear through windows and are hanging off the rafters.
“Hey, you, Sheriff.” I follow him closely. “I’m getting away. Aren’t you going to stop me from resisting arrest?”
“You’re not exactly resisting, honey,” he says. “But in the interest of public safety, I have to get control of the crowd first. I’ll deal with you later.”
“What exactly are you charging me for?” I flutter my eyelashes and put one hand on my hip to accentuate my curves. “It’s not my fault everyone showed up.”
“Oh, yeah? You organized this whole shebang without a permit.” He activates his radio and calls the station house. “I need Donnelly here with the megaphone to help me with crowd control.”
His frown deepens as he futzes with the radio volume. “What do you mean Donnelly is gone? Where? Page him. And Sutter, I’m deputizing you right now. I need you here with the riot gear.”
“Riot? Fiddle dee dee.” I dance around the sheriff’s motorcycle. “This isn’t a riot. It’s a flash mob. It’s an organic get-together, naturally coalescing like flocks of orange butterflies swarming to the spring super bloom.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he grumbles. “They are not butterflies, but rioters, and you organized this.”
“No one controls the flash mob,” I argue. “It’s like a roving meme of participants. Something triggers them, and they magically appear to perform art or dance, or in this case, chase ghosts.”
“And you’re telling me you had nothing to do with this congregation?” He strides toward the entrance of my hotel with me hot on his tail. “What about the feeds, streams, and stuff online?”
“I had no idea my little meme would be reposted by so many.” I roll my eyes innocently. “Maybe it’s the fact that the famous ghost hunter, Evan Graves, is here at Hallowed Haunts. He’s the one putting Colson’s Corner on the map.”
