The Deputies: 3 Novella Box Set (19 page)

That needed to stop.

If they’d stayed home tonight, Tabby had planned to make a move to initiate something more intimate. As it was, she would be freezing her tail off in a cemetery waiting for some lovesick cowboy ghost. It wasn’t the worst conditions she’d had in her job but they certainly weren’t the best.

“This is bordering on insane,” Sam agreed. “Are you sure you want to? Do you do this at every site you visit?”

“Good Lord, no.” Tabby shuddered at the thought of some of the places she’d visited. “I only do this for locations I think should be on the show. Luckily we don’t need to stay all night. I just want to get a feel for how it’s going to look on television. Maybe see if our cowboy will make an appearance just for us.”

“We’re going to freeze.” Sam’s smile was wide and teasing. She stood up on her tiptoes and gave him a quick kiss. In only a few days, they’d managed to create an easy, casual affection between them.

“I promise to keep you warm,” she vowed with a grin, and then yelped when he gave her a playful smack on the bottom.

“You better. It’s not every woman who could get me to sit in a cold, dark cemetery waiting for a specter that doesn’t even exist.”

“Are you so sure?” she asked, packing away the last snack. “With so many accounts I have hopes that my parents might find something if they come investigate.”

She’d heard over a dozen stories in the last few days that ranged from a full body apparition that walked and talked all the way to people “just feeling creeped out” when in the graveyard. Contrary to what she’d been told originally, both males and females had encountered the spirit.

“Trust me, Tabby.” Sam shook his head and picked up the picnic basket. “There’s nothing there. You don’t want to feature the Heartbroken Cowboy on your show.”

Sam had been saying the same thing for the last three days but he didn’t understand the pressure she was under to find possible paranormal activity for their production company.

“We’ll see.” Tabby grabbed her backpack and pulled on her gloves. She was wearing about ten layers of clothing including a set of long underwear and a snuggly warm pair of Ugg boots. She could only hope it would be enough. “I’m ready if you are.”

“Let’s go then. Be a good girl, Tink. Guard the house.”

Tink barked when she heard her name and ran in circles until Sam gave her a chewy treat from the jar on the counter. The dog wolfed it down and then jumped up on the back of the couch to watch them leave.

Tabby’s ankle was fully healed. She didn’t need his arm around her shoulders or a helping hand into the truck. Sam didn’t need a reason however to do them anyway. She was coming to appreciate his old-fashioned gestures and manners. Like a man from another era, he made her feel cared for and cherished.

The drive didn’t take long and Tabby found herself scouting a good location to take some video. Having heard all the stories, the activity definitely seemed concentrated in a few areas which made her job much easier.

“Are you really hoping to see a ghost tonight? Will you be upset if he doesn’t show?” Sam asked as they settled down on the folding chairs that he had stowed in the back of his truck.

“Not really. As I said, I’ve seen very few things I would call paranormal but I always live in hope. You never know.”

Sam tucked the heavy blanket around them and she leaned close to him drawing on his warmth. The sun had already gone down and he had placed a camping lantern at their feet. The small light however didn’t do a thing to illuminate the rest of the graveyard. With only the moon to light the expanse, creepy shadows stretched from the large gravestones and wrapped around the bare trees. An occasional puff of wind would jostle the branches and the front gate banged against the twisted wrought iron fence, jarring her nerves.

She wasn’t a jumpy person in general, but even in her line of work she didn’t hang out in a large number of cemeteries. They really were high up on the creep scale. Her gaze darted from place to place as if zombies were going to come out of the ground at any moment. She was glad Sam was sitting next to her, strong and protective.

His hand captured hers under the blanket and she could feel the heat of his skin even through the thickness of the gloves. “Do we have to be quiet or can we talk?”

“We can talk. When we get too cold to just sit, I’ll get up and take some video. Mom and Dad are going to love how spooky this is.”

Sam chuckled. “It must have been fun at your house on Halloween when you were a kid.”

Tabby groaned at the memories. “Not just as a kid. Even now, my parents throw the biggest party on the block. Maybe in all of Baltimore. It was practically a national holiday for them. We planned it for months.”

His thumb winnowed inside her sleeve and stroked her wrist right where her pulse beat wildly. “Maybe because it was so cold here in Montana, we didn’t do much for Halloween.”

“Maybe you can come to Baltimore this Halloween? I promise it won’t be something you forget in a hurry.”

Had she blown it by mentioning the future? Sam was quiet for a long time before he finally spoke.

“I’d like that.” He cradled her hand between his two large ones, tugging off the glove so he was touching her skin to skin. “I should probably play it cool but that’s just not how I’m made. Having you here these last few days has meant a lot to me. I really like you and I’m going to miss you when you go.”

“I’m going to miss you,” Tabby said in a choked voice. “I like you too. I wish—”

She broke off, not sure of what she wanted to say. Wishing was something she didn’t spend a lot of time doing.

He squeezed her hand and nuzzled her cheek with his lips, making her body tremble and quake. “I know what you’re saying. I guess I just want us to make the most of what time we have left. When you do go, well, I’d like to keep in touch. What do you think about that?”

Her heart was pounding in her chest and she couldn’t feel the cold at all. “I think that I wish we were back at your house in front of the fire so I could show you what a great idea that is.”

Sam chuckled, the vibrations tickling her ear. “The night is young, sweetheart. I’m not going anywhere.”

They sat there in the bitter cold, wrapped around each other, listening to the sounds of the night. Growing stiff, Tabby stretched and moved out of the heat of his arms and grabbed her small video camera from her backpack. It took a much better quality picture than her smart phone. Sometimes they even used bits and pieces of her footage in the actual show.

“I want to take some video. I’m going to walk around a little bit.”

“I’ll go with you.” Sam stood and followed her as she skirted the perimeter of the graveyard, hoping she could capture the eerie quality on film. They were at the back of the cemetery when she heard a rustle and the faint pounding of a galloping horse on the ground.

“Listen!” she hissed. “Do you hear that?”

What sounded like the neighing of a horse and the clip clop of hooves first shocked and then delighted her. She plunged toward the quite clear noise, sure it was coming from about fifty feet in front of her.

“Wait,” Sam urged, his hand on her arm. “Where are you going?”

“To find the ghost,” she whispered back, shaking him off. This was no time to be worried about her safety. This location just might actually be haunted. “I want to pick the sounds up on my camera.”

She walked around for quite awhile but the noises didn’t reoccur. Sam stayed perfectly quiet as she stood completely still, praying the sounds would come back.

“Dammit, it’s gone.” Tabby stomped closer to where the sound had come from but Sam once again detained her with a hand on her shoulder.

“Leave it, Tabby.” His voice was curt and she whirled around, confused as to why he seemed so matter of fact. He didn’t seem shocked in the least. No breathing fast, no excitement in his voice. Nothing. They’d just heard a freakin’ ghost and he was as blasé as hell. Having investigated the paranormal for a long time had given her a pretty decent bullshit detector and it was going off like crazy now.

“Is there something you want to tell me, Deputy?” She tried to look up into his eyes to see the truth but it was simply too dark.

“What do you mean?” he asked gruffly.

“I mean that for a man that just heard a ghostly horse you look pretty damn calm. My heart is still racing and you look like we’ve been walking through a meadow on a spring day. That makes me wonder, Sam.”

His hand fell away from her arm and a string of expletives fell from his lips. He walked a few steps away and stood with his back to her before turning around to face her.

“It’s a hoax,” he said flatly.

“A hoax?” she repeated. “Your town is faking a haunting? Why? For tourism or something?”

“No.” Sam sighed and shook his head. Suddenly she was feeling every bit of the frigid air. “Addie likes the attention the old story gives her.”

“Addie?” she said incredulously. “Addie is faking this? Wait, how? And for how long?”

It was hard to believe the sweet old woman who had fed them hot chocolate was perpetrating a scam on Tabby.

Sam pointed to a large tree on the edge of the property. “There is some sound equipment hidden in the bushes for the noise the horse makes. I think it’s on a timer. There’s also a projector that shows a ghostly image of the cowboy but the cold must have drained its batteries. As for how long this has been going on? Shit, I don’t know. Since I came back to Springwood.”

Tabby was speechless. “The old con artist. And I fell for it.” She whirled around and poked him in the chest. “And you fucking knew all along. You asshole. I can’t believe you let me go on and on about this. What a douchebag. Is this your idea of a joke? If it is, you’re the only one laughing.”

She didn’t wait for his response. Instead she headed straight for the front gate, although she wasn’t sure what she was going to do when she got there. It was a long cold walk back to his house. The inn was still closed and she wasn’t sure a taxi would take her all the way to Harper.

She was so fucked.

It wasn’t the first time she’d uncovered a fake haunting but to find out that Sam had practically led her by the hand down this primrose path was…hurtful. The pain in her heart was acute.

Of course he easily caught up to her and pulled her close, holding her firmly while she struggled against the iron bands of his arms.

“Easy, Tabby. Let me talk here. It wasn’t a joke. Not in the least. Shit, I honestly hoped we wouldn’t see anything tonight and you wouldn’t put the story on your show. I hoped…honestly hoped…that this would all just go away. I didn’t want to tell you the secret. Jesus, Tabby, she’s an old woman. She misses her family and gets lonely. They’ve moved away and keeping this legend alive gives her something to live for. How could I tell you?”

Tabby stopped trying to push him away as the words penetrated her brain. “You thought I’d just forget about it?”

“That’s what I hoped. Tanner as well. He’s known for a long time someone was keeping the stories alive in some way. He didn’t know how until he came out here and investigated.”

“Someone? Are you saying it’s not Addie doing this?” Tabby was starting to calm down, her anger receding as quickly as it had come. She had never been someone who could hold a grudge, and against a man this nice it was impossible.

“I doubt that it’s Addie.” Sam shrugged. “I guess it could be her, although I doubt she knows the finer points of hologram projectors and stereophonic sound. Who knows? Tanner thinks it’s someone from town. The equipment has to be charged up on occasion and maintained. We can go months without anyone saying anything which was why I was hoping tonight would be one of those nights. I should have known it wouldn’t be. If one of the townsfolk is doing this they would know you’ve been asking questions.”

“So someone did this to help Addie?” Tabby was having trouble wrapping her mind around it. “Does the whole town know?”

“Some do, some don’t. Most of the kids don’t. People wanted Addie to have something to hold onto. They weren’t being evil. They just wanted to make the golden years of an old woman happier.” His fingers squeezed her shoulders. “Listen, honey, I’m sorry. Really sorry.”

Even in the pale light, she could see the regret and worry in his features. She reached up and smoothed away the lines above his brow.

“I’m not mad. Well, not too mad anyway. That’s why you’ve been trying to discourage me since I got here? You wanted me to give up and move on.”

A corner of his mouth tipped up. “I may have wanted you to give up on the story, but I sure as hell didn’t want you to move on. Everything I said earlier was the God’s honest truth. I like having you here, Tabby. I just wish it was under better circumstances.”

Tabby sighed heavily and scraped her gloved hand down her face. This was a mess of massive proportions. She’d just wasted three days of work and a cold night only to find out the Heartbroken Cowboy was a complete and total fake.

“So do I,” she replied. “I just wish you had told me.”

“I wanted to, honey. So many times. When we visited with Addie, I could see how excited you were about the story. There was a part of me that kept thinking that maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. You’d make a few videos and that would be it. Aw fuck, I don’t know what I thought. I was torn between my loyalty to Addie and to you.”

“The fact is you don’t owe me any loyalty at this point in our relationship. We’ve only known each other less than a week.” A thought occurred to her. “Does Addie believe its real? She was so convincing when we talked to her.”

“That’s the thing,” Sam said grimly, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. “I do think she believes it’s real. That was another reason I couldn’t tell you the truth. Addie is a believer and it would be devastating to her if someone said anything to the contrary. I can’t have you putting this on television. I won’t let you humiliate Addie that way.”

“I would never do that.” Tabby liked Addie and didn’t want her hurt. “I guess I’ll just report back that this location was a bust.”

It would simply be one more site that turned out to be completely normal. She’d had hundreds of them but she admitted silently she’d had hopes for this one.