"Huh?" Steven said.

"It's easier for ghosts to make an appearance when there is moisture in the air. Rain is terrific ghost-hunting weather, and thunderstorms are even better. It charges the air with electrostatic energy and is the equivalent of giving a ghost a power shake," I explained.

"Haven't you ever seen an old scary movie where it's thundering and lightning outside and everyone's running from the things that go b.u.mp in the night?" Gil added.

Steven chuckled. "I thought that was just your American Hollywood thing."

Folding my napkin and setting it on the table, I said, "There's definitely truth to it. What it means for us is that tomorrow could get very long. Because no matter how freaked out you two get, I'm not leaving that house until I've attempted to make contact."

Steven and Gilley both looked down at the tabletop. Gilley cleared his throat, then whispered to Steven, "We can always hang out in the van."

I rolled my eyes and said, "You two are pathetic. Come on. We'll need to get a good night's sleep tonight to gear up for tomorrow."

Steven paid the bill and we got up to leave. As we were heading out, Gilley excused himself to the restroom and told us to head back together and he'd catch up later. I gave him a small, panicked look, as that meant I'd have to ride in Steven's car and be alone with him, but he dashed into the men's room before I had a chance to argue.

"After you," Steven said as he held open the door for me to exit.

"Where're you parked?" I asked, trying not to sound nervous. I didn't know how I felt about Steven. I could admit that we'd shared a moment when he'd dropped me off at my apartment the other night, but the more time I spent with him, the more I thought it was better to keep my distance. He was the kind of guy who could certainly tempt you into falling for him, but the moment you got too involved he'd break your heart. And if there's anything I'm a big clucking chicken about, it's heartbreak.

"Around back," he answered, and took my hand to lead me through the lot.

I subtly pulled it back and said, "Oh, I see it. Right over there." I quickened my pace.

Behind me I heard him snicker. I ignored him and made it to his car, where I stood next to the pa.s.senger-side door, waiting for him to release the locks. He didn't, but continued to walk toward the car. Giving him a hint, I said, "Want to hit the lock?"

He didn't answer. Instead he sidled up next to me, holding his keys up for me to see as he said, "The b.u.t.ton is not working so good."

"Ah," I said, edging closer to the car door. "So you've got to manually unlock it?"

"Mm-hmm," he said as he pressed his body closer to mine and reached around me to insert the key. "I need to get it fixed," he murmured close to my ear.

I gulped and leaned back against the car in an effort to create a little distance between us. It was fruitless-the more I leaned away, the more he leaned in. Wedged between him and the car, I found myself trying not to notice how my senses were filling up with him. He smelled like sandalwood soap. His body was lean and firm against mine, and his breath felt warm against my neck. Slowly he placed the key in the lock and began to turn it, drawing out the moment as I squirmed, trying to keep hold of my hormones.

"d.a.m.n," he said as he stopped turning the key and lowered his lips to my neck.

My breath caught as I felt the warmth of his mouth on my skin. "What's wrong?" I asked, my voice on the edge of panic.

Pulling his lips away from my neck, he moved to my earlobe and said, "The key's stuck."

Trying to stop myself from pressing against him, I said, "Let me have a go at it," as I twisted away from him.

"Great idea," he said, and pulled me back to face him as he kissed me with such pa.s.sion I gave in.

Reflexively my arms went up to encircle his neck, and my fingers tangled themselves into his hair. He reached down to my waist and pulled my hips into his. Either he had a double roll of quarters in his pocket or he was d.a.m.ned glad to see me.

Our kiss deepened, and so did our need. I let go of the locks of hair wrapped around my fingers and trailed one hand down his spine, inserting it into the back of his pants and grinding my hips farther into his.

Steven pulled away from my lips as he sucked in a breath. Reaching up he moved his hand under my blouse and cupped my breast. He then lowered his lips to my collarbone and traced the length of it with his tongue. I gripped his b.u.t.tocks and gave a small gasp as his fingers slid down my waist and into my jeans.

He groaned and moved his lips back to nibble on my earlobe. My eyes rolled up, and in the back of my mind a tiny voice whispered the last vestige of common sense I had left, begging me to be aware of where I was and what I was doing. I blinked and shook my head, trying to clear it. Steven's hand moved to tease my left breast, and with effort I managed to say, "We can't do this here."

Steven raised his head and gave a look around the parking lot. Luckily, no one seemed to be around, but as if on cue we heard voices coming around the corner of the building toward us. With a heavy sigh he nodded, stepped back, and closed my blouse. "Yes. You are right. Let's return to Helen's." He then reached around me, turned the key, and winked as he pulled it out and opened the door for me to get in. "Guess it wasn't stuck after all."

I gave him a look as I got in and quickly straightened my clothing. As we pulled out of the parking lot, we spotted Gilley coming out. He gave us a curious look as we waved at him, as if to say, You're still here? You're still here?

I groaned. "He's going to grill me on what took us so long."

"Tell him I banged into a friend," Steven said with a sly grin.

I laughed. "You mean b.u.mped," I corrected, and then grew serious, choosing my words carefully. "Listen, I think we should cool it until after we're through here." Steven didn't answer. "It's just that I need to concentrate on the task at hand. It takes a lot of my energy to make contact with a spirit, and even more when that spirit is a ghost. I can't afford to become distracted. Do you understand?"

"It was just a kiss, M.J.," he scoffed. "Hardly worth having a discussion over."

I inhaled sharply. Of all the things I'd expected him to say, a verbal slap like that one wasn't on the list. After a moment, and with ice in my voice, I said, "Well, then. As long as we're clear."

Steven and I drove the rest of the way back to the B and B in silence. The moment his car came to a stop I was out the door, anger from his rebuke building as I climbed the front steps. Pushing through the front entrance I didn't wait for him, and moved quickly to the stairs leading to my room. I could hear him behind me as I reached the landing. "M J.," he called, but I ignored him.

"Miss Holliday," he said a little louder, as I turned to walk down the hallway.

I stiffened, and without turning I snapped, "What?"

"I'm sorry."

I took a deep breath, waited a beat, then began walking again. "Good night, Dr. Sable," I said, not looking back.

The next morning Doc woke me at the first sign of light. "YMCA!" he sang. "It's fun to stay at the YMCA-A!"

"Doc," I hissed as my eyes snapped open. "Shhhh! You'll wake everybody up."

"Young man, get your b.u.t.t over here!" Doc continued, undaunted by my efforts to shush him.

"Doc!" I hissed.

"I said young man! It's okay to be queer!" Doc sang, bobbing his head and moving sideways back and forth across his perch.

Groaning, I scooted out of bed and hurried over to his cage. He continued with the song as I made a mental note to thump Gilley soundly for teaching Doc his publicly embarra.s.sing rendition. Opening the cage, I retrieved my bird and stroked his feathers. Doc stopped long enough to whistle and say, "Doc wants a cracker!"

"Doc is is a cracker." I chuckled. Walking with him over to my duffel bag, I pulled out a container of treats. "Here," I said as I gave him one. "This should tide you over until breakfast." a cracker." I chuckled. Walking with him over to my duffel bag, I pulled out a container of treats. "Here," I said as I gave him one. "This should tide you over until breakfast."

Doc gave me a head bob as he crunched on the treat. "Nice b.u.m; where you from?" he squawked in between nibbles.

I giggled and walked him back over to the window, where I sat down in a chair overlooking the front driveway. I stared Wearily out at the first red rays playing across the sky. I was reminded of a phrase my father used to say: "Red sky at night, sailor's delight. Red sky at morning, sailor take warning." I squinted at the edge of the horizon, where I could see the first signs of cloud cover rolling in from the southeast. Doc chirped and I looked down at him. "What's up, sweetie?"

"Who you gonna call?" Doc asked me. "Ghostbusters!"

I rolled my eyes. When I'd first suggested the idea of professional ghostbusting to Gilley, he'd rented the movie Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters, and he and Doc had watched it over and over. At first I'd thought it was cute when Doc began parroting quotes from the movie. Now it grated on my nerves, and was downright humiliating in public. and he and Doc had watched it over and over. At first I'd thought it was cute when Doc began parroting quotes from the movie. Now it grated on my nerves, and was downright humiliating in public.

"Doc, don't say that," I said to him, knowing full well he'd ignore me.

"Look at the a.s.s on that hunka man!" he quipped. Gilley loved to people watch with Doc from our office window.

I laughed. It had been a very long time since he'd used that one.

Doc whistled. "Hey, sailor! Why don't you come to my port?"

"Great," I mumbled. "I've got a gay sidekick and a gayer bird."'

"Dr. Delicious goes bye-bye!"

I looked at my bird curiously. I'd never heard him put that particular combo together before, and intuitively I looked outside. Sure enough, I noticed Steven's car wasn't where he'd parked it the night before. Setting Doc on the back of the chair I went to the other window for a better view of the driveway.

Our van was there, and next to it was an empty s.p.a.ce, followed by a row of other guests' cars. "Weird," I whispered. Turning back to Doc I said, "Do you think we should check it out?"

Doc gave me a head bob and a whistle.

"Me too." I got dressed and loaded Doc onto my shoulder, thinking that if I left him alone in the room, he'd continue to make a lot of noise and wake the other guests. We crept out of my room and into the hallway and I made my way to Gilley's room. Pressing my ear against the door, I could faintly hear the sound of soft snores. "Gilley's still asleep," I said to Doc. He gave me another head bob and we moved down the hall.

I remembered that Steven's bedroom was at the end of the hall next to the bathroom. I walked quietly to his room and hovered just outside, wondering what I'd say if he suddenly opened his door and saw me standing there at five in the morning. Glancing at the bathroom, I decided to go with the obvious. Putting my ear to the door, I listened intently, but no sounds could be heard. Steven was either a quiet sleeper or he wasn't in his room.

He must have gone somewhere in the middle of the night. He was a doctor, after all-maybe he'd had an emergency. Then again, what if he was in his room, and his car had been stolen? I didn't know the current price of an Aston Martin, but my gut said it was north of anything I could ever afford. Maybe some thief had taken it.

I stepped back from the door, debating about what to do next. Finally, I figured that if there was a chance my car had been stolen, I'd want to be woken up. I gave the door a small knock. After a few moments of silence, I knocked again. Still nothing. "Okay, so no one's home..." I whispered. "Or he's a heavy sleeper. Maybe I should try the door and see if it's open?"

Doc reached up with his beak and tugged gently on my ear. "Yeah, I'm with you," I said, reaching for the door handle. My heart pounding at my invasion of his privacy, I turned the k.n.o.b, and the door clicked open. "Open, sesame," I whispered. I gently eased the door open far enough to take a peek inside. The room was empty.

I pushed a little farther and stepped into the room, just to make sure. The bed was rumpled, and looked slept in. Steven's duffel wasn't in sight, and neither were any of his personal belongings. "Okay," I said to Doc. "Where do you think he's run off to?"

"Doc's a pretty boy!" he squawked.

"Shhhh!" I said, putting a gentle hand on his beak. "Come on, pal. You're gonna get me in trouble." We left the room and headed back down the hallway.

Making my way downstairs, I heard sounds coming from the kitchen. Curious, I went to investigate and found Helen in her bathrobe humming as she sliced up fruit by the sink. "Morning," I said as I came into the kitchen.

"Eeek!" she shrieked, dropping the knife and raising a hand to her chest.

"Sorry!" I said, as I came over to her. "I didn't mean to scare you."

Helen took deep breaths as she tried to calm herself. After a moment she regained her composure and picked up the knife. "I didn't realize someone was up this early."

"It's my bird," I said, indicating Doc perched on my shoulder. "He was hungry."

"Hi, Doc," Helen said, holding up a piece of cantaloupe. Doc whistled.

"You've got a friend for life," I said as he took the fruit.

"Can I get you some coffee?" she asked me.

"I'd love some, thanks." I took a seat in one of the chairs at a small table in the kitchen, and Helen brought me my coffee.

"I hope you got a better night's sleep last night," she said. "My late husband wasn't keeping you up again, was he?"

"Arnold? No. He's been quiet ever since I gave you his message."

Helen nodded and got back to chopping fruit. She put several pieces of cantaloupe in a bowl and set that down in front of me and Doc with a smile. Doc whistled and I fed him a few pieces, enjoying the companionable silence and a good cup of coffee.

After a moment I asked casually, "Did Steven happen to mention anything about heading back to Boston this morning?"

"No," she said as she reached for a carton of eggs. "Why, has he left?"

I nodded. "His car's not in the driveway, and he didn't answer my knock on his bedroom door this morning." I decided it was best to leave out the part about opening said door and taking a looky-loo inside.

"I wouldn't worry over it, M.J.," she said, cracking an egg on the side of a large bowl. "I'm sure he's fine."

I nodded. "I think I'll go for a run before breakfast."

"Sounds good," she said. "I start serving right at six o'clock."

I took Doc back to my room and put him in his cage. Now that he'd been fed, he was content to look quietly out the window.

I changed into sweats and headed back downstairs, poking my nose into the kitchen again, where Helen was putting the finishing touches on breakfast, and told her to tell Gilley that I was out for a run in case he woke up and was looking for me.

"Have a good jog," Helen said. "If Steven comes back, I'll let him know too."

"Thanks," I said, careful not to let my irritation about his absence show.

I headed outside into the cool morning light and inhaled deeply. It was the perfect temperature for a run, not too hot and not too cold. I did a few stretches for a warm-up, then sprinted down the pavement.

I took the main road through town, aptly named Main Street, sticking to familiar territory at first, then got bolder and jogged down a side street that led to a more residential part of town. The houses here were neat and simple. Many of them had white picket fences, and reminded me of back home in Georgia. Some of the residents were up, gathering papers, watering lawns, walking their dogs. Other houses were still and quiet as their owners squeezed in one more hour of sleep.

After running parallel to Main Street, I cut back up toward it through another side street and ran right past a black Aston Martin parked in someone's driveway. My head whipped back to take a second look as I realized it must be Steven's car. Panting, I trotted back to check it out, and sure enough I saw his little MD tag on the license plate.

After ogling the car for a few seconds I looked up at the house it was parked in front of, a small one-story ranch with white trim and light blue shutters. The blinds were closed and there was no way to tell if anyone was awake inside.

I stood next to the car for a few seconds, wondering what Steven could be doing here at six in the morning. Curious about his arrival time, I moved to the hood and felt it. It was cool to the touch. That meant he'd been here for a while, or all night.

I scowled at that thought and looked back up at the house. Just then the front door opened, and with a start I crouched down behind the car, afraid I'd be seen. With my heart pounding, I duck-walked over to a row of bushes and moved behind them for cover. I could hear two people talking, one female voice light and amused, the other much deeper and accented. Their conversation came to me in little bits and pieces, not enough to put together and tell what they were talking about.

Taking a huge chance, I peeked up over the bushes, spotting Steven and a young woman talking and laughing as they walked over to his car. The woman was pretty, with long blond hair tied up in a ponytail. She looked familiar, and it took me a second to realize that she was the waitress at the grinder restaurant. Once Steven put his arm around her and gave her a kiss on the forehead, I didn't bother to hang around and watch the show. Instead, with my stomach in a tangle of knots, I inched back down and waddled along the row of bushes to the backyard. From there I cut through another lawn to the street behind the one I'd been on and started jogging again.

I ran much farther and harder than I'd planned, trying to work out what it meant that Steven had spent the night with another woman after kissing me so pa.s.sionately the evening before. I finally came to the conclusion that I'd been right all along-he was a rat b.a.s.t.a.r.d and it was in my best interests to keep my distance from him. Once I finished this job, he would become a distant memory.

An hour and a half later I returned to the B and B. Gilley met me as I came through the door, out of breath and sweaty. "Good Lord, girl," he said when he saw me. "What'd you run, a marathon?"

"Morning," I said as I waved him off and turned toward the stairs. "If anyone needs me, I'll be in the shower."

I went up to my room, gathered some toiletries and clean clothes, and headed into the hallway. After closing my door I turned and b.u.mped right into a broad chest. "Good morning," Steven said as I backed up.