Ghostly Worries (A Harper Harlow Mystery Book 4)

C
opyright
© 2016 by Lily Harper Hart

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

“
Y
ou go first
.”

“No, you go first.”

Harper Harlow tugged a strand of her shoulder length blond hair behind her ear and fixed her best friend Zander Pritchett with a dark look. “Why do I have to go first?”

The duo crouched behind the island counter at a lakeside home, the keening wail of a despondent spirit assailing their ears as they debated the best way to help the unhappy lingering soul cross over to the other side. They were on a job for their ghost removal and relocation business, Ghost Hunters, Inc., and as often happened on one of their excursions, they found themselves in the middle of a fight … er, and a mess.

“Well, Harp, the answer to that question is fairly simple.” Zander and Harper had been best friends since they were children and they talked to one another as siblings might, which is to say they snapped and snarked at each other as often as possible. “You’re the one who can see ghosts. I can’t see them. Therefore, I would be useless in this situation.”

Harper licked her lips as she regarded her best friend. She loved him more than life itself, but there were times she wanted to smack him … or bite him … or even kick him in his special spot and make him cry. Their friendship was as strong as ever, but since they lived and worked together that meant they were almost always on the verge of sniping at each other, too.

“Zander, if you’re afraid of the ghost, just go ahead and admit it,” Harper said, opting to try a different tactic. Zander fancied himself to be brave and loyal, and that was true in most instances. In fact he was loyal in
all
instances. He was brave in quite a few instances. Now, however, was apparently not one of those instances. “There’s no shame in admitting your fear. It’s okay. I’ll protect you.”

Zander scowled as he ran a hand through his dark hair, his eyes flashing when he detected the hint of mirth in Harper’s blue eyes. “I know what you’re doing, you … rotten girl.”

Harper pretended she didn’t hear the admonishment. “Zander, sometimes the manliest thing to do is accept the fact that a woman’s touch is needed and she can do it better than a man. It’s the way of the world and I’m proud of you for accepting the fact that I’m simply better at this than you are.”

Zander made a face that would’ve been comical under different circumstances. The howling female ghost – and Harper was positive it was a woman because she kept seeing hints of a dress flitting to and fro when the ghost deigned to let the ghost hunter see her – refused to let Harper fully relax and enjoy Zander’s discomfort, though. Harper was fairly certain they weren’t in imminent danger. That didn’t mean dealing with the dead didn’t have its fair share of problems.

“You are not better at this than I am,” Zander snapped. “I am a professional. In case you’ve forgotten, we started this business together. We’re equal partners.”

That was mostly true. Zander was a numbers wizard so he balanced the books while Harper handled the heavy lifting and was responsible for actually facing off with the displaced spirits. They also had two employees – a college intern named Molly Parker and a computer guru named Eric Tyler – but Harper generally preferred not putting them in danger until they knew exactly what they were dealing with.

“Zander, it’s okay,” Harper said, utilizing her best “little girl” voice as she squeezed her best friend’s hand. “I would never let anything bad happen to you. I love you too much.”

“Oh, you just suck!” Zander jerked his hand away and glowered at Harper. In truth, he would die for her if the situation ever arose. He knew this wasn’t that type of situation, though. “You wouldn’t be saying anything of the sort if you thought there was a chance I might get hurt. You’re just messing with me so you can tell this story and look like a hero later.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Harper lied. “I think you’re misconstruing the situation because the fear is overtaking you. Don’t let it get a foothold, Zand. That’s a surefire way to experience nightmares, guilt … and wrinkles.”

Harper bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing as Zander shot her a murderous look. He spent hours moisturizing each week. He was a slave to good skincare. Even the hint of a wrinkle sent him into a downward spiral.

“Do you think that’s funny?”

Harper solemnly shook her head. “Of course not, Zander. I don’t want to see you get wrinkles. That would be the end of the world.”

“Now you’re just messing with me,” Zander muttered, completely annoyed. “I blame Jared. You weren’t this way before you hooked up with him.”

Even the mere mention of her boyfriend Jared Monroe was enough to cause Harper’s cheeks to burn. They’d only been together a few weeks – and had a few ups and downs over that time period – but her mind went to a wistful place whenever anyone brought up his name. Even now, when a ghost was clearly about to lose her collective cool, Harper couldn’t help but let her mind briefly wander to his dark hair … and blue eyes … oh, and those dimples.

“Oh, gross!” Zander snapped his fingers in Harper’s face to bring her back to reality. “I get that you and Jared are all gooey and in love, but … .”

“We’re not in love,” Harper corrected, vehemently shaking her head. “We haven’t been together long enough for that. Don’t say anything of the sort because Jared won’t like it and it might scare him away.”

“Oh, Harp, you’re so cute I can’t stand it sometimes,” Zander said, his heart rolling at her expression. She’d gone without male companionship so long she took even offhand comments to heart. “I didn’t mean to upset you.” No matter how annoyed he was with her, Zander would never purposely hurt his best friend. Teasing her was one thing, but where Jared was concerned her sense of humor seemed to be on vacation. “I was just joking.”

“Fine,” Harper said, blowing out a sigh. “I might have overreacted.”

“You do that a lot where Jared is concerned,” Zander said. “It’s okay, though. I get it. He’s very dreamy.”

Zander was gay so he could say things like that and get away with it. Jared didn’t even balk when the gregarious man attempted to get under his skin and purposely flirted. Only on mornings when Zander insisted on climbing into bed with them did Jared show any signs of frayed patience. That was another reason Harper adored Whisper Cove’s most recent police transplant. Jared didn’t give two figs about Zander being gay. He was only annoyed when Zander overstepped his bounds (and commented on his nipples). Truth be told, Zander was fond of Jared, too. He was still getting used to having to share his favorite blonde, but the trio was settling into a routine rather well.

“He is dreamy,” Harper agreed. “Did you see he even bought eggs and hash browns to stock our refrigerator?”

“I did,” Zander said, bobbing his head. He loved how excited Harper was whenever Jared’s name came up. She’d been alone so long Zander worried she would give up on finding love – and no matter what she said, Zander was convinced she was falling in love with the amiable police officer – so he couldn’t help but smile when she did. That didn’t mean he was going to forget the other stuff she said while trying to bait him moments before. “Do you think Jared will be ashamed when he finds out you tried to shame me into being the sacrificial lamb for this ghost?”

Harper rolled her eyes and made a clucking sound with her tongue. “Zander, no one is going to be sacrificed. I just need you to run in that direction so I can throw out the dreamcatcher.”

Zander narrowed his eyes as he glanced toward the area she gestured at, suspicious. “I usually throw out the dreamcatcher while you run and distract the ghost. Why don’t you want to do that today?”

Harper shrugged. “Um … I’m not feeling well.”

She was a terrible liar. Even when she was on top of her game, though, Zander could always tell. “Try again.”

“I have cramps.”

“Not for two weeks you don’t,” Zander argued. “I am not going to risk life and limb … or something getting on my clothes … if you don’t tell me what’s really going on. Spill.”

“Fine,” Harper muttered. “I don’t want to mess up my hair because Jared and I are supposed to Skype over lunch. He’s too busy with the paperwork he didn’t get done last week … .”

“Because you enticed him away from his desk early by kissing him until he forgot what he was supposed to be doing,” Zander interjected, causing Harper to scowl.

“Because life got in the way,” Harper clarified. “We can’t get away for our usual lunch so we’re Skyping this afternoon. I think it’s very modern. I want to look good for it, though.”

“I think it’s very geeky,” Zander shot back.

“So … you’re not going to help me?” Harper was legitimately surprised. Zander always came through.

“I didn’t say that,” Zander groused, pushing himself to his feet. “You’d better move quickly with that dreamcatcher. If my new shoes get ruined … well … you’re not going to like the bill I send you.”

Harper smiled. “Thank you.”

“Be quick,” Zander ordered. “You know I don’t like getting dirty.”

“Everything will turn out fine,” Harper said. “Trust me.”

“
E
VERYTHING
will turn out fine
, huh?”

Twenty minutes later Zander was covered in a film of dust and cobwebs, his normally dark hair now salt-and-pepper gray because of the filth, and he looked absolutely furious when he stalked in Harper’s direction.

Harper held up the spent dreamcatcher – a device of her own making she created when she decided to get serious about helping ghosts cross over – and forced a contrite smile. Inside she was crowing – and laughing hysterically. On the outside she knew that would be a mistake.

“I’m really sorry, Zand,” Harper said, licking her lips. “I had no idea she would go into the heating vents like that. I also had no idea there was so much dust in there and it would shoot out like a bomb when she pushed through that grate. The realtor should really have gotten those ducts cleaned out before putting the house on the market.”

“Yeah, thanks for that.” Jenny Porter, one of Whisper Cove’s busiest real estate agents, made a face as she approached Harper and Zander. “Your friends are inside trying to clean up the mess but … I don’t think it’s going to do much good.”

Harper couldn’t work up the energy to apologize. She went to high school with Jenny – and liked her on many levels – but cleaning was never a priority in the feisty blonde’s world. “Hey, it’s not our fault the cleaning service you hired didn’t do their job.”

Jenny wrinkled her nose as she regarded Harper. She’d only called the ghost hunter because she was at her wit’s end. The lakeside house was older and needed work, but it was in a prime location. She couldn’t move it because word spread far and wide that the former owner Dorothy Stevens was haunting the place. She tried showing the house in short bursts in the hope someone would buy it without realizing it was haunted, but it never worked. Finally she had no choice but to call in for reinforcements. The top sales person in her office this month won a vacation cruise, and Jenny was convinced she needed that cruise to recharge her batteries – and possibly find a man.

“You’re sure the old bat is gone, right?” Jenny asked. “I would hate to think you made this mess and she’s still here.”

“She’s gone,” Harper replied, tamping down her disgust. “I remember Dorothy being a nice woman, though. You shouldn’t call her names. It’s not her fault she died and was … confused … about what happened.”

Jenny made a face. “Yes, you tell that to the eighteen different couples she’s terrorized since I began showing the house,” she said. “She’s a pain in the butt, if you ask me.”

“I agree with Jenny,” Zander said. “Look at my outfit.”

Harper fought the urge to smile at his filthy Polo shirt and chinos. “You still look handsome.”

“Oh, don’t suck up,” Zander snapped. “You’re buying me a new outfit. Don’t even try getting out of it.”

“Fine.”

“This all happened because you needed to look good for your boy toy,” he continued. “I hope you enjoy your romantic lunch because I shall be forced to shower for the rest of the afternoon to get this smell off me. I … what is that?” Zander wrinkled his nose. “I felt something crawling in my hair. Is there a bug in there? Harper!”

Harper reached up to check Zander’s hair before he completely melted down, but she frowned and jerked her hand back when she realized something was indeed crawling in the mixture of follicles, dirt, and grime. “I don’t feel anything,” she lied, earning a raised eyebrow from Jenny. “It will be fine, Zand. I’ll buy you a new outfit.”

“And dinner!”

“And dinner,” Harper conceded, blowing out a sigh. “I’ll send your bill out this afternoon, Jenny.”

“That would be great,” Jenny said, widening her eyes as she watched Zander buck his head up and down. “I have a client coming to see the house in a few minutes, but given the state inside, I’m not getting my hopes up for a sale.”

“Sorry,” Harper said ruefully. “This is a messy business, though. You should’ve called me before things got so out of hand. All of the strangers walking through Dorothy’s house roiled her up.”

“No one wants to list ‘ghost busting’ on their expense report,” Jenny countered. “Thank you, though.”

“Don’t mention it,” Harper said, taking a step away from Zander as he spun around in a circle. She was afraid whatever was in his hair might jump out and latch onto her. “Who is looking at the house? Most everyone around this area knows this place has been haunted since Dorothy passed away

“Well, the guy in question is technically from around here, but he moved away right after graduation,” Jenny explained. “So he remembers the house with great fondness – and I told him it needed some work – but he hasn’t been close enough to hear the strange rumors about the house. I’m still hopeful he’ll buy it.”

“Oh, yeah? Who is interested in the house?”

“I’m surprised you don’t already know,” Jenny said, smirking. “He’s your ex-boyfriend, after all.”

Zander stilled his frantic movement as Harper creased her forehead.

“Who?” Harper asked, confused. Her last boyfriend died years before. She hadn’t dated anyone other than Jared and Quinn since … .