Джерри Хилл: The Zeiko Place

“And if I ever see her again—”

But that was highly unlikely. Jaime had gone to college out of state — on a softball scholarship, she’d heard — and had not been back. Her family had since moved away. Not that Andi had kept up with her or anything. It was still too upsetting to her to know that Jaime had outed her to the group, had told of their night together, a night that was so special to Andi. Apparently it was just another roll in the sack for Jamie. But once everyone knew, the last month of high school had been nearly unbearable, and she had been made fun of constantly. The fact that Jaime, too, was a lesbian had quite the opposite affect on everyone. Jaime was still the most popular girl in school and Andi was reduced to simply one of her conquests.

Andi graduated high school and moved to the city two days later. At first, her visits home were few and far between. But, once she was settled in college, she realized that she no longer cared what her so-called friends thought of her, and she made the trip home more often.

But still, going back to stay at the Zeiko Place. For a whole week. Inside. She’d have to be crazy to do it.

CHAPTER THREE

Andi’s research on Dr. Gilbreath confirmed her suspicions. The woman was a nutcase. She claimed to be an expert on the supernatural, having successfully filmed more than two hundred alleged haunted houses, all complete with sounds and sightings of aberrations and ghosts. The pictures on her website, although somewhat convincing, still had Andi in a state of disbelief. Photos could be altered. And if there were indeed documented cases of haunted places, why didn’t it make headline news? Why were the stories shoved to the back of legitimate newspapers? Oh, they made the front page of the weekly trash magazines sometimes, but what sane person read that crap and actually believed it?

No, Andi was of the mindset that all things, no matter how bizarre, could be logically explained. Which was why she was still having difficulty reconciling the fact that she was about to spend an entire week at the Zeiko Place.

“Andi, Bill says they’re waiting on you.”

Andi looked up from her computer, then to the clock. “They’re here already?”

Carl shrugged, then moved away.

Time to meet the ghostbusters. Andi hoped she wouldn’t appear too cynical. But again, that was a sign of a good reporter. If you were too gullible, you’d believe anything and write anything. But there was a fine line between being too gullible and too stubborn to see things for what they were. So, she’d told herself she’d keep an open mind about this whole thing. She only prayed she would not see the ghosts of the long-dead Zeiko family.

A quick knock on the conference room door, and she walked in, her eyes drawn to the older woman, Dr. Gilbreath, as she was explaining a photograph to Bill. She was older than Andi expected, and not nearly as weird-looking as Andi had hoped she’d be. This woman appeared perfectly normal. She smiled pleasantly at Andi and offered her hand.

“You must be our reporter. I’m Dr. Gilbreath. Glad you could join our team,” she said, motioning to the three others who sat around the table. Andi slid her eyes around the room, pausing when dark eyes — somewhat familiar dark eyes — held hers. A woman about her age, with dark hair, smiled at her, then lifted an eyebrow. It was a gesture Andi used to find unbelievably sexy. Now, it only managed to annoy the hell out of her.

“Andrea Beene. My God. Beenie Weenie, how long has it been?”

Andi bit her lip, her blue eyes flashing at the nickname she’d been forced to suffer through during adolescence. She squared her shoulders and gave a slight smile. “Not nearly long enough.”

“You two know each other?” Dr. Gilbreath asked.

“Small world. Yes, we went to high school together. Andi and I used to. . hang out.”

Andi glanced quickly at Bill. “May I have a word with you?”

“But—”

“Now.” Andi walked from the room, not caring a bit of the impression she was making on these people. She simply could not believe that she was here, of all people.

“What in the world is wrong with you?”

“I can’t work with her.”

“Dr. Gilbreath? Why she seems perfectly—”

“No! Not her. The other one.”

“The other one? Your old high school friend?”

“She was no friend.” Andi took a deep breath. “Bill, please, I just have a lot of unpleasant memories and. . and issues with that woman. I can not work with her.”

“You’re almost thirty. You still have issues from high school?”

“Yes, I have issues, as ridiculous as that sounds. So, you’ll have to get someone else to go on this little witch hunt.”

“I’m sorry, but no.”

“No?”

“No. It’s all arranged. You’ve already done the research. It’s too late to back out now.”

“Bill, please.”

“No, Andrea, I’m sorry. You’ll just have to get over whatever issues you have.”

He walked back into the conference room, making apologies as Andi collected herself. How was she going to survive the next week locked in a haunted house with Jaime Tucker?

CHAPTER FOUR

“It doesn’t look all that scary.”

Andi pulled her eyes from the old house, regarding Ronnie as he continued to stare at the giant relic. He was quickly getting on her nerves. He was the technician. And as he’d told her during their meeting, she was not to touch the equipment.

“Yeah? Well it’s scary as hell at night when you’re seventeen,” Jaime murmured, her eyes still glued to the house.

“Can’t believe you guys grew up here. Talk about a small world, Jaime. I thought you said you haven’t even been back in the state since you moved away.”

Andi silently watched the exchange between Jaime and her technician. Judging by the body language Andi remembered, there was no love lost between these two.

“Shouldn’t you be setting up your shit, Ronnie?”

“Oh, sure. Be a big ole girl and make me go inside first.”

“I thought you said it wasn’t scary.”

“Oh, hell, Jaime, I’ve been in a lot tougher places than this. Can’t believe you talked Gilbreath into coming here. It’s not like it’s even famous.”

But he moved away, leaving Jaime and Andi still staring at the old Zeiko Place. It hadn’t been inhabited in years, judging by the appearance of the yard. The shutters Andi remembered from childhood were there, the lower floor closed up tight. She turned to Jaime, questions flying through her head as to why they were here, but approaching footsteps stilled her.

“Well, ladies, what do you think?”

They both turned as Dr. Gilbreath walked over, her young secretary right at her heels. The young woman appeared to be no more than twenty, but the wire-rimmed glasses and severe hair style indicated she was very serious about her job.

“Looks about as I remember,” Jaime said. “Although it wasn’t quite this shabby then.”

“Well, I’ve made sure the utilities are functioning for our stay, so shabby or not, we should be comfortable. Now, we’ve got about four hours of daylight left. Let’s get those cameras set up, shall we.” She clapped her hands together, moving quickly towards the house.

Andi chanced a look at Jaime, surprised when the other woman turned, capturing her eyes. “Never thought I’d willingly walk into this place.”

Andi simply nodded. The last thing she wanted to do was to become friendly with Jaime Tucker. She had too many years of pent-up anger to deal with. She wasn’t simply going to dismiss it after all this time. And if it was the last thing she did, Jaime Tucker was going to get a piece of her mind!

But Jaime had already walked off. She paused on the front porch, glancing back at Andi, then went inside.