Sean shook his head in self-disgust. “I mean, we were busy, boss, but not doing anything unusual or dangerous. That’s what I meant.”
I smiled. “I know what you meant.”
“Okay.” Sean exhaled gruffly. “So I was about to peel off the last panel of wallpaper and then we were going to pull that wall down to check for problems.”
I glanced at Wade. “What problems?”
He approached me, still clutching the hammer. “There’s a weird scent emanating and I can’t figure out what it is. So we’re going to check it.”
“What kind of scent?”
“Musky. Not unpleasant, but very weird.”
That did sound weird. “Some kind of chemical leak, maybe?”
“Could be.”
Sean continued the story. “But as soon as I took out my pry bar and hammer, the paint can went flying.”
“Scared the hell out of us,” Wade admitted, lowering his voice. I wasn’t sure why, since I figured a ghost could probably hear everything he said.
“The old girl’s been pretty calm lately. You know, we still get the occasional vibe and know she’s around, and the lights have gone off a few times, but otherwise nothing violent. And then all of a sudden, she’s throwing things.”
I looked around at the guys, including Douglas, who had just snuck back into the room, looking sheepish. “Did any of you read up on the family history?”
Lizzie’s store stocked a number of books on the history of the town and its prominent families and homes. Many of the great houses in the area came with their own folklore, and I liked to read up on them when I had the chance. I hadn’t read much about the Rawley family, but that was because I’d heard a lot of the legends while growing up. I made a mental note to call Emily about it. She might know if something had happened in the dining room so that we could be more careful in there from now on.
My mind instantly went to murder. Was somebody killed in the Rawley dining room? But as soon as I thought of it, I brushed it away. If a murder had occurred here, it would be a town legend by now and everyone would know about it.
Wade tapped the hammer absently against his leg as he studied the paint streaks. “You think something happened in here that she’s particularly sensitive about?”
“It’s a thought.”
Sean fumed. “It would be helpful if she just told us what her issues were instead of trying to kill us with paint cans.”
“That would be helpful,” I said.
“B-boss.”
I whipped around and saw Douglas pointing at the wall of paint. His eyes were as big and round as moons.
I turned and saw what had mesmerized him. Halfway up the wall, an arrow had appeared in the paint, pointing down toward the floor, as though a child might’ve been finger-painting.
“Holy crap,” Wade muttered.
“Anybody home?” a man called from the front door.
Who was that? I wondered. I glanced at my guys for a clue, but they both shook their heads.
“We’re in here,” I said loudly.
Footsteps sounded against the wide wooden planks of the foyer and stopped at the entry to the dining room.
“Hey, Shannon, how’s my favorite contractor?”
“Gus.” I walked over to greet him and couldn’t help melting a little when he gave me a big, warm hug. “How are you?”
“I’m even better than I look.”
I laughed. Gus was joking around, but the fact was, he looked really, really good. The man was a walking chick magnet and had been since first grade. He’d also been my auto mechanic for as long as I’d been driving.
Augustus Peratti, Gus to his friends, owned the best auto shop in Northern California together with his father, uncle, and brother. The shop had been in business for three generations and catered to every type of automobile made. A good thing, because I was pretty sure that every woman within a five-hundred-mile radius brought her car to them.
The Peratti men were handsome devils with beautiful smiles, gorgeous dark eyes, and thick black hair. I couldn’t swear to it, but based on the sort of attention he’d always received, I had a feeling that Gus had slept with every girl in my senior class except me. Maybe that was why we had remained friends all this time.
The best thing about Gus was his sense of humor and his intelligence. He had a ready laugh and he always got the joke. What woman could resist that in a man?
He greeted the guys with waves and nods. “How’s everybody doing?”
“Pretty well, Gus,” Wade said. “Except for a little mishap over here.”
“That’s quite a mess,” he said, gazing at the wall of green paint. He turned back to me. “I thought I’d find Emily here.”
“She hasn’t been around today,” Wade said.
“Is she catering a party for you?” I asked.
“Uh, yeah,” Gus said. “She told me to meet her here.”
The chandelier in the middle of the room began to sway directly above Gus’s head.
I grabbed his arm and pulled him over to the side.
“Holy crap,” Wade muttered, staring at the ceiling, where the chandelier grew steady.
“What was that?” Gus asked.
All of a sudden he started to tremble.