The Ghostly Affair

Chapter 1

    Elizabeth Martin’s fingers flew over the keyboard as she finished typing the research notes she’d done on an embezzlement case. Out of all the research she’d completed the past three years working for Taylor, Baker, and Swift Attorneys at Law, this particular embezzlement case had been the easiest. The bank employee hadn’t covered his tracks while stealing money from his company, and the fool bragged about it to his friends. This was an open and shut case. Easy-peasey.

    Once finished, she saved it to an electronic folder and closed the program. She pushed away from her desk just far enough to rest her hands in her lap and sigh with relief, smiling. She loved her job, however… a job like this gave her the advantage of getting inspiration for her next story. Not many of her co-workers knew about her love for writing romantic suspense.

    Lately, her muse had been a little dry – so much, in fact, that she started spending more time with her boyfriend, Sam Livingston. The smile quickly left her face. Now she knew why writing came first. At least in her novels, she could get away from life’s stress. In her romance stories, the hero adored the heroine and everyone had a happy-ever-after.

    She grabbed her bottled water from her desk and drank the remaining liquid. It wasn’t cold any longer, and she needed something to hydrate her before she dozed off at work. She looked in her drawer for some loose change, before heading to the break room. After buying a cold bottle of water from the office’s new machine, she sipped the refreshing liquid.

    Two of her co-workers walked inside the break room. She nodded to them but kept drinking. They were in the middle of a conversation, anyway.

    “It was like watching a scary movie, I tell ya.” Susan shook her head, her eyes growing wider by the second. “It wasn’t until the assistant pulled out the bloody swords that the woman realized something had gone wrong with the act.”

    Tonya opened the refrigerator and pulled out her carrots and celery sticks still in the baggie. “I’d heard rumors that someone was purposely trying to kill him.”

    Susan shrugged. “I’m assuming it was investigated, but his death was documented as an accident.”

    Elizabeth lowered the water, suddenly caught up in her friends’ conversation. “Who died?”

    Susan spun around, her long, auburn hair flying over her shoulder. “This happened three months ago, but it was that famous magician, Aaron Powers.”

    Nodding slowly, Elizabeth tapped her finger on the bottle. “I think I’ve heard his name before.”

    “His shows were all over – in California, Nevada, and even Arizona.”

    Elizabeth stepped closer. “And this man died?”

    “Yep. One of his acts went wrong, and his assistant stabbed him to death with swords.”

    Elizabeth’s stomach churned. “While on stage?”

    “Oh, yes.” Susan nodded vigorously. “I was in the audience. It was surreal. I still can’t believe I watched it happen.”

    “How sad.” Elizabeth took another sip of her water.

    “You should look it up on the internet. It was all over the news.”

    “I think I will.” Elizabeth turned and took slow steps toward the door.

    “So who inherits his grandfather’s billions?” Tonya asked.

    Elizabeth came to a sudden halt and glanced at the other two ladies. “The man was rich, too?”

    “Well, you see…” Susan walked toward Elizabeth. “His grandfather, Jethro Powers, owns three wineries, and Aaron was his oldest grandson. Powers’ billions would have gone to Aaron, but now…” She shrugged. “I guess everything will go to the surviving grandson when the old man kicks the bucket.”

    “That definitely makes an interesting tale.” Although it was sad what happened to Aaron Powers’ life, Elizabeth’s mind spun with story ideas. It had been a few weeks since she’d been energized like this about a story. She’d have to do more research and see what more she could find. There was a suspense romance story waiting to be written, and she couldn’t wait to find it.

    She walked back to her desk without remembering even doing it. Once her butt hit her seat, she reached for the keyboard and quickly searched the internet for the magician’s name and clicked on the first link she came to.

    Aaron Zeke Powers of Surprise, Arizona, died March 10th, while performing on stage at the Rockwell Theatre in front of a large crowd. He was performing the famous, yet dangerous, swords-through-the-box illusion. This trick went wrong and he was stabbed and bled to death.  He was the oldest grandson of the renowned winery owner, Jethro Powers. Jethro Powers sits on a large fortune that was to be Aaron’s upon Jethro’s death. Thomas Powers is the next grandson in line to inherit the wineries and fortune.

    Elizabeth continued through the article and studied the pictures taken of the thirty-something, handsome magician. Aaron appeared to be very confident. He had a charming smile that made his blue eyes sparkle. And whether it was his costumes or if he was really robust, he was one finely built man. It was sad that something so terrible could happen to such a good-looking man.

    She kept searching the internet until she found some videos. As Elizabeth watched some of his acts, she found herself catching her breath quite a few times. The way he looked deeply into his assistant’s eyes made Elizabeth wonder if Aaron had been in love with the blonde woman with the Barbie-doll figure. His magic tricks kept her mind buzzing with questions, but it was his hypnotic smile that kept her glued to the videos. His electrifying eyes contrasted with his dark hair. Now only one question stayed in her mind.

    Had his death been an accident or was it murder?

    She clicked another link that displayed a magnificent mansion in Surprise, Arizona. As she read the article, this was Aaron’s home before he died. According to what she’d read, the man wasn’t married and didn’t have any children. Aaron’s parents had even died in a car accident when he was only six.

    Another paragraph mentioned that visitors to the mansion since Aaron’s death had thought they’d seen Aaron’s ghost. They’d heard doors shutting on floors where nobody entered, and whispers in the ventilation system. Strangely enough, they were giving haunted tours now in the mansion.

    “Ah, perfect! You’re doing your research already.”

    Elizabeth jumped from her boss’ deep voice, and swung on her chair, facing him. “Todd, I didn’t hear you come in.”

    Chuckling, he pointed to the computer. “The horrific story of Aaron Power’s death would enthrall anyone. I don’t blame you for being so caught up in that.”

    “So, why do you think I’m doing research?”

    “Carey hasn’t told you yet?”

    “Told me what?” By her suddenly racing heart, she already had a feeling she knew, but she didn’t want to get too excited until she heard the words.

    His grin widened, which made his brown eyes sparkle. He waggled his eyebrows. She always thought her forty-five-year-old boss was a handsome man.    

    “The elder Mr. Powers, Jethro, hired us to do some checking into these ghost rumors. He wants us to help him get the house ready to sell, and in the process, we are to check out the mansion to see why people say it’s haunted.”

    As she pondered his request, she couldn’t stop the laugh bubbling up from her throat.     “Are you serious? We’re lawyers, we’re not detectives.”

    “True, but Jethro is a longtime friend of the head of this firm. Jethro is also a billionaire, so whatever he wants, he gets, and in this case, Jethro wants Casey to be in charge of the mansion.”

    She shrugged. “Okay, so how are we supposed to see if the place is haunted?”

    Todd rested his hand on the desk as he leaned toward her. His expression changed to one of mischief.

    “I hope you’re not afraid of ghosts…” His leery grin widened. “Because you will be the one helping Jethro get his mansion ready to sell.”    

    Half of her wanted to shout with joy, knowing that staying at this rich guy’s mansion would give her story idea more fuel. The other half of her wanted to accept the assignment just so she could get to know the famous man who died so tragically. And… she’d never seen a ghost before.

    Chuckling, she shook her head. She didn’t believe in ghosts, anyway. But, she had to admit, spending a week or two there might be fun. “How soon do I need to pack?”

* * * *

    Surprise, Arizona.

    Elizabeth chuckled to herself. She’d never known the place existed. Of course, because she lived in Los Angeles, there was enough to keep her busy in California so she wouldn’t have to wander to another state.

    You're not in California anymore.

    During the five and a half hour drive, she’d seen so much desert land, it made her sick. The lizards even looked like they were dehydrated. But Surprise, Arizona, was quite a – dare she say – surprise? Several palm trees lined the streets, but as she drove by the many adobe-style homes, she realized this was a golfer’s community. She’d counted fifteen golf carts in just a few minutes’ drive. However, her GPS instructed her to keep driving. Apparently, the Power’s mansion was clear across town where the extremely rich people lived.

    Thankfully, the town was small enough that it didn’t take her very long before she reached the road leading her toward the mansion. Large, full trees that she didn’t know the name of, kept the property enclosed, as did the rock wall surrounding the property. As she began her journey up the very long driveway, the iron gate was opened and allowed her to go straight up to the mansion.

    The three-story sunflower-colored brick mansion had four white stone columns out in front, but it was the several windows that captured her attention. Never had she seen a mansion close up, anyway, but this one seemed so different for some reason. It was as though she looked upon a nineteenth-century estate, instead. But it didn’t matter. She was excited to go inside and get her view of how a billionaire lived.

    As she pulled around the front, she noticed a red Ferrari parked in front of the house. Elizabeth turned off her car and opened the door. The man in the Ferrari also stepped out of his vehicle at the same time. This was definitely not the man she thought she’d be meeting today. Instead of an eighty-something-year-old Jethro Powers, a man who wasn’t much older than her headed toward her. He wore a beige tee-shirt stretched across his wide shoulders and chest, and crisp blue jeans on his lean legs, with white athletic sneakers on his feet. His hair was dark brown, and his face resembled the pictures on the internet that she’d seen of Aaron Powers.

    He smiled, stopping in front of her. “You must be Elizabeth Martin.”

    She nodded and stretched forth her hand to shake his. “I am. And you are definitely not Jethro Powers.”

    He chuckled. “No, Jethro is my grandfather. I’m Thomas Powers. My father was Jethro’s youngest son.”

    She had read a little about Thomas from the article on the internet. And, she recalled what her co-worker, Susan, had said about him inheriting all of Jethro’s billions once the old man kicked the bucket. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Powers.”

    “Call me Thomas. Around here, people call my grandfather Mr. Powers.”

    “Okay, I will.”

    “I’m glad you hadn’t arrived earlier because I wouldn’t have been here. When I went to get in the car, I found my tires slashed.”

    “Oh, that’s terrible.”

    “Thankfully, I had another car to drive, but it did postpone my travel plans a little, which is why I’m glad I didn’t keep you waiting.”

    “That’s okay. I would have waited.”    

    He motioned toward the house. “Are you ready to go inside?”

    Her heartbeat hammered with excitement as she silently repeated in her mind, I can do this! “Of course, I’m ready.”

    After taking two steps toward the mansion, Thomas glanced her way. “You’re not afraid of ghosts, are you?”

    She laughed. “Thomas, can you honestly tell me that there are ghosts in this place?”

    He shook his head. “No, there aren’t ghosts.” He paused. “There is only one ghost, and it’s my cousin, Aaron.”

    She tilted her head, studying the good-looking man. “Really? You’ve seen him here?”

    “Let me tell you something about this place.” He continued toward the door. “Gramps bought it when my dad and Aaron’s dad were young, and the family lived in it until Gramps wanted something bigger, so he had another mansion built in Scottsdale, and that’s where he lives. When Aaron’s father married, Gramps gave this place to him as a wedding gift. Aaron was born in this house, but when his parents were killed in a car accident, Aaron went to live with Gramps until he was old enough to live in this house by himself.”

    Thomas pulled out a key and opened the front door. He motioned for her to enter first. She walked inside the spacious hallway. With all of the curtains closed over the windows, it brought many shadows in the room.

    “So why does that information have anything to do with ghosts?” she wondered.

    Thomas casually leaned his shoulder against the wall as he clicked on the lights. “Because this place has great memories for Aaron. When he was alive, he felt close to his parents here, too.”

    She moved toward Thomas and stopped in front of him, giving him her serious gaze and crossed her arms. “Then what are the odds the ghosts are his parents?”

    He nodded slowly and pulled away from the wall. “That’s an excellent point, and…” He patted her arm. “That’s what you’re going to research during your stay. So, as I said before, I hope you’re not afraid of ghosts.”