“Listen up, everyone,” Jarrod announced over the murmurs of conversation. “There can be no smoking on this hike since the brush is dry and I don’t want to be responsible for the place going up in flames.
“I guess that means me,” Spike said, his voice gravely and Maverick had a hunch the man smoked a pack a day, but he had to give him credit; he put the cig out without a fuss.
When they arrived at the water park entrance, there were already quite a few people standing at the side of the road. He found a parking space and they walked back to the group. Twenty-three were signed up for the ghost tour, according to Jared’s list of names. Jared was tall, lean and in his late 40s with thinning hair.
“What do you mean?”
she asked.
She really didn’t know about the band and its members. Maybe they weren’t in the tabloids anymore or maybe the style of music hadn’t been her thing. “Stevie overdosed a few years back. They revived him but the lack of oxygen fried his brain, and well, he’s not the same.”
We’ve been going down there for years. No one has turned us in yet. Just think of this adventure as a night hike with ghost stories.
Heart and Soul closed at six on Sundays and Maverick scheduled the ghost tour at the abandoned water park for that night. It gave them plenty of time to clean up and make it to the meet-up by nine.
My ghost story is fictional but there is a true haunting in Malibu where witnesses have spotted a beautiful blonde woman, wandering at night near a historic sidewalk cafe. At one time, the Hollywood elite frequented the place, enjoying the exotic location that happened to be only minutes from the surf.
She seemed to relax at the mention of Katie going with them. “Sounds like an adventure,” she voiced with ease. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” She turned, unlocked her door, and entered her apartment
“Good night,” he said even though she couldn’t hear him. He headed for his door. “It’s a date,” he mimicked. Why had he said that? Probably because he’d like it to be a date and to hell with it being the right thing to do or not.
“Good night,” he called back as his cook headed out the back door. He turned to Rowan. “I’ll walk you to your door if you’re heading upstairs.” He didn’t know if she had other plans for the night.
In his early twenties, he’d just be heading out to start his night. Some of the clubs didn’t get started until after ten. Maybe she was a night owl and the evening was still young for her.
She jumped at the sound of her
voice and turned to find Katie had walked over to her.
“Is everything okay?”
Katie asked.
She nodded, even though it was
a lie. “I need a glass of water.” She’d like something stronger, but
when coffee was the drink of choice in the joint, she’d stick with something that wouldn’t make her jittery.
The lights were dimmed until the band took their places. When the lights brightened, she noticed that Jesse gripped the microphone as if it were a lifeline.
