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“It might really help if I can see the hotel and where the fire struck sooner rather than later. I don’t necessarily have to go inside,” Simon told him.

“I’m heading back there right after we finish,” Sanderson told him. “Why don’t you meet me there afterward?

Simon frowned, thinking. “Do you think the spirit bears your family ill will in particular? They’ve been in charge of the Ocean Visions for its whole long existence.”

“I don’t know,” Sanderson replied. “I’ve wondered that myself. The stories that got passed down left out a lot. Anyone who might have known first-hand is long gone. My father and grandfather told me the hotel was haunted, but not about anything like this.”

“You said you’d help—” Simon began.

“Anything,” Sanderson swore.

“Do you have access to the personal papers, diaries, letters, or any records from prior generations?” Simon asked. “Not the business ledgers. We’re looking for their thoughts, records of when they bricked up those rooms, why they aren’t included on the plans, why they were sealed up, and anyone with special talents they might have asked for help. Finding the original blueprints and comparing them to the current ones could be useful. And if you find any hints about where the ghost might have come from, that might help us narrow down how to send it on.”

“I can do that,” Sanderson said without hesitation. “I’d thought about doing it before, but I wasn’t sure I’d know what to do with anything I found, so I put it off. I don’t know what I’ll be able to dig up, but I’ll tell you what I find.”

Sanderson promised to return in a couple of days with anything he discovered. “In the meantime, I’ll be on the lookout for you over at the hotel today. Text me when you arrive, and I’ll show you whatever we can see.” He made a goodwill deposit after sharing his number and left with a better aura than when he arrived.

“I’m guessing you heard that?” Simon asked Pete when he came back to the front.

“Most of it. I didn’t want him to clam up, so I tried to stay out of the way,” Pete replied. “Even that was pretty crazy.”

Simon filled him in on the main points, and Pete let out a low whistle. “I’m guessing you think it’s real or you wouldn’t have taken the case.”

“Sanderson believes it’s real, and there’s a ring of truth to what he says about the ghost that makes me think there’s something to the story. It definitely didn’t sound like he was angling for a movie deal. He wanted to keep the situation quiet, fix the problem, and go back to making a living,” Simon replied.

“You’re going to want to see the place for yourself, aren’t you?” Pete asked, caution clear in his voice.

“I’m hoping to get a clue about what kind of ghost it might be so I don’t drown in the research,” Simon admitted. “There are an awful lot of different types of spirits and entities to sort through.”

“I can handle the store. See the hotel. If Vic is going over too, you might want to compare notes,” Pete said. “Being a cop, he might see things differently.”

“Good point,” Simon replied as he grabbed his keys and phone. “Call me if you need me.”

Simon’s thoughts raced as he drove over to the Ocean Visions. He thought about calling Vic because he was sure his boyfriend had gone over to see the hotel but held off so that Vic’s impressions didn’t color his own.

He had to park several blocks away since the fire engines and investigators were still on site. Sanderson came out to meet him, which got Simon past the security, firefighters, and police who were keeping curious onlookers at bay.

“See the area that had the most fire damage?” Sanderson pointed to what remained of one wing of the building. “That’s the oldest part where the fire started. But what’s strange is that the firefighters said building fires usually follow airflow channels like stairs and chimneys, but this one didn’t. It’s only the legacy section that burned. Almost like its target was the oldest section, and the fire picked its target and left the rest alone.”

Thinking that the fire itself was sentient sent a chill down Simon’s spine, since it would mean they were dealing with something very different from a regular ghost. Simon didn’t doubt that Sanderson knew what he was talking about, but the possibility was disquieting and implied more intention than usual for a spirit. “Were the newer sections built with less flammable materials?”

“Yes, but not enough to account for how specific the path of the damage is,” Sanderson replied. “I’ll be interested to see what the fire marshal’s report makes of it.”

His tone left no doubt that he had already made up his mind that the oddity was supernatural in origin.

“Give me a second to ‘tune in,’” Simon told Sanderson. They stood out of the way of the first responders, but in a spot that gave Simon a good vantage point to see the sprawling building.

Simon closed his eyes and opened his psychic senses, on guard for what he might find. A hotel the age of Ocean Visions could be expected to have more than its share of regular ghosts. He had heard stories since he’d been in Myrtle Beach about the haunts, but nothing had prompted its owner to ask him for help until now.

The hotel ghosts swarmed him, spirits from many time periods and all types of deaths. They weren’t asking for help passing over like spirits usually did. Instead, these ghosts were terrified.

“It’s loose again.”

“It’s back.”

“Stop it before people get killed.”

“What’s loose? Why did it go away and come back? Why do you think people will die?” Simon asked the ghosts.