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“What?” he asked, looking genuinely confused. “Oh. No, not at all. I’m sorry. I, ah, I need to make a quick phone call. Something just came to me, and I need to check it out.” Without another word, he walked into the bedroom and shut the door. That was odd, because in the time I’d known him, Dev had never shut himself away while making a call.
A minute later, I heard his voice, and my curiosity got the best of me. I stood. Myst eyed me suspiciously, and I shot her a look. “Don’t look at me like that,” I whispered. “I’ll behave. Mostly.” She almost seemed to roll her light blue eyes at me and then settled back in for her nap with a grumble.
I got as close to the bedroom as I could and leaned in, catching bits of conversation that didn’t make any sense out of context.
“Where? When?” Dev asked, his voice hushed. “Why isn’t she coming to me? You’re the second person she’s gone to. No, I know it’s not your fault, I’m just . . . frustrated.” I heard him sigh.
“No, I haven’t. Not since I spoke with them about their parts for the show. I’ll have to reach out later and see if they know anything. Anything else? . . . No, I haven’t heard from him either . . . No, don’t worry. We’ll figure it out. He’s probably just busy. Thanks for letting me know.” Sounds of shuffling came through the door, and I imagined Dev pacing.
“I know.” I heard a smile in his voice now and wondered how the conversation had changed. “She’s pretty great,” he continued. “I just wish that things were easy. However, in this life, nothing ever is.” He laughed. “Unfortunately, I don’t think she’s ready for that yet. Besides, I’m not even sure how we’d accomplish it. She’s certainly not ready for an eye-opening experience of that magnitude . . . Yeah, okay, sounds good. Thanks again. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
The conversation ended, and I hustled back to the table as if I’d never moved, taking my last bite of eggs just as Dev reappeared.
“Everything okay?” I asked.
He had a little scowl on his face. “Yeah. At least, I think so. Just some work staff stuff. Nothing for you to worry about.” He kissed me on the head as he leaned down and grabbed my now-empty plate, taking it to the sink to add to his.
An hour later, we ventured downstairs to the show’s HQ and Dev initiated a Zoom meeting with some of the cast and crew. I got to meet James and Aaron, the camera operators, and a woman named Dakota that I was told was some kind of occult expert and psychic.
“Lark, I need you to establish contact with who you can today and relay our intent, and then set a circle around the property. Go as far back as the carriage house but be sure to steer clear of Bea’s lot, and then come as far up front as the mailboxes. Don’t worry about the shed or the cemetery,” Dev said.
Larken nodded and took some notes. “Done. Where do you want the doorway so you can open the way?”
Dev looked thoughtful for a second. “I’m not sure it matters. I’ll have you let us in down on the driveway and I’ll sketch at the entryway of the courtyard when we begin.”
I had absolutely no idea what they were talking about, but I imagined I would find out later. I wasn’t ready to admit it aloud, and my stance on all things woo-woo hadn’t really changed, but with each layer of the process they unveiled, the more my interests were piqued.
“Hey,” Harper said. “Has anyone heard from Burke? I need him to dig into some additional things regarding the woman in the headscarves. I think I figured out who it could be, but I need someone who has more historical access.”
“No,” Dev said. “I checked in with him, too, and didn’t get any replies. I’m sure he’s just busy and will reach out later. If he’s at the historical society or the library, I imagine he shut off his phone.”
Paxton nodded but then cocked his head. “Where are R2 and Van?”
Dev took a drink of his water. “Remy left me a voicemail early this morning. Said he wasn’t feeling well. He pretty much did everything I needed him to do already. We’ll be fine without him for today and tonight, I think. Hopefully, he’ll be back tomorrow. And I’m pretty sure Van was headed to Baton Rouge to pick up that new piece of equipment I am dying to try, though I’m not one-hundred-percent sure.”
“Any, uh . . .” Larken started and then seemed to glance at me through the screen, “word from our other crewmembers?”
“Nothing new,” Dev said. “Not really, anyway. Desmond was doing some digging into The Colonel for us, and our favorite love birds,”—he smiled—“were asking around about the woman in white. I talked to them this morning, actually.”
That must have been the call he’d made earlier. I thought back to the bits of conversation I’d overheard and wondered who else they’d been talking about—besides me. I decided it didn’t matter. It was likely something I wouldn’t understand anyway.
“Do you still want me to interview Mr. and Mrs. Whitaker today?” Harper asked.
“Yeah, that would be great. They had some experiences out in the side woods that I’d like to know more about. We don’t have many accounts from the property, just the buildings, and it’d be good to know more so we can see if we need to look into it as possible correlating activities.”
“I’m on it,” she replied. “Actually, I’d better get to it. They’re an hour ahead of us in Indiana. Do you need anything else right now?”
“Nope,” Dev said. “Call me later or text if you need anything.”
“Will do,” Harper said, waved, and then disconnected.
“Okay,” Dev said. “Hopefully, Burke’s looking into our bohemian ghost, Harper’s interviewing the Whitakers, and Lark’s getting Arborwood ready. Sky, Padre, I won’t need you guys today I don’t think, so why don’t you two go and do a preliminary check on our next property since we’ll need to jump into that the minute this one’s a wrap?”
“Yeah, we can do that,” Schuyler answered, and Paxton nodded.
“James, Aaron, I need you guys to do a bunch of glamour shots and things first thing today. Get some low footage of the house through the woods. Some traveling reels coming up the driveway. If you have time, can you send up the drone and get some overhead property shots and atmospheric, three-hundred-and-sixty-degree-view footage?” Dev made a circling motion with his finger. “Oh, and some panning, close-up clips. Like of the stair railings and the ornate windows, etcetera.”
“Yeah, bro. We got you,” Aaron said and chugged back what looked to be half of his energy drink. I felt jittery just watching him.
