Page 14 of Locked In

“Um, like I said, the lightning startled me.” Her eyes widened behind the mask.

“You’re not telling me what you are doing in here. You’re not a member, are you?” There’s no way he’d miss it if her picture had crossed his email. He got headshots of all the new Lock and Key Society members when they joined, and he’d never seen those eyes before.

“I was…looking for the bathroom.”

Flynn smiled. “Nice try, but no.” He leaned in. “Try again.”

A flush rose up her neck. The telltale giveaway.Never lie unless you’re good at it.That’s what his father taught him. This woman wasn’t good at lying. Not at all.

“I—I was just looking around.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “For what? What was it about the library that caught your attention?”

She licked her lips. “It was…” her voice trailed off.

He leaned one arm against the window. “What exactly?” The urge to kiss her was intense. Those big eyes and her scent played havoc with him. He reached out and ran a finger over her jaw. She tilted her chin slightly allowing him access to her neck. She was feeling it, too.

“One more time,” he said as he rubbed a thumb gently over her full lips. “What are you doing in here?”

She surprised the hell out of him when she pressed forward and kissed him. Slanting her lips across his and demanding access to his mouth. Access he was only too happy to oblige. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her back, trapping her between him and the window. She leaned into him and deepened the kiss. Pure fucking bliss as far as he was concerned.

A loud thump forced them apart. The sound came from the wall behind the desk. Flynn turned and stared. It wasn’t the type of thump as if something hit the wall in the other room. It was as if it came from the wall itself. All the hair on the back of his neck stood up. He scanned the wall and the bookcases. They were not alone. He could feel another presence. He knew someone was watching them like he knew his own name. Lightning flashed once again with another loud crash and then everything went black.

The woman let out a small squeak. Then the thump sounded again. Flynn pulled his cell phone from his pocket and flicked on the flashlight. Though the light was powerful, it wasn’t enough to banish the shadows that seemed more menacing than benign.

“Are you okay?” he asked. At her nod, he walked over toward the desk, scanning the wall of books behind it. Nothing. There had to be something though. Something that made the sound. Something that made all his senses go on high alert, including his sixth sense. Oh. he had one and it had kept him alive more times than he could count. He just didn’t believe in ghosts or past lives. At least maybe not until now.

“I need to check something,” he said and then strode out of the room, trying the next door over. He opened it and shined the flashlight inside. A broom closet. It didn’t go very deep, not deep enough to be where the thumping came from.

He closed the door and went back to the library. “I’m sure they’ll have the lights on…” his voice died out. The woman was gone. He shined his flashlight all around the now empty room. What the hell? He looked up and down the corridor but it was empty. Had he imagined her? Was she the ghost?Jesus.He needed to get some sleep or get laid or get… something. Ghost or not, he wanted to bed the lady in the library very badly.

The lightning flashed one more time, followed a heartbeat later by the crash of the thunder. The storm was intensifying. The lights flickered, died, and then turned back on. Flynn glanced around the library. The woman hadn’t left a trace. What was he expecting? A fucking trail of breadcrumbs?Get your head in the game.

Pushing thoughts of the woman from his mind, he examined the bookshelves behind the desk. They seemed solid. Nothing seemed amiss. But he knew he’d heard the thumps and so had the woman. Not for a minute did he believe in ghosts. He’d honed his senses over the years with all the things he’d done, and he knew for a fact that when that thump happened someone was watching him.

“What are you doing?” Mrs. Carruthers asked. She had one hand on the doorknob and one on the door jamb. She was wearing a black witch costume with a tall witch’s hat that had glitter on the band. “I asked everyone to stay out of these rooms this evening.”

Flynn swore under his breath. This woman needed to back the fuck off. He didn’t need to explain himself to her. He took a breath. No point in alienating the locals any more than necessary. “There was a woman in here, looking out the window. I came in to see what she was doing.”

Mrs. Carruthers looked around the room and then raised an eyebrow at him. “No one seems to be in here now. If you wouldn’t mind?” She stepped back and made room for him to walk out of the library.

As he came even with her, he stopped. “That’s twice now you’ve questioned me. I wouldn’t go for a third time. You might not like what happens.”

As Flynn exited, he knew immediately why Gina Ling was there. Members of the Society were not used to being spoken to like that. Mrs. Carruthers must have ruffled feathers left and right. Not that he was a member, but usually people who understood what his job was didn’t speak to him like that either. If he was on site, there was a problem. The people in charge usually wanted his help solving the problem and did not want the blame for causing the problem. Ordinarily, he was given a wide berth. An employee questioning his presence was new for him and he didn’t like it one fucking bit.

He came out into the hallway and glanced down the stairwell. People were leaving in a rush as Mrs. Carruthers preached about the storm getting worse. A flash of purple caught his eye. The woman paused and looked up at him. Their gazes locked. And then she was gone. At least now he knew for sure she existed. And his gut said she’d been up to something in that room. He would have to track her down and find out what, exactly, was going on. He smiled. That idea appealed to him in all kinds of ways. This might be an exciting chase, making a trip to Maine less of a horror. He snorted. Even with a potential ghost.

As he stared down at the crowd, a young woman in a tight black dress holding a clipboard caught his eye. She smiled up at him.Shit.He hadn’t been smiling at her. He nodded back. She looked young, early twenties maybe. Way too young for him. At thirty-six, he had no interest in twenty-year-olds. They were like French pastry, beautiful to look at but sticky as hell. He wasn’t interested in any kind of serious relationship, and they always seemed to want more. Nope. He liked women his own age. They knew what they wanted and they took it, generally speaking, and when they were done, they were gone. At least, the ones he dated were that way and he liked it.

Flynn’s phone went off and he glanced down at the screen.

How’s Maine? Meet any ghosts yet?

Cash. Figures he would rub it in. He was on his way to Italy. Lucky asshole.

No ghosts but it’s early yet. I’ve got you on speed dial in case I get scared.He hit send and put his phone back in his pocket.

“Hi there,” a voice said and he looked up. The blond had ditched the clipboard and come up to talk to him.

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