Chapter 1
I see ghosts.
Sort of.
Not really.
Okay, I don’t see ghosts. I’ve never seen one ghost.
But up until six months ago, the entire continent of North America believed very differently.
***
“Ms. Provey, are you ready? You’re on in one minute.”
“Thanks,” I told the production assistant from the wings of the stage. She shivered as a the air-conditioning unit above us turned on.
“Cold?” I whispered.
“Always. I forgot my sweater.”
I slipped out of my Versace cardigan. “Here, take this. You can’t stand back here all day freezing.”
“No, I can’t.” She spotted the label and her eyes widened. The assistant pushed it back into my hands. “I can’t wear this.”
“I insist, and I won’t hear another word of argument.”
She hesitated before beaming. “I’ll get it back to you.”
I shrugged. “No big deal if you don’t. You have a long day ahead. Stay warm.”
Out front, several hundred people were gathered to spend the morning with Dakota Flynn, the biggest name in daytime television.
Dakota, dressed in white silk, sat on a plush cream-colored chair beside a chocolate-brown sofa—the place where I was supposed to settle my rear end in less than one minute.
“Our next guest,” Dakota said into the cameras, “is a New York Times best-selling author of ghost mysteries. She even has one living in her house, and he’s supposedly the muse for her very successful Ghost Out series. Please welcome Paige Provey.”
“And go,” the production assistant said.
I tossed my brown hair back and headed out with a smile, my straight teeth more than likely gleaming from the recent whitening I’d had done on them.
“So good to see you,” Dakota said, sweeping me into a friendly hug. “Please, have a seat.”
Folks kept clapping, so I waved to the audience.
“Everyone settle down,” Dakota teased. “Let’s let Paige speak; then you can clap again.”
“I love you, Paige,” someone shouted.
“Thank you,” I said demurely.
When the applause died, Dakota turned to me. “So Paige, you are such a phenomenon. People love your books. They love you. You have given a voice to those who have witnessed the other side, the paranormal veil of life, but were afraid to speak out. We all want to know how you do it. But first”—she held up my newest release—“before I forget, everyone at home, be sure to grab Paige’s latest release, Ghost of a Chance, and for those of you in the audience, check under your seats because each of you have a copy.” The audience squealed with delight.
When they calmed, Dakota motioned to me. “Tell us everything, Paige—have you always seen spirits?”
“Well, um, I never really saw much when I was a kid, but it was when I moved into my house that Thomas appeared.” The audience clapped. Thomas was always a popular subject. “He is a ghost, and at first he would just move things around the house, but then he started talking and telling me things. That’s how I first came up with the series idea for Ghost Out. I felt that people needed to know Thomas’s story.”
Yes, it was all a load of crap. There was no Thomas. But loads of crap sold books, and I was riding my gravy train for as long as I possibly could.
Also I was going through a messy divorce and desperately needed all the extra money that I could get my hands on because my soon-to-be ex was taking me to the cleaners.
“Well, you have really touched so many folks with your humor and sympathy for the spirit world,” Dakota said. “You are just such a national treasure. I know that I treasure you.” She turned to the audience. “Who else treasures Paige with her Southern wit and gothic tales of ghosts?”
The audience erupted in applause. Honestly it was a tad bit embarrassing. But great for book sales.
“Okay,” Dakota said, rising. “It’s time to take some questions from the audience. If anyone has a question for Paige, raise your hand.”
Dakota sprinted into the audience with the energy of a bobcat.
A woman in a red sweater a few rows in raised her hand.
Dakota held the microphone to her chin. “What’s your question?”
The woman’s face turned bright red from nervousness. “I just want to know, Ms. Provey, how do you come up with your ideas? You’re on book ten of the series. How do you keep having new things to write about?”
“Well, honestly, it’s Thomas. He just keeps whispering in my ear. He’s got stories to tell, so I type them on my computer. I have him to thank for all my success.”
“Okay, next question.” Dakota headed over to a young woman in glasses in the very back.
“What would you like to ask Ms. Provey?”
“I just want to say,” the woman replied, voice shaking, “that your books have completely touched my life. They changed me. You have inspired me so much that before, I wasn’t heeding my calling, but because of you and your courage to tell Thomas’s tale, I have the will to follow my own dreams. That’s all I had to say.”
She blew kisses to me as I spoke. “Thank you so much. I am so blessed to have amazing readers like you in my life.”
“We have time for one more,” Dakota said. “Yes, you in the front.” She stopped in front of a young woman with long dark hair sitting smack in the front row. “What’s your question?”
The woman cleared her throat.
“Don’t be nervous,” I said. “We’re all friends here.”
The woman pushed a pair of glasses up her nose. “I wanted to know what it feels like to be a fraud.”
My heart stuttered. “I’m sorry?”
The woman’s voice loudened. “You’ve been lying to these people, telling them that you speak to ghosts and taking their money, when in reality you’ve never spoken to one spirit ever.”
“That’s not true,” I replied, clutching my hands nervously.
She pulled out her phone and up came a video. “That’s not what your ex-husband said.”
Then, loud as dynamite exploding, came Walter’s voice through the speaker on her phone.
“Paige? Paige’s never seen a ghost in her entire life. She makes it all up, letting folks believe in her. She’s full of crap.”
Dakota’s jaw dropped. She slowly pivoted toward me. “Well, Paige, what do you have to say to that?”
My heart raced. My mouth became a desert. Finally, words came. “Walter, we’re going through a divorce. He’s only saying that to get me to support him financially.” I laughed nervously. “If he tells lies about me and I go begging him to stop it, he’ll recant what he said.”
The woman sneered. “Really? There’s more.”
She pressed the video again. Walter’s voice pierced the silence in the studio. “Paige wants me to stop talking, but I’ve always loved her. She’s trying to ruin me and take everything I brought into this marriage. That’s why I want the world to know the truth about her.”
Then the jerk broke into tears. This looked bad for me. Very, very bad.
I was about to speak, to say something to save my skin, when the young woman beat me to it.
“Paige Provey, looks like you’ve been canceled.”
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