Vintage Pride by Eilzabeth Lapthorne Read Free Book Online

take-no-shit best.
    “Gentlemen, lady…”
    The well-modulated tones of an English accent hit Ethan’s ear. He turned in his seat to see a striking figure, well over six feet in height, standing in the doorway. The man had hair so blond it was practically white and eyes of a curious shade somewhere between pale brown and gold. He wore a crisp white shirt, slim-fitting chocolate cord trousers and had a cravat around his neck. This, then, had to be Marcus White.
    He almost bounded into the room, the energy he radiated equal to that of the five Americans combined.
    “Nice to meet you all. I’m Marcus.”
    In turn, the Spirit Seekers team introduced themselves. Marcus shook hands with each of them, his grip almost painfully firm when he grasped Ethan’s fingers. Then he found a spare seat, lounging back and crossing his legs at the ankle as he regarded his guests.
    Whatever he was about to say next was interrupted by Agathe, returning with a platter of food. Sudden hunger rumbled in Ethan’s belly and he helped himself to a sandwich of smoked salmon and dill mayonnaise on thin-sliced sourdough bread.
    “We’ll have time to talk at length later,” Marcus said, “but I suspect you all want to rest after your journey. Just let me assure you that my wife, Thér è se, and I will be happy to help you with your investigation in whatever way we can.”
    “And what about your partner, Jean-Luc?” Kim asked. “When we first spoke, you said you might be able to persuade him to get involved.”
    “I’ve spoken to him and I’m afraid he really doesn’t want to appear on the show. Jean-Luc’s had…a difficult time recently and he’s hoping you’ll respect his privacy.”
    Ethan sensed Marcus was holding something back but reckoned now wasn’t the time to pry. They were guests in this man’s home, after all.
    “That won’t be a problem,” he assured Marcus. “We always need to have someone’s consent to appear in the finished program before we film them, and if he doesn’t want to give it, that’s fair enough. We’re most interested in speaking to those people who’ve actually experienced any kind of paranormal activity in the château.”
    “Well, then you’ll be wanting to talk to Agathe and the kitchen staff.”
    Ethan glanced over to where the housekeeper had been standing, only to realize she’d left the room.
    “What did they see?” Kim, as always, was the most keen to cut to the chase.
    “Oh, I’m sure they’ll fill you on all the details later, but let’s just say people don’t like to be alone in the scullery any longer.” Marcus reached over and helped himself to a sandwich.
    “Okay, so we’ll need to set up monitors in that room,” Dex said, obviously beginning to create a checklist for himself. “Where else have there been sightings?”
    “Most of what’s been seen and heard has been down on the lower levels of the château,” Marcus replied. “We’ve had a couple of instances of things being left in the cellar for safekeeping, and when someone’s gone to retrieve them, they’ve been found in a different position.”
    “And no one could have been down there and moved them?” Ethan asked. He’d looked into supposed poltergeist activity before and found that most of the time it was nothing more than someone playing a clever prank. On one occasion, the owner of the house had actually moved items around while sleepwalking and woken in the morning with no idea of what she’d done. Only when Ethan and Dex had shown her the evidence on camera had the woman’s bizarre nocturnal activities become clear to her.
    Marcus shook his head emphatically. “I’ll show you that part of the cellar, Mr. Wayne. You wouldn’t want to go down there after dark unless you absolutely had to—or during the daytime, come to that.”
    “One other thing,” Dex cut in. “We’d also like to place some of our recording equipment in the château’s grounds.”
    “Really?” Marcus said. “Whatever