The Stuffing of Nightmares (The Mysteries of Bell & Whitehouse Book 7) Read Free Page A

his neck, there was always a small chance of them finding out. And if Brian was removed from power, Peverell had no way to keep control of the group.
    Driving out to Happy Bays, he’d decided not to dwell on these issues. He’d come to congratulate his team, and that was exactly what he’d do. So he pressed his glasses further up his nose and gave his team a beaming smile. As usual, his square jaw was smoothly shaven, his blond hair perfectly coiffed, and his three-piece suit immaculate both in cut and fit. The only thing striking a discordant note was his green paisley tie, which was quite horrid.
    He cleared his throat, wondering why no one spoke. But since he was a lawyer, he didn’t mind making the opening address. “I think congratulations are in order. Your first mission as ghost helpers was a resounding success!”
    He gratefully took the chair Rick offered, the glass of OJ Felicity pressed in his hand, and looked around the room with a sigh of pleasure.
    The place was cozily appointed, just as he would expect from Fee and Alice. There was a real sense of homeliness, and for a moment, he felt a pang of sadness. His sparsely decorated condo couldn’t hold a candle to this place. His whole life revolved around his job and had so for a long time.
    He sat back comfortably. “So, tell me. How did it go?”
    But instead of responding, the foursome simply stood and stared at him.
    “Well? How was it? How was the first successful mission of the Wraith Wranglers wrought?” He laughed at his little joke but found that he was the only one. Not a flicker of a smile appeared on the others’ faces.
    “There’s something we need to discuss, Brian,” Felicity said.
    He frowned. “Oh? And what’s that?”
    A giggle sounded, and he was surprised to find an old gray-bearded ghost seated on the couch. The old man’s long flowing beard and hair were tangled and dirty, his face sooted. “This is gonna be good, son,” said the graybeard.
    He ignored him, figuring he was probably some old relative of the Bells.
    Then he watched as Reece stepped to the fore, and unfolded a letter with some ceremony.
    He grinned. “Isn’t it too soon to be reading your Christmas letter, Reece?”
    “No Christmas letter,” said Alice. “We’ve drawn up a statement, and we would like you to listen very carefully, Brian.”
    “Oh?” That twinge of uneasiness was back, and this time even more pronounced. What was going on? The whole scene reminded him too much of that time his girlfriend had broken up with him. She’d also sat him down, and had launched into a lengthy speech pointing out his many defects before finally concluding that she didn’t want to be Mrs. Rutherford after all.
    “Dear Brian,” Reece began, his voice hitting the lower octaves. He would have made a great baritone, Brian thought. But then he focused his attention on the actor and his words. “It has come to our attention that you are not who you say you are. You have insisted from the start that you chose us for our capacity to help ghosts, and that your chief aim in life is to assist ghosts to move beyond this mortal plane and into the afterlife. This was clearly a lie.”
    Reece fixed him with a stern expression, and Brian gulped, now noticing that the other three wraith wranglers were also looking at him with a distinct lack of warmth. Uh-oh. This was like that time his girlfriend had broken up with him, only now his team was breaking up with him!

Chapter 4
    F elicity didn’t like the way Brian was wriggling in his chair. Against all proof to the contrary, she still hoped he was innocent of the accusations they were about to hurl at him. She still hoped they were wrong, and he was, in fact, the man they thought he was: a real humanitarian who wanted to help the world’s ghosts to find eternal peace. To solve unsolved crimes and to use his remarkable gift for good. But as she watched him writhe and squirm, that faint glimmer of hope died. The man clearly was a