Ghostfinders 03 -Ghost of a Dream

far. Lots of clues, lots of entertaining weird shit, and, best of all, he had no idea what the hell was going on. JC always enjoyed a challenge. Something fiendishly complicated, and horribly fiendish, to test his smarts and his courage. JC never felt more alive than when jousting with death. More so these days because he had nothing else. Kim had been his reason for living; and with her gone, he had to find something else to fill his thoughts, to keep him from thinking about her.
    He’d seen her here. In the theatre. That had to mean something.
    “So,” said Lissa, coming forward to stand right beside him, “here we are, alone on the stage together, just thetwo of us. That has to mean something…Why did you choose me as your partner and send everyone else away, I wonder?”
    “Almost certainly not for the reason you’re thinking,” said JC, turning unhurriedly around to smile at her. “Now that Benjamin and Elizabeth are gone, let us take the opportunity to talk about them behind their backs. How well do you know them?”
    Lissa shrugged briefly. “They hired me to be in their play, for really good money. What more do I need to know?”
    “You must have made some inquiries before you agreed to take on the role,” said JC. “You must have heard something…”
    “Well, one always
hears
things, sweetie. No-one loves a good gossip more than the acting profession. For us, adoration and backbiting are but two sides of the same coin. I did hear that this play was jinxed…A lot of people in my business wouldn’t touch it with a disinfected barge-pole. And not simply because it died the death in its first and only run. The original male lead in the play, all those years ago, was supposed to be one Alistair Gravel. Except he didn’t get to be the lead, did he?”
    JC nodded. “I remember Benjamin and Elizabeth saying he died, in an accident.”
    “Which is very interesting,” said Lissa. “Because I was told Alistair Gravel up and disappeared. Vanished, between one rehearsal and the next. And he was never found again, dead or alive. Not one trace of him anywhere, in the last twenty years, which is a bit odd, sweetie, for suchan up-and-coming, talented young actor. Wouldn’t you say?”
    JC considered her thoughtfully. “You didn’t take this role because your agent advised you to, did you?”
    Lissa laughed softly. “No. I came here because I wanted to find out what really did happen to my uncle Alistair. I grew up listening to stories about his mysterious disappearance, so when my agent got the offer, to be in a play so unlucky they have to attach a rabbit’s foot to every script to get people to read it…I jumped at the chance. My agent still isn’t talking to me. I think dear Benjamin and Elizabeth know a lot more than they’re saying. I think they know what happened here, all those years ago. If we can persuade them to talk.”
    JC raised an eyebrow. “‘We,’ dear lady?”
    “You want to know what’s behind the haunting in this theatre,” said Lissa, with an artless toss of her head. “And it’s my belief that all these spooky manifestations are directly connected to the missing Alistair Gravel.”
    “Seems likely,” said JC, in his best
I’m giving away nothing at this time
voice. “Every haunting, every bad place, has its starting point—its beginning, in some dramatic moment. And its power source. Ghosts…are all about unfinished business.” He looked steadily at Lissa. “Do you think your missing uncle Alistair is the ghost here? That he’s behind everything that’s happening?”
    “Seems likely,” said Lissa. “Robbed of his chance for fame and glory at the very last moment? Struck down on the brink of stardom? Has to be.”
    “Do you think Benjamin and Elizabeth killed him?” said JC.
    “Now why would they do that?” said Lissa. “He was their friend. Their very good friend.”
    “People have sacrificed good friends before, for success,” said JC.
    “But there was no success,” said Lissa. “The play that was supposed to do so much for everyone, ruined the lives of everyone associated with it. Still, I’ll bet you good money that Benjamin and Elizabeth know the truth. Whatever it is.”
    She turned to JC, stopping before him just that little bit short of uncomfortably close, and smiled dazzlingly.
    “Why did you ask me to stay with you, then send all the others away?”
    “Because,” said JC, staring into her eyes, “I wanted to talk to you, alone.