Free Your Magic Touch by Kathy Carmichael Page B

didn’t light up when she was around Harrison the way she did around Sinclair.
    But they had to be on the safe side. Locking Harrison and Frannie in the basement together would solve the dilemma. Either they’d emerge totally smitten—or they wouldn’t.
    At the sound of approaching footsteps, Thomas whispered, “Get busy.”
    Maury grabbed a K-II meter and started waving it at the wall hangings along the wall near the dining room.
    Thomas punched the record button on his digital recorder and Willie Jo pointed his IR camera toward the basement door.
    Within seconds Sinclair joined them in the hallway. “Find any spooks?”
    “We won’t know for sure until we examine the evidence we’ve collected,” said Willie Jo. “You may be surprised by what we find.”
    Sinclair raised a disbelieving brow, then poked his head into the dining room. He turned back around and asked, “Where’s Frannie?”
    “I’m sure she’s around here somewhere,” said Thomas with a dismissive wave of the hand.
    Sinclair didn’t budge, obviously not satisfied. Maury hadn’t thought he would be.  Willie Jo and Thomas were wrong. The longing for one’s soul mate is strong, and Sinclair had all the symptoms of a man ready for love, whether he knew it or not.
    Maury saw it in his face whenever Sinclair spoke of Frannie, and the longing was in his tone whenever he asked for her.
    Just then the doors leading into the west wing heaved and groaned.
    Maury froze. Earlier Harrison had been the culprit slamming doors, but now he was in the basement with Frannie.
    This wasn’t a practical joke—at least not a human one.
    “Harrison,” snarled Sinclair.
    Ghosts, thought Maury, taking a step back to press his backside against the wall. He really detested the spirits who had taken up residence in Haliday Hall. They scared the daylights out of him.
    Thus far, his magical incantations had revealed only two kinds of specters at Haliday Hall. The first type, sweet little wraiths searching for their loved ones, didn’t bother him at all. It was the second type that got to him. They were nasty creatures who would just as soon harm you as look at you. And moaning doors were just the least of what they could do.
    Maury swiped at the sweat forming on his forehead as the fine hair on the back of his neck rose to attention.
    “It’s not Harrison this time,” said Willie Jo. “He’s with Frannie.”
    “And where might that be?” asked Sinclair. “Maybe they’re in it together this time.”
    “Come to think of it, I believe they said something about investigating in the cellars.” Thomas shot Sinclair a smile, which Maury hoped wouldn’t give them all away. Maybe Sinclair would interpret Thomas’s grin as reassuring.
    “You let Frannie go alone with Harrison into the basement?” demanded Sinclair. “Do you think that was wise?”
    Obviously the smile didn’t allay the man’s fears.
    “What’s wrong with that?” asked Willie Jo. “Surely Harrison wouldn’t harm Frannie.”
    “But he might well lead her into all sorts of trouble,” replied Sinclair, stalking toward the door to the basement.
    Since they had magically sealed the door, he wouldn’t be able to get through it. But Maury was putting his money on Sinclair finding another way to find the woman he would soon love if he had the chance.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN
     
    Frannie fiddled with the doorknob for five solid minutes and it still wouldn’t budge. The narrowness of the staircase landing had her biting back claustrophobia.
    “Allow me,” said Harrison, moving beside her. He yanked the knob, but again it didn’t move. He shoved at the door, but it hung solid. “That’s never happened before.”
    “Do you know another way out of this dungeon?” She took a step back to gain more air. With the walls no longer closing in on her, annoyance at the series of delays won out. She’d had enough of Harrison’s company, too. “How about a nice little secret passage or