Master of the Opera, Act 3: Phantom Serenade Read Online Free Page B

you? It shouldn’t come up in the work place.”
    “It must be kind of hard to work together.”
    “Yes and no. The good outweighs the bad. Now,” he fixed his faded denim-blue eyes on her, “you want to tell me what really happened the other night?”
    “Detective Sanchez didn’t tell you?”
    “Oh, he relayed your story, all right. Along with his opinion that there’s a lot you’re not telling.”
    Christy shifted her bag, wishing she’d had the chance to at least unlock her office door and set her things down. “I’ve thought and thought and I don’t know what else to say.”
    He nodded, scratched his bristly chin. “Did you know all the cameras went out?”
    Feeling her eyes widen, Christy pressed her lips together and shook her head.
    “Sure did. There’s you, watching Carla wheel that totem pole out, and pffft,” he chopped a hand down, “nothing but static. Every camera in the building became a pricey piece of metal and plastic.”
    “Wow.”
    “Yeah. That’s what Detective Sanchez said, only in more colorful terms. His people seem to think some kind of massive electrical pulse fried ’em all simultaneously. The Board is going after the company guys who did the install, though they’ve inspected and they say nothing is wrong.” Charlie shrugged and tucked his thumbs in the loops of his jeans. “They’ll sort it out. Meanwhile, the cameras still aren’t working, so keep that in mind.”
    “Okay.” Christy searched for something else to say— not about the chandelier—and dug in her bag for her keys instead.
    “Any more encounters with the ghost?”
    “What?” The keys dropped from her suddenly nerveless fingers and plummeted into the depths of her bag. Dammit . She looked up and Charlie leaned in, bracing an elbow on the doorway and propping his head on his hand. The position created a kind of privacy shield around them. One Christy strongly wanted to step out of.
    “I watched one of those Discovery Channel shows and they said ghosts can do that—some kind of electromagnetic pulse that zaps our electronics. Got me to thinking about what you said, and the singing. Our conversation over lunch that day.”
    “Surely you don’t believe that’s what’s going on here.” At last her fingers found her keys again. She had to kind of duck under Charlie’s arm to fit them into the lock, but she did it anyway, relieved to escape through the opened door.
    “I think there’s room in this world for all sorts of explanations. If you encountered the ghost, I hope that you’d tell me about it.”
    “So you could do what, Charlie?” She dropped her bag on the desk with a thunk of exasperation. “Call in the Ghostbusters?”
    “Or a shaman. There are some working ones around here.”
    “You’re serious.”
    “The spirit world is nothing to toy with. Damn straight I’m serious. Serious as a heart attack.” He grinned crookedly.
    “Don’t say that.”
    “Bad luck?”
    “Yes.”
    “See—you’re as superstitious as any of us. All this,” he waved a hand in the air, “started with you. I think you’re at the center of it, somehow. Carla thinks so, too, though she wouldn’t put it in the same words.”
    “It didn’t start with me.” She took a drink from her water bottle to salve her dry mouth. “Tara disappeared before I was even hired.”
    “Aha!” Charlie held up a finger. “But after your dad called about putting you on the roster.”
    She ran a shaky hand through her hair. Oh. “What are you saying?”
    “I think our ghost likes you, Christine .”
    “Well.” She neatly stacked her supplies. “Sorry to disappoint you, but I have not met any ghosts.” Because the Master was definitely flesh and blood, whatever else he might be. That much she was sure of. Pretty much.
    “I wonder.”
    “What are you saying?” She let her Davis temper flare. Don’t hesitate to let them know when they’ve pissed you off. Most people back down from confrontation. “Are you asking