Flirting Under a Full Moon - By Ashlyn Chase Page 0,33
sniffed the air and muttered something under her breath.
Brandee rested a hand on her hip. “I said I was sorry. Besides, you folks aren’t exactly quiet, either. I hear all kinds of weird noises coming from upstairs.”
Mrs. Balog bit her lip.
“Like?” Nick asked.
“Like moaning and howling,” Brandee said.
Nick seemed startled. “Howling? Mrs. Balog, is it the kind of howling that comes from a human, or…”
Mrs. Balog muttered something in another language and fled up the stairs.
“That was weird,” Brandee said as she closed the door. “What do you supposed she said?”
“I don’t know.”
Brandee had the feeling he wasn’t telling her everything—again.
“What is it, Nick? What’s bothering you?”
“Tell me exactly what the noises upstairs sound like.”
“Like I said. Howling. Sometimes moaning and banging. Sometimes growling. Sometimes grunting. But it’s an old building. Angie and I figured part of the noise was the wind, and part was the old furnace or air in the pipes. Why? What are you thinking?”
He hesitated.
“What aren’t you telling me, Nick? I thought I could trust you to tell me the truth from now on.”
He placed his hands on her shoulders. “Nothing. It’s nothing. I just wondered if they had an illegal animal up there or something. I just want to be sure you’re safe.”
“You’re not going to turn into one of those overprotective boyfriends, are you? Because I’ve been taking care of myself for quite a while. I don’t need a hovering—”
“Look. I need to be sure you and Angie are safe here. I know how dangerous this city can be. Remember, I was a cop for a long time. You’d be surprised about the kind of so-called pets some crackpots keep in their apartments. If anything happened to you…”
She sighed and flopped down on her sofa. “Okay. I get it. I know the Balogs are strange, but I doubt they have tigers or wolves up there.” She laughed. Then she thought she saw something change in Nick’s expression, as if she’d caused him alarm. “Oh, come on. I was just kidding. Tigers don’t moan.”
“What kind of moaning is it?” Nick sat beside her. “Does it sound like sexual moans?”
“Ha. No way. Sometimes it sounds like my clunker of a car trying to turn over and failing, and sometimes there’s almost a creepy quality to it.”
“Like ghosts?”
“You don’t believe in things like that, do you?”
He shrugged. “Why not?”
She leaned back and took a good look at him. “You were a cop. Don’t cops go after facts and try to dismiss things that aren’t real?”
“Who are we to say what’s real?”
Nick was a puzzle. Just when she thought she had him figured out, he said or did something she didn’t expect.
“Do you know anyone whose place is haunted?”
Nick laughed. “My brother used to live in an old building a few blocks down Beacon Street. He was convinced they had a ghost. Man, the stories he told me.” Suddenly he shut his mouth so hard she heard his teeth click.
“What stories?”
“Never mind. I’m sure they were exaggerated.”
“Tell me, Nick. Exaggerated or not, you promised to be straight with me from now on.”
His brow furrowed, then he took a deep breath and said, “The ghost was protective of his old apartment. He played pranks on potential renters until he scared them off.”
She looked at him askance. “Oh? What kind of pranks?”
Nick shifted, looking uncomfortable. “Nothing really dangerous…just unsettling.”
If anyone was feeling unsettled at the moment, it was Brandee. She had always wondered why only two of the three floors above the bar were occupied. “Give me an example.”
“Oh, he’d flip the lights or the stove on and off. He shifted things out of place a few times….”
Her jaw dropped. “He could move things? Turn on the stove? The electricity? What else?”
“He liked to unplug the TV, start the ceiling fan, or short out the—you know what? Never mind. It’s probably just the Balogs doing the nasty, and they don’t want anyone to know.”
“I guess…” Brandee scratched her head. “Maybe you can stay over some night and hear it for yourself—that is if you’re not a heavy sleeper.”
Nick massaged her neck and gave her a sly smile. “I can think of an activity to occupy the time and keep us awake.”
“I’ll bet you’re talking about a ten-thousand-piece puzzle, aren’t you?”
“Not even close.”
“Didn’t really think so.”
Chapter 10
The following evening, Nick asked to speak to Anthony in his office. Brandee was busy waiting on a table full of rowdy college kids. Thankfully, Ruxandra was nowhere to be seen.