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along with him.
    “Nothing,” he replied, breaking eye contact to finish his pint. “So, you need a website do you?”
    “I do, yes.” Ruby finished her drink too.
    “I’ll strike a deal with you then.”
    “A deal? What...?”
    “I’ll design and build a website for you if you let me accompany you on one of your... surveys.”
    Surveys? Not a haunting? He was learning the lingo at least. But no, she couldn’t possibly take him to a survey, what would Theo say? She was about to protest when he started again.
    “I promise I won’t be a nuisance or anything. I’ll just observe. I could, I don’t know, hold a crystal or something. Please, I’m really interested.”
    Please ? It was nice he had added that at least. Tired as well as lightheaded, she sensed he’d be difficult to turn down. And, in a way, she was flattered. No one had ever asked her if they could come along as politely as that. And she might even get a website out of it.
    “Okay,” she said at last. “Not tomorrow though, Wednesday. I’m going to visit a large house up country a bit, near Framfield. It’s presided over by the movie star who used to live there, apparently. One of my team has already surveyed it; I’m going along to get a ‘feel’ for the case myself before deciding on a course of action. You can come with me if you like.”
    “It’s lucky that December’s a quiet month for me, I’ll rearrange my work so I can join you, I’d hate to miss out,” he answered, smiling at her – a rather spine tingling smile, she had to admit.
    After giving him the address of her office and telling him to meet her there at nine sharp on Wednesday morning, she stood up, swaying she was sure as she bent to collect her coat. Forcing herself to get a grip, she squeezed round the side of the table furthest from him, saying goodbye as she did so.
    “See you Wednesday!” he called after her, his rich, deep voice sending shivers down her spine once more.

Chapter Three
     
    The next morning, as she twisted her long brown hair into a neat chignon and pulled some tendrils down to frame her face on either side, Ruby could not believe what she had done. She blamed that third rum and coke entirely for clouding her judgement, for making her think it was okay to allow a non-psychic, an almost complete stranger, to accompany her on a survey – and one that might draw public attention too. But Cash had been persuasive, she’d give him that, dangling the carrot of a website in front of her nose. He certainly knew how to tempt a girl.
    Slicking mascara onto her already long enough lashes, she wondered what harm it could do, him tagging along. None really, she supposed, it was a survey, nothing more. He’d get an insight into what she did and hopefully she’d get something more concrete from him.
    And she had to admit, Cash was nice – very nice. It had been a long time since she’d met someone as nice, a member of the opposite sex that is. Aside from a few awkward moments at the start, they had got on well. She couldn’t deny it; it felt good to think she’d be seeing him again. But she hoped he wouldn’t get the wrong idea about her. As attractive as he was, she wasn’t in the market for a boyfriend. The last serious relationship she’d had, a couple of years ago, hadn’t ended too well. Although she always tried to keep her professional and personal lives separate, sometimes they overlapped; she couldn’t help it, particularly if she had to deal with an emotionally traumatised spirit. Cases like these not only drained her, they upset her too. Although initially they had got on well, Adam had always found her job hard to come to terms with and certainly never wanted to deal with any fallout from it. He had preferred to ignore it, brush it under the carpet, and would get annoyed with her if she even so much as hinted to any of his friends what she did. She’d always suspected that he was embarrassed by her, though Adam had never admitted it.