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TWENTY MILES OUTSIDE OF CHARLESTON,

SOUTH CAROLINA

"Holy shit They got some kind of trees here"

Well, yeah, that suators satellite-link van eased off Rural Route SC 124, Gregg Winn braked and leaned forward over the steering wheel

Fucking perfect

The plantation house&039;s entrance was marked on both sides by live oaks the size of RVs and Spanishin the soft breeze Down at the end of the fra alley, about half a mile away, the columned mansion sat pretty as a lady in a chair, the noontiht

From the back, PI&039;s "host," Holly Fleet, leaned in "Are you sure about this?"

"It&039;s a Band B, right?" Gregg hit the gas "Open to the public"

"You called four times"

"They didn&039;t say no"

"They didn&039;t get back to you"

"Whatever" He needed to make this happen PI&039;s prih to the next advertising- dollar level at the network They weren&039;t in American Idol territory, true, but they&039;d kicked the shit out of the ic Exposed episode, and if that trend continued, the et thicker than blood

The long drive up to the house was like a trail that led not just deeper into the property, but backward in tirass-covered grounds, he expected to see Civil War soldiers and antebellu beneath the scarved trees

The gravel lane took visitors directly to the for parked off to the side in case any other cars needed to pass by

"You two stay here I&039; in"

As he stepped out from behind the wheel, he covered up his Ed Hardy shirt with a black windbreaker and pulled the cuff down over his gold Rolex The van with its PI logo of a h, and no doubt the house ned by a local Thing was, Hollywood style wasn&039;t necessarily a value-add outside of LA--and this gracious place was about as far froet

His Prada loafers shifted through the stone confetti of the driveway as he walked over to the entry The white house was a simple three-story box with porches on the first and second floors and a hip roof with dorance of the proportions and the sheer size of the da hat put it so solidly in rande dame routine, all the ere frah the leaded glass, he could see the chandeliers hanging fros

Hell of a bed-and-breakfast

The front door was big enough to belong on a cathedral and the knocker was a brass lion&039;s head that seeht, he let it fall back into place

While he waited, he checked to make sure Holly and Stan here he&039;d left the he needed when he was on what amounted to a sales call--especially when the hello-my-name-is was an unwelcome one And the truth was, if they hadn&039;t just been on an assignht not have tried a face-to-face, but for a half-hour drive that wasn&039;t even out of their way, it orth the effort They weren&039;t due to start setup for the special in Atlanta for a couple of days, so there was time for this More to the point, he would kill to--

The door side and he had to setting better The guy had English butler stamped all over him, from his shiny shoes to his black waistcoat and blazer

"Good afternoon, sir" And he had an accent Not quite British, not quite French--high-class European "HowWinn" He put out his hand "I think I&039;ve called you a couple of ties"

The butler&039;s shake was fast "Indeed"

Gregg waited for the , he cleared his throat "Ah I was hoping you&039;d allow us to do sorounds The Eliahu Rathboone legend is pretty re My team and I--"

"Per on the premises--"

"We would pay"

"--at all" The butler shtly "I&039;m sure you can understand that we prefer our privacy"

"Quite frankly, I don&039;t What&039;s the har dropped his voice and leaned in "Unless, of course you&039;re ht? Or suspending a candle in that upstairs bedroo wire?"

The butler&039;s face didn&039;t change, and yet he reeked of disdain "I believe you were on your way"

Not a co had dealt with tougher stuff than soet a lot of traffic as a result of those haunting stories" Gregg lowered his voice even further "Our TV audience is huge If you think you&039;re getting visitors now, iine what it would do for your business if you went national And even if you are cooking up the Rathboone stuff yourself, we can ith you, rather than against you If you knohat I an to close the door "Good day, sir--" Gregg put his body in the way Even if he hadn&039;t wanted to check out the stories badly, the whole no thing just wasn&039;t his bag And as usual, getting shut out sharpened his interest like nothing else

"We&039;d like to stay the night, then We&039;re doing workups on so Civil War sites and need a place to crash"

"I&039;m afraid we&039;re full"

At that racious stairway, their suitcases in hand Gregg smiled as he looked over the butler&039;s shoulder

"Not as full as you were" Shifting through his deck of personality cards, he put forth his best I&039;et that So on&039;t record anything, audio or video Swear on , he said loudly, "Hey, you guys--enjoy your stay?"

"Oh, irlfriend, wife, casual lay, whatever said "Eliahu is real!"

The boyfriend, husband, wanted-to-score nodded "I didn&039;t believe her I "

"We saw the light, too Have you heard about the light?"