Connor Harrison turned down the long lane lined with oaks and drove toward the Birkley mansion. The old house had been easy to find, with the directions he had been given and the help of the GPS on his dash. He glanced over at Andrea, who was just now beginning to wake. “I think we’re here kiddo,” he called out, as the three-story mansion came into view. “Wow, she sure does know how to pick them, doesn’t she?” Andrea Nicholson, finally awake and staring ahead, offered, “This might be a good week-end, after all it’s just for the week-end and I can stand it.” “Now that’s the spirit. I read that this place was built in 1823 and that the same family owned it until the nineteen twenties. What do you think about that?” “Interesting, I guess,” she answered, “but it’s a long way to come for a party.” Once again she unfolded the map and studied it for a moment. “You do know that we’re over a hundred miles from Greensboro, and...does this place have running water?” “Yes, it has indoor plumbing and all the conveniences, so don’t worry about it. When the place was sold in nineteen twenty something or other, the new owner brought it up to code...sort of.” “What do you mean sort of?” she answered, as she saw the big house come into view. It was just at dusk, and the mansion took on an almost ethereal look as the couple pulled around the circular driveway. “Do you suppose our hostess will greet us at the door?”
Andrea referred to Cindy Quinlan, former North Carolina SBI agent and also former lover to her companion. Cindy was the only reason Andrea had, at first, balked at making this trip. “This is stupid,” she uttered, “no one drives this far to go to a costume party of Friday the thirteenth, especially since I know what’s going on here.” “Wait a minute,” Connor countered, as he put his Dodge Durango into park in front of the mansion’s entrance and faced his accuser. “There’s nothing going on here. Her mother sent me, that is us, an invitation and we accepted.” “You accepted,” she challenged. “But you agreed.” “Okay, you’ve got me there, I guess.” “That’s better,” he said, glancing at the huge double doors as they opened, revealing a witch and Alice in Wonderland. The two costumed women advanced on the car as Conner stepped out. He was immediately thrown into an amorous embrace by Alice, aka, Cindy Quinlan. “We’re glad you’re here,” the witch exclaimed, in the guise of Mrs. Sylvia Hamilton, the hostess of the party, “and you must be Andrea. It is such a pleasure to finally meet you. I’ve heard so much about you and I’ve read your articles in the newspaper. It’s nice to meet a real celebrity.” Andrea as quite taken aback by the attention heaped upon her by the witch, Cindy Quinlan’s mother. “Thank you, but it was really nothing.” “Nothing indeed, a clinical psychologist, an author and a crime fighter, all in one.” She referred to the articles Andrea had co-authored about the world of psychology and the by-line she had garnered in the series concerning the “Twenty-two Caliber Murders”, solved, of course, with the help of Connor Harrison, former homicide detective with the Raleigh Police Department and current lover. “Believe it or not, it was fun,” Andrea said, “I mean the writing part.” Mrs. Hamilton smiled, and then exclaimed, “Why are we standing out here? Connor, get your luggage out and go park the car. I’m going to take this charming lady in and show her the house, and I hope you both brought costumes for the dance tomorrow night.” She paused for a moment, realizing that she and her daughter were already costumed. “We just couldn’t help it, we wanted to greet our guests dressed as we are. After all, this is Friday the thirteenth, and what better reason to dress up, unless, of course it was Halloween, which isn’t all that far away.” The older lady dragged the unwilling Andrea away from her escort Connor, and all she could do was smile and wave. Connor smiled in return, removed the luggage, which he set at the front of the house, and with Cindy as his co-pilot, drove toward the area designated as the parking lot. “Well, Connor, it’s good to see you again, even under these circumstances,” Cindy said, as they drove away from the house. “What do you mean?” he questioned. "You know, it used to be you and me, now, I guess, it’s you and her.” She referred with a flip of her head to the figure of Andrea fading in the distance. “Slow down,” Connor counseled, “It never was you and me and right now I’m not sure about me and Andrea. I’ve told you this before, I’m not looking for anything long term, just friends, right?” “Yeah,” she countered, “like the friendship we had at my place in Plymouth.” She grinned at Connor’s frown as he pulled into the field, serving, just for the weekend, as a parking lot “Since I’m in charge of the arrangements, I took the liberty of putting you on the second floor, next to me, of course, and your beloved Andrea is on the third floor, in a room, might I add, that some say is haunted. But of course, we don’t believe in ghosts, do we?” She smiled at Connor as she made her declaration. “If I didn’t no better, I’d swear you were just evil.” “Now, now, let’s not get upset...and there’s more. You and I will be dinner partners tonight and partners for the big dance mother has planned for tomorrow night.” “I suppose,” he countered, “you’ve lined up something wicked for Andrea?” “Oh yes, that’s the best part. Her partner tonight...and tomorrow night, might I add, will be Doctor Hefner. He’s a veterinarian that mother knows. He must be about eighty-something or other and just the life of the party.” She laughed as Connor looked at her strangely. “Why are you doing this?” “Oh, I’m just having a little fun at the expense of my competition, that’s all.” “Look,” Connor said, as he slid the car into a parking space on the field and turned off the engine, “there’s no competition. I’m not looking for any kind of long-term relationship, with her...or with you. What do I have to do to make you understand that?” “More than you’re doing now. But after the weekend is over, we’ll see how it goes, we’ll just see.”