Ghost Agents
by Nita DeBorde
Author Nita Deborde is putting together a short story collection.
The collection will be called Ghost Agents: Lone Star
She is hoping to have it spin off of the Ghost Agents series when the trilogy is complete.
Here is an except from the collection.
San Jacinto (excerpt)
According to the Bureau records Craig had reviewed, the energy projections tethered to the San Jacinto battleground site consisted of two soldiers from the Texian army and close to a dozen Mexican soldiers. He wasn’t sure exactly where on the grounds to look for the projections, if he would even be able to find them at all, but he had the rest of the night to search if he had to.
While the floodlights shining on the 565-foot-tall monument provided a degree of illumination, he still proceeded slowly and carefully across the darkened grounds, not wanting to use a flashlight in the open field and potentially draw attention to his location.
His concerns about not being able to find any projections were quickly squelched when he heard an enthusiastic cry of “Remember the Alamo! And Remember Goliad!” from some distance away to his right. He turned and began making his way in that direction, using the noise of the commotion as his guide.
It didn’t take long before he spotted several translucent forms gathered near a grove of trees on the edge of the battleground site. A half dozen of the projections were standing in a cluster while two others ran around them, shouting the famous battle cry of the Texas War for Independence.
Craig stood to the side, studying the bizarre scene, uncertain how best to engage the projections. He cleared his throat, drawing the attention of a couple of the Mexican soldiers. He held up his Bureau agent’s badge. The incandescent glow shown through the darkness, and the projections nodded.
“They will be finished in a few minutes,” one of the soldiers called out to him in a thick Spanish accent. The insignia on his uniform indicated he had been a lieutenant in the Mexican army. He motioned with his head toward the two Texian projections, still running in circles around them. “They just need to get it out of their system each night.”
Craig nodded and waited. The real-life battle had only lasted eighteen minutes. He hoped the projections’ “re-enactment” wouldn’t take any longer than that.
As if on cue, the two Texian soldiers began cheering and congratulating each other. The Mexican solider who had originally spoken nodded in Craig’s direction, as if to say, “See, I told you.” Craig stifled a chuckle and made his way toward the crowd of projections.
As he approached, the lieutenant shrugged his shoulders. “They really aren’t half bad once they realize the battle is over.”
Craig nodded. Having been born and raised in the Houston area, he was no stranger to the intense Texan pride that had always characterized the state’s inhabitants, even from its very inception.
“What brings a Bureau agent out to the battleground this evening?” one of the Texian soldiers asked as he and his compatriot joined the group.
Craig appreciated the chance to get straight to business. “Agent Connelly has expressed some concerns about your last assessment interview. He said none of you could remember how you’ve been spending your nights lately, beyond this nightly re-enactment that is.”
The projections exchanged hesitant looks.
“And this gives the Bureau cause for concern?” the Mexican lieutenant finally asked.
“A little, yes,” Craig admitted. He was careful to keep his own emotions even so as not to betray just how much concern the situation caused him.
“Are we in trouble?” one of the Texian soldiers asked, casting a wary eye at his fellow projections.
Craig smiled at them all. “Of course not. Part of my job is to make sure everything is okay with you and assist you in whatever way I can. This matter simply struck me as something I might want to check on”
The projections seemed to relax a little.
“That’s good to know,” the other Texian said with a smile to his fellow soldier. “We have to admit we were a little worried about it, too. We just didn’t know if we should…”
The soldier froze as if someone had pushed an unseen pause button. Craig waited for him to finish his sentence, but he just continued to stare straight ahead with a blank expression on his face.
Craig looked at the other projections. They all had the same distant look in their eyes, as if they were listening to a song Craig couldn’t hear.
Craig approached the projection nearest to him and waved a hand in front of his face without receiving a response. He pulled out his cell phone to call in some Bureau reinforcements but stopped when the entire group of projections began moving in unison toward the tree line.
Craig watched in open-mouthed confusion for a few seconds, then snapped himself back to the task at hand. He pushed record on his phone’s video camera, though he had little hope of getting a clear video in the dim lighting.
The group of projections didn’t make a sound as they continued slowly toward the trees.
Craig followed them, intent on capturing the strange behavior as thoroughly as his technology would allow. Since he wasn’t watching where he was going, he stepped into a small indention in the ground and stumbled slightly. A small twig snapped as he took a step to balance himself.
Almost instantly, the group of projections froze once again. Their attention remained focused straight in front of them, fixed on something in the trees. Craig held his breath, waiting to see what they would do next.
Several agonizing seconds passed, then just as quickly as their attention had been captured, the spell seemed to break. The group of projections began looking around, confused and disoriented.
One of the Texian soldiers spotted Craig and a flash of recognition lit his face. “I have to say,” he began with a chuckle, “we’re mighty relieved we aren’t in any trouble because of our memory lapses.”
Craig forced a smile, despite the sickening knot in the pit of his stomach. “Of course. I’m just glad to see y’all seem to be doing fine.”
The projections began to talk amongst themselves as they floated across the ground, heading off to spend the rest of the night engaged in their usual activities, without any recollection of what had just happened.
Craig’s hand shook as he returned his phone to his pocket. How was he ever going to explain this to his superiors at the Bureau? He only hoped the video footage could be cleaned up enough for them to see it for themselves.
He took a deep breath and one hesitant step toward where he had left his car parked on the side of the road but froze as an eerie sensation came over him.
Someone was watching him from the darkness of the grove of trees.
Now keep reading to learn about Ghost Agents, the first book in the trilogy.
About Ghost Agents
Ghost Agents
Paranormal Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Independently published (July 26, 2021)
Paperback : 309 pages
ISBN-13 : 979-8544028789
ASIN : B098PM3LDT
An organization that has operated in secret for centuries… a mystery that threatens to burn it all to the ground… and she’s the only agent who can stop it…
To the residents and tourists of Galveston Island, Claire Abelard is the friendly young woman who works at the local candy store by day and leads ghost tours of the island’s haunted locations by night. They don’t realize this persona is a cover for Claire’s real job as an agent of the Bureau for Historical Preservation, a clandestine organization that monitors and assists energy projections, or the entities more commonly known as “ghosts.”
When projections begin disappearing from around the island, Claire worries that history may be repeating itself. She launches a dangerous investigation and uncovers a sinister, arcane organization whose agenda threatens not only Galveston’s ghosts, but everything she has worked her whole life to protect.
The truth behind the disappearances rocks Claire’s world to its core and shows her that ghosts aren’t the only things that can come back to haunt you.
Ghost Agents is a genre-defying, cozy paranormal mystery, with a little sci-fi, romance, and Texas history thrown into the mix!
About Nita DeBorde
Nita DeBorde is a published author and teacher from Houston, TX. Writing and teaching are her two major passions, though traveling and being dog-mom to a crazy Staffordshire-Boxer mix named Mabel are high on the list as well.
Nita has taught high school French for more than 20 years and absolutely loves her “day job” job (about 95% of the time). She loves to travel, and not surprisingly, France is her favorite destination, though her home state of Texas runs a close second.
She is also a huge history buff, which comes through in her fiction writing, and particularly in her latest novel, Ghost Agents, a genre-defying, cozy paranormal mystery with a little sci-fi and romance thrown into the mix. Ghost Agents: Revelations, the 2nd book in the Ghost Agents Trilogy, is slated for release in March 2022.
Nita’s first novel, Project Lachesis, is currently available in both Kindle and hardcopy format from Amazon.com.
Author Links:
Website – http://www.nitadeborde.com
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/debordewriter (@debordewriter)
Twitter – @DebordeNita
GoodReads Author Page – https://www.goodreads.com/ndeborde
Purchase Link – Amazon
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What an intriguing paranormal mystery! Great cover too.
Sounds like a great ghost mystery for me and I can’t wait to read it! Thanks for sharing it with me and have a terrific weekend!