“Very well. Just know that I’ll be back, and my offer will not be the same.”
Hampton got into the car and left the property. When they were a few miles away, they stopped at a roadside diner. He’d thought long and hard about what to do if the Thompsons wouldn’t give in to his demands. The problem with people like them was that they truly didn’t care about money.
“What now, boss?” asked the man.
“We wait. After midnight, burn it to the ground.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“Two properties torched. One in view of the owner after purchase. The other allegedly started by faulty wiring,” said Sly.
“Allegedly?” asked Nine.
“Hampton and his men were there earlier in the day and offered an obscene amount of money, which the owner refused. He’s distantly related to Hampton through his grandmother, but I don’t think he knows that.”
“Why buy the properties and destroy them?” asked Gaspar. He turned to look at his father and brother Gabe. “Pops? Gabe? Can spirits exit or leave or whatever they do if there’s a fire?”
“In this case,” said Matthew, “it’s possible. My guess is that these spirits were killed in these locations. Either by hanging or whipping. Those that died of natural causes, albeit early natural causes due to the work, those people were buried and moved on. Hampton was cruel. Cruel beyond belief. If they’d been tortured or hanged by him, they could have been hanging around the property longer than expected.”
“What do you mean?” asked Sly. “We haven’t been able to find a lot about him.”
“He truly saw these men, women, and children as his property. Free to do with them what he wished. He enjoyed inflicting pain on them. Emotional, physical, psychological. He intentionally took their children and sent them to other plantations so they wouldn’t be connected. The women, well, the women he used, abused, beat, and discarded. When they became pregnant, he waited to see if the babies looked white. If they did, he kept them. If they didn’t, they were sold toother landowners. What happened to Grover isn’t an isolated incident.”
“It all makes me sick,” said Ghost. “I get that it was a different time, but we’re seeing the consequences of all of that today. It’s not like it’s totally gone. There are still people, societies that imprison others, enslave them due to race, color, religion, and origin. What is wrong with us?”
“What’s wrong with us is a conversation I can’t address right now,” said Matthew. “It’s a sickening thing, indeed. I’m proud that my ancestors offered fair pay and housing for their labor. No man or woman was held prisoner. To ensure that they weren’t bought by abusive landowners, the Robicheaux family paid whatever necessary to bring them to Belle Fleur and ensure they were treated with kindness, as human beings. He even took many of them north and released them. I know for a fact that Martha did the same.”
“Matthew is right,” said Franklin, appearing in the room. “I was never so grateful as when I found out I was coming to Belle Fleur. Others knew their reputation. We all thought it was just a story, but it wasn’t. The men and women were strong, healthy, clean, and well-dressed.
“Martha changed my world forever, and all those that came after me. Her kindness was on a level that made other owners question her sanity.” Matthew laughed, nodding.
“Well, she was a bit of an outcast.”
“So, these men and women who were hanged or whipped to death by Hampton are clinging to the ground where they died. What can we do to help them?” asked Gaspar.
“I’m not sure,” said Franklin, shaking his head, turning to look at Matthew.
“I’m not sure, either. I suppose, if the ghosts are no longer haunting Hampton, then maybe it does work. But that brings about other problems. He’s destroying properties, historic properties, to rid himself of the ghosts.”
“I have no fucking clue what to do,” said Ian. “We’ve dealt with a lot of stranger things, even ghosts, but this one really takes the cake. Did his ancestors hear the ghosts as well?”
“I might be able to answer that,” said Code. “I’ve been trying to find all the information I can on his ancestors, and there’s an interesting trend. The Hampton who caused this problem was William Hampton. He was killed by a neighbor in a dispute over a business deal.”
“Charming guy,” smirked Tailor.
“His son, William Jr., took up where his father left off. He wasn’t quite as brutal, but he certainly was up there. When he died, his daughter took control of the properties. This is where it gets weird. She married a man by the name of Holbrook. Holbrook had to admit his wife to an asylum because of her claims that she was seeing and speaking with ghosts.
“While he was on a business trip, she sold all of the slaves on every plantation. The next year, the Civil War broke out. Their son lived in one of the homes in South Carolina with his wife and children. At the age of thirty-seven, he was committed to an asylum.”
“This is a frightening pattern,” said Nine.
“More than you think. Every single relative, up until our man, has been committed or given excessive pharmaceuticals to control their delusions. I think the ghosts have been haunting this family for decades.”
“That’s unusual,” said Franklin. “Most spirits wouldn’t have the energy to do that for so long.”
“Then there’s something else happening here,” said Gabe.
“Like what?” asked Gaspar.
