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  “Why would they hide in there?” I asked.

  “Maybe they’re afraid. When they saw Brannon they hid,” Tammy said.

  “That’s a good point. They could be scared. Doesn’t Joanna know we’re looking for her?”

  Tammy shrugged. “Maybe not.”

  “Maybe they saw us out here and think we called the police on them,” I said.

  “Like I said, if they’re in there anywhere, we will find them,” Brannon said. “In the meantime, I’m going to go peek in the car and see if there’s anything unusual.”

  Tammy and I stood by the car and watched as Brannon walked over to the vehicle. He went around the whole vehicle looking in the windows, and after a few seconds came back over to us.

  “There’s nothing out of the ordinary in the car,” he said.

  “What do we do now?” I asked.

  “Wait here. I’m going to check the around the building.”

  I wished I could do more than just stand around. I wanted to go inside the building and have a look for myself, but I had a feeling that Brannon would say no to that. If I tried to slip past him he would be even more upset with me. So I stayed put, pacing around in front of the car.

  “How long are you going to do that?” Tammy asked.

  “I can’t help it. I want to get in there.”

  “You can’t, so don’t even get any ideas,” she said.

  I held my hands up. “I wasn’t going to, don’t worry.”

  “I know you and sometimes you just do things before you think about it,” she said with a wink.

  A couple more seconds passed and several police cars arrived. After that even more pulled up. I lost count.

  “There will be a lot of police searching for Emma and Joanna. If they’re there then we’ll find them,” Brannon said.

  Brannon talked to the officers as they arrived. Next they all spread out looking inside and outside the building. All that Tammy and I could do now was wait.

  Tammy looked at her watch.

  “You have to go, right? You’re going to be late for work,” I said.

  “I suppose I should leave, unless you need me to stay.”

  “No, I can either walk or I can get a ride with Brannon.”

  “Are you sure? I don’t know if I want you walking. This place could be dangerous.”

  “How dangerous could it be? I have like a hundred police officers here.”

  “All right, but if you’re sure.”

  “I’m positive.” I gave Tammy a hug.

  She got in her car and backed out. I waved and watched until she disappeared from view. I wasn’t too sure what to do with myself now that I didn’t have Tammy to talk to. So I just picked a spot under the nearby oak tree and sat down.

  I sat there for a few minutes watching the police as they went in and out of the building. Brannon waved at me a couple of times, letting me know that he knew where I was. As I looked around I noticed a powder-like substance on the ground. It looked like it was in a straight line, as if it had been falling out of something while someone was walking. I pushed to my feet and walked over for a closer examination.

  It was definitely white powder. I wasn’t going to touch it since I didn’t know what it was, but I decided to follow the stuff to see exactly where it went. It hadn’t started at the car or the building, but just in the middle of the grass randomly. Was this where they had ended up or was this the starting point? I supposed I was about to find out.

  The line of white powdery substance took me away from the building. There were a few trees that way and another building, but I was pretty sure someone actually occupied that one. I followed the line over to an area with several trees and when I looked down I noticed right away something was wrong.

  On the ground was a Ouija board and the white powdery substance was all around it. There was no way I was going to reach down and touch that board. I wasn’t sure if someone was trying to keep the board in the circle or if they were circling it to help bring things out. Either way this was bad news.

  “Rip, what are you doing over there?” Brannon called out.

  I spun around to see that Brannon was looking in my direction. I waved at him and headed back that way.

  Brannon met me halfway as I walked back over toward the building.

  “What are you doing over there?” he asked.

  “I found something I think you need to check out,” I said. “You see that white powder there?”

  He looked down. “Yeah, I see that. What is that?”

  “That’s what I’d like to know. Not just what it is, but what it leads to. Come this way.” I motioned for him to follow me.

  He walked with me over to the trees and I pointed down. “The Ouija board. Someone put the white stuff all around it. I don’t know if they’re trying to keep things in or keep things out. Either way, it’s bad news. And I’m pretty sure it has something to do with the reason why the women are here. The mystery man too.”

  “Good find, Rip, I’ll have the police take a look at this.”

  I was proud of myself that I had discovered this. I wasn’t sure if the officers would have found it or not, but I told myself that they would have missed it. I’d saved the day by finding it. Well, it was nice to think that for a few minutes. Actually I hoped that they would have discovered this. They would have gotten around to looking in that area eventually.

  “So when do you think you’ll find out what that stuff is?” I asked.

  “Probably soon. It shouldn’t take long. I’ll put a fast track on it to see exactly what kind of substance we’re dealing with.”

  “Any guesses on what you think it is?” I asked.

  “I’m thinking it has something to do with their occult séance,” Brannon said.

  “I agree with that,” I said. “I still can’t believe that there’s no sign of them anywhere in the building. Why did they leave her car here?”

  “I just need to finish up here,” Brannon said, gesturing over his shoulder.

  “Okay, I’ll go back and wait,” I said.

  I sat under the tree again, staring at that powdery substance the entire time. I was trying to figure out what they were up to with this stuff. I knew it had something to do with the Ouija board, but what?

  A few more minutes passed and Brannon came out of the building with other officers with him. Obviously they hadn’t found the women or any other sign of them. There had to have been another vehicle parked somewhere close by that had picked them up. Maybe it was the mystery man. He could’ve parked somewhere behind the building and they walked out the back door and got into his car and drove away. Why though? That didn’t make sense. What if he’d gotten them against their will? Yes, that had to be it. The thought sent a shiver down my spine.

  “I suppose we’re all wrapped up here. I can give you a ride home now,” Brannon said.

  “Actually, I was thinking we should go by Emma’s place one more time and check to see if they went back there,” I said.

  “How did you know that was what I was going to do?” he asked with a smile.

  “I guess great minds think alike,” I said with a wink.

  “Come on, we’ll go right now,” he said as we walked back over toward his car.

  As I slipped into the car I noticed another vehicle driving slowly past the building. Brannon slid behind the wheel and cranked the engine. As I watched the car I realized that I recognized the guy behind the wheel.

  “It’s one of the guys from the séance,” I said.

  Brannon flipped on the blue lights and siren. This was a bit of an adrenaline rush and scary at the same time. Backing out of the driveway, Brannon shoved the car into drive and rushed down the street, but the car had already driven out of sight.

  Brannon sped down the road and rolled up to the stop sign. He looked to the left and to the right to make sure it was safe to go. He pushed the gas, continuing the pursuit, but unfortunately, we couldn’t find the vehicle. I didn’t know which way they’
d gone, but they had disappeared.

  “We should head over to the house now,” he said.

  “Good idea,” I said.

  He punched the gas and headed straight over to the other place. If they thought we were looking for them I doubted they would be there. Nevertheless, we had to give it a shot. It was worth a look anyway. A few seconds later and we pulled up to the house. Of course there were no cars in the driveway. I was disappointed, but it was what I’d expected. Brannon pulled into the driveway and turned off the ignition.

  “Stay here, okay? I’ll go up to the door.”

  I nodded. “Be careful.” I felt like I said that to him a lot.

  While I waited for Brannon, I looked around for anything unusual. I peered around at the neighboring homes. They were all similar styles, little cottage-type homes. The neighborhood was quiet. Only a couple cars moved up and down the street. There was no sign of Emma or her friends.

  A gentle breeze blew the branches on the trees that shaded the house. It was almost as if it was the calm before the storm. It was a beautiful day with a blue sky and white fluffy clouds. I had that strange sense of being watched though, almost as if the beautiful scenery around the home was giving me a false sense of security. It was trying to get me to let my guard down so that this dark spirit could attack. I wouldn’t let that happen though. I put up an even stronger guard, not giving in to the energy that tried to invade my space. I hoped that Brannon returned soon.

  Of course no one came to the door, so Brannon had a look around through the windows. After a minute, Brannon came back to the car and climbed behind the wheel. “Well, obviously they’re not here. We will continue searching for them. Plus, I’ll have somebody hang around here to see if they come back.”

  “I really hope nothing bad happened to them,” I said. “I don’t understand why the guys didn’t stop their car.”

  “I don’t know. Maybe they have an outstanding speeding ticket or an arrest warrant. It could be anything.” Brannon started his car.

  “That would be a good reason why they don’t want to talk to us,” I said.

  Brannon put the car into gear. “Let’s hope it’s just a speeding ticket.”

  “I hope it’s something as innocent as that,” I said.

  Brannon started to back out of the driveway.

  “Wait. I just saw something,” I said.

  Things just got stranger by the minute.

  Chapter 17

  As Brannon pulled the car back into the driveway I looked out the window. I’d been right. I had seen something white on the grassy area to the right. Was it more of the white powdery substance we had found at the abandoned building?

  When Brannon parked, I unbuckled my seatbelt and reached for the door handle. “I think there’s more of that white powder.”

  “Where?” Brannon asked as he opened his car door.

  I got out of the car and headed right over there. It looked as if it was in the same kind of line configuration as the other. Would we find another board? What was the meaning behind all of this? There had to be a reason and I was determined to figure it out. Brannon followed me over to the grass for a closer look.

  I stopped right at the spot where the white powder started. “It’s just like the other place. Come on, let’s follow it.”

  Brannon and I walked across the grass, following the powdery substance toward a line of trees. I was really confused as to what this could be. I understood that they were trying to use the board, but I didn’t know what this meant and it seemed to go on a lot longer this time. I supposed the trees were farther away from the house. That was their main goal, I supposed. To get into that area meant it was closer to nature. That would give them more energy to conjure up whatever spirit they were trying to make contact with. The best thing that I could do would be to get books to research. Everything I ever needed to know I could always find from a book.

  As Brannon and I followed the white powder I stumbled and fell forward. Of course I couldn’t make this easy. I landed on the palms of my hands. Brannon reached down and helped me up.

  “Are you all right?” he asked.

  “I’m good.” I brushed the dirt off my hands and tried to get rid of the grass stain on my pants. “It just surprised me, that’s all. Though I shouldn’t be shocked. You know how clumsy I am.”

  “You’re graceful,” he said with a wink. “In your own way.”

  Now that I was back on my feet again we headed in the direction of the trees. There was a cluster of about four, standing together, and that was where the white powdery line was headed. So, of course, that was where we went too. As soon as we reached the trees, I saw it. The treasure at the end of the line was just as I had expected.

  Sure enough, as we looked down on the ground between the trees there was another board. Brannon and I exchanged a look.

  “I’m going to collect this for evidence,” he said.

  He pulled out his phone and started snapping pictures of the area. Just as he reached for the board, I stopped him. “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea. Do you really want to handle that thing? We don’t know what’s attached to it, and if you take it back with you then you could be bringing whatever is attached along for the trip.”

  Brannon stared at me for a moment. “I suppose you have a good point.”

  “I think the pictures that you snapped should be enough. Maybe Davis can come back and do something to get rid of anything that might be attached to it.”

  “Unfortunately, as you know, there’s no guarantee that he can get rid of anything if it is attached.” Brannon leaned down and touched the powder.

  “What are you doing?” I asked with a slight panic in my voice. “You don’t know what that stuff is.”

  He smelled some of the powder residue that was on his finger. “I can tell you what this is. I had my suspicions before, but now I’m almost positive.”

  “What is it?”

  “Talcum powder,” Brannon said.

  “Why would they use that?” I asked.

  Brannon stood up again. “Your guess is as good as mine, but I can tell you I’m going to find out.”

  “There has to be some mention of this in a book somewhere. I’ll figure it out.”

  “I know you will,” he said with a smile.

  I still didn’t like the fact that Brannon had touched the powder. Call me superstitious, but I just thought that they were doing some kind of weird stuff around here. I had a feeling that some spirit might try to attach to us. It had happened before.

  “Okay, you got pictures, now we should get out of here,” I said, pulling on Brannon’s arm.

  He took one last look at the stuff and then said, “Yeah, I guess we’ll go.”

  As we walked back toward the car something made me look to the left. I didn’t know if it was the rustling of the branches from the wind or just intuition, but my eyes immediately went to the ground. I saw a piece of paper.

  “Just a sec, I want to get this,” I said as I walked toward the paper.

  “What, are you cleaning up litter now?” Brannon asked with a laugh.

  I reached down and picked up the paper. When I unfolded it I saw the letter R.

  “This is like the other one.” I flashed it to Brannon. “Why do they have scraps of paper with letters on them?”

  Brannon studied the paper. “I can’t explain it, but we’ll get to the bottom of this.”

  “Maybe it spells something,” I said, almost to myself.

  As we headed to the car I glanced over my shoulder. I just had a strange feeling, as if someone was watching us. I peered over at the house’s windows, but I saw no one peeking outside. That was a good thing, I supposed.

  Brannon and I climbed into the car and pulled out of the driveway.

  Chapter 18

  I headed through town the next day. As I walked down the sidewalk movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. When I looked to my right, I spotted Dana. She didn’t see me. She
was leaning down beside a black sedan and speaking to someone. It was kind of far away to see clearly, but it looked like there was only one person in the car. I couldn’t make out what the driver looked like either. Maybe it was Dana’s friend. Though based on the arm movements that Dana made it looked as if she was giving the woman directions. I tried to watch as I walked, but I was afraid I would smash into someone or something.

  I slowed my pace so that I could glance over more often. Okay, I needed to stop walking and casually find a way to watch. Something about Dana’s body language made me uneasy. I hoped she didn’t get in the car with this woman. Maybe I should call out to Dana and get her away from that car. Though if Dana was friends with the woman then I would look ridiculous. I stopped at the newspaper stand, although it was empty, so I couldn’t buy a copy to stall for more time.

  I leaned to my right so that I might catch a glimpse of the person behind the wheel. Maybe then I would recognize her. Why was I being so nosy? It was just that I couldn’t shake the feeling that something bad was happening or about to happen. I didn’t want Dana to be in danger. I would call Brannon, but what would I say? “Dana is talking to someone.” That sounded completely ridiculous. I could walk over and say hi to Dana. Yes, that sounded like the best plan. There was no harm in that. I would just be stepping over to say hello to a friend.

  After walking to the end of the street I waited for the light to turn so that I could cross to the other side. If Dana was giving directions it was taking her a long time. Where was she giving directions to? New York City? After a few seconds more the light turned and I started to cross the street. I wasn’t sure what I would say once I reached the car. Since I’d seen Dana not long ago I had to have something more than I was just saying hi.

  I’d only made it half way across the street when the car pulled away from the curb and Dana stepped up onto the sidewalk. I watched as the car headed down the street. The woman had put the tinted windows of her car up so I hadn’t gotten a look at her. I made it the rest of the way to the sidewalk.