Walk this Way, Haunt this Way (Haunted Tour Guide Mystery Book 4) Page 13

  I rushed over and held her arm. “Let me help you up.”

  Jeanette managed to get back on her feet. She brushed the hair out of her eyes. “What happened?”

  “Are you okay?” I asked.

  “I guess I’m all right.” She looked at her hands. “I got a few scrapes on my hands.”

  “I don’t know how to tell you this, but there were ghosts that attacked you.” She probably thought I was lying.

  She looked around for her phone and purse. Had she heard me mention the ghosts? She picked up the phone and went over to the purse.

  “Did you hear what I said about the ghosts?” I asked.

  She looked away for a moment. “Yes. I heard you.”

  “You seem upset. Would you like to talk about the ghosts?” At least it seemed as if they had gone for the time being. I motioned toward the diner. “They have great food.”

  She hesitated, but then nodded. “Okay, yeah. I guess that would be good.”

  We walked over to the entrance and I held the door open for Jeanette. The diner was almost empty. I supposed everyone had had dinner already. The smell of grease smacked me in the face when I walked in. Black and white tables with matching chairs filled the room. Next to the floor-to-ceiling windows were the booths.

  Jeanette followed me over to the booths by the front windows. I liked being able to see the sidewalk and street. Jeanette slid into the booth and I sat across from her. I hadn’t expected this turn of events. I wondered if she would actually tell me anything. She hadn’t acted surprised when I’d told her the ghosts had been responsible for knocking her over. The waitress came over and we ordered.

  I just had a Diet Coke and fries. The diet totally made up for the fries. Jeanette ordered a chocolate milkshake. After being attacked by unseen forces I figured chocolate was in order. While we waited for the orders, I had to ask.

  “So you know about the ghosts?”

  She played with her napkin. Finally, she said, “Yes, I’m not surprised that they knocked me down. I had hoped that they would leave me alone. I guess I’ll never get away from them.”

  Wow. This wasn’t what I’d expected to hear.

  “How long have they been following you?” I asked.

  She shrugged. “About four weeks, I guess. We’d been to that asylum before we ever contacted you.”

  “Did you know that the ghosts were following Candace and Heath too?”

  Before she answered, the waitress came back with the fries and milkshake. I grabbed the ketchup and dumped a pile of ketchup onto my plate. Jeanette took a long drink from the straw. She waved her hands and leaned her head back.

  Finally she said, “Brain freeze. It’s better now. Anyway, like I was going to say, yes, they were aware that the ghosts were following them. You know, I don’t think they even care. I think they kind of like it.”

  “Why would they like it?” I asked.

  “They wanted to be haunted. They thought it would make for good TV.”

  I finished chewing my French fry and then said, “They want to be haunted?”

  She nodded as she sipped on the straw.

  “I guess they got what they wanted then,” I said.

  “I didn’t want to be haunted, but because I went with them now I’m dealing with it. They wanted the spirits when we went to the building.”

  “They went there to get the ghosts?” I asked.

  She wiped her mouth and then said, “Well, they wanted the asylum in the documentary. That was when they came up with the idea to be haunted.”

  It didn’t sound like a good idea to me.

  “The ghosts followed them from the building?” I asked.

  She nodded. “I’m not surprised since there were so many people who died in that building.”

  “I don’t think they know what they’ve gotten into by asking the ghosts to follow them.”

  I wondered if somehow Brannon had gotten the ghost from the building. That had to be it. I wondered how Mrs. Clatterbuck knew though. She had warned me about the ghost following Brannon. I didn’t think she would know about one coming from the building.

  Jeanette had almost finished the milkshake. I had to ask her more questions before she decided to leave.

  I was too nervous to finish my fries.

  She noticed me staring at her. “I guess you want to ask about Alex.”

  “Well, the thought had crossed my mind.”

  It had crossed my mind that she still wasn’t ruled out as the killer either. All this information she was giving me could be wrong.

  “Do you think Candace or Heath had anything to do with the murder?” I asked.

  She stared me right in the eyes. “I think they did. I even told the police as much.”

  Brannon hadn’t told me about that. Of course I supposed he couldn’t share all the details about a murder investigation with me. I would have to ask him later.

  Jeanette’s phone chimed with a text. At first I thought it was mine. I was so used to receiving texts from Annie that immediately when I heard the chime I responded.

  Jeanette was silent as she read the screen. After a couple seconds, she placed the phone back onto the table. I knew by her expression that whatever she’d read made her uneasy.

  “Did you give proof to the police?” I asked, trying to keep the conversation going.

  She shrugged. “What could I give to them to make them believe me? I never said I had any proof that Heath and Candace were the murderers, only that I thought they might be involved.”

  “What made you think they killed him?” I asked. Surely she would have the inside information. She was closest to them. “Candace wasn’t even here when he was murdered.”

  She grabbed her purse. “Listen, I’d better go. Heath is looking for me. I don’t want him to see me sitting here with you. I’ll go get my ticket to pay for it. Thanks for talking.”

  “Don’t worry about it, I’ll pay.”

  Why was she so worried about Heath? What kind of hold did he have on her?

  “Thanks.” She gave a half-hearted smile and then stood from the table.

  I watched as she walked out the door. When I glanced down at the table I realized that she’d left her phone. I glanced back to see if she was coming back for it. So far I didn’t see her anywhere. This was my chance to see who had been texting her. I looked around to see if anyone was watching. I wasn’t sure why I looked. It didn’t matter anyway. No one knew what I was doing. I was just being paranoid. Now that I had the phone in my hands I had to hurry. Surely she would remember where she’d left it and come back.

  My hands shook and I swiped the screen. It lit up with the background of Hello Kitty. Wouldn’t it be weird to know the killer had a picture of Hello Kitty on her phone? I couldn’t believe that she didn’t have it locked or a passcode. I immediately went to the text messages. The last one had been from Heath. He wanted to know where she was. It looked as if he kept a close eye on her movements. It was odd that there were no previous messages from him. It was as if she had deleted the others. Was there something in them that she didn’t want anyone to see?

  I scrolled through the text messages. I froze when I came to one from Alex. It was apparently the last one she’d received from him. Alex was killed in a window of probably twelve hours. So was this text received just minutes before he had been murdered? Or was it hours? How would I ever find out? All it said was, Where are you? Did that mean that she was supposed to meet him? The messages before that were all concerning the documentary. Nothing unusual that I could see. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. I checked the rest of the phone but nothing stood out. How would I get the phone back to her? She would probably know that I had looked at it.

  I’d just placed the phone down when I felt someone standing behind me. I hoped that it was the waitress. When I looked back I realized that it was Jeanette. How long had she been back there? I figured not long because if she’d seen me looking at her phone she would have snatched it from my hands. I
wasn’t sure if I should act as if I hadn’t seen the phone or acknowledge it. I figured I’d just play dumb.

  “Is everything okay?” I asked.

  Maybe I sounded as if I was trying too hard to play innocent.

  She glanced down at the table and saw the phone. “I forgot my phone.”

  “Oh, you did? I didn’t notice. I was just getting ready to leave. It’s a good thing that you remembered where you left it.”

  Now I was rambling, which made me sound even guiltier than I looked. She reached down and picked up the phone. She checked it. Did she think that I’d done something to it? If it had made noise I would have heard it. I just had to say something to take the suspicion off me.

  She eyed me suspiciously, but didn’t ask if I had actually looked at the phone. I would deny it until the end. If she checked for fingerprints mine would be all over that phone.

  “Did you find Heath?” I asked.

  “He’s waiting for me, so I should go. Thanks again.” She gave a half-hearted grin and then turned toward the door.

  She seemed to have an odd relationship with Heath. She seemed scared of him and I wondered if it had anything to do with the murder. Maybe she knew what had happened and he was trying to keep her quiet.

  Once I thought she was gone, I stood from the table. I paid for our orders and then stepped outside. Streetlights had flicked on and the last rays of sunset had faded to a deep navy blue. I needed to get over to the tour. My meeting with Jeanette had left me with a bad vibe. Not only had the ghosts attacking her been terrifying, her exchange with Heath had been weird. I wanted to know what was going on between them. Maybe I could talk with her again. It seemed as if she wanted someone to talk to. She was in this town she didn’t know with her colleague murdered. That had to be tough.

  When I turned the corner, I spotted Jeanette again. She was with Heath now. I had to watch them for a moment. The discussion looked heated. Jeanette waved her arms and pointed her finger at Heath. He backed up and held his hands up. It looked as if he desperately wanted to get away. A couple seconds longer and they walked away together. It looked as if Heath was the one intimidated by Jeanette instead of the other way around.

  Chapter 21

  I was busy placing books on the shelves. I felt eyes on me so I glanced across the room. That was when I saw Brannon’s ex-wife Darlene McGuire watching me. The leggy blonde moved like a runway model down the aisle. Her short black dress and high heels looked like the latest designer fashion. What was she doing here? She never came to the library. Not necessarily because she wasn’t interested in books—I had no idea about that, but I figured she mostly wanted to avoid me. That was perfectly fine with me. Her appearance was never a coincidence though.

  Darlene looked away when she realized I was watching her. The last thing I wanted was to talk with her. When I glanced over her way again, I realized she was walking in my direction. I wasn’t sure if she wanted to talk to me, but I didn’t want to talk to her. I placed the last book I had in my hand on the shelf and decided to hide. I could go to my office, but that might be the first place she would check. Perhaps I could go to the basement or upstairs to one of the conference rooms. That was the good thing about this building—there were a lot of places to hide.

  It looked as if I had a clear path over to the staircase that led upstairs. I moved stealthily around the corner. Unfortunately, I ran right into Darlene. Her blue eyes sparkled under the lights. Somehow she managed to still look gorgeous with the terrible overhead lighting.

  I knew for sure she was looking for me. She didn’t apologize and I didn’t either. It wasn’t my fault she’d been sneaking around the corner like that. Unfortunately, I couldn’t ignore her and just continue walking. I wasn’t that rude.

  She crossed her arms in front of her tiny waist and glared at me. “Ripley, I need to talk to you.”

  “If you’re looking for a specific book, I’m sure that someone at the reference desk can help you,” I said with a wave of my hand.

  That made her nostrils flare. Apparently she was mad.

  “This isn’t about a book,” she said.

  There was only one other thing she could be here to talk to me about.

  “I want to speak to you about Brannon.”

  It was never good to have a confrontation with your boyfriend’s ex.

  “What about him?” I asked.

  “I don’t like what you’ve done to him.”

  “What exactly are you talking about?” I asked.

  “What I mean is how he’s been acting since he’s been with you. He has a ghost following him around now. Did you know that?” Darlene placed her hands on her hips.

  How did she know? “Yes, I’m well aware.”

  Annie was now standing beside me. She did not look happy. When I saw Annie move I knew what she was about to do. She reached out and hit a book right off the shelf in front of us.

  Darlene released a gasp. “You should stay away from him. I don’t know what kind of ghostly activity you have going on, but you should just back off and leave him alone.”

  “I don’t think you have any place to ask me that. That’s for Brannon to decide. Now if you’ll excuse me I have to get back to work.” I moved around her.

  I felt her stare on the back of my head. When I got to the end of the aisle, I looked back. She was still there, glaring at me. Apparently she didn’t think the conversation was over. I went back to work, trying to pretend we’d never even had that conversation.

  My phone chimed at least four times. Annie must have something urgent to tell me. I scanned the reference desk and then the tables to my right. Where was she? This was like playing paranormal hide-and-seek. I placed the on the counter and pulled out my phone. Annie had sent three messages in order to get out the whole story.

  Monica has been researching ghosts. I saw her looking at the books. Why is she interested in ghosts now? Because of that documentary?

  Annie was probably right about that, but just because Monica had a sudden interest meant nothing. Maybe Monica was researching for some other reason. Was it because of Brannon?

  Later that day, Annie sent me another message. This time it was to let me know that Monica and Candace were talking.

  As soon as I finished helping a patron check out a book, I asked, “Where are they?”

  I scanned the library, but didn’t see them. As a matter of fact, I didn’t see Annie either. I looked over my shoulder. Usually she was standing behind me. Finally, she popped up beside me.

  They’re outside on the sidewalk. I saw them out the window.

  I moved over to the window and peeked out. By the time I spotted them, they were walking away from each other. Monica was definitely acting weird.

  Later that day I was at my desk working when my phone went off. I was hoping it was a text from Brannon. Instead it was another text from Annie. I figured she had another report about Monica. She really didn’t like her much.

  Candace is in the library again. What was she doing here?

  I didn’t think Candace was interested in checking out a book. I stood and hurried out of the office.

  When I got to the main part of the library, I asked, “Where is she?”

  Annie’s text read: I don’t see her now.

  Monica looked at me suspiciously, but then went back to her work.

  Chapter 22

  I’d just gotten home from work. I’d picked up a sandwich on the way home and I planned on doing nothing for the rest of the evening. When my phone rang I thought about not answering it. I sighed and picked up the phone.

  “Ripley, it’s Jeanette. I was wondering if you could meet me. I need to talk to you about the murder.”

  I sat up straighter on the sofa. I hadn’t expected this turn of events. Of course I wanted to talk to her about the murder.

  “I’m listening,” I said.

  “No, I need to meet you in person.”

  I wasn’t sure why she couldn’t talk to me on the phone, b
ut I agreed to meet her because I really wanted to hear what she had to say.

  “Where would you like to meet me?”

  I would invite her to my place, but since she could be the killer, I figured a public place was the best option. I had hesitations about meeting her anywhere. Again, I wanted to find out what she had to say. Maybe I should have Brannon go with me.

  “How about we meet at the asylum?”

  Okay, that was a bizarre request. I thought the diner or coffee shop would be a better choice.

  “Why do you want to meet there?” I asked.

  She hesitated. That wasn’t a good sign in my opinion.

  Finally she said, “There’s something there I want to show you.”

  That was cryptic. Why was she being so mysterious? “Okay, I’ll meet you there. What time?”

  “How soon can you be there?” she asked.

  I looked at my watch. “I guess I can be there in thirty minutes.”

  She agreed and we hung up. I jumped up and put on a pair of jeans and a sweater. After lacing up my boots, I grabbed my bag and headed for the door. I made sure to check my surroundings as I walked out to my car. It was dark and spooky out there. I hadn’t seen the shadow person, but it could pop up any time. Unfortunately it seemed to only be around when Brannon was nearby. I’d asked her if I could bring someone along, but she’d said if I did that she wouldn’t be able to talk with me. I felt that was a little dramatic, but I had to accept it if I wanted the info. I climbed in the car and pointed it in the direction of the asylum.

  After about a twenty-minute drive, I pulled up to the old abandoned building. I couldn’t believe I was doing this. Jeanette’s car was parked out front, but she wasn’t around. I pulled out my cell and sent her a text to let her know I was here. She sent back for me to come inside.

  I’d figured we could just talk outside. Maybe sit in my car since it was a little chilly out.

  What I want to show you is inside, she said in the message. I sighed and stuffed my phone back into my pocket. It looked as if I was headed inside the building.