Walk this Way, Haunt this Way (Haunted Tour Guide Mystery Book 4) Read online

  I supposed he sympathized with me because he nodded.

  “Okay, but don’t leave my side.”

  He didn’t have to worry about that. We went to the graveyard again. Of course I was scared to be there, thinking the attacker was still lurking and looking for me. I took the cops over to where I had been attacked. When I looked down that was when I noticed the shoe print.

  “Look.” I pointed. Right away I wondered if it matched the one that had been at the funeral home.

  I left the officers to take care of evidence. They didn’t need me for anything else and I just wanted to get home. Brannon was taking me home.

  “So you think they’ll find her?” I asked.

  “I’m confident we’ll find her,” Brannon said as we walked to his car.

  “I had a bad feeling and I should have gone with it,” I said.

  “You can’t always prevent these things. She was obviously trying to lure you away.”

  “I have a feeling it was Heath. I think they have been a team from the beginning.”

  “We’ll find him for questioning too. Although his shoe doesn’t match the size of the one we found.”

  I frowned. “Really? How do you know?”

  “We took note of his shoes on the night of the murder,” Brannon said.

  When I looked back, I saw the spirit. Then I saw the other ones.

  “We have visitors,” I said.

  Brannon looked over his shoulders and his eyes were wide.

  “You see them too?”

  He nodded. “I do see them. Why are they here?”

  “That’s a good question. I think they’re following us.”

  “I think they’re following me,” Brannon said.

  “Actually I thought the ghosts were following Candace, Jeanette, and Heath the other day.”

  That made me think that they were close by. Maybe they were following us and we didn’t even see them.

  “I think Heath and Candace are close by,” I whispered.

  The air around us changed and I knew the spirits were right behind us. The next thing I knew Brannon fell forward on the sidewalk. The spirit had gone right through him.

  I rushed to his side. “Brannon, talk to me. Are you okay?”

  His eyes were closed, but he finally opened his lids and looked at me blankly. His eyes looked much darker and that worried me.

  “I think the spirit attacked you,” I said.

  I looked back to see if they were still back there. The spirits were gone. I’d expected an attack from Heath, not the ghosts.

  Now we’d both been attacked tonight.

  “Can you get up?” I asked.

  Brannon nodded, but he still hadn’t spoken. Brannon wobbled a little, but then finally got to his feet again. I hated to see him in this condition.

  Again I asked, “Are you okay?”

  He looked at me with that same blank look in his eyes. “Yes, I’m fine.”

  “Maybe you shouldn’t drive right now,” I said.

  “No, I can drive.” He immediately walked to his car and got in.

  Okay, that definitely wasn’t like him. I hurried over and got in the other side of the car. I thought he was ready to leave me there on the sidewalk.

  “I think the ghost attacked you,” I said again once I was in the car.

  “No, it’s fine.” He stared at the road.

  I’d never seen Brannon act this way. Soon we had pulled up in front of my place. Brannon shut off the car and then got out. Where was he going? I climbed out and hurried around the back. He’d already opened the gate and headed toward the front porch.

  “Hey, aren’t you going to wait for me?” I called out.

  He waited for me by the front door. If the door had been unlocked he might have gone on inside without waiting for me.

  “Brannon, I think something may have happened to you when the spirit attacked you.”

  “I’m glad you’re home now. I guess I should go.”

  “Aren’t you going to answer me?” I asked.

  “There’s nothing to say.”

  Usually he would have at least given me a goodbye kiss.

  “Would you like to come up and lie down for a bit? I think maybe you hit your head.”

  That or the ghost was still messing with him. Unfortunately, I couldn’t convince him of this.

  He turned and stepped off the porch. I really didn’t want him to leave like this, but what could I do to stop him? He could arrest me if he wanted. I thought the ghost was the one in charge at the moment. How would I help him though? I had to speak with someone who could get this spirit to leave him alone.

  Brannon walked down the path, through the gate and over to his car. He didn’t even look at me as he climbed behind the wheel and then drove away. I had a lot of work to do. I hurried inside before an attacker got me, either human or spirit.

  Chapter 27

  The heavy feeling was still hanging around the next morning when I went to work. Brannon hadn’t answered my calls and I feared that something was terribly wrong. For that reason, I’d decided to call another psychic. Stephanie had been recommended by Meredith, the woman who owned the funeral home. She’d used Stephanie a couple times now to try to get rid of the spirits in the house. I supposed the argument could be made that if Stephanie hadn’t cleared that place of spirits then she probably couldn’t help Brannon. Regardless, I had to give it a try. Maybe she could offer some advice for Brannon. As I walked down the sidewalk toward the library I dialed her number.

  “The ghost attacked him out of the blue?” Stephanie asked.

  “I don’t think it was out of the blue. I think it had been planned for some time. I just don’t know why.”

  “I can be there soon,” she said.

  Stephanie couldn’t get here fast enough as far as I was concerned. I stepped into the library. At least I felt somewhat better knowing she was on the way. Now I just had to find Brannon so that she could talk to him.

  When I stepped into the library, Tammy rushed over to me. “Did you see the news? This article says maybe Patrick’s death wasn’t suicide after all.”

  My eyes widened. “This isn’t good for me, huh? What if they think I had something to do with his death after all?”

  Tammy handed me the newspaper.

  After reading the front page, I said, “I suppose I’m in trouble now.”

  The police will come for you any time now. You should hide. Annie sent a text.

  “You’ll be like a fugitive on the run. They’ll bring out the dogs to sniff you out,” Tammy said.

  I was jumping to conclusions. There was no reason to think this. What made me think I would be wanted for murder just because Patrick’s death wasn’t a suicide? It could have been an accident, or they could suspect any number of other people, or they might not have any suspects at all.

  I waved my arms. “Y’all are freaking me out. I think I’m hyperventilating. You’re not helping.” I stuck my face into my purse, trying to catch my breath.

  Tammy looked toward where she thought Annie might be standing, and then said, “Don’t worry, if she faints, I know what to do.”

  A couple of patrons were sitting at the table looking at me. They had no idea I was wanted for murder. Okay, I had to calm down. The police hadn’t been by. They’d obviously known this for some time before the newspaper.

  Surely, they would have come to arrest me by now. Why hadn’t Brannon called me with this information? Should I really take off? No, that would only make things worse. I’d really look guilty then. I was innocent and I had nothing to hide. Running would only make me look guilty.

  I still couldn’t believe that Brannon hadn’t been in touch. What if he didn’t know? He could be out of it from the spirit attack. Maybe he hadn’t even reported for duty. I placed my purse on the counter and tried to remain calm.

  Tammy and Annie were staring me. Monica was watching too. She seemed quite amused by this situation. If I got out of this mess I needed t
o have a serious talk with Monica.

  I picked up my phone again. “I’ll try Brannon one more time.”

  Annie floated back in forth in front of the counter. Tammy paced along beside her. They had no idea that they were doing the same thing. Another call came in while I waited for Brannon to answer. I recognized the number. It was Mrs. Agnew, the head of the library board. I’d figured she’d be calling soon. There was no way I could talk to her right now.

  “Wait. Brannon is outside on the sidewalk now,” Tammy said.

  “Oh, see, they sent him to put the cuffs on me.” I raced over to the window.

  Brannon didn’t turn to walk up the path toward the library. Instead he walked past. He didn’t even look over at the building.

  “He’s still acting strange,” I said.

  What are you going to do? Annie asked.

  “I suppose I have to go out there and talk to him. There’s no sense in putting this off.”

  “It doesn’t look as if he is worried about talking to you.”

  As I stared out the window, I spotted the ghosts. They were all around the library, as if they were standing guard waiting for me to come outside. Now I hoped they didn’t move inside. Unless one of the trio came in, I felt I was safe. Were they outside too waiting for me? I watched as the ghosts moved closer. My heart thumped a little faster. They were now lingering around the graveyard, weaving around the headstones. I had to talk with Brannon, but I didn’t want to take my eyes off them in case they decided to attack. The spirits hadn’t moved for a few seconds now, so I hoped that they were staying put. More importantly, I hoped they left soon. It was time to go after Brannon.

  “He’s been acting this way since the ghost attack.” I opened the library door.

  A man walked through and looked at us strangely. “Thanks.”

  “Should I call a lawyer for you?” Tammy asked.

  “I’ll let you know,” I said as I walked out the door.

  I called out to Brannon, but he didn’t acknowledge me. I ran out to the sidewalk and started following him. His car was parked along the curb. He climbed in and started the car. There was no way I could catch up to him if he took off.

  I hurried back to the library. Tammy was standing by the door when I got to the steps.

  She hurried down and handed me her keys. “Here, take my car and follow him. I’ll look after the library until you get back.”

  Be careful, Annie said.

  “Thank you,” I said over my shoulder as I ran to her car.

  Luckily, Brannon had just pulled away from the curb when I got into the car. I pulled out onto the street and fell in behind him. He didn’t drive fast so it was easy to keep up with him. I wasn’t sure if he was aware that I was back there.

  Where was he going? After a few minutes, I had my suspicions where he was headed. Once he pulled into the driveway it was confirmed. We had arrived at the asylum. I parked right up behind his police cruiser. I wasn’t even going to hide the fact that I had followed him. He got out of the car, but didn’t look back when I called out to him. He was really in a zone. What was he doing here? This was so strange. I had to go in there and find out what was wrong with him.

  I decided to take a peek in Brannon’s car as I walked by. I wasn’t exactly sure what I was looking for. Nothing out of the ordinary stood out to me other than that his keys were in the ignition. I hoped that he hadn’t locked them in the car. When I peered into the back seat, I spotted a small glass box. I knew right away what it was. Brannon had made this device in hopes that it would capture the bad spirts that had been following him. He probably meant to take it in with him.

  Should I bring the box inside to him? What if it wasn’t complete? Maybe that was why he’d left it in the car. Then again, it couldn’t hurt to try it, right? What was the worst that could happen? I’d break it? That would be bad, but it was better than doing nothing at all. I kept going back and forth on whether I should try out the device. Finally, I made a decision. I felt confident that it was the right decision. I would try the invention. It was really the only way. Yes, I would keep telling myself that.

  Nevertheless, I was still nervous. I tried the door handle and it opened. I suppose I figured if it was locked then that would make the decision for me. Now that it was unlocked I had no choice. Breaking into a police car would probably be frowned upon. Nonetheless, I thought of this as an emergency.

  First, I pulled the keys from the ignition and stuffed them into my pocket. It wasn’t like Brannon to leave his keys in his car. I’d never seen him do that in the past. Next, I moved to the back seat for the invention. I opened the door all the way and then reached in, grabbing the small device.

  Brannon had really outdone himself this time. Not only was it functional, but it was pretty too. The box was made of glass on all sides. It looked like a music box or maybe a trinket box with gold trim along the edges.

  Well, I assumed it was functional. I had no way of knowing until I actually tried the thing out. I wondered how he’d come up with this design. I also wondered how this thing worked. He’d say he was working on something new, but he’d never gotten around to describing how this one worked. Brannon was always working on one of these things though. I assumed that the glass box was used to capture the ghosts somehow.

  Brannon loved to make different devices to use in his paranormal research. He was always coming up with something different. Most of them were simple devices. Well, as far as the looks they were simple. The inside was much more complex. I was still amazed at how he came up with this stuff. I hoped that this thing worked. He’d used things in the past and had some luck with them. I hoped this one worked better than ever. Adrenaline rushed through my body as I closed the car door. I couldn’t believe all of this was really happening.

  I clutched the box in my hands and headed toward the front entrance. I held on tight so that I wouldn’t drop it. I was known to be clumsy at times, so it wouldn’t surprise me if I dropped it. I rushed up the steps after him.

  I eased the box down onto the steps so that I could open the door. Once open, I reached down, picked it up again, and then stepped inside. My anxiety was high as I thought about what I was about to do. As I inched inside, I still couldn’t believe this was real.

  “Brannon,” I called out. Of course there was no answer.

  Brannon could be anywhere in this huge place. A bang sounded from somewhere to my left. Ugh. The strange noises had already started. I clutched the glass box to my chest and inched down the hallway. It felt as if I had spirit on each side of me, like a paranormal escort. With each step it felt as if I was walking through a spider web. That was believed to be a sign of the paranormal. Regardless, I hated the feeling. It was difficult to knock away what I thought was a spider web while holding the glass box. To my shock, when I glanced to my left I spotted Brannon standing in the middle of this small room. I carried the box into the room where Brannon was. Brannon didn’t even notice that I was holding the device.

  “I found the paranormal glass box you made.” I showed him the box.

  Apparently Brannon was still in this weird trance. Was he possessed? As terrifying as that was I couldn’t ignore the signs. I placed the box on the floor and turned on the small gold switch located on the side. Nothing happened at first, but then it started to make a strange sound.

  Based on the popping sounds that came from the little box, I was pretty sure that I had broken it. Even worse, I had no clue how to fix it. After all Brannon’s work I had now ruined it. After a few seconds of panic, it seemed to have settled down. Now I just had to figure out how to use it correctly.

  I flipped the switch again. This time it made a little noise, but I suppose it just had to get warmed up. I stepped back and watched, waiting for something spectacular to happen. Would this device take the spirit that had a hold on Brannon away?

  Brannon hadn’t explained what the box was for, but I assumed it was to capture the ghosts. I hoped it wasn’t for something else. W
hat if it was some kind of musical device he’d made? Wouldn’t I be embarrassed. Luckily, there was no music coming out. Considering how many paranormal devices he’d made in the past, I figured my guess at its use was correct. Unfortunately, the thing didn’t come with instructions. I would just have to take a stab at it.

  That cobweb sensation manifested again. I swatted at the air, but that did nothing to get rid of the feeling. After a couple seconds, the dark shadows appeared. The ghosts were here and they seemed to be attracted to the box. They were standing near it, but there was no time to watch what they might do next. I had another problem on my hand. I’d just spotted Candace in the hallway. Shockingly, she hadn’t looked our way. Or maybe she’d ignored us that on purpose.

  My anxiety increased when I thought about leaving Brannon here. I didn’t want to leave him, but what else could I do?

  “Brannon, can you come with me?” I asked.

  It was pointless to even ask, but he seemed transfixed by the ghosts that were now standing around the device. I wished I could just force them to go into the glass box. I waved my hand in front of Brannon’s face, hoping that he would notice me. He didn’t even blink. He was trained in on one thing and one thing only. There was no use.

  The air changed. A thick heaviness fell over the room. It was much colder now. When I caught movement out of the corner of my eyes, I glanced over. The ghosts had appeared. My heart thumped wildly when I realized how many were there. It was just the two of us with all these ghosts. I couldn’t make out their faces, but I knew they were watching us. I remained silent. I didn’t know what to say. I could tell them to go away. Would they listen? That was a silly question. Of course they wouldn’t listen.

  I kept my eyes on the box, waiting for something to happen. Would the ghost go to the box?

  What was Candace doing in the asylum? When I poked my head out the door, I spotted her rush down the hallway toward the other exit. I didn’t think she’d seen us come in. She left a piece of paper on the floor. Now I had to know what the paper was. I rushed over and picked up the letter that she’d dropped. I couldn’t believe what I’d read. This was a suicide note from Brannon.