06 Hauntin' After Midnight Page 9

  “We have to before we die in here. Call Brannon.” Tammy panted.

  “We’re not going to die in here.” I didn’t want to call Brannon.

  How would I explain that we were over here, and how I had slipped away from the officer? He wouldn’t be happy with me. And I couldn’t say that I blamed him. Why did I do things like this? I was just being hardheaded and stubborn. I shouldn’t do that kind of thing to him. He would be worried. If I ever got out of here I wouldn’t do it again. Probably. Okay, I’d try hard not to do it again.

  Tammy pulled out her phone.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  She turned on the flashlight. Why hadn’t I thought of that? Sometimes in stressful situations it was as if my brain just didn’t function. Well, sometimes in non-stressful situations too. I got a good look at the terror on Tammy’s face now that the flashlight lit up the tiny space.

  “Okay, breathe in and breathe out,” I said. “We’ll knock the door down if we have to.”

  “But we didn’t lock it,” she said.

  “It’s an old door, it’s probably just stuck.” I took the knob again and twisted.

  It wouldn’t budge. Then I rammed my entire body against the wood. All of a sudden it burst open and I went flying onto the floor.

  Tammy rushed over. “If you fall one more time I think we’ll have to take you to the emergency room. You’ll break every bone in your body.”

  I managed to get onto my feet. I released a deep breath. “I’ll be fine. At least we got out of there. Let’s get out of the house.”

  I flashed the light from my phone around the floor so that I could find the book. Thank goodness it was still there. I grabbed it and ran for the door.

  “What about the dark shadow?” Tammy asked.

  “I don’t know. Now that we have the book though we should get out of here.” I held the book to my chest tight.

  Tammy and I rushed out onto the porch. I pulled the door closed, as if we had never been there at all. We looked around, but saw no one. Of course anyone could’ve been hidden in the dark of night. We hurried away from the house and down the sidewalk toward my house. We still had a ways to go. Now I was wishing that the officer would show up so that we could get a ride. But I couldn’t have everything. We’d done this and now we had to figure it out on our own. I glanced over my shoulder, wondering if anyone was following us. Thankfully I saw nothing suspicious. My phone beeped and I had a text message.

  Where are you?

  “Oh, no, it’s Brannon. He wants to know where I am.”

  “What? Well, tell him… Oh, I suppose you have to tell him the truth,” Tammy said.

  Just hanging out.

  “That’s vague,” Tammy said.

  “It will stall him until we get home,” I said.

  The more we walked the longer the trip seemed.

  “I can’t wait to see what that book says,” Tammy said.

  “Yeah, but now I feel as if I broke into the house and stole something.”

  “Just think of it as borrowing. We won’t keep it. We just need to find out more clues about the house or why someone might murder Katrina. Maybe it has more to do with the house than we think.”

  Thank goodness my place came into view. Though now we had to find a way past the officer. His car was still in the same spot, although I couldn’t tell if he was inside. Tammy and I hid behind a big oak tree.

  “If he’s still asleep it won’t be a problem,” Tammy said.

  “There will be no way to know until we’re right there by his car, and then it will be too late if he’s awake.”

  “So what if he is awake? We’re already outside. He won’t say anything because he won’t want anyone to know he was sleeping when he was supposed to be keeping an eye on you.”

  “Good point,” I said.

  “Let’s go for it.”

  Tammy and I slipped out from behind the tree and headed down the sidewalk as if we were on a casual stroll.

  Chapter 13

  Tammy and I continued our walk down the sidewalk. We talked and laughed, trying to act as casual as possible. However, on the inside, I was shaking. When I glanced over at the police car, the officer was still sleeping.

  “How long is this guy going to sleep? I should go over and wake him up, but then he would probably realize that we went somewhere. Then he’d tell Brannon.”

  “Leave him be. He’s sleepy.” Tammy laughed.

  “You’re right. We’ll just let him nap,” I said.

  Tammy and I went up the path to the front door. I glanced back at the cop.

  “Wow, that guy really is sleeping like a baby,” Tammy said.

  “Yeah, he almost looks dead sitting in there.” I laughed.

  With the way things had gone lately that probably wasn’t a funny joke. Tammy and I stepped into the hallway and up the stairs to my apartment.

  “The landlord needs to put a new lightbulb out here,” I said as I pulled out my key.

  “I can’t wait to see what this book is all about,” Tammy said.

  “I just hope that it’s relevant to the case, but it could just be an old book.” I shoved the key into the lock.

  “Why would someone hide it?”

  “That’s a good question.” I unlocked the door and opened it. Tammy walked in first. As I followed her it felt as if someone was watching us. I stepped inside and looked over my shoulder. Of course no one was there, just the empty hallway. That uneasiness seemed to come often lately. Maybe a spirit was lingering around.

  Once inside my apartment Tammy headed over to the sofa and plopped down. She motioned for me to hurry. I tossed my bag onto the chair next to the sofa and then collapsed down next to her with the book still clutched tightly in my hands. It was an old hardback, but the gold letters were still visible and stamped on the front. The title of the book was A Deadly Path. Tammy and I exchanged a look.

  “This sounds spooky,” she said.

  I opened the cover and flipped through the first pages to get to the beginning chapter.

  “It’s definitely fiction, right?” Tammy asked.

  “Definitely,” I said. “At least I think so…”

  We read through a few pages.

  “When was the book published?” Tammy asked.

  I turned to the front cover. “Looks like it was in 1952.”

  “That was a good year,” Tammy said around a sigh.

  “You weren’t alive in 1952,” I said.

  “I just mean I liked the music and clothing.”

  “Oh.” I laughed. “That makes more sense.”

  “So the book is out of print. There’s no telling how long it’s been buried under that floor,” Tammy said.

  “Then again it could be recent.” I quirked an eyebrow.

  “We’ll probably never know. Okay, let’s read a little more. I want to know what it’s about.” Tammy motioned.

  We studied a few more of the pages, scanning the words until I stopped when something popped out at me.

  “This book is about murder,” I said.

  “I assumed by the title,” Tammy said. “But you think it has something to do with what happened to Katrina?”

  “It almost has to, right? I don’t know, maybe not,” I said. “But it’s certainly worth a closer look, don’t you think?”

  “Most definitely. Maybe the ghost was trying to give you a hint about what happened.”

  “It would be better if the ghost didn’t hint and just came right out and told me what it was about.”

  Tammy chuckled. “Well, of course that would help. Maybe it hints at suspects and they want you to use your wits.”

  “Yeah, that must be it,” I said. “I’ll have to read the book to see if anything makes sense about the current case, or if anything else pops out.”

  “We have to know what happens in this book now,” Tammy said.

  “I’m excited. Like more excited than I usually am when reading a book, and that’s saying a lot.”


  Tammy smiled. “I feel the same way.”

  “I can’t wait until we read the whole book,” I said, flipping to the back of the book. “The pages are gone.”

  “What? Are you kidding me?” Tammy took the book from my hands.

  The back pages were missing.

  “That’s the part that would reveal who the killer was,” I said.

  “Was this done on purpose or was it just an accident?”

  “I think this was definitely on purpose.”

  “This is so strange,” Tammy said. “How can we know now?”

  “We have to get another copy of this book,” I said. “Obviously the ending of the book would help us figure out who killed Katrina.”

  “It should looks that way,” Tammy said.

  “So that means that whoever put the book in the house did so recently,” I said.

  “But why? We would have never figured this out without the book. I mean, we have no way of knowing it was there. We would have never read this book on our own and put the dots together.”

  “You have a point. Unfortunately, I don’t know the answer to that,” I said.

  “Well, at least for starters we need to figure out the ending of the book.” Tammy leaned back on the sofa. “We’ll just have to get another copy. If only we knew librarians.” Tammy winked.

  “Yes, we have to actually find another copy of this book. I’ll get my computer.” I grabbed my laptop and hurried back over to the sofa. “It will take too long to track one down through the library.”

  After typing in the search I scrolled down. I clicked on an Amazon link and realized that there was only one copy available. What did I expect? The book was from 1952. They wanted five thousand dollars for the book.

  “Are you kidding me?” Tammy said.

  “We can’t afford that. I don’t have that kind of money,” I said. “Do you?”

  She laughed. “Not anytime soon at least. Don’t give up hope just yet. Maybe there’s another way we can find a copy.”

  I turned off my computer. I didn’t want to look at the page any longer. “Maybe you’re right. I could go by the antique shop and then the used bookstore and ask.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” Tammy said as she got up from the sofa. “This has certainly been an interesting evening.”

  “Hey, it’s always interesting when I’m around, right?” I asked.

  “Well, that’s one way to look at it.”

  “In all seriousness, I’m sorry if it was a bad evening,” I said.

  “You know I’m just kidding,” Tammy said. “Don’t worry about this, Rip, we’ll figure it out.”

  I nodded. “Yeah, we’ll figure out something.”

  Even though I said the words I wasn’t completely convinced, but I wouldn’t let her know that. Tammy walked over the door and I followed her.

  “Are you sure you’ll be okay out there?” I asked.

  “It’s just a few steps to my car and hopefully the police officer is awake by now. Maybe I should wake him up,” Tammy said.

  “No, you’d probably startle him and there’s no telling what he would do.” I waved my hands. “Don’t do that. Just let him sleep.”

  “Okay, if you say so,” she said. “So I’ll see you in the morning at work.”

  “See you then,” I said.

  She waved as she headed down the steps. I almost asked her to stay because I didn’t want to be alone. Brannon was coming over later, but I wasn’t for sure that I wanted to be alone in the meantime. Things seemed so spooky right now. Being alone would only allow me time to think about all the bad stuff even more, and that wasn’t exactly a good thing right now. I needed to give my mind a break. I closed the door, locked it, and then stepped over to the window to watch Tammy get to her car.

  Tammy moved down the path toward her car. She paused at the police car and then turned to look up at the window. She knew I’d be watching her. She shook her head and mimicked that he was still sleeping. That was a long time for him to sleep. Maybe I really did need to check on him. Tammy went to her car and got in. A couple seconds later and she drove off. Now I felt even more spooked.

  What would I do now? I supposed I could start reading the book even though I wouldn’t be able to read the ending. Maybe by the time I got to the end I would have found another copy. First, I’d fix a snack and then I’d relax in bed with the book. I sent Brannon a text letting him know I was thinking of him and then headed toward the kitchen. I’d almost mistakenly told him that I was home now. Then he would have asked where I’d been. It was hard for me to keep a secret.

  A knocking sound caught my attention and I stopped halfway across the floor. What was that? The slightest noise made me antsy. Had I really heard something? Had someone knocked on the door? Was it Brannon or the officer? I tiptoed over to the door. I didn’t know if I should call out and ask who was there. I wasn’t sure if I wanted whoever was on the other side to know I was home. Someone could have easily slipped past the sleeping cop.

  What if it was the guy who had pushed me down the stairs? What if he had found out where I lived? Now I felt as if I couldn’t breathe. Anxiety rushed through my body. I had to do something. The door rattled. My fear spiked. Someone was definitely on the other side. I leaned in closer as if that would help me figure out who was on the other side. They weren’t speaking and I wasn’t answering. Maybe they would just go away. I tried to steady my breathing.

  “Ripley, are you home?”

  I recognized the polite voice. It was Erin again. What was she doing here this time? I eased the door open. I still wasn’t sure if I should trust her. Her face looked panicked.

  “Is something wrong?” I asked.

  “I think there’s something wrong with the police officer outside your apartment.”

  I quirked an eyebrow. How did she know there was an officer parked out there? He was in an unmarked car.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “The way he’s sitting in that car doesn’t seem right. I think he might be injured or…” Her sentence trailed off.

  He had been sitting out there for a long time. Now that I thought about it he hadn’t even moved. My stomach turned. What if something was wrong? I slipped into my shoes and headed out the door with her. I was curious what had brought her by here in the first place.

  “Why are you here?” I asked as we hurried down the stairs.

  She paused and I glanced over my shoulder at her.

  “Oh, I was just walking down the sidewalk and I happened to notice him.”

  Why was she walking down the sidewalk in front of my place? Hadn’t Brannon told her not to do that alone considering that guy Scott had been following her?

  “Hasn’t someone been following you? Is it safe to walk out here alone?” I asked.

  We stepped out the main door and onto the porch. The wind whipped the branches on the trees and rain slammed against the ground. Thunder rolled across the night air and lightning forked across the dark sky. As if this scene wasn’t scary enough, now I had to fight the storm.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Shouldn’t we be worried about the officer?” Erin said over the loud rumble of thunder.

  I wouldn’t drop this. As soon as I found out the officer was okay I had a few more questions for her. I also wanted to know why she was here. I didn’t believe that she randomly happened to be walking by. Especially with the weather like this. Something about this whole thing made me uneasy and sent a shiver down my spine. Plus, that still didn’t explain how she knew the man in the car was a police officer. That was the whole point of him being undercover, so that no one knew.

  Chapter 14

  As I headed down the path I realized the officer was still in the same position. Actually, I took that back, it wasn’t the same position. Now he was slightly slumped over. I hadn’t noticed that before, so maybe he was just sleeping. Once I got right next to his door I stopped.

  “What should I do?” I asked.<
br />
  “Open the car door,” she said.

  Yeah, I was pretty sure I didn’t want to do that. That would startle him too much. He was like a sleeping bear. I wanted to poke him with a stick from far away so as not to agitate him too much.

  “I suppose I’ll just knock on the window,” I said.

  She shrugged. “Whatever you think.”

  She seemed to have a bit of an attitude now, but I couldn’t worry about her right now. I knocked on the window, but he didn’t move. I was really starting to panic. Maybe something had happened to him. I was definitely going to call Brannon and have him come over.

  “See, I think there’s something definitely wrong with him. He should’ve moved. Open the door and make sure he’s all right.”

  It would be a while before Brannon would be here. If there was something wrong with him I should help him right away. I eased closer to the door.

  Once the door was open I said, “Hello, Officer?”

  He didn’t respond. Actually I heard his radio and they were calling for him as well. This was serious. Something was wrong with him. When I reached in to touch him I noticed blood on his body.

  “He’s bloody,” I screamed.

  I shook him, but he didn’t move. I checked for a pulse. There wasn’t one.

  “I think he’s dead,” I said.

  Erin moved back a few steps onto the sidewalk. I wanted to do the same. I wanted to distance myself, but I knew that I had to take care of this. I had to be strong for Brannon. What if he had been in the situation too? I reached across the body and picked up the radio.

  I called out, “Hello, officer down. Officer down.”

  Yeah, I’d seen that on TV. I had no idea if it was a real thing they said or not. The woman on the other side asked my name. Oh, how I wished I could stay anonymous. Unfortunately that wasn’t an option.

  “This is Ripley Van Raden. Can you have Brannon come here immediately? An officer is dead.”

  “Someone will be there right away,” she said.

  That was great, but I just wanted it to be Brannon. I would call him on my phone.

  Something came over me. It was as if the world was closing in on me and things were starting to grow black. I hoped that I didn’t pass out. What if whoever killed him was still around? I needed to call Brannon. I moved back a few steps with the cell phone in my hand. I couldn’t even look to see where Erin had gone. I stumbled and fell to the ground right on my butt. I just sat there. I didn’t know what to do.