A Walk on the Haunted Side (Haunted Tour Guide Mystery Book 2)

by Rose Pressey

  Just then the cell phone on the desk rang. I slipped over and glanced down at it. Speak of the devil. Cady’s number appeared. Did I have the nerve to answer the call? It was the only way I would get to the bottom of this. How long would Melissa be occupied with the customers? I hoped they had complicated orders.

  I inched closer to the desk and peered at the phone. If I was going to answer it, I had to do it now. I reached down and picked up the phone.

  “Hello,” I said.

  Had I just tried to disguise my voice? If this wasn’t so scary, I would have laughed at how ridiculous I sounded.

  “Hey, it’s Cady.”

  Well, since her name appeared on the phone I’d figured out that part. I still wanted to know why they were talking to each other. Why was Hank’s ex talking to his assistant?

  “I’ve been thinking about everything and I just can’t do this anymore. I won’t go to the police, so please just let me go. No one will ever know what you did to Hank. Please don’t tell them that I started working for him to ruin his life, but he was a good man. I didn’t know I would enjoy working for him. You hired me and I took the job. I pretended not to know you like you asked me. I even pretended to hate being in Devil’s Moon, so we both have our secrets. You killed him and I’ll keep your secret until the day I die.” She rushed her words.

  It seemed as if she was freaking out. I couldn’t believe what she’d just told me. I wished I had recorded her so that Brannon could have heard. I still couldn’t prove what they had done.

  Cady was silent for a second, and then she said, “Say something. You are freaking me out, Melissa.”

  She was freaking out? Melissa had killed her own husband. That should have made Cady freak out a long time ago.

  I couldn’t say anything, so I just hung up the phone. I tossed it back onto the desk as if it would bite me. I didn’t want anything to do with these sick individuals.

  It was time for me to get out of there. As I turned toward the door, I looked over and spotted the scarf. It was hidden behind the coat. I walked over and took the scarf out from behind the coat. It was strange to know that I was touching the same scarf that Hank had been wearing when Melissa had murdered him. I shoved the scarf back behind the coat. I had to get out of there. Being that close to a murderer was terrifying.

  The phone rang again and I glanced over. Cady’s number appeared on the screen again. There was no way I was picking it up again. Melissa would be back at any second, so I marched over to the door.

  Footsteps sounded from the kitchen.

  I knew it. I had waited too long. How would I get out of there? I glanced around. There was nowhere to hide. Not unless I hid behind the desk, but how long would that last? If Melissa came over to the desk she would see me right away. I was beginning to panic and not think straight. My heart pounded and my stomach was twisted into knots.

  I pulled out my phone and dialed Brannon’s number. Before he answered, the footsteps grew closer. I knew that Melissa would appear in the room at any second. I didn’t have time to talk to Brannon. I would just have to deal with her. I would have to confront her and then run out as soon as I could get away from her.

  As I lowered the phone from my ear, Melissa marched into the office. She stopped in her tracks when she saw me. She stared at me. A frown formed on her face.

  “What the hell are you doing in here?” she demanded.

  I didn’t know what to say. She glanced down at the phone on the desk, which was now ringing again. Stop calling, Cady. Just get out of here before this mad woman comes after you like she’s going to do to me.

  I started to run out the door, but in a blink of an eye, Melissa had reached onto the table just outside the door and grabbed a knife. She waved the weapon in my direction. I backed up.

  I held my hands up. “I don’t want anything. I wasn’t trying to steal anything, if that’s what you thought.”

  “Then why are you in my office?” She stepped a little closer.

  I stared at the knife in her hands. The shininess seemed even brighter now. “I was lost.”

  Okay, that was a stupid excuse and I knew she wouldn’t believe me. Was that the best I could come up with? What was wrong with me? In my defense, it was hard to work under pressure.

  “You were the one who knocked the shelf on me at the library, weren’t you?” I asked.

  She smiled and nodded.

  I tried to figure out how I was going to get away from her. First, I had to get the knife out of her hands, but it was obvious she wasn’t going to let me get past and out the door. But how would I get the knife away from her?

  I knew I would have to grab the knife, but that would put me close to her. That would then mean she would be close enough to stab me. There had to be a better way. I decided on my plan. I ran toward her, but instead of grabbing with my hands, I used my leg to kick her. I aimed my leg toward her chest. I was pretty sure by the pain in my leg that I had pulled something. That was much better than being stabbed to death though.

  She let out a groan and stumbled backward. The problem was she still had the knife clutched in her hand. That plan hadn’t worked the way that I had wanted it to. I was just surprised that I was able to kick her successfully.

  Before she had a chance to get up, I ran over and stomped on her arm. She screamed and released her grip on the knife. I reached down and yanked up the knife.

  I backed up. “Get up and away from the door.”

  This would give me a chance to get out of the confined space. She glared at me, but finally pushed to her feet. She held her hands up and began backing up slowly. She wasn’t moving fast enough for me though and I didn’t trust her. She could easily find another weapon in the kitchen. The place was full of knives. I would just have to run out of there.

  Chapter 24

  When Melissa turned around, she ran smack-dab into Brannon’s chest. She screamed out again. He grabbed her and spun her around. He yanked the handcuffs from his back pocket and slammed them onto her wrists.

  “What are you doing? Why am I being arrested?” she yelled.

  “You’re being arrested for the murder of Hank Key.”

  Brannon proceeded to read her her rights. I was still trying to calm down.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  I blew out a deep breath. “I’m fine.”

  I still couldn’t come to grips with what had happened. I’d thought for sure that I was going to be killed.

  “How did you know that I was here?” I asked.

  “You didn’t say anything on the call.”

  I looked down at my phone and realized that I’d never hung up from him. It was a good thing too. If I had he would have never found me. I wasn’t sure I would have been able to get a call in for help with Melissa trying to attack me.

  “You’ve got this all wrong,” she said.

  That was unlikely.

  “I had to do it,” she said. “Hank left me no choice. He got all the money in the divorce. It wasn’t his and he didn’t deserve it.”

  I was glad that she was talking. Now everyone would know that she had killed her ex-husband. Brannon guided her through the kitchen and back out into the main part of the shop. I followed Brannon through the kitchen. I couldn’t wait to get out of there. The employee was standing behind the counter still with her eyes wide. Just then a couple more officers ran through the front door. The guests were all sitting there frozen. I bet they hadn’t expected to get this kind of show with their meals.

  Melissa tried to squirm her way out of the handcuffs again, the whole time proclaiming her innocence. Too bad she had already confessed back in the kitchen. She couldn’t keep her story straight.

  As I marched through the shop, all eyes were on me. I tried to smile, but people just looked at me in astonishment. I hoped they didn’t think I was part of the crime.

  We stepped out of the shop finally and the other officer led Melissa to the police car.

  Brannon grabbed my arms. “W
hy did you do that? She could have killed you.”

  “I know. I didn’t think it would turn into that.” I guessed I’d kind of known the chance was there, but I would act as if I didn’t.

  He shook his head. “I’m just glad that you’re okay.”

  I blew out a breath. “I’m fine. Thanks for coming though. You might want to check Cady. She said that Melissa hired her to get the assistant job with Hank. I don’t know how much involvement she had with Hank’s murder.”

  “I’ll make sure to send someone over to her now.”

  An officer waved at Brannon. “I’ll be right back,” Brannon said.

  I nodded. “I’ll be right here.” Although I wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible. A crowd of people had gathered around the town.

  “Rip!”

  I recognized Tammy’s panicked voice. When I turned around, I spotted Tammy running toward me.

  “What happened? I just heard that you were arrested.”

  “What? No!” See how quickly things get twisted around? “It wasn’t me arrested. It was Melissa. She tried to stab me with a knife.” Tammy’s eyes almost popped out. “I found the scarf though and she confessed to killing her ex-husband.”

  “This is crazy. Thank goodness you are okay,” Tammy said.

  We looked over at the police car. “She’s back there.” I pointed.

  Melissa had turned around and was glaring at me.

  “I don’t think she likes you very much,” Tammy said.

  “No, I’m not her favorite person. I’m glad she’s locked away in that car,” I said.

  Brannon finished talking with the officer and walked over to where we stood. “I bet you want to get out of here. Where did you park?”

  Brannon knew that I would want to be around for all this action.

  I motioned down the road. “My car is just down there.”

  “Did you walk here?” Brannon asked Tammy.

  She nodded.

  “Okay, I’ll walk with you two down to Rip’s car.”

  We headed down the sidewalk with plenty of people still watching. My phone rang and I pulled it out of my pocket. I figured that it was my mother calling. She had probably already heard the news. In a small town, news like this would travel faster than a tornado. When I glanced down at the phone, the screen had the words ‘THANK YOU.’

  I glanced around, looking for the shadow or Hank. I only saw the crowd of people. The shadow could be hiding anywhere though. When I reached the car, my phone dinged, alerting me to another text message. When I looked down at the phone, it said ‘THANK YOU’ again.

  I frowned.

  “Who’s it from?” Tammy asked.

  “I don’t know. There was no number. Someone is thanking me though.”

  I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. When I looked over, I spotted a shadow. I knew then that Hank’s ghost had been the one to send me the text. He appeared for a brief moment and then faded away like a cloud of dust. I was glad that he’d found peace.

  “Did you see that?” Brannon asked.

  I looked at him. “You saw it too?”

  He nodded. “Yes, I did. It looked like the silhouette of a person.”

  It looked like it because it was. I didn’t know how to tell him I’d received a text from Hank and that I’d actually seen Hank.

  “I think Hank moved on,” I said.

  “I guess since we found his killer,” Brannon said.

  “Is that all he wanted? Do you think he’s gone for good?” Tammy asked.

  I nodded. “Yes, I think so.”

  “That’s the reason most ghosts stick around,” Brannon added.

  “He has no reason to stick around now,” I said.

  “Thanks to you.” Brannon grabbed my hand.

  Tammy coughed. “I’ll just get in the car while you all say goodbye.” She winked as she climbed into the passenger seat of my car.

  “You had me worried back there,” Brannon said. I looked down at our hands intertwined. “Tell me you’ll never worry me like that again.”

  “I’ll try my best,” I said.

  I said the words, but in reality I couldn’t guarantee that. With me there was no telling what kind of things I would get into.

  “Do you mind if I stop by later?” Brannon asked.

  I smiled. “Sure, I’d like that.”

  He looked over his shoulder. “I’d better get back over there, but I’ll see you soon.”

  I nodded. “I’ll see you soon.”

  Brannon opened the car door for me. I slipped into the car and waved as he walked away.

  I dropped Tammy off at her place and then headed home. Once inside, I felt the difference in the air. I really felt the ghosts were gone. Was it because Hank had moved on? Was that all the other ghost had wanted too?

  I was actually looking forward to the tour again. I would always remember Hank and think about him every day that I did the tour. I wondered what would happen with Sandra.

  My doorbell rang and I released a deep breath. I figured it was Brannon, so I straightened my shirt, checked my hair in the mirror on the living room wall, and then hurried over to the door. I was surprised when I opened the door to find Sandra.

  “I’m sorry for bothering you,” Sandra said.

  I glanced over her shoulder to see if Brannon was around. I didn’t see him. “That’s okay.”

  “I just wanted to let you know that I’m leaving.”

  “Oh, well, I’m glad everything was settled and you can leave now.”

  She looked down at her shoes. “The ghost is back at the house. But she is moving on,” Sandra said.

  “Really? How do you know?” I asked.

  “I went by there. She gave me that message.”

  “What made her leave?”

  “She wanted to help Hank. He was stabbed just like her. Now that is resolved, she can rest in peace. That’s all she needed.”

  Sandra didn’t say anything else. She turned around and walked down the steps. I watched as she walked down the sidewalk. She’d said she was leaving, but in a weird way, I didn’t know if I believed her. She obviously had a special talent with the ghosts. I wondered if she had spoken with Hank’s ghost.

  I was just ready to close the door when I spotted Brannon coming up the sidewalk toward me. He smiled and waved.

  “Am I late?” he asked, looking at his watch.

  “No, I just spoke with Sandra. She stopped by to see me. She said she’s leaving. Did you know that?” I asked.

  Brannon climbed the steps and stood in front of me. “Yes, I told her she was free to go.”

  I nodded. “I’m glad it all worked out.”

  “So how about dinner?” He motioned over his shoulder.

  “I can make something for us if you’d like?”

  His eyes lit up. “I’d love that.”

  Brannon followed me into my apartment. He paused as soon as he stepped into the hallway. Oh, no. Did he sense something that I didn’t? I was hoping that the spirits really had left.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked, dreading what he was about to say.

  “The ghosts are gone, huh? I don’t feel them.” He looked around again.

  “Yes, I think they’re gone.” I motioned. “Follow me.”

  Brannon joined me in the kitchen as we prepared dinner together. “I got a chance to check that name that you found on the paper.”

  I paused with the spoon in my hand. “What did you find out?” My stomach did a little dance.

  “As it turns out, the man worked at the Helmwood House. He was accused of the murder, but there was no chance for justice for Corabeth Willis because he was never caught. So he got off.”

  My mouth dropped open. “Wow. So I guess she just wanted us to know that this person had killed her.”

  “Well, everyone knew it, he just wasn’t convicted.”

  “Sandra said that the ghost told her she was ready to move on because Hank’s killer was found. That’s what she
wanted. Why she was hanging around before that, I don’t know.”

  He looked at me. “Do you believe her?”

  I stirred the salad. “I think I do. Sandra seems to have a talent for talking to the spirits. Oh, what about the other name I gave you? The one Mrs. Frederickson gave me. Keith Bender. Did he really go missing?”

  Brannon picked one of the black olives off the plate I’d prepared for him. “He went missing on his own. He left his wife and children. There was no hex placed on him.”

  “Just as I suspected.” I pulled out silverware.

  “I guess there’s only one way to find out if Corabeth is still around.” Brannon winked.

  “You want to go back to the house?”

  “We can check out that haunted house among others. You made a good paranormal partner.”

  I wondered if he only thought of me as a paranormal partner.

  I still wasn’t sure after what had happened to Hank. Not that I believed in the hex, but I had seen the shadow attack him. We needed to find out what that meant. “If you’d like for me to come along, I guess I can.”

  “I’d like that,” he said. “I would like it even more if you came with me.”

  I pulled plates from the cabinet. “I’ll certainly think about it.”

  I wondered if Brannon would still come on the tour with me. It wasn’t necessary now.

  “I talked with Cady. She said that Melissa had hired her to try to get a job with Hank as his assistant. Cady was surprised that she was able to actually pull it off. Melissa wanted Cady to be around him to make his life miserable.”

  “That’s terrible. So she knew Melissa had murdered him? Did she help?”

  “She will be charged as an accessory to murder.”

  My eyes widened.

  “She knew where Hank was going to be, so she told Melissa.”

  “That is scary,” I said. “What about Darlene?”

  “She didn’t know what the women were up to. She’d just become friends with Melissa. She has a tendency to do whatever anyone asks her to do. So when Melissa asked her to go along on your tour, she didn’t hesitate.”