A knock rattled the door and I jumped. Please don’t let that be the killer. Though I supposed a murderer wouldn’t have knocked.
“Ripley, are you there? It’s Brannon. Police, let me in.” His strong voice rumbled like thunder.
That was probably the fastest I’d ever seen a police officer arrive. I ran over to the door and swung it wide. I’d never been happier to see him. The faster I got out of that apartment the better.
“Where is the body?” His gaze darted around the room. Brannon’s indigo-colored eyes matched the shade of his shirt.
All I could do was point toward the end of the hallway. He’d figure out which room when he saw the open door. Brannon sprinted down the hall, his muscles flexing under the crisp uniform. Usually he wore a cap that covered his short-cropped dark hair, but today it was missing.
Crystal and I stood in silence. It was only a couple of seconds until Brannon came back from the bedroom, but it felt like an eternity.
“Stay right here. I’m going to check the rest of the apartment.”
Again we stood motionless as we watched him go from room to room, looking through the house. I tried to hide the alarm on my face from Crystal. Since the dead woman was Crystal’s roommate, I wanted to try to calm her. I wrapped my arm around Crystal’s shoulders and squeezed. She leaned her head on my shoulder.
Finally Brannon came back over. “It looks to be all clear. Did you see anything when you arrived?”
“No, we just came in. Crystal was looking for her roommate and went into her room… that’s when she found her.” My words were rushed, but it was no surprise with the current situation.
Footsteps caught our attention. The other officers had arrived. A sea of blue uniforms filed into the tiny apartment. They all converged on that back bedroom. I wanted out more than ever. I needed to call Tammy and share the terrible news. She wouldn’t believe it when I told her. Another murder in Devil’s Moon?
At least I didn’t have to go back to work at the tour tonight. This was my one night off. I wouldn’t have been able to do it otherwise. I was too shaken up to do anything other than hide under the covers. The safety of being behind the locked doors of my apartment sounded better than ever right now.
After a while of us standing around, Brannon walked back over to us. We’d known each other for some time now, but the thought of him slapping the handcuffs on me still crossed my mind. And not in the good way. What if he thought I had something to do with this woman’s death? I forced the thought of being tossed behind bars out of my mind.
He focused his attention on Crystal. “Do you have some place to stay?”
She appeared confused at first, but then she nodded. “Yes, I can stay with another friend.”
“It’s probably a good idea right now.” Tension remained on Brannon’s face.
I wasn’t sure if Crystal would ever come back to this apartment.
“Is it okay if I leave now?” I wrapped my arms across my waist as if giving myself a hug.
Brannon touched my arm, which made my stomach dance. “Yes, you can go. Do you need someone to take you home?”
I thought about accepting a ride, but it wasn’t that far, so I figured I could just get some fresh air.
“No, I’m fine to walk by myself,” I said.
“I’ll call you soon.” His voice was low and sweet now, much different from when he’d first arrived on the scene.
Crystal and I stepped out into the main hallway of the house. Just being out of her apartment made my stress level go down.
“Are you going to be okay?” I asked.
She opened the main door that led outside. “Yeah, I’ll just grab some of my things and go stay at my friend’s house. I’m going to call her and have her pick me up.”
“I can stay until she gets here.” I touched her arm.
“That would be great, thanks.” Relief swept over her face. “I’m just going to ask the police if I can grab my stuff.”
Crystal turned and headed back to her place. Once on the porch I sat down on the first step to wait for her.
Gray-tinged clouds scuttled in front of the moon. The smell of damp earth, rain and a tinge of burning wood lingered in the air. Winter was creeping up quickly. My breath was now visible as it whipped through the cool air. The nearby streetlights barely did anything to cut through the darkness. Peering out to the sidewalk and street reminded me that there could be a killer looking back at me.
A couple minutes passed and Crystal came outside with a large tote bag full of her belongings. I felt so bad that I didn’t know what to say. She stepped off the porch and I pushed to my feet. Since I was at a loss for words, I hugged her instead. She held on tight for a moment and then finally let go.
The sound of a car pulling up caught our attention.
“There’s my friend,” she said.
Crystal and I walked down the path to the street. Her friend popped the trunk and Crystal tossed her bag in and shut the lid. Crystal kept glancing at the house the whole time. Not that I blamed her. I kept looking back too. The police were still going in and out of the apartment. I needed to get Crystal out of there before they brought out her roommate’s body.
Crystal climbed into the car. “Thanks, Ripley. I’ll see you in the morning.”
I leaned down to the window. “If you need to take the day off I understand.”
She shook her head. “No, I want to keep busy.”
“Okay, if you’re sure, but call if you change your mind. I’ll see you then.” I stepped away from the car and waved.
Crystal’s expression was solemn, her eyes full of fear. She tossed her hand up at me as the car pulled away. I glanced back at the house one last time. Thank goodness we’d gotten out of there without encountering the killer. But that meant the person was out here somewhere. For all I knew the murderer could be watching the scene. That sent a shiver down my spine.
Who had done this? Was it someone Melissa had known? Had someone broken in to the apartment to burglarize the place and she had discovered them? I assumed the police would check with the other apartments to see if they’d seen or heard anything.
After finally forcing my attention away from the crime scene, I headed down the street toward my place. There were a few streetlights on my way home, but some areas that I had to walk through were pitch black. I was rethinking turning down that ride home. As I hurried down the sidewalk, the wind whipped the tree branches. Every few seconds, I glanced over my shoulder to see if anyone was back there.
Finally, I made it to my street and neared my house. That was when I spotted her standing by the gate. It opened to the pathway that led to my front door. It was the woman who had been on the tour, the one who had disappeared. What was she doing here? How had she found where I lived? Had she found me on purpose? So far, she hadn’t noticed me. I picked up my pace so that I could catch up to her. I wanted to find out what she was doing at my house. I assumed this wasn’t a coincidence.
She stood in front of the gate, peering up at my house, as if contemplating whether to walk up to the front door. She still didn’t know that I was almost there. Maybe she wanted to take the tour again. That didn’t explain how she knew where I lived though. I hoped that someone hadn’t told her. That wouldn’t be cool if people started giving out my address. Considering some of the strange characters I’d come in contact with lately, I didn’t want anybody to know where I lived.
When I got a little closer, the woman turned and spotted me headed her way. A panicked look crossed her face. Without uttering a word, she turned and ran in the opposite direction. In a split-second decision, I took off running after her. Once I reached the gate, I realized that she was a lot faster than me. I was an average runner, and she was obviously exceptional. My short legs wouldn’t allow me to cover much distance. The fact that she ran made me think that she was up to no good. If she’d just wanted a tour she wouldn’t have taken off.
I stopped and tried to catch my breath, watching the
woman running down the sidewalk. She turned the corner and disappeared out of sight. I supposed as long as she was gone I wouldn’t have to worry about it tonight, but I hoped she didn’t come back. The next time I talked to Brannon I’d tell him about it and see what he thought.
Flashbacks of what had happened to Crystal’s roommate popped into my head. It was hard to stop thinking about what I’d seen. Just then I remembered I still had Melissa’s books in my bag. As soon as I got inside I’d take a look at them and see if there was any connection between the two.
The gate released a loud, scraping moan when I opened it. Of course I glanced back one more time to see if the woman had returned. So far I didn’t see her. I hurried up the steps to the door, and then on to my third-floor apartment.
It was nice to be home in the safety of my own apartment. The surrounding walls felt like a cocoon, keeping all the bad stuff away from me. Although I bet that had been how Melissa had felt too.
After setting my bag on the chair in the living room, I went straight for the kitchen. Cooking tonight definitely wasn’t an option, so I opted for my old standby, the peanut butter sandwich. No jelly and on wheat bread. With my plate and Diet Coke in hand I settled on the sofa so that I could look over the two books while I ate.
I leafed through the books and studied the stories, trying not to get peanut butter on the chapter four. What would people say if the librarian smeared up the pages? The stories were just collections of ghost tales from different states. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. What could be the connection between the books? As I studied the indexes, I noticed that each had stories from Kentucky. By some chance was Devil’s Moon in there? We sure had our share of ghost stories, although I’d thought I knew all the books that had Devil’s Moon stories in them.
When I scanned the text again, I found a story about a haunted house that was in a town very near to Devil’s Moon—Edgewood. I grabbed the other book to see if it had any ghost stories from Kentucky in it too. Sure enough, both had slightly different variations of the same story. Could that be the connection between the books? It had to be, right? What else was there? Parts of the stories had been highlighted with a neon pink marker. The librarian in me cringed when I saw the marked up book, but I couldn’t worry about that now. The highlighted sentences were about the killing of a woman by her jealous boyfriend. Why was that significant? Why would the woman have left the books for me to find though? Was there something about the stories that she wanted me to know? Why me?
Maybe I should check out the haunted house at Edgewood. Actually, the more I thought about it, the more I was sure I would have to investigate further. I wondered if Brannon had ever heard of the place. He knew more about hauntings than me. Brannon had also investigated just about every place around, so he’d no doubt been there too. I had to give him a call and find out what he knew. I would have to wait though because obviously he was a little tied up. As soon as he called, I would ask about the place.
How would I explain the books? It sounded kind of strange that the murder victim had just happened to leave them in front of my place. He might think I’d taken them from her room.
Just then the phone rang and I jumped. Luckily, I didn’t drop the Diet Coke on the books. I picked up the phone.
“What kind of message was that?” Tammy asked. “Are you trying to play some sort of cruel joke on me?”
“I wish it was a joke.” I sighed. “But it’s all too real.”
“You’re not kidding? Someone was murdered?” Her voice rose a few decibels. “This is scary stuff, Rip.”
“I’m not kidding. It was Crystal’s roommate. The one we went to visit tonight about the books.”
“How do you know she was murdered?” Tammy asked.
“Well, I suppose I don’t know for sure, but it looked like she’d been shot in the back of the head.”
Tammy gasped. “What a horrific sight. You saw that?”
My hands were still shaking just thinking about it. “Yes, I did. Crystal found her first and then I went into the room. I called Brannon after that.”
“I bet he couldn’t believe that you called with another dead body.”
“He was just as shocked as I was,” I said.
“That’s understandable,” Tammy said. “I wonder what he thinks about that. Furthermore, I wonder what the people around Devil’s Moon will think.”
Chapter 4
The next morning, I hurried around the apartment, getting ready for work. I called Crystal again and told her that she didn’t have to come in, but she insisted she wanted to. Much to my disappointment, I saw that I’d missed a call from Brannon. Once I’d finally drifted off to sleep last night, I must have been dead to the world.
After dressing in a comfy light gray sweater and darker pants, I grabbed my purse, locked the door, and headed down the sidewalk. The cool November morning made me hurry my step so that I could keep warm. Traffic had picked up as people headed to work. Since I hadn’t eaten breakfast at home, I decided to swing by the coffee shop and grab something on my way. Based on my stress level, I figured I needed comfort food, and they had the best pastries around. Making a decision on which one to get was never easy.
Again the gray clouds covered the sky, and it looked as if more rain was in the forecast. I hoped that the weather stayed halfway decent for a while longer so that I could continue the haunted tour. As long as I had customers, I’d take them through the ice and snow. Nothing made me ever want to stop the tour.
After walking a block, I crossed the street to the Java Hut. It was quite busy of course, so I had to stand in line. While I waited I studied the menu and decided on a cinnamon latte and a cream-cheese pastry. I would’ve gotten one for Tammy, but she claimed to be on a diet again. Of course, she didn’t need to lose weight, but she didn’t listen to me. Plus, she’d probably just take some of my pastry anyway. After getting my order, I weaved around the crowd of people and headed for the door. I had just stepped out onto the sidewalk when I ran right into Brannon’s hard muscular chest.
He grabbed my arms. “Whoa, are you okay? You must be in a hurry.”
Well, I did want to hustle and get to work so I could avoid any strange stares from the Devil’s Moon residents. When they found out what had happened at Crystal’s last night, we would be the talk of the town.
I held up my coffee cup and bag. “Just stopping for a little breakfast.”
“Yeah, me too.” His lips curved into a charming grin.
I took a sip. “Sorry I missed your call last night. I must’ve fallen asleep.”
“That’s okay. Sorry it was late when I called. I just got wrapped up with… well, you know.”
Yeah, I knew, and I still got shivers thinking about it.
Brannon gestured. “Do you mind if I walk with you for a while?”
It was impossible to turn down that smiling face. “Sure, but don’t you want to get some coffee?”
“I can come back.” His gaze drifted over me and my heart raced.
Brannon and I started walking at the same pace toward the library. For a few moments, we walked in silence and it was nice—a comfortable calm. A crackle of energy passed between us, but maybe I was just imagining it. This was turning out to be a much better morning than I had anticipated.
“I was worried about you,” he said, breaking the silence.
“I’m okay.” I wondered if this was a good time to tell him about the haunted house at Edgewood.
“It seems like there’s something on your mind. Do you need to tell me something?” He flashed that sexy little grin again that made my knees weak.
Trying to act casual, I took another sip of my coffee and then said, “Well, there is one thing.”
“It’s not bad, is it?” There was a hint of teasing in his voice.
“No, not bad per se. It’s just that I found a couple of library books.”
“That’s not so unusual,” he said. “After all, you are a librarian.”
“T
rue, but I found one of them in front of my house on the sidewalk, and then Mr. Byrd from the antique shop found one in front of his door. He called me and I went and picked it up.”
He quirked an eyebrow. “So you think someone lost their books?”
I glanced at him. “Lost them? Or left them on purpose.”
He frowned. “What makes you think that?”
“Well, both of the books were about hauntings and it was who checked them out that has me most concerned.” I watched his face for a reaction.
“Who checked them out?” he asked.
“It was Melissa Mathers.”
His eyebrows drew together in a frown. “Melissa left books about haunted houses in front of two different locations?”
I nodded. “Yep, that’s what happened.”
“Something tells me that you’re about to get involved in this investigation.”
My jaw dropped. “Why would you say something like that?”
“Because the last two times something like this happened in Devil’s Moon you got mixed up in the case.” His tone might have been teasing, but I knew he was serious.
He did have a point about that, but I’d had no choice. And I didn’t feel like I had a choice this time either.
“Just promise me you won’t get involved in this. It’s just too dangerous. I don’t want something to happen to you.” His sweet tone made my stomach flutter.
I sipped on my coffee and kept my eyes focused straight ahead. “Doing a little investigation isn’t going to make something happen to me.”
He frowned.
I held up my hand. “Okay, I won’t get involved. But you can tell me she was shot, right? What was the time of death? Do you have suspects yet?”
“Rip, I can’t tell you that stuff.”
Haunt the Haunt, Walk the Walk (Haunted Tour Guide Mystery Book 3) Page 3