Beau handles the ATV with ease as we fly over the planes and hills that make up the ranch. Wind whips across my face, taking my dark-brown hair with it. I duck under the brim of his hat, inhaling his warm musk. I can’t help the excited smile that breaks across my face. This sense of adventure could be addicting. I have to watch it. Focus on the case here. That’s all that really matters.
Right behind us, Russ whoops as he takes the hill too fast and his ATV goes airborne for a second. Jess squeals, and I smile. It feels good to hear them excited, having fun, and being normal young adults. I’m only a year older than Russ, but I still sometimes feel ancient, and it’s so nice to see them enjoying themselves.
“We’re almost there!” Beau yells, and I can hear some of that exuberance in his voice, too. Up ahead, the light zips over the valley. We’re getting closer, and it’s still there—it’s not going away. There’d better not be a dead body out there this time.
After what feels like forever, we reach the valley. Beau stops the ATV, and Russ kills his engine alongside ours. I peer into the darkness, trying to see if I can make anything out on the ground, but it’s too dark. I grab my phone and record it anyway. We’ll upload all of the footage for our subscribers—maybe they’ll see something. The light flashes on again, but it’s farther away this time.
“Why don’t I see if I can get closer?” Beau says.
Russ agrees. We gun it across the valley, when the light suddenly winks out. Crap. I’d been too focused holding onto Beau and making sure I didn’t fall off that I wasn’t watching to see where it went.
“Where’d it go?” Russ exclaims, echoing my thoughts.
“I don’t know. Let’s get closer.”
We get to the top of the ridge just in time to hear a noise, and it doesn’t sound like any alien spacecraft. A pair of headlights flashes next to a mesquite tree, and whoever it is roars away, the twin beams piercing the darkness. What is a car doing out here? Are they looking for the aliens, too? Beau gives a brief chase, but they’re too fast, and before long, they’re gone. Dejectedly, he returns to the scene of the lights, where Russ and Jess are collecting video and photo evidence.
“Well, shit,” I mutter, jumping off of the ATV.
Beau takes off his hat long enough for him to run his hands through his hair. “Well, now at least we know they’re not aliens.”
“Not exactly,” Jess says. “They could be humans chasing the lights, same as we are.” I echo her thought.
Beau grimaces. “I doubt it. They’re probably drug runners, looking to pick someone up.”
“But what about the lights?” Russ asks. “That still doesn’t explain what those are and why we keep seeing them.”
“No, it doesn’t,” Beau says. “If anything, it leaves me with more questions than answers, and that’s why I hired you guys.” He gives me a sardonic grin. “To find answers, not more questions.”
“What can I say?” I give him a wink. “Expect the unexpected with Brady Paranormal Investigations.”
He chuckles. “You’ve got that right.”
TOMBSTONE IS FAR FROM a ghost town by the time we roll in the next day. Jess grumbles about being relegated to the back seat, but Russ doesn’t care. He keeps recounting what we saw last night and the comments we’re getting online. Neither of them seemed too miffed when we snuck out to avoid Beau. He doesn’t need to be part of the interrogation, at least not yet. He’s too close to the case, and by the anger in his eyes last night, I don’t know if I want him near the people we saw if we ever catch them.
“Any new subscribers?” I ask as I search for a parking spot along the dusty side streets.
“Since the last time you asked me?” His fingers flick across the screen on his phone. “Three.” That’s awesome, but it’s never enough. He doesn’t mention that we lost a few since we started taking non-ghost cases. That stings. Hopefully, it will all be worth it in the end.
We park in visitor parking, but when we get to the main street, it’s like a whole different world. The actors are still there, but they’re either clumped in groups of two or three, whispering furtively to each other, or standing with a crowd of people spilling out into the street in front of one of the storefronts, bracketed by two police cars and an unmarked white van.
“Do you want to see what’s going on?” Russ asks.
“I don’t know if they’ll talk to us now more than they did before. Jess, why don’t you see if you can squeeze in there and figure something out while Russ and I get a hold of Annette? She’ll talk to us. Then we’ll meet back here and go over what we’ve found.”
“Sounds good,” Jess says before disappearing into the crowd.
Russ, Bear, and I hurry over to the saloon. It’s deserted, as opposed to whatever the heck is going on down the street. Cecily buzzes between the bar and the rows of tables and booths, looking harried and exhausted. Has she even slept since we saw her last? As soon as she sees us, she hurries our way.
“Is there something I can get you guys?” Her voice is clipped and firm. She obviously doesn’t want us here, but she’s also not going to refuse the service.
“Hi. We’re sorry to bother you, but we were looking for the bartender who was here last night. I think her name was... Annette?” I don’t want to let on that we know that from before, even though there really isn’t any good reason for us to know her name.
Cecily plants one hand on her hip. “What do you want to talk to her about?”
My brain freezes, as if trying to figure out an excuse for why we need to talk to Annette. I’ve got nothing.
“She offered to give us an interview for the show,” Russ says, saving the day.
I give him a smile. “Yeah, that’s it. She said to stop by today for the interview.” The lie feels clunky on my tongue, probably because I didn’t think of it myself.
Cecily seems to consider this for a few seconds before the mistrust on her face clears. I wonder if she’s trying to figure out when we talked to Annette, since we hadn’t left our table the entire time.
“Huh. She didn’t mention anything to me. I guess she was pretty preoccupied, though. Anyway, she didn’t come into work today. I think my boss said she called in sick.”
Interesting. We don’t have her phone number, so it’s going to be hard to get a hold of her. Somehow, I doubt Cecily would offer her number up easily.
“Well, thank you for your time.” I give her a friendly wave, and we leave, more dejected than before.
“That was a bust,” Russ says, shoving his hands in his pockets. “What do you want to do now?”
“Let’s see what Jess found out.” We head toward the growing crowd. Right at the edge, Russ and I cast each other a glance.
“Are they standing around the Lily?” Russ asks.
I scoop Bear up so he doesn’t get stepped on and nod. “Yeah, that’s what it looks like. Do you see Jess?”
Russ shakes his head. “No, but she’s got to be around here somewhere.”
We weave our way into the crowd, trying to listen in on the conversations, but they’re no more than murmurs that stop when we get too close. We find Jess at the front of the crowd, peering over the shoulder of a woman in a full, frilly blue Western dress and a wide-brimmed lace hat.
“There you are,” I hiss.
Jess gives me the barest of glances over her shoulder. “Oh, it’s you. Look.”
She points over the woman’s shoulder. Yellow crime-scene tape stretches between the wooden railing and across the doors to the Lily. My stomach sinks. I know what it means.
The door swings open, and a police officer lifts the tape enough for another to duck under it before following him. Once they’re through, they hold it up for an ME pushing a gurney. The wheels on the metal gurney click on the wooden sidewalk. On top of the gurney is a thick black bag.
“Make way,” one of the cops barks.
“What happened?” I ask the other.
“Nothing you need to worry about,” he says. “
The Lily is closed today. Why don’t you all go down to the O.K. Corral and watch the show there? There’s nothing to see here.”
Obviously, there is.
More police officers exit the theater, followed by a couple more crime-scene techs. Lastly, there’s one more cop, this one dressed in a dress shirt and slacks with a tie and the old man who operated the cash register when we came for our tour in tow. He’s paler now, his face almost as white as the sparse hair trimmed close to his skull. He clutches a black cowboy hat in his hands and stares down at it. The detective talking to him hands him a card then murmurs something before walking away. I feel like a pariah even thinking about it, but this is probably the best chance I’ll get to talk to him.
“Mr. Thompson?” I sidle up next to him. Jess and Russ watch me, cameras on, but not pointing at me. If we get anything, it’ll be for us, not the show. “Do you remember me? We took a tour at the Lily, and you told us so many wonderful stories. Ted said we could come back and talk to him, and I was wondering if he was here now or when he’d be back.”
The old man staggers back, clutching his hat to his chest. “Ted? I-I-I’m sorry, miss. He’s dead.” He sucks in a deep breath, and a tear leaks from his red-rimmed eyes.
Then it sinks in. “He’s dead? That’s impossible. We just saw him.” I feel like Annette must have when she found out Hank was dead.
“Did you know him well, dear?” he asks, his voice kind.
I shake my head, my mind whirling a mile a minute. “He can’t be dead. Ted was such a nice guy. He was helping us, and—”
Mr. Thompson inclines his head in agreement. “He was a very nice boy, but I guess he had his demons, as we all do.”
His words sink into me. “What does that mean?” Is he implying what I think he is? No, he can’t be. “Did Ted take his own life?”
Mr. Thompson closes his eyes then opens them again slowly. “I’m sorry, miss, but I found him in the basement this morning. I never thought he would do anything like this.”
“Me, neither.”
“WHAT NOW?” RUSS ASKS after I leave Mr. Thompson to his grief. How do I know? I’m fresh out of ideas here. Tapped out. But I don’t want to go back to the ranch. Something tells me the answers are here, somewhere—we just have to find them.
“Let’s go back to the Last Chance,” I say. It seems better than the alternative, which is going back to the Triple B or attending one of the shows or tours.
They agree, and we all head back to the saloon.
Now that the police have left the Lily, most of the crowd seems to have migrated to the Last Chance. We take a booth near the bar and hope to catch Cecily again. Inevitably, since it seems she’s the only waitress on the clock right now, we do.
“You’re back,” she says. Oh goody, she’s in just as good a mood as she was when we were in here earlier.
“Yup.” I ignore her attitude. “This is the best restaurant in town, after all.” I’ve heard the Crystal Palace is pretty awesome too, but this place has ties to the case, so here we are. Maybe we’ll hit the other places before we head out of town. There you go again, Mer, talking like you plan on staying for a while. You know better. As soon as this case is over, you’ll hit the road, just like you always do. Man, I give myself great pep talks.
With a scowl, Cecily takes our drink order and hands us laminated menus, still sticky from the customers before. I’m not entirely sure I should order anything to eat. At this rate, Cecily may spit in my food. I lean my head back against the back of the booth, taking in the chaos of too many customers and too little wait staff.
“Doesn’t this remind you of the Burger Palace?” Jess asks with a smirk.
“The Burger Palace?” Russ asks, his eyes wide. “Oh my God. I’d forgotten about that place.”
I groan and close my eyes. “That was such an awful place. I hated it there.”
“Awful?” Russ exclaims, acting mildly offended. “It was awesome.” He turns to Jess. “Remember how all the waitresses and waiters looked like barmaids and knights, like from medieval times?”
“Oh yeah, I remember. I thought it was so cool when I was a little kid,” she says.
“It was nowhere near cool.” I chuckle. “More like T-shirts printed to look like a suit of armor, and the helmet was just a gray baseball cap. Us girls had to wear low-cut ruffled white blouses and short black skirts. It was awful. I couldn’t wait to throw that thing away after I quit.”
Russ laughs. “Yeah, it was pretty bad.”
Cecily returns with our drinks and sets them down unceremoniously on our table. “Y’all need a minute before you order?” she asks. I start to answer her, but she turns and flounces away before I get the chance.
Russ takes a long sip of his Mountain Dew, a faint smile on his face. “Wasn’t your boss a real jerk, too? The food was terrible. He always said it was authentic, but I’m pretty sure they didn’t have fried chicken wings and chicken-fried steak in medieval times.”
Jess elbows me. “What was the slogan again? ‘Have a burger-ific day?’”
“Oh yeah!” Russ laughs. “I remember now. You had to say it every time someone left.”
“It was my first real job.” I shrug. “I took what I could get.”
I scan the room again, looking for a familiar face. In the back of the saloon, there’s a doorway leading to the kitchen, right next to the one leading to the bathroom. Silhouetted against the bright lights in the kitchen, Annette stands with her back to us, arguing with someone I can’t see.
“I’ll be right back,” I say, scooting out of my seat. “I need to use the restroom.”
“Want me to come, too?” Jess asks, interpreting my need to escape as a desire for private girl talk.
I hold up my hand. “No, I’m fine. I’ll be right back.” I take Cecily’s lead and hurry away before she can follow me.
I stride confidently to the bathroom, as if that’s where I was planning to go all along, but when I get to the doorway, I slide into a table on the other side of the bar, out of sight of my sister and anyone in the kitchen, but close enough to overhear any errant conversations. On the other side of the threshold, Annette’s voice grows louder. I grab a spare menu so I can claim ignorance if I get caught.
“You can’t just keep coming here,” Annette says, exasperation warring with panic in her voice. “Not after you yelled at Marty.”
“I’d like to see that sniveling brat do something,” Bill says. I imagine him balling his hands into fists. He sure has anger-management problems. He should get that checked out.
“Come on. Marty’s a good boss.”
“Are you hooking up with him, too? I told you, no talking to him... or anybody.”
Annette squeals, but I can’t see what he’s doing from this angle. I grip the edges of the menu, my own frustration and anger at the man rising to the surface.
“Please, just leave. I promise I won’t talk to anyone.”
“Damn right,” he says. “And especially not those TV ghost hunters wandering around, looking for a story. I heard they were asking questions.”
“They’re just doing a show about the town, nothing else.”
I don’t know why Annette is sticking up for us, but I can’t help but be grateful. I don’t want to find myself on the other side of Bill’s wrath.
“They better be,” Bill growls. “And if they know what’s good for them, they better keep their noses out of our business.” I barely suppress the shiver his words send down my spine. Is that what happened to Ted? I can’t help but think that there’s more to what happened to him than meets the eye.
“They will, I swear.”
“How do you know? You been talking to them?” His voice becomes deadly serious and deadly quiet. I barely suppress a shiver.
“Just the once. They came in here for a bite to eat and were asking about the ghosts in town.”
“Just don’t do it again,” he says. “I gotta go. I’ll pick you up after you get out tonight.”
&
nbsp; “I’m really tired. Can’t I just go home?”
“No,” he says. “You have to show up tonight. You know how the guys are. They’ll start asking questions if you don’t.”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t sign up for all that, anyway.”
“Tough. It’s too late to back out now. I’ll see you at nine.”
I barely have time to shove my face behind the laminated menu before Bill storms past. From the kitchen, I hear someone sobbing. Every instinct in my body tells me to go to her and comfort her, but I can’t without giving away my position and the fact that I overheard everything. After a couple of minutes, the sound of her crying fades away. I hurry into the bathroom, so I at least look like I did what I said I was going to do, then hurry back to our table.
“What took you so long?” Russ asks.
“We ordered for you,” Jess says. “Hope you like caviar.”
“Funny,” I say. “Besides, caviar in a place like this? It would never happen.”
“Just a burger and fries,” Russ says.
“Perfect.” My fingers tap on the table, and all of a sudden I can’t wait anymore to tell them what I overheard. At least I’m smart enough to look around first and make sure no one is listening.
“You know what this means, right?” Jess asks excitedly after I finish.
Russ drums his fingers on the table.
A thrill of adrenaline rushes through me. Oh yes, I know what this means. Maybe I’m getting addicted to the danger, or maybe that need for thrills was in me all along, but right now, it feels like it’s the only path to take. “It means we’re going to come back at nine and follow them, right?”
“Yup. This is it. We have to,” Russ says.
Chapter 18
We decide to regroup at the ranch until Annette gets out of work. There’s no sense in hanging around Tombstone, possibly drawing attention we don’t want, until it’s go time. Jess and Russ hop on the forums to moderate what’s been going on and do a Q and A. I find Beau in the stables and fill him in on what we found out in Tombstone.
A Brady Paranormal Investigations Box Set Page 41