Midnight Reynolds and the Agency of Spectral Protection

by Catherine Holt

  “I know it’s not ideal,” she said as they reached the library. There was no sign of Mrs. Crown so they both headed for their favorite table, only to discover Logan was sitting at it. He was leaning forward, his dark hair a tangled mess as he studied something on his laptop, while Tyson sat next to him, tapping out a drumbeat with his fingers.

  Midnight and Tabitha looked at each other and darted behind a cart of books that needed to be shelved.

  “Okay, it’s not like we’re really avoiding them.” Tabitha dropped to her knees so she was out of sight.

  “Exactly,” Midnight agreed as she tucked her knees up and hugged them. “We’re just choosing to take a break before we go any further.” Then she let out a groan. “We’re the worst, aren’t we?”

  “Under normal circumstances, I’d say yes,” Tabitha’s shoulders slumped. “But considering we’re not allowed to mention anything to Logan, it’s probably safest this way. And, since Tyson’s always with Logan, we’re just being practical.”

  “Thanks for not making me feel bad.” Midnight gave her friend a grateful smile and twisted around so she could peer through the books. She blinked. Logan was gone, but Tyson was still there. Deep in conversation with Malie who, close up, looked even crazier with the strange rainbow-colored princess dress and tiara. “Okay, that’s weird.”

  “What’s weird?” Tabitha asked before poking her head through the books. Her mouth dropped open. “That is weird. I didn’t know they were friends.”

  “I’m pretty sure Sav and Lucy don’t either.” Midnight noticed the way Malie kept twisting and turning, as if checking that no one could see them. “I wonder what they’re talking about?”

  “No idea, but I wish I could lip-read,” Tabitha said, two balls of color forming on her cheeks. Midnight studied her with interest.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Of course I am. Never better,” Tabitha snapped, her gaze still firmly fixed on Tyson and Malie. Then she began to crawl toward the bookshelves, signaling for Midnight to follow her.

  “What’s going on?” Midnight asked as they reached the safety of the stacks and stood back up.

  “Okay, so you know how I was saying that I didn’t like Tyson and that we’re the total opposite of each other?”

  “Er, yeah,” Midnight said before widening her eyes. “You do like him!”

  “Shhh.” Tabitha hissed. “It’s bad enough that I like him without anyone finding out. Especially if he and Malie have a thing together.”

  “Just because they’re speaking doesn’t mean they have a thing. They could be talking about the weather. Math homework. The gold that disappeared. Actually, that could be it. Remember her mom works in the gift store at the museum. Logan had it on his mind map. Perhaps he wanted Tyson to ask her a few questions, so—” Midnight said before Tabitha cut her off, her eyes wide like saucers.

  “Wait. Why did we forget that Malie’s mom works at the museum? It should’ve been on our list.”

  “Which proves why Logan’s a better detective than we’ll ever be,” Midnight said.

  “Or, because she knows more than she’s letting on.” Tabitha’s voice lowered to a whisper. “What if she’s the reason Tyson wanted to know so much about the Irongate mausoleum?”

  “That makes no sense. She’s new to town, and there’s no reason for her to even know who the Irongates are.” Midnight wrinkled her nose, then gasped. “Unless she knows exactly who they are. Who William Irongate is.”

  The two girls stared at each other.

  “Is it possible?” Tabitha croaked as they peered around the corner again. Malie’s face was knit in a fierce, warrior-like expression. “Oh yeah. It’s possible.”

  “Okay, let’s think this thing through. Her mom works at the museum, so she might have known about the donation. Not to mention that it would give Malie access to the place.” Midnight held up one finger.

  “When she first came to the school, she was doing loads of local history research. Mrs. Crown even let her use the newspaper archives a couple of times. She could’ve found the article about disappearing jewelry and somehow linked it to William Irongate.” Tabitha held up two fingers.

  “She was right next to the planodiume rupture at the mall,” Midnight said, raising a third finger.

  “And don’t forget the most important thing of all,” Tabitha said as she narrowed her eyes and raised a fourth finger in the air. “She’s desperate to fit in with Sav and Lucy, and we both know that costs money. Lots of money.”

  Midnight gasped. “When I saw her at the mall, she said she’d soon have lots of money. This gives her motive, means, and opportunity. Now we just have to prove it.”

  A slow smile spread out on Tabitha’s face. “I have an idea. Remember how Logan discovered that some of the security footage had been filled with black smudges? Well, he might not know what caused it, but we do. Because the person in the shot has been exposed to far too much planodiume. Therefore—”

  “All we need to do is take a photograph of Malie, and if she’s covered in black smudges, we know she’s guilty.”

  “Right.” Tabitha nodded as they both reached for their phones and walked out of the stacks so that they could photograph her properly. Instead, they were greeted by an empty space.

  Malie was gone.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  “Not so fast,” Midnight’s mom said the following day. “I’ve hardly seen you, kiddo. We were meant to do your final dress fitting yesterday afternoon.”

  Midnight—who was in the process of picking up one of the breakfast muffins her mom had piled onto a plate—blinked and reached for her cell phone to check her calendar. Guilt stabbed at her.

  “Why didn’t you say anything when I sent you a text asking if I could stay out to work with Tabitha?” Midnight said. “I would’ve come straight back.”

  “You said it was an assignment, and I don’t want your schoolwork to suffer. And I know you’ve been busy with your babysitting,” her mom said, making Midnight feel even worse, since the only assignment she and Tabitha really had was figuring out the best way to take a photo of Malie. They’d mentioned their theory to Peter Gallagher, who said it was imperative that they didn’t raise any suspicions until the thief’s identity was confirmed and he could get a team dispatched.

  “I’m so sorry. Do you want to do it now?” Midnight asked. She didn’t want to try on the itchy fabric again, but she also didn’t want her mom stressing about the wedding.

  “I can’t. I have a ton of things to get ready for my next video. I’m filming it tomorrow. Eggplant and pesto lasagna. Plus, I have to drop Taylor at school.”

  “No you don’t.” Taylor wandered in, her face glued to her screen as though it was her only source of oxygen. She was holding a helmet. Still not looking up, she walked to the back door. “I’m taking Sunny.”

  “Wait. What? I thought I was giving you a lift today.” Her mom’s face filled with concern. Sunny was the bright-yellow Vespa that had once belonged to her mom but had been gathering dust for years before Phil restored it for Taylor. Her sister hadn’t been using it much since she’d started dating Dylan. But, for whatever reason, she’d obviously decided to correct that.

  “Yes, but then I remembered that I needed to go to Donna’s house first and get my red sweater. I mean, it’s Wednesday. I always wear my red sweater on Wednesday. She so took it on purpose,” Taylor said, finally looking up. “Why? What’s the problem?”

  “The problem is that you’ve only been driving your bike for two months and this weather’s terrible. Not to mention the earthquakes. There was another tremor last night.”

  “That was hardly anything. And Dylan says the weather is starting to clear, so if you’re worried about your wedding, don’t be.”

  “Right now I’m worried about my two daughters. One thinks she can ride her Vespa regardless of the conditions, and the other thinks it’s okay to come and go as she pleases.”

  “But I can ride my Vespa when I want
. I have my license,” Taylor protested, while giving Midnight a dark look as if it was somehow her fault. “Besides, Dylan says the best way to get confident is to get in as many different experiences as possible. Think of it that way.”

  “I’d rather not.” Her mom folded her arms and narrowed her lips. “In case you’ve both forgotten, I’m getting married in two weeks, and Midnight, I’d like you to be wearing a dress that fits. As for you, Taylor, I would prefer that you were all in one piece.”

  “I’m really sorry.” Midnight was seriously going to overhaul her spreadsheet so that she didn’t miss any wedding-related events in the next two weeks. “Just tell me when you want to do the fitting, and I swear I’ll be there. And ditto for anything else you need done.”

  Her mom’s face softened. “Thank you, honey. And sorry for flipping out. The constant rain and these earthquakes have been getting me down. I’m actually starting to think that we should just cancel the whole thing. Perhaps it’s a sign that it’s too soon?”

  Midnight winced. The only thing it was a sign of was that there was an evil person running around Berry and using the souls of the dead to steal things.

  “You can’t cancel. I’m sure it will stop raining. Plus, you have to get married. You’ve already written out two hundred place settings—all in runes—for the Viking feast. Isn’t that right, Taylor?” Midnight said, but instead of nodding in agreement, her sister was still moodily staring at her phone, sending text message after text message before finally looking up.

  “I still don’t see what driving Sunny has to do with the wedding,” Taylor muttered before putting her helmet on the cluttered kitchen table. “But, if you’re going freak out, then fine, you can give me a lift to school.”

  Personally, Midnight thought that Taylor could take a refresher course in how to be nice, but her mom seemed to buy it. “Thanks, girls.”

  Midnight waited until her mom’s car disappeared down the driveway before pulling on her raincoat and racing to meet Tabitha.

  “What took you so long?” her friend complained, her black coat glistening with rain.

  “Minor wedding disaster,” Midnight explained as they reached one of the large oak trees that lined the avenue leading to the school. They’d picked the spot because it was the way Malie normally walked to school. “My mom’s really freaking out. She thinks the rain is a sign she should cancel the wedding.”

  “All the more reason to get this sorted out. And here comes Malie.”

  Midnight swiveled as Malie slowly walked down the road, almost buried in a giant raincoat. All they could see were her giant brown eyes and great cheekbones.

  Midnight and Tabitha both pressed themselves against the trunk of the tree. Wet branches rubbed against Midnight’s face as she waited until Malie was looking in the other direction. Then she held up her cell phone and took a picture. Tabitha did the same. The girls clicked away, each getting several shots before Malie turned the corner and walked into the school grounds.

  “Okay, let’s see what we have,” Tabitha said, her hands shaking as she inspected the photographs. Midnight’s own heart was pounding as she looked at the shots on her phone. There was nothing. No black smudges. No solution to their problem. Nothing.

  She swallowed and looked to Tabitha for confirmation. It was obvious her photos were the same.

  Which meant that even though Malie might have had means, motive, and opportunity, she wasn’t the person they were looking for.

  * * *

  “Okay, so we just have to cast our net wider,” Tabitha said at lunchtime. As backup, they’d taken several more candid shots of Malie, but nothing had changed. No hint of a black smudge around the image, which meant she hadn’t been stealing souls by draining the Black Stream.

  The bell rang, and they reluctantly packed everything away and joined the crowd of students heading down the corridor. There was no sign of their math teacher when they walked into the classroom, and Sav, Lucy, and Malie were sitting in the middle of the room holding court.

  “Are you sure you’re okay, Sav?” Lucy asked, the grim expression around her mouth at odds with the glittering tiara woven into her hair.

  “I’m fine.” Sav’s voice wobbled. “It was just a shock. I mean, the three of us were just there yesterday. What if it had happened then? Talk about a life-or-death experience.”

  “What’s she going on about now?” Tabitha asked Marty Doyle, who was leaning forward as if he was watching a television show.

  “The thing at the country club,” Marty said, not bothering to turn. “She really does think the whole world revolves around her, doesn’t she?”

  “What thing?” Tabitha said in a sharp voice, and this time Marty looked at her with interest.

  “Dude, where have you been? There’s been another robbery. It happened about half an hour ago.”

  “What?” Midnight and Tabitha said in unison as they both moved closer to Marty, whose face was now red. “What kind of robbery?”

  “The disappearing-in-front-of-your-eyes kind,” Marty said before shooing them away. “Now, if you don’t mind, this is the part where Savannah’s going to re-create how she might have fainted if she had in fact been there.”

  True to his predication, Sav raised a slender hand up to her forehead, but Midnight didn’t look. Instead, she dragged Tabitha to the far side of the room. They hadn’t bothered to turn their phones back on after leaving the library, and when they did, the ghost app sprang into life. Location, the Berry Hills Country Club.

  Midnight scanned the Internet for more information.

  Breaking News

  Up until now, the small town of Berry, in rural West Virginia, has been famous for its gold-mining history and its trees. But after a bizarre robbery in which the legendary gold nugget Sweet Wednesday literally vanished from sight, curious eyes have been on the town. And not in vain. A second incident at the Berry Hills Country Club has been reported. An eyewitness said, “One minute, the daggers were hanging on the wall, minding their own business, and the next, they were a puddle on the floor. A puddle, I tell you.”

  One security guard was injured during the incident. Doctors have confirmed the guard is in stable but serious condition in Berry General Hospital.

  Experts claim the daggers are worth fifty thousand dollars and are baffled why more valuable pieces were left behind. Even more curious is that this isn’t the first time these robberies have taken place. Our investigative journalists have discovered—in a groundbreaking scoop—that several such incidents took place in the 1800s. While the items were never found and the thief was never captured, one has to wonder if Berry is once again being haunted by the ghosts of its past.

  Midnight’s throat tightened.

  A security guard had been injured? Peter Gallagher had predicted that whoever was responsible for the crimes would get more and more dangerous as they were exposed to higher levels of planodiume.

  “This is bad,” Midnight said to Tabitha. “We have to stop this soon, which means we have to visit your country club.”

  “I’d hardly call it mine. You know how much I hate that place.”

  Midnight wrinkled her nose. “I know you hate it, but this isn’t something we can ignore. Not only is there trapped spectral energy—and a possible planodiume rupture—but this is our chance to examine the crime scene. And since they’d never let me in on my own, I can’t see another way around it.”

  Tabitha let out a long-suffering sigh. “This is so unfair. Helping you catch evil, old women who tried to kill me? I’m fine with that. Running around while you release spectral energy? No problem at all. But making me go to the country club? For this, you’re going to owe me. Big time.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  “Girls, this is Louisa, and her daughter, Chloe,” Mrs. Wilson said later that afternoon as they stood at Berry Hills Country Club. It was a large sprawling building with a marble foyer, an entire wall dedicated to a fish tank, and tinkling piano music. Large sliding doors led o
ut to a flagstone patio that was glittering with water, while further down was a sodden golf course stained brown from the rain-soaked soil.

  The foyer was an intersection of corridors leading to a dining room, a gymnasium, and much to Tabitha’s horror, indoor tennis courts. To fit in, Midnight and Tabitha were both wearing white tennis skirts and matching shirts. Turned out that Midnight wasn’t the only one with unwanted clothing hidden at the back of the closet.

  “Nice to meet you,” Midnight said in a polite voice, while Tabitha continued to scowl. It was hard to tell if it was because of the company, or the fact she wasn’t wearing black. Either way, Midnight was grateful that they were at the country club.

  Now they just had to figure out where the trapped spectral energy was and look for clues.

  “You too. And what a delightful name you have, Midnight.” Louisa twirled her racket. “Let me guess…That’s the time you were born?”

  “Something like that.” Midnight nodded her head, while Tabitha tugged at her white skirt as if trying to lengthen it. “So, thank you for letting me tag along. I’ve never been here before.”

  “You’re welcome,” Louisa said, then frowned as she looked around the foyer, which was filled with people, all talking in hushed voices. “Though you seem to have caught us on an unusual day. In case you haven’t heard, there was a robbery earlier today.”

  Midnight feigned surprise. “Now that you mention it, I did hear something. Wasn’t it like what happened at the museum?”

  “That’s right.” Louisa nodded.

  “Actually, Midnight and Tabitha were at the museum when the first robbery happened,” Tabitha’s mom said as a group of people swarmed past, all demanding to see where the daggers had been hanging. Several police officers were interviewing staff members.

  “How extraordinary!” Chloe squeaked, her face going almost as pink as the bows in her hair. Tabitha was right. She did sound like a Chipmunk. “Did it really just vanish?”

  “Pretty much.” Tabitha finally stopped scowling. “It was awesome. Though I’m not sure I believe that the same thing happened here. I mean, the papers make stuff up all the time. I bet they exaggerated just to sell more issues.”