“I’m not going back,” Harper countered. “I just think there’s a better way to approach this. We need answers. You can get those answers one way. I can get them another. We don’t have time to eliminate one method.”
“I happen to agree.”
She was caught off guard by his change of heart. “You do?” Her brow furrowed as suspicion reared up. “How come?”
He laughed and grabbed her hand to give it a squeeze. “You’re such a trusting soul.”
“I trust you,” she offered automatically. “I trust you more than anyone.”
“Hey!” Zander’s eyes flashed.
Harper ignored him. “I’m just curious what changed your mind.”
“You did.” He reached up and brushed a strand of flyaway hair from her face, momentarily marveling at how beautiful she was, even without makeup and primping. “You need to find your ghost in this world rather than a dream so you can question her. I need to find information on Holly and see if I can get a time of death for Leslie. Those tasks can’t overlap each other ... at least right now.”
“So, what’s the compromise?” Shawn prodded, mildly curious himself. “How do you see this working?”
“You’re going to go with Harper.”
Shawn’s eyebrows hopped. “Excuse me?”
“Yeah, excuse me?” Zander made a horrified face. “There’s no way I’m going to let you send my boyfriend off with my best friend. That means I’ll be stuck with you and ... well ... nobody wants that.”
Jared scowled at him. “You’re right. Nobody wants that. You’ll be going with them, too.”
Zander immediately brightened. “Good idea. You’re putting together the dream team.”
Now it was Harper’s turn to frown. “That means you’ll be alone. I don’t like that.”
“I’ll be alone here in the campground,” he corrected. “I’ll probably be the safest one in the entire group. We need the information, though, and I can’t risk wandering away from a cell signal. I don’t see where we have much choice in the matter.”
Harper wanted to argue, come up with a different solution, but one look at his face told her he had no intention of giving in. “Okay, but I want you to be really careful. If you’re alone, that means you’re going to be an enticing target.”
“I don’t happen to believe that. I have my service weapon locked in the truck, though. If I need it, I can use it.”
“I didn’t think you were supposed to travel with your service weapon,” Shawn said.
“No, actually I am supposed to travel with my weapon just in case.” Jared held Harper’s conflicted gaze and then offered up a charming smile. “I’ll be okay. I need you to promise me that you’ll stick with Shawn and Zander.”
“Of course I will. I just—”
“Promise me,” he repeated in a soft voice.
“I promise.” Harper raised her hand to his cheek. “I don’t like you being alone. Zander and I really will be okay by ourselves. You don’t have to worry about me.”
“I’ll worry a lot less if Shawn is with you. Just ... stick close to him and Zander. As soon as I get our answers, I’ll find you.”
“Watch your back, man,” Shawn instructed as he exchanged a handshake with Jared. “I’ll keep an eye on these two. You make sure to watch yourself.”
Jared pressed a soft kiss to Harper’s mouth before offering Shawn a reassuring wink. “That’s the plan. Something tells me we’re going to keep our streak alive and figure this out. Let’s see if we can do it before nightfall, shall we?”
“Can we have more s’mores if we do?” Harper queried, causing Jared to bark out a laugh.
“If we put this one to bed before nightfall, I’ll feed you ten s’mores,” he promised. “Just ... stay safe. You are my Heart after all.”
“Right back at you.”
MEL KELSEY, JARED’S PARTNER, PICKED up on the third ring.
“Do you miss me already?”
Jared wanted to be annoyed by the greeting, but he found he was actually happy to hear the other man’s voice. The past few days had been surreal — to say the least — and Mel always served as an anchor in a sea of crazy ... well, mostly.
“Every single day without you is hell,” Jared drawled.
“And here I was thinking how quiet and nice it’s been since you left town,” Mel shot back. “That might have a little something to do with the people you have with you, though. How is my nephew?”
Jared didn’t have time for niceties, and yet Mel was always a welcoming sounding board for complaints regarding Zander. Since Mel helped raise his nephew, he knew better than most how obnoxious the man could be. “He’s convinced that living without a hair dryer is barbaric.”
“I can see that.”
“He’s also considering wearing white for his wedding ... although not a dress. He made sure to stress that to Harper. I wasn’t supposed to be listening, and yet I know all about it because he has a voice that carries ... and carries ... and carries.”
Mel chuckled. “It sounds like a normal trip to me, although something tells me if things were going as planned, you wouldn’t be calling.”
“We’ve had a situation pop up,” Jared conceded. He launched into the tale, not leaving anything out but being as concise as possible. When he was finished, Mel let out a low whistle.
“It sounds to me as if your supporting crew has managed to find trouble ... again.”
“I don’t know that I believe that’s fair,” Jared hedged. “It’s not as if they asked for this to happen. Harper was just minding her own business.”
“I notice you’re not taking up for Zander in this equation.”
“He’s a pain.”
“Well, he’s just as innocent as Harper this go-round,” Mel pointed out. “As for the rest ... what do you want me to do?”
“I need you to see if you can find this Holly Horton.”
“The woman from Harper’s dream?”
“Harper doesn’t believe it’s a dream.”
“And what do you believe?”
Jared hesitated and then let out a sigh. “I believe in her.” The answer seemed too simple, and yet it was an honest response. “She’s learned important stuff from dreams before. I don’t think this is any different from that. There’s no harm in trying, right?”
“No harm,” Mel agreed. “I can run that name. It might take me a bit of time. It would help if you could give me some details on her.”
Jared provided what he had, taking his time so Mel could jot down the information.
“That’s it?” Mel queried when he was finished.
“That’s it on Holly. There’s something else I need you to do, though.”
“And that is?”
“I need to know if there have been any bodies found up here, perhaps ones that haven’t been identified.”
“I take it you’re looking for a female, one about forty to fifty years of age.”
“You’ve got it. Of course, if there have been other bodies found in this area, it can’t hurt to know that either.”
“Fair enough.” Mel was silent for a beat and then pushed forward. “What do you expect to find up there?”
“I’m honestly not sure.” Jared blew out a sigh, considering. “Harper believes the current murder and whatever happened to Holly are connected.”
“Do you think the same?”
“I believe the population up here doesn’t allow for many coincidences. It’s obviously possible these deaths have nothing in common. The victims don’t look alike, and we have no idea how long ago Holly died, although Harper believes it was within the past few months.”
“I’m not big on coincidences either,” Mel admitted. “I’ll check on this information for you. It might take me a little bit. Can you sit tight and wait for me to call you back?”
Jared wanted to say no, but he knew better than putting unnecessary pressure on his partner. Mel had his own duties to perform, as well as Jared’s favor. “Soon
er is better, but I’ll wait until you call. If, for some reason I don’t pick up, just leave the information in my voicemail.”
“I can do that. What are you going to do in the meantime?”
“Think,” Jared replied simply. “Harper, Zander, and Shawn are out looking for a ghost. Somehow this all fits together. I need to figure out how.”
“Good luck with that.”
“Thanks. I think I’m going to need it.”
SHAWN TOOK HIS JOB AS PROTECTOR SERIOUSLY. He allowed Harper and Zander to wander around the clearing where the first fake body was found while he kept his attention focused firmly on the periphery. He was determined to make Jared proud.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t tune out the conversation Harper and Zander were mired in.
“Maybe she came up here to see her daughter,” Zander suggested as Harper used a stick to shove ferns and various foliage out of the way. “Maybe that’s why she sounds so snotty when talking about her daughter. She could blame her or something.”
“That doesn’t seem fair,” Harper countered. “I mean ... what sort of mother blames her daughter? My mother is an absolute pill, and even she wouldn’t blame me for something like this.”
Zander made a face. “I think you’re selling your mother short. I think she would totally hang around if murdered, and if she didn’t blame you, she would totally blame your father. That’s simply who she is.”
“I think she’d be more likely to blame Dad than me,” Harper admitted. “You’re right about her hanging around, though. She’ll have to be booted from this world. She won’t go to the next world willingly.”
“She’s like my mother that way,” Zander agreed. “They’ll haunt us together.”
“Except you can’t see ghosts, so they’ll really be haunting me.”
“Yes, but my mother is insistent. She’ll torture you until you tell me everything she says.” Zander was quiet for a beat. “They’ll form the Undead Mother’s Club.” He involuntarily shuddered. “No judgment shall be reserved.”
Harper barked out a laugh, genuinely amused ... and then a hint of movement caught her attention at the edge of her vision field. She jerked her head to the right and sucked in a breath when she found the ghost she was looking for. “Holly?”
“You found her?” Zander threw up his hands. “Hallelujah. I was getting sick of trying to come up with witty conversation to distract you.”
Harper didn’t respond to her friend and instead focused on the ghost. “I’ve been looking for you.”
“So I see.” Holly narrowed her eyes and stared at the spot over Harper’s shoulder. “You’re missing a member of your crew.”
“He’s back at the campground. He’s making calls to see if your body was ever discovered up here.”
“I could’ve answered that question for you.”
“Well, you’re not exactly easy to track down,” Harper pointed out. “You hide in the shadows ... or take off before I can ask questions. We needed to tap other sources just in case.”
“My body is still here,” Holly offered. “It’s in the same place as I died. Er, well, actually I’ve been moved once, although only a few feet.”
“Do you know where your body is?”
She nodded. “You’ve walked past it a good five times since you’ve been here. You haven’t as much as looked at me when passing, though.”
Harper shifted uncomfortably. “Are you saying you’ve been hidden in plain sight?”
“Not plain sight. Simply close to the main trails. I thought for sure someone would discover me. Now that seems unlikely.”
Rather than wallow with Holly, Harper opted to remain upbeat. “I can ensure that you’re given a proper burial if you lead me to your body. You say it’s close. It shouldn’t take long. Show me.”
Holly held Harper’s gaze for a long beat. “What will you do when you find me?”
“Call the medical examiner. You’ll be taken to the lab, a cause of death will be determined, and then you’ll be released to your family. I’m sure they’ll want to take you home and give you the respect you deserve.”
Holly snorted, amused despite herself. “Is that what you think will happen?”
“Do you think something else will happen?”
“Probably. Maybe. Most likely. Who knows?” She held out her hands. “I didn’t expect this to happen when I came here. Obviously I’m bad at figuring things out.”
“None of us can know what’s going to happen,” Harper supplied. “We still have to do what’s right. I think, deep down, you know that.”
“I guess.” Sadness permeated Holly’s ethereal being and then she nodded. “Follow me. I’m not far away. As far as final resting places go, it’s not so bad.”
“That’s something, at least.” Harper nodded toward Shawn and he moved to fall into step behind her. Zander took up position directly next to his best friend. Together, they were ready to stand as human shields if need be.
The walk only took five minutes, and when they landed at the quiet bend in the trail, Harper found she was already looking around for a spot that would suggest a body had been disposed of.
“Where are we supposed to be looking?” Shawn asked in a low voice.
“I don’t know.” Harper turned her attention back to Holly. “Can you be a little more specific?”
Holly extended her finger toward a fern-covered hill. “Over there?”
Harper stared in that direction for a beat and then moved to climb the hill. Once she stood at the top, her gaze immediately drifted to a fallen log on the ground. There was nothing else to focus on. Harper stared for a beat and then opened her mouth to ask Holly for more information. That’s when she saw it.
On the far end of the log, almost completely shrouded by shadows and moss, three painted fingernails poked out. They were pink, the paint chipped in some places, but very obviously not a natural-occurring color in this particular location.
Harper let out a breath. “We found her.”
“Great,” Shawn intoned. “Now what?”
18
Eighteen
Jared was starting to get antsy when his phone finally rang.
“It’s about time.” His greeting came off sharper than he anticipated, but it was too late to pull the words back once they’d escaped.
“I love you, too,” Mel drawled. If he was annoyed by his partner’s short temper, he didn’t show it. “It took me longer to get the head detective on the phone up there than I anticipated. Do you want to know why?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “I’ll tell you why. The head detective is also the only patrol officer they have for a thirty-mile stretch.”
“In other words ... there’s so little action up here that nobody has proper training,” Jared surmised.
“Pretty much,” Mel agreed. “Once I did get him on the phone, he was friendly. He also seemed confused. When I mentioned this campground, he told me about the body that was found the other day. When I explained I was asking about another potential body, he denied it.”
“So, she’s still here,” Jared mused, rubbing the back of his neck. “That doesn’t really surprise me. I would think bodies are either found right away up here or never found at all.”
“Maybe not never,” Mel countered. “I’m guessing that hikers have found bodies before. Maybe kids playing around in the woods. No female body has been discovered in the area surrounding that campground in more than ten years, though. Are you certain the ghost is fresh?”
“Harper is.”
“And you?”
“I have to defer to Harper on this. I can’t see ghosts. She says that Holly is dressed in clothing that suggests she died recently. She didn’t expand on it a lot, but she’s the expert.”
“Fair enough.” Mel let loose a sigh. “I’m pretty sure I tracked down the Holly you’re looking for. She lived in the Midland area — actually on a farm between Bay City and Midland but close enough — and has been missing for about two months.”
/> Jared nodded. “That fits the theory we’re working with. What else can you tell me?”
“Not much. She was married to Will Horton for fifteen years. He died of cancer, leaving her the farm to run on her own. There are no police reports stemming from the marriage. I know that doesn’t necessarily mean anything, but it seemed to be a quiet union.”
“Her husband didn’t report her missing, then,” Jared mused. “What about children?”
“She has one daughter. She’s an adult now, twenty-three, and I believe she lived with her mother up until a few months ago.”
“That’s interesting timing, isn’t it?”
“I can’t answer that. I don’t know a lot of twenty-three-year-olds who want to live with their mothers. She might’ve simply decided it was time to move out, and that left Holly open for someone to move in on her. I mean ... we have nothing to point to anything either way.”
“True.” Jared exhaled heavily. “It’s still all we have. What’s the daughter’s name?”
“Leia Rebecca Horton.”
“Anything else on her?”
“Just that she went to Northwood, a business school in Midland. She’s an only child, and I’m trying to track her credit cards now. It might take a bit. That’s all I have.”
Something niggled at the back of Jared’s brain. “Wait ... what did you say the name was again?”
“Leia Rebecca Horton.”
“Sizzle,” Jared muttered.
Mel was silent a beat on the other end of the call, and then he asked the obvious question. “Sizzle?”
“Yeah. My mind is sizzling. Can you look up another name for me?”
“I guess.”
“I need you to do it right now while I’m on the phone.”
“Okay. What is it?”
“Try Becky Trout ... or Rebecca Trout.”
“Rebecca?”
“Just try it.” Jared gnawed on the inside of his cheek as he waited for his partner to come back with the information.
Ghostly Camping (A Harper Harlow Mystery Book 16) Page 18