by Rose Pressey
“Well, that’s a real possibility,” Brannon said. “But there’s nothing we can do about it. More importantly, why were you there?”
“Just to see what’s going on with her, I suppose.”
Brannon released a low groan. “Are you headed to the library?”
“Yes, I’m going there right after a stop at the coffee shop,” I said.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a black car driving down the road next to me rather slowly. The man behind the wheel was looking over at me. What did this guy want?
“Okay, Brannon, I’ll see you at the library,” I said, a bit distracted by the man behind the wheel.
Maybe I should’ve told Brannon about him.
“I’ll see you then. Don’t go back to Abigail’s house,” Brannon said.
“I won’t, I promise,” I said.
Well, I’d promised this time. I couldn’t guarantee that I would never go back there again. The man drove past, although he glanced back a couple of times. I hoped he was gone for good. What a weirdo. As if things couldn’t get any stranger. Now I had some nutso driving down the road.
I was busy texting Tammy when I heard a car driving up again. I looked over my shoulder. It was the car again. Immediately my fear spiked. Should I run? That was my first reaction, of course. Where would I go? I had to get into the main area of town. If this guy kept following me, I would just have to call Brannon back and tell him that some guy was harassing me. Now I was being stalked.
The man drove on by. I gave him a dirty look when he peered my way. I didn’t like the way this guy was acting. And I wanted to let him know that I didn’t appreciate his behavior either. He had a lot of nerve doing that. I couldn’t believe I’d seen him again. I sent Tammy a message to tell her that there was some creep driving along the street watching me. Of course, she freaked out and wanted me to call Brannon. She said she was going to drive over here and pick me up.
I’m getting close to the coffee shop now, I responded.
No sooner had I hit send on that message when I heard a car behind me again. It was the same guy and he pulled up right beside me. He lowered the window.
“Excuse me,” he said.
My heart beat faster. I was frozen on the spot.
“Yes?” I snapped, not even pretending to be friendly.
Devil’s Moon was known for its friendliness, and I liked to think I was nice to everyone, but I just couldn’t muster up any friendliness for this guy.
“I was wondering if you could give me directions?” he asked.
Yeah, and did he want me to help him find his lost puppy too?
“What address are you looking for?” I asked again in a hostile voice.
“I’m looking for Oak Street,” he said.
That was weird. Was it a coincidence he was asking about the street that I had just been on? Or had he been watching me all along? I supposed we were close to the street, so it wouldn’t be strange to encounter someone looking for it.
I pointed in the direction and said nothing. Without another word, I quickened my step and continued walking toward the coffee shop.
“Thank you,” he called out as he drove away.
Maybe he really did just want directions, but he could’ve asked in a nicer way from the beginning and not acted strange. A guy just shouldn’t do that to a woman walking along the street. It was too scary. He needed to learn manners. I watched as he drove away, hoping that this would be the last that I saw of him. I sent Tammy another message telling her that the guy had wanted directions. She was just happy that I was responding to her and that I hadn’t been kidnapped yet.
Almost to the coffee shop now, I typed. I sent the message with a smiley face emoji. Maybe I needed to tone down on the smiley faces. I was using too many. Those things were addictive.
Thank goodness I made it to town with no other sightings of the man. Plus, I hadn’t seen my doppelgänger again either. I would call that a successful morning. Now I just needed to grab my coffee and pastry and get to the library. There was no telling what would happen there. More books flying through the air?
I stepped into the coffee shop and waved to Dana. She waved magnanimously. I checked over my shoulder to make sure that the car hadn’t followed me and pulled up along the curb.
“You seem nervous,” Dana said. “Is everything all right?”
“Oh, there was just some creepy guy asking for directions,” I said with a wave of my hand.
Dana shook her head. “You can never be too safe. I worry about you walking around the streets.”
“It’s safe in Devil’s Moon.”
I caught myself after saying that, realizing that there was an unsolved murder.
“Well, except for that current unsolved murder,” I added.
She nodded. “Yeah, except for that. The usual for you?”
“Yes, please,” I said. “I need caffeine.”
Chapter 13
I waited at the counter as Dana prepared my order. My attention kept turning to the windows. At the exact moment, I looked out saw that car drive slowly down the street. I knew it was the same man who had asked for directions. I was almost certain I’d seen the guy behind the wheel. It was hard to tell for sure from this distance, but I was pretty convinced. It made my stomach twist into a knot immediately.
“Here’s your order. Is everything all right? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Her eyes widened. “Tell me there’s not a ghost in here.”
“It’s not a ghost, but there’s something strange going on out there,” I said, pointing toward the sidewalk.
She leaned forward on the counter, trying to get a better look.
“The car that just drove by,” I said. “I think he’s following me.”
“What makes you think that?” she asked.
“He stopped me earlier to ask for directions, but I just pointed out the street and didn’t talk to him.”
“That’s terrifying. I don’t know what to think about the crazy things that go on around here.”
I pulled out my phone, but just as I was ready to dial Brannon, an alert popped up for the library’s cameras. I scrolled down the screen and checked the video. My doppelgänger had arrived at the library. She was more punctual for work than me.
“This is getting out of hand,” I said.
I showed the phone to Dana.
“I wouldn’t believe it if I didn’t see it with my own eyes,” she said.
“I need to get over to the library right away.” I shoved my phone back into my bag.
“What about the guy following you?” Dana asked. “I don’t want you to go out there. It’s too dangerous.”
“It’s the middle of the day. He couldn’t possibly kidnap me or anything.” I picked up my coffee. “Right?”
“Don’t be so sure about that,” she said.
“I’ll call Brannon on my way,” I said.
“Just make sure you do. I’ll be worried about you.”
“I can handle myself,” I said, trying to sound confident. “Thanks for the coffee.”
Of course, I looked around as I headed away from the coffee shop toward the library. Any sign of this guy and I would tell him what I thought of him. Who did he think he was stalking me? I had to tell Brannon about this guy. For all I knew, the crazy man was probably out looking for a woman to kidnap. What kind of creepy serial killer was he anyway? I dialed Brannon’s number, but unfortunately, he didn’t answer. I just left a message and then sent a text message. I was sure he would call back as soon as possible. I didn’t want to send too many messages.
Thank goodness I reached the library without any sign of the guy popping up. Actually, I wanted to find him though, because I needed to save others from being stalked by him too. I hurried up the path and past the graveyard, hoping that nothing would attack me there.
What was going on inside the library now that my doppelgänger had arrived? The library wasn’t open yet, so no patrons were here yet. While I waited for Brann
on to call back, I decided to use this opportunity to look up information about Abigail. There had to be something out there. Of course, I found her social media accounts. There was one curious thing that stood out right away. She was from the same town as Meredith. I didn’t think that was a coincidence.
Abigail had decided to move away from her hometown and shown up here out of the blue. She knew nothing about Devil’s Moon. Then almost at the same time this woman who was from the same town had been murdered. It was as if Abigail had followed the woman here. Maybe they’d come here together. This was definitely curious. I had to tell Brannon about this as well. Plus, I’d forgotten to tell him about the antiques in Abigail’s house. I knew something was amiss.
All was quiet as I sat at the computer. No sign of the doppelgänger. At least if she was going to hang out here she could help me with some of my work.
“What are you doing?” a female voice asked from over my shoulder.
I spun around, clutching my chest and almost falling out of the chair. Tammy rushed over to help me back onto the chair.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” she said.
“I didn’t think you’d be here so early.” I pushed the hair out of my eyes.
“Well, I promise never to sneak up on you like that again.”
“Thank you,” I said.
“I just woke up early and thought I’d come here and help you out. After your text messages and the creepy guy following you.”
“I really appreciate that,” I said.
“What are you looking up?” she asked.
Before answering, my phone dinged. I assumed it was a message from Brannon or Annie.
Still looking for your doppelgänger.
“Thanks, Annie,” I said.
Tammy waved even though she had no idea if Annie was standing close by.
Getting back to Tammy’s question, I said, “I found out that Abigail is from the same town as the murdered woman.”
Tammy’s eyes widened. “Are you serious? Something isn’t right, Rip.”
I told Tammy about the guy following me in the car again. I didn’t want to frighten her, but I also knew I should tell her so that she could be aware and on the lookout for him. Annie was on the lookout for my doppelgänger. Annie had seen the doppelgänger and thought it was me. She’d wondered why I’d never answered her text messages. I’d wondered why they’d never shown up on my phone.
My phone rang this time, breaking off our conversation.
“Oh, that’s Brannon calling back,” I said. “I’ll take this in my office.”
“I’ll be on the lookout for your ghost,” Tammy said. “This is so weird.”
Tammy headed toward the reference desk and I walked down the hallway toward my office. Once I told Brannon about the guy he said he would have everyone keep an eye out for him.
“Just when I think things can’t get worse,” he said.
“I know I seem to attract trouble, but it’s unavoidable,” I said.
“Yeah… I suppose. I’ll call you back soon,” Brannon said.
Now I needed to make a few more phone calls. I got the idea that maybe some of the other stores in town had video of Abigail and Meredith together. I just wanted to see if they would check the timeline around that day and see if anything was picked up on their surveillance cameras. My first call would be to the bookstore. I had a feeling maybe Abigail and Meredith had walked by the store. It was on the way to the antique shop. Unfortunately, she didn’t answer so I had to wait for a call back.
I’d been working in my office for about an hour when I got a call back from the bookstore owner.
“I have something to show you,” she said with excitement. “I am pretty sure I have video of the two women you are looking for.”
“Can you send me that clip?” I asked.
“I’ll email you right now,” she said.
“Thank you so much. I really appreciate this.”
I ended the call and waited for her email to come through. This was huge news. I kept clicking to refresh waiting for the email to come through. What was taking so long? Was my internet connection working? Finally, the email came through and I couldn’t click fast enough. I downloaded the video and waited for it to play. Sure enough, Abigail and Meredith walked by the bookstore together.
“I knew it,” I said excitedly.
It seemed as if my instincts had been correct. My hand shook as I held the phone to my ear to call Brannon.
“You’re not going to believe this,” I said when he answered the call. “I did it.”
“You did what?” he asked.
“I placed them together. I knew they knew each other. That was the only reason that she moved to town,” I said breathlessly.
“Okay, calm down,” he said. “You’re going to hyperventilate.”
I chuckled. “I’ll be fine. But I have a video of Abigail and Meredith together. They were walking outside the bookstore. And it was only about thirty minutes before the murder occurred.”
“I have to admit that’s some compelling evidence,” he said. “Can you send me that real quick?”
“Emailing it as we speak,” I said.
“That’s pretty good work, Ripley,” he said. “We’ll get on this right away and I’ll get back in touch.”
“I had to prove that I didn’t do this, so that meant I had to take matters into my own hands.”
“I never doubted you for a second,” he said.
After ending the call, my phone rang again immediately. I didn’t recognize the number when it popped up on my screen. Could a ghost be calling me? It was a possibility. I just hoped it wasn’t a telemarketer.
“Hello?” I answered cautiously.
“Is this Ripley?” the male voice asked.
The voice sounded familiar.
“Yes,” I said, still unsure if I should remain on guard.
“We met at the library. This is Charlie.”
For a few seconds it didn’t click. Then I realized it was the guy who had been staring at me portal. How had he gotten my number?
“I suppose you’re going to ask how I got your number.”
Maybe he was psychic and currently reading my mind. That was a little creepy. I would just assume he had sensed my hesitation.
“I guess the thought had crossed my mind. How did you get my number?”
“Last night I went to the library not realizing that it was closed. I wanted to talk to you,” he said.
Now I was extremely curious.
“There’s a ghost who haunts the library all the time?” he asked.
“Yes, there is a resident ghost. Did you see her?” I asked.
“No, not yet, which is surprising. Usually they come around quickly.”
“Well, she’s a bit particular about who she talks to. If she doesn’t know you, she’ll be quiet,” I said. “She’s just shy, I guess.”
Except for when it came to me. She’d made herself known pretty fast when I’d arrived at the library.
“That’s understandable,” he said. “But I think she gave me your number.”
“Did she text you?” I asked.
When he hesitated, I realized that I probably sounded crazy for asking that question.
He chuckled. “No text. When I tried to get in the front doors, a paper floated out from underneath. It was advertising your haunted tour. I didn’t know you had a tour.”
“That is odd,” I said. “But yes, I have a haunted tour.”
“Anyway, I think she wanted me to have your number. I sensed her through the door. Then the image of her popped into my head.”
“That sounds like something Annie would do,” I said. “She usually sends me text messages. I’m glad that she was able to help, but is something wrong?”
“I was calling to warn you,” he said.
My stomach became even more anxious now.
“Warn me about what?”
“Well, I don’t know the full story yet, but I
think there’s a bad spirit trying to get through to you. I hope that they haven’t already come through.”
The fact that they were trying was bad enough.
“What do they want?” I asked.
“I don’t know, but I assume to harm you. I hope I can get more answers for you soon. In the meantime, I thought I would let you know right away.”
I wasn’t sure if I should trust this guy. After all, I had no idea who he was. He’d just come into the library out of the blue.
“I’ll certainly be on the lookout,” I said. “Thanks for letting me know.”
“It’s no problem at all. I’ll have to take your tour some evening. Obviously, I’m interested in that sort of thing. There was one other thing,” he said with hesitation.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“The woman who works with you at the library. The one with the auburn hair and the gorgeous eyes.”
“Yes,” I said.
“I was wondering if she’s married or dating anyone?”
“Tammy?” I asked with a chuckle. “No, she’s not dating anyone.”
Instantly my little matchmaker thoughts started whirling in my head. Though I had to find out more about this guy. I wasn’t going to let some weirdo come in and try to date Tammy. I had to look out for my best friend.
“Oh, okay,” he said.
“I take it that you would like to speak with her a bit more,” I said.
“Well, I don’t know. No, not really,” he said in a hurry.
That was odd. If he wasn’t interested in a date then why had he asked about her status? Maybe he was just shy.
“I hope everything works out okay with you,” he said. “I didn’t want to startle you, but I wanted you to know.”
“I appreciate that,” I said. “Let me know if you’d like to take the tour. Perhaps you can come back by the library and we’ll discuss it.”
This was my way of getting him back into the library. I wanted to find out if he was really interested in dating Tammy. She had her eye on him. She asked me a few times if I’d seen him again. I wasn’t going to let this go without further analysis.