Ghostly Apparitions (A Ghost Hunter P.I. Mystery Book 1)

by Aubrey Harper

  Kane got up and stretched his legs. “Can’t we at least leave this dining room?”

  Crane nodded. “As you wish. You should know that this place is well guarded, though. But just in case, I’ll send a few of my men to follow you anyway.”

  “How very thoughtful of you, sir,” Kane said.

  He took my arm and led me out of the dining room. It felt good to leave that room behind. The energy in the living room was much more agreeable.

  We stood by the fireplace, letting the flames warm us.

  “We have to get out of here,” Kane whispered in my ear. It felt strange having him so close to me, but it was also reassuring.

  Then Donna joined us.

  She didn’t look happy to be there. She sat down on the couch and held her head in her hands.

  “Are you okay?” I asked her.

  She smiled a weak smile. “Yeah, I will be. I’m just glad all this is over.”

  I could see tears starting to form in her eyes.

  “I wish Bart was here to see it,” she added.

  It was unfortunate that Bart wasn’t there. If only the barrier could be broken somehow…

  Kane saw the look on my face and knew immediately what I was thinking. “It’s too dangerous,” he said. “And they have guns.”

  Looking at the bodyguards stationed at the exits, it was clear that they were packing heat. Their stern, blank looks didn’t do much to reassure me of my plans either.

  “We have to do something,” I whispered in his ear.

  Donna looked up. “What are you guys up to?”

  I sighed. Was she trying to blow our covers on purpose or what?

  I motioned for her to join us by the fireplace and she reluctantly did so. It seemed that after Jonah confessed, Donna just stopped caring about the whole mission.

  “We’re trying to break the barrier,” I said.

  “Why? The cops should be here soon enough and we’ll be out of here. Why bother?”

  She certainly had a good point, I couldn’t argue with that. But I just felt like there was something more to the story. Something Rebecca or Bart might be able to sniff out.

  “I have an idea,” Kane whispered.

  “What is it?” I asked. I was willing to try anything at this point. Just sitting around, waiting for the cops to arrive (if indeed they ever would, but I tried not to psych the others out by voicing those concerns) was making me nervous.

  “Why not challenge Madam Darke to a duel?”

  I laughed. Then I realized that Kane was being serious. “Really?”

  “They’ll have to break the barrier if they want to test your ghost-seeing abilities, won’t they?”

  He had a good point. I had thought of it too but somehow the rivalry with Madam Darke seemed like the last thing I should be focusing on right now. Jonah had just confessed to a murder and the whole house was in chaos.

  “Fine,” I finally relented. “It’s worth a shot.”

  “I’m in,” Donna said. “Sounds a lot better than just waiting around here for the cops to arrive.”

  So the three of us made our way back to the dining room. The accountants and lawyer were in a furious argument while Crane and Madam Darke cozied up to each other with glasses of wine in hand. Crane seemed quite smitten with the woman, even though she was probably twenty or more years his junior.

  “I want to challenge Madam Darke,” I said, trying to sound as confident as possible. It helped that I had Kane and Donna behind me.

  Crane looked up with an amused look in his eye. “I don’t think that will be necessary, Ms. Good. Madam Darke here has proven herself quite useful to me.”

  “Fine, have it your way. But don’t blame me if her psychic ‘insights’ leave you bankrupt one day.”

  I turned around to go.

  “Wait,” Madam Darke said. “That sounded like a challenge I’m not willing to ignore.”

  Madam Darke got up and stood straight, full of confidence and glamour.

  “Shall we have a chat with the recently departed?” She challenged.

  I nodded. “My thoughts exactly.”

  Crane sighed. “Women. Always trying to outdo each other.”

  Crane and Madam Darke led us through the house until we reached a set of French doors. Crane’s guards opened them up to a beautiful garden.

  “The barrier ends by that fountain there,” Madam Darke pointed out.

  I followed her there. I felt something as I passed the barrier. I saw no salt or iron anywhere so Bart’s theory that it was buried beneath ground was probably right.

  As soon as I crossed the barrier, I felt a difference in the air. It seemed Madam Darke did as well.

  “All spirits present here, make yourselves known,” Madam Darke said in a commanding voice.

  Almost immediately afterward, Rebecca and Bart appeared, both with looks of shock on their faces.

  “I…I couldn’t not come…” Rebecca said, obviously in distress. Bart didn’t look much better.

  “What have you done to them?” I asked Madam Darke.

  “Shown them who’s in charge here,” she simply said. “You have a lot to learn, young lady.”

  I was no psychic but Madam Darke’s energy did, in fact, feel dark. Controlling. Powerful. Scary. All rolled into one.

  “I can barely move,” Bart managed to get out.

  “Release them,” I demanded.

  Madam Darke smiled that reptilian smile of hers. “Giving up so soon? We haven’t even started.” Then she turned toward Crane. “Anything you’d like me to ask Bart or perhaps Ms. Good’s ghostly companion?”

  “Tell Bart that Jonah confessed to his murder and please tell him I’m sorry,” Crane surprised me by saying. I looked at him and he did seem genuinely regretful that Jonah had gone so far.

  Bart looked shocked.

  “He already heard you,” Madam Darke said.

  She did a motion with her fingers and suddenly Bart and Rebecca visibly relaxed their postures.

  “Why?” Bart wanted to know.

  “He thought you were stealing from Crane, and he thought Crane wanted him to ‘take care of the problem’ as it were,” I explained.

  “So I died because some kid made a stupid mistake?”

  “Pretty much,” I said. There was no need to deny it.

  “What about Derek?” Bart asked. “Why did Jonah murder him?”

  “He only confessed to your murder,” I said.

  “But I didn’t embezzle the money. Then who did?”

  “We found evidence on his computer that Jonah was the embezzler all along.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Donna said to Bart.

  I reassured her that he was there.

  “You have nothing to be sorry for,” I relayed Bart’s message.

  Donna broke down in Kane’s arms.

  “You can speak to ghosts, that much is clear,” Crane admitted. “But you can’t control them like Madam Darke here can. She’ll prove far more useful to me.”

  “It’s all right,” I said. “I was never going to accept that job offer anyway.”

  “Not even if young Jonah was innocent of any wrongdoing?” He prodded.

  I looked at Kane.

  “Not even then,” I honestly said. “Silver Bells Cove is my home and I’d never work for a man who vowed to destroy everything I love about it.”

  Just then we heard police sirens in the distance. It turned out that Crane didn’t lie about the police coming, though they sure did take their sweet time.

  The sheriff was there. Jonathan was there. A couple of other deputies were there as well. Jonah remained silent, the only words he would speak were to ask for a lawyer.

  He had given up confessing or denying anything. He was playing it smart. Crane didn’t look angry, he just looked disappointed.

  After a round of questions, the sheriff decided that Kane, Donna and I could leave.

  The last time I saw Jonah, he wasn’t even willing to look me in the eye. His gaze fir
mly remained on the ground.

  I wanted to reassure him, but then I remembered what he’d done and thought better of it. Murderers didn’t need reassuring. They needed to pay for their crimes. No matter how perfect he looked on the outside, there was something dark and scary deep within his heart and mind. I certainly dodged a bullet with that one. To think that I actually thought of dating him, maybe even becoming serious. The very thought made my skin crawl.

  We piled into Kane’s white van. Rebecca and Bart joined us not soon after. It felt good to have everyone there, the living and the dead.

  “Do you feel like it’s time to move on?” I asked Bart. “You know why and by whom you were killed now.”

  “I don’t know,” he said. “Something just doesn’t feel right.”

  “What’s he saying?” Donna asked. She clutched her purse closer to her body. I wondered if she was cold.

  “He says that something doesn’t feel right about the whole thing.”

  “Why would he kill Derek?” Bart mused out loud. “They barely even knew the other existed.”

  “Donna, do you know why Jonah would target Derek?” I asked. “Bart says that they barely even knew each other.”

  “How should I know?” Donna snapped back. “Who knows what goes on in the mind of a psycho?”

  “Jonah may be a murderer, but it seems he did it for Crane. In a twisted sort of way, he thought he was making his mentor proud. And he did deny embezzling the money,” I said to Bart.

  “But the evidence was right on his computer,” Kane said. “There’s no denying that.”

  “Yeah, I found it myself. It was there in black and white. He did it, Meredith. I don’t know why you can’t just accept that,” Donna said. “I know you were sweet on him, but it’s time to use your brain.”

  “I think I’m seeing things clearer than ever,” I said. “You were the one who found the discrepancies. You were the one who found evidence on Jonah’s laptop. You were the one who worked with Derek. It all leads back to you, Donna,” I said, trying to keep my voice from cracking.

  “This isn’t right,” Bart said. “Donna would never betray me like that.”

  “You’re boy crazy, Meredith. None of what you’re saying is making any sense.”

  “Turn the car around,” I said to Kane. “We’ll let the police sort out who’s crazy or not.”

  Kane was preparing to make the turn, all the while trying to keep an eye on Donna.

  Donna reached inside her purse. By the time her hand was visible again, there was a gun in it. Kane’s gun. He must have left it in the van before they joined the party.

  “Keep driving straight, pretty boy,” she said to Kane.

  Then she turned the gun toward me. “And you keep your mouth shut.”

  “Why did you do it?” I couldn’t keep my mouth shut even if I tried.

  Donna laughed. “I did it for Bart and me. I was sick of Crane taking advantage of him like that. Bart was worth a lot more than that greedy old man paid him.”

  “But why did you kill Derek?” I asked the obvious question.

  “After Bart was murdered he came sniffing around. He said he was determined to figure out who murdered Bart and why. He asked to see the books and after I refused, he said he’d go to the cops. I had to get rid of him. I didn’t want to. But after Bart was dead, I knew I was going to frame Jonah for everything. I knew he was involved in Bart’s death. I thought Crane had ordered him to do it, but either way, he’s going away.”

  Donna was quite the talkative murderer and embezzler.

  “You stole the binder from my trunk, didn’t you?”

  “That was just pure luck,” Donna laughed, almost manically.

  “Keep driving,” Donna told Kane after he slowed down a little.

  “Where are you taking us?” I wanted to know.

  “It’s not a question of where I’m taking you, it’s where you guys are taking me. To the airport.”

  “You’ll kill us, won’t you?” Kane said.

  I didn’t like the sound of that. I did not look forward to being a ghost any day soon. I had too much to live for.

  Rebecca, for her part, tried to push Donna away but nothing happened.

  I looked at Bart.

  “Please help us,” I whispered.

  “Shut up! I told you to shut up!” Donna practically screamed. “Stop talking to him.”

  Then she looked where Bart was sitting.

  “I’m so sorry,” she said. “It wasn’t supposed to turn out this way.”

  Bart had a crushed look on his face. He was our only hope now, but he refused to make a move.

  “She needs to be stopped,” Rebecca told him. “You would still be alive if it wasn’t for her.”

  “I know, but she did it for me. For us. No matter how misguided what she did was, I can’t hurt her.”

  “We’re not asking you to hurt her. We’re asking you to stop her,” Rebecca reminded him.

  Bart looked into my eyes.

  “She killed Derek,” Rebecca said. “He was completely innocent in all of this.”

  “I lied when I said I was with her the night Derek died,” Bart confessed, looking genuinely sorry.

  “Hold on!” Kane screamed as he made a sudden stop. The car tires screeched as the car kept circling on the empty road.

  The ghosts were gone. Both Bart and Rebecca had been blown away by the impact.

  Kane immediately grabbed the gun. Donna fought back hard, hitting him with her legs.

  I untied my seatbelt and used hers to restrain her, giving Kane the opportunity to take the gun away from her clutches. Then I heard a terribly loud sound.

  Then there was no sound at all, just an endless void where sound should have been.

  My ears hurt like hell. Kane seemed in pain as well.

  I looked in panic to see if he had just been shot, but then I noticed the front window shattering, as if in slow motion.

  Donna screamed as the glass hit her face and arms. She couldn’t protect herself because I was still holding her back.

  When it was all said and done, Kane restrained her. She had mostly superficial bruises and cuts on her face and arms, though by the look on her face, she was ready to kill.

  Kane pointed the gun at her as we made our way out of the vehicle.

  “Get out of the car,” he ordered her.

  Donna slowly got out and stood by the side of the road. She looked defeated when she realized there was no way out.

  Bart and Rebecca reappeared.

  I took out my cell and called Sarah. When I got her I told her where we were and to tell Jonathan to come and get us. We had another murderer for him to arrest.

  Twenty-Five

  Marmalade and Ebony fought for a place on my lap.

  “You guys don’t get too comfortable now,” I warned them. “I’m going out soon.”

  “It’s on, Millie,” Gran reminded me. She took the remote and turned the volume up. It was way too loud but I didn’t complain.

  Marmalade and Ebony got spooked though and ran out of the room.

  “In shocking developments,” started Kane’s pretty reporter friend, Lucy. “Not one, but two murderers have been arrested last night in connection to two recent murders that have plagued Silver Bells Cove. Warwick Crane, whose protégé was responsible for one of the murders, denies any involvement or knowledge. As a result of the controversy surrounding the murders, Crane Industries have decided to pull out of Silver Bells and focus their attentions elsewhere. This case has gotten national attention, and Crane Industries’ stock has continued falling since these recent announcements…”

  Gran turned the volume down.

  “Isn’t that just fabulous news?” She said.

  “Too bad two people had to die to make it happen.”

  “Well, of course,” she quickly said. “But at least something good came out of it.”

  I couldn’t argue with that. Having Crane out of town felt like an invisible fog of fear an
d destruction had been lifted. It also helped that the people responsible for the murders were outsiders. It brought the town closer in a way. A few people feigned disappointment, but in the end, most people were happy with the results, just like Gran.

  Rebecca appeared in the doorway. “It’s time,” she said.

  “I’ve gotta go,” I said to Gran. I gave her a kiss on the cheek and a quick hug.

  “You will come home for lunch, right?”

  It was Gran’s day off and she wanted to spend it with her granddaughters.

  “Of course. I just have a few errands to run.”

  Gran knew that some of those errands involved ghosts, but there was no need to go too deeply into it since she was against me trying to solve Bart’s murder in the first place.

  Then I heard a beeping horn outside.

  “Be careful,” Gran said. But then she had to add: “I like this one a lot better than that Jonah fellow.”

  “Well, I certainly hope so. Since Jonah turned out to be a murderer and all.”

  “Always listen to your grandma,” Gran said as she walked me out to the front door.

  “Yeah, yeah,” I said as I made my way out.

  Kane’s white van was waiting outside. He had said he wanted to tag along to get a feel for how I worked. At first, I wasn’t sure that was a good idea but Bart said he didn’t mind so I relented.

  “There’s my favorite ghost hunter,” Kane said when he saw me.

  “And there’s my favorite…PI?” I said reluctantly.

  “Very convincing, Ms. Good. Very convincing.”

  Kane didn’t get out of the car to open the passenger door for me like Jonah would have, and I was actually relieved. I was a grown woman. I could open my own doors, thank you very much.

  Rebecca appeared behind us. Then Bart, too.

  “Where to?” Kane asked.

  “Somewhere beautiful,” Bart said.

  “Somewhere beautiful,” I repeated.

  “I know just the spot,” Kane said and started the car.

  Pretty soon we were on the road. Bart and Rebecca talked about what the afterlife might be like, while Kane and I talked about more worldly things.

  “They’re both going away for a long time,” Kane said.

  “Hopefully,” I said. Sometimes the justice system didn’t seem all that fair.