Eat, Drink, and Be Scary (A Ravenmist Whodunit Paranormal Cozy Mystery Book 1)

by Olivia Jaymes

  It was like an accident on the side of the road. You don’t want to slow down and look but you can’t stop yourself from doing it.

  Then right before she got to the man’s table Missy tripped over her own feet, landing in a heap on the floor. The man jumped up from his seat to offer a hand and before I knew it, Missy was standing right next to his booth.

  My best friend was a genius. Those reaper genes were amazing.

  The credit card was sitting on the table and she only had to take a quick look down to see his name. They spoke for a brief moment, Missy smiling and appearing to thank her rescuer. She headed back into the ladies’ room and the man sat down at the table again. I had to sit there and wait until she came back, which was probably only a few minutes but it felt like an hour. In the meantime, the man paid his bill and left. I had to quell the urge to go after him, depending on Missy to have the information we needed. By the time she returned, I was a sweaty nervous mess.

  “Tell me you got his name,” I said before she had a chance to sit down. “Because I let him walk out of here without following him. I saw him turn right outside the door so I suppose we could catch up if we hurry.”

  “No need,” Missy replied with a smug smile on her face. “I got his name and there was company name on the card as well. He’s William Wagner and the company was Crown Financial Consulting.”

  “William Wagner,” I repeated, turning that name over and over in my brain trying to find where I might have heard it before but nothing came up. It didn’t sound familiar at all. “Never heard of him. But we need to let the sheriff know that he’s here in Travistown. He’s going to want to talk to Mr. Wagner as soon as possible.”

  Missy’s brows shot up. “You’re anxious to see Jackson Garrett.”

  “Not really, but he needs to know.” I signaled the waitress. “Let’s get our desserts to go. The sooner the sheriff arrests the killer the sooner he’ll stop suspecting you or the townsfolk.”

  Then everything could go back to the way it was before. Boring and predictable. Just the way I liked it.

  Gratitude didn’t look like I thought it would.

  “Have you lost your mind?” Garrett asked after I told him the good news. The sheriff had been in his office interviewing Adam Taylor when I arrived at the station. The charming attorney had smiled at me but didn’t stop to chat, simply waving when he saw me. He hastily exited the building, leaving me with an already agitated sheriff. I don’t think his conversation with the lawyer had gone well.

  “I have not lost my mind.”

  “Are you sure? Because this guy could be dangerous, Tedi. What were you thinking?”

  Missy had gone back to the bookstore and I wasn’t going to throw her under the bus by saying that she’d acted on impulse.

  “We were thinking that we somehow needed to get his name. I thought you’d be happy and grateful.”

  “If something had happened to you–” Garrett broke off and rounded his desk, coming to an abrupt halt in front of me. “It was a foolhardy thing to do. You and Missy could have been seriously hurt.”

  “Then I’d be out of your hair, Sheriff.”

  “Somehow I doubt it. You’d find a way to haunt me.”

  “You don’t believe in ghosts.”

  “For you I’ll make an exception.”

  “Then you don’t think Missy is a killer anymore?”

  His inner struggle was stamped clearly on his features, but one side must have won because he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck as if I’d put a big pain there.

  “No, I don’t. There are others who have far more motive. I’m still not buying her story as to why she was at your place so early in the morning, though. It seems fishy.”

  That’s because it wasn’t the truth but we couldn’t tell him the real story. Or maybe we could. I’d never seen a grown man faint before. It might be fun.

  Hiding my right hand behind my back, I crossed my fingers. “It seems perfectly reasonable to me.”

  “You’re not a cop.”

  “And this isn’t Chicago. Now are you going to question William Wagner or not?”

  “I am, but first I’ll do a quick background check on him. I want to know as much as I can about him before talking to him.” Garrett wagged his finger in warning. “Now stay away from this murder case. No more sleuthing or whatever it was you two were doing. We don’t need another dead body or two in Ravenmist.”

  “It’s almost like you care, Sheriff.”

  “Only because the town would blame me for your untimely demise.”

  “It would be so sad if you didn’t get a chance to thank me for helping you.”

  Another long-suffering sigh from the man. “Thank you, Tedi. You did help, although I still think you and Missy should have just called me.”

  It was as good as I was going to get so I’d take it and run.

  “You’re welcome, Sheriff. See you tonight.”

  More quality time together. The paranormal investigation started right after dinner.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Tyler held up one of the handheld recorders. “This is so cool. Will this really catch a ghost talking?”

  I nodded and continued adjusting the monitors on the table we’d set up in the empty apartment above the bookstore. We’d placed cameras on the sales floor, in the office, and in the storeroom. “It will. When we get to that part of the investigation it’s best to be still and ask questions as if they’re living beings. Pause in between each question to give them time to answer.”

  Garrett tried to hide his eye roll but I caught it and gave him an elbow in the ribs when I stood to grab a cable. As solid as he was, I think I hurt my elbow more than his ribs. “We’ll do the investigation in teams, taking turns. When it’s not your turn, you’ll stay up here watching the monitors and being as quiet as possible so that we don’t hear you downstairs. It’s not the ideal setup but we can deal with it tonight.”

  “We can’t stay all night, son,” Garrett warned Tyler. “You have school tomorrow.”

  “Nothing important.”

  “School is important.”

  I didn’t think Garrett was going to win this argument.

  “I’m writing a paper on this,” Tyler said with all the self-importance a teenager could muster. “This is homework.”

  “What class is interested in ghost hunting?”

  “History, of course.”

  “I do not understand modern education,” Garrett muttered under his breath.

  “We’re going to split into teams,” I said loudly, wanting everyone’s attention. This was the fourth time we’d investigated the bookstore so it wasn’t a big draw. Missy and I were there as usual, along with Tyler and Garrett as new members in training. Elliott Farraday was there with his brother Lloyd. Since their family was one of the founders of Ravenmist they were hoping to speak with a spirit from their ancestry. “Elliot and Lloyd, do you want to go first?”

  The brothers were heads down over a stack of papers and shook their heads.

  “You go ahead,” Lloyd said. “I brought some old blueprints of the building and we’re going to study those first.”

  I’d done that during the first investigation but Lloyd and Elliott hadn’t been there. I left them to their scholarly pursuits and turned to Tyler, who had long since abandoned trying to act cool. This fifteen-year-old wanted to hunt some ghosts. He reminded me of myself when I’d first started.

  And now I knew ghosts were real and this wasn’t a waste of time.

  “Tyler, do you want to go with me?” I gave his father a withering look. “I guess you can go, too.”

  Garrett stood and grinned. “I think I will. What about Missy?”

  Missy was fiddling with the monitors. “I’m going to stay and watch the camera feeds. You go ahead.”

  I led the two males down the stairs and paused at the bottom. “Let’s keep the chitchat to a minimum. We’ll walk through the three rooms and then find a place to sit down and just list
en. We’ll ask some questions and hope they’ll talk to us tonight.”

  I’ll give credit where it’s due. Garrett kept his mouth shut for the most part and didn’t make any sarcastic remarks the whole time. Even when it was our turn to watch the monitors he pitched in, asking lots of good questions. I could tell he’d done his homework about ghost hunting and the equipment we used. He might not believe in it but he wasn’t being a jerk. When he was like this, I could understand why the town liked him so much.

  Later that evening, Missy was watching the monitors with Tyler when she abruptly stood up, the legs of the chair scraping the concrete floor loudly. “Tedi, why don’t you and I do a walkthrough?”

  I hadn’t paired with Missy all evening so that sounded good to me. She appeared anxious to get away from the monotony of the monitor bank. It wasn’t the most exciting part of the job and she had been doing it for quite awhile.

  “Sure, let’s do it. Are you guys okay up here?”

  Garrett, who had been talking to Lloyd and Elliott about the blueprints, took Missy’s abandoned chair. “I can help Tyler. Take your time.”

  Missy took the lead this time, walking briskly down the stairs and into the well-organized storeroom. She was something of a neat freak and there was a place for everything back here. She had her spices alphabetized at home.

  When I lingered she urged me toward the sales floor. “I saw something on the monitor.”

  Perking up, I followed her into the main area of the bookstore all the way to the back where she had a few overstuffed chairs so patrons could sit and read. Missy sat down on one and indicated that I should do the same. I lowered myself onto the soft cushions and let my gaze wander around the room. Just what had she seen?

  “You saw something?”

  She nodded, her gaze trained on a bookshelf against the wall. “Edward. He lives in this part of the bookstore. I rarely see him but he’s been very active lately. Almost too active. I’m hoping he’s ready to go into the light. It took him several years to even admit that he’d passed on.”

  I had to admit that I was intrigued, not just because this Edward was a real ghost but because he didn’t want to go to the other side. Wherever that would be for him.

  “Is he one of yours?”

  “No, he was Grandma’s. But that doesn’t mean that I can’t try to get him to cross over. He can’t stay here forever.”

  “Why not? I like it here.”

  The voice came out of nowhere and I looked side to side and behind me but couldn’t see a body to go with it. Missy shook her head in warning to me and placed her finger over her lips when I would have responded.

  To my surprise, she slipped her foot under the cord from the camera to the outlet and surreptitiously tugged at it, hiding her movements with her body from the eagle eyes upstairs. The camera unplugged and I’m sure the monitor upstairs went dark. What would Garrett do?

  “The sheriff will come down here to investigate the camera.”

  “Maybe. Maybe not. You told him only two people at a time down here and he’s a newbie. Remember, he doesn’t think there’s anything to see so a camera malfunctioning isn’t a big deal to him. There’s a bunch of other cameras he and Tyler can watch. I’m hoping that he leaves it for a little while and just tells us about it when we go back.”

  “Aren’t we supposed to be gathering evidence?”

  “Yes, but Edward doesn’t want the attention. Do you, Edward? Are you going to come out? I want to introduce you to my friend Tedi.”

  “Is she a reaper, too?”

  “No, just the owner of the Ravenmist Inn.”

  Thank goodness I wasn’t eating or drinking, because I almost choked on my spit when a full body apparition walked out of the bookcase and casually leaned against Missy’s chair. Edward looked to be in his thirties perhaps, maybe younger, wearing a pinstriped suit. He had short dark hair and wire-rimmed glasses and he was pale. But then he hadn’t seen the sun in a long while, I supposed. He was also slightly transparent but not as much as in the movies. If you weren’t looking closely, he could have blended into a crowd of people. I wondered how many times I’d seen an actual ghost but missed it because they didn’t look all that different from a regular live person.

  “Edward, this is Tedi. Tedi, this is Edward.”

  Edward extended his hand so I did, too. I wasn’t sure if I should touch a ghost or even if I could but he had no such qualms so I went with it. When he touched my skin, it felt slightly electric but not unpleasantly so. He leaned down and kissed my hand so gentlemanly I wondered how long he’d been gone. Missy had said he belonged to her grandmother and that, along with his clothes, had me guessing the 1950s.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Edward.”

  “And you.” He scowled at Missy. “I’m not crossing over, so you’re wasting your time.”

  “I’m not here to nag you, although I should. Hasn’t this nonsense gone on long enough? It’s far past time.”

  “I know which way I’m going so you’ll never convince me.”

  Oh. Had Edward been…evil in his life? He seemed to think his destination wasn’t going to be pleasant.

  “You don’t know for sure.”

  “Trust me. I’m not going anywhere good, so I’m staying here. I like it. People coming and going. Lots of books to read. It’s nice.”

  “I think you’re making a mistake.”

  “You’re only thinking about your quarterly bonus. I’m just a number to you.”

  Missy hopped up from her chair. “That’s not true. I really care about you. All of you. I just want you to be happy.”

  “I wouldn’t be where I’m going,” Edward said. “So give it up. Now what brings you ladies here tonight?”

  “Another paranormal investigation,” I answered, still not able to tear my gaze away from the spirit in front of me. This might be the single most amazing thing that had ever happened to me in my life. Or tied for it. The Grim Reaper being my best friend was right up there too. “The history of Ravenmist has many stories about spirits.”

  Edward grinned in delight. “I remember them from when I was a kid. My dad told me those stories, and some of them were pretty scary. Then you get here and you realize that ghosts aren’t all that terrifying. Only a few are.”

  “A few?”

  “If a person was a jerk in life they’re probably not going to be a delight in death,” Edward replied.

  That made sense.

  “What were you like?”

  “A handful,” Edward said crisply. “Always getting into trouble. My poor parents went through hell. I think they were relieved when I died.”

  “They weren’t,” Missy said sharply. “They mourned you for years.”

  “How did you…?” I didn’t quite know how to phrase the question. Was it a social faux pas to ask a ghost how they got that way? “I mean…”

  “Car accident.” Edward’s smile faded. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “That’s fine,” I replied hastily, not wanting him to disappear. I couldn’t let this opportunity go. “None of my business, anyway. So I’ve done these investigations several times but I’ve never seen you before. In fact, I’ve never seen any ghost before and yet the town is supposed to be crawling with spirits.”

  Edward shrugged. “I don’t know. Most of the time we simply exist. We watch the world go by and enjoy the peace and quiet. It takes a great deal of energy to be seen by people and young ghost don’t often have enough. When you’re dead, time gets all fuzzy. It’s not the same as when I was alive. I know decades have passed but it only feels like a few months or maybe a year. But something is going on. I’ve been feeling more restless and the other spirits have been feeling it, too. We can’t rest easy the way we used to. We have a great deal more energy and we want to be active.”

  “Why didn’t you say something?” Missy asked, her mouth open in surprise. “I could send a message to my uncle and find out if something is going on.”

  �
��It’s not our way to confide in reapers,” Edward said, his tone tinged with disgust. “You might use whatever’s going on against us.”

  “I would never do that,” Missy protested, but it was clear the friendly bookstore ghost wasn’t buying it. “I wouldn’t. I swear.”

  “It doesn’t matter because I don’t know why we’re all so restless. We just are. Maybe it’s just time to wake up. We slept for awhile and now we’re awake and have more energy. Seems logical.”

  Since this statement came from a ghost I wasn’t sure anything was really logical or made sense.

  “I’m still going to ask my uncle,” Missy mumbled, a frown on her face.

  I had so many questions. “Can you leave the bookstore? Move around town?”

  “If I wanted to I could, but I like it here. I’ve always liked to read.” A book floated off one of the shelves and into Edward’s hand. Wow. “I’m especially enjoying this trilogy.”

  I took a peek at the covers. This mid-century man who thought he was going someplace bad was reading the Twilight saga. Wait…

  “Are vampires real, too?”

  He looked at me like I was as dumb as a bag of hammers. He might be right. “Of course not. That would be crazy.”

  Said the ghost.

  “Right. Of course. So if you can move around and leave the bookstore, I don’t suppose you came to the festival this year?”

  “I stopped by for a little while. I like the music.”

  “I don’t suppose you know who committed the murder of Jerome Bergstrom?”

  It was a longshot but I had to try. I had a brief happy image of solving the murder before Jackson Garrett.

  “No, but you should ask Terrence.”

  “Who is Terrence?” I asked with trepidation. Was he…deceased as well?

  Edward was looking at me like I was stupid again. It was starting to make me mad. I wasn’t that dumb. “He lives in your closet. He might have seen it.”