Grave Wrong
Kate Allenton
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
About the Author
Other Books By Kate Allenton
Copyright © 2020 Kate Allenton
All rights reserved.
The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement (including infringement without monetary gain) is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.
Please purchase only authorize electronic editions and do not participate in, or encourage, the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, character, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or use fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work, in whole or in part, in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.
Published by Coastal Escape Publishing
Discover other titles by Kate Allenton
At
http://www.kateallenton.com
Created with Vellum
Chapter 1
20 Years Ago
Ryley stared out the window at the passing dark buildings where even the moonlight was afraid to venture. A chill settled on her shoulders.
Most of the streetlights didn’t work on this side of town. The boarded-up buildings were spray-painted with words she’d heard her brother say, but she wasn’t allowed to repeat.
The seat was covered in a mustard stain from where her brother had spilled his hot dog the last time they’d been taken out for a treat. Tucker had gotten in trouble for that. He’d been buckled in and not quick enough to move out of their daddy’s reach—kind of like how she was now. She hated sitting in the front seat and being within reaching distance when he was in a grumpy mood. She held her breath, hoping he wouldn’t remember she was alive on days like those.
Tonight was worse than one of those days. The smell of hotdogs and good days was replaced with the stink of coffee and her daddy’s sweat.
A yawn slipped free, and she tried to stifle it. Her tired eyes begged to close, but she wouldn’t dare let herself fall asleep. Not during nights when her daddy was taking her to see his friends.
One big, burly man was like her Uncle Johnny, who rode a motorcycle and had colorful pictures drawn up and down his hairy arms. Another was tall and skinny, who liked to pace back and forth. The others, well, they hung out in the background listening to conversations even when they pretended not to be, kind of like what Ryley sometimes did at night pretending to be asleep. They’d acted in the same way, only doing it while cleaning their guns.
Her daddy had a gun too. Ryley wasn’t afraid of guns. She’d seen enough television to know what they could do. The last time her daddy had taken her to his friends, they’d asked weird questions. One had lost his daughter and needed Ryley to give him an address by just touching her picture. Another had lost his money and wanted her to find it. The requests were always different, but if she helped them find what they needed, then her dad was happy and would have money to buy her and Tucker an occasional ice cream cone before he’d be gone for days. Mom said he was visiting the ponies, but he’d never take Ryley along, no matter how hard she begged to ride them.
Ryley met the end of her daddy’s fist whenever she complained, so she continued to bite her tongue. It was easier that way. The car squeaked to a stop, and her daddy got out and opened her door as she unbuckled.
A parked car up the road had smoke drifting from the pipes as the idle of the engine hummed. She could just see the silhouette of the man sitting inside. The odd prickling energy of his soul was spikey instead of smooth. She didn’t like the spikey souls that felt like porcupines covered in darkness and tar.
Her daddy grabbed her hand and led her down the dark alley where monsters liked to lurk.
“You be good and only answer the questions when I tell you to, and you stop when I say.” Her father’s voice was full of warning, making her recently healed bottom lip throb from the last time she’d talked out of turn.
“Yes, daddy,” Ryley answered.
His big fingers tightened on her sweaty hand like a shackle she couldn’t break free.
An icy chill skirted down Ryley’s spine. Her breath turned frosty and visible in the night like the smoke from the car on the street. Ryley dug her hand into the coat pocket, crinkling the empty wrapper inside while trying to hide from the bite of the warning.
Her stomach twisted in unforgivable knots, wishing her momma had come with her.
“Where’s momma?” Her question came out as a slight squeak and tired whine.
“She’s at work, and I didn’t tell you to talk,” he growled, squeezing her hand tighter.
The stink from the big green dumpster smacked her in the nose the more they walked, each step taking them farther from the security of her daddy’s car. The smell of rotten food wasn’t the reason she covered her mouth with her hand.
A man was lying next to the dumpster on a cardboard box. His dirty clothes hung on him like rags. His ghostly body hovered over his lifeless shell, staring at his see-through hands as if trying to understand.
Darkened shadows descended from the roof high above, slithering down the side of the building. The creepy crawlies were a mix between shadow people and animals being lured by the smell of death the way a dog might when it smelled a grilling a steak.
One had touched her ankle once, leaving a scratch that burned for a month. With a single touch, if the man had just died, they’d claim not only his soul but try to climb into his body as if they craved life.
Her daddy kept pulling her away. Ryley glanced back at the ghost, and the descending shadows slithering closer; her heart clenched tight. “Daddy. I need to tell that man he’s dead.”
Her dad stopped and glanced over his shoulder, leading her back to the man that smelled like pee.
“You need to go into the light,” she whispered as fear clogged her veins while the creepy crawlies neared. She fought the need to cover her eyes and hide. Her fingers shook as she reached for the dead man’s arm. She laid her finger on the cold skin. “I’m sorry, but you need to go.”
Confusion clouded his face when the white light around him brightened, flashing and blinding her before he disappeared by be
ing sucked into the light. She hated forcing spirits into the light. It left her heart feeling empty. Her legs wobbled as a deeper chill settled in her spine.
The crawling shadows stilled, watching her before they vanished into the crumbling brick on the second floor. She swallowed around the lump in her throat.
Her dad reached into the dead man’s pockets and pulled something free.
“That’s stealing.”
Her father pegged her with a glare as he shoved his hands into the man’s jacket pockets and pulled out a pocket watch. He clicked it open, and an evil grin formed on her father’s lips as he stood. “Well, he won’t need this where he’s going, and it’s not stealing if he’s dead. You mind your business, or I’ll slap those thoughts out of your head.”
“Sorry, Daddy,” she said, trying to still her quivering lips. He would make good on that promise. He had before.
Her father grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the big metal door at the end of the alley, and yanked the door open.
Music drifted out into the quiet alley as he pulled her inside. Smoke filled the room and drifted in the flashing lights. Women were on the stage, partly naked and twirling around a pole while men watched from chairs.
“Not a word.” Her father whispered in her ear as he guided her to the bar. He plopped her up on a stool and slipped money to the bartender. “Watch her, will ya.”
The man took the money, but when her father walked off, so did the man behind the counter.
Ryley rubbed her burning eyes and blinked through the smoke until she spotted someone she knew. Her cheeks heated as their eyes met. Her momma’s priest was sitting in a chair with a woman sitting on top of his lap.
“She’s expelling his demons,” a woman explained, appearing next to Ryley at the bar. Her big red curly hair hung down her back.
“Why aren’t those women wearing clothes?” Ryley asked, turning a curious gaze back toward the stage.
“Clothes get in the way of their tips and tips feed their babies,” the woman answered.
“That’s why my daddy brings me here. He says it’s so he can buy us food,” Ryley said.
“You can’t believe everything you hear, Sugar. Some men are users. You’d be wise to remember that when you grow up. It will save you some heartache, and even then, some men are just pure evil.” The woman turned her gaze toward the door where Ryley’s daddy had disappeared. “Like the men back there.”
“Why aren’t you dancing? Don’t you have babies to feed?” Ryley asked.
The woman tossed her head back and laughed. “No, Darlin, my son is already grown up, and he’s the devil’s spawn.”
“Where are your friends now?” Ryley asked.
“Most are dead and gone,” the woman said.
“My name’s Ryley. I’ll be your friend.” Ryley smiled at the woman.
“My name is Catherine, but you can call me Stretch.”
“Is that because your tall?” Ryley asked.
Stretch smiled, and her face softened. “Something like that.” She gestured toward the door across the room. “Your daddy’s coming for you, and it looks like my son, Eli, probably hurt him. Sorry about that, doll, but he’s an evil bastard.”
Ryley hopped off the stool. “Thank you for keeping me company.”
“Hey, Ryley!” Stretch called out.
Ryley turned, “Yeah?”
“Next time, don’t let him take you to places like this and let you talk to people like me.”
“Why?” Ryley asked.
Stretch shrugged. “There’s nothing saintly about me, baby, and I don’t have a filter.”
“Daddy says neither do I.”
Her father had a towel wrapped around one of his hands. Dark red was soaking through the cloth. Sweat was covering his face. “Did you hurt yourself, Daddy?”
“What did I tell you about asking questions?” he growled, and his hold on her dropped seconds before his open palm smacked her face hard enough for her head to turn.
The taste of blood seeped in her mouth as tears formed in her eyes. The women on the dance floor had slowed and were staring in her direction. “I’m sorry, Daddy.”
He retook her hand and yanked her into the backroom. The door behind her clicked shut, sending her heart rate into overdrive. Her father pulled her farther into the room.
Duct tape covered a man’s mouth tied to a chair in the middle of the room. Someone had spread out a large square plastic sheet over the concrete floor. Another man was standing over him. His black hair was slicked back. His unbuttoned flowered shirt gave a glimpse of the blood-stained white shirt he wore beneath.
Chapter 2
“For the last time, where are my diamonds?” the man standing over him asked.
Cuts and bruises covered the tied man’s face; one eye was swollen shut. His head lolled to the side. When he didn’t answer, the knuckles came hard and fast on the man’s skull, sending his chair careening to the floor with him in it. The man landed with a grunt.
Ryley’s fingers trembled as she tried to pull out of her father’s hand. He tightened his grip. There was no escape.
The flowered shirt man pulled out his gun and met Ryley’s gaze from across the room. Evil beady eyes stared back at her. He winked. “You’re up, little miss.”
“You must be Eli.”
He pointed his gun at the man on the floor with his finger on the trigger. “Did your daddy tell you my name?”
She shook her head, swallowing around the lump in her throat. “No, your momma did.”
Eli’s lip twitched as he pulled the trigger, and the bullet went into the man’s head.
Ryley’s scream lodged in her throat. In the blink of her eyes, the man’s apparition was now hovering over his dead body on the floor.
“Is he dead?” Her father asked.
Ryley nodded, wiping at her tears. “Yes, he’s standing right there. We need to leave, Daddy, the creepy crawlies will smell him soon.”
Eli crossed the room, making Ryley step back. There was nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. Not that her dad would let her.
Eli clasped the gun in front of him. “Your daddy said you have a special gift. Is that true, or was he lying to me again?”
Ryley looked up at her father. He nodded that it was okay to talk. “I see dead people, and they tell me things even when they don’t want to.”
“Things like what?” He asked.
“Your mother thinks you’re the devil’s spawn.” Ryley swallowed hard. “She said you hurt my daddy.”
He huffed. “She’s been dead a decade.”
“Stretch is my friend now, and she wouldn’t want you to hurt me.”
The man’s eyes narrowed into dark slits, and Ryley glanced up at her father once more. Eli grabbed her chin. His fingers pressed hard into her jaw as he wrenched her face to look at him. “If you want to keep your daddy alive, you’ll get the location of where he hid my damn diamonds from the dead man, and if you don’t, then I’ll think you’re a liar too.” He glanced at her father. “Why don’t you show your kid what I do to liars and thieves.”
“Honey, just tell Mr. Floyd what he wants to know.” Her father was sweating. Beads dripped down his sunken cheeks. He unwrapped his hand and showed her his missing finger.
No amount of fear could have prepared her for the sight of blood and bones. She spun away seconds before everything in her stomach surfaced and spewed in a puddle behind her.
Ryley swiped at her mouth and turned back to the man. “I’m not lying.”
He sat back on his haunches and tilted his head. “You’ve got a set of balls, kid. Now be smart and prove what you can do. Get Marty to tell you where the hell he hid my diamonds, and I might just let you walk out of here.”
Chapter 3
Ryley’s fingers trembled as she stepped around Eli Floyd. Marty’s body lay busted and dead on the floor. His wide, unseeing eyes were staring at something in the distance. Marty’s ghost was watching her. “You can see me?”
>
She nodded and glanced over her shoulder once more before clearing her throat. “Mr. Floyd wants to know what you did with the diamonds.”
The ghost glanced up and chuckled a full belly laugh. “Then, I guess he shouldn’t have killed me.”
“What did he say?” Eli asked.
“He’s laughing. Says you shouldn’t have killed him.”
“He doesn’t know your secret like I do.” The man sneered. “Now, get me that information before I kill you and your daddy.” He cocked the trigger on his gun and pressed it against her daddy’s temple.
She held up her hands. “Please. Don’t hurt him.”
Ryley rounded where the man was lying and looked up at the ghost. “I’m sorry. This is going to hurt, but at least the creepy crawlies won’t eat you first.”
She touched the body. An electrical shock tingled in her hands. The cost of which made the spirit unable to move. Her energy melded and tingled.
“Where are the diamonds?” she asked.
As if on cue, a scene flashed in her mind. The answer played out like a short movie before her eyes.
She gasped when her father, Mr. Floyd, and Marty were inside a jewelry store. They were smashing cases and grabbing jewelry and shoving it in their bags. They’d just walked out the door when a cop was waiting on them.
Grave Wrong (Lost Souls Society Book 1) Page 1
