by Rose Pressey
Relief overcame me as I headed out of Rough Creek. What had made me to something so crazy? At least I’d found something. I had no idea if it would lead me to Jonathan though. My night of investigating was over though. Now I’d go to the woods. I didn’t know why, but something was telling me to go there. However, if people were searching the area now maybe I wasn’t welcome there. If Jenny had any say in it, I wouldn’t be allowed near the place.
Maybe doing all this was stupid, but nonetheless, I headed toward the woods as fast as the speed limit allowed. A few minutes later I pulled over to the spot where we had parked our cars the night Jonathan went missing. His car was no longer there. That must mean that Jonathan had returned. This was great news.
Why hadn’t anyone told me about this? Maybe they didn’t even know yet. Wait, maybe someone had taken the car. Did the police tow it? I needed answers and I hoped that Brannon had details for me. As much as it pained me, I had to tell him about what I’d done as well. He would be extremely unhappy.
Nevertheless, I knew I couldn’t get around it. That picture and the phone number—all of it had to be connected somehow, and I wouldn’t stop until I figured it out. What did the murder have to do with a pie contest, other than that was where it occurred? What did it have to do with this missing man from the haunted woods? The group had called me. They had asked me to give them the tour. Why? Sadly, I had no clue what connection there would be between the murder and a haunted tour.
As I sat on the side of the road I pulled out my phone and dialed Brannon’s number. Unfortunately, my call went to his voicemail. It was just as well since my phone was cutting in and out because of the bad reception. I left him a message and told him that I checked on the haunted woods and Jonathan’s car was gone. Did he know about this?
“Call me as soon as you get this message. I’m headed home now. I know you dropped me off at home before, but I’ll explain everything when you call.”
I was sure he could tell by my voice that I had more to explain than just the car being gone. Placing the call and leaving a voicemail was the first step to admitting what I’d done. I knew my voice gave away my guilt.
As I headed back out on the highway, I no longer sensed the ghosts around. The heaviness wasn’t there, and I actually found a song on the radio that I could sing along to, so that helped. Pulling up in front of my house, I cut the engine. Thank goodness there was no sign of the ghosts.
Without incident I hurried inside, but with the ghosts still lurking around Devil’s Moon, I really couldn’t relax. Maybe a snack would help? I headed into the kitchen to grab anything that resembled chocolate. I supposed I should eat an actual dinner too. Unfortunately, a trip to the grocery store still hadn’t happened. That meant another stop at the coffee shop tomorrow. I scavenged through the pantry for something for dinner. I wasn’t sure if I could handle more peanut butter tonight. Ah-ha! I discovered a couple cans of soup behind the almost empty container of oatmeal. Maybe tomato soup and grilled cheese? Yes, I could definitely use some comfort food tonight since I was still trying to brace myself for explaining what I’d done to Brannon.
As I pulled out the loaf of bread, I thought about what I’d done. I still couldn’t believe I’d gone inside that house, but it was a good thing I had because look at all that I’d found. I pulled out the cheese and butter from the refrigerator. I kept playing over the clues in my mind. I knew that there was a connection with Jonathan and the ghosts. They had been at the library when the murder occurred.
So were the ghosts there to warn me of something or were they there because of Jonathan? Maybe they had a message about Jonathan for me. Why had they seemed mean? Had I imagined that? Perhaps that was why they kept coming around. Maybe it had nothing to do with the murder. Then again, Jonathan had the murder victim’s number in his book so there had to be a connection with the murder.
I’d just finished preparing my food when my phone rang. I didn’t even have to look at the number to know that it was Brannon calling back. I suppose I just sensed it. Now was when I had to come clean.
“Hello,” I said.
No response.
“Brannon?” I asked.
Still nothing. I checked the screen. The call had dropped. Maybe he’d call right back.
Chapter 12
I’d just stepped into the living room with my food on a tray to watch TV when a noise came at the front door. The sound startled me so that I practically tossed the tray on the hardwood floor. Somehow, I managed to set the tray on the coffee table and I dashed over behind the wingback chair. With a shaky hand I grabbed the nearby silver table lamp. If someone was breaking into the house, then I was going to let them have it. I pressed my body up against the wall and waited for any other sounds.
The squeak of the door opening echoed from the hallway. My body shook as I leaned against the wall with the lamp raised in the air.
“Where are you, Rip? Are you home?” Brannon called out.
I released a deep breath, but I was still shaking. Brannon stepped into the living room and immediately looked over at me. He spotted me standing there with the lamp clutched in my hands.
“Should I ask what you are doing?” he asked.
“Probably not,” I said as I put the lamp back onto the table. “I guess I thought someone was breaking in.”
“With a key at the front door?” Brannon held a pizza box in his hands.
“Well, I suppose I am a bit tense right now and I didn’t pay attention to that little detail.”
“I’m glad you realized before you hit me on the head with that lamp.”
“Me too,” I said. “Why didn’t you tell me you were bringing pizza?”
“I thought you would tell me not to do it.” He glanced down at the tray with grilled cheese and soup. “You’re not gonna eat that, are you? Not when I have this.” He opened the box up and waved his hand over the top as if trying to entice me by pushing the delicious aroma my way.
I peered down at the cheese-covered pie. “I don’t see how I can refuse. Let me get rid of the sandwich.”
I ran over and grabbed the tray to get rid of it. I wouldn’t toss it away. I would just put it in the fridge and save it for later. No reason to toss a perfectly good grilled cheese. I grabbed a couple plates, napkins, and utensils and headed for the dining room.
Brannon walked toward the kitchen. “I’ll get us something to drink.”
“I didn’t expect you this early,” I said as I opened up the pizza box.
The smell of the cheese and sauce drifted through the air.
“Well, I couldn’t stop thinking about the pizza and I was starving. Most importantly, I wanted to see you. Things have been crazy with the murder, missing persons, and ghosts. I haven’t gotten the chance to really talk to you.”
After placing bottled water on the table, he sat down across from me. I hated to talk about the murder right now while he was trying to relax, but I kind of felt as if he would want me to tell him what I’d discovered. I figured I would start with reminding him about my voicemail and the fact that Jonathan’s car was gone. I could ease my way into letting him know that I had been inside Jonathan’s home. Maybe I’d let him finish a couple of slices before I broke the news to him. I pulled a slice from the box and placed it on my plate. Brannon took a slice of the pizza too.
He looked at me and smiled. “So how are things?”
I finished chewing my bite. “There is something I wanted to talk to you about.”
“The message you left?” he asked.
“Yes. I went by the woods. Jonathan’s car was gone. Have you heard about this?”
He shook his head. “No news at all. Jenny doesn’t want to talk much about the search now. I find it really odd.”
“That is strange.” I took another bite of the pizza.
“What else did you want to tell me?”
The tone in his voice made it almost seem as if he knew what I’d done. How could he know? Maybe he had gone by the house a
nd seen me there. He hadn’t even finished a couple bites of pizza, much less a couple slices. However, I had to tell him that I’d been at Jonathan’s house. I wiped my mouth with the napkin. Clearly, I was trying to stall for more time. Why, I had no idea. What was the point?
I placed my napkin down. “Okay, don’t get mad at me.”
“I’m not liking how this is starting,” Brannon said, putting the pizza down on his plate.
“I went to Jonathan’s address.” I rushed out the words.
“You what?” His voice shot up.
“I went by his house to check on things.”
“How in the world did you find his address?” Brannon asked.
I shrugged. “I’m a librarian. I researched it. It’s what I do.”
“All right, I’ll give you that. Maybe you should’ve been a detective.”
“It’s not the first time I’ve heard that,” I said with a grin. “Nevertheless, I went by his house.”
“Okay, I’m not happy that you drove by his house, but I guess you saw that no one was home.”
“Right, no one was there.” I looked down at the pizza and picked at the pepperoni.
“Rip, what did you do? I know when you act that way that you’ve done something.” Brannon stared at me.
“Well, I decided to take a little peek around.” I grinned again, hoping that would make him less angry with me.
He frowned so I knew it hadn’t worked. “I knew you were going to say that.”
“I may have done a little bit more than snooping around,” I said, pinching my index finger and thumb together.
His eyes widened. “What did you do?”
“I went inside the house.” I rushed my words as if that would make it somehow better.
Brannon almost fell out of his chair. “How could you do that? How did you get inside?”
“The back door was unlocked,” I said. “I figured that was my chance to look around and snoop in there.”
“That’s never a good idea,” he said. “I’m going to pretend I didn’t even hear this. But don’t ever do it again.”
“Don’t you want to know what I found?”
He looked down at the pizza and picked at a piece of pepperoni. “I shouldn’t be listening to this.”
“Well, I’m going to tell you anyway. I think it’s very important that you know. This could be something that solves the case.”
He leaned back in the chair. “I’m listening.”
“I found Lucy Marcus’ number in a notebook in his desk.”
“How do you know it was her number? Do you have her number?”
“It had her name on the paper. I don’t have her number on me, but I checked and it’s the same number.”
“All right, I’ll admit that is odd,” he said.
“But that’s not all. I told you about the ghosts.”
“Yes,” he said with a frown.
“There was a picture on his shelf of the three ghosts. It was an old photo. They were wearing the same clothing as I saw them wearing. Why did he have that photo and who are the ghosts?”
“Wow, that is compelling,” he said. “I’m not sure what to say about this.”
“I think it requires us to research this a bit more. We need to find him and ask him these questions. Maybe we need to search his house some more,” I said.
“Do not go in his house again. I repeat, do not go in his house again,” Brannon said. “Do you hear me?”
I held my hands up. “All right, all right, I won’t go in the house again. What are you going to do?”
“Well, I’m going to talk to his friends again and see if we can locate him immediately.”
“Can you get a search warrant for his house?” I asked.
“I don’t think we have enough evidence for that just yet.”
“Bummer,” I said, taking another bite of the pizza.
Something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. When I looked to the left into the living room I thought for sure I saw a face staring back at me from the outside the window.
“Someone’s out there.” I pointed.
Brannon jumped up from the table. “Who was it? Was it a ghost?”
“I don’t think so,” I said. “The face was hideous.”
Brannon raced toward the front door. “You stay here, all right?”
I followed him to the door, but I didn’t go outside. Honestly, I preferred that he didn’t go out there either. I really thought the person I’d seen on my front porch looking in the window was Jenny, but with it being dark I couldn’t tell for sure. I’d known I should’ve closed the blinds. I hated the thought of somebody peeking in the house.
How long had she been standing out there and looking in at us? Brannon took his gun from the holster. I stood at the door and watched as he eased down the front steps. What if Jenny was hiding and jumped out at him? She could be crazy for all I knew. Her actions thus far had seemed bonkers. Maybe she had done something with Jonathan. That could be the case. Why had I not thought of that? She could just be pretending to be concerned about him. They’d disappeared at the same time in the woods.
Though she had reappeared a short time after I started my search for Jonathan. There wouldn’t have been time for her to have forced him to leave. Unless they were in on this game together.
I had no idea what the reason for staging a disappearance would be though. I hoped that Brannon could find her and get to the bottom of this. Although I was getting ahead of myself. I didn’t know for sure if it was even Jenny. I was almost certain the person I’d seen wasn’t a ghost. Some ghosts looked very much real to me though, like Annie. She looked like a solid person even if she couldn’t talk to me without an electrical device.
The longer I waited for Brannon the more anxious I became. What was taking so long? My house wasn’t that big. It wouldn’t take him that long to go around the entire perimeter. I was so nervous that my whole body shook. I was being paranoid, I reminded myself. Nevertheless, I decided I needed to go check on him. Staying inside and waiting was no longer an option. I tiptoed out onto the porch. The heat of the day had disappeared, bringing a cool evening. Crickets sounded from a nearby tree. Stars were out and the full moon shone, making a white glow over the area.
I eased down the porch steps and whispered. “Brannon, where are you?”
Of course, he wouldn’t hear me if I was talking low and he was all the way at the back of the house. But I didn’t want the woman to see me either. I mustered up enough nerve to walk to the right and over to the edge of the house. I peeked around the side but didn’t see him. Where could he possibly be? With shaky legs I walked all the way down the side of the house and to the back yard.
“Brannon?” I called out again.
He had to be around here somewhere. I moved around the back of the house and over to the other side. Still no sign of Brannon. Only the crickets chirped. I walked all the way up the other side looking for him. He was nowhere around. I was really starting to panic. What if he disappeared too? Maybe Jenny was some kind of crazy person who kidnapped men. Was that possible? Sure, I supposed there were ways to do that. Anything could happen.
Maybe Jonathan was with her and they were working as a team and grabbed Brannon. That made no sense at all. I needed to calm down and take a few deep breaths. Thank goodness when I reached the front of the house I spotted Brannon. Finally I could breathe again.
“What are you doing out here? I asked you to stay inside,” Brannon said.
“Oh, you know I don’t listen. Besides, it took so long I was starting to freak out.” I headed up the steps after him.
Brannon and I went into the house. Before closing the door, I peeked back one more time. Jenny wasn’t there. Had I really seen a ghost?
“I really thought for sure I saw Jenny staring in the window,” I said.
“If it was her, she took off,” Brannon said.
“Why would she do that? I started to think maybe she had kidnapped you.�
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“I’m not going to let anyone kidnap me,” he said with a chuckle.
“It happens. I thought maybe they were working together because what would be the odds that she could kidnap Jonathan while he was on the tour while I was watching? So then I thought maybe he was here with her and they kidnapped you.”
“I really think it’s time for you to get some rest,” he said pushing the hair off my forehead. “Your imagination is running wild tonight.”
“Yeah, I suppose you’re right,” I said around a sigh.
Maybe it was time for me to call it a night.
Chapter 13
The next morning and dawn painted a new day. I had a bit of spare time, so I headed straight to the coffee shop again. In order not to garner more strange looks from people in the shop, I had devised a plan. Maybe a hat would draw even more attention to me, but I wore one anyway.
As I walked toward the coffee shop, I spotted a poster on the light post. A picture of Jonathan was in the center of the page. A phone number was listed to call. Plus, his height at six foot and weight at one hundred seventy pounds. His big brown eyes stared at me from the photo. He had a big smile on his face. My stomach turned just looking at his dimples. I felt terrible.
That wasn’t all. My name was on the poster listing Jonathan’s last known whereabouts was with me. Seriously? I knew Jenny had her hands all over this poster. Why was she blaming me? It was blatantly obvious that I hadn’t kidnapped him. At least I thought so. How would I have gotten him away when the others were right there with me? It seemed as if there was nothing I could do to stop Jenny.
If anyone had information about Jonathan I certainly wanted them to report it, but I hated having posters plastered all over town with my name on them. I pulled out a pen from my purse and walked up to the poster. I couldn’t rip the poster down, but I could certainly block out my name.
I looked around to see if anyone was watching me. Yes, I felt like a criminal for doing this. Was this illegal? Maybe it was, I had no idea. I had to do it though. I moved over to the poster and scribbled out my name. Well, that was one poster down. How many more were around town? Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to go around town and scribble out my name on every single one. I sighed. It looked like I would just have to live with it.
