At this point we had reached the library. Brannon walked with me up the front steps to the door. I stopped and turned to face him.
“I guess I should go inside,” I said, pointing over my shoulder.
Brannon studied my face for a moment and I knew that he wasn’t convinced that I was going to stay out of the investigation.
“So where is this haunted location?” he asked.
“It’s the house in Edgewood. The one that sits on that land that was a farm. According to the books, there were a couple of murders there back in the 1800s that were never solved. Legend has it that the daughter of the man who built the house had a jealous beau. He went into a rage and killed the daughter and her father. They never found the boyfriend though. I wonder where he went.” I tapped my chin with my index finger.
A grin twisted the corners of his mouth. “And I suppose you want to solve that too?”
I shrugged. “That would be nice.”
“It wouldn’t surprise me if you did,” he said.
“Have you ever been to the place?” I asked.
Brannon crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Actually, I haven’t, but I have always wanted to.”
I was surprised about that since I thought he’d been to every haunted location in the state.
“You mean you missed a place?” I teased.
He looked at me. “Maybe we should go check it out.”
I studied my shoes to hide my blushing cheeks. “Yeah, maybe we should.”
A smile spread from ear to ear across his face. “Okay, I’ll call you later.”
I waved as he walked away. “Talk to you later.”
When I opened the front door my phone dinged. Something must be going on if Annie was already sending me a text. I pulled out my phone and checked the message.
I know something’s going on. I can sense it.
I’d barely made it inside the library before Annie had popped up beside me.
“How did you know something was wrong, Annie?” I asked.
I hoped no one saw me standing there talking to myself. Because they sure couldn’t see Annie. She sent another text message.
I told you I just sensed it.
“Well, yes, something did happen. There was another murder.”
Oh, dear. Not again.
Movement caught my attention. When I looked toward the street, I spotted the woman—the one who had been at the ghost tour. Why did she keep popping up everywhere? She had to want something. This wasn’t a coincidence.
She noticed me watching her right away. When our eyes met, she turned around and headed in the opposite direction. Her behavior was bizarre. I needed to find out what she was doing. There had to be a reason she kept coming around. Was she following me? Did she want to ask me something about the haunted tour? Why was she acting so weird? Before she had a chance to get too far away, I had to go after her.
“I’ll be right back, Annie,” I called out.
Of course Annie sent me a text message, but I didn’t have time to stop and look at it. Annie wouldn’t be happy about that, but I’d have to deal with that later. I took off down the sidewalk after the woman. I couldn’t follow her for long because I needed to get to work, but with any luck she’d stop and talk to me.
“Excuse me,” I yelled.
The woman didn’t turn around and acknowledge me. I knew she knew I was back there. I called out to her again, but it was no surprise that she didn’t respond. She moved swiftly down the sidewalk, taking two steps for every one of mine. It was impossible for me to keep up. Nevertheless, I hurried after her. After a couple minutes as I tried to catch my breath, I decided it was impossible.
She turned around the side of the old house that was now a law office as if she was wearing roller skates. Just like that she was gone. I stopped and tried to catch my breath. It was almost as if she had super walking strength. It was kind of freaking me out to wonder why she was following me around.
She’d shown up last night without buying a ticket from me. That meant she had to have bought a ticket from the tavern, since that was the only other place to get one. I’d have to ask the bartenders if they remembered the woman buying a ticket. Not that they would necessarily have any more info about her, but I would give it a shot. Any little clue would help.
Feeling slightly let down, I turned around and headed back to the library. Annie was still waiting for me on the steps. My phone dinged again. I knew I had to check the message this time.
What is going on? Why are you chasing that woman? Did she do something to you?
I climbed up the library steps. “It’s a long story, Annie, but that woman was at the tour and then disappeared. I wanted to ask her why she left.”
I would keep my explanation simple. Furthermore, I wouldn’t tell Annie that I’d seen her outside my home after the tour.
Annie nodded. Just be safe.
I guessed that was enough explanation for her. After settling in to work, I went through my routine of switching on the lights and getting everything ready for the day. Jane Austen followed me and meowed. As I was putting her Tuna Delight into the dish, Tammy and Crystal walked in. I immediately looked at Crystal’s face to gauge her feelings. After what had happened, I still couldn’t believe she’d come into work today. Instead of bringing up the subject, I figured I’d wait and let her talk about it when she was ready.
When Tammy and I were alone behind the counter, I whispered, “How do you think she’s doing?”
“I think she’s totally freaked out, but she didn’t say anything.”
“You can tell by the pained look on her face, can’t you?” I asked.
Tammy grabbed a couple of books. “Definitely. I wonder if she’ll go back to her apartment?”
“I don’t know. She may not have anywhere else to go.”
“Are there any leads on who did this?” Tammy asked.
“Not that I’m aware of yet,” I said.
Just then Crystal came over to us. I motioned for Tammy to be quiet.
“Y’all, I can talk about the murder. You don’t have to whisper around me.” Crystal set several books on the counter.
Had we been that obvious?
Crystal leaned against the counter and blew the hair out of her eyes. “I just don’t know who could’ve done this to her. But then again, I hadn’t known her long. We just met when I placed an ad for a roommate.”
I’d wondered how they’d met. I’d had no idea they had known each other for so short a time.
“Did you happen to notice any other books that she had about hauntings?” I asked.
Crystal shook her head. “To be honest, I never saw her reading that much.”
“Did you notice anything else strange going on?”
“Well, she kept to herself most of the time, and stayed in her bedroom a lot. This guy was coming around recently. I think they were dating. She didn’t really tell me much.” Crystal crossed her arms in front of her chest.
“What do you know about him?” I asked.
She probably wondered why I was asking so many questions.
“His name was Bryce Hawkins. I gave the police his name and description. That’s all I had.”
A few customers came in and I figured Crystal was sick of answering my questions anyway, so I focused on helping them. Once I was finished with helping the customers, I decided to search Melissa’s name and see what other books she had checked out. But my search yielded nothing… If she’d only checked out the two books, I had to find out what her interest in the Edgewood house was, because I knew that was what it was. Had she been trying to tell me something? Now I might never know.
Crystal was working beside me. “You know, I never knew Melissa to be interested in the paranormal. She’d wanted to take your tour sometime, but she never got around to it. Now she never will,” Crystal said with sadness in her voice. “I mean, like I said, I didn’t know her well, but it still hurts me to know this happened to her. I really liked her. We go
t along well.”
I touched Crystal’s arm. “I’m so sorry.”
A message popped up on the computer from Annie.
Poor girl, bless her heart.
Chapter 5
A loud crash rang out, taking my attention away from my work at the front of the library. It sounded like it had come from way across the room. Tammy and I exchanged a look and then ran toward it. I wasn’t one hundred percent sure where the sound had come from though. For all I knew it could have been anywhere in the library.
I couldn’t see anything out of place. By the level of noise, a whole bunch of books had come crashing down. I hoped that no one was injured. No one was crying out in pain, so that was a good sign.
The cat had been with me by the reference desk, so I knew it couldn’t have been her. Tammy and I ran around the library, up and down the stacks, looking for the source. Tammy probably thought it was something related to the ghost. She was always a little scared of the library anyway. I couldn’t blame her for that. The place was big and creepy. I hadn’t seen Crystal in a while, so I hoped it wasn’t her.
Tammy and I still hadn’t found anything, and I was running out of places to look. I just knew the noise had come from this side of the library. When I turned into the next aisle, a man was trying to pick up a bunch of books that had crashed to the floor. He looked to be in his mid-twenties with dark hair, wearing all black clothing. When he peered up at me from the floor, his eyes widened with fear, as if I was going to scream at him. He shouldn’t worry. This had happened before and it would happen again. It was nothing to worry about. I’d done it before myself.
“It’s okay,” I said, reaching down. “I can help you pick up the books.”
The closer I got to him the more he looked as if he wanted to run away. Tammy and I started picking up the books. He just stood there frozen, not saying a word.
I placed more of the books back on the shelf. “Is there anything I can help you find?” I thought about telling him that I also wouldn’t bite. “You know, it’s okay if you knocked the books over.” I picked up a couple more and put them back on the shelf. “No biggie.”
“Yeah, no biggie,” Tammy said, trying to sound casual.
Finally, he handed me one of the books, but still didn’t say anything. I guessed that was a start. At least he hadn’t run away yet.
We had almost gathered up all of the books. He was still standing there watching us. He studied his sneakers a lot, not to mention fidgeting with his hands.
So again I asked, “Is there something I can help you find?”
Finally, he said, “Yes, I’m looking for a book about…”
Tammy and I exchanged a glance. She was probably thinking the same thing as me.
“A book about…?” I asked.
Was this book something embarrassing that he was afraid to tell us? That had to be it. What else could it be?
“I can help you find whatever it is,” I said, trying to ease his fears.
“I don’t think the book is here.” He moved away from us. “I’ve been looking for it.”
“I can tell you for sure, but you have to give me the title. Or if you don’t know the title maybe the author?” I pressed.
He just stared at me, as if in a panicked trance. Why was he still reluctant to name the book? He shifted from foot to foot and shoved his hands into his pockets. This was going nowhere and I doubted he was going to tell me anything else. Perhaps he would come back a different time and look for it.
“Why don’t you tell us what the name is?” Tammy asked in her sweet Southern voice, trying to coax it out of him.
He shook his head and then took off down the aisle, practically running. We watched as he dashed out of the library as if we had chased him out.
Tammy said, “Now that was weird. What kind of book do you think he was looking for?”
“I don’t know, but he was too uncomfortable to tell us,” I said.
“I don’t think we have any books in the library that are so embarrassing that he would be that shy about it.”
I nodded. “You’re right about that.”
“He was definitely strange,” Tammy said.
Crystal walked over. “What happened?”
I shrugged. “Some guy knocked over books and was looking for an unnamed book that he wouldn’t give us the title of.”
Crystal chuckled. “Well, he’ll probably be back.”
That was kind of what I was afraid of. He’d be back and acting strange again. I hoped he didn’t knock over more books next time.
“We really get a lot of weird people around here,” Crystal said.
“It’s Devil’s Moon, remember?” Tammy said.
“Good point,” I said.
Tammy and Crystal walked away from the stacks and back up to the front of the library again. As I left that area, I glanced back. He had been looking at the occult books. A coincidence, I supposed. After what had happened lately, and his weird behavior, I couldn’t help but wonder if he realized I led the haunted tour. Had he heard the rumors about the haunted library? A lot of teenagers wanted to perform a séance at the library, but I wouldn’t allow it. If he came back, I would definitely keep an eye on him. No, I didn’t think it was a coincidence at all. Crystal was right. He would probably be back.
My phone dinged and I pulled it out of my pocket.
That guy was strange. Why was he acting so weird? I got a bad vibe from him.
“Well, I picked up the same vibe as you,” I told her. “But he’s gone now, so we’ll just put it out of our minds and get back to work.”
As I headed toward the front of the library, Annie followed along right beside me. I knew she was thinking about the strange guy just as much as I was. There were too many weird things going on around here.
Another thing was on my mind. I needed to find out more information about the haunted Edgewood house. I searched the library for more books, but didn’t find anything. The small blurb in the books didn’t tell me much. The stories were too short. There had to be more information somewhere or possibly someone who could tell me more about the haunting. Not to mention tell me about its past. I’d like to find out more information before Brannon and I went to investigate. I had to show him that I had some serious investigative skills.
On top of all that, I needed to find out about the guy Melissa had been dating—Bryce Hawkins. Since Crystal didn’t seem to have much information about him, I’d have to find out on my own. He couldn’t be all that mysterious living in Devil’s Moon. It was a small town and word spread quickly. He had to work somewhere and I’d find out where. Then I’d pay him a visit. Sure, the police had probably already done that, but I just wanted to cover all the bases. Brannon had to suspect that I wouldn’t stay out of this investigation anyway. A little snooping around wouldn’t hurt anything… I hoped.
***
After feeding Jane Austen and saying goodbye to Annie, I headed out for the night’s tour. It was an unseasonably warm evening. I smiled to myself when a warm breeze drifted across my face. That usually brought out more people for the tour.
I had to find out about the mystery woman, so I decided to ask the bartenders about the ticket for my tour when I collected the flashlights for tonight’s tour. Tammy probably wasn’t at the tavern yet. I wanted to ask the other bartenders anyway. This would be the perfect time because it wouldn't be crowded. I reached the tavern's door and stepped inside. Just as I suspected, no customers were there. One of the bartenders was behind the bar, but he hadn’t noticed that I’d entered.
Another employee was cleaning off a table at the back of the tavern. She spotted me and tossed her hand up. I waved back and headed to the bar. Just then the dark-haired bartender looked over and spotted me. As far as I knew he’d only been working there a short time, but I was pretty sure his name was Warner. If I was wrong, I would feel bad because he remembered my name.
“Hello, how are you, Ripley?”
I sat on the stool in fro
nt of him. “I’m okay. I just have a question for you.”
“Let me have it,” he said with a smile.
“I was just wondering if you had sold a ticket to a woman for my tour last night.”
“What does she look like?” he asked. “I sold a couple of tickets.”
“She’s probably my age with long dark here. She’s a little taller than me.”
“Is she pretty?” he winked.
“Did you sell a ticket to a pretty girl?” I asked. “Wouldn’t that be something you would remember?”
“Unfortunately, no single ladies. You can ask the boss. He’s back in his office. He might have information for you.” The bartender gestured to a customer that he would be right with him.
I took a chance and used what I thought was his name.
“Thanks a lot, Warner.”
He smiled. “You bet.”
I’d just started to step away when he said, “Wait, I forgot to ask Laura. She might have been here last night, I can’t remember.”
The other bartender was at the back of the room. He waved her over.
She spotted me. “Hi, Ripley.”
“She wants to know about someone who bought a ticket last night.”
Laura frowned. “Sorry, I didn’t sell any tickets last night. I wasn’t working.”
“Thanks anyway.”
“No problem,” she said as she walked around the bar.
I continued back toward the office at the rear of the tavern. Too bad I didn’t have a photo to show everyone. It would make this a lot easier. I reached the office door and knocked. It was already slightly open.
“Come in,” Martin said in his loud voice.
I stepped into his office. It was a small space with stone walls just like the outside of the tavern. He had a big mahogany desk in the center of the room.
“Hello, Ripley, what can I do for you?”
“I was just looking for someone in particular who possibly bought a ticket last night.”
“I’m afraid I didn’t sell any last night.” He shuffled papers around on his desk.
This was getting me nowhere.
“Wish I could be of more help. Did you ask the bartenders?”
Haunt the Haunt, Walk the Walk (Haunted Tour Guide Mystery Book 3) Page 4
