Did they really think the killer could be in the tavern? The thought sent a shiver down my spine. A cop was positioned at every entrance. Surely they would catch the killer soon. If the killer had actually come into the building, would he get past the police? That was a terrifying thought.
“It looks like we’re going to be here a while,” I said, looking at Crystal and Tammy.
The crowd seemed confused and the music had stopped. The place was silent except for whispers from the patrons. After what seemed like forever waiting, a cop finally approached us, but before he asked any questions, Brannon walked toward us. He strode with confidence, yet there was a flicker of concern in his blue eyes.
When Brannon reached us, he told the cop, “I’ll handle it from here.”
At that moment the officer must have realized who we were. He nodded and walked away.
“Any luck at all?” I asked.
Brannon ran his hand through his hair. A grim expression covered his face. “No, it looks like he got away.”
This wasn’t good. That meant more being paranoid and looking over my shoulder. The killer could be lurking around any corner. There was no way that I could do the tour until the killer was found. It was just too risky.
“It’ll just be a little while longer,” Brannon said.
“We’ll be here,” I answered.
When he walked away Crystal asked, “How long do you think they’ll keep us here?”
“I don’t know. It could be a while. I think people are starting to get restless.”
The conversations in the room had increased. People were talking louder and looking at the cops for answers. Finally, I spotted Brannon again and he came back over to us. At least I felt safer with him around.
“We’re letting everyone leave, but I’m going to take you all home.” Brannon looked as if he wouldn’t take no for an answer.
Crystal and Tammy looked happy about that. It was extra work for him and I knew that he was tired. Of course, I wasn’t going to go home without an escort either. I hated the thought of spending the evening alone.
“Is it safe?” Crystal asked.
Brannon paused, as if trying to find the right words. “I won’t let anything happen to y’all.”
I looked at Tammy and Crystal and said, “Why don’t you all stay at my place tonight? We’re all too scared to stay alone, don’t you think?”
“I think that sounds like a good idea,” Brannon said.
I looked to Crystal and Tammy. “So it’s settled then?”
“I’m not sure I really want to be alone tonight,” Tammy said.
After getting everyone out of the tavern, Tammy, Crystal, and I got into the police cruiser. Brannon drove us the short distance over to my place. He walked us all the way in and then checked the inside of my apartment. He went over every inch, even checking under the bed.
That was when a knock sounded on the door and we almost jumped to the ceiling. A little exaggeration, but it had gotten the adrenaline flowing.
“Who could that be?” I asked.
Brannon opened the door and a dark-haired officer stepped in. He wore the same blue uniform, but looked a couple years younger than Brannon. “Officer Rutter is going to stay outside of your apartment. I have to go back to work, but he’s going to stand right out there. That way nothing will happen.”
My eyes widened. “Are you serious?”
“Absolutely.” Brannon grinned.
I supposed that did make me feel a whole better. With a kiss I said goodbye to Brannon and locked the door. Just as he’d said, the other officer remained standing on the other side of the door. Brannon said to call him if we needed anything. It was as if the whole town was on lockdown.
Tammy hugged me. “Don’t worry, they’ll find the killer.”
Crystal stood next to us. With her arms crossed in front of her waist and a blank stare, she looked like she was in a bit of a daze. It had been a whole a lot to take in.
I reached over and grabbed Crystal’s bag. “I can take your stuff into the other room.”
Crystal snapped to attention and took it from me. “That won’t be necessary. I can take it in there.” She headed down the hallway.
Tammy looked at me and said, “I think she’s freaking out.”
“Yeah, it’s been a lot for her to deal with. I just hope that she’ll be okay,” I said.
When Crystal returned to the room she had a funny look on her face, as if she thought we had been talking about her.
“Is there something you’re not telling me?” she asked with narrowed eyes. “Do you have clues about the killer? Did Brannon call?”
I draped my arm over her shoulders. “No, nothing like that. We were just talking about the fact that we need some hot chocolate. What do you think?”
She attempted to smile and nodded.
When we headed toward the kitchen, Tammy said, “Chocolate always makes things better.”
I wasn’t sure it would help with finding a killer, but it certainly couldn’t hurt us. Tammy and Crystal sat at the kitchen table as I made hot chocolate for everyone. I added extra marshmallows. If ever a time called for extra, tonight was the time. We sat there for about thirty minutes discussing what had happened.
The day’s stress finally caught up with me and I yawned. “I have the extra bed in the guest bedroom and then one of you can sleep in my room, if you’d like.”
“I’ll sleep in your room,” Tammy said.
“Okay, even though you steal the covers. I guess I don’t need a lot.”
Tammy laughed, not denying my assessment.
Just then footsteps came from out in the hallway. We all stopped, frozen on the spot.
“I’ll go check it out.” I pushed to my feet. “It might be the officer.”
“I didn’t hear the door open,” Tammy whispered.
I was trying not to panic, but I hadn’t heard it either. With Crystal and Tammy following on my heels, we went out into the hallway. No one was there. The door was still closed and locked. There was no way that the officer could have gotten in.
“I should check and make sure that he’s still out there,” I whispered.
Tammy and Crystal were huddled together watching me with wide eyes. I unlocked the door and the officer peered at me through the crack.
“Just checking to make sure you’re still there.” I smiled.
He nodded. “Yes, ma’am. I’m not going anywhere.”
I closed the door with relief that he was still on guard, but that hadn’t explained the footfalls.
***
I woke up when I thought I heard a noise. It sounded like footsteps in the hallway again, but it was different than the ghostly ones we’d heard earlier. Tammy had snagged all the blanket, so I decided to get up and go check on the noise while I grabbed an extra blanket. I slipped out of bed and tiptoed across the hardwood floor over to the door, avoiding the loose floorboards.
Tammy stirred, but she didn’t wake up. I was a light sleeper, so usually any little sound and I was alert. Tammy could sleep through a tornado.
I inhaled a deep breath and grasped the doorknob. What if the cop had left? What if the killer had gotten in or what if the killer had gotten to the cop? There were so many questions. And I was afraid to find the answers to them. I had to find out though. I had to be prepared if I needed to fight off the killer.
When I opened the door, someone was standing there, but luckily, it wasn’t the killer.
Crystal was in the hallway right in front of my door. She had that blank look in her eyes again. Maybe she was sleepwalking. When I waved my hand in front of her face, she snapped out of it and looked at me.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Did you hear something?” She gestured over her shoulder. “I thought I heard a noise in the hallway, so I came to look.”
“Was it the footsteps again?”
She nodded. “Yes, I think that was it.” Crystal paced down to the end of the hallway and stop
ped by the door, then rushed back over to me. “What if the cop isn’t there? Do you think he’s still out there?” She was acting strange.
I grabbed her arm. “Don’t worry, he wouldn’t go anywhere. He’s still there.”
“He could have left,” she whispered.
I guided her down the hallway back toward the bedroom. “Just try to get some more sleep, okay?”
She walked in the bedroom and turned to face me. “Thanks. I appreciate you being here for us.”
I grinned. “We’re here for each other.”
Crystal attempted a smile and then closed the door. I turned and walked back down the hallway, but something was bothering me. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. There was just a strange feeling in the air. I figured maybe it was the ghost again, but I didn’t hear or see anything. I made it back to my bedroom and grabbed the extra blanket that was on the chair next to the door.
After crawling under the cover, I tried to go back to sleep. I closed my eyes, but all I thought about was finding the killer’s identity. I went over what few clues I had. The shoes kept crossing my mind. I found myself thinking about everyone’s shoes, except for Brannon’s, Tammy’s, and Crystal’s, of course. I’d almost been sure the shoes were a smaller size, so that made me think it was a woman.
For some reason, I’d noticed Crystal’s shoes. As a matter of fact, her shoes looked similar to the ones the killer had worn.
What was I thinking? Of course it wasn’t her. She had been with me when we discovered Melissa. She had also been with Tammy and me when we were at the haunted house and found Krista. Plus, Crystal was so nice, she couldn’t possibly be a killer. No, I had to focus on Jaden or the ex-boyfriend Bryce now. Krista had obviously been ruled out.
I lay there awake, listening for more sounds, but the house remained silent. Tammy’s steady breathing while she slept was the only noise in the night.
It seemed impossible that I would ever figure out the killer’s identity. Drowsiness had just settled in when footsteps sounded in the hallway again. Just like earlier, the footfalls were loud, as if a real person was right outside my door. This was starting to creep me out, especially with that strange feeling I’d had earlier. I felt uncomfortable even with the policeman on the other side of that front door. The footsteps came right up to the bedroom door and then they stopped.
My bedroom door was unlocked, so I decided to fix that right away. After tiptoeing back over, I leaned against the door, locked it, and then pressed my ear against the wood. Maybe I could hear what was happening on the other side. Of course, I couldn’t see, but I wanted to know if someone was still there.
When I looked down, the doorknob slowly turned. My heart thumped wildly in my chest. Silence remained in the hallway, but then the footsteps walked away. Someone had tried to come into the bedroom. Was it Crystal? Maybe she needed me. I thought she would have called out if that was the case.
I wasn’t going to open the door to find out. If she really needed help, she would just call out to me. The turning doorknob had given me the heebie-jeebies. I went back to bed, but I didn’t go to sleep until probably hours later.
The sun drifted through the window and I jumped up. That was when the knocking on the door came again and my phone was ringing. Something was going on. I reached over and grabbed the phone. Brannon’s number was on the screen. Tammy jumped up, finally hearing the noise.
“What happened?” Tammy asked.
“Someone’s at the door,” I said as I dashed across the room.
“What happened to the police officer? Did the killer get him?” Anxiety filled Tammy’s voice.
I opened the door. “Don’t panic. That didn’t happen.” At least I hoped not.
Chapter 25
I ran out into the hallway halfway expecting someone to be out there, but no one was there. The loud knocking was still rattling the door. Brannon called out to me, so I ran over and opened the door.
“Wow, you all really are heavy sleepers. I’ve been knocking, trying to get you to answer forever. And you didn’t answer your phone. I was beginning to panic. I thought I’d have to break down the door,” Brannon said.
I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “Sorry, I guess I was really knocked out.”
Just then Crystal stepped out from the living room. She looked us up and down, but said nothing.
I’d thought she had been in the bedroom. If she had been awake this whole time, then why hadn’t she answered the door? Or at least gotten me and told me that someone was at the door? Maybe she was too stressed out about everything. I stepped to the side and motioned for Brannon to enter.
“Officer Rutter had to go, so I’m going to take you ladies to work. Someone will be there all day with you.” Brannon still managed to look good, although I assumed he hadn’t slept.
“How long does this keep up?” I asked.
Brannon looked me in the eyes and said, “As long as it takes until we find the killer.”
I motioned over my shoulder. “I should go get ready for work then.” I pointed toward the kitchen. “You can make yourself at home. You know how the coffee maker works.”
“Yes, I remember.” He winked. “I hope you have some of my favorite.”
I smiled. “Cinnamon mocha.”
When Brannon started for the kitchen, I hurried back to the bedroom. Crystal had gone back to the other room, I assumed to get ready, but she didn’t say anything to us. Tammy had been standing by the door the whole time. Her hair looked like a mixer had styled it, so I knew mine had to be equally bad. Brannon had been sweet for ignoring my disheveled look.
“Brannon’s taking us to work,” I said.
“I heard. What’s Crystal doing?” Tammy asked.
I shrugged and moved into the bedroom. “I’m not sure. The weird thing is, last night she was in the hallway.”
Tammy was grabbing things from her bag. “What do you mean?”
“Well, you were asleep, but I heard noise out in the hallway, so got up to look. It was right outside the door. Crystal was standing out there. And later I heard it again, and the doorknob turned, but I had locked the door. I don’t know if that was her, but I’d be willing to bet it was.”
“I think all the stress has really gotten to her,” Tammy said.
I stood in front of my closet. “I don’t know what’s going on. Hopefully it’ll be over soon and she’ll be okay. She’s been through a lot.”
Tammy and I finished getting ready and then met Brannon as he was walking out of the kitchen. He was holding two mugs of coffee. “A coffee for you all. Crystal said she didn’t want any.”
Movement behind Brannon caught my attention. Crystal sat on the sofa. She was all ready to go. Tammy and I took the mugs from Brannon.
“Thanks,” I said.
“I would have made you breakfast, but I’m not so sure I’m a great cook.”
I smiled. “That’s okay. We can just grab something and go.”
A couple minutes later we all got into Brannon’s cruiser and headed for the library. I was just glad that I didn’t have to walk alone this morning. It was a peaceful ride, even though it was a short one. No ghosts or shadowy figures appeared either. I kind of had expected to see Melissa’s ghost pop up somewhere.
After parking out front, Brannon walked us in. “I’ll just wait here until the other officer arrives.” Brannon scanned the library as he spoke.
“You’ve been putting in a lot of hours,” I said as I rubbed Jane Austen’s head.
“Just doing my job.” He touched my cheek. “You just act as if I’m not even here.”
Yeah, right. That would be impossible. Trying to follow his advice, I went about my morning routine, but I couldn’t help glancing over at handsome Brannon every couple minutes. Of course Annie had sent a text about Brannon’s good looks and sweet demeanor.
Brannon is good-looking, but he has a personality to match.
***
The officer had arrived and Brannon had l
eft. It had been an uneventful day and I was thankful for the calm. We needed the relief from the stress. Even Crystal seemed a little better. Of course we were reminded of everything every time we saw the officer there, but still it was reassuring to know that nothing would happen while he was around.
However, now that the day was wrapping up and it was almost time to close, I started to worry again. We couldn’t stay together forever and the police officer was going to take Tammy and Crystal home. Crystal tried to insist that she didn’t need anyone to stay with her. I wasn’t sure what she was thinking. Of course she needed someone with her. What if the killer came back?
When my phone alerted me to another text message my heart started pumping. What if it was another bad message? I was surprised the police hadn’t wanted to take my phone away from me to check for future messages. I tried to remain calm and pulled out my phone. The message was likely from Annie.
When I checked the screen I realized I was wrong. There was no text. The screen was blank, but I knew what I’d heard.
Annie had said she sensed a strange vibe though, and I wondered if that was because another ghost was around. Only a couple of minutes had passed when I realized that Annie’s feelings had been dead accurate. Melissa’s ghost was over by the stacks.
Melissa’s ghost was pointing again. This time it seemed as if she was pointing toward me, but I didn’t understand exactly what she was trying to tell me. If only she would send a message on my phone or the computer. Could Annie talk to her? Before I had a chance to ask, Melissa disappeared. I hoped that she would come back soon.
Tammy had already left, but Crystal was staying behind to take care of a few things. I’d finished up, but I told her I would stay and wait. As I stood by the reference desk playing with Jane Austen and talking with Annie, Crystal came rushing from the back of the library. Her eyes were wide and she looked as if she was in shock.
She ran over to the officer, who was still standing by the door. “I think I saw the killer. I saw someone outside the window wearing a long black cape.”
Haunt the Haunt, Walk the Walk (Haunted Tour Guide Mystery Book 3) Page 17
