The sound underneath me changed. I listened intently. After a few seconds, I recognized the sound as that of a car traveling on gravel. So we had left the highway and entered one of the many county roads, none of which were paved. Unfortunately, I had no idea where I was.
Thoughts of never seeing Jackie or Greg again fluttered through my mind. I even worried that I wouldn’t see Aunt Ethel either. All of this meant that my situation was dire. I found myself hoping that I would live to see them again.
The car slowed. Were we stopping? Nope. It turned left and then took off again at what I thought was a fast pace for a dirt road.
“Rachel,” I said to the dark. I didn’t think she would really hear me, but there was little else I could do.
“Mel?”
“Rachel?” Hope filled me. She was here.
“Yea, it’s me,” said Rachel from outside the trunk.
“Where are you?”
“On the trunk of the car.”
“How—”
“Ghosts are not subject to the same laws of physics,” replied Rachel as though she read the question on my mind.
“Where am I?” I asked. “What happened?”
A pause took place before she answered. “Well, your aunt and I had a great plan for drawing out the man who set you up. You were to be transferred to the County Jail in the hope that the guy who framed you would try to get to you.
“It worked. Except, he wasn’t supposed to be able to get you out of the station. The cop at the counter left his post.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Your aunt badgered Detective Shorts until he agreed to go along. He released a story about how you got your memory back and knew, in detail, who had kidnapped you. He even claimed to have a warrant for that man’s arrest.
“Then he placed you where he did to entice your kidnapper to come for you. He did. Unfortunately, there was a back exit that no one thought to cover, so he was able to escape with you.”
“So,” I said, growing angry, “You and Aunt Ethel created this ruse to force my kidnapper into the open. And now I’ve been kidnapped again? And what have you been doing? Sitting on the car the entire time?”
“No!” Rachel sounded hurt. “I didn’t know where you were. But then I heard you calling for me. I’ve already informed your aunt about where you are.”
“Can you get me out of here?” I asked her.
“Unless the car stops it won’t do much good to open the trunk,” said Rachel.
“Then stop the car!”
“I’m thinking of how to do it without causing an accident,” said Rachel. “You could get hurt.”
I hadn’t thought of that. Of course she was trying to get me out of this situation and my anger wasn’t helping matters.
“Sorry,” I said.
“Don’t worry about it,” she said.
The car jerked again. I quickly grew tired of all the bouncing around.
“I know!”
“Rachel?”
No answer.
“Rachel?”
Still no answer. She had left. I felt completely alone without her there.
Suddenly, the car jolted and screeched. It swerved left and right for several seconds before coming to a complete standstill. The engine shut off. I heard a male voice cussing as he tried to start the engine again. The car whined but would not turn over. The trunk opened.
“Quick,” said Rachel.
My rubbery limbs did not want to work. Somehow, I managed to crawl out of the trunk despite the fact that my hands were still cuffed behind my back. The driver’s door opened. My assailant had noticed my escape.
“Go,” yelled Rachel.
I ran. It was dark outside, though a faint light rested on the horizon. Sunrise must have been approaching. I didn’t pay much attention to it. I stumbled as I clumsily ran into the brush in an effort to get away. Unfortunately, I had no idea where I was going.
A door slammed. I knew that my kidnaper had come after me. He stomped through the brush after me with his steel toed boots.
I crashed through more bushes. My lower leg stung a bit as a sharp thorn cut my skin. I continued to run blindly into the overgrowth.
I paused ducking behind a bush. Footsteps came closer. My kidnapper hesitated nearby me. Desperately, I slowed my breathing trying not to make any noise. The darkness prevented me from being able to see his face and probably hid me as well. He stomped around a bit, swore, and walked off.
I released a slow breath relieved that he hadn’t found me. My predicament was far from over and I knew it. I jumped back to my feet wishing that my hands were free.
Carefully, I picked my way through more of the brush. I had hoped to make my way back to the road, but I had gotten so turned around in my attempt to get away that I had no idea where I was.
“Rachel,” I whispered. I really needed her.
My foot caught in an upturned tree root. Instantly, I found myself falling face first toward the ground. With my hands bound I had no way of catching myself. Air escaped my lungs as I landed on my stomach.
I rolled onto my back gasping for air. A twig snapped. He was close. With an immense amount of effort, I hauled myself to my feet and took off once more. I ran as fast as I could unaware of where I headed. Breathing heavily, I chanced a look behind me. Nothing.
Suddenly, my kidnapper jumped out from behind a tree. I stopped. Before I could turn and escape, cold fingers wrapped around my arm and shoved me against a tree trunk.
Now, I finally got a look at my kidnapper’s face. It was Jeremy.
“Thought you could get away,” he sneered.
The growing light in the east showed a mad gleam in his eyes. The picture of calm he had presented to my aunt had disappeared to be replaced by a madman. Sirens sounded in the distance.
For a moment I had hoped they would get here in time. That hope was quickly dashed when Jeremy pulled out a knife.
“What the hell is going on?”
Jeremy didn’t answer my question at first.
“Why have you kidnapped me?” I asked.
“I told you once that this wasn’t over,” he said. “It was I that took you after you left the blood bank. At first I was just going to scare you, by letting you wake up in that motel room covered in blood.
“But that stupid kid Byron ran into me that night I stole the blood. I didn’t mean to kill him. It just happened. Afterward, I realized it would work out to my advantage. So I drained his blood and dumped his body in the river.
“I never meant for him to be found. Stupid fishermen.”
“You’re insane,” I said.
“You could have gone out with me,” said Jeremy ignoring my outburst. “All I wanted was one date.”
“Are you listening to yourself?” I still couldn’t believe it. This man was certifiably nuts. It was as though a monster lay beneath his calm facade.
“Shut up,” he spat slamming me against the tree.
The sirens grew louder. Please, I begged silently, get here in time.
“Why?” I asked in an effort to buy time.
“If I can’t have you, no one can,” he replied. “You should have seen yourself this past week. All your efforts to solve your own mystery. It was hilarious.”
Now the sirens seemed to be almost on top of us. But they were still a mile away and all Jeremy had to do was stab me with that knife of his.
“Jeremy, please,” I said.
“No! You’re mine!”
He had a demented look on his face. It twisted and contorted in such a way that I immediately thought of a horror movie. Unfortunately, this was no movie and his insanity was quite real.
“And no one is going to save you.”
Jeremy brought the knife up. He paused. The engine to his car revved itself. We both turned and looked at it. The vehicle backed up and turned until it faced us. The lights flicked on. Again the engine revved itself. I had one thought: Rachel.
The tires squealed as the car charged toward
us. It crashed through the bushes. In his moment of distraction, I tore away from Jeremy and dodged out of the way. Jeremy took off. He ran through the overgrowth in a vain effort to escape the car that chased him of its own accord.
Eventually, Jeremy reached the dirt road just as a caravan of cop cars pulled up. Jeremy’s car came to a halt and shut off. At the same time, the police cars circled him preventing his escape. He threw his hands up in surrender. His face had gone deathly pale.
I managed to get to my feet again and worked my way back to the road. Rachel stepped out of Jeremy’s vehicle laughing hysterically to herself. “You should have seen your faces.” She cackled some more.
“You could have killed me,” I said.
“Oh nonsense,” replied Rachel. “I have pretty good aim.”
She helped me make my way to the police. They had handcuffed Jeremy and stuck him in the back of a police cruiser. Detective Shorts saw me and headed my way. He pulled out his keys and undid my cuffs.
“Are you OK?” he asked me.
“I think so,” I said.
“I think, in light of new evidence, the charges will be dropped. Come on. I’ll take you home.” Detective Shorts led me to his car.
Just then, Mr. Harrow stalked up to us. “What is going on here?” he demanded.
“In an effort to discover the truth,” answered Detective Shorts, “I instigated a plan to catch the real killer. And it worked.”
“You came up with the plan?” asked Mr. Harrow.
“Yes,” said Detective Shorts, “You can read my report in the morning. As for Miss Summers, her attorney has just cause to ask that all charges be dropped.”
“And how do you explain the man’s story about his car driving itself?”
“What does he say happened?” asked Detective Shorts.
“A ghost did it,” replied Mr. Harrow. “There is no such thing as ghosts.”
“Then he is probably crazy. Mr. Harrow,” said Detective Shorts, “I have work to do.” He took me to his car and let me in. I glanced out the window and watched the entire proceeding as the cops tied things up.
Mr. Harrow glared at me.
Rachel walked up to him with something in her hands. I could tell by the way he looked at her that she had made herself visible. She handed the item to him. “Here’s your files,” she said and then dematerialized in front of him. Mr. Harrow’s jaw dropped.
A second later, Rachel appeared by his other shoulder. “By the way,” she said, “There are such things as ghosts.” As she said the last bit she slowly vanished. Her little stunt sunk in as he stood there holding a manila envelope with a shocked expression on his face.
Detective Shorts drove me home. I walked through the door to my apartment to be greeted by everyone. Aunt Ethel, Jackie, Greg, and Tiny and his gang were there. They all took turns giving me a hug or a slap on the back.
I don’t know how long we were up, but it must have been for several hours. I ended up telling and retelling my story of what happened over and over again.
“I am so sorry this all happened,” said Aunt Ethel. “Rachel and I both thought that by using you as bait we’d solve the mystery.”
“And you did,” I told her.
“But you almost got killed!”
I hugged my aunt feeling a bit sorry for her. Despite all her faults, she did help me solve my own mystery and cared for me in her own way.
Sometime around late afternoon people filed out of the apartment and I went to bed.
Chapter 11
Three days passed since Jeremy had kidnapped me for the last time. I had finished giving my statement to the police and with the help of Calvin, all charges were dropped. Jackie and I had managed to get a couple weeks off and decided to go on a vacation. I really looked forward to it.
I hadn’t seen Rachel in all this time. I just assumed that she had gone `back to the spirit world. Aunt Ethel left as well. We woke up to find her bags gone and a note thanking us for a lovely time. That was just like her. She always showed up without warning and then left without a good-bye. Oh well. I was relieved to have my room back.
“Ready?” asked Jackie as she put our suitcases in the trunk of her car. We decided to take her’s since mine was now a piece of crumpled metal thanks to Aunt Ethel’s driving
“Ready,” I answered her as I sat in the passenger seat.
Jackie closed the trunk to her car and headed for the driver’s seat. Suddenly, the door to the back seat opened and she was shoved inside. It slammed shut. A depression in the driver’s seat showed up as the door closed.
“What the—” Jackie’s startled outburst was cut off.
“Hey, girls,” beamed Rachel as she materialized behind the wheel. “You know, I did some thinking. After the last week, you really need a vacation, Mel.”
“Which is where we were headed,” I said.
“And I know a great place for us to go.” Rachel started the car and put it into gear. She steered the car out of the parking lot and onto the street.
“Us?” I said.
“Yep! A girls’ road trip,” said Rachel
“You’re not driving,” I said.
“Oh relax,” said Rachel. “I don’t drive like your aunt.
“But, where are we going?” asked Jackie.
“Oh I know this great place in New York. Wonderful place,” said Rachel. “We’re going to have a ball and rock the house.”
Rachel drove the car toward the highway. Along the way we went past Detective Shorts. He stared at us in disbelief. All he saw was a car driving itself with Jackie and me as two helpless passengers. I waved.
The next thing I knew, we entered the freeway heading south. Rachel turned on the radio and began singing along to it with glee. I glanced at Jackie. She and I shared a look and then buckled down. We were off on our two week vacation with a ghost.
Look for Book 4 in the series
Three Little Ghosts
About the Author
Ms. McNulty began writing the Mellow Summers series last year. The third book in the series is expected to be published before the end of summer 2012.
Ms. McNulty has published other books as well which include Illogical Nonsense and Legends Lost Amborese, which was published under the pen name of Nova Rose.
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Look for the first book in a new series by Janet McNulty:
Dystopia
The eyes are always watching
Imagine living in a world where everything you do is controlled.
In the distant future the United States has been split into two regions separated by a barren wasteland; this is the country of Dystopia. Here the individual is discouraged, freedom is an illusion, food is rationed, and everything you do is tracked by a chip implanted in your arm. This is Dana Ginary’s world.
At age seventeen, people receive their career assignments chosen for them by a government body. Forced to work at the Waste Management Plant because she was declared too individualistic, Dana finds herself surrounded by death and brutality. Knowing her days are numbered, she looks for a way to leave the plant before she, too, becomes one of its causalities..
It is then she meets a man named George and soon finds herself caught up in a cat mouse game between the resistance and the Dystopian government. Dana finds herself faced with an agonizing choice of whom she will betray and whom she will save: her friend George, her parents, or herself.
Dive into the Lands of Tesnayr
Learn about the first king of Tesnayr and the man who started it all.
1,000 years before the birth of Amborese is a far greater story. The legend of Tesnayr. Before the lands of Tesnayr existed, there were five distinct kingdoms. Each proud and constantly at war with one another. But all that changed… A stranger washes upon the shores of Sym’Dul, beaten and barely alive; the only survivor of a devastating war in a land far across the sea. Nursed back to health, Tesnayr makes a new life
for himself and begins to think that his past is behind him. Then the orcs arrive led by Galbrok. They quickly ravage the land. Faced with a terrible choice, Tesnayr forms his own army to stop them and quickly draws the attention of each of the five kings. Yet, Tesnayr’s past refuses to release him. Can he unite the five kingdoms before Galbrok annihilates them? Can a lone man from across the sea achieve what all believe to be impossible?
The second great legend of the lands of Tesnayr.
Amborese thought she was a peasant’s daughter until one night dark creatures murdered her parents and pursued her into the forest. Saved by a talking cat and her friend Zolo, she fled for her life only to learn that she had a bigger destiny than she once believed. Pursued across the five lands of Tesnayr by an evil wizard’s army, Amborese must overcome her doubts and unite the dragons, elves, dwarves, and the five lands themselves. But will they follow a mere girl?
Janet McNulty - Mellow Summers 03 - An Apple a Day Keeps Murder Away Page 9
