The Whitney Powers Paranormal Adventure 3 Book Bundle

by Jason Paul Rice

  “I’ll put these in water, wait here,” she said.

  Whitney ran to her kitchen and tried to find a cup to leave them in because she didn’t own any vases. She didn’t want Trent coming into her small, messy apartment.

  “Nice place,” his manly voice rang out.

  She nearly dropped the flowers, and managed to say, “Thanks. It’s really messy right now. I have a lot of stuff going on.”

  “I like it. Kind of has a slightly brighter Goth feel to it. I see you like purple, huh?” he noticed.

  “Yeah, I’m really into purple. What’s your favorite color?”

  “Same color as my Stang, black jade,” Trent revealed.

  “That’s cheesy and a contradictory color. Black jade is black, not dark green. I guess it is a lot cooler than all the other guys who say hunter green, which actually means camouflage around here. Shall we go?” she gestured with her hand and Trent went out the door and down to the passenger side of his car.

  He opened the door for her and held her hand as she got in. Whitney’s body radiated with chills as he kissed her hand and gently slammed the door shut.

  “I don’t mind the hand kiss, but you do know it’s a creeper move, right?”

  Trent said, “What are you talking about? That’s a classy move.”

  “Remember this. It’s a creeper move if you kiss a girl’s hand before kissing her lips. Like I said, I don’t mind, but most girls do. This is just for your information.”

  She could see a smirk on Trent’s face from his profile. He said, “Well, I’ll just tuck that away into my book of etiquette. Thank you for the lesson, miss manners.”

  She could tell he was joking and took comfort in the fact that he didn’t become combative during a simple disagreement. Whitney gave Trent directions as they drove. She loved his car. She used to help her father work on cars in the garage and she appreciated the time and effort that went into one of these projects.

  It had been fully restored with all the original parts and the vehicle from the sixties slightly aroused her as Trent shifted gears and sped up. The vibrations caused Whitney to clench her thighs together and she smiled as the back of her head gripped the seat cushioning.

  She hadn’t been on a proper date in years and stared into Trent’s eyes as they sat across from each other at the restaurant.

  “So why in the world would you come to this town?” she asked.

  “I kind of got transferred from the last town I lived in. Have you heard of Raler over in Hendale?” Trent asked.

  “Yeah, that’s like two states over.”

  “Yep, exactly. They were having budgetary issues and the new guy had to go. Old Chief knew the New Chief and now I’m here. Are you doing alright with everything?” Trent asked in a serious tone.

  “Yeah, everything is great here and I really like your car.”

  “No, I mean with the murder. That’s a lot for a woman who really knows how to work a pair of leather pants.” Trent smiled as he took a drink.

  She blushed and smiled at the table before looking up and making eye contact. “Thank you, I’m doing fine. I can’t believe someone I was just talking to a few days ago is now dead. That part is surreal and wondering why the killer didn’t find me before he left is still running through my head.”

  “That’s natural. I know you probably have a million friends to turn to first, but if you need someone to talk to, you have my number,” he reminded her.

  “Thanks, I appreciate that. So what do you like to do?”

  “I like sports and cars. I like sports cars too but my real passion is to mentor young people. I had a bit of a rough childhood and it took a few people to set me straight and not give up on me so I want to give that back. I don’t have any kids of my own yet,” Trent exposed.

  “I find that surprising.”

  “Why?” he asked.

  “You’re a relatively handsome man.” She understated. “You seem like someone who would be married with a few kids by now. How old are you anyway?”

  “Twenty-eight. I’ve found a few girls over the years that I thought might be the one only to agonize over a long relationship that wasn’t really going anywhere. I tried to ignore some of the tell-tale signs that it was over because I do want to get married and have kids someday.” He continued. “But that was never the right thing to do. I even tried online dating at one point. You ever tried that?”

  She said, “Funny enough, my mom was just telling me about one of the sites. I’ve always been pretty shy and the prospect of going on a blind date with someone behind a computer kind of terrifies me.”

  “Smart girl. The best relationships I’ve had started organically like how we met. You never expect to meet someone at a murder investigation, I’ll have to admit that’s a first for me. Something just drew me to you, besides your ravishing good looks. Did you notice how I chose to interview you? The new guy should have been getting the chief and coroner some coffee. That’s usually how it works, just so you know,” Trent told her.

  “Well I’m glad you did. How long do you plan to stay around here?”

  “For a long time, hopefully. You never know what’s going to happen. So one of the guys said the library is haunted. Is that true?” he asked.

  Whitney thought he was beating around the bush with that question. She smiled and felt the need to ask, “So nobody has told you any stories about me? None of the other cops?”

  “A couple of the guys mentioned a few things, but nothing was verified. I like facts. So why don’t you tell me what happened?” he wanted to know.

  “You’re not going to believe me and would probably stop talking to me if I tell you.”

  “Would it help if I let you know that I believe in ghosts and spirits after working on a few cases in my old city? I’m not going to judge you and I never will,” Trent promised.

  “Alright. It was nice knowing you. I’ll give you the quick-quick version. I went into a strange vortex that sent all this, it was like, mechanical energy through my body and then I saw a family of ghosts. They talked to me for a little while and the next thing I knew, I was standing in the middle of a pond on a tiny patch of land. That’s the short story. And when I returned, three days had passed and everyone was pointing and laughing at me. This isn’t really a fun story for me to tell anymore.”

  “I’m sorry, you’re right. What was I thinking? All I’m going to say is that I would kill to have that kind of experience. So what do you like to do?” he asked.

  “I like scary movies, The Shining is my favorite if I had to pick.”

  “I love The Shining. I’m pretty into scary movies too even though they don’t really scare me too much,” Trent revealed.

  “Yeah, sure, that’s what they all say. I’ll bet I can scare you.”

  “Really. Why don’t we make this interesting? I bet I can scare you before you can get to me,” Trent teased.

  “Do you own a shovel?”

  “A shovel, what, I think there is one in the garage of the house I just bought,” a confused Trent responded.

  “That’s good, because you just dug your own grave, mister. I am the queen of scare in this town.”

  “Well then, I got news for you little missy. There’s a new king in town and if you take a swing at the king, you better not miss,” Trent warned.

  Whitney chuckled. “It’s on then. You’ve been warned so I don’t want to hear any crying.”

  The playful conversation continued well after dinner and Whitney was having a wonderful time. She couldn’t find a single thing wrong with Trent.

  Her date looked at his watch. “Oh look, it’s getting late and I have to work the early a.m. shift tomorrow. Time to get you home, if that’s cool with you,” Trent offered.

  “Sure, whenever you’re ready.”

  Whitney felt the power of the car’s engine as the light turned green. She looked at Trent as her hair blew in the wind. She tried to keep her smile behind her lips as Trent shifted gears and they raced do
wn a straightaway.

  They pulled up to her apartment and parked.

  Trent said, “Stay here.” He got out of the car and walked around to open the door for her.

  “Thank you,” she said as Trent grabbed her hand and helped her out.

  They stood in silence for a few seconds until Trent said, “See, I didn’t kiss your hand on the way out. Seriously though, I had a great time. I’d love to do it again.”

  “Me too.” Whitney smiled and her heart raced as she couldn’t think of anything else to say.

  “I’ll just text you tomorrow and maybe we can set something up,” Trent said.

  “Sounds wonderful,” she uttered.

  He came in and gave her a firm hug. She felt the strength in his chest and arms as he pulled her close. Trent’s warm lips brushed across her cheek sending chills down her spine and she instinctually moved to meet his kiss. He ran his hands up and down her back as their tongues met in passion. He pushed her against the hood of the car and she felt the residual heat of the engine from behind. She couldn’t believe she was having such strong feelings already, but everything felt so right.

  She was ready to explode as Trent massaged his fingers over her breast, tantalizing her left nipple. She didn’t care that any of her neighbors could see what they were doing. In fact, she hoped people were watching. Whitney wanted to drag Trent inside her apartment for a night of physical fun, but she tried to compose herself. She reluctantly pushed herself away and adoringly gazed at Trent.

  “I don’t want to, but we should wait to go further. I’m not like those loose online dating girls you’re used to. Sorry,” she said.

  Trent laughed and replied, “It’s a good thing we stopped when we did because I was about to throw you on top of that hood.”

  “Perhaps some other time,” she smiled.

  Trent moved in and gave her a powerful hug. She laid her head on his chest and didn’t want the moment to end. He ran his fingertips down her forearm and locked hands with her. Trent walked Whitney up to her front door and they shared one last kiss.

  “My queen of scare, until another time,” he said. Trent shuffled down the stairs and disappeared into the darkness.

  Whitney stood at her front door and watched Trent drive away before she went into her apartment. She still felt almost drunk from the heated make-out session. Her whole body buzzed with excitement as she aimlessly walked around thinking about the date.

  Strange emotions tugged at her that she had never felt before. And the smile, she couldn’t get rid of the permanent grin if she tried.

  5

  Whitney sat behind the front desk at the Granny Larson Library talking to Tara.

  Her friend was sitting with her feet on the desk and eating a cup of chocolate ice cream. “Wait, so you just let that big hunk of man meat drive away? Are you crazy? I bet you had to run inside and finish yourself off, huh?”

  Whitney shook her head and said, “That’s not the point here, but yeah, I did that later on, not right after I got inside. I can’t stop thinking about him and whether I passed all his tests on the first date.”

  Tara told her, “Well, all I’m saying is that you better do it soon before people infect his ears with all the lies that go around about you. I mean, I know the truth. I know they don’t make fun of you because of the ghost stuff. They use that as an excuse because they are threatened by your brilliance. You can shatter their feeble insults with well-constructed arguments and they can’t deal with it. So what do they do? They attack you because you make them feel inferior, even though most don’t recognize it. The guys realize they don’t have a shot in hell with you and they lash out at you. But bottom line; get your claws into him soon, if you know what I mean.”

  “Of course I know what you mean. I know pretty much all of your stupid lingo. Look at me. I keep checking my phone to see if I missed a text. Am I crazy?”

  “Hell no, girl. I’d be outside his house right now, stalking him. I think you are doing fine, maybe even too reserved, although that is your style. Oh, I almost forgot, you got something in the mail,” Tara said.

  “I got mail here?”

  “Yeah, I don’t know why they would send you something here either. Here it is.” Tara stopped for a second and held the letter close to her face. “That’s weird. The return address is the library address. This is like a bad horror movie. The phone call is coming from inside the library,” Tara joked.

  Whitney had to fake a laugh as Tara handed her the letter. She threw it on the desk because she didn’t want to open it in front of her friend.

  “Aren’t you going to open it?” Tara asked.

  “No. I’ll do it later. It’s probably a bill for something I paid for using my personal card for the library.”

  Tara responded, “I see. You don’t want to read anything unless it’s a dirty sext message from that man of yours.”

  “You always make it sound so sullied, but yes, a simple how are you today would be nice.”

  “Relax. It isn’t even noon yet. He’s probably staring at a text he’s rewritten about ten times already and waiting for the best time to press send so he doesn’t seem too desperate. Guys always have these stupid rules about how long you are supposed to wait to call a girl. I’m positive he’s thinking about you right now,” Tara reassured her.

  “I hope so.”

  Later that day, Whitney watched Tara walk out the front door, leaving her alone in the library. As soon as Tara’s car rolled by the front window, Whitney grabbed the letter and frantically tore it open.

  Big red letters across the top read, “I’m right behind you.”

  Whitney panicked and spun around but no one was behind her. She looked back at the paper and the phrase, ‘Just Kidding’ was written below the warning in red.

  What the hell is going on? There isn’t anything else on this paper. I can’t put this cryptic mystery together.

  “Now I’m behind you,” a deep, guttural voice sounded behind her.

  She spun around again and the male ghost was floating in front of her face. He appeared to be trying not to laugh.

  “You think this is funny?” Whitney asked.

  “Eh, on a scale of one to ten, I’d put it at a solid seven. I know everyone sees ghosts and spirits as evil and demonic if you go by most of the stories and movies. So some of us like to have fun. I didn’t scare you too badly, did I?” the ghost asked.

  “No, well yeah, but I had a feeling about what was going on. Not sure I expected the funnyman routine from you since you have been so serious so far.”

  “Exactly, that’s how you set up the best jokes so they don’t even see it coming. The rest of my family likes to laugh, but I am the real joker of the group. Look, I didn’t just come up here to lecture you on comedy. I came to help you with the case,” the ghost said.

  “Good, because I think I might know who did it, but I don’t know how to connect all the dots.”

  “You don’t know who did it. I just want you to be clear on that matter. I gave you a name that will help put the entire story together. However, I wasn’t going to give you the answer to the entire mystery in the first clue. That would be silly,” he chuckled as he made the statement.

  “I don’t know, all signs point to that kid being paid to kill Susan Foley.”

  “You don’t know and I do know, but I can’t give you all the answers. All inhabitants of my world are bound by certain obligations concerning the world of humans. We are allowed to interject in some situations, but we cannot give you the direct information on what we know. It probably seems silly, but if we were to interfere in all of your world’s issues, the need for the free will of humans would cease to exist. They would be used like pawns on a chessboard and we would be puppet masters. Most ghosts stay away from the human world because of these regulations, but my family and I have a vested interest in you solving this crime,” he revealed.

  “What type of vested interest?”

  “You will find that out soo
n enough, but I am getting sidetracked on why I came to talk to you. What are you finding out about the last clue involving leather?” the ghost asked.

  “Not much. I am going to try to sell the bags to a pawn shop or something to get some money back. Thanks for making me broke for the next two months, by the way.”

  “Yeah, sorry about that, but these items will be instrumental in figuring out the case. What are you going to do about the tickets?” the ghost pushed her.

  “I don’t know. What do you do with a bunch of losing tickets from a horse track?”

  “Think about it. What do all those tickets indicate to you?” he asked.

  “I don’t know. It looks like one of my friends was a degenerate gambler.”

  “Yes, but what do the tickets tell you?” he hinted.

  “It tells me that she lost a ton of money at The Oval Downs.”

  “Exactly. How can you use that to learn more about the victim? Think about what you just said,” the ghost tried to spur her on.

  “Maybe I should spend some time at The Oval Downs to see if anyone knew her. I guess I should check out the place to find the usual suspects and regulars that would know a fellow degenerate gambler.”

  The ghost flashed a silver-tinted smile and said, “Now, now you are heading in the right direction. You need to be very careful. There are a great many people that stand to lose their livelihood if you solve this case. These people will stop at nothing to continue their criminal lifestyle, which includes getting you out of the picture by any means necessary so use extreme caution. Don’t appear as yourself,” he warned.

  “I should go undercover, is that what you mean? Or use a disguise?”

  “I know I wouldn’t want these people to know exactly what I looked like. That is all I am saying. I must go now but we will see each other again,” the ghost said and floated toward the back of the library.

  “Goodbye,” said Whitney as she felt her left hip vibrating.

  She pulled out her phone and saw a text message from Trent. She fumbled clumsily with her phone as her heart pumped and her hands shook. She finally calmed down enough to see the message.