“There it is.”
“Oh my God, there what is? Did you get a snake or something?” her mom asked as she grabbed her daughter’s arm.
“Mom, you know I hate snakes, why would you even ask that. No, I mean it took a little beating around the bush, but I should have known why you are here. You want me to marry a church going business executive, but I would never go to church.” Whitney continued to get ready as her mom followed her around.
“So you believe in ghosts and aliens, but you won’t believe in God?” Ursula wanted to know.
“I believe in facts and scientific research and it is mathematically impossible that there isn’t another species of living beings comparable to humans. God on the other hand, has very little evidence on his or her side.”
Whitney turned on her hair dryer to try to silence her mom.
Her mom shook her head and smirked. She screamed over the hair dryer, “Funny to hear that from someone who sticks to a story that’s never been verified. We can stop with our usual fights. All I want is for you to be happy. You’re thirty now, the clock is ticking. My biggest worry for you is that you realize you want children when it’s too late. Look at your sister. Twenty-five and she already has her husband and two kids and that huge house to live in. Now she can do whatever she wants.”
Whitney turned off the hair dryer and ran her fingers through her long hair. She smiled in the mirror to make sure she didn’t have anything stuck on her teeth.
“No she can’t. She has a husband and two kids to worry about constantly. Anything she wants to do, she has to take them into consideration. And furthermore, Victoria failed out of college. If it wasn’t for her huge boobs, she’d be serving milkshakes at Big Boy Burger.”
“I’m just saying that the greatest achievement in my life has been my children. You and I have had our problems over the years and still do, but everything I do is out of love. I know you don’t always agree with what I tell you and sometimes I might come across as a bully, but it’s all out of love. I want you to be happy and my ideas might not always be what you are looking for, but I’m never going to stop because I’m never going to stop loving you,” her mom said as she playfully poked her daughter.
“Mom, stop. You’re gonna make me cry. What will it take to convince you that I am happy?”
“Aaric is having a barbecue for the family at the castle in three weeks. I want you to bring a man. You got three weeks; that should be plenty of time to find someone. And just in case, here you go.” Her mom put a piece of paper on the table.
“What is that?”
“That’s the flyer for the dating service, just in case,” her mom said with a smile.
Whitney laughed as she put on her belt. “Oh mom, leave it to you to have a full page flyer for an online dating service. Look, I’m going to be late for work. I will have to continue this talk later, okay?”
“You got it honey,” her mom said.
Whitney gave her mom a kiss on the cheek, wiped her lipstick stain off and watched her walk out the door. She finished getting ready and arrived at the parking lot of the Granny Larson Library about ten minutes later.
The library looked like a spooky, old stone castle which only enhanced the rumors about the building being haunted. She got inside and her co-worker Tara was sitting with her feet up on the main desk in front of the library.
“Excuse me,” Whitney said.
“Well look who’s late for the first time in like, ever. This better be a good story,” Tara said and sat up in the chair. She laid the latest issue of Hollywood Insider on the table and looked at her fingernails.
Tara had thick black hair and a dark bronze complexion with green eyes and freckles all over her face, neck and shoulders. The freckles gave her tall friend an innocent look that Whitney knew not to trust. She wore her hair in thick braids today and used her long, perfectly manicured nails to push two of them away from her eyes.
“It’s not a good story. My mom ambushed me while I was getting ready and I lost track of time. The end. Sorry, no refunds.”
“Girl, you need to create some crazy adventures. Go into the city and cause some trouble. I’m sick of hearing these lame ass stories,” Tara encouraged her.
“Sorry to disappoint you. My mom did throw down the gauntlet and basically demand that I bring a boy to Aaric’s party in three weeks.”
“Is it at the castle?” Tara asked.
“Yes.”
“Tell you what. If you can’t find a boy, I’ll dress up like one just to get in that house. That place is capital A, amazing,” Tara stressed the last word.
“Leave it to my sister to find a man who basically hit the lottery when his family firm was picked up for the government job. Don’t even get me started on how he got that contract either. Anyway, where was I?”
“Bitchin about your little sister,” Tara reminded her.
“Right, did they have to build the biggest house our town has ever seen? Do they really need that medieval fortress?”
“Well I think it’s bad to the bone, girl. Also, did you want some fries with that jealousy burger?” Tara asked.
“Shut up. I’m not jealous of my sister.”
Whitney couldn’t admit it even to herself, but she was living in the shadow of her sister.
“Oh hey, I’m trying to get out of here early today and since you came in all late, this should square out right?” Tara asked.
“I don’t care. What are you going to do?”
“My man is coming down after work and we don’t have much time, if you know what I’m saying.” Tara looked at Whitney with her tongue out until a serious expression came over her face. “Oh, sorry.”
“What, no. Just because I don’t brag about my sexual exploits to you, doesn’t mean they don’t happen.”
It had been two years since Whitney had sex. She had a few boyfriends over the years, but nobody that really excited her. She was almost ready to give up on finding somebody.
Tara left at about three o’clock and Whitney looked at the local papers, in what had become a daily ritual. The library was never really crowded and she had a lot of free time during her shift. She read the headline, ‘Captain shot outside Jelly’s.’
She considered herself a local historian and knew that was a high-ranking member of the Dante Crime Family. His name was Larry Laramie and the police had found him dead in the middle of a busy street with fourteen bullets in him. She kept reading near the front of the library.
Susan Foley walked through the glass door and said hello to Whitney. She had always liked the divorcee who was widely considered the most beautiful woman in Clearhaven, despite her advancing age. The ravishing woman had always been nice and understanding to Whitney, something she always remembered.
“Hello there, gorgeous,” Whitney greeted her.
Susan Foley was an extremely tall woman with short, spiked, blond hair and haunting brown eyes. Her left eye was tainted by a wide, dark bruise right below it. She was a regular at the library and her ravishing body had its own reputation around the small town.
“And you wonder why I love you. What’s cooking there, sister?” Susan answered with another question.
“Same old, I’m afraid. What happened to your eye?”
“This, oh this is nothing. I was mopping the kitchen floor and trying to watch TV at the same time. By the way, I don’t recommend trying it,” she laughed. “Anything new you would suggest?”
“Not really. We’re actually getting a new delivery tomorrow. Oh my goodness, I almost forgot, I am so sorry to hear about your son. That’s just horrible.”
Susan had a serious look on her face. “That’s what happens when you mix heavy drinking with frat boys and open windows. They say he’s going to be alright, but thank you for the well-wishes. If he loses that scholarship, I don’t know what I will do. Ever since the insurance company screwed me out of the settlement, it’s been tough, but nothing you need to worry about.” She smiled, exposing burgundy lip
stick stains on her teeth and pain behind her brown eyes. “I guess it’s time to do a little free shopping. I’ll catch you on the way out.”
“Sounds good and again, I am so sorry about everything. I wish I was more successful and could help.”
Susan replied, “Don’t be silly, darling.” The woman disappeared into the aisle of books.
A few hours went by and Whitney was surprised that Susan was still in the library. Most people didn’t like to be there past three o’clock because of the stories. Several people had reported seeing strange occurrences, especially after dark.
Much to her dismay, Whitney had never seen any of these happenings even though she really wanted to. She had spent many late nights in the library, hoping something would happen. She wanted the ghosts to come back and explain how her life was going to be great. She didn’t know how much longer she could live like this and planned to move away when her lease was up.
Whitney started her daily routine of checking the murder reports of Pennsburgh and all the surrounding areas. She had been trying to find out who the family of ghosts were for the past eighteen years. All the research had never revealed a viable comparison that made sense to Whitney. She didn’t find anything today but she would check again tomorrow and every following day until she figured it out.
She started to walk around with the return cart and put the books back on the shelves. She heard the front door open and close, and assumed Susan had finally left. She kept emptying the cart and heard a car peel out in the gravel parking lot. She didn’t believe that Susan would do it and thought it must have been the high school kids messing around again. She picked up a book to put on the mystery shelf.
“BANG,” a gunshot rang out.
Whitney dropped the book and hit the floor. She started shaking and her heart felt like it was going to explode.
What the hell is going on? This must be a dream or something.
Whitney became even more terrified and looked down the aisle to see pinstriped dress pants and Corinthian leather shoes run by.
“BANG,” another shot sounded and the world went dark for Whitney Powers.
Chapter 2
The converging sirens woke Whitney up. She had passed out from fear and her heart still pounded in trepidation. The Granny Larson Library was swarming with law enforcement officials from several different departments.
Whitney was shaking uncontrollably and couldn’t believe that Susan Foley was dead. One of the sweetest women she had ever known had been shot in cold blood in the middle of a public library. Luckily for Whitney, the murderer never saw her and left right after the killing.
Her phone rang. It was her mom.
“Hello.”
“Oh my God is that you, Whitney?” her mom asked frantically.
“Yes mom, I’m fine.”
“Oh my God, she’s fine. Everybody, I’m talking to her now, she’s fine. Whitney honey, what happened? We heard about a shooting,” her mother hinted.
“Yeah mom, it was pretty crazy. Someone shot and killed Susan Foley.”
“Oh my God, why?” her mom asked.
“I couldn’t tell you, mom. Hey, can I talk to dad for a second?”
“Yeah, sure, here he is,” Ursula said.
Whitney’s dad said, “Hi, honey, so happy to hear that you’re alright.”
“Eeehhh,” she said their special greeting inspired by an old TV show.
“Eeehhh,” her father barely managed to get out the word, and she could tell he was crying.
“Everything’s alright dad, I just wanted to say I love you.”
“I love you too, little sweet pea. More than you could ever imagine,” he assured her.
“I don’t know, dad. You know I have a pretty good imagination. Look, I gotta go, and I love you and everyone else, but I have to answer some questions now.”
“OK, hey pumpkin,” he said.
“Yeah dad.”
“I love you,” her father reassured her.
“I love you too, dad. Bye.”
“Bye, bye,” he said.
She hung up and looked straight ahead at the sexiest man she had ever seen in Clearhaven. He appeared to have a chiseled body and tight facial features. His dark, slicked back hair and brown eyes with golden flecks mesmerized Whitney as the man looked directly at her.
For some reason, the tall guy wore the uniform of a local cop, but Whitney knew all the men on the Clearhaven force. It felt like a dream as he walked straight toward her. Whitney’s heart fluttered as he now stood right in front of her.
I look terrible right now. I’ve been crying and my face is probably all red. Just my luck.
He pointed at her with a pen in one hand and a small notebook in the other. “They tell me you work here.”
“Uh huh,” was all she could get out.
“Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?”
“Sure, ask me anything,” she replied. Ask me anything. That sounds so stupid.
She stared at his luscious lips as he said, “Do you want to sit down over here?”
“Absolutely,” she said and followed him. Absolutely? Just say yes. Stop trying to sound cool.
They sat down at a small, square wooden table across from each other. She could barely contain herself as she waited for him to start the proceedings.
She blurted out, “You must be new.”
He said, “Yep, today’s my fourth day. What’s your name?”
She was hesitant to answer. She knew stories still went around about her and wondered if anyone had infected the sexy cop’s ears yet. “Whitney Powers.”
The golden flecks in his eyes twinkled in the light as he asked, “Miss or Mrs.?”
“Uh, Miss. I’m single. I mean I’m not married. Not yet.” Stop rambling. Just stick to one-word answers.
She could barely focus as he asked her questions about the murder and she recounted her side of the story. She finished speaking and waited for him to talk.
“Nothing to worry about but you will be on the persons of interest list for the next twenty-four hours. Oh, and you are going to have to take a gunpowder test to check your hands in a little while. Standard procedure. I guess that should just about do it for the questions,” he said.
“Alright, well if you need any more information…” she let the statement linger because she wasn’t sure how to finish it.
He smiled and said, “This might be a bit forward but seeing as how I am new in town, maybe you could show me around sometime.”
“I…I…I’d love to. There’s not really too much to do around here though.”
“I’m pretty sure we can find something.” He flashed a perfect smile with glowing white teeth, causing her face to turn crimson.
He wrote something on the paper, ripped it from the notebook and folded it up. He slid it into Whitney’s hand while maintaining eye contact the entire time. Tingles tickled the back of her neck and her legs felt a little wobbly. She hadn’t been touched anywhere by a man in a long time and she remembered how much she missed it.
Her friend Bo ran up and gave her a hug.
He said, “You had me so scared, girl. What happened?”
“They got Susan Foley,” she said.
They broke the hug and Bo looked over at the new officer with a huge smile.
Bo said in a deep voice, “I’m sorry. I don’t believe we’ve met.”
“Officer Trent Merrick,” he said and the two men shook hands.
Don’t you dare hit on him Bo, he’s mine. You better not do the head tilt and smile routine.
Bo cocked his head to the side and said, “Name’s Bo, sup? New guy in town, huh? You probably need someone to show you around?”
“Actually, Whitney here has agreed to show me all the sights and scenes. Thanks, though,” Trent politely answered.
“Yeah, no, I was just saying, you know, it’s nothing personal,” Bo rambled.
“Thank you for the answers and I will be in touch,” Trent told Whitney. “Bo,
nice to meet you. Hope to see you around.”
“Likewise,” Bo said.
As Trent walked away, Whitney noticed he looked great from the back too. She turned her attention to Bo.
He said, “Likewise. Who the hell says likewise? Nobody has said that shit since Marilyn Monroe.”
“This is too funny, we are so much alike. I was fumbling with Trent too. And I totally called it in my head that you were going to hit on him. You’re so predictable.”
“Is it really that hard to predict that I was going to hit on the hottest guy to walk into this Podunk town since the dawn of time? How the hell did you score a date with him?” Bo asked.
“He asked me and I said yes. The details aren’t much more exciting than that I’m afraid.”
“Fuck yeah, girl. Sink your nails into his back and never let go, if you know what I am saying. Unless he’s crazy or married, of course,” Bo warned.
“No, he’s single. At least he says he’s single. No, he’s single.”
“I’m sure he is. So what happened, someone just like rolled in and shot her?” Bo wanted to know.
“I guess. I never even heard another person enter the library. I was putting away books in the mystery section and heard the first shot. The cops said that it went right through her head and they found the second bullet over near the periodicals. I was lying on the ground when I saw someone wearing fancy men’s shoes run by.”
“That’s crazy. So you were the only one here?” Bo asked.
“Yeah, Tara went home early and I don’t know what Susan was doing. She was here for a few hours.”
“Shit, you’re lucky they don’t think you did it,” Bo said.
“Wait, what? You don’t really think that’s possible. He did say that I would be on the list for twenty-four hours. That’s not true, right?”
“Obviously not, I love and know you. I was just joking because you were the only one here and there’s a mystery killer it seems. What are you doing after all this? If you want to hang out with someone, you got me,” Bo offered.
Whispers From Another World: Whintey Powers Paranormal Adventure #1 (Whitney Powers Paranormal Adventures) Page 2
