Cooper unlocked the door to his place and ushered us inside. “I’ll put some fresh sheets on.”
He grabbed a bundle of linens from the hall closet, and I followed him into his bedroom, depositing my overnight bag on the floor. Somehow, I felt like I shouldn’t be in this room with him. I was sure there was a rule somewhere I was breaking. Guilt tried to push to the surface, but I swallowed it. I had nothing to feel guilty about. I was simply helping him put sheets on the bed.
“What are you thinking about?” Cooper asked.
How much I enjoy everyday, mundane things with you, and I could imagine myself doing this with you for the rest of my life. I swallowed, desperately hoping he couldn’t read my thoughts. Finally, I croaked out, “Ghosts. Ghosts, of course.”
He flapped the sheet several times, and I grabbed the other end. “My aunt used to think her house was haunted.”
“Was it?”
“She was actually a little crazy.”
I licked my lips. “Like me?”
“You’re not crazy.”
“Then what am I?” I hardly wanted to ask the question because I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the answer.
“I think you’re being haunted—but not by a ghost.”
Relief flushed through my heart. Maybe there was hope for me. “So it’s good that I have a gun.”
“Not if you don’t know how to use it.”
“You just pull a trigger, right?”
“How about if I show you sometime?”
I nodded. “Yeah, that would be good.” He hadn’t given the gun back, probably for fear of his own life. Maybe it was better that way. I’d gotten the gun from Candy spontaneously, and I didn’t have any idea what to do with it.
I finished tucking in the sheets and stuffing pillows into fresh cases. Then I slipped into the hallway and spotted Candy falling asleep on the couch. I ushered her into the bedroom. I was ready to go to bed also, but I needed to thank Cooper first.
I closed the door behind me so Candy could go to sleep, then turned around and took a step. I gasped when I realized that Cooper was waiting in front of me. I was close enough to feel his breath on my cheek. To smell spearmint and baby shampoo. To feel electricity zig-zagging up my spine.
I forced myself to swallow. Something almost magnetic seemed to connect our gazes. I wanted to break the invisible hold, to look away. But I couldn’t.
“Thanks. For everything. For being there. For being...Cooper.” I smiled weakly, mentally chiding myself for losing my ability to speak properly. For feeling like I wanted to melt.
“You’re welcome, Tara.”
Something about the way he said the words made my face flush. He sounded husky, like his tone was reserved especially for me. He looked at me another moment, and I wondered what he was thinking. Finally, he pointed behind me. “I just need to grab a couple of things from my dresser.”
My cheeks heated. Of course. He needed to get something before Candy and I settled in for the night. What did I think? That he wanted to kiss me?
He slipped inside, grabbed some clothes, and stepped into the hallway. For some reason, I still remained standing where I was, frozen to the spot. Cooper smiled down at me again. The sparkle in his eyes made my throat burn with emotion and desire.
I pointed behind me, still not breaking eye contact. “I’m going to bed now.” I swallowed, fast and hard.
His smile went soft. “Good night,” he said. Was it my imagination or was his face getting closer? Were his eyes becoming more mesmerizing?
I realized I wasn’t breathing, and I needed to breathe. Otherwise, I’d faint. Which would only give Cooper another chance to save me.
Goodness knows he’d had enough chances to do that already, without my initiating any more.
With an arm behind me, I twisted the latch and leaned back into the bedroom door as it opened. “Good night,” I mumbled.
I quickly shut the door and stood beside it, waiting for my breathing to even out. What was wrong with me? I’d been married. It wasn’t like I was an amateur in the men department. Yet I felt jittery, like a sixteen-year-old on her first date.
Candy was tucked in bed, her eyes closed. I climbed in beside her, trying to be quiet so that I didn’t wake my friend.
Silence filled the room.
My thoughts quickly filled the space.
Had I almost kissed Ben Cooper? Had he almost kissed me?
Was I losing my mind? Had I not learned anything from the fiasco with Peter?
Despite my thoughts, I smiled.
I liked Ben Cooper. I liked him a lot.
“You two are so a couple,” Candy said beside me.
I hit my friend with my pillow, realizing she’d been awake this whole time.
Chapter 27
I woke up with a start the next morning. My hand reached for the empty space in the bed beside me. Peter wasn’t there. He hadn’t been there in a long time.
I shook my head. No, Candy had slept there last night. We’d been like two little girls at a slumber party, whispering and giggling and experiencing a real-life ghost story.
Who would have thought that I’d come to consider a fame-hungry party girl as one of my closest friends? Or that I thought I might be falling in love with a B-Boy? Or that I was actually considering the reality that a ghost was living in my house?
I lay there for a moment, absorbed in my thoughts about my past, my present, and my future. Maybe closing the book on my past was the best thing that could have happened to me. I would have never wished my experiences on anyone, and I didn’t promote divorce or think that God smiled on it. But Candy was right. I had to buck up and put everything behind me. If I could do that, I’d be a better person for it.
I could hear Cooper talking in the living room. He seemed so grounded and stable, like he didn’t pull any punches. Peter...well our relationship had just been one, big punch in the gut. Nothing that I thought it would be. He’d left me, which made him more of a boy than a man.
Already, in the short time I’d known Cooper, I felt like what we had was real.
At least Cooper and I could disagree. At least we could come at things from different angles without holding a grudge. In the short time since I’d known Cooper, our friendship felt more real than my relationship with Peter ever did. Of course, I wouldn’t have thought that back then, back when I met Peter and fell in love. Back then things felt perfect.
Peter and I had never argued. Ever. Even when we got divorced, we didn’t argue. We simply stopped speaking. Maybe in order to truly love someone you had to learn to disagree with them. Wasn’t disagreeing a part of being real? Because disagreements were bound to happen sooner or later, and you had to learn to deal with conflict effectively in order to move past it.
I sighed, my heavy thoughts already settling in for the day. The scent of bacon teased my stomach. I threw my clothes back on and walked into the kitchen to find Candy and Cooper chatting at the kitchen table over coffee. Candy’s hair—her wig—was on, and she’d already done her makeup. She wore flannel pants and a black tank top. Cooper, on the other hand, wore jeans and a white T-shirt.
Having someone to wake up with made me aware of the empty ache in my heart. I’d been separated from other people for too long, only I hadn’t realized it.
“Morning. Pull up a seat and dig in.” Cooper pulled a chair out for me.
“I’ve got to have coffee before I sit down.” I grabbed an empty mug from the counter and decided to drink it black. As I did that, Cooper put together a plate of food for me and set it at the table. My mouth watered as I breathed in the scent of toast, eggs, and bacon. The breakfast of champions. Big, fat champions.
“We were just talking about the broken glasses,” Cooper started.
“Did you draw any conclusions?” I took a bite of egg.
“Not a single one. It doesn’t make sense. I checked the alarm stats, and it was on all night. No one could have gotten in or out of the house without it registering.
”
“Even with the power cut?”
“Even with the power cut.”
“So you think it was a ghost?” I nearly choked on my coffee as I asked the question.
“No, not a ghost. I’m sure there’s a logical explanation. I just don’t know what it is. I’m going to install some cameras, if that’s okay with you. I want to see what’s going on while these things happen.”
“Anything to get some answers.”
“Just don’t put the cameras anywhere naughty.” Candy’s eyes twinkled, and I kicked her under the table.
Cooper shook his head. “Don’t worry. Your privacy will be intact.”
“Can I talk something through with you guys?”
“Only if I can interject my opinion whenever possible,” Candy muttered.
I leaned back, the stiff chair fitting for my rigid thoughts. “Okay, let’s assume this isn’t a ghost.”
“Even though it could be,” Candy insisted.
“But assuming it’s not, who would have motive for doing these things?”
“Maybe someone wants you to move out so they can buy your house,” Candy suggested.
“But the house next door is for sale. Why would someone want this specific house?”
Cooper shook his head. “I have no idea.”
“If this is connected to Danielle’s death somehow, then there are some people who could be persons of interest. There’s Philip Whitehurst. Maybe he would have something to gain by letting us think there’s a ghost in the house?”
“Who’s Philip Whitehurst?” Cooper asked.
We filled him in. Cooper listened carefully, his eyes registering each new detail. “What would he have to gain?”
I shook my head. “I have no idea. I’m no good at this detective thing. There’s also Miss Mystic. She seems desperate to communicate with Danielle in the house.”
“Maybe she just wants fame?” Cooper suggested.
That’s what reporter Bryce Stephens had indicated. “I did hear that she’s always wanted to be famous. But she was friends with Danielle. What if she really thinks she can communicate with her? What’s if she’s just...misled?”
“There’s always Lana’s stalker,” Candy reminded.
I shook my head. “Lana said he’s in India now.” I nodded toward the street. “There’s the strange man across the street. He gives me the creeps.”
Cooper took another sip of his coffee. Even seeing him drink coffee made my heart race. I had it, and I had it bad. His crystal blue eyes turned serious. “You find a killer when you find someone who has the motive, means, and opportunity. Do any of those people have all three?”
I shook my head. “I have no idea. I think this is all making less sense with time instead of more sense.” I finished my breakfast and pushed my plate away. “Speaking of which, I’ve got to get back to the house and clean up the mess there.”
“We went over and did it this morning,” Cooper said.
“You did?”
He nodded. “I figured you wouldn’t want to see it.”
“But I took some video just in case you do,” Candy added with a wink.
My gaze bounced back and forth between them. “You guys are the best.”
Candy pulled a cheeseball out from the bag on the table and popped it in her mouth. “I know.” She chewed and swallowed. “So what’s next?”
“What’s next is I’m installing security cameras. I should have done it from the start, I supposed, but I had no idea things would escalate like this.” He looked at me. “Is it okay if I come over in an hour?”
I smiled, wanting to say he was welcome over whenever he wanted. Instead, I nodded. “An hour will be fine.”
~*~
As soon as I stepped into Lana’s house, chills swept over my skin. Something wasn’t right about this place. I didn’t know what, but something creepy was definitely going on. I just didn’t know if it centered on the house, Lana, or me. I’d taken my gun back from Cooper and slipped it into the nightstand drawer again. Just in case, you know?
Candy—since she didn’t have to do her hair—was ready in fifteen minutes. I’d just finished drying mine when she waltzed into my room and began rummaging around Lana’s jewelry box.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m borrowing some jewelry. Lana lets me do it all the time.” She slipped on a ring and held her hand out. “I like this one.”
I looked closer. “That’s the ring my dad gave her when she turned sixteen.” And it was worth thousands of dollars. Would Lana really be okay with Candy wearing it? I didn’t feel okay with it.
“He has good taste.”
It was supposed to be a purity ring. Things hadn’t quite worked out that way, however. “Maybe you shouldn’t wear that one.”
“Yeah, maybe not.” She tried to pull it off, but the ring remained at her joint. “Oh no.”
“Oh no what?” The words nearly stuck in my throat.
She tugged again. “The ring. It won’t come off.”
“You’re joking.”
“No, I’m really not.”
“How can it be stuck?”
“I don’t know, but it is.” She tugged at it some more. The ring didn’t budge.
“Here, let me try.” I grabbed the jewelry and pulled it toward me. It was stuck all right. How was I going to break this news to Lana? Even though she hadn’t kept the vow associated with the ring, I still knew it meant a lot to her. “I’m going to get some cooking spray.”
I grabbed some from the kitchen, ignoring the heebie-jeebies that filled me when I stepped onto the linoleum. The shelves where the glasses used to rest were now empty, and I still had no idea how that had happened.
I raced back to my bedroom and sprayed Candy’s finger. Then I tugged at the ring. It remained glued where it was. I pulled harder.
All of the sudden, the ring slipped off. But I’d pulled so hard that the momentum caused my hand to fly back, the ring with it. The sapphire-studded band flew through the air, as if in slow motion, and then clinked on the ground behind the nightstand.
“Gracious,” I muttered.
“Did you say ‘gracious’?” Candy asked.
My cheeks heated. I liked to work on crossword puzzles, go to bed early, and I said gracious. I was basically turning into my grandmother. “Yes, I did. Why?”
“That sounds so old-fashioned.”
“Is that a problem?”
Candy shrugged. “Of course not.” She moved the nightstand. I expected to see the ring there, waiting to be put back on its throne in Lana’s jewelry box. Instead, I saw dust balls.
“It went back here, didn’t it?”
I nodded. “That’s what it looked like to me.” I got on my knees. “Maybe it ricocheted off the wall and went under the bed instead.”
We pulled out the boxes under the bed but still didn’t find anything but dustballs. Then we searched under the dresser and anywhere else it might have gone. Nothing.
“Rings just don’t disappear,” I muttered.
“Maybe the ghost got it.” She waved her fingers in the air while making ghostly sounds before snickering.
“Very funny.”
She dropped her hands. “What else could have happened to it?”
My gaze roamed the floor and stopped at the vent by the window. “Do you think it could fit between those slats?”
Candy knelt on the floor and inspected them. “It’s a possibility.”
Side by side, we took the cover off. A tube waited there, like an endless, dark abyss. No way did I want to stick my hand down there. I stared at Candy instead. “You pulled out the ring. You reach down there and see if you can find it.”
“Do I have to?”
“Someone does.” I sure didn’t want to stick my hand into the unknown, not after everything else that had happened.
She sighed and lowered her hand down. “I don’t feel anything.”
“Reach farther.”
“Easy fo
r you to say.” She sunk farther into the floor. “My arm doesn’t bend like this.”
“It’s got to be down there. Where else would it be?”
“I don’t know, but you’re going to have to try. Your arms are all tiny and petite. You can probably reach farther than I can.”
I imagined Lana’s reaction if we told her we’d lost that ring. We had to find it, because I didn’t want to face the consequences if we didn’t. “Fine.”
I walked my fingers into the AC vent, much like a spider going down the waterspout. The tunnel turned, so I twisted my body until my entire arm was plunged into the floor, all the way to my shoulder.
“Anything?”
I shook my head. “I don’t think.” I reached my fingers a little farther. That ring had to be down here. It had to be.
Something connected with my fingertips. What…? I reached farther, my shoulder aching as it pressed against the opening. Finally, my fingers wrapped around something. But…it was too big to be a ring.
Slowly, I pulled my arm out. I screamed when I saw a bloody knife in my hands.
~*~
The police swarmed the house again. I was beginning to know each of them on a first name basis, which was never a good sign.
From all indications, I’d found the murder weapon used to kill Danielle Miller. Authorities had to test the blood to be sure, but the detective made it sound like a done deal. They’d gone into the basement, lifted some ceiling tiles and cut out the rest of the vent where the knife had been found. Sure enough, Lana’s ring was there, too.
Cooper showed up right about the time the police arrived, and we’d filled him in on what happened. As soon as the police left, Cooper began installing the cameras in the kitchen and living room. Candy and I sat stiffly on the couch. I didn’t know about Candy, but I couldn’t shake the chills that swept over me.
“That’s what Danielle’s spirit wanted you to find,” Candy muttered. “That’s why she’s been hanging around. I can’t wait to tell Mickey.”
The Good Girl Page 19
