A Walk on the Haunted Side (Haunted Tour Guide Mystery Book 2) (11 page)

When I glanced over at Brannon, he smiled approvingly. He looked down at his feet as if he was embarrassed to ask. “So do you mind if I come along tonight?”

How could I say no? His smiling face was hard to resist. Plus I had a woman who seemed a little unstable following me around. I never knew when she would pop up again. Brannon would be able to help me with it when she did. I had a feeling there would be another time. It seemed if she couldn’t stalk Hank anymore, she would stalk someone she could talk about Hank with. There were worse things than having a hot guy go to work with you.

“I planned on it,” I said.

He smiled.

As Brannon followed me through the tour, I was very aware of Brannon’s presence. He didn’t say anything, but my stomach did a dance every time I glanced over at his handsome face.

We’d made it out of the second building when a woman called out to me. “Is this the haunted tour?”

I spun around and stopped in my tracks. When I glanced over at Brannon, I saw the shocked look on his face. I recognized the gorgeous blonde. Darlene McGuire was Brannon’s ex-wife. What was she doing here? Darlene supposedly moved to New York City with her boss whom she was cheating with. Needless to say, I was surprised to see her on the tour. I was surprised to even see her in the state.

“Darlene, what are you doing here?” Brannon asked. 

“I just always wanted to take this tour. Do you mind if I join in? I know I’m late, but I just couldn’t make it here in time.” She flashed her white smile. It didn’t seem sincere.

Brannon probably wanted to know why she was in Devil’s Moon, not why she was on the tour. I wanted to know the answer to both of those questions.

She’d already missed a couple of the stops, but if she didn’t mind then who was I to say no? I didn’t know what her motive was though. Was she still trying to get Brannon back?

“Sure, no problem.” I forced a smile onto my face.

Brannon handed Darlene his flashlight. “Here, you may need this.”

He didn’t sound happy that she had joined us. During the rest of the tour I noticed she was watching him. Did she know that Brannon and I had become friends? She had to know. Why else would she come on the tour? I knew she wasn’t interested in the paranormal.

A stop at the antiques shop and the restaurant on the corner and we were headed back to the graveyard. Darlene had been quiet and I wondered why she had joined late and what she was up to.

Going through the graveyard wasn’t any easier this time than the last. I thanked everyone and took the flashlights back. Darlene waited by the gate. I assumed she wanted to talk with Brannon. He hadn’t left my side all night. What did she want to say to him? After the others walked away, she approached. Brannon was standing beside me.

“Hi,” she said with a smile. “I hope you don’t mind if I ask a few questions.”

Who was she talking to? Me or Brannon?

“What is it, Darlene?” I’d never heard Brannon use that tone.

“I guess you’re surprised to see me here tonight.” She looked from Brannon to me. When neither of us answered she looked back at Brannon and said, “So you’re doing this tour now?”

“I’m helping Ripley, yes,” he answered.

She looked at me with a smirk. “That’s nice.”

“Was there anything else?” Brannon asked.

“There was something else,” she said.

Brannon and I stared at her. She shifted from one foot to the other. “I heard there was a murder here in the graveyard the other night.”

I hadn’t expected that. Brannon’s eyes widened. I guessed rumor had gotten around so I shouldn’t have been surprised.

“Yes, there was,” I said, unsure of what else to say.

Brannon didn’t say anything, so I figured he wanted to hear what she had to say first.

“Yes, there was an incident here. That doesn’t mean it happened at the graveyard though.”

Had I said too much?

“Do you know what happened to the man? Who killed him?” she asked.

“We don’t know that for sure yet,” Brannon answered for me. “Why do you ask, Darlene?”

She looked at him as if she was annoyed with his tone. “I was just curious. It seems like a strange thing to happen on a ghost tour.”

“It wasn’t on the tour,” I said defensively.

“Do they have any leads on who would do such a thing?” she asked.

I glanced at Brannon. He didn’t answer her, so I decided I would. “No, I don’t think they do.”

“They have to have some leads,” she said.

“I think that’s enough questions,” Brannon said.

She paused as if she hadn’t heard his comment. Finally, she said, “You always were too secretive, Brannon.”

Now I just felt uncomfortable being in the middle of their discussion. 

“You seem very interested in the case.” Brannon watched her for a reaction.

She glanced over her shoulder. “I guess I was just curious. Well, it was a great tour. Thanks.” She turned on her heel and hurried away.  

We watched as she walked away. I knew that Brannon was suspicious of her. So was I. She hadn’t come on the tour just for the fun of it.

He ran his hand through his thick hair. “I’m sorry about that. I have no idea why she did that.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “But why would she randomly start asking questions about the murder?” 

“I doubt that is her real reason.”

“We should see where she went to.” I surprised myself by what I’d said.

He looked over at me. “We should?”

I felt the heat rush to my cheeks. Sometimes I said things before thinking. “Sure, why not?” I said.

He chuckled. “Let’s go after her before she gets too far away,” Brannon said, motioning for me to follow him. “By the way, if I don’t get a chance later, I wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed the tour tonight. You really have a way with storytelling.”

I smiled. “Thank you.”

His words made me feel good. I needed a boost after Darlene had shown up.

Brannon and I walked at a brisk pace down the alleyway toward the street. I hoped that she hadn’t gotten away yet. Maybe she’d hopped in a car and taken off. Although I hadn’t seen her get out of a car when she’d joined the tour.

We reached the sidewalk and stopped. Brannon and I looked to the left and then to the right. Darlene was nowhere in sight. Just as I had worried, it looked as if she’d gotten away.

“I guess she’s gone,” I said.

Brannon released a deep breath. “Maybe that’s for the best.”

He was probably right about that.

“Do you think she got in a car with someone?” I asked.

“Probably, yes,” he answered. “How about a drink?”

I nodded. “That sounds like a good idea.”

Brannon and I turned to the right and toward the tavern. We reached the tavern’s entrance and Brannon opened the door and motioned for me to go first. “Please, ladies first.”

I was just getting ready to step inside the tavern when I glanced to my left. I spotted who I thought was Darlene down the way a little walking on the sidewalk.

Brannon paused. “What is it?”

“Is that her?” I pointed in Darlene’s direction.

Brannon whipped his head around. “That’s her. Come on, let’s follow her.”

Now I was doing the following. That was better for a change. Not that I liked following anyone, but it was better than being followed. It was definitely awkward following Brannon’s ex-wife. Thank goodness he was with me or I’d have a hard time explaining this one.

We took off down the sidewalk after her. I hoped that she didn’t hop in a car and take off. Now I was more curious than ever to find out exactly what she was really up to. It was nice to know that Brannon was suspicious of her motives too. So far she hadn’t looked back and noticed us and I hoped it stayed that way too.

“Are you going to say anything else to her?” I asked as we hurried down the sidewalk.

For all she knew we were just walking home from the tour. She couldn’t get suspicious of us just because we were headed in that direction.

“I think I’ll just see what she’s doing first. If need be I can ask her more questions,” Brannon said.

As we drew closer to her, she stopped by a car. Brannon and I paused to watch her. She placed her arms against the door and leaned in the open window to talk with someone.

“Can you see who she’s talking to?” Brannon asked.

I shook my head. “No, it’s too far and it’s dark.” Even though there was a streetlight near, we were too far away to see who was driving the car.

“Let’s move closer.” Brannon motioned for me to follow him.

We inched closer to the car. Soon I was able to get a look at the person behind the wheel.

“I know who that is,” I whispered as if they could hear us.

Brannon could see as well from his angle. “Melissa Key.”

Darlene was talking with Hank’s ex-wife. Brannon and I exchanged a look. That was suspicious. Why was she talking with her? Did she know the woman or was it just a random meeting? Just then a woman crossed the street and approached Darlene and Melissa. Something didn’t seem right about all this. When she stepped under the streetlight I realized who it was. Cady was talking with Melissa and Darlene. They didn’t notice that we were back there watching them. Darlene stepped out of the way and Cady got in the car. Melissa wasted little time driving off.

“Wow, so they all know each other?”

“It looks that way,” Brannon said. 

We’d been planning the small Halloween party at the library since I’d taken the job a month ago. I’d decided to go with a vintage Halloween theme. That way everyone could dress up in any costume that they wanted. I had just set out cupcakes and cookies. Tammy was setting up the drink station. We’d decorated the library with pumpkins, paper ghosts, skeletons, and witches. Annie thought she made a great addition to the decor. I thought so too, but it was too bad that no one could see her but me. Maybe that was a good thing though. I wanted people to stay for the party, not run away scared.

I hung the last skeleton at the end of the reference desk. Tammy walked up. “I’m all finished over there. It looks like we are ready.”

I placed my hands on my hips and scanned the area. “I think we did a great job. I hope everyone loves it.”

The head of the library hadn’t been keen on the idea of a Halloween party. She’d thought it was too macabre after the recent murder that had happened in the library. I agreed that the murder was tragic, but we were trying to get people to come back.   

I’d dressed up as Annie. Though I didn’t think anyone would know who I was supposed to be. Annie seemed to get a kick out of it though. I had on a long white dress and I’d used white makeup to make my skin appear ghostly. I’d used white hair color spray to make my hair all white. My lipstick was white too.

“You look scary. Maybe you should do your tour like this tonight,” Tammy said.

I giggled. “That would probably scare all the tourgoers away forever.”

Tammy had dressed as Jane Austen. Not the author, but the cat. She had on black leggings, a black turtleneck, and black shoes. On her head she wore a black headband with little black ears attached to the top. She’d painted her face with whiskers and a cute little pink nose. She looked adorable.

Brannon was supposed to come to the party too. I’d asked what he was going to wear, but he said it was a surprise. That probably meant that he wouldn’t dress up in a costume at all.

I couldn’t wait to see everyone’s costumes. I just hoped that Tammy and I weren’t the only ones wearing them. I rearranged the cupcakes on the tray again. I was anxious for the guests to arrive and needed something to distract me.

“Maybe we should have skipped the cupcakes?” Tammy said with a frown.

I peered down at the cupcakes and had a flashback of the recent tragedy at the library. “Hmm. You’re probably right. Maybe we should get rid of them.”

Tammy waved her hands. “I love cupcakes, but I’m not eating all of them.”

The library door opened and a group of people wearing costumes headed our way.

“Too late now,” I said.

Tammy and I hurried over to them. They were dressed as everything from a skeleton to a witch. I recognized some of the women from the monthly book club. They had been a part of the recent tragedy when one of the book club members had been murdered. I was glad to see that they were trying to move forward from the terrible event.

“Hello, ladies. I’m glad you could make it,” I said.

“We wouldn’t miss it for the world, sugar. Now where are the refreshments? I’m famished,” Sue Lovelace said.

Tammy directed the women over toward the table with food and drinks. I waited by the door. I wanted to greet people as they came in, but to be honest, I was really looking for Brannon. I had to know if he was wearing a costume.

The door opened, but I was sad to see it wasn’t Brannon. The woman who had entered was dressed as Dorothy from
The Wizard of Oz
and the man with her was dressed as the Scarecrow.

When they stepped to the side, I was surprised to see Brannon coming through the door. I was even more shocked to see how sexy he looked. His dark hair was slicked back and fangs were sticking out of his mouth. He wore a black suit with a black shirt and a red tie. I might have swooned for a moment.

Brannon smiled, showing off the fangs. “You would not believe the amount of teasing I got from the guys on the force for this costume,” he said when he stepped closer.

I straightened his tie even though it didn’t need it. I just wanted an excuse to stand close to him. “Well, you can tell them that I find you irresistible.”

His eyes widened. “Really?”

“Yes, it’s not the costume as much as it is the fact that you were willing to dress up and withstand their teasing just to come here and support the library.”

He reached out and grabbed my hand. “You look…”

I was hoping he’d say sexy, but I knew that wasn’t going to happen, not in this costume.

“You look terrifying,” he finally said.

My phone dinged and I knew Annie had something to say. I didn’t need to look over my shoulder to know that she was standing behind me. I felt her presence. My phone chimed again.

“Do you need to check that?” Brannon asked with a smile.

I knew he thought that I received more texts than anyone on the planet. Well, maybe not as much as a teenager, but it was close. I was just glad that I wasn’t charged by the text. I would have a hard time disputing the charges when I told the cell phone company that a ghost had sent the texts.

“I’m sure it’s nothing,” I said with a wave of my hand.

The phone alerted me again and I knew that Annie wouldn’t stop until I checked the messages. I pulled the phone out of my pocket.

He looks handsome,
the message said.
Something seems weird though.

Did she mean weird about Brannon? I hoped not.

Just then the door opened and I looked over his shoulder to see that Sandra had entered. She was dressed as a bunny. I was surprised that she’d come. Although the party was open to anyone who wanted to attend.

Brannon spotted her at the same time. I said, “Are you surprised to see her here too?”

“Not really,” he said. 

Sandra spotted us and immediately headed over.

“Here comes trouble,” I said under my breath.

“Happy Halloween,” she said. “Thanks for inviting me to the party.”

Technically, I hadn’t invited her to the party, but I wouldn’t mention that fact.

“I think I’ll get a cookie,” Brannon said. “If you’ll excuse me.”

I wanted to go with him, but that would have looked bad, so I had to stay.

“Would you like any refreshments?” I asked, not knowing what else to say.

Sandra shook her head. “No, thank you. I’m not much of a sweets person.” She looked around the room and the silence settled between us. I wasn’t sure what to say.

Finally she said, “You know, I think I saw someone waving for you to come over to the mystery section.” She pointed toward the stacks.

I didn’t see anyone. “Who was it?” I asked.

She shrugged. “I have no idea. A library patron, I guess.”

I supposed I needed to go check. Anyway, it would get me out of having to make small talk with Sandra.

“If you’ll excuse me,” I said with a smile.

She smiled back. “No problem. I’ll just be right here waiting.” 

Brannon was busy talking with Tammy and the other patrons were all talking amongst themselves. They didn’t even notice me walk by. I didn’t think anyone was unaccounted for, so I wasn’t sure who Sandra would have seen. Nonetheless, I headed over to the section anyway. Maybe someone needed help looking for a book. I stepped around the stacks and into the aisle. No one was there. Sandra must have been seeing things. Was it Annie? No, I’d left her at the reference desk. Plus, I didn’t think Sandra could see Annie anyway.

I peeked down the end of the aisle to see if the person had moved. But there was no one there either. Footsteps sounded from behind me so I whipped around. There was no one there. I was beginning to get nervous and needed to get back over to the others. Clearly, there was no one back here needing my help. I had a flashback to when Cady had confronted me back here. Had she somehow entered the library without me knowing it?

I headed down the aisle. The whole time it felt as if someone was walking behind me. I didn’t even bother to turn around because I was sure that if I did I wouldn’t see anyone. That would just be unnerving.

I’d almost made it to the end of the aisle when a crash rang out. The next thing I knew, I was on the ground unable to move. The air had been knocked out of my chest. The weight was crushing. Books were scattered around me and one was resting on my head. I groaned and tried to move my arm, but it was pinned under the rack of books that had just fallen on me.

“Rip, are you okay?” Brannon yelled out.

Tammy screamed and called out my name. I thought I was fine, but until I got that shelf off me I wouldn’t know for sure. Brannon and Tammy lifted the shelf off me while one of the patrons helped me up from the floor.

“What happened?” Brannon rushed to my side.

Tammy was on the other side. I pushed the hair off my face. “I was walking down the aisle and then next thing I knew the shelf toppled over on me.”

“What were you doing back there?” Tammy asked. “I mean, I know it’s the library, but the last time I saw you, you were talking with Sandra.”

I shook my head and looked over where Sandra had been standing. She was gone. Where had she gone? “Sandra said someone was motioning for me to come over to the mystery section. I never actually saw the person though.”

Tammy and Brannon exchanged a look. Brannon scanned the library. “Where is Sandra now? I want to find out who called you over.”

“Do you think this wasn’t an accident?” I asked.

“No, I don’t think it was,” he said. “That shelf wouldn’t have fallen over on its own.”

I wasn’t so sure about that. It hadn’t happened before, but I guessed anything was possible.

When I looked toward the entrance, I noticed someone walking out. From behind it looked like Hank’s ex-wife Melissa. Had she come to the party? Why was she here?

Tammy helped me back to the reference desk where I sat down. This had really put a damper on the party. I didn’t want to end it just because of my accident though. Brannon had stepped out to see if he could find Sandra. A few of the patrons had been nice enough to help clean up the books and shelf. Tammy had gone over to entertain the guests while I recovered.

After a couple minutes, Brannon returned. “I couldn’t find her,” he said. “But I’ll go over to the bed-and-breakfast where she’s staying and ask her.”

My cell phone sent an alert again. I wasn’t sure why, but I knew now was the time to share my secret about Annie with him.

I tapped my fingers against the countertop. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

He leaned against the counter and smiled. He looked so handsome. For a second, I thought about backing out and not saying a word about my text messages from beyond the grave, but then I realized that I had to do it.

“What is it? Do you have good news or bad news? If it’s bad I’m not sure I want to know.” He winked.

I released a deep breath. “Okay, here goes. I have been getting text messages from ghosts.”

He stood up straighter. “Are you serious?”

I nodded. “I’m afraid so.” I was so glad that I could tell him without him thinking I was crazy.

“Wow, this is amazing. Why didn’t you tell me sooner? How long has this been going on?”

“Since I started working at the library.”

“That long?” His eyes widened.

I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “Only a month.”

“Who is the ghost?” he asked.

This was the part I wasn’t sure I wanted to share. But since he was staring at me waiting for an answer I had to. “Annie Gibson.”

“This is incredible. I wish you’d told me sooner. What does she say?”

“She talks about a lot of things. She thinks you’re handsome.”

His cheeks turned red. “You know what this means, right?” he asked with excitement in his voice.

“No, what?” I asked.

“We really need to set up some of my equipment here in the library.”

He was so excited that I hated to burst his bubble. If Mrs. Agnew got wind of that I would be out the door before I could say Dewey Decimal.

“I’m afraid that won’t work. I don’t think Annie can use anything other than the computer or my cell phone. And there is no way she will try any other paranormal gadget.”

He chuckled. “I won’t bring any crazy paranormal gadgets, I promise. Where is she now?” he asked, looking around the library.

“I’m not sure. Sometimes she just disappears for a while, and then she pops back up. I’m sure she will be back soon.”

Annie had been hiding a lot lately. I wondered if that had anything to do with the shadow I’d seen in the library.

“I’d love to see her leave a message for you.”

“I was surprised that you can’t see her. You can see Mrs. Clatterbuck,” I said.

He shrugged. “I guess that’s because she wants me to see her.”

“What if Annie wants you to see her?” I asked.

“I guess that will be totally up to her,” he said.

“That’s true. I guess I’ll have to ask her why she doesn’t appear to you too. Maybe she can send you a message too,” I said with a smile.