Laure Donavan 2 - Ghouls Night Out (25 page)

“
You did already purchase
the binoculars,” Seth said. “And they weren’t cheap. You might as
well use them.”

That was a paltry attempt at
rationalizing this outing, but I’d take it.

“
Okay. Let’s do this.” I
motioned over my shoulder for them to follow my lead. As if they
wouldn’t do that anyway. I should be so lucky.

I eased through the yard, staying on
the outer edge in case I needed to make a quick getaway, then hid
behind a tall tree.

“
Can you see anything?” Mae
asked.

“
Not yet,” I whispered as I
held the newly purchased spy wear up to my face. Lights shone from
the windows and, although I hadn't seen him yet, I had a feeling
Cooper was somewhere in the house. Who else could it be?

Sure enough, after a few minutes, he
came into view. No sign of Mindy, though.

“
I see him,” I said as I
held the binoculars up to my eyes.

“
What's he doing?” Mae
squeezed in beside me.

“
I'm not sure. He has items
in a brown paper bag, and he’s lifting them out one by
one.”

“
Why don't we go in and see
what we can find out?” Anthony asked.

“
He can see you,
remember?”

Anthony frowned. “We’ll be really
sneaky. There’s no way he’ll know we’re there. We can hide from you
when we want to…oops.” He looked the other way, avoiding my
gaze.

I scowled. “We’ll discuss that
later.”

Hmmm. Sending in the ghosts wasn't a
completely awful idea. I'd done it in the past, sending Abe Lincoln
and the gang to spy on Brianna. And I would learn things a lot
faster if they were on the inside, where maybe they’d hear
something pertinent to the situation—like a phone call or spell. If
Becky knew what type of spell maybe it would be easy to
break.

“
Do you want us to go in,
or not?” Anthony tapped his foot impatiently.

“
I guess that would be
okay,” I said.

Before the words had slipped out of my
mouth, the ghosts were gone. Poof. All that was missing was the
smoke. I held the binoculars up again and saw the three of them
attempting to hide in the corners of the room. Anthony knocked
something off the table onto the floor. He was playing games with
Cooper, and I couldn't help but let a giggle escape my lips. He
deserved it for being evil. The entire Garret family must be that
way.

I watched as Cooper pulled everything
out of the little brown bag. He’d been startled when the vase fell
to the floor, but it was short-lived. He’d picked it up and
continued with whatever he was doing. He didn’t seem to notice the
ghosts. So far they were doing a good job of hiding on their
reconnaissance mission.

There was no sign of Mindy, which was
a good thing. At least they weren't having a party without me. Not
that I’d want to go anyway. Or, heaven forbid, I spotted them
getting it on. That was the last thing I needed to see. Kind of
like catching your parents making out. Sick.

After a few minutes, and not much
happening, the gang disappeared from Cooper’s and popped up beside
me again.

“
So, what did you learn?” I
asked.

“
Well, I'm no expert,” Seth
said, “but it appeared to be some sort of magic spell.”

It felt as though the wind had been
knocked out of me. I couldn't catch my breath. It was the
confirmation I’d expected.

“
I knew he was doing black
magic. He said he wasn’t, but I knew he couldn’t be
trusted.”

“
Are you all right?” Mae
asked.

No words would form. I couldn't
answer.

“
Darlin’, talk to me.”
Anthony wrapped his arms around me.

The embrace felt good, even if it was
a ghost. The warmth from his arms wrapped around my shoulders
penetrated my clothing. My energy slipped from my body, allowing
Anthony to manifest clearer than I’d ever seen a ghost
before.

“
I should have known what
he was up to,” I said breathlessly. “He has Mindy and probably
Callahan under a spell, just like Brianna did with Callahan. Mindy
does whatever Cooper tells her to do.”

“
How can we stop him?” Seth
asked.

“
That's the thing, I have
no idea. Karyn’s in the hospital. Who do I turn to for help, if not
her? Becky doesn’t seem too concerned. I wonder what the other
coven members are saying about Cooper?”

“
There’s one way to find
out…ask them.” Seth leaned against his cane.

“
Let's get out of here
before he catches us spying on him. He'll turn us into frogs. Well,
he’ll turn me into a frog, he can't turn you all into anything,
since you can hide from him. Or maybe he cast spells on y’all.
Heck, I don’t know. Come on, I’m rambling again.”

“
Yeah, I’m glad I know he
can see us, now I’ll know to hide from him.” Anthony
said.

“
I’m not happy with you.” I
glared at him again. “We need to have a little talk about this
newest revelation.” I knew I’d heard breathing by my ear the other
morning.

“
That’s not important right
now. What’s important is that I want to get Cooper Garret for doing
this to you. I am so mad.” Anthony's complexion turned red,
replacing his normal pallor. The image of his crimson face was so
vivid. He was furious. I didn't know a ghost could be that
angry.

“
Let's go, Anthony, before
you implode or something.”

As I moved across the lawn, I could
have sworn I saw the dark shadow in my periphery. Maybe my eyes
were playing tricks on me. We hurried back to the car. Well, I
hurried while the rest of them went ahead, appearing inside my
vehicle long before I even reached the driver’s door.

“
Thanks for waiting for
me.” I smirked.

I pulled away from the curb, thankful
to put distance between Cooper and me. And not to be in handcuffs.
Anger bubbled inside me. I don't know what I’d do to Cooper if I
got my hands on him.

I had Karyn’s help last time, but that
wasn’t an option now. Becky seemed unconcerned with the whole
situation. Maybe now I understood why Karyn hadn’t asked her to be
coven leader.

“
I don't know what to do.”
I blew out a deep breath. “I can try to contact the coven and see
what they think I should do. Karyn wanted me to lead the coven when
I don’t even know what to do in this situation? What a
joke.”

Everyone remained silent, lost in
their own thoughts, contemplating how to solve my problems. Imagine
that. Ghosts stuck between this world and the next and they were
worried about helping me. I should be helping them cross
over.

When we reached my house, exhaustion
swept over me. Having ghosts with that much emotion took almost
every bit of my energy. The only way to replenish my verve was
sleep. Plus, forty winks would help clear my mind, and then
tomorrow, I’d figure out the solution to my latest mess. I needed
to save my best friend and Callahan before it was too late. There
was no telling what Cooper would do to them next. This was
Brianna’s way of getting revenge.

I locked the front door and placed a
kitchen chair under the knob. At least that was a little more
protection against whoever may want to break in. I settled into bed
with a book, trying to take my mind off the terrible situation
Mindy and Callahan were trapped in.

Chapter Thirty-Six

“
Larue, I think you have a
problem.” Mae stood by the front door, peeking out.

“
What's wrong now?” I
asked.

“
Over here. I thought I saw
someone watching you in the window.”

My heart thumped. I knew I should have
left the shades down. I’d thought the sunshine would help my
depression.

I threw my book down and made a dash
for the lamp, flicking it off. The idea of some crazed lunatic
watching me made chills run down my spine. Then again, hadn’t I
been spying on Cooper just as someone was doing to me? That should
teach me a lesson to never do something like that again. It was
just wrong. What if this was the shadow figure again? Was it
appearing more and more now?

I slid next to the wall, inching my
way toward the window. As if my slow movements would keep the
weirdo at bay. What was I thinking? I eased the curtain back just a
smidgen. Sure enough, a black figure sprinted away from the house.
He was dressed all in black. At least, I thought the person was a
male.

My heart raced. Was this the same
person who'd broken in to Book Nook and my house? Had they come
back for more? For me this time? I wouldn't take any chances on
finding out the answer to that question the hard way.

With a few giant steps, I dashed for
the phone, and yet again dialed nine-one-one. Lucky for me, the
police were faster this time. Anthony had floated out, giving chase
to the shadow, vanishing around the side of the house. I wasn't
sure how he would find the person...or the demon. It was probably
long gone. He had no way of knowing where this thing had gone. No
doubt, he just wanted to be my knight in shining armor. It was a
sweet gesture, but unnecessary. He really was a great guy…too bad
he’d been taken away so young.

I was waiting by the front door when
the police pulled up.

“
What's seems to be the
problem?” the officer asked.

I thought he might frown at my words
this time, but he didn't. “Someone was peeping in the window and I
caught them. Well, sort of caught them in the act. The person was
running away.”

“
So you saw this
person?”

“
Yeah, I felt eyes on me.
You know, when you can feel someone is staring at you. Then I
looked out the window and caught them running away.” I couldn’t
tell him that Mae West had spotted the person and not
me.

“
Can you give a
description?”

“
Well, not really. He was
dressed in black.”

“
Black what? Dress?
Pants?”

“
Pants and a
jacket.”

“
Male or
female?”

“
It's hard to say. All I
saw was the back of him of her. It could have been either
one.”

“
How tall?”

He was spewing out the questions in
rapid succession.

“
Average.”

“
So a male or female of
average height? Well, that narrows it down a lot.”

“
What do you want me to
say? It's dark. That's all I could see.” I folded my arms in front
of my chest.

“
I understand, Ms. Donavan.
We’ll patrol the area. See if we find anyone who fits the
description. If you need us again, call.”

I nodded. “Yes, I will.”

Although, unless someone was murdering
me, I wasn't sure if I would call. I didn't like the look I was
getting, as if I was somehow bringing this on myself. If only I
could catch this person myself and beat the crap out of them. One
thing for sure, I wasn't going to take being harassed any longer.
When he pulled away, I locked the door, placing the chair
back.

Anthony reappeared.

“
Well, tough guy, did you
find him?” Seth asked.

“
No.” He shook his
head.

“
Thanks for trying,
anyway,” I said.

“
You're welcome. You know
I'd do anything for you.” He looked like a lovesick
puppy.

“
I know.” I gave a half
attempt at a smile. Did I ever know he’d do anything for me, and
that was a huge problem, as far as I was concerned. I wished I had
a living, breathing man to do the same.

Sleep didn’t come easily. I tossed and
turned. In one of my dreams, Cooper and Brianna broke into my house
and attacked me. Brianna looked like the Wicked Witch of the West.
I imagined that was what she really looked like on the inside.
Instead of being pretty and blonde, she was green and
ugly.

***

I woke up with Anthony sitting on the
floor beside the bed staring at me.

“
Good morning,
beautiful.”

“
You scared me.” I clutched
my chest.

“
I'm sorry. I just like to
watch you sleep.” He flashed his bright smile.

“
Anthony, you need to stop
that.”

“
I don't want to
stop.”

“
I can't talk about this
right now. I need to shower and dress for work.” I swung my legs
over the side of the bed.

He wiggled his eyebrows.

“
Get your mind out of the
gutter. Now, leave the room so I can dress.” I pointed toward the
door.

He smiled, then disappeared. I worried
he'd pop up again, although I hoped he was more of a gentleman than
that. Or was he secretly still there and I didn’t know it. That
didn’t seem quite fair. I guess if he got an eyeful there was
nothing I could do about it. After showering, I dressed in my jeans
and a gray turtleneck sweater. I pulled on my black boots and
grabbed my purse.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

After a long day and a steady flow of
customers, I was anxious to make a few phone calls. I didn't bother
ringing Mindy again because I knew she wouldn't answer. I
remembered I had the phone number of another coven member. Becky
wasn’t much help so maybe this woman would be, and if Karyn
couldn't help, maybe she could.