Haunted Fixer-Upper, The (15 page)

“What does she look like?” I asked as I moved closer to the parlor room entrance.

“She has dark hair and a white dress. I’d say based on her style that she’s from the early nineties.”

Reed walked over to where we sto
od. “You can’t be serious. Is every house you buy haunted? Are you a ghost magnet now?”

I scoffed.
“No, just this house and the other one. The first two houses I’ve bought.” I held up two fingers.

“The only two houses you’ve ever bought!”

I stared for a beat, then said, “Touché.”

Mama waved her hands.
“You all and your talk of ghosts. I don’t believe it. I’m going upstairs to look.”

“Just please be careful,
” I called after her.

“
I’ll go watch her,” Lacey said as she followed her up the steps.

I placed my hands on my hips and glared at Reed. “Are we going to have this whole skeptic conversation again?”

He held his hands up. “Of course not. I’d better get back to work before I get in anymore trouble.”

“That’s probably a good idea.” I grinned.

I took off up the stairs to see what trouble my mother was getting into now. When I reached the top of the stairs and didn’t see them I knew that meant trouble. It was like when a small child was quiet you knew they were doing something they shouldn’t.

“Where are you all?” I called out.

“We’re in the bedroom on the right,” Lacey said.

I entered the room on the right and found Lacey and my mother going through a small notebook.

“What did you find? I asked.

“Don’t you look
around this place at all?” Mama placed her hands on her hips.

“
I found this notebook.” Lacey handed the navy blue book to me.

“What is it?” I turned open the cover.

There were appointments and to-do lists written in a pretty cursive handwritten script. “Just looks like someone’s old planner,” I said.

“
There’s a name on the inside cover.” Lacey pointed.

I flipped back to the cover and spotted the name Amber Gaines.

“Do you know who that is?” Lacey asked.

I shook my head.
“No.”

“
That’s the name of the ghost.”

I glanced over at Lacey. “
She told you that?”

My mother scoffed.
Just what I needed, another skeptic.

“
She didn’t tell me for certain. She just gave me her initials. Those were the initials.” She tapped the page.

“
Interesting,” I said softly.

Who was Amber Gaines? I had to find out.
I leafed through a few pages, then stopped with my fingers frozen. The name written on the page practically reached out and slapped me across the face.

“What is it?” Mama asked when she noticed my expression.

“The name.” I pointed. “Stan.”

Amber had had an appointment with Stan on January 24
, 1995. He was probably about eighteen back then. This revelation sent chills down my spine.

Chapter Eighteen

After another long day of work on the house, Reed and I were headed back to the cabin.
My mother and Lacey were headed back to the hotel to shower and nap before meeting me later. I had special plans for us.

“
I think I should say something to your cousin about what her husband said about the police station.”

“Y
ou know, Alabama, he’s accused her of cheating many times,” he said with a hint of wariness.

“
He has?” I asked.

I hadn’t thought about that. It would make se
nse that he’d made up the story. Maybe he really was the killer.

I p
aused for a moment, then said, “Well, that may be the case, but I should still ask her about it.”

“
I think you should leave it to the police.” He navigated around a turn, then glanced at me.

“
Will you still say that I should leave it to the police when you’re staring at metal bars?” I frowned.

“
I have a lawyer, you know,” he said with a crisp nod.

“
Yeah, but what is he doing to help you?” I asked.

“
I trust that he will help. He’s been friends with my uncle for years.” His voice was upbeat, but I knew that was because of increased effort on his part.

“
You are too trusting.” I looked in the rear-view mirror. “Plus, I think someone is following us.”

“
What?” He glanced in the mirror. “Why didn’t you say something before?”

“
I didn’t know anyone was following us until now. It’s that white car behind us.” I turned around for a better look.

“
What makes you think they’re following us?” His gaze darted from the road to the rear-view mirror and back.

“We
ll, the car has taken every turn that we have. I know it’s not a coincidence.” My shoulders tensed and my stomach twisted into a knot.

“
Can you see who is driving the car?” he asked.

“N
o, they’re not close enough.” I didn’t even want to look in the mirror again. I just wanted the car to go away. I’d had enough of stalkers during the last incident.

Reed
blew out a breath as he steered the car around a turn. I hated to put more on his shoulders, but he needed to know. My eyes might have been playing tricks on me, but the person in the car looked like Reed’s ex-girlfriend. Why would she follow us? This was getting stranger by the second.

When we neared the turn for Lou’s place, the car turned off behind us. Whoever was following us knew we’d be turning soon and wanted to get out of sight before passing us. If it was Reed’s ex-girlfriend, I hoped she had just been curious when she’d accidentally spotted us and decided to follow us. Anything other than that was creepy and stalker-
ish.

As for the other topic of his cousin, well,
I’d drop the subject for now. I’d confront Melody on my own and Reed would be none the wiser. Of course Melody might mention it to him, but I’d worry about that later. If I got good information out of her it wouldn’t matter. I also needed to talk with her husband to get his side of the story.

Maybe I could speak with some people who knew
Melody and her husband also. Not family though. I needed someone who wouldn’t be biased. Then there was the ghost at the plantation. The handwriting with Stan’s name flashed in my mind again. I had to ask him if he knew Amber, but the last thing I wanted to do was speak to that man.

Once we reached the cabin, Reed unlocked the door and stepped to the side so that I could enter. As I stepped forward, he grabbed my hand.

Reed moved closer and wrapped his strong arms around my waist. “We’ll go talk with her soon, okay?”

I smiled.
“Okay, that sounds good.”

I’d be talking wi
th her sooner than he realized.

There was something else bothering me too. How would I find out for sure who was haunting the house? How did Stan know the owner of the appointment book, Amber Gaines? And for some reason the ghost wouldn’t talk to Lacey. If we got more activity out of the ghost, Lacey might be able to get more information from her. My paranormal investigating crew was back in Kentucky though. So that ruled out help from them. The only way was to find people to help me here. Or maybe I could investigate the house on my own—just me,
Lacey and my mother. Nope. I’d better find a local paranormal team. My thoughts were so muddled and going a million miles an hour.

With Reed in the bedroom, I pulled out
my laptop and connected to the wifi. I was shocked that there was even a connection way out there in the sticks. I did a Google search and found the number for a local paranormal investigating team. I desperately needed their equipment. I picked up my phone and punched in the number.

When the man said hello, I said, “M
y name is Alabama Hargrove and I have some unusual activity at a home that I just purchased. Am I speaking with Harper Bishop?”

“
Yes. Where do you live?”

“Well, the house isn’t habitable right now, but it’s the
McKeeley Plantation on Highway Four.”

There was a pause, followed by what I assumed was a hand covering the re
ceiver of the phone. Whispering that wasn’t discernible came from the other end of the line. What were they discussing?

“Okay, we can come out,
” he said, matter-of-factly.

He wasn’t much for small talk. We arranged for the team to show up in the morning. I was thankful that they didn’t make me wait for weeks. What would Reed say when I brought
a paranormal investigating team into the house? He surely wouldn’t be surprised.

***

When Reed drifted off to sleep,
I kissed him on the lips, then slipped out of the house on a mission to find Melody. I had her address and hoped that she would be there. I’d enlisted help from my mother and Lacey. If I was going to get in trouble I might as well drag them along with me.

Under the cover of night, I walked around the cabin to
ward the driveway. Moonlight cascaded down, illuminating my way. Crickets sang and frogs croaked around me. Mama and Lacey turned in just as I approached. Mama eased the car down the driveway, but I had warned her to cut the engine as soon as she got there. I hoped Reed or Lou hadn’t noticed the headlights. I walked over to the car and motioned for her to switch seats. There was no way I was letting Mama stay behind the wheel.

She huffed. “Why can’t I drive?”

“Because you’re always complaining about your night blindness and you have no idea where you’re going.” I motioned for her to move again.

She reluctantly climbed into the backseat. Her switch of positions didn’t go without mumbling though.
I was grateful that she hadn’t bought us matching outfits like last time though, so mumbling I could handle.

“How did I get myself into this situation?” Lacey asked. “One day I’m minding my own business in Kentucky, then next
thing I know, I’m out in the woods of Georgia looking for a deranged killer.”

I wanted to laugh, but I knew it wasn’t funny and she’d probably smack me if I let out one chuckle.

As we drove down the quiet street, Lacey asked, “You seem quiet, Bama. What’s going on?”

“Nothing’s going on.”

“Come on. Talk to me,” Lacey said.

I shrugged. I’m sure it’s just the house. Plus, I feel like Reed is keeping something from me. H
e’s been distant from his uncle… and from me for that matter.”

Mama had been listening from the backseat. “Maybe you need to spice things up in the bedroom?”

Lacey giggled. There were some things you wished you’d never heard and Mama’s question was one of them. If only I could erase my memory and pretend she’d never said it.

“Do they police have any leads in the man’s murder?” Lacey asked.

“Not that I know of,” I said.

“Did you notice anything strange at the crime scene?” Lacey flashed a pitying smile.

She probably knew I hated thinking about finding another dead body.

“She needs to stop finding murder victims,” Mama said from her spot in the backseat.

“There wasn’t anything unusual. Other than a piece of peppermint candy that was beside the body.”

“Oh, maybe the killer left it?”

“But why?” I asked. “Does the killer want to be known as the ‘Peppermint Killer’?”

Mama scoffed. “Well, you never know.”

I steered the car out onto the road and realized just how spooky the area was in the dark of night. We probably shouldn’t be going to Melody’s house this late at night, but it was my only chance to speak with her. I didn’t want to chance not having the opportunity to go when Reed was awake, so waiting until tomorrow wasn’t an option. I hated keeping things from him, but it was for his own good.

The tall trees made the road even darker and all I saw were the lines on the road in front of t
he headlights. I expected Bigfoot to step out in front of the car at any moment. Was the man out there in the woods? Was he camping out there or did he really have a home? I refused to believe that I’d seen a ghost. He was a living person and I needed to find out where his house could be. Reed said there weren’t any other homes nearby.

“I think we should stay in the car while you talk to this young lady,” my mother said from her prime spot in the middle of the backseat.

I turned around in the seat to gape at her. “What? The whole reason for you coming was to back me up.”

She straightened her shirt and brushed imaginary lint from her pants trying to avoid my stare.
“It’s just so late. It’s rude to make a visit this late at night.”