Haunted Renovation Mystery 1 - Flip That Haunted House (21 page)

He stared me right in the eyes and I stood
immobile. In a fraction of a second, he disappeared. Bracing myself
for another encounter, I gulped in air, then blew it out. What
happened to our souls once we’d passed away always held my
fascination and I was getting a lifetime’s worth tonight. I ran
over to the window, praying he wouldn’t pop up in front of me,
giving me a heart attack, and searched for him.

I spotted the ghost on the front lawn—the
light from Reed’s house making him barely visible. The silent
stranger walked across the yard, to a place near the front steps.
He pointed downward to a location on the ground. A chill ran up and
down my spine, as I stared wide-eyed at the eerie scene from the
parlor window. What did he mean? Not knowing what he wanted from me
was incredibly frustrating. But if I felt like that, then how did
he feel? It wasn’t a question of if he felt emotion, because I knew
by the expression in his eyes, he did. I’d always thought of the
scientific aspect of the afterlife…until now. Witnessing the spirit
amazed me and left me without a doubt that there was something more
when we passed from this world. As I watched in awe, he moved
toward the house, then, vanished as quickly as he’d appeared.

I wanted to know the ghost’s identity. An
overwhelming need to help him pervaded me. No one should ever be
dealt his fate. I needed to hit the library and search for answers.
Maybe I’d discover something about the obvious tragedy that had
taken place on the property. Something had happened to him, I felt
it. Did he die in the house? His soul was trapped for some reason
and I needed to know why.

Tomorrow, I’d visit the library. There had
to be information about the history of the house. No sooner had I
grabbed my purse to leave, when again, another loud bang rang out.
The sound came from underneath the house this time—in the basement.
I eased back to the foyer and peered around the corner. The
basement door was cracked-open. I inched over and stood at the top
of the stairs, peering down at the black hole in the ground.

“Hello,” I called, as if anyone would
answer.

Darkness enveloped the space and it was hard
for my eyes to adjust. The only light was a single bulb at the
bottom of the stairs and I’d have to make my way to it in the dark.
Why wasn’t there a switch at the top? The small light provided from
the open door at the top of the stairs would have to guide my way.
Doubts filled my mind as I placed my foot on the first step. My
teeth chattered as my nerves set in. Had the ghost lured me along
just to lock me down there? For all I knew, it was an evil spirit
pretending to need help in order to trick me. I knew little about
demons…I’d seen
The Exorcist
before, and I didn’t want any
part of that.

I continued down the steps, easing deeper
and deeper into the dark pit. I held my breath, waiting for
something to jump out at me. My hand clutched the railing in a
death grip as I descended. I moved slowly so I wouldn’t lose my
footing. When I made it to the bottom step, without breaking a leg,
I stepped onto the dirt floor. The space was pitch-black—I could
barely make out my hand in front of my face. A sickening knot in my
stomach returned, I’d grown accustomed to the feeling for the past
few days. The sliver of light let off little glow, but just enough
to see my destination. I inched across the floor. After what seemed
like an eternity, I reached the bulb and yanked the string. Dim
light shone around the space.

It was even scarier than I had remembered.
I’d come down once when I first looked at the house and had vowed
never to return again. Now look at me…standing down here by myself
in the middle of the night. Well, except for the ghost who, at the
moment, was nowhere in sight. I shuddered at the thought of
encountering little creatures…namely, rats. As I stood there eyeing
the ground for any sign of a rodent, I realized I had no clue what
I was down there for. Did the ghost live in this gloomy space? Not
the best living conditions, to say the least. Although, I’d seen
some bachelor pads that didn’t look much better. With that thought
in mind, I had no inkling what to do next. I inched around the
space. It was eerily void of anything. The further I moved, the
more darkness surrounded me. The small bulb didn’t provide ample
light to illuminate the entire basement.

After a minute of glancing around, I decided
being down there was pointless. Whatever he had wanted to tell me,
I wasn’t sure I’d ever figure out. A loud noise drew my attention
to the top of the stairs. Was someone up there? Maybe the ghost or
Reed? I climbed the stairs, glad to put distance between the gloomy
space and me. I eased the door shut and looked around. Still no one
but me.

After a second, a glimpse of movement out of
the corner of my eye caught my attention. I walked into the parlor
and peered out the window. A silhouette darted from the side of the
house. It didn’t take a hammer over my head to know someone had
been peeping in the window watching me. And it wasn’t a ghost this
time. My skin crawled. The scariest part?—the person was dressed
all in black just like the person I’d seen running from Cooper
Payne’s building.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

I ran to the far wall and huddled in the
corner. A smaller window was next to me. I inched my head over and
looked out into the darkness, trying to ascertain where the person
had gone. My body trembled. I scrunched down low, hoping to hide
from the trespasser—I didn’t want whoever was out there to know my
movements. The small sliver of light from Reed’s porch light did
nothing to illuminate the area. I couldn’t tell where the person
went or in what direction. In the distance, a dog barked and I
wondered if his howling was at the mysterious black silhouette.

A knock rapped at the door and I nearly
jumped out of my skin. I froze. What was I thinking coming here in
the middle of the night with a killer on the loose—and after me?
Clearly, not one of my better ideas. I inched across the room, my
back pressed close to the wall. As I neared the door, a soft voice
called out.

“Bama?”

“Lacey?” I ran to the door “Is that
you?”

“Yeah, let me in.”

I yanked open the door. “What are you doing
here?”

Lacey and her husband stood in front of the
door. “We went to a late movie. We saw the light on and your car in
the drive as we drove by and decided to stop. What are you doing
here? You said you were staying home tonight.”

I stared at her. “I couldn’t sleep.”

She scowled. “You look like you saw a ghost.
Have they been gliding around tonight?” She looked over my
shoulder.

“Um…no.” My thoughts were muffled.

“What is it?” she asked.

I tried to catch my breath. “Someone was
messing around at the side of the house. I think they’d been
peeping in the window, watching me.” I pointed to the window.

“Bastards,” she said.

Lacey turned and looked at Rob. He looked
out over the dark yard. “You shouldn’t be here alone. Come on.
We’ll follow you home.”

“I’ll check around the house,” Rob said.

I nodded. “Let me turn out the light and
lock the door.”

Lacey waited while I hurried through the
rooms and flipped the switch on the chandelier. After I secured the
front door, she grabbed my arm and led me down the steps to the
car. My teeth chattered, but at the same time, my palms were
sweaty. I scanned the darkness as we rushed across the drive. She
closed my door, after I jumped in, then leapt in her car.

Rob ran back from around the house. He
nodded. “I didn’t see anything.”

“Maybe I was imagining things.”

“I don’t think so,” Lacey said. “Come on,
let’s go.”

With my hands still shaking, I pulled out of
the driveway with Rob and Lacey following close behind. When I
glanced in the rearview mirror at Reed’s house, no lights shone.
Had he seen us? As I made my way home, still shaken up, I was at my
wits’ end. I wasn’t sure if calling the police would help, but I
knew Lacey would insist. It hadn’t helped any in the past,
though.

“Your taillights are broken,” Lacey said as
I climbed out of my car.

“Are you kidding me?”

“Nope. Take a look for yourself.” She
pointed.

I moved around to inspect the damage. The
bulbs dangled out from the broken encasements. The red covering was
shredded by an unknown weapon. Thank goodness Lacey stopped by and
had followed me home. If the Rosewood Police had stopped me, I’d
probably not only have gotten a big fine, but spent the night in
jail. They were just looking for a reason to arrest me.

Lacey put her arm around me. “Come on. Let’s
get you inside.” She gestured for Rob to follow. He jumped out and
trailed us.

Stars sparkled overhead and the night air
was nippy. A slight breeze drifted past. Thoughts of the creepy
person lurking in the darkness filled my mind. I’d never really
liked the dark anyway—add a deranged killer to the mix and I was
terrified. Was this person trying to kill my car or me? Or just
intimidate me?

Once safely inside, Lacey picked up the
phone with force and determination that said,
don’t mess with
me
.

“I’m calling the police to report this. Just
leave everything to me,” she said as she punched the numbers on the
phone.

She was right to make the call, though. If I
called Sheriff Bass one more time, he would arrest me for
harassment.

Rob paced as we waited.

“They’re sending an officer out to take a
report. In the meantime, we need to make sure all of the blinds are
shut and windows locked.”

Something my mother constantly had warned me
about.

“Why would someone vandalize my car?” I
asked as I moved from window to window.

Lacey shrugged. “Maybe it was just
teenagers. I’ve heard of some break-ins around this area.”

“Maybe.” I sighed.

“I can fix those tail lights for you,” Rob
offered.

“Thank you. I think it’s almost time for a
new car.” I rubbed my temples.

“It is a little dinged.” Lacey laughed.

“I have an old bike out in my garage you can
use.” He grinned.

“I may take you up on your offer.”

A few seconds later, the cruiser pulled up,
its headlights illuminating the room as he parked.

Rob peeked out the window. “The police are
here.” He moved to the door.

“Here goes. This should be interesting,” I
said. Lacey gave a look of sympathy.

“Thanks for coming so quickly.” Rob held the
door open.

I cringed when I saw the same officer
saunter through the door. The smirk was already plastered on his
face. He looked even less interested the second time around,
although I hadn’t thought it possible. We sat huddled in my tiny
living room. The officer took the seat across from the sofa. He
pulled out his pad again and sat ramrod straight, probably from his
too stiff uniform. His shirt was so starched he probably couldn’t
help but sit at attention. The badge on his chest sparkled under
the light. He positioned the pen over the paper.

I explained every detail and he scribbled,
never looking up. But his eyebrow arched more with every other
word. What was it about the Rosewood Police Department? They seemed
downright uninterested to me. No doubt, I was a regular topic of
discussion at their headquarters.

“So what you’re saying is this person was
dressed in all black. It was dark and you couldn’t make out any
more than that? Kind of like the night you found Payne, huh?” he
asked with a smirk.

“That’s right.” I smirked back.
How about
a taste of your own medicine?

“Will you patrol the area Officer Butcher?”
Rob asked, trying to save me from being carted off to jail.

“Yes, we’ll do what we can,” he answered
evasively, while glaring at me. “We’ll be in touch.” He tipped his
hat. “I’ll let myself out.”

“Bama, I don’t think you should patronize
the police.” Lacey said, closing the door.

“I’m sick of not being taken seriously,
Lacey.”

She stretched her arms around me, then
hugged. “I know you are. I’m sure they’ll find who did this, but in
the mean time, we don’t need you in jail.”

She was right. I could safely say I wouldn’t
enjoy jail. I’d never been and never wanted to, for that
matter.

“You’ll be all right?” Lacey asked.

“I’ll be fine.”

“Having the cops in the area should scare
them away,” she offered. “Do you want to spend the night at my
house?”

I didn’t bother to tell her I doubted the
sincerity of his promise of patrolling.

“No, no.” I waved off her offer. “I’ll be
fine. Thanks for everything, y’all.”

“Lock the door behind us,” she warned. “And
no more investigating or out at night by yourself.”

I nodded and waved them off, then clicked
the deadbolt. I shouldn’t have gone to the house. I’d secretly
hoped Reed would be around—I didn’t have the nerve to go to his
house.

Why had he kissed me and walked out?

Chapter Thirty-Eight