A Walk on the Haunted Side (Haunted Tour Guide Mystery Book 2) (17 page)

“I didn’t expect to see you so soon,” Gail said, looking at me expectantly.

I chuckled. “Yes, actually I’m here to see Sandra.”

“Oh, sure.” Her eyes widened. I knew she was shocked after the conversation we’d had.

“This is Tammy White, you remember her?” I asked.

Gail looked at Tammy. “Yes, she was the one with the big hair.”

I snickered and Tammy cast me a glance. “That was in high school,” Tammy said through gritted teeth.

“Well, we all go through our awkward phases,” Gail said.

“Yes, we do,” I said, glancing over her shoulder. I hoped she’d take the hint and invite us in.

Gail stepped back from the door and motioned for us to enter. “Please come in.”

“Thank you,” Tammy mumbled. She was obviously still thinking about that big hair comment.

“I hope we’re not interrupting anything?” I followed Tammy inside.

Gail chuckled nervously. “No, not at all.”

My stomach did a little flip when I thought about what we were trying to do. I just didn’t want to get caught. I didn’t want to put Gail in the middle of this either, although that was exactly what I was doing. Just because I wanted to solve this didn’t mean I had to drag everyone else in too. What was I thinking? Maybe it wasn’t too late to leave. Sandra might not even be here.

“Well, I can go get Sandra. I believe she’s upstairs.” Gail motioned toward the stairs.

“That would be great. Thank you.” I smiled.

After a pause, Gail said, “Okay. Well, I’ll be right back.”

I knew she was curious about our visit. Would she eavesdrop? That might make her suspicious if I wasn’t involved in the conversation. I would just have to take my chances. We watched Gail walk up the stairs and disappear out of sight.

“Are you scared?” Tammy asked.

I nodded. “Yes, a little.”

Tammy shivered. “I think I might pee my pants I’m so scared.”

“Mind over bladder, Tammy. Everything will be just fine.”

She laughed. “Easy for you to say.” 

“I feel like I did when we tried to sneak out of my parents’ house to go to that concert when we were sixteen.” 

“We would have made it if you hadn’t tripped coming out of the window,” Tammy said.

I rubbed my leg. “I still think I have a little limp from that.”

We laughed until the sound of footsteps caught our attention. Gail was walking back down the stairs. Sandra wasn’t with her and I worried that after all this she wasn’t even here.

Gail caught us staring at her and smiled. “She’ll be right down. I have to say she was just as surprised as I was by your visit.”

I chuckled nervously. “We’re full of surprises today.”

“Would you like something to drink?” Gail asked.

“That would be great…”

I poked Tammy in the side. “No, thank you,” I said.

Gail looked us up and down one more time and then said, “Okay then. Let me know if you need anything.”

“We sure will. Thank you again,” I said.

Gail looked at us again and then finally turned and walked away. Just then the stairs treads squeaked, making us look over. Sandra was coming down. She remained expressionless as she watched us all the way down. When she reached the bottom, she said, “What are you doing here?”

“Hi, Sandra. Do you remember Tammy from the library?” I asked.

She looked at Tammy. “Yes, I remember.”

The silence filled the room.

“Well, we came to tell you about a book sale at the library.”

She quirked an eyebrow. “Oh really?”

“Oh, you know, I forgot to tell Gail about that book she was asking about,” I said. “Tammy can tell you about the sale while I go talk with Gail.”

“Sure.” Tammy forced a smile on her face and motioned toward the parlor.

I walked toward the dining room, but before reaching the room, I looked back. Tammy had gotten Sandra to sit in the chair with her back facing me. Now I just had to sneak by again and get up the stairs.

I eased through the room toward the stairs. So far Tammy was successfully avoiding looking at me. I just hoped Sandra didn’t hear my footsteps. I held my breath while I walked across the floor. Finally, I made it to the stairs. Just a little further and I would at least be out of sight. That was halfway clear.

I tiptoed up the stairs and cursed every squeak they made. So far Sandra hadn’t noticed that I’d gone upstairs. Once upstairs, I had to find her room again. I knew which room was Cady’s and I thought I knew which one was Sandra’s, but since the door had been locked, I wasn’t sure. When I walked by Cady’s door, it was closed. I hoped she didn’t come out and see me.

One door just down the hall was open. I hoped that was Sandra’s room. When I reached the door, I peeked in. There were clothes tossed all around the room and I recognized her purse on the chair by the door. I looked over my shoulder and didn’t see anyone, so I rushed in. I had to hurry. How would I find anything in all this mess? First, I decided to look in her purse for her phone. It might have photos on it. I stuck my hand in the bag and made contact with a phone. If she caught me she would think I was stealing. Rightfully so because that was exactly what it looked like.

I pulled the phone out and quickly found the photo icon. There were no photos on the phone. How could that be? What would I do now? I tossed the phone back in the bag and took a quick look inside. There was nothing else but a wallet and peach-scented hand lotion. I stood in the middle of the room and released a deep breath. Now what? When I looked over at the dresser, I spotted a binder. It was worth a shot. I hurried over and grabbed the binder.

I flipped back the cover and wasn’t prepared for what I found. The whole thing was nothing but photos of Hank.

This was just too creepy. Based on her behavior, I shouldn’t have been surprised. At least now I might find the photo she’d had taken of the two of them before his murder.

I flipped through a couple pages and then stopped when I found the photo. That was exactly what I was looking for. And just as I had suspected, Hank had been wearing the scarf in the photo. He hadn’t been wearing it when his body had been found.

I had to show this to Brannon, but I didn’t want to risk taking her photo binder. I pulled out my phone and snapped a picture of the album. This would be good enough for Brannon to see that Hank had been wearing the scarf. Would he arrest the ex-wife right away? Would that be enough to prove that she had murdered Hank? I just hoped that she didn’t get away with murder. Why had she killed him? I stuffed my phone back in my pocket and placed the album back on the dresser where I’d found it. Sandra would never know that I’d been in the room.

I would have to explain to Brannon how I’d gotten a picture of Sandra’s picture. I supposed being honest was the only choice I had. Would he be upset that I had gone through her things?

I eased out the door and back down the hallway toward the stairs. I’d just reached the top of the staircase when I heard someone coming up. My heart sped up and I panicked. What would I do now? How would I explain being up here again? Could I use the bathroom excuse again? I had to do something quickly. The footsteps were growing louder.

There was a door to my left. I opened the door and discovered it was a closet. The small space was dark and scary. I pushed through my anxiety and squeezed into the tiny room. I would just hide in the closet until the person went by and then I would hurry back downstairs. Tammy was probably wondering what was taking me so long. I wondered if this was Sandra coming up to her room. What if she opened the door and saw me hiding in the closet? Of course she would have no reason to look in here, right?

I remained quiet while I listened to the footsteps. That was when I heard someone talking. It wasn’t Sandra. It was Cady.

I definitely didn’t want her to see me upstairs again. She had been suspicious the first time. As she walked by I tried to listen to the conversation.

“You’re his ex-wife, so I’m not sure what I can do,” Cady said.

My eyes widened. Was she talking with Hank’s ex-wife again? Why? I still didn’t know why she and Darlene had been with Melissa that night. Maybe Cady was talking with Brannon’s ex-wife.

“Listen, I have to go,” Cady said. Her voice faded as she moved down the hall and into her room.

After a few seconds of silence, I peeked out. The bedroom door was closed. I had to hurry out of there before she popped back out again. I opened the door slowly so that it wouldn’t make any noise. I eased the door shut and then rushed over to the stairs. I hadn’t expected the floors to be so slippery though and my shoes slipped. I managed to catch myself before falling all the way down the stairs. That would have been even harder to explain. I still had to worry about Sandra catching me.

I hurried down the stairs as fast as I could without losing my footing. I didn’t hear any talk coming from downstairs so I immediately wondered what they were doing. Had they stopped talking and gone to another room when Cady came back? Where was Gail? The silence was making me nervous. The more steps I took, the longer it seemed to take. Had steps been added since I went up? Finally, I had almost reached the bottom. There were only a couple more steps left.

When I got to the bottom step, I stopped in my tracks.

Sandra was at the bottom with her hand on the banister. She stared at me with a scowl on her face.

“What are you doing up there?” she asked. “I thought you were talking with Gail.”

I smiled. “I just went up to use the bathroom.”

“There is a bathroom down here by the kitchen.”

My eyes widened. “Really? I didn’t know that. I guess Gail forgot to tell me.”

Sandra still stared at me. “I didn’t hear you go up.”

I stepped off the bottom step and around her. She was even taller than I remembered. “I guess I’m light on my feet,” I said with a smile.

Tammy was staring at me as if she was terrified.

“Well, I guess we’re ready to go.” I motioned for Tammy to follow me to the door.

She looked more than relieved. Sandra watched us. I hated that I didn’t get to say goodbye to Gail, but I wanted to get out of there before Sandra asked more questions. Tammy and I stepped out the door and onto the porch.

“That was a close one,” Tammy said.

“Why was she coming upstairs?” I asked.

“I couldn’t stop her. She was finished talking.”

“Sorry it took me so long,” I said.

“That’s okay, but did you find anything?”

I glanced over her with a wry smile. “Did I ever. I’ll show you when we get in the car.”

“Did you steal something?” Tammy asked with panic in her voice.

“No. I took a picture of her picture. Just as I thought, Hank was wearing the scarf before he was murdered.”

“Wow. So what are we going to do?”

“I have to call Brannon and tell him. Now we’ll have to prove that it’s the same scarf.”

“That could be a lot harder than we think.” Tammy slipped behind the wheel.

Once I’d gotten in, I closed the door and then buckled my seatbelt. “That’s what I’m worried about, but if there’s a way we’ll do it.”

Tammy dropped me off at the diner and I immediately called Brannon. Of course he knew that I had no way to prove that Melissa had Hank’s scarf. He promised to look into it though. He also wanted to know if we were on for the tour again tonight. I told him of course we were.

As I walked toward the diner, up ahead I spotted Cady and Melissa talking. They were by the diner’s entrance. Cady was leaning up against the trash can by the door. What I wouldn’t give to hear what they were talking about. I stopped and leaned against the building. I hoped that they didn’t notice me. There was no place to hide. If I could only get closer so that I could eavesdrop. The alley was nearby, but it was on the other side. I would have to either walk past the women to get there, which would defeat the purpose, or I would have to turn around and walk behind the building to get over there. By the time I did that they would be gone. I could try to move closer, but I was sure they would notice me. I was already standing a good chance that they would spot me.

They continued talking. Based on the way Melissa was pointing her finger, I sensed that she was unhappy with Cady. They definitely knew each other. I wondered if Melissa was asking Cady about her ex-husband’s murder. Just then they turned and walked away. I could have followed them, but I knew it would do no good. 

I moved over to the diner’s entrance. I hoped they didn’t come back and see me. What was I saying? I had every right to stand here just like they did. I should have even gone up to them and asked what they were talking about. After all, they were talking right out there in the open.

I pulled out my phone to give Tammy a call. Maybe she wanted to meet me at the diner. Unfortunately, it looked as if I would be headed into the diner alone because she didn’t answer. I would have to leave her a message. I shoved the phone back into my pocket. Now what? I glanced down the sidewalk and didn’t see either woman. I guessed there was nothing left to see or do, so I decided to head into the diner for a quick bite to eat. Although I wasn’t sure I would be able to eat. I had too much on my mind at the moment.  

I’d just turned around to leave when something caught my attention. It was behind the trash can. I peeked over to get a closer look. On the ledge behind the can was a cell phone. I reached behind the can and picked it up. I tried to turn the phone on, but it was dead. The phone had a navy blue protective case. On the back were the initials HMK. My stomach did a flip. Could it be? What were the odds? It was close to the graveyard. And Melissa and Cady had just been beside this trash can.

Had they meant to throw the phone away? How long had it been back there? They could have tossed it and missed the can. The phone might have landed on that little ledge. How else would it have gotten back there? It was too much of a coincidence that the phone had his initials. It had to be his. Now I just needed to find out. I had my phone charger. We had the same kind of phone. I could charge it up to see if it belonged to him. Although I supposed I should call Brannon and tell him I found it.

Before I had a chance to decide what to do, I spotted Melissa and Cady coming back my way. Were they coming back to find the phone? If they saw me there and then couldn’t find the phone they would think that I had taken it. I stuffed it in my pocket and headed down the sidewalk and toward my house. I just hoped they hadn’t seen me and followed me home. I would charge the phone once I got there and see what I could find out.

I would call Brannon of course, but not before I figured out who the phone belonged to. I mean, there was no need to tell him if it wasn’t even Hank’s phone. Yes, I told myself that was the best thing to do. Of course he would want to know why the phone was still charged. He would probably know what I had done, but I would worry about that later.

I hurried down the sidewalk looking over my shoulder every few seconds to see if they were following me. So far I hadn’t seen them back there. I finally made it back to my place and rushed in the door.

I tapped my fingers against the table as I waited for the phone to power on. How long would this take? It seemed as if it had been forever, but in reality it had probably only been a minute. Finally, the phone lit up and I grabbed it like it was a hidden treasure. I tapped on the screen. I looked at the call log, but it had been deleted. I checked the email, but there was nothing set up. The web browser had been deleted too. I shouldn’t have been surprised.

Now I didn’t know for sure if it was his phone, but I was almost positive. It had his initials and the info had been deleted. I supposed it was time for me to give Brannon a call. I picked up my phone and dialed his number.

When he answered, I said, “I think I have something you need to see.”

Brannon said he would be over soon. In the meantime, I had to wait and wonder. I had no idea if this would even help the case, but I hoped it did. If Melissa and Cady had killed Hank then they needed to be arrested.