Ghostly Issues (A Harper Harlow Mystery Book 2) (17 page)

“Ugh.” Eric rolled his eyes.

“Technically we’re not doing anything,” Harper said, her cheeks warming at Jared’s words. “There’s nothing here for me to do.”

“You have to do something,” Jenny argued. “I can’t sell a haunted house.”

“Have you considered humans are coming in and moving things?” Jared asked.

Jenny made a “well, duh” face. “No. It never occurred to me.”

“I’m just saying that it’s unlikely there’s a supernatural explanation for this,” Jared said. “The most obvious solution is usually the correct one.”

“The family lives out of town,” Jenny said. “I’m the only one showing the house. No one else is coming in here. I lock the doors whenever I leave.”

Jared moved past Jenny and tugged on the sliding glass door behind the kitchen table, pulling it open with minimal effort. “Maybe they’re getting in through this unlocked door,” he suggested.

“I don’t understand,” Jenny said. “I checked that when I did my first walkthrough.”

Jared hunkered down so he could study the lock. “It looks like someone jimmied it,” he said finally. “These doors are easy to open. The lock on this is ancient. You should put a piece of wood in the track here to make sure people can’t get it open.”

“Okay,” Jenny said, flapping her hands. “Now I’m worried that someone is coming in here and doing illegal things, though.”

“Like what?” Jared asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe they’re cooking meth.”

“I think you watch too much television,” Jared said. “The house would have a noticeable odor if that was going on. Do you have something you can wedge in here?”

Jenny shook her head. “I’ll have to come back tomorrow.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it too much,” Jared offered, tugging the door shut again. “It’s probably kids looking to hang out without parental eyes prying into their business. It doesn’t look like they’re doing too much damage.”

“Well, at least it’s not a ghost,” Jenny said, her pragmatic side taking over.

“That’s something to be happy about,” Harper said.

Jenny sighed. “Well, that’s one problem solved,” she said, turning her predatory gaze to Eric. “I just have one other problem to deal with today. I don’t suppose you want to go to a real estate dinner with me, do you?”

Eric groaned. “I just watched you ask Jared out.”

“He’s got a girlfriend.” Jenny wasn’t bothered by Eric’s attitude. “I’ll bet you look good in a suit.”

“I’m out of here,” Eric muttered, breezing past Harper. “This day just … sucks.”

“Welcome to my world,” Jenny sighed.

“Well that was fun,” Jared said, walking down the cottage’s driveway and waving as Jenny sped off. “She’s … neat.”

“She’s not so bad,” Harper said, her eyes landing on Eric as he paced behind her car. She couldn’t be sure, but it looked like he was talking to himself.

“What’s his deal?”

“We had a talk before Jenny showed up and he’s … unhappy with his lot in life,” Harper replied.

“What did you talk about?”

Harper met Jared’s twinkling gaze and made a face. “You think you’re something special, don’t you?”

“I think
you’re
something special,” Jared replied, grabbing her hand and squeezing it. “That’s why I stopped to get my Harper fix when I should be working.”

“I can’t even pretend to be angry with you when you say sweet things like that,” Harper said. “You’re just too … cute.”

“Luckily for you I’m cute and not gay,” Jared said, leaning over and giving her a quick kiss. “I’m going to do that better later. I don’t want to risk enraging Eric.”

“He’s not really angry,” Harper explained. “He’s … hurt more than anything else.”

“I think he’s disappointed,” Jared corrected. “Who wouldn’t be? He lost the best girl in the world … to me.”

Harper grabbed his face with both of her hands. “I can’t help wanting to kiss you senseless when you say things like that.”

“Don’t fight it.”

Harper gave him a firm kiss. “Better?”

“For now,” Jared said, taking a step back. “What are you going to do now?”

“I’m not sure,” Harper replied. “I was thinking of letting Eric take my car back and walking through the woods.” She pointed toward the tree line at the back of the cottage.

“Why?”

“Don’t you know where that leads?”

Jared shook his head. “I guess I’m still figuring out the geography here,” he said, glancing around. “What’s on the other side of those trees?”

“Well, it’s about a mile walk, but it leads to the town park,” Harper said. “This river is the one I was telling you about the other night. Some of the kids party alongside it.”

“Are you hoping to see Derek?”

“That would be nice,” Harper conceded. “I’m not betting on that, though. I just want to look around. I still think those kids were doing something in the woods that night. Maybe I’ll get lucky and find whatever it is they’re trying to hide.”

“I think that’s a fabulous idea,” Jared said. “I’m going to go with you.”

Harper’s eyebrows flew up her forehead. “You are?”

“I am,” Jared said. “I’ve been considering going through the woods behind where Derek died myself. I might as well go with someone who knows where she’s going so I don’t get lost. You would cry if I never left those woods.”

“Do you want me to invite Eric?”

“What do you think?”

Harper smirked. “I’ll send him back to the office,” she said. “You’re going to have to leave your car here and then circle back around for it.”

“Oh, no,” Jared said. “We’re going to walk back to your office and get your car together and then you’re going to drive me back here to get my car when we’re done. That ensures at least a full hour with you. I’m going to treat it like my afternoon snack.”

“You’re lucky you’re smoking hot,” Harper chided, moving toward her car. “Another woman might think that’s a cheesy line.”

“That’s why I picked you.”

“I thought I swooped in and snapped you up?” Harper challenged.

“I didn’t say I wasn’t thrilled with the swooping.”

“SO,
wait … tell me exactly what I’m looking at geographically here,” Jared instructed twenty minutes later, his fingers linked with Harper’s as she led him closer to the riverbank. “This river winds a lot. This is the same river that pops up over by your house, right?”

“Yes,” Harper replied. “It’s not even remotely straight. It cuts through quite a few different pockets around here. In fact, because the trees are so dense in some spots, it’s virtually impossible to walk the bank throughout the entire town if you want to do it.”

Jared rolled his neck until it cracked. “That means that some of the areas are isolated,” he surmised. “That makes it easier for people to party.”

“You think like a cop,” Harper said. “It also makes it easier for people to fish and have private picnics.”

Jared smirked. “Would you like to have a private picnic with me by the river one day?”

“Are you going to cook?”

“I think I can be persuaded to cook if you promise that we’ll be alone for the entire afternoon.”

“Deal,” Harper said, rolling up to the balls of her feet and planting a soft kiss on his cheek. “We have a spot behind our house where we hung a hammock by the river. It’s beautiful, and no one ever comes by.”

“You have a hammock?” Jared was intrigued. “I’ve always wanted to take a nap in a hammock. I have no idea why. I think I saw it in a movie once.”

“We can definitely take a nap in the hammock,” Harper said, turning her attention back to the riverbank. “When we were teenagers, this is generally where we came to party.”

“No offense, but you don’t strike me as the partying type.”

“I really wasn’t,” Harper admitted. “Wait … was that an insult?”

“It was a compliment,” Jared replied. “I wasn’t a big partier myself. I’m taking it Zander was a partier.”

Harper shrugged. “Zander was … a social butterfly,” she said. “He still is. I like time alone, but Zander never really has enjoyed hanging out by himself. He makes me go with him to get a pedicure because he can’t take it if it’s too quiet.”

“That can remain a thing you two do alone.”

Harper giggled. “He liked to come to a few parties down here back in the day, and I had to come with him because I was always worried someone would pick on him.”

“Mel says that Zander worried people would pick on you, too,” Jared said. “How rough was it when you started doing miraculous things and people figured out you were talking to ghosts?”

“Um … .” Harper didn’t know how to answer the question. She instinctively moved to pull her hand away from Jared, but he stopped her.

“No,” he said. “Tell me.”

“It wasn’t easy,” Harper said, running her free hand through her hair. “I told myself it didn’t matter what they thought, but sometimes it hurt. I’m not going to lie. It doesn’t bother me now. Somewhere along the way I figured out that I wanted to be me and I was fine if other people didn’t like or accept me. I wish I would’ve figured it out in high school because it would’ve made my life easier.”

Jared tugged her to him, wrapping her in a warm hug and kissing her ear. “I like and accept you for exactly who you are,” he whispered. “You’re perfect just the way you are, Heart.”

Harper stilled. “Heart?”

“That’s what I’m going to call you,” Jared said, rocking her slightly. “It’s close to your name and every time I see you my heart jumps.”

Despite herself, Harper couldn’t help but feel a warm glow build throughout her chest. “I think I might cry.”

“Don’t you dare,” Jared ordered, pulling his head back so he could study her face. “It’s not supposed to be a sad thing. You’re supposed to think I’m charming and smother me with kisses.”

“Well, in that case … .” Harper slammed her mouth into Jared’s, taking him by surprise with the force of the kiss. He enthusiastically returned it, splaying his hands over her back and pressing her as close to him as he could manage.

When they finally separated, Jared was breathless. “That was … .”

“Pretty good,” Harper finished. “I’ll do better when we’re in the hammock.”

“I’m definitely looking forward to that,” Jared said, grabbing her hand and urging her back into the woods. “Come on. I want to finish our hike so I can go back to work. The faster I get through this day, the faster we can do that again.”

“You make laugh.”

“You make me smile,” Jared countered.

By the time the couple made it to the park they were mired in a mutual adoration society that neither one of them could explain. Silently they decided to embrace it, because explaining it seemed impossible.

“And we’re back to where this all started,” Jared said, his eyes landing on the merry-go-round. “I didn’t see anything that would lead me to believe anything heavy has been happening in these woods. Did you?”

Harper shook her head. “That doesn’t mean nothing is out there,” she cautioned. “We walked one path. There are quite a few more of them out there. I’m not sure you could find anything if you didn’t know exactly where to look.”

“What are you doing back here?” Derek asked, popping into view and causing Harper to rear back and smack into Jared’s chest.

“What’s wrong?” Jared asked, looking around as he steadied her.

“It’s Derek,” Harper gritted out, catching her breath. “He just … surprised me.”

“Obviously,” Jared said dryly, glaring at the empty spot in front of Harper. “Have some manners, dude. Don’t scare someone just because you can.”

“He can’t see me, can he?” Derek asked, waving his hand in front of Jared’s face.

“No, he can’t,” Harper said, smoothing her shirt. “Stop doing that.”

“What is he doing?” Jared asked.

“Being a pain.”

“I’m not a pain,” Derek argued. “I’m just … being a ghost. Isn’t that what ghosts do?”

“I think it depends on what kind of ghost you want to be,” Harper replied. “What kind of ghost do you want to be?”

“The kind who scares the crap out of assholes,” Derek replied, not missing a beat.

“I’m the only one who can see you,” Harper pointed. “You can’t … wait a second. Are you insinuating I’m an asshole?”

Jared chuckled. “Those are fighting words. Of course, I can’t see you to fight, so that makes things a little more difficult.”

“You’re not an asshole,” Derek said. “That’s not what I meant. You’re really not so bad.”

“Thanks for the compliment.”

“If he’s hitting on you … smack him or something,” Jared instructed.

“He’s not very smart, is he?” Derek asked.

“He’s very smart,” Harper said. “He’s just … out of his element.”

“I heard that,” Jared muttered.

Harper sucked in a steadying breath and tried to focus the conversation on something helpful. “Have you remembered anything?”

“I keep running into a dark wall,” Derek said. “I remember leaving my house after I got the call from David … and then nothing.”

“Did you talk to David today?” Harper asked Jared. “I forgot to ask.”

“We talked to Lexie, Dylan, and Brandon,” Jared replied. “David is still technically a minor and his parents refused to bring him into the station.”

“That’s interesting,” Harper mused. “He’s the one who called Derek and he’s conveniently the only one you can’t talk to. What did the other kids say?”

“They all lied and said they weren’t at the park and had no idea why Derek was there.”

“Do you remember seeing any of them?” Harper asked Derek. “Think hard.”

“What do you think I’ve been doing for the past three days?” Derek grumbled. “I just told you that I keep running into a wall when it comes to that night. I don’t know how to remember.”

“I’m not accusing you of anything,” Harper said, her voice calm as her temper flared. “We’re having trouble figuring out what happened to you. We know it was something bad. All your friends are lying for a reason. You must have some … inkling … why that is.”

“You don’t seem to understand what I’m saying,” Derek snapped. “There’s nothing in my head.”

Harper swallowed the mad urge to laugh as she tried to ignore his unintended insult against himself. “Okay, let’s try this from a different angle,” she suggested. “Were you and your friends doing anything you weren’t supposed to be doing?”

Derek furrowed his brow. “Why would you think that?”

“That wasn’t an answer,” Harper pressed. “We know you guys were doing … something … out here that you didn’t want anyone to know about. What was it?”

“We weren’t doing anything but hanging out.”

He was lying. Harper didn’t know how she knew that, but it was obvious. “We can’t help you if you don’t help us.”

“You can’t help me no matter what,” Derek seethed. “I’m already dead!”

“There’s no reason to yell at me,” Harper shot back. “I can help you move over to the other side when you’re ready. There’s something … better … out there for you. You’re obviously not ready yet, though. You want someone to pay for what happened to you and we can’t make that happen until we know how you died.

“I think you’re putting this wall up because part of you doesn’t want to remember what happened that night,” she continued. “You’re the one making this more difficult than it has to be.”

“You’re talking to me as if I care about helping you,” Derek said. “I don’t care about helping you.”

“Then maybe you should care about helping yourself,” Harper suggested. “Or, better yet, why don’t you consider helping your parents. Do you think that struggling through your death and wondering how you died at the same time is good for them? They want answers.”