Haunted Fixer-Upper, The (20 page)

“You have to let me know who you are,” I said as I looked around the room.

Large windows lined the walls, giving me a good view of outside. That was when I was reminded that someone could be out there watching and waiting for me. I had to get out of there before the man in the woods returned. I didn’t want to have to follow him again, but I would if he reappeared. Yeah, I was just asking for trouble.

I moved over to the closet to take a quick peek before I left. It seemed as if this spirit was trying to tell me something and I had to help her out a little and at least look
around for whatever clue she might be trying to lead me to. I pulled open the door and dust flew into my face.

Just then footsteps sounded from behind me. I whirled around but saw nothing. Someone or something was definitely playing tricks with me. I hope
d they were having fun because I wasn’t finding it all that humorous.

Without wasting another minute, I hurried out of the room and closed the door behind me
. My search wasn’t over though. No way. I had to check the other rooms just in case someone might be in there. I knew no living person was in the house, but in order to be a good investigator you had to check all possibilities. I moved from room to room, but just as I suspected, I saw no one, not even a ghost. I even checked the closets just to be sure. I was thankful that I hadn’t found a mouse. But the sound I’d heard was definitely not the sound of a critter, unless the critter was wearing heavy boots.

I went back downstairs to check t
he rest of the house and then I’d clean up the powder. I couldn’t wait to upload the photos to my computer so that I could study the footprints. What type of shoe was it? Would I be able to tell from the pictures? I wished I’d had a path all along the house and then I would have known where the ghost had gone. I needed answers and this was one step in the right direction. Or should I say a few footprints in the right direction?

Chapter Twenty-Three

Stan was supposed to be at the house later this morning. I’d use that opportunity to question him about Amber. In the meantime,
I needed to go to the library and research the house and talk to the locals. Maybe I’d talk with the town historian, Evelyn. That was asking for trouble, I knew, but I had to take that chance. Not that she’d tell me anything though. She was too worried about what paint colors I’d pick. If I told her I thought the house was haunted she’d probably want me to get out right away. Just like she’d wanted Gordon out of the houses he’d bought.

Before my visit to the library,
I decided to go for breakfast at the little diner I’d seen in town since I hadn’t been able to eat my cereal. Right now I needed a little comfort food. I could really go for a stack of blueberry pancakes anyway and if I did a little sleuthing along the way, well, that would make it even better. Reed had taken off bright and early to pick up supplies. I still hadn’t told him about my secret meeting last night. I’d put it off as long as possible.

Lacey and my mother had agreed to meet me at the diner. I knew my mother would love gossiping with the locals and when I’d told her of my plans
, she jumped at the opportunity. Lacey would just go along for the ride. I owed her one for entertaining my mother.

As I drove down the street I spotted the familiar white car following a little distance behind me. Was that Amanda again? Why was she following me? I decided to make a left and see if she followed me. When I navigated around the turn, I looked back in the rear-view mirror. The white car had turned down the street too. I made out the fact that it was a woman following me and this time she was wearing a hat.
Whoever
she
was. This woman was definitely following me though and I wasn’t comfortable with the situation. I had to get to the bottom of this and find out what she wanted.

How long would she follow me? Where should I drive to now to get away from her? I figured I could go back to the cabin. If she followed me all the way there, then I’d ask her what the heck she wanted. If she had enough nerve to follow me there, then she deserved to be confronted.

I pushed on the gas and took the immediate next turn. There was one big problem: I was new to this town and no idea where I was going. I could have turned down a dead-end street for all I knew. My hands had a death grip on the steering wheel and sweat beaded on my forehead. When I looked in the read-view mirror I let out a sigh of relief.

The car had continued on and hadn’t followed me.
I’d gotten a look at the driver though. The person behind the wheel had looked a lot like Evelyn wearing a big ugly hat with an even bigger feather. Did she think it was Kentucky Derby day? Was the woman that obsessed with preserving the property? Was it a coincidence that she and Amanda had the same car? Was it a coincidence that Amanda had ended up behind me twice and then Evelyn? It was a small town, but something told me that wasn’t a coincidence. Who could I ask about Amanda and Evelyn? Someone had to have information about them. If I signed some kind of contract promising not to do anything bad would Evelyn leave me alone?

Had Evelyn
followed Gordon too? I’d think if she followed me, then she’d had to follow him too. After all, he had bought three historic homes. That was three times the crazy for her. Would that be motive enough for her to kill him? She was a petite woman though. How could she have overpowered Gordon? She looked like a sweet little old lady on the outside, but looks could be deceiving.

The neon sign flashed in the window of the diner announcing that it was open twenty-four hours. It looked like a retro diner made out of chrome with awnings over the windows. A place a lot of people would call a “greasy spoon.”
I pulled into the parking lot, but had to circle several times before I found a parking space. I hopped out and locked the car before moving across the lot and into the diner.

Forks and spoons stopped mid-air. All eyes were on me. I’d thought maybe I could blend in with the locals, but obviously I was an outsider and they knew it
. Did they know I was with Reed? And did they think he’d murdered Gordon?

The diner was full of the breakfast crowd
, so I took the only available booth in the corner of the room. The smell of bacon and grease lingered in the air. I slipped into the seat and prayed that everyone would stop focusing their attention on me and go back to their eggs and bacon. I grabbed the menu and attempted to hide my face with it. With any luck, Lacey and Mama would show up soon. I didn’t like being alone with all eyes on me.

Within seconds, the waitress was beside my table, staring down at me expectantly.
Her blonde hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she smiled from ear to ear. Her blue eyes sparkled in the morning sunshine. She actually reminded me of sunshine with her wide, white smile.

“
I’m Carrie.” She continued looking at me, but something told me she wasn’t waiting for my breakfast order.

“
I’m Alabama Hargrove,” I offered with a smile.

S
he stuck out her delicate hand and I shook it.

“
You’re new in town. You bought the McKeeley Plantation, right?” She pointed at me with her pencil.

I nodded and glanced around
, looking for my partners in crime. Where they heck were they when I needed them? Customers were pretending not to watch me, but they were stealing glances at every opportunity. This could be a very awkward meal. Would they watch every bite I took too?

“
Yes, I did buy the house,” I said quietly.

If she knew that I’d purchased the house
, then she also knew that Reed was being questioned for the murder of Gordon Millerton. It was hard to keep things a secret in small towns.

Carrie looked around.
“Don’t pay no mind to the busybodies in here. They act like they’ve never seen a stranger before. You’re a resident of Cobb County now, so you’re not a stranger any more, they’d better get used to it.”

“
Thank you. They have been a little curious.” I glanced around and grimaced at the faces staring back at me.

She smiled again. That wa
s my way of being polite.

Carrie pulled out her
pad of paper and poised her pencil over it. “What can I get for you?”

Normally I would have waited for Lacey and Mama, but I needed something to do to look normal. Sitting there without eating wouldn’t help my dilemma.

“
I’ll have the blueberry pancakes please. And orange juice.” I handed her the menu.

Was it too early to start drinking something stronger than the juice? I needed it.

“I’ll be right back with your juice.” She grabbed my menu and bounced off.

She was nice and seemed friendl
y. I needed that right now. But what would I do while I waited for my food? I pulled out my cell phone and dialed Mama’s number. It rang once and went straight to her voice mail. I waited while a recorded voice took entirely too long to tell me to leave a message. I clicked off before the beep. There was no point in leaving a message. Next, I tried Lacey’s number, but it rang and rang. Where in the heck were they? I was left with the same problem. What would I do while waiting for them to show up?

Maybe I’d
get a paper to read, although that would require getting back up and walking across the restaurant, giving the patrons another chance to watch me. But what would I do if I didn’t get up? Twiddle my thumbs? It was awkward sitting there and doing nothing, so I decided to endure the torture and go retrieve a paper.

I to
ok in a deep breath and steeled myself for the walk across the floor. Maybe if I moved slowly no one would notice. I eased from the booth and pushed to my feet. Immediately everyone looked my way… so much for moving slowly. I stepped across the room and tried to smile at a few staring faces. They nodded back, but they didn’t smile. At least I was acknowledged. That was something, I guessed. It was better than if they’d flipped me off. The walls seemed to be closing in on me. The loud chatter and clinking dishes amplified in my mind. I hoped a panic attack was coming.

The newspaper s
tand was outside in front of the diner. Would they think I was bolting from the restaurant? Carrie looked up and I pointed toward the newspaper stand. She smiled and nodded. I stepped outside into the spring air and let out a deep breath of relief. One half of the torture was over. Now I just needed to get my paper and hurry back to my table. I wouldn’t move slowly this time. The sooner I got back to the table the sooner I would get the attention off me.

After rummaging through my gigantic purse for a few coins,
I slipped change into the machine and pulled the lever. As I grabbed the paper from the stand, I felt a presence behind me. I hugged the paper to my chest and turned around. He was the last person I’d wanted to see.

Chapter
Twenty-Four

Stan stood
behind me. “Good morning, Alabama. How are you?”

His eyes melted right through me. Why did he make my skin crawl so much? It didn’t help that he was so tall and towered over me.
His hair was slicked back away from his face. He wore a worn-out T-shirt, jeans with holes, and boots.

“
Good morning,” I mumbled.

I turned and headed back to
ward the door. I wanted to ask him about Amber, but not when I was alone with him. He gave me the creeps too much for that kind of confrontation.

“
The diner sure is crowded this morning,” he said as he followed closely behind.

He smelled like old aftershave and sweat. Not a good combination.

“Uh-huh,” I responded as I pushed through the door.

I knew where this conversation was headed. He followed me though the door. Heads turned again, but this time people threw up their hands in a wave at Stan. I was glad to s
ee that other people liked him because I sure didn’t enjoy his presence.

“
Do you mind if I sit with you?” he asked.

“
There aren’t any other tables?” Hiding the irritation in my tone was impossible.

“I don’t believe there are.”
He projected his voice, trying to let me know he had the upper hand.

Okay, I hated being rude to people,
really I did, but sometimes it was necessary. You just couldn’t avoid it all the time. Why suffer through an agonizing meal with him when I could just say no and be left alone to enjoy my breakfast with twenty or so people watching me. Such was life. It wasn’t always pretty and sometimes you had to hear the word no. This was one of those days for Stan. I’d ask him about Amber on my way out. That way if he got angry, I’d have Lacey and Mama as back-up. That was if they ever arrived. It was just like my mother to be fashionably late.

“
No,” I said, barely glancing over at him. “I have a lot of thinking to do about the house and I need time alone. Plus, I’m expecting more people so there won’t be room. There are spaces at the counter for you to eat, now if you’ll please excuse me.”

I hurri
ed my steps and didn’t look back at Stan. He was either following me or standing with his mouth wide open in the same spot where I’d shot him down. Had anyone heard me be so blunt with him? Okay, there was no way that I hadn’t come off as rude, but he hadn’t exactly been Mr. Congeniality, so he should be used to that treatment. Did I feel guilty for being rude? Yeah, I couldn’t avoid that, but nonetheless, it didn’t stop me from doing it.