Larue Donavon 3 - The Ghoul Next Door (25 page)

“
There’s no smoking,” I
snapped at Mr. Fine when no one was looking.

He glared, took a drag, and then blew
the smoke in my face. I coughed and waved the invisible smoke out
of my face.

“
I love pizza,” Elvis said
as he looked at the slices longingly.

What kind of hell would it be to see a
gooey pepperoni pizza and not be able to take a bite? Complete
torture, I thought.

“
Larue, you just haven’t
been acting right since we left the investigation. What’s going on
with you?” Mindy sat across from me after we’d gotten our cheesy
pizza.

“
What are you talking
about?” I snapped as I shoved a slice of pizza in my
mouth.

Okay. That wasn’t like me. My mood was
growing worse. I had to tell someone what was going on and ask for
help. As much as I wanted to do everything on my own, I knew I had
to ask for help. Why had I just snapped at her? I didn’t want to
talk to her that way, but it had just come out of my mouth. It was
as if I couldn’t control my own voice.

I knew Mindy was right though. I’d
felt the dark thoughts take over my mind and it was time to admit
it once and for all and stop pretending what was happening to me
didn’t exist. The feeling I had wasn’t only because I was working
too much or over-stressed. No, I knew that something more sinister
was going on.

“
I’m sorry.” I rubbed my
temples. “I have no idea why I snapped like that. Too much
pressure, I guess.”

“
I worry about you, Larue.
You don’t even look the same. Your expression has changed. Even
your eye color looks different. Your eyes look bluer.” She picked
at her slice of pizza.

When Mindy said this, I knew I was in
trouble. It hit me hard. This wasn’t normal behavior for me. Either
I was being overcome by a demon, or a spell had been cast on me.
With the events as of late, I couldn’t tell which.

“
Mindy, I think you’re
right.” My stomach twisted into a knot. “I think something is wrong
with me. I haven’t felt myself since before the show started. I
don’t know if it’s the demonic stuff in the house, or if a spell
has been cast on me.”

“
Who would have cast a spell
on you? I thought all of that was behind us now. Brianna is gone
and so is Becky. At least I assume they are gone for good. Do you
think they’ve come back?”

I stared down at my plate. “I don’t
know what to think. I don’t think they’ve come back, but I need to
get answers. This could become very serious.”

She sighed. “I think it already
is.”

“
I still don’t know who sent
the witch’s ball. How will I even begin to figure out a mystery
such as that?”

“
We need to do some
sleuthing.” Mindy smiled and I attempted to return the sentiment. I
knew she was right. If I wanted to save myself, I had to find out
who was attacking me.

***

There had been no return address on
the box. No card or any clues that would lead to its origin. Maybe
I had overlooked something. I made my way to the box that I’d left
in the kitchen. Mindy followed along behind me.

I hadn’t wanted to throw it away in
the hopes that I’d somehow find a clue in it. But I’d looked at it
several times over the last couple days and there had been no
clues. I picked up the box and lifted out the tissue paper
again.

“
It doesn’t have many clues,
huh?” Mindy asked as she stood beside me.

“
Nope.” I shook my
head.

I turned it upside down, thinking
maybe something like a card would fall out like a magician pulling
a rabbit out of his hat. Once again, nothing fell out. Someone
snorted from over my shoulder and I knew without looking who it
was.

“
What do you want?” I
snapped. “You know who sent this ball to me, don’t you? It gives
you great pleasure to let them remain anonymous, doesn’t
you?”

“
What good does it do me to
tell you? I get nothing for it, so why should I?” Candy Cherry
walked around the table, circling us and glaring the whole
time.

“
Because it would be a nice
thing to do.” I stared back.

“
You just want to know who
sent it so you can get rid of me.” She waved her index finger at
me.

“
That is not true. What good
does it do for me to know?” I used the sweetest voice I could
muster. “It’s not as if the person who sent it can tell me how to
get rid of you. But there are ways to get rid of you.”

She snorted.

“
We performed an exorcism on
the show, I think I’m going to ask Cooper to come over and help
cast you out as well.” I smirked.

It did my soul good to get in a little
dig like that. If she thought she was going to hang around and
torment me, she had another think coming.

“
You can try all you want,
but I’m not going anywhere.” She folded her arms in front of her
chest.

“
Say that all you want, but
you’ll see. I’ll get rid of you.”

She let out a huff. “Fine. Maybe I can
give you a few clues.”

I thought she’d see it my way. “Okay.”
I crossed my arms in front of my chest and leaned back. “I’m
listening. You’d better not be yanking my chain again.”

She flashed her dazzling smile. “Would
I do a thing like that?”

I frowned. “Yes. You have and you
would. Now get on with it.”

“
Okay. A woman may or may
not have sent it to you.” She studied her fingernails.

“
What kind of clue is that?
I mean, I assumed it was either a man or a woman. Unless a ghost
delivered it to my front porch, which would still be a man or a
woman. So you’re not helping me much.”

“
Okay, okay. You are a
complete nag. It was a woman.”

I stood up straighter. “Now we’re
getting somewhere. So if you can tell me it was a woman, then why
can’t you just go ahead and come out with who it was?”

“
Because that wouldn’t be
any fun and then I would have failed at my job. I was meant to come
here and harass you. Oops.” She covered her mouth.

“
You were sent here to
harass me? Just because someone sent you here doesn’t mean you
actually have to nag me. Maybe you could just pretend to do
it.”

She shook her head. “No can do. I have
a job to do and I always finish what I start.”

“
So what do you consider a
successful mission as far as harassing me is concerned?”

“
To get rid of you.” She
smiled evilly.

Things had suddenly taken a turn for
the worse with her comment and I hadn’t thought that was possible
before now.

I swallowed hard and mustered up
enough courage to ask. “What do you mean get rid of me?”

“
Exactly what it sounds
like. You’ll be coming with me so we can carry out more devilish
missions.”

“
Like hell I will.” Pun
intended.

“
Clever.” She
smirked.

“
So that’s all you’re going
to tell me? If you are so good at your job, then I’d think you
could share more without giving away the identity of the person who
sent you. Or are you afraid that you can’t handle it? I bet you
can’t tell me anything without letting the demon out of the bag.
You suck,” I said.

Her face turned redder than her dress.
My taunting had really pissed her off. Good. She deserved it.
“You’re just trying to trick me into telling you stuff. I’m not
that stupid.”

I shrugged. “Fine. If you say so. Keep
telling yourself that.”

She glared at me. “She’s involved in
witchcraft,” Candy Cherry said in a hurry.

“
Big deal. I assumed that
much. Is that all you got?” I asked.

“
She has blonde hair and
dresses very stylishly.”

I paused. Karyn had long blonde hair
and dressed very stylishly. But would she have sent me the package?
No. Not without telling me she was sending it. Plus, she wouldn’t
knowingly subject me to this awful spirit on purpose. But now the
seed of doubt had been planted. The spirit had succeeded and I
hadn’t figured out for sure who had sent the witch’s ball. And
Candy Cherry knew exactly what she’d done. She had a sly smile
spread across her face. She was very happy with her
accomplishment.

“
It couldn’t possibly be
anyone you know though, could it?” she asked with a smirk. “No.”
She shook her head. “I didn’t think so.”

I didn’t like this ghost. She probably
had been an equally awful person when she’d been alive too. I’d
find a way to get rid of her. I’d have the last laugh. I wouldn’t
be bullied by spirits. I’d made that decision years ago and I
wasn’t about to let it happen now.

“
You think you’re so clever,
but I don’t need you to figure out who sent the package. I’ll
figure it out on my own.”

“
If you say so, but you
haven’t had much luck with your search yet. Good luck finding the
person.” And with that she disappeared.

Mindy had been staring at the whole
exchange with her mouth agape. I picked up the box and slammed it
down with frustration. I was pretending the box was Candy Cherry’s
head.

Mindy eased the box away from me. “Do
you think Callahan’s ex-girlfriend could have sent it? I mean she
is sending you the letters, so postal mail seems to be her modus
operandi.”

“
Yes, of course, the thought
has crossed my mind,” I snapped.

Mindy ignored my agitation.

“
So confront Callahan. Give
him a chance to explain what is going on.”

“
I showed him the letters.
He said she was just trying to be funny and that he’d talk to her.
After that, I basically kicked him out of my house.”

“
You’re kidding.” Mindy’s
mouth hung open.

“
Can he explain any more
than that? It looks as if it’s all explained right on that page.” I
shoved the latest letter toward Mindy.

She read the page then looked back at
me. “We need to go and check out this place he’s working. Find out
what’s going on. Check out this Ginger chick.”

“
So snoop on him?” I
asked.

“
Exactly.”

We parked behind the building and
inched our way over to the location where I knew Callahan was
working. If he happened to spot us, he’d think we’d lost our minds.
Okay, who was I kidding? He already knew we were nuts.

“
I wonder what she looks
like,” Mindy said.

“
She’s probably gorgeous,” I
whispered back.

“
Which office is it?” Mindy
moved along beside me so closely that people would think we were
attached.

Why were we always snooping around and
spying on people? I didn’t even like doing this stuff, although
apparently I did, because I continued to do it time after time. But
the way I saw it, if people would quit doing weird things then I
wouldn’t have a reason to follow or snoop on them. My spying was
completely justified. Yeah, I’d keep telling myself that until it
was true. When we neared a window, I motioned for Mindy to
stop.

As we stared in the window, I couldn’t
help but think back on the last time we’d done this exact same
thing. It was a ritual with us now.

“
I’m beginning to think we
have a problem with snooping,” I said.

“
You think?” she said with
the binoculars pressed up to her eyes.

“
What are you doing with
those? They’re right there.”

“
You didn’t think I’d come
spying on someone and leave these babies in the car, did you?” She
thrust them toward me. “You can see their facial expressions and
maybe read their lips.”

I sighed. “No, I suppose I didn’t.” I
took the binoculars from her and pressed them against my eyes. “Why
do you think she’s here? Why did she come back for him?”

“
Like a bad penny they
always come back. At least you found Mr. Right instead of Mr.
Steals Your PIN Number and Withdraws Your Checking Account
Balance.”

Mindy had recently found out the guy
she had been dating had stolen money from her. Her luck in the men
department wasn’t any better than mine.

“
It looks as if she thinks
she’s found Mr. Right too. I’m spending time hanging out with dead
people while she’s having a good time with Callahan. I don’t think
I like this situation.”

Ginger and Callahan sat at a desk. Her
thick brown hair hung to her shoulders in smooth waves and her eyes
twinkled brightly. I could tell that much even from all the way out
the freaking window. She touched his hand as her full lips spread
into a bout of laughter. I couldn’t tell if he was laughing too.
Had he told a joke? Maybe the joke was on me.

Mindy squeezed my hand. “I know it
sucks for you, but at least you’re helping the poor lost
souls.”

I nodded. “You’re right. If my love
life has to suffer, well, that’s the sacrifice I’ll have to make.”
Watching them made my stomach sink and I didn’t want to see any
more.