The Ghost and the Mystery Writer (25 page)

When Pete returned to the door, he carried what appeared to be a gold chain in his hand. Melony let out the breath she had been nervously holding.
See, he really did find a necklace—it has all been a coincidence.

“I'm sure this is yours,” Pete said cheerfully, holding out his hand.

Just as Melony moved closer to have a better look, the necklace slipped from his hand and onto the ground.

“No, I'm afraid that's not it,” Melony told him as she reached down to pick the chain up from the ground.

Pete's flashlight hit the back of her skull just as her hand touched the fallen necklace.

S
he wasn't dead
. The blow to her head hadn't killed her as it had her mother. Pete dragged Melony into the house. Before she came to, he used duct tape to secure her wrists, fasten her ankles together, and cover her mouth. He couldn't have her limbs flailing about as he dragged her to his garage, and he didn't want to hear her questions if she regained consciousness.

Pete had liked Melony, he didn't want to do this, but she obviously knew. He had been foolish to assume Jolene hadn't told her daughter. Perhaps Melony had been estranged from her family in her teen and early adult years, but after Doug had died, Jolene had made it clear that fences had been mended, and she was going to New York to be close to her daughter.

Moving her through the house proved easy enough after he rolled her onto the throw rug and slid the bundled load over the linoleum. Getting her from the kitchen to the attached garage proved more difficult, but he managed to do so. Now all he needed to do was hoist her into the trunk of his car.

C
hris stumbled out of bed
, yawned, and scratched his head. He then made his way to the kitchen to get a glass of water. If he stopped to look in a mirror, he would see his hair standing on end and might be impressed he managed to obtain that style without applying a liberal amount of hair wax. But he didn't stop, and even if he had, he probably wouldn't be able to see his reflection, considering the lights were all off.

In the kitchen, he yawned again as he grabbed a glass out of the overhead cupboard and went to fill it with ice and water from the refrigerator door. As he stood before the refrigerator a moment later, holding the glass under the low-pressure waterspout, he yawned again and glanced toward the living room and the sliding door on the far wall, where the moonlight was streaming in.

Still half asleep, he waited patiently for his cup to fill while absently looking at the sliding glass door. His slumber-induced stupor ended abruptly when a woman's face pressed against the glass pane and looked into his house. He managed to maintain hold of the glass, but dropped it a moment later when she stepped into his living room, moving effortlessly through the glass door. It was Jolene Carmichael's spirit.

Glass shattered across Chris's kitchen floor. He made no attempt to clean it up, but instead stood frozen by the refrigerator while Jolene's shadowy form moved toward him. Before she reached the kitchen, the overhead light went on, illuminating the room.

“He has her!” Jolene shouted. “He's going to kill her!”

“Who are you talking about?” Chris asked.

“You must save my daughter!” she begged.

“Melony? Who has Melony?” he asked.

Jolene pointed north. “She's in the trunk of his car. Hurry before he takes her away.”

“Who has her?” he demanded.

“Pete Rogers,” Jolene said, right before she vanished.

Forgetting what he had just dropped, Chris took a step, landing one bare foot on a shard of glass. Letting out a curse, he pulled up his foot, stood on one leg, and gingerly removed the sliver from his heel. Blood dripped from his foot, but he ignored it and managed to jump over the rest of the glass, hopping into the living room, leaving a trail of blood along the way.

He didn't grab shoes or a jacket before heading outside, but he snatched up the flashlight he had left on the coffee table earlier. He had to find out, was Jolene right—did Pete Rogers have Melony locked in his car trunk?

J
oe Morelli hated
the night shift. The only reason he was working was because they were shorthanded, and since Jolene's murder, everyone was putting in extra hours. There had been an increase of calls coming in, reporting suspicious activities. Several minutes earlier, a call had come in from the woman who lived across the street from Chris Glandon.
No, you have to call him Chris Johnson
, he reminded himself, still finding the situation annoying.

According to the caller, someone with a flashlight was lurking around the neighborhood. Joe turned down Beach Drive. Just as he passed Chris's house, he spied a shadowy figure by the back door leading into Pete Rogers's garage. Turning his headlights on the man, Joe stopped his car and demanded the intruder freeze.

To Joe's surprise, Chris Johnson's startled faced looked in his direction, his wild hair standing on end. Despite the cool evening air, Chris stood shirtless and barefoot by Pete's back door, wearing just boxers, while holding his flashlight limply at his side.

Joe stood beside his now parked squad car, its headlights aimed at Pete's house, and ordered Chris to walk toward him. Chris, now shivering, complied. Just as he reached the sidewalk, Pete's porch light turned on, and the front door opened.

“What's going on out here?” Pete demanded.

“That's what I'm trying to find out,” Joe said.

“I'm glad you're here!” Chris said excitedly.

Bemused, Joe looked Chris up and down and said dryly, “I imagine you are.”

“What are you doing here?” Pete demanded.

Joe pointed to Chris, who now hugged his own body and shivered, as if just realizing it was cold outside. “Looked like Chris here was trying to break into your garage.”

“He has Melony in the trunk of his car!” Chris told him. “Quick, you need to get her out!”

“What are you talking about?” Pete asked. “Are you crazy?”

Walking over to the side of the house, Joe glanced down to the door leading into the garage. “There's no window over here, how exactly do you know Melony is in his garage?”

“She's in the trunk of the car!” Chris explained.

“Have you been drinking?” Pete asked.

“When did you last see Melony, Chris?” Joe asked.

Chris stared blankly at Joe. The truth was, he hadn't seen her since the night before.

“
C
an
you prove you were in Chicago at the time of Jolene Carmichael's murder?” Joe asked Chris. The two men sat in the Frederickport Police Department's interrogation room. Once reaching the station, Joe had taken pity on Chris and had loaned him a jacket.

“I told you, let me talk to Chief MacDonald. Rogers is going to get away. Melony's life's in danger.”

“And I told you the chief is at home, and I imagine sound asleep considering it's almost two in the morning. I'm going to repeat my question; can you prove you were in Chicago at the time of Jolene Carmichael's murder?”

“Actually, I was in New York when she was killed. And yes, I can prove I was there. If you aren't going to call the chief for me, I demand I get my phone call, now!”

With a shrug, Joe stood up, looked down at Chris, and said with a smirk, “Fine. I guess I'll have to bring you a phone. Doesn't look like you have your cellphone with you.”

“I'll need a phonebook too,” Chris called out as Joe walked to the door.

Joe paused at the doorway a moment and looked back to Chris. “Just want you to know, the chief's number is unlisted.”

D
anielle didn't wake
up on the first ring. It was the third ring that roused her from slumber. Groggily sitting up in bed, she rubbed her eyes and glanced at the alarm clock. Picking up her cellphone, she looked to see who was calling.

“Frederickport Police Department?” Danielle muttered when she read her phone.

Sitting up in bed, she reached over and turned on the light from her nightstand and then answered the call. “Hello? Who is this?”

“Danielle, it's Chris,” he said breathlessly.

“Why are you calling from the police station?” She glanced at the alarm clock. “It's after two!”

“Listen, Danielle, it's important. Melony's life is in danger, and that jerk Joe Morelli might come in here any minute and take the phone from me.”

Danielle glanced to the closed door leading to the upstairs hallway, thinking of Melony, who she believed was sound asleep under her roof. “What's going on, Chris?”

He then went on to tell her everything he knew.

Danielle was out of her bed and in the hallway before she got off the phone. Throwing open Melony's bedroom door, she found the bed empty.

“She left a while ago,” Walt told her when he appeared in the hallway, standing behind Danielle, who stood in Melony's doorway.

Twirling around to face Walt, the cellphone still in her hand, Danielle paused a brief moment and then raced to the stairs. “Wake Lily! Tell her to get downstairs, quick!”

Walt stood at the top of the stairs and frowned at Danielle, who barreled down the stairs. “Just how am I supposed to do that? What's going on?”

Danielle paused one step away from the first-floor landing and looked back up at Walt. She let out a frustrated groan. “I don't know; you figure it out. I don't have time! Pete Rogers might have gotten away already. He has Melony in the trunk of his car!”

Turning her back to Walt, Danielle continued on, racing for the kitchen door. En route, she pressed the button on her iPhone and summoned Siri. “Call Police Chief McDonald's home phone.”

Barefoot and wearing her pajamas, Danielle grabbed her car keys from the kitchen counter and raced out the back door. A moment later, she was backing out of her driveway while talking to a half-asleep Edward McDonald on her cellphone.

In a rush, she told him Chris's story as she backed up into the street and then headed toward Pete Rogers's house.

“Chief, his garage door is open!” Danielle cried into the phone. As she approached, she could see Rogers's car still parked in his garage, yet the backup lights were on, and it appeared Rogers was preparing to leave.

Stepping on the gas, Danielle pulled her Ford Flex into his driveway, blocked his exit, parked her car, and laid on her horn.