Audrey Claire - Libby Grace 02 - How to Blackmail a Ghost Page 2

  “Mm, this is really good, Sylvia. I’m sorry, but I think Mama is weeping with jealousy in heaven.”

  Sylvia colored with pleasure and thanked me before clumping two more slices onto my plate. I thanked her in kind and turned away as other patrons scrambled for the pie. I had thoughts of where to dispose of the dessert unseen and ran smack into Sadie Barnett.

  “Who weeps in heaven?” she grumbled in disgust.

  “You’ll never know, will you?” Monica said, walking up, and I gasped.

  “Monica!”

  My friend nabbed the plate from my hands and started eating. Leave it to Monica to never bite her tongue. Some days I loved that woman more, and today was one of them. Monica never failed to be there for me, and I could kiss her for saving me from the pie.

  “This is good, though,” she said, savoring the last piece.

  Sadie sneered at Monica. “Libby isn’t fooling anyone. She’s not eating at all. What kind of diet are you on?” Her gaze raked me from head to toe. “I don’t think it’s working very well, dear.”

  I put my hands on my hips. “Do you think because you’re older you can say anything, Sadie? You’re rude, and I’ll thank you to stay out of my business. My eating habits have nothing to do with you.”

  A small crowd began to form around us. This was what Sadie wanted. She liked being the center of attention, but I was relieved when she turned the subject of our argument to the past.

  “I haven’t forgotten what your mother did to me twenty years ago,” Sadie said.

  I stared at her in disbelief. How could a person carry a grudge for their own wrongdoing? “My mother did nothing to you except enter a contest and win.”

  “I was humiliated!”

  “That’s not my problem, Sadie. Nor was it Mama’s. I will not rehash the past with you for the millionth time.”

  “You’re all the same, you Graces. Deceivers!”

  A cold chill raced over my spine. I was not trying to deceive anyone, and my mother was a simple woman living a quiet and happy life in our small town. She loved to cook and make people happy. I resented this woman, who had never been able to get enough attention, for throwing aspersions on my mother’s character.

  “You take that back, Sadie Barnett,” I forced between gritted teeth. “You can say anything you want about me. I don’t care. You will not speak ill of my mama.”

  “That’s not right,” someone else said in the crowd. “God rest that sweet woman’s soul. Not right at all, Sadie.”

  Like a teapot boiling to eruption, the blood ran below Sadie’s neckline to her throat, across her face, and up into her hair. Her pale gaze darted about as if she searched for a friendly face among the crowd. Then she flung back spindly shoulders and raised her chin to scowl at me. A slow smile spread over her face. “I don’t have time for you, Libby. I have bigger fish.”

  With those words, Sadie pushed through the crowd and disappeared. One of the women in the group shook her head with an expression of pity on her face. I recognized her as being a member of the Ladies in Summit’s Relief Association, an organization Mama dragged me into briefly as a child. “Sadie has been running behind the mayor all morning. I doubt Olivia will give her a moment of her time. She’s too busy making sure all the vendors are following the rules and the more influential of our tourists are happy.”

  “Of course,” another said. “That won’t stop Sadie.”

  I knew as well nothing would stop the woman. Leaving the others where they stood gossiping, I headed back to Clark. I had already kept him waiting long enough. At the end of this date, I wanted him to feel he had a good time with me at the very least. I wasn’t so sure I would accept another one, especially if it meant we would be alone. He had attempted to touch my face, and the prospect had both excited and unnerved me. I hadn’t been touched in any capacity by a man in a very long time, but it could not happen now.

  “Clark, I’m sorry I kept you waiting,” I said and sat down. The welcome in his expression warmed me.

  “You’re worth waiting for.”

  I blushed like a schoolgirl. “Thanks. Let me fix you another plate.”

  “No, it’s fine. You haven’t eaten anything. This time I’ll serve you.”

  I almost groaned but let him fix a small plate anyway. One on one, I had plenty of tricks and used them with ease to keep him distracted while the food on my plate disappeared. We strolled side-by-side among the booths and played a couple games. I came to the conclusion I couldn’t hold my concentration and shoot a toy rifle at a target, but I could toss a ring around a jar better than Clark. To his credit, his male ego did not begrudge me winning the bigger stuffed animal, but I did make him carry both.

  When I judged another break was in order, I excused myself from Clark again. I knew he was beginning to think I had bladder issues, or worse, but I tried not to let such thoughts get to me. If I dwelled on it, embarrassment would send me running for the safety of my home, and I might never leave it again.

  Inside the shop, I hovered near the ceiling, listening to the festivities going on in Summit’s Edge. The high school band boomed an enthusiastic if a tad off key tune, and someone announced relay races. I hummed to myself, taking a visual inventory of the store from above. The discovery that I could float came to me a couple days ago, and I suspected I might even be able to fly. How weird was that? A flying ghost. I dared not check it out because I feared floating higher and higher until I left the atmosphere and ended up in space. I had no idea if my fears were justified or more of my unfounded paranoia. I already had a healthy fear of the dark since losing my body, especially since Ian had informed me there was such a being as Death, and he came to claim the dead.

  After I had determined enough time had passed, and I still had lots to do to get the hardware store in order, I materialized on my feet and dressed. I put thoughts of the still chaotic shop records out of my head and started across the street to the park. For some reason, once again, I didn’t go straight back to Clark. I instead cut through a narrow row of cars, trucks, and RVs. Fewer people were over this side, except for the occasional giggling teenager, in the back of said vehicles. I had a mind to rouse them but decided against it. Something else drew me this way, but I couldn’t put my finger on what.

  I rounded an RV that looked like it had seen better days, and a cold chill raced up and down my spine. This sensation would have been normal to anyone else, except as I’ve said, I never felt anything physical. The only person who gave off somewhat of a physical vibe to me was Ian, and I assumed it was because he wasn’t human. The only other time since losing my body I’d felt anything was when I had had possessed Clark. This “new” experience had me on edge. I imagined my heart beat racing and my throat dry if either could in this state. Licking my lips from nervous habit, I crept across the back of the RV and dreaded arriving on the other side. I wanted to turn back the way I came and find Clark, to pretend this foreboding was a figment of my imagination.

  My feet continued forward against my will. Overhead, the sun shined brightly. Festival-goers laughed nearby. Yet, the area surrounding me seemed to close in. Shadows stretched close with menace, and in my fear I could almost see Death approach. Something thumped around the corner. I stopped cold, frozen to the spot. I took one step backward, and the dirt and rocks made no crunch beneath my feet. I swallowed, but silence reigned. Seconds passed, and then the heaviness lifted, and I was free. I strode forward and passed around to the side of the RV. That’s when I saw her, crumpled on the ground. I didn’t need to check her pulse to know Sadie Barnett was dead.

  Chapter Three

  Human compassion drove me foreword to see if there was anything I could do. I dropped to my knees and took Sadie’s hand. Warmth permeated it, but it hung limp in my own, making me want to let go and put distance between us.

  “S-Sadie?” I called, but my voice came out hoarse and choked. “Sadie, are you okay?”

  Common sense said the stillness was unnatural, and poor Sadi
e would not get up again. In my state of mind, I remember also thinking how even backbiting gossips became “poor dears” after they passed. Think rationally, Libby, I chided myself. Yes, I needed to get Clark. He would handle things from here.

  I laid Sadie’s hand down as gently as I could and rose to my feet. I hadn’t moved a step when a high-pitched scream chattered the serenity in that particular corner of the park. I started and glanced up. One of the tourists had returned to her vehicle and spotted Sadie. Her wide, frightened eyes rose to mine, and the sickly pallor to her face made me glance down to be sure I hadn’t lost concentration. I hadn’t.

  “She’s…she’s…” the woman mumbled, staring hard at me.

  Another person arrived and then another, until a crowd formed. I stumbled back another step from Sadie, and then the worse happened. Ken pushed through the crowd. His eyes were red and tearful. He looked from me to Sadie. No one had as yet approached her. Ken’s cry wrenched through me, and he crashed down to his knees over her, sobbing out of control. “Mee-maw! Mee-Maw!”

  I slapped a hand over my mouth. His grandmother? I never knew. How awful for him. Shaking myself, I started toward him to offer a word of comfort. Before I reached him and Sadie, Ken looked up at me, eyes wet and full of rage.

  “You killed her! You did it!” he shouted and then collapsed on Sadie’s chest. Conversations erupted all around us, words in speculation and accusation. Someone mentioned the argument I had earlier with Sadie, insignificant at the time but to be analyzed now. I wasn’t thinking clearly. Worse, I was not concentrating at all. I winked out. Just like that—in front of all those people. I was there and then I was gone. At least, that’s how it must seem to all those present. Faces blurred before me. People whirled this way and that, looking around them.

  “Where did she go?” someone said.

  “Did you see?” another asked.

  “She just…”

  I swallowed and looked toward this third speaker, but Monica shouted from the opposite direction. “Libby?”

  People trampled about, pushing and shoving. Monica looked down and spotted my clothing. I marveled at how she scooped them up and whipped them out of sight in a bag she carried. The woman was a miracle worker.

  I couldn’t answer her, but she straightened and scanned the crowd, worry in her expression. More people arrived, along with Clark. Some passed through me and shivered. I drifted above them all and hurried to the hardware shop. I couldn’t materialize in the park now. Someone might have seen me disappear and demand an explanation right there in front of everyone. My only hope was each person would assume they had been seeing things because of the stress of the situation. For now, I clung to that hope.

  I paced in the shop, chewing on a thumbnail. This was silly. Why was I upset? No one would believe I had anything to do with Sadie’s death. Besides, she was an elderly lady. Most likely, she had passed from natural causes. I nodded to myself. Of course, why was I letting this get to me so much?

  I wandered to the back of the shop, an area I didn’t frequent unless work forced me to. I had made sure every nook and cranny in the front of the store was fully stocked and planned to pass the vinyl doorway no more than once a week, longer if possible. I had discovered George Walsh’s dead body in this area just two weeks previously, and I didn’t want to believe I had started a pattern. I had used a bit of the store’s reserves to pay for someone to come in and clean up the crime scene, but it still gave me the willies. I didn’t by any means sense Death lingering in the store, or other spirits for that matter. That didn’t stop my imagination from suggesting it could happen.

  The bell over the front door jingled, and I squared my shoulders then walked through to greet whoever had come in. Jake darted ahead of Monica with Clark behind my friend. “Mom, did you hear?”

  “Yes, Jake,” I said, cutting him off before he rehashed the news. “And you shouldn’t be so excited about it.”

  “I’m not. I’ve just never seen a dead body before.”

  My gaze flew to Monica’s, and she pursed her lips and shook her head. “You still haven’t, sweet pea. Why don’t you go to your mom’s office and play the games she set up for you in there?”

  Jake whined. “Aww, why can’t I go back to the festival?” He held up a plastic bag with two fish swimming inside. “I almost had another one, and I was ahead of Brian. He only had one.”

  “Sorry, bud,” Clark interjected. “Festivities are suspended for the time being. We’ll see if we can get it going tomorrow, okay?”

  Jake moaned again but gave in. I too lamented the interruption to the celebration. Nothing much got Jake’s nose out of a book, and I was always happy for anything that could get him active.

  As soon as Jake was safely tucked away in my office, I looked at Monica. “Is Ken okay? I had no idea he’s related to Sadie.”

  My friend nodded. “She was his grandmother. His parents spend a lot of time traveling, and he usually stays with friends, but this year he came down to Summit’s Edge. Sadie goes to wherever they live on short visits. At least that’s what I could gather in the few minutes since…”

  The gossip had already begun to spread like wildfire, I gathered. Turning to Clark, I clenched my hands together. “Clark, I didn’t hurt Sadie. I would never do anything like that. Sure, we weren’t friends, but—”

  He laid a hand on my shoulder, silencing me, and I managed to step away as if I hadn’t noticed his attempt to comfort me. I heard his sigh at my back. “I know you have nothing to do with it,” he assured me. “I have to investigate. It’s my job. So I’ll ask you a few questions, okay?”

  I turned back to him. “Of course.”

  His piercing eyes pinned me in place. If he were a vampire, he’d have the look, I surmised. “Why were you over there?”

  “Talk about straight to the chase.” Monica rolled her eyes. “I thought you were cutting her some slack.”

  “Monica.” I appreciated her borderline aggressive personality. She amused me most of the time and never failed to defend me no matter what. I loved her like a sister, and especially after I almost lost her when a murderer tried to kill us both, I would do my best to look out for her as well.

  “What? I’m serious, Libby. You’ve been through enough. I thought he liked you.”

  I groaned and pressed a hand to my face. Clark’s ears flamed. His eyebrows crashed low over his eyes, and he glared at Monica. “My feelings for Libby have nothing to do with my job. I’m sorry this incident has interfered with our date, but I am the chief of police. I couldn’t set an example for my men if I didn’t at least question Libby.”

  “Whatever.” Monica flipped her dreadlocks over her shoulder and stalked off toward the office. That left me to deal with Clark on my own, but I knew Monica wouldn’t have left if she thought Clark meant me harm. I had to calm down and deal with his questions without jumping to conclusions. However, I couldn’t tell him I had a feeling and I followed it to discover Sadie’s body.

  “To answer your question, I just wanted to find a quieter place for a few minutes. No one seemed to be over that area, so I took a short stroll. That’s when I stumbled upon Sadie.”

  I felt his eyes on me, unwavering, but I didn’t look into his gaze. “Was anyone else around?”

  I hesitated. “Maybe some kids making out in a truck, but I didn’t actually see them.”

  “Can you identify them?”

  “No.” I couldn’t. I had told him the truth when I said I saw no one.

  Clark grunted in annoyance. He scribbled notes in a small notebook I didn’t realize he held, and I recalled he had used it the last time during George’s murder investigation. Clark was nothing if not thorough. “Was Sadie alive when you found her?”

  My concentration wavered, but I steeled myself and drew in an unnecessary deep breath. The act calmed me. “No, she wasn’t. I called out her name and took her hand… She didn’t respond, and I checked her pulse. She…she wasn’t…”

  “I under
stand.”

  We were both silent a few minutes, and Clark shattered the calm.

  “Why did you run away, Libby?”

  This time, rather than backing off, I faced him. “Wouldn’t you if everyone was accusing you of murder?” He said nothing. No, Clark would look for the truth until he found it and prove everyone wrong.

  “They want to believe the worse. You know that.”

  “Well whether I stayed or left makes no difference.”

  “They were bordering on a mob mentality,” Monica added unhelpfully when she re-entered the room.

  Clark pinned her with a look that had less affect as it had on me earlier. “That’s exaggerating the situation, don’t you think?”

  “Nope, I don’t.”

  I bit back a laugh at Monica’s stubborn refusal to face reality or to let Clark get on with his job. She stood between the two of us, arms folded, head tilted in expectancy. Clark blew out a breath and snapped his notebook closed.

  “I suppose that’s all for now,” he said. “Libby, I’ll clear up this mess quickly. Cause of death will be investigated, and if it’s a heart attack or stroke, something like that, I will let you know so you can put your mind at ease.” He gave us both a tight nod in dismissal. “Ladies.”

  Monica followed Clark to the door and locked it behind him after he left. “No dull moment around here, huh?”

  “I’ll take dull for a while. Thanks,” I said.

  “I don’t blame you, girl. It seems like trouble follows you.”

  “Rather, I find it.” I explained the funny feeling I had and for the first time let her in on my fear of Death.”

  Monica’s rich brown skin appeared paler than usual after I finished speaking. “Yikes. That is scary, but I doubt this Death person is looking for you, if he does exist. After all, Ian said you’re still tethered to life, right? By the way, how does he even know all this stuff?”