The Ghoul Next Door

chapter Twenty-Four

Since Mindy didn’t answer her cell, I left a voice mail, jumped straight into my car and headed for the store. The agitated feeling grew within me. Either I was going crazy or something more sinister was at work. My ghosts had returned for the ride. Of course Mr. Fine and Candy Cherry had been scarce when the going got tough during the investigation.

“I wouldn’t let that letter worry you too much. She’s probably just trying to scare you,” Elvis offered his encouraging words.

Unfortunately, they did little to comfort me.

When I walked through the door of Book Nook, I was somewhat relieved to see Beth had things under control. The store was still standing and she was working… all good signs. Although her appearance seemed a little out of sorts. Her normally tight brown ponytail had loosened and several strands of hair fell on her face. Her green cardigan sweater was twisted as if someone had thrown it on her and her khaki pants were wrinkled like a discarded, crumpled-up piece of paper.

As I approached the counter, she attempted a half-hearted smile. “Someone keeps calling and asking for you. When I ask who’s calling they just hang up.”

I shrugged. “I get a lot of that. There are people who only want to talk to me about the books. I’m sure they’ll call back.”

The letter popped into my head. Had Callahan’s ex-girlfriend been the caller?

“I hardly think you’re an expert on books. They must be desperate for help if they ask you for advice.” Candy Cherry sat on top of the counter with her legs crossed and examined her bright-red fingernails.

“Get down from there,” I yelled.

Beth jumped back, clutching her chest. Her eyes widened and she said, “Did I do something wrong?”

Oh, great. The nasty ghost had finally made me snap. Beth thought I was one chocolate short of a whole box of truffles. What possible explanation would I have for my outburst?

“I’m sorry. I was singing a new song I heard on the radio. ‘Get down from there’ was the chorus.”

She looked at me as if I’d just announced that I had just returned from the planet Altair, where my brain had been scoped for top-secret government information. In other words, like I was a raving lunatic.

“You have a nice voice, Larue,” Elvis winked.

Candy Cherry cackled. “You are completely wackadoodle.” She held her stomach.

It wasn’t that funny.

Elvis shook his head. “Don’t worry, Larue. You’re not wackadoodle, as Candy calls it.”

What the heck? Whatever. She had a lot of room to talk.

Beth’s hands shook. “I don’t know how to say this, but a lot of the books over there were destroyed.” She pointed toward the front of the store.

“What are you talking about?” I whirled around and looked out across the bookstore. Everything seemed normal from my vantage point.

Mr. Fine stood beside Beth and was trying to whisper in her ear. I resisted the urge to tell him to knock it off or I’d kick his ghost butt.

She shook her head and swatted at her ear as if a fly buzzed around. “I don’t know. A customer must have done it. Are you going to fire me?”

I couldn’t afford to fire her. But I didn’t tell her that. Could I afford to keep her though if she was going to allow something like this to happen?

“Where are they?” I asked looking around.

“In the paranormal romance section.” She pointed again.

I hurried over, confused as to what I’d find. When I reached the section, I spotted the books tossed haphazardly around the floor right away.

“Oh, what a mess. You really are a slob.” Candy Cherry shook her head.

I couldn’t answer her at the moment. I was too angry. Plus, Beth would see me and Miss Candy Cherry knew that. She was just harassing me at this point.

“She’s the devil in disguise. Oh yes, she is,” Elvis sang as he moved past.

“I really don’t think this is the time for singing, Elvis,” I said.

Beth stared in astonishment. I’d slipped again. But what was the point of hiding anymore? Everyone would know soon enough that I talked to spirits. As soon as the show aired my secret would be out. No wonder I felt like an outcast. I’d always been holding on to a secret. Maybe it was time that I let it all out.

I must have been in a stunned daze because I didn’t hear Cooper’s new employee, Jane Howe, walk up and stand beside me. She was staring down at the pile of books.

She tsked. “Wow. What happened here?”

Her overpowering rose-scented perfume made my nose itch and I fended off a sneeze. I didn’t want to talk about the current situation, but by her intent focus on my face, it didn’t look as if she’d let me drop the subject.

“Apparently a vandal was in the store,” I said around a sigh.

“In the middle of the day? Where was your employee?” she asked mockingly.

I studied her face. I knew exactly what she meant by that comment. She was implying that if I’d hired her, this wouldn’t have happened. Had she been the one who did this? I was already suspicious of the woman. Had the black magic returned to Magnolia? I wanted her out of my store. But I couldn’t accuse her of doing this without any proof.

“Do you remember me?” she asked around a sly smile.

She knew that I remembered her. What was her game? “Yes, you applied for a job here, right?”

“Yes. How are you?” she asked, but the tone of her voice let me know she really didn’t care.

At least she didn’t kick me for not hiring her. But honestly, how did she think I was at the moment? I wanted to give a snarky answer, but I had to remain polite. My temper was boiling on the inside.

“I’m fine.” I smiled through gritted teeth.

“So you’ve got quite a mess here. Such a shame. Do you know who did it?” she asked with fake concern.

“Never mind about the books. Is there something I can help you with?” I wanted her to get straight to the point.

She tossed her blonde locks back from her shoulder. “I came over for a newspaper.”

Why had she crossed the street for a paper when there was a newspaper machine on the same side of the street as High Fashion? I’d keep my eye on this woman. She was bad news and I’d known it from the moment she walked into Book Nook.

“Sure, the papers are by the register.” I guided her toward the counter.

“No hard feelings about you not hiring me,” she said as she handed me the cash.

I took it from her hand and I swore I felt a zap. A tiny one, but it had been there, nonetheless. The sooner I got her out of the store, the better off I’d be.

“I’m glad you understand,” I said. “It’s just business. Nothing personal.”

“Of course not. It was for the best anyway. I absolutely love working for Cooper. I hope it’ll last past a short-term gig. I have a lot of great ideas for his store.” She waved her arms in a sweeping motion.

Why did a cold chill run down my spine when she said that? Suddenly, I feared for Cooper’s safety with this woman around. But I knew Cooper would laugh off my warning. He thought his aura-reading abilities allowed him to judge anyone’s character. Despite psychic abilities, we were only human and sometimes our skills could be wrong. I feared he’d misjudged this one. Maybe I’d try and talk with him. I also needed to find more information about Jane.

“Well, I’m off. Cooper gave me the rest of the day to myself. Isn’t he sweet?” She flipped her silky blonde hair off her shoulder.

“He’s a doll,” I said wryly.

Jane grabbed the paper and bounced away from the counter. Without looking back, she made her way to the door, her hair swaying as she sashayed.

“What was that all about?” Beth asked.

“I think she’s up to something,” I said.

“What do you mean?”

I stared at the door, then finally addressed Beth. “Are you sure you didn’t see anyone in here when the books were destroyed? Was that woman in here?”

Beth frowned. “I am so sorry. I didn’t see anything. You can take the cost of the books out of my pay.”

I shook my head. “No. No way. I wouldn’t think of it. Please don’t let this worry you. It’s just something that happens sometimes.”

Just one of those things that happened to me on a regular basis as of late. I knew it wasn’t Beth’s fault. It could have easily happened to me if I had been working.

“I’m going back over to pick up the books. I’m glad you left them so I could see. Maybe there’s a clue as to why this person did this.” I turned to walk away and Beth followed closely.

“I figured it was better if you saw exactly what had been done.”

Without looking back at Beth, I said, “Good thinking. I’ll see what types of books were destroyed.”

One back to the pile of books, I bent down to pick one up. It was a paranormal romance with a half-naked man on the cover. I’d read the book. It had a witch as the protagonist. I reached down and grabbed another book… another romance. It also featured witches. Was there a pattern to all this? I grabbed a few more books, but they had different themes, some vampires, werewolves and fairies. I figured it must have just been a random selection after all. So much for my sleuthing ability. It was probably someone who had been looking for a cheap thrill… someone who liked making trouble. Maybe it was time for me to install a security camera.

After Beth helped a customer, she returned the pile of damaged books and helped me pick up the few remaining ones. “I wondered how long it took them to tear up all these books. I still can’t believe that I didn’t hear something.”

I stacked the damaged books into a pile. “You’d be surprised how quickly they probably ripped them up. You could have been helping a customer, and by the time you were finished, they could have destroyed the books and escaped out the front door.”

“I wonder if they took anything?” Beth asked.

“By the looks of these books, I’d say the person wasn’t a fan of reading.” I shook my head. “It makes me sick to see books destroyed.”

I loved the written word. That was why I had the store. Books deserved more respect than to be ripped apart. Not to mention the cost of replacing the books.

“Please, Larue, let me pay for them,” Beth said again.

I touched her arm. “I won’t hear of it. Now don’t mention it again.” I waved my finger and smiled.

She looked down and nodded. If she started crying I wasn’t sure what I’d do. I stopped talking about the damage. Beth already felt bad enough there was no reason to keep mentioning the incident. She needed some time to escape thinking about it. And honestly, so did I. I had enough on my mind already. We carried the books over to the counter and I placed them in a box.

“That’s a beautiful necklace,” Beth said as I leaned down. “Where did you get it? I’d love to have one like that.” Her gaze was locked on the pendant around my neck.

I touched the necklace. “A friend gave it to me.”

“Do you know where she got it?” she asked.

“No, I have no idea.” I shook my head. “I think it had been in her family for a long time.”

I wasn’t about to tell her that the necklace was for the coven and helped with magical powers.

“It has a mesmerizing quality. I don’t know what it is,” she said.

She had no idea.

“It’s ugly if you ask me,” Candy Cherry said.

Yeah, well, I didn’t ask her.

With a soft thud, the necklace slipped from my neck and fell to the floor. I glared at Candy Cherry. Had she purposely made the necklace fall off?

“Oh gosh, let me help you.” Beth rushed over and grabbed the necklace from the ground.

She hadn’t wasted any time grabbing it up.

“Let me put it on you.” Beth stood behind me and draped the chain around my neck. After a minute, she let out a sigh and said, “I can’t get the clasp to stay.”

“That’s okay. I’ll just put it in my purse for now,” I said, taking the necklace from her hand.

Luckily, Beth didn’t have a chance to ask any more prying questions about the necklace. The bell above the door chimed and we looked up.

When Callahan walked through the door with a dozen red roses, I let out a huge sigh of relief. But surprisingly, my agitated feeling remained.

“I’m taking you for a celebratory dinner.” He flashed a wide smile.

In spite of the unpleasant feeling coursing through my body, I was relieved to see him. He probably had no idea that I’d received a letter from his ex-girlfriend. The next question: should I tell him about the letter?

“Am I glad to see you,” I said.

He thrust the flowers forward with an outstretched arm. “I brought you these as congratulations for doing the show. I’m really proud of you.”

I’d had my doubts if Callahan was really happy for me. Lately I’d sensed a hesitation with him. Well, I thought I’d sensed it. Now I knew it was just my imagination. The expression on Callahan’s face was as relaxed and casual as the blue sweater and khakis he was wearing.

“They’re beautiful. Thank you.” I took a whiff.

Beth walked up behind me. “I can put those in water for you if you’d like.”

“Thanks, Beth. That would be great.” I handed over the bouquet.

Callahan and I stepped out onto the sidewalk and walked a few steps before I realized I had my huge purse. It wasn’t the most comfortable thing to carry when taking a stroll. Callahan’s car was parked against the curb.

“Do you mind if I leave my purse in your car?” I asked.

“Sure, I’ll hide it under the front seat. No one will see it there.”

Callahan unlocked his car and stuffed the luggage I called a purse into his car. Then we set out for our magical evening. Candy Cherry, Mr. Fine and Elvis Presley followed along behind us like ducklings. I didn’t want to be the mama duck.