The Ghost Files 3.5 Read online

  Caleb watched him walk away, his face having aged ten years since he’d seen the man at the police station a few days ago. Blood or not, he was Dan’s father. No one would ever take that from either of them.

  Mary came around the corner, and Caleb jumped up. Ava giggled, and he shot her a glare. He’d been thinking about their kiss all day.

  “You headed home?” he asked when she slowed down, seeing them.

  “Yeah.” She rolled her shoulders, trying to relieve the pressure. “I’m taking Mom’s car home. She still has another six hours on shift.”

  “I’ll walk you to your car,” Caleb offered, herding her toward the elevator, ignoring Ava’s laughter. Thankfully, Mary was too tired to pay attention to it.

  The elevator ride down to the main floor consisted of Mary yawning and Caleb watching the floor numbers change. He fidgeted and kept peeking at her out of the corner of his eye. When the doors dinged open, he almost jumped. Shaking his head, he followed the subdued ray of sunshine out of the elevator and into the brightly lit main floor.

  By the time they reached Mrs. Cross’s car, Caleb felt hot and sweaty. He wanted to say something, but he was tongue-tied. Never happened to him before. His mother adored her, and it made him nervous.

  “Thanks for walking me down.” She turned those sleepy blue eyes up at him, and he swallowed thickly.

  “No problem.”

  “Well, I guess I should go…” She stared pointedly at him. He leaned against the car door, not only for support, but to keep her from driving away.

  “I wanted to ask you something.” An idea was forming.

  She raised her eyebrows curiously.

  “There’s this thing Saturday night,” he said. “It’s the Policemen’s Ball. Dad is making me and Eli go. Well, only if Dan pulls through. None of us is leaving until we know something.”

  He was babbling, and she was looking like she wanted to shove him out of her way and drive off.

  “Anyway, I was thinking you might like to go…with me.”

  “You’re asking me out on a date?”

  “No…well, yeah, I guess. I was a jerk, and I wanted to make it up to you. So I thought you might want to go to the ball.”

  “So it’s not a date?” She looked dubious.

  “No…maybe…I don’t know.”

  A look his mother often gave Eli when he was frustrating her crossed Mary’s face, and he winced. That wasn’t a good thing.

  “Well, Caleb, when you figure it out, I’ll let you know. Now move so I can go home and get some sleep.”

  Caleb moved at the anger in her voice. Great. He’d gone and mucked that up worse than the last time she’d been mad at him. He watched her drive off, feeling like a bumbling fool. No help for it; he’d made an idiot of himself.

  He closed his eyes and shook his head before going back inside to check on Dan and then sit with Ava. All they could really do now was wait and see what happened.

  ***

  Mary yawned and answered her phone on the third ring. “Mmm…hello?”

  “Hi, Mary, it’s Thalia Flynn.”

  Mary rubbed her eyes and sat up, coming awake at the sound of the woman’s voice. “Hi, Mrs. Flynn.”

  “Did I wake you?” she fretted. “I know you’ve all been at the hospital with that young man.”

  “It’s fine.” Mary glanced at the clock. 9:45 a.m. She’d gotten to bed late last night, sitting up and talking with Mattie.

  “How is he?”

  “He pulled through,” Mary told her, stifling another yawn. She still didn’t know all the details, but whatever had brought Dan back was some powerful juju. She snorted at her own thought. Yup, way too many episodes of Supernatural for her.

  “That’s wonderful!” Mrs. Flynn sounded genuinely pleased.

  “Did you need something, Mrs. Flynn?” she asked, deciding to hurry this along. She might get in a few more hours of sleep.

  “Yes.” She actually heard her take a deep breath. “Noah seems to get on with you so well. He wasn’t at all fussy with you, was he?”

  “No.” Mary shoved her feet into her slippers. The need to pee was becoming urgent. “He slept most of the night.”

  “He hasn’t taken to any of the other sitters.” Mrs. Flynn’s words were rushed. “Anthony has to work. They just found the third child who has gone missing in the Charlotte area this morning. He’ll be cloistered with the police force all day and most of the night. I need to go out tonight. I made plans for a function that I can’t miss, especially with Anthony’s promotion…”

  “It’s cool, Mrs. Flynn,” Mary interrupted her before she went any further. “I’d be happy to watch Noah for you.” She’d just call Caleb if she needed help. She made sure to put his number in her phone when they were at the hospital.

  “Oh, thank you!”

  Mary laughed and promised to be there by seven. She ran to the bathroom once she hung up and let out a long sigh of relief. Trying to hold it when you first woke up was not advised. After she’d washed her hands, she peeked in Mattie’s room, finding her stumbling around in six-inch heels. The girl looked like she was gonna break her neck. Mary went to her closet and found the answer to Mattie’s prayers.

  “You’ve never worn heels before, have you?” Mary asked, a laugh bubbling out as she watched Mattie wobble on the heels.

  “Yes, I have worn heels before!” Mattie all but yelled. “Just not six-inch heels. God, this is torture.”

  “Did you buy a second pair of shoes that aren’t so high?”

  “Have you ever gone clothes shopping with Meg?” she asked dryly. “It’s very unpleasant, and once she found out I had a credit card with no limit…” Mattie shook her head in disgust. “She went nuts making me try on dresses.”

  Mary laughed at Mattie’s surly tone. “Well, then, I guess it’s a good thing I still have my shoes from last year’s Christmas formal, isn’t it?”

  “You have shoes?” Mattie turned and fell headfirst onto the carpet. She ripped the shoes off and tossed them aside. “Where?”

  “Two-inch heels.” She pulled the shoes from behind her back and tossed them to the panicked girl. “Think you can stay upright in those?”

  The black, strappy heels fit her perfectly, and she could not only stand, but walk with a barely discernable wobble. “Perfect, Mary! Thank you so much!”

  “So how did shopping with the backstabber go?” Mary asked, flopping down on Mattie’s bed.

  “It was nice.”

  “That bad, huh?”

  Her sigh filled the entire room. “Can we not talk about it?”

  “Sure thing.”

  “So are you accepting Caleb’s invite to the ball tomorrow night?” Mattie asked, falling beside her on the bed.

  “Why should I?” Mary grumbled. “He’s only doing it because he wants to apologize for being an ass.”

  “That’s true, but why let that stop you from going to the ‘party of the year,’ as Meg calls it? Go have fun, dance with some very cute cops.”

  Mary sighed. Caleb had asked her to the dance while they were in the hospital. It felt more like a pity date than anything else. She was not a girl to be pitied.

  “Look, go show him that just because he’s blind, doesn’t mean everyone else is. How’s Caleb ever going to see you if you don’t show him what he’s missing? Besides, you might meet someone who puts Caleb to shame.”

  Mary gaped at her. The girl was crazy if she thought anyone could put Caleb Malone to shame. “Oh my God, have you seen his abs? I don’t think there’s anyone who can put him to shame.”

  “The point is to make him jealous, Mary. Who cares if the other guys have better abs or not?”

  “I don’t have a dress,” she said. “And no shoes, now that you have mine.”

  “Ah, but I have a credit card with no limit,” Mattie reminded her. “I can buy you a dress and a new pair of shoes.”

  “Mattie, you hate having that card,” Mary argued. “Just the thought of using it
almost makes you hyperventilate.”

  “Spending it on myself does that,” she qualified. “Spending it on you? Different story altogether.”

  “I call BS,” Mary said. “You absolutely hate even looking at it. I think you’d cut it up and flush it if you could.”

  “Okay, I’ll admit I don’t like the money my father is doing his best to foist upon me, but that doesn’t mean I can’t buy you a dress and shoes. It’ll make me feel better if I spend it on other people, anyway.”

  Mary stared at her foster sister and thanked God for the thousandth time he’d brought Mattie into their lives. The girl was one of the most unselfish people she’d ever met. A soft laugh escaped her lips. “You try so hard to pretend to be tough, but you’re nothing but a big old softy.”

  “Bite your tongue!” Mattie scowled at her. “I am not a softy!”

  Mary laughed harder at her outrage. Mattie sat up and grabbed her phone from where it was charging on the nightstand, putting Mary’s danger sensors on red alert. Her laughter died as she narrowed her eyes at Mattie. What was she up to?

  “Hey, Caleb, it’s Mattie.”

  Mary’s eyes widened in a kind of horrified shock. She did not!

  “Don’t you dare,” Mary mouthed at her.

  Mattie ignored her. “Mary decided she wanted to go the party after all. Pick her up at seven tomorrow night.”

  Eyes wide and mouth open, Mary tried for a glare, but it just wasn’t forming. She was too shocked.

  “Because she’s currently trying on dresses,” Mattie answered whatever he’d asked. “I said I’d call while she figures out which lacy bra she wants to wear with her dress. It’s really hard to find all the right accessories for a dress, wouldn’t you say?”

  Ohmygosh…she did not just say lacy bra?

  “Yup. Seven on the dot. Don’t be late.” She disconnected the call.

  “I am seriously going to murder you!” Mary threw a pillow at her head.

  “Don’t tell me I’m going soft again.” She laughed before letting out a dramatic sigh. “When do you want to go shopping? We should probably go back to that little boutique where I got my dress. It has some nice stuff.”

  “Um, Mattie, I saw the price tag on your dress.” Mary frowned. “Not sure I should let you buy something that expensive for me.”

  “You can’t wear just anything,” she told Mary. “It’s a masquerade ball based on an old-fashioned cotillion. You have to have a specific type of dress for this party. That’s the only place in town that sells them, so deal with it.”

  Mary did not feel comfortable letting Mattie spend that kind of money on her, even if she could afford it. It just didn’t feel right, but she could tell Mattie wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

  “Give me an hour?” she asked, finally caving. “I need to shower and make sure we put dinner in the crockpot for tonight.”

  “Sure,” Mattie agreed. “Come get me when you’re ready.”

  Mary ran back to her room and dived into the closet, pulling out capris and a white tank top. She needed to shower quickly. She had to shop and still get back in time to babysit.

  Chapter Six

  Eli smacked Caleb in the head.

  “Hey!” Caleb shouted at his brother, irritated.

  “Get your head out of thoughts of Mary in lacy underwear. Dad wants to see us in the library.”

  Caleb groaned. Why, oh, why had he put that call on speakerphone? Eli had been teasing him all day. Not that he hadn’t thought about Mary in lacy underwear…once the image was there, it just wouldn’t go away. What he didn’t need was Eli ribbing him about it.

  Their father was on the phone when they came in. He put a finger to his lips when he saw them. They took a seat on the couch and waited. Caleb looked around, seeing books spread out across the massive table in the middle of the room. Curious, he got up and went over to examine them.

  He noticed straightaway they were demon texts. He recognized the symbols on some of them. They were old, the covers a pure white that reeked of sulphur. What was his dad doing consulting demonic writing?

  “Yes, yes, mayor. I understand. This will be handled.” James paused. “Yes, sir, you have my word.”

  He closed his eyes and rubbed his head when he finally hung up. “We have a problem.”

  “When don’t we?” Eli asked sardonically, earning himself a look of reprimand.

  “This is serious, Eli. You’ve seen the reports of the missing children over the last few weeks? They just found the latest little girl this morning at a dump site.”

  “Okay?” Eli asked, curious.

  Caleb was only half listening to the conversation. His entire focus was on the passage he was reading about the demon Deleriel. He was supposedly the first demon made, and the right hand of Lucifer himself. The demon fed off the souls of children.

  “Caleb?”

  “Hmm?” He kept reading, and his eyes widened. The demon would always pick one child whose soul shined brighter than the others and attach himself to him or her, feeding off the little one and growing stronger while the child grew weaker. The host could be determined when two shadows stalked the child.

  “These murders aren’t the work of an ordinary serial killer,” James said. “They are the work of one of the most powerful demons to walk the Earth.”

  “Deleriel.” Caleb finally looked up. “There isn’t a way to stop him in this text.”

  “No.” His father shook his head. “I think the little boy you were telling me about is his host. I also think we caught him in the early stages of his ownership.”

  “So what are we going to do?”

  “First, I need to go see the mayor about the murders. Then I need to talk to the boy’s father. I know him. We’ve worked a few cases together. He’ll be open to what we’ll need to do.”

  “What exactly do we need to do?” Caleb asked.

  “Exorcise the demon from the child.”

  Caleb’s eyes widened. They’d only seen their father perform one exorcism, and that had nearly broken him. He’d sat for weeks, desolate and haunted. This wasn’t something to be taken on lightly, and if James Malone was suggesting it, things had to be dire.

  ***

  Mary checked her watch again. 6:57 p.m. She’d just made it. For a while there, she was worried they wouldn’t get home in time, but she needn’t have feared. Mattie truly hated shopping. She’d rushed Mary through the whole process, earning her a few put out glares. Mary adored shopping, and being able to find a dress as beautiful as the blue concoction they’d found…she was in heaven. It hid her scars and made her look almost pretty again.

  The door opened before she could knock. Mrs. Flynn looked relieved. Mary figured she thought she’d been stood up.

  “I meant to get here earlier,” Mary said, “but I had to go shopping for a dress for the Policemen’s Ball. Sorry, Mrs. Flynn. I didn’t mean to worry you.”

  “You’re going to the masquerade tomorrow night?” Mrs. Flynn’s eyes widened. Mary guessed she was going to hit her up to watch Noah for that event too.

  “Yes.” Mary smiled. “I’m excited.”

  Mrs. Flynn moved back, allowing Mary inside. “Noah’s been fed and changed. He shouldn’t be too hard to get down. I had him outside all day with me. He’s played himself out, I think.”

  “Awesome.” Mary held up her Kindle. “I’ve been catching up on all these books I download but never have time to read.”

  Mrs. Flynn picked up her purse and keys. “Don’t hesitate to call if you need anything.”

  “No worries. We’ll be all good.”

  Nodding, Mrs. Flynn let herself out, and Mary went to sit beside Noah on the floor. He was happily playing with some blocks.

  “Hey, little man. Remember me?”

  The toddler looked up at her, his eyes serious. Those baby blues of his shouldn’t look like that. They should be happy and laughing. Instead they were haunted.

  “Just you and me tonight, little man.” Sh
e ruffled his hair. “Want to watch some SpongeBob?”

  She found the cartoon and settled down, her back against the coffee table. Noah crawled to sit in her lap. He looked so tired. She stroked his baby soft hair, humming to the nonsense song SpongeBob was singing. Noah started to relax and was asleep within a few minutes. Poor baby.

  Mary didn’t move him. She adjusted him so he wasn’t sleeping at an odd angle and let him lie there. She opened her Kindle and resumed where she left off reading The Ghost Host.

  When she looked up, it was dark outside. The cable box told her it was half past nine. Wow. She’d finally finished the book and gotten herself a cramped neck in return. She rubbed at the sore muscle before picking Noah up and standing. She put him down in the Pack ’n Play, making sure the table lamp beside it was on. No shadows for him tonight.

  She went foraging in the fridge and found a can of Mountain Dew. A bag of chips from the pantry completed her snack. The sink was behaving tonight as well. That was a good sign.

  A Supernatural marathon was playing. Dean…mmm…every girl’s dream guy. The poster of Dean, Sam, and Cass was one of two posters that adorned her wall at home. Mattie always teased her about it, but Mary knew for a fact the girl loved that show. One of Mary’s favorite episodes about the Ghost Facers was playing. Seeing them running around in an old house, screaming at things they only talked about coming to life…comic relief at its best. She laughed so hard at one point, she almost spewed pop on the Flynns’ white carpet.

  A knock at the door startled her. She glanced at the time. 10:15 p.m. Who was knocking at this time of night? She put her drink down and went to the door, squinting through the peephole. She didn’t see anyone, so she looked out the window, and the porch appeared empty.

  The age-old horror movie question popped in her head. Should she open the door and investigate, or leave it alone? Someone had knocked, even if they weren’t there now. So if she opened it, there might be some crazy person ready to hack her to pieces. Best to not open the door. Yeah, she didn’t want to end up on the other side of Jason Voorhees’s machete. She watched too many scary movies.