Haunting Danielle 27 The Ghost and the Mountain Man Bobbi Holmes (best pdf ebook reader for android .TXT) 📖

“Well, I sure as hell didn’t throw it,” Heather snapped.

“Why do you think a ghost can’t hurt someone?” Brian asked.

Heather rolled her eyes. “Ginny’s in the office unscathed. Just shaken up. Nothing hit her. Heck, she was so unglued she ran through the museum to the office. Had it been me, I would have run out the front door or used the phone in the gift store and dialed 911. But since Caitlin couldn’t really hurt her, I suppose she was lucky.”

“Maybe Caitlin has poor aim,” Brian suggested.

Crossing her arms stubbornly across her chest, Heather glared briefly at Brian and then looked at Caitlin.

“Hey, Caitlin,” Heather called out, speaking louder than she had when trying to talk to her earlier. “I bet you can’t hit me with one of those books.” She nodded at a stack of books on a nearby table.

The next moment a book flew off the table in Heather’s direction. Just before it hit her, the book veered to the right and landed on the floor without hitting her or Brian.

“Holy crap!” Brian cried.

“See. I told you,” Heather said.

“We have to get Caitlin out of here,” Brian said. “Ginny can’t stay locked in the office forever.”

Heather stepped aside and gave a little wave in Caitlin’s direction. “Have at it. She’s all yours.”

“I can’t even see her,” Brian snapped.

Heather shrugged. “Welcome to my world.”

“No. Not welcome to your world. You can see her.”

“But you know she’s there,” Heather reminded him.

Brian groaned, and then his phone rang. He looked at it before answering.

“Yes, I’m at the museum. No, I don’t need any backup. Heather Donovan?… Have the chief call me… Yes, the chief.” Brian hung up.

Heather let out a sigh. “I’m sorry about this.”

“Yeah, me too,” Brian grumbled.

“I’m going now,” Caitlin announced. “You stay away from us; do you hear me? I know you’re trying to find the treasure, but it’s not yours.” The next moment she vanished.

“She’s gone,” Heather announced.

“Are you sure?” Brian asked.

Heather shrugged. “Pretty sure.”

“I suppose we should tell Ginny she can come out of the office. But…” Brian groaned.

“First, let’s clean up this mess,” Heather said as she picked up the book Caitlin had hurled at her. Since Brian didn’t know where the items on the floor belonged, he watched as Heather hurried around the room, picking up what Caitlin had attempted to weaponize and returning them to their places. Fortunately, the spirit had hurled sturdy items, and nothing had broken.

By the time Heather finished putting the museum back in order, she was out of breath and said, “Dang, it took me a lot longer to put everything back than it did that crazy ghost to throw it.”

“Now can we tell Ginny she can come out?”

Heather considered the question and then said, “Wait, the donation box!” The next moment, Heather ran to the museum store, picked up the donation box, and set it in the front entry. She returned to Brian.

“Okay, I put everything back,” Heather told him.

“You should leave before I have her come out,” Brian said.

“Okay, but why?” Heather asked.

“You get out of here, and it will be her word against yours,” Brian said.

Heather flashed Brian a grin, gave him a quick kiss, and then dashed from the museum.

Twenty-Seven

Brian stood at the door to the museum office and glanced back down the exhibit area to the front entry. Fairly certain Heather had left the building, he took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

“Ginny Thomas? It’s Officer Brian Henderson. You can come out.”

He stepped back from the door, waiting and wondering what exactly he was going to say. He thought back to all those times Danielle had been put in an impossible situation and made to look guilty by no fault of her own. The incident that stood out was when Walt had thrown all Cheryl’s clothes and open makeup into her suitcase before Cheryl had disappeared. Of course, Brian had assumed Danielle had done it, which was one reason he believed she had been responsible for her cousin’s disappearance. At the time, he did not know Walt’s ghost haunted Marlow House.

He was about to knock again when he heard the door unlock, and then it opened a few inches. Ginny peeked out.

“It’s safe. You can come out,” Brian said.

The door eased open, and Ginny looked around. Hesitantly, she stepped out from the office. “Did they arrest her? Is that where she is?”

“Um… arrest who?” Brian asked, hating himself for having to play dumb.

Frowning, Ginny marched all the way into the exhibit room and glanced around. Someone had returned the thrown items to their places. It appeared as if nothing had happened. She looked at Brian, “Heather Donovan, of course. Who cleaned this place up?”

“I’m not really sure what happened,” Brian lied. “But there is no one here.”

“Heather Donovan was here a minute ago. I heard you talking to her out here. What is going on?”

Brian looked dumbly at Ginny, his brain racing to come up with a logical explanation. “When I arrived, Heather was here. She told me you were upset and had locked yourself in the office. Heather said something about an incident at your house yesterday when a bookcase fell over. She said you seemed to believe she was responsible for the bookshelf falling, but insists she had nothing to do with it. She told me she came here to discuss it with you. I told her to leave, and I’d talk to you.”

“The woman attacked me!” Ginny snapped.

“Are you injured?”

“No. I’m not injured. Fortunately, she has lousy aim. But it wasn’t because she didn’t try!”

“I’m sure there has been some sort of misunderstanding,” Brian suggested.

“Misunderstanding?” Ginny shrieked, waving one hand. It still held the large paperweight she had picked up in the museum store. “What about all the things she threw at me! I’m not only outraged that she attacked me, but this is a museum; we do not throw items at a museum because we are angry!”

“What’s that