Free The Ghost Files by Apryl Baker

to speed. You learn a lot in the academy, but you don’t really learn the real stuff until you get out there on the streets, and learn to apply the lessons. It’s been a busy couple days or I would have called sooner.”
    “You were trippin’, Officer Dan. Admit it.”
    He sighs.  “Yeah, I was trippin’. It’s not every day someone tells me they can see ghosts.”
    “It’s not every day I tell someone I can see ghosts,” I whisper. “You’re the first person I trusted enough to tell.”
    “I’m glad you trust me.”
    “But I don’t know why I do, trust you I mean. I never wanted to tell you, it just sorta slipped out, well blurted out.”
    He gives me another one of those soul searching stares and I fidget. He starts to say something, but then Mrs. Olson opens the door and pops her head in.
    “Lunch is ready.”  She tells us then sees my sketchpad in Dan’s hands. “What’s that?”
    “Mattie was showing me some of her work,” Dan says. “She’s really good. I’m going to show them to a few people who might be very interested in them.”
    “Well, now, that is wonderful,” Mrs. Olson says, beaming at Dan. I think she has a crush on him the way she’s grinning. I almost giggle, but manage to hold it back. “Did you say thank you, Mattie?”
    “Thank you, Officer Dan.”
    “Mattie Louise!” Mrs. Olson looks mortified at my sarcastic response.
    “What?” I ask innocently.  “I said thank you.”
    “It’s okay, Mrs. Olson,” Dan tells her. “I need to get back to the station and check on a few things. If we hear anything new on Sally, we’ll call.”
    Twenty minutes and two ham sandwiches later, I’m putting my plate in the dishwasher when I hear one of the upstairs doors slam then, “MATTIE LOUISE!”
    Uh-oh, what did I do now? I leave the kitchen to find Mrs. Olson stomping down the stairs.
    “Why is this house so filthy?” she asks me.
    “I’m not sure,” I say.  “I just got home from the hospital, Mrs. O.”
    “Is that any excuse for a dirty house?”
    “No, ma’am.”
    “Get it clean, NOW!”
    Sighing, I head to the laundry room where the mop and broom are. I swear that woman is bipolar, she runs so hot and cold, but at least it’s a decent place here. I can put up with her crazy mood swings for that.
    I glare at the broom. Man, I hate cleaning other people’s messes. I hope Dan is having better luck than me.
     

Chapter Ten
     
    “You okay, Matts?  You seem distracted.”
    I smile at the worry in Jake’s voice. Ever since the hospital, he’s been treating me like I’m his most prized baseball card and that’s saying something. Jake and his dad are huge baseball guys. To say anything against the American pastime is like sacrilege or something to them.
    Distracted. I chuckle. If he only knew. My mind has been spinning for the last two days trying to find clues in everything that has happened. I’m not the kind of person that can just sit and wait for someone else to do all the work. I’d given Dan my drawings, but I have this need to be out there looking too. I’d joked with Dan maybe I’d be a cop and he’d told me that wasn’t a bad idea. I had good instincts and thought of things even he didn’t. So why am I sitting here in a diner sipping on Coke instead of looking for Mary?
    Jake Owens.
    I have this urge to tell him what’s going on, but I’m afraid that if I do, I’ll lose him. Jake means the world to me. He puts up with my snarkiness and I’m not sure why. He’s such a good guy, sweet, never a mean word about anyone. I can get so mean sometimes. That why I can’t figure out what he sees in me, really. He should be dating Amanda, the shy girl from math class. She’s just as sweet as he is. I’m the freak with a warped and twisted sense of morality.
    “Jake, why do you like me?” It’s a question I’ve never asked him, but one I’ve thought of asking him a hundred times.
    “That’s easy, Matts,” he laughs.  “You’re hot.”
    I