Free The Haunted Bones by PM Weldon Page A

off an address. "Is that where
you got this?"
    "Yeah."
    Auggie nearly smacked his head on the
monitor. "That's Brenner's address. But she does have McNally's
address here in her address book." He scooted back and pointed.
    She peered at it for a second before the
anger resurfaced. "Good. Now I know where to go off the
bastard."
    "Idiot. You broke into a cop's house.
They're going to tear that place apart looking for whoever you are.
Don't you think they'll be watching McNally's house now that you've
'effed up?." He clicked a few windows and then laughed. "I figured
I'd find this."
    "What is it?"
    "A password list in her notes. And there's
the password for her tablet."
    "You're serious?"
    He picked up the tablet again, entered the
password, and the screen came right up on the very photograph she
was most terrified of.
    "What the hell is that?"
     
    She grabbed the tablet from his hand and
took it to the bar. After a few seconds, Auggie joined her and
stared down at it. "Is that a ghost or just some cool Photoshop
effect?"
    "Shut up," she hissed. "Just…shut the fuck
up."
    "Do you know who that is?" He stepped back.
"Wait a minute. Is this the picture you wanted deleted? A picture
of an old bar and a ghost?"
    "You don't want to go there, Auggie. Just
walk away." Her hands curled into fists as she stared down at the
face. It wasn't a clear image of her mother, but she knew it was
her, mocking her, teasing her, haunting her from the grave. And
somehow that bastard had resurrected her.
    Auggie did as he was told. In fact, he
grabbed his things and headed to the door. "Mary, just stay away
from McNally for a while. If you approach him now, they'll be all
over you like stink on shit." With that, he left the room.
    She had McNally's address now. And after
subjecting him and the cop to theatrics, it was time for a more
subtle approach. It was time to do a little more research on Devan
McNally and slip in through the front door.

 
     
    Fourteen
     
    I wanted Julie to get a hotel room, check in
under an assumed name, and get some rest. But apparently, my want
didn't count. And Captain Vale going to argue with her. Who could
blame him? Julie could be scary. And now that some nut job broke
into her house and stole her stuff?
    Armageddon.
    As per what she wanted, we were at the
station for most of the night. I got a lot of strange looks, a few
pats on the back and hugs, with questions about me being back on
the squad. I avoided all of them, glad most of the old team wasn't
on duty.
    Once they brought Randall Cahan in, though,
I was front and center. I wasn't in interrogation with him, but
Vale did let me watch behind the mirror. Julie stayed by my side,
and I had to admit, knowing this was the guy who almost put a hole
through me and Julie made me a little twitchy.
    I was a little surprised at how young he
was. I mean, it made sense that he was only thirty-six, since the
crime he committed happened a year and a half ago. Dude slung a
bullet pretty good.
    Lt. Russ Meehan was doing the interrogation.
He was good at questioning suspects. Even when they confess before
they're brought in.
    "So…" I pointed to Cahan as Meehan spoke
behind the glass. "You guys found him and he confessed to killing
his daughter? Just like that?"
    "According to the arresting officers, he
simply said, 'I figured you'd find me sooner or later,'" Vale
said.
    "He had to have known if he shot at us like
that, we were definitely going to come after him." Julie sounded as
incredulous as I felt.
    "Honestly," Vale said, "I haven't figured
this guy out yet."
    And that was about the time the whole
interview went sideways.
    Cahan started getting excited when Meehan
brought up the shooting. "Yeah, yeah…that tall, lanky guy. See, the
angel told me he was the one wanting to buy the old bar, and I
couldn't let that happen."
    Meehan kept a straight face. "Why not?"
    "Because I hadn't found it yet."
    "Found what?"
    Cahan looked from side to
side. "The diary. See, that's how I