Free southern ghost hunters 01 - southern spirits by angie fox Page B

"I walk my property all the time." She was a strong woman defending what was hers. It was our way here in Sugarland.
    "I'll stop by soon," I called after her. "We have to set up a repayment plan for my loan."
    Ellis turned his anger on me. "Don't pretend."
     "Has it ever occurred to you that I might be a nice person?" I snapped.
     "No," he shot back. "Poor Mrs. Hatcher might have bought your act, but I know better." He clenched his jaw, the lights from the police cruiser playing over his rugged features. "I'm telling you now: You need to do the right thing."
    I dug for my keys. "And you need to learn to have a little faith in people."
    He snorted.
    My mamma taught me to be kind, but in that moment, he deserved the truth. "I always thought your brother was the delusional one, but you're just as bad." 
    His eyes hardened. "If it were up to me, I'd have you in cuffs."
    "Well, I didn't do anything wrong, so I guess you're out of luck. Now may I please leave?"
    He gave a sharp nod. But he didn't let up. He stuck with me all the way down the path. "It's good to hear you're done with your walk. A girl shouldn't be strolling alone after midnight." We neared my Cadillac. "Oh, look," he added, "you brought your car. Most pedestrians don't think of that."
    I shot him a withering glare. "Are you done being sarcastic now?"
    "Hardly." He glanced back at the darkened house. "You took advantage of poor Mrs. Hatcher. She's old. She doesn't have any family left. She's the perfect target." He held up a finger between us. "I'm going to see she gets her money back."
    "She wouldn't have anything at all if I hadn't gone into a haunted house," I shot back.
    "You want me to believe some bullshit story about how that place is haunted?" He made it sound so absurd, so stupid. Like I was some kind of a liar. 
    "Go on in and see what happens," I dared. Let's see how he did with Josephine's crazy mother.
    He gave a huff. "If it's so dangerous, how did you make it out?"
    "I have skills," I said primly.
    I didn't like the way he'd treated me this evening. In fact, I didn't like anything about tonight. But I was sick of being called a liar, by him and everybody else in this town who found it easier to believe a cheating jerk than to give me the benefit of the doubt. 
     "I can talk to ghosts, okay?" I said, almost dropping my keys. There. I admitted it. "I walked in there and hung out with Josephine." Let him put that in his pipe and smoke it.
    "Jilted Josephine?" He scoffed. 
    "Don't call her that."
    "I've heard some crazy stories come out of people, but that takes the cake."
    "Has it ever occurred to you, Ellis Wydell, mighty arbitrator of what is right and wrong, that someone could be telling you the truth, even if you don't believe it?" I held my hands out. "No, of course not. You and Hale have all the answers." 
    Ellis blanched. "What do you know about Hale?"
    "Only that he's dead, and his ghost is hanging out in your cruiser." I pointed my keys at him. "Old Hale says he can't get his lighter out from under the steps, and I'll bet you think that's my fault, too." I started walking to my car.
    He stood, his mouth slightly open, working furiously to recover. "How'd you know Hale smoked?"
    "That's what you want to focus on? Fine," I said as I passed him. I turned around, walking backwards. "I saw him light up a few minutes ago. Right there in your squad car. Bet that's a violation, right? You'd better check the manual on that one. He said you were a damn fine officer, so I'm sure you'll want to make sure everybody's following the rules."
    Let that wind up his little brain and make smoke come out his ears. 
    I was done.
    I opened the door to my car and slid inside, tossing my sack with Frankie's urn on the floor. The gangster could deal with that, too. It's not like he hadn't been dropped before. 
    My skin flushed pink. My whole body felt like I'd been running the fifty-yard dash. I wiped my eyes before I started up my old tank of a Cadillac. 
    Oh,