Free Janet McNulty - Mellow Summers 07 - Two Ghosts Haunt a Grove by Janet McNulty Page B

your business,” Stacy brushed some dirt off of her jeans.
    “Please,” I began.
    “Look, Stacy,” Jackie interrupted me, “Mel talks to ghosts. Your father sought her out and told her he was murdered and now she is trying to solve it.”
    Thanks, Jackie. Way to go. Just let the entire secret out. Now Stacy probably thought that I was nuts.
    “Really?” said Stacy, the look on her face indicated that she believed Jackie, “Why didn’t you just say so?”
    “Most people don’t believe me,” I replied.
    Stacy glanced around as though she searched for something. “I’m not most people. My place is this way. You can leave the car here no one’s going to bother it.”
    She walked through a patch of trees and underbrush with the rest of us in tow. I was glad that I had decided to wear my boots and told Jackie to do the same. I’m not sure how long we walked, but I worked up a good sweat; not that it was hard to do in this heat and humidity.
    After a while we came upon a camper with a generator. Traps and plants lay all about with a few tables and chairs.
    “You live out here?” I asked.
    “Mostly,” said Stacy, “I have an apartment back in town, but I’m only there when the weather is bad or winter. I prefer the outdoors. Being out in nature is invigorating.”
    “Your brother said that you were a hippie,” said Greg. I suddenly regretted telling him everything Kyle had told me on the trip up here. “But you don’t seem so crazy to me.”
    I could have smacked him.
    “Not sure how I should take that,” said Stacy.
    “Stacy, Greg didn’t mean—”
    “Don’t worry about it,” Stacy interrupted me, “I’m used to it. My brother and cousins have called me a lot worse and nothing compares to what my aunt used to say to me. I spend as little time with them as possible.”
    “So why are you out here?” asked Jackie.
    “I work for the wildlife preserve. I spend my days tracking the wildlife, their eating, mating, and hibernation habits. I also research the effect humans have on them. For over five years I have been coming up here conducting research. When I get enough, I will submit it with a request to turn this place into a preserve, including the Bourtonson place.”
    “So that’s why you filed the dispute,” I said.
    “Partly,” Stacy opened a cooler and pulled out a bottle of water. “Thirsty?”
    “Yes,” Jackie practically lunged for one. I couldn’t blame her. It was hot.
    “What’s the other part of it?” I asked as I took the water offered to me.
    “My father bought that place at first with the intention of building a resort. You know, a place where people could come and relax.”
    “And you didn’t like that idea?” asked Greg.
    “Oh, I have no problem with it,” said Stacy, “People need a place to unwind. But as I’ve said, there is quite an animal population up here and as we continue to encroach on their territory, they have no place to go. So I talked with my father and showed him my plans of building a preserve.
    “At first he was a bit resistant, but after spending some time out here with me he changed his mind. Kyle, of course, was livid.”
    “So he knew?” I asked.
    “Of course he knew,” replied Stacy, “My father never kept secrets. A few weeks ago he told both Kyle and I that he was changing his will. He had decided that the Bourtonson property was to be divided in half. Half of it would be turned into a resort and the other half would be set up as a wildlife preserve, in which a portion of the profits from the resort would go to it for maintenance. I was thrilled by the idea.”
    “Let me guess,” said Jackie, “Kyle wasn’t.”
    “Not in the slightest,” said Stacy, “He threw a tantrum right there in my dad’s office.”
    “How come the police don’t know any of this?” asked Greg.
    “Why would they bother?” said Stacy, “They ruled my father’s death a heart attack.”
    “Did your father ever make out another will?” I