Page 85 of Chasing Your Ghost

Riley leaned back and pinched the bridge of her nose. “I guess it makes sense. Whoever took him did it on a major road. I don’t know about you guys, but that sounds more like a random kidnapping.”

Noah nodded. “If they’d been targeting Asher, it would have been easier to take him from outside his house or before he’d gotten in his car when he was leaving here.”

“And how would they have even known he’d be on that road that night?” Ella pointed out.

“So where does that leave us?” Chris asked. “We have a random kidnapper, we have no idea where Asher is, and we don’t even know if he’s still alive.”

“We have nothing,” Noah answered, and despite her former excitement, Riley couldn’t help but agree with his assessment.

Even if Asher were still alive, what she’d found in the book didn’t point to him being in a healthy state. It wasn’t good news. It was a reminder of how much time she’d wasted looking for answers about what made him different instead of looking for answers about who had taken him. She felt sick knowing that during the weeks she’d spent with Asher, he had been alive all along.

Nobody said much after that, and when the pizzas Ella had ordered for dinner arrived, they went largely untouched. Even Riley ate little. Without Asher there, she didn’t feel the need to, and the lack of any signs of low blood sugar only served as an unwelcome reminder that he wasn’t there.

She’d never wished for the shakiness that accompanied a ghost’s presence before, but now she would do anything to feel it again. She’d take the clamminess, the nausea, and the weakness, if she could only see Asher again.

Noah drove Chris and her home after they’d nibbled at the pizza, and though Riley wanted to ask him to stay there for a day or two over the weekend, she knew she couldn’t keep him from his mom. So, Riley walked into the house alone.

She didn’t go straight to the pool house because she knew she needed to check in with Edith and Hugh to let them know she was back. They’d known who she was spending the day with, but Riley hadn’t shared the details of what they’d be doing.

She found Edith, Hugh, and Olivia in the dining room playing Monopoly, and the backs of Riley’s eyes heated at the reminder of the two rounds of the game she’d played with Asher.

“Hey, Riley,” Hugh greeted her with his usual zeal. “We’re nearly finished if you want to join us for another round.”

“Great,” Olivia mumbled, her arms crossing as she glared down at the board.

“Olivia, that’s enough,” Edith warned the teenager, who was apparently still feeling sore over Hugh letting Riley help with his work. “How was it?” she asked Riley with that unsure smile.

She’d been less pushy since their big fight, which Riley was grateful for. But neither of them had brought up her apology or the books she’d fished out of the trash—the books that were hidden inside a backpack Ella had let Riley borrow. Edith had returned them, but Riley didn’t think it wise to display them.

“It was okay,” Riley replied, but she was unable to keep her voice from cracking.

Edith’s eyebrows pulled together, and she sent Hugh a not-so-subtle look that had him ushering a reluctant and grumpy Olivia into the kitchen. She stood up and made her way to Riley, hesitantly placing a hand on her shoulder. It was a testament to how shitty Riley felt that she let the hand stay there.

“What’s wrong?” Edith asked. “Did something happen?”

Riley opened her mouth to respond, but her lips couldn’t form any words. A tear escaped her eye, and she hastily brushed it away.

Edith looked at her in alarm. “Riley, you’re scaring me. What happened?”

“I—” Riley cut herself off and bit her lip. “I’m fine.”

Edith gave her a look that called bullshit. “That’s clearly not true. What happened? You can tell me anything.”

Maybe it was a test to see how the woman would react, or maybe Riley just needed to talk to someone. Either way, she decided to tell the truth. “Just after I moved in, I saw a ghost.”

Edith’s eyes widened, but to her credit, she didn’t freak out or jump in with condemnations. She did, however, remove her hand from Riley’s shoulder.

“It’s why I ordered those books.”

Edith closed her eyes. “The books I threw away,” she whispered, sounding surprisingly ashamed.

“Yes. I needed them to help him.”

She started shaking her head. “It’s not your job to help him.”

“Isn’t it?” Riley asked, any hope she had of Edith understanding dissipating. “Why do I have these abilities if not to help people like him? I can’t just ignore them and pretend I can’t see them. What kind of a person would that make me?”

Edith’s eyes filling with moisture. “A normal one,” was her response.

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