Page 44 of Girl, Haunted

‘He was… normal.’

‘A man in a white mask and leather jacket is normal to you?’

‘Well, no, but that was just his costume. The guy walked and talked like anyone else around here. Local accent, definitely Yamhill. What’s so important about this guy anyway?’

‘You’ll find out soon enough. How was this guy acting?’

‘He looked… bored.’

Ella wasn’t sure she heard him right. ‘Bored? At a haunted house?’

‘Yeah. He kept to himself. Didn’t really get involved.’

‘And you said you talked to him? What did he say?’

Jared opened and closed his mouth like a fish on land. His eyes flicked to Luca a few feet away, as if seeking an ally, but found only an impassive stare.

‘You know, just everyday things. I only made conversation because he looked a bit lonely. A bit lost.’

Ella's patience was wearing thin, but at least she was getting somewhere, even if she was moving at a snail's pace. 'What exactly? Anything he says stand out?'

Jared glanced back at his friends for a second, then leaned closer to Ella. ‘He said something about this place… not being real.’

Ella blinked hard, as if trying to reset her brain. ‘He said what now?’

‘I’m being serious. I can’t remember it word for word, but he definitely said something about thisnot being real.I remember that part because it was so weird.’

Ella’s synapses lit up like a forest fire. Something wasn’t adding up here. Was their unsub some kind of thrill-seeker, chasing a high he couldn't get from the tame scares?

‘Did he elaborate on this? You must have said something in response?’

‘I wanted to,’ Jared protested, ‘but then the scares kicked off and interrupted us. After that, I saw him sneaking out.’

Ella's jaw went slack for a moment before she caught herself. ‘Rewind a second. Sneaking out?’

Jared pointed to the flimsy drapes that passed as walls. ‘We were in the undead room, a few rooms back. I saw the tall guy duck under the walls.’

‘You saw him leave? And you didn’t flag this up to anyone?’ She took a deep breath and reined in the sudden wave of frustration.

‘I just thought he was ducking out! People do that sometimes.’

Ella's mind short-circuited. The urge to grab the kid by his scrawny shoulders and shake him silly was almostoverwhelming. ‘And that was it? Any other revelations? Maybe this guy sprouted wings and flew away?’

‘Sorry, ma’am.’ Jared waved a hand. ‘I didn’t think it was anything to be concerned about.’

‘Well, maybe…’

Luca came over, put a hand on her shoulder and said, ‘Thank you, Mr. Evans. You’ve been a great help. If you can think of anything else, please tell the uniforms outside.’

Jared nodded and scuttled off. Luca met her stare.

‘The hell was that about?’ Ella asked.

Luca ushered Ella out of earshot of the interviewees, close to the exit. ‘That poor kid was already terrified and you put the boots to him.’

She drew in a measured breath through her nose and bit back the sharp retort dancing on her lips. ‘I was handling it, Hawkins. We needed information, and I was getting it.’

‘Not like that. Now, that kid’s not gonna be helping us if he can help it.’

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