Page 80 of Jon's Helter Skelter Cold Case

Jon’s hand on my back abruptly grabbed my shirt and pulled me to a halt.

I stopped, looking at him sharply. “What?”

“Love, don’t panic.”

Oh shit. Please don’t say what I think you’re going to say.

“There is a ghost up ahead.”

I whimpered. I couldn’t help the whimper.

“I think it’ll be fine,” he assured me. “They’re not even facing our way. They’re…oh, they’re moving. Uh, straight outside, actually. No longer in the building.”

“You promise?”

“Promise, they left.” He gave me a consoling pat. “Sorry, honey. You were dead right about it being haunted.”

Now I really didn’t trust this place. “Joooooon, why do you keep bringing me into haunted places?”

“Exposure therapy is supposed to be healthy.”

“Really? That’s what you’re going with?”

“It’s the thought that counts?”

“Thoughts don’t count.”

“My body count is lower than I expected, then.”

“Sorry for your loss.”

Jon huffed out a soft laugh. “Why are you such an asshole?”

“Hey, you are what you eat.”

He laughed a little harder, although he kept it hushed. We were trying to track a perp in here, after all.

“I swear I keep you around for the cheap entertainment.”

“Why else do you think I tried to put it in our wedding vows?”

“So glad I talked you out of it. We don’t have time to write wedding vows, anyway. Too much else on our plates.”

“You’re such a spoilsport.”

The banter helped take my mind off the fact this place was haunted as hell, but I kept my senses alert for our perp. Still hoped Marc and Gonzalez found the guy first, just so we could cut this canvassing down and get out of here sooner rather than later.

“I wonder where she is,” Jon murmured.

It took me a second to realize what he meant. “You mean Tylesia?”

“Yeah. Grant and Carol have me pretty convinced she’s not dead. If he’s hiding out here, odds are good she’s here too. I wonder if we’ll find her before we find him.”

Now there was a question for you. I hadn’t thought of that but…it was a good question. “I haven’t seen a single intact door since we came onto the property.”

“Neither have I. I would say a closed door’s a pretty good indication something’s off. So if we see a door—”

“Yup, we’re stopping.”

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