Emma looked like she was about to answer when Beth walked in. I could sense that she was worried and when she spoke I understood why. “Guys, I can’t get Carol. I know she can be a little absent-minded at times, but with everything going on, I think it’s better to be safe than sorry. Let’s go see if we can find her. She said she was going to the library, right?”
I watched as Deva nodded. "She's probably just fallen down a rabbit hole of books or something." Deva's words may have been reassuring, but I could see she was just as worried as Beth.
“Should I be looking into this?” I asked.
Deva gave me a smile. “Honestly, as reliable as Carol can be sometimes, she once showed up to dinner three hours late, because she had started making a dress and forgot we had plans. Chances are, this is nothing. It just never hurts to be careful.”
Okay, as much as the protective bear inside of me seemed tense, these ladies knew their friend better than I did. Besides, there was already a lot going on.
I stood and smiled at Emma, who looked like the world rested on her shoulders. I knew all three of them were worried, but I also knew I'd be more helpful to them, and to whatever it was that we were trying to figure out, if I had my own truck. The loaner was nice, but I felt like I had to drive like a grandpa so I didn't damage it. I wasn't exactly a reckless driver having been a cop but the fact that it wasn't mine made me extra cautious. “I’ll meet you guys there. My truck is finally ready.”
Instinctually, I went to Emma and pressed a light kiss on her cheek.
Some of the weight I’d sensed hanging on her lessened, and she gave me one of thoses little smiles that made my heart ache. “You be careful out there.”
“You too,” I told her. I wanted to say more, but Deva and Beth were grinning at me.
Yup, we could talk later. I might not be afraid of PDA, but I didn’t like having an audience either.
I glanced down at the journals, where the pages had flipped to rest, there was a weird symbol of an equal sign. Maybe I'd seen it before and not put it together. I mean it was just an equal sign. Anyone looking at it out of context would just assume some weird club or math obsession.
There was something twisting in my gut though, something that told me this wasn't just going to go away by itself. Something majorly sinister had been brewing in this town for a very long time.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Emma
“You guys getting into trouble again?” Henry asked, munching his favorite sandwich, white bread and cheddar cheese.
I sighed. “Yeah, a little. These are old journals from mom and dad. It looks like they got into some trouble.” I hesitated. “And that maybe their deaths weren’t an accident.”
Henry stopped chewing. “What do you mean?”
“I’m still figuring it out,” I rushed out. “But it’s possible the car accident we were in, and the one that Thomas and Sarah were in, weren’t accidents. That someone caused them and killed them on purpose.”
“I can’t see mom and dad getting into that kind of trouble.”
I would have agreed with him if I hadn’t read the journals myself, or had them talk to me. “I recently spoke with their ghosts.”
He lifted a brow. “They don’t usually talk.”
My jaw dropped open. “You’ve really seen them before? I wasn’t sure...”
He hesitated, then shook his head. “Not exactly. But… I don’t know how to explain it. My brain works differently than other people’s. Whenever I tried to explain it, people acted like it was my autism, so I stopped trying. But I described it to Alice, and she said it seemed like my parents wrapped their presence around me at important moments in my life. I’m even pretty sure they did it for you too.”
I tried not to react, to ignore the way my eyes stung. Henry would get stressed if I did and maybe stop talking. So, I turned to my friends. “Have you ever heard of humans who could sense or see ghosts?”
Beth shook her head, but then Deva spoke. “There are humans with supernaturals in their blood lines, so they’re sensitive to those kinds of things. They’re usually people who excel at art, or math, or science. It seems to come easily to them, but it has to do with their bloodline. There are even humans who have a greater ability to sense auras, ghosts, etc. But they always have some splash of magic in their blood. Maybe someone in your family line was magical?”
That was hard for me to believe.
“I never showed any unique abilities.” I gave a tired laugh. “And everything I did was always hard. Nothing ever came easily.”
Beth smiled. “You were always good with people. They kind of seemed drawn to you.”
I laughed again. “I don’t think so.”
“Do you mind if I read their journals?” Henry asked. “Maybe I can figure out something you missed.”
