Black-Eyed Moon (A Guinan Jones Paranormal Mystery #1) Read Online Free Page B

rolled by hunting for parking spaces as though their occupants were attending a sporting event.
    "You don't hav e to wait here with me."
    "I know I don't have to."
    I smiled at him. There was an openness in his face. I knew that with him, things would be easy.
    "I know you're curious. Go on. I'll be okay."
    "You sure?"
    I nodded. He hesitated, then left. Zeke and Tamzen looked back at the same time when they heard him approaching. Two police officers emerged from the woods. They strung crime scene tape across the path. A Ragland County Sheriff's car stopped several cars ahead of the Jeep in the middle of the road. Two deputies got out and hustled across the field. From this distance, I barely made out what they said, but the gestures were clear enough. They were moving the crowd back.
    I realized I was holding my breath and exhaled loudly. The first time I saw a corpse, I had nightmares for a month. I still found the whole thing macabre, looking into the unseeing eyes of a dead person and hearing their fading final thoughts before they dissipated. The bodies themselves didn't freak me out, anymore. Death was as natural as life.
    Mrs. Lucas dying was one thing, but a schoolmate dying was a different story. My cell buzzed in the back pocket of my jeans. I looked at the grinning image on the screen and groaned.
    "Hi, Granddad."
    "I see you sitting out there. Come on over, hon."
    "Do I have to?"
    He paused. "You've always had a choice. I know I can be a real pain in the—"
    "Is it Kate Mansfield?"
    A deep sigh. "Yeah. Looks like she was hit on the back of the head. Hard."
    I closed my eyes and swiped sweat off my forehead.
    "Bound to be clues around here," he said.
    This felt vaguely like a guilt-trip. I had a choice, huh? A few seconds later, I saw Rory tap him on the shoulder. I heard muffled speech. "Gotta go."
    I shoved the phone back in my pocket.
    Before I could talk myself out of it, I climbed out of the Jeep. I walked purposefully toward my friends, arms folded across my chest. I made brief eye contact with several people along the way. A few whispered to each other when they saw me.
    Twenty-something Stacy O'Connor gave me a sideways glance. Whenever we made eye contact, I sensed fear. She was cashier at the Food Mart, and I tried to avoid her register because I knew I terrified her. Pete Wilson, a middle-aged man who worked at the post office, had no fear. He had plenty of unwholesome emotions, though. Adam Carver stood beside Pete, his cell phone still clutched to his ear. He held my gaze, and I sensed a mix of fear, grief, and longing.
    By the time I reached my friends, my grandfather spotted me. I thought he'd call me over, but he didn't. He gave me a slight nod and resumed his conversation. I exhaled.
    Tamzen, rubbing her arms, jumped when my shoulder brushed hers. "Geez!"
    "Sorry."
    A woman wearing a white forensics field uniform wandered from behind some bushes several yards from the crime scene tape. She walked beyond it and disappeared into the trees. I heard someone behind me crying. I looked back and saw Michelle Foster, Kate's best friend, her face wet with tears and sweat. I noticed that most people were wiping their faces. There was no relief from the sun in this tree-less part of Jepson's Point.
    Dean moved closer to me. "The police won't tell us anything."
    "I think I heard your grandfather say something about calling the Mansfield's," Tamzen said, still rubbing her arms. "Somebody actually murdered that girl?"
    "We don't know if it's murder ," Zeke said.
    My mind drifted back to the dream I had at his house, of standing among the trees in the dark and getting hit on the head. For a moment I pretended I was like everybody else, a morbidly curious spectator. But I wasn't like everybody else. I felt eyes on me from every direction.
    Just my luck my grandfather picked this moment to walk over. I wanted to sink into the ground.
    It was surreal. I didn't recall him asking me to walk with him, but there I was,