Christy Barritt - Squeaky Clean 08 - Foul Play Read Online Free Page B

in this room might smell blood and see Paulette as someone they could eat alive.
    I’d seen it happen with Paulette one too many times in the past.
    Maybe, finally, things had changed.

 
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER 4
    I walked out of the Cultural Arts Center with Paulette at 11 and watched her lock the door behind us. Before we’d left, I’d confirmed there was no one in the building. Tomorrow morning there shouldn’t be any surprises waiting for anyone.
    Unles s someone with a key, for some reason, went inside during the night. Paulette insisted that all her key keepers were trustworthy, though. She’d even given me one, which made me wonder just how many other people had keys.
    I pulled my coat closer as a winter wind swept through the parking lot. It was mid-January and a cold snap had claimed the area. The air was brittle and, with the brisk wind, the bite was painful.
    “So, tell me about the ghost haunting this place,” I prodded as we headed toward our vehicles—mine an old white work van and hers a Land Rover. In the heat of the moment, I’d let Arie’s words slip right on by me, but they’d come back to … well, come back to haunt me now.
    Paulette shook her head. “At our second rehearsal, Arie stormed in one night—she has a habit of doing that—and she had all these old news articles with her. They were about this teacher who’d died at the school back in the 70s.”
    “What?” I would have heard about that, right? I mean, there’d always been this rumor that a ghost haunted the place, but I thought it was all just a story someone made up to scare us measly middle schoolers. I had no idea there was actually any truth to it. I was still skeptical.
    “She found the newspaper articles to prove it,” Paulette continued, pulling her white wool coat tighter around her neck. “I guess the school administration tried to bury it. They didn’t want students freaking out.”
    “ Tell me about the articles.”
    We walked toward the parking lot at the other side of the building.
    “The woman’s name was Rose Hines. She’d just started teaching here. Drama, for that matter. One day, a custodian found Rose in the orchestra pit. Apparently, she’d stayed late trying to prep some of the props, and she fell, hit her head, and died.”
    Curiosity—and suspicion—clawed at me. “Was there ever an investigation into it?”
    Paulette shrugged. “I think so, but there were no signs of a crime. It just appeared to be a tragic accident. So now Arie thinks that the ghost of Rose is coming back to haunt us.”
    “I don’t believe in ghosts,” I stated, just to get my opinion out there.
    “I don’t know if I do or not. I went to a psychic once and some of the things she told me came true. Maybe there is a supernatural element alive and well in this world.”
    “I believe in the supernatural, but I don’t put my faith in ghosts or psychics.”
    “Then who?”
    “I put my faith in God,” I told her. “I’d love to tell you about Him sometime.”
    I swallowed hard. I was a new Christian and whenever it came to talking to people about my faith, I started to feel like a little child, for some reason. I guess I was a baby Christian. Still, I had great news to share about how Christ had changed my life and given me hope. Why would I want to keep that to myself?
    “Sometime,” Paulette said with a nod as we reached the end of the sidewalk
    I paused at the edge of the parking lot. A man was leaning against my van.
    “You good?” Paulette asked nervously. She was probably still thinking of Scarlet’s demise and wondering if the man was trustworthy. Everyone in the cast seemed to be on edge, and rightfully so. Whispers had run rampant during practice. Cast members had insisted on walking each other to cars. I’d noticed several looking over their shoulders while on stage.
    All of them except Jerome. He seemed content to glare at me. What was his problem? And what about that glance I’d seen him and Arie