Ghost of a Gamble (Granny Apples Mystery) Read Online Free

Dolly.”
    “Blank?” Confusion danced across Emma’s face.
    “Dolly is Milo’s kryptonite,” Tracy explained. “Around her, he seems to lose his paranormal powers.”
    “Completely?” Emma looked at Milo, her confusion turning into disbelief.
    Milo, a slight man of fifty-three with thick glasses and serious nerdy overtones, stared down at his hands like a child being chastised. Until recently, Milo had kept to himself, writing books on the afterlife and communication with it. He also saw private clients and conducted group séances. Emma knew he and Tracy had come to Las Vegas because Milo had been invited to give a talk at UNLV—the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The latter had been something Tracy had set up through her own contacts as a college professor. Since falling in love with Tracy, Milo had started coming out of his shell and was doing more public appearances with her encouragement. He had always been confident with his clients and in his abilities, but speaking before people had made him shake with fear—a problem he was overcoming with Tracy’s help. His public appearances were a huge success and demands for his time on the rise.
    “Yes, it’s true,” admitted Milo. “It’s like my spirit radar goes on the fritz.” He ran a hand over his head, mussing his sparse brown and gray hair. “A lot of people have mother issues. I guess that’s mine.”
    “And probably why you don’t live near her?” ventured Emma.
    Milo nodded at Emma’s accurate perception. “It’s difficult to earn a living as a medium when your gifts have the plug pulled.”
    “Did you try to reach out to the spirit in Dolly’s home at all?”
    “I did when we first arrived, but got nowhere with it.”
    “Lenny ignored him,” added Tracy with a grin.
    “Yes, Lenny.” Milo laughed. “Lenny could have been dancing on my head for all I knew.”
    “Have you had a chance to see Nicholas interact with the light?”
    Milo nodded. “We arrived Friday about an hour before his mother picked him up. Whenever Dolly took him into the kitchen, he did seem preoccupied with that particular light fixture, but he only stared at it. Same thing this morning when he was dropped off by his father before you arrived. Nicholas watched the light, but he didn’t get animated like he did when you were there. All weekend I kept checking, trying to sense something, even when Dolly wasn’t home, but got nothing at all but a stiff neck from looking up.”
    Emma thought about that. “Do you think the baby is the connection?”
    “You mean,” asked Tracy, “that the ghost is visiting Nicholas and not necessarily Dolly?”
    “It’s possible, isn’t it?” Emma turned to Milo.
    Milo nodded in agreement. “Could be Lenny is a dead relative visiting the boy. Maybe we should ask the parents.”
    “Dolly told me she doesn’t want to alarm them or make them think she’s strange.” Emma got up and retrieved a bottle of water from a cluster of them lined up on the credenza. “She likes taking care of Nicholas and doesn’t want to lose that. Although I’d like to meet them, especially at Dolly’s to see if there is any change in how the baby reacts to the light when they’re present.” She held the water bottle out to her friends. They both declined.
    “Your mother obviously believes in spirits,” Emma said to Milo as she opened her water and sat back down on the sofa. “Are you sure she doesn’t have any special talents in connection with them?”
    “Not that I’ve ever seen.” Milo crossed over to the sofa and perched on the arm next to Tracy, putting his arm around her shoulders. “But who knows, maybe she does possess some paranormal gifts. Maybe I received mine from her.”
    “Kind of like you and your mom, Emma,” Tracy pointed out.
    It was true, Elizabeth Miller could hear Granny, but could not see her. Emma’s daughter could both see and hear Granny, and recently Emma learned that Kelly could interact with other