Ghosted Read Online Free Page A

in my mind. It's a memory. And as I lay watching the
sky, more memories return. I see the attacker's face again, only it
comes for me. I fight as if my life depends on it—but I
fail.
    And now I am alone.
    I sit up and look around. I don't recognize
anything at first. It's as if my mind is a blank white table, with
only a few pictures here and there. Then slowly as I watch, the
table fills and I remember…
    Caroline!
    I'm running down the street and the ditch I
woke in is gone. Is this a dream? I have no memory of running out
of the ditch to the street. I stand in front of Chloe's apartment.
Police surround the building. I see Detective Hernandez and run to
him. "Detective!"
    He does not look up at me. He turns as a young
woman approaches and hands him a clipboard.
    "Detective Hernandez," I say breathlessly as I
stop in front of him. "What's going on? What happened in the
apartment?"
    He does not look at me. I reach to touch
him—and my hand passes through.
    Hernandez shivers and looks around as if an
icy breeze has touched him. I try again, and again, my hand passes
through him. My actions make him uneasy and he moves away. I touch
another officer in uniform—my hand passes through. He moves back as
well.
    I look down at myself. My head aches. The pain
is a dull throb that follows me. I still wear the clothes I put on
to take Caroline home. The sky is still gray. Rain drizzles around
us. The officers wear raincoats and plastic on their
hats.
    I'm not wet.
    Not a drop.
    I drop to my knees as I realize no one sees
me. I'm not really here.
    "Chadwick? Make sure you sweep the owner's
bedroom. Her drawers and closet look ransacked, as if someone was
looking for something. Oh and make sure to tell Ritz the minute he
gets a hit off the kid's cell phone."
    "Hey Jesus?" A tall, thin blond woman in a
suit jacket and dress pants strides with purpose towards him. I
stand close to him, unsure of what's happening or what I should
do.
    Am I dead?
    Am I dreaming?
    Why can't I remember everything? The little
pictures on my desk stop when I see the headlights. Was it the man
in the Mercedes?
    And if I'm dead…where is my body?
    Hernandez sighs. I hear the frustration and
exhaustion in that single exhale of air. "Pellis—what are you doing
here?"
    Pellis?
    This is the woman I spoke to before I left.
She looks nothing like the vague image my imagination built in our
brief conversation. Her features are hawkish, thin like her body.
She looks stretched, as if her skin did not keep up with a final
growth spirt. Her eyes are so blue they look washed out.
    She holds up her hand. "Don't start with me. I
know I'm in violation of my probation, but you're not answering
your phone."
    "So?"
    Pellis puts her hands on her hips. "About
midnight last night you got a call from a kid named Dan Grant. He
wanted to talk to you."
    Her revelation seems to change everything.
Hernandez lowers the clipboard. "He called me? What'd he say? Are
you sure it was midnight?"
    "Yes. I documented everything. He
sounded…upset. Worried. He wanted me to tell you that he saw Mr.
Black talking with the guy that attacked Caroline
Black."
    I watch Hernandez's reaction. It is
surprisingly calm. He puts his hand on her upper arm and drops his
voice. "Tell me exactly what he said."
    "He said that Caroline and he were in danger."
She frowns at him. "He was supposed to come in and give a
description of the attacker, right? But we never got
it?"
    "Right." Hernandez rubbed his lower lip with
his thumb. "Pellis, I need you to get to Caroline's Black's
residence and stay with her. If Grant did see Mr. Black talking to
this suspect, then this could get a lot stickier than I first
suspected."
    "You suspected her father had something to do
with her attack?"
    I am surprised. How could he have already come
to this conclusion?
    Hernandez looks around as if he fears he will
be overheard. "Pellis, you can't repeat this. Not yet."
    She leans in closer, as do I.
    "When we arrived at Miss