Larue Donavon 3 - The Ghoul Next Door Read Online Free

him
expectantly.
    “ I didn’t find anything,” he
said, placing the flashlight back onto the small table by the
door.
    So he hadn’t seen the black shadow.
Should I mention it to him? I just wanted to stop talking about
witchcraft, ghosts, and the supernatural for one day. Couldn’t we
be normal for just a few hours? Who was I kidding? Of course we
couldn’t.
    “ Did you see a shadow figure
out there?”
    He met my gaze. “Just now?”
    “ Yeah, I thought I saw
someone out there.”
    He peeked out the window again, then
looked back to me. “As far as I could tell there was nothing out
there.”
    “ It looked as if you were
following it. But I guess you didn’t see it after all.”
    He shook his head. “No, I didn’t see
or hear anything. I thought maybe it was an animal that had
wandered up onto the porch.”
    I gave a half-hearted smile. “That was
probably it. There are a lot of raccoons and stray cats around
here.”
    “ That’s probably it,” he
said.
    The noise might have been an animal,
but that shadow wasn’t. I was sure of that. How would I go back to
normal now? Okay, I wasn’t quite sure what normal was for me
anymore, but I wanted a chance to find out. All I would think about
for the rest of the night was the shadow outside.
    Callahan made sure the door was
locked, then grabbed my hand. “Come on. Let’s go back to
bed.”
    My heart rate increased. Okay, yeah,
maybe it wouldn’t be so hard to forget about the shadow after all.
When he looked at me with that hunger in his eyes I could forget
about everything and just live in the moment. I felt the desire
coming off him in waves and I wanted nothing more than to be close
to him.
    When I walked down the foyer toward
the bedroom, Mr. Fine was leaning against the wall in the corner of
the room with a smug smirk spread across his face.
    I released Callahan’s hand. “Give me
just a second, okay?”
    I held up my index finger indicating I
needed a little time before making my way back to the bed. Not that
I wasn’t in a hurry to get there, because I definitely was looking
forward to it. Callahan touched my cheek, then smiled and walked
away toward the bedroom.
    When he was out of view, I said, “Were
you responsible for the noise?”
    I was so mad I had to take my
frustration out on someone. My words might have seemed hostile, but
I couldn’t help it. It was late and I had been interrupted. Yeah, I
was a tad cranky. Hey, if ghosts could be crappy then so could
I.
    Mr. Fine shook his head innocently.
“It wasn’t me. I thought when you brought me here tonight that
you’d entertain me. You know, we can chat and share
stories.”
    I stared at him blankly. “What gave
you that crazy idea?”
    “ Well, I could have talked
to myself in your crazy friend’s attic.”
    “ Who are you calling crazy?
You’re the one who likes to hang out in attics. Last time I
checked, my friend doesn’t hang out in attics.”
    “ Touché,” he said, flicking
off more ashes from his cigarette.
    “ And will you please stop
doing that?”
    “ What? They really don’t get
on the floor or anything. They’re invisible.”
    “ I know, but it still freaks
me out.”
    “ Listen, at least I don’t
hang out in closets and jump out at people.”
    “ Yeah, that’s real
comforting, thanks.”
    He shrugged. “What can I say, I’m a
nice guy. I do what I can to please people.” He smiled.
    “ If you pleased people you
wouldn’t be hanging out at my house right now.”
    He snorted.
    “ Just remember that I’ve got
my eye on you. No funny business during your stay at my
home.”
    He held his hands up in surrender. “Do
I look like I’d try any funny business?”
    Before I had a chance to respond, he
disappeared. Typical jerk ghost behavior. He knew I wouldn’t give
the most flattering answer. I had better not hear another word or
noise out of him for the rest of the night. I had to find a way to
get rid of him in the morning. If he’d only share his reason