Whispers at Moonrise (Shadow Falls #4)(101)

"A suspect helping with the investigation, that makes about as much sense as fried ice cream."

Holiday leaned her elbows on her desk. "You can't find one thing that points to his guilt."

"He slept with your sister!" Burnett roared.

"Guilty of murder, not of being a piece of shit."

"And I'm telling both of you," Kylie said, "Hayden is guilty."

"There's no proof of that," they said at the same time.

"He wears a glove over his emotions. Every time he opens his mouth to speak, half truths come out. I feel it."

Burnett shook his head. "I've dug so deep into his background, I can practically tell you when he stopped wearing diapers."

Holiday's chair squeaked. "Kylie, if Hayden was out to hurt me, he's had plenty of opportunity. I interviewed him the first time when I was away taking care of my aunt's funeral. It was just him and me."

Kylie frowned. "I don't care. I still-"

"Both of you are wrong," Holiday insisted. "Blake didn't do this, and neither did Hayden. And if we don't stop focusing on them, we'll never find the killer. And we might never find Hannah's and the other two girls' bodies."

Burnett's eyes brightened and Kylie could read his mind. It wasn't finding the bodies that worried him so much; it was protecting Holiday. Hannah's warning felt imminent and Burnett felt that, too.

"Where the hell is Hannah when we need her?" Burnett bit out. He looked at Kylie. "You haven't seen her, felt her? Nothing?"

Kylie dropped on the sofa. "The last time was when she saw Blake here in the office."

"See," Burnett bellowed. "She probably figures we caught the bastard."

"I don't think so." Kylie almost feared disagreeing with Burnett when he was in this kind of mood, but getting them to see her point felt crucial. "She didn't look as if she thought it was over when she left."

He folded his arms over his wide chest. "Can we have a seance? Hold hands and call her back?"

"A seance?" Holiday rolled her eyes. "You have so much to learn about spirits."

"I don't give a damn about learning about spirits. I just need Hannah to come and tell me once and for all who she thinks is trying to hurt you."

* * *

On Friday morning, Kylie had skipped breakfast and Meet Your Campmate hour. She barely made it to English on time.

Obviously, Burnett wasn't the only one who needed to learn more about spirits. Kylie didn't know enough, either, because while she had felt Hannah's presence in the last few days, and again this morning, the spirit wouldn't manifest. Kylie had tried to appeal to her the way Holiday suggested. No luck. Kylie had even resorted to begging. Nothing.

Sitting at her desk, she reached down to make sure she'd brought her phone. The slight bulge in her pocket was reassuring. Maybe she was dreaming, but she hoped Lucas would either call or at least text her. But so far, nothing. That stung.

Looking up at the front of class, Miss Kane started talking about famous authors and the books they would be reading for the first six weeks. Who knew Jane Austen and so many others were supernatural? Kylie sure as hell didn't.

Intrigued by the conversation, Kylie barely noticed the noise when it started. Just a slight knock, as if someone were tapping on a door. The tap became a loud knock. Confused, she looked around, and oddly, no one else reacted.

Inhaling a strange vibe, she stared straight ahead again. As the noise grew louder, a slight movement to the right of the teacher caught Kylie's attention. The closet door behind Miss Kane rattled on its hinges, telling her where the banging originated.

Cutting her eyes left and right, she prayed she'd see someone, anyone, reacting to the obvious disruption.

Nope.

Then the cold of a spirit sent goose bumps racing up her arms. A trail of steam floated up from her lips, impairing her vision. Miss Kane said something, but Kylie couldn't hear over the ear-piercing hammering.

"Kylie? Kylie?" Someone called her name.

Who? Kylie couldn't think.

Forcing herself to look up, she saw the teacher staring at her as if waiting for a response. Kylie tried to talk, just a muttered, "Huh?" but not a word would leave her shivering lips. Then she saw it. Steam, lots of steam, billowing out from under the closet door.

Damn! Damn! This wasn't a normal spirit's visit. It felt more like the beginning of a vision.

That thought had hives popping out all over her chilled skin. Not because visions were scarier than hell, but because visions generally ended up with Kylie unconscious, or even worse, babbling incoherently.

Not here, Kylie pleaded. Not in front of twenty-five other campers.

An icy touch whispered across her shoulder. She looked back. A woman, her skin a pale ashen color, with dark purple circles under her gray eyes, stared at Kylie.

"She needs to see you." The spirit wore a white nightgown and her long brown hair hung around her shoulders. She raised her hand and pointed to the closet in front of the class.

"Who are you?" Kylie asked, and realized she'd forgotten to talk in her head.

All the students were now staring. Kylie could hardly think. So cold. She could barely feel her own skin anymore.

"Who's in there?" she asked.