Amy let out a gasp and jerked her hand away so hard she hit the wall behind her. “What-what-what was that?” she whispered, her confidence replaced by trembling, and maybe even some fear.
Kylee sighed. “And for a second, I thought she wanted to talk to me.”
Price narrowed his eyes. “That was Kylee, Amy. You called her. So she came.”
“Really?” Amy whispered, her hand clutching her wrist where Kylee had touched her. “She’s really here?”
“She’s really here.”
Amy blinked several times, her breathing returning to normal. “Then you really are helping her solve her murder.”
Price nodded. “Yes.”
Amy sank down to the floor. Tears pooled in her eyes. “Did she tell you I was her friend?”
“She did,” he answered.
Kylee stayed quiet. She felt like the intruder here.
“Why didn’t she ask me for help? I would’ve helped.” Amy’s voice quavered.
“She didn’t get to choose.”
Amy fell silent. Kylee moved to Price’s side, and he took her hand. Amy’s eyes darted toward them, taking in Price’s movement, the way his hand rested on his thigh.
“Are you touching her?” she whispered, her tone awed.
Price hesitated, and then answered, “Yes.”
“But she’s . . .”
“A ghost? Dead? Yes. That doesn’t make her any less real.”
His tone was curt, short, but also challenging. Like he dared her to contradict him.
Amy let out a gasp, her hand flying to her mouth. “You have feelings for her.”
Price met Kylee’s eyes, and she caught her breath, mesmerized by the depth of emotion she saw swirling there.
“I’m in love with her,” he said.
“Oh, Price!” Amy burst into tears. “That’s the saddest—most beautiful—most tragic thing I’ve ever heard!”
He chuckled, breaking eye contact with Kylee. “Get a hold of yourself, Amy.”
She forced in a choking breath. “What happens when you prove she was murdered?”
“She moves on. Where she’s supposed to be.”
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“And you’re going to let her?”
“It’s where she needs to be.”
Amy took several deep breaths, her long fingers wiping at her eyes. “How can I help?”
“What?” Price glanced at Kylee, his expression startled. “No, Amy. You can’t get involved.”
“Why not?” Amy lifted her chin. “Because it’s dangerous? I want to help.”
“She can,” Kylee said, an idea occurring to her. “We need to go back to my house. She can keep watch for Bill. Let us know if he shows up.”
“Okay,” Price said. “Here’s what you can do. I have to go back to Kylee’s house, look for more evidence. You keep an eye on the place. Call me if you see her stepdad come home.”
“Sure.” Amy pulled her phone out and moved to the window. “I’ll watch from here.”
“Perfect.” He stood up. “We’ve got work to do.”
Kylee followed him out the door and across the yard. “We have to wait for my mom to go outside. I don’t want her to call the police on you. Let’s sneak into my room and I’ll do a quick check.”
The window was still closed from when Kylee fell out of it the day before. It reminded her how useless she was without Price. A quick glance at the ring on her finger showed it glowed a light blue. She gripped his hand tighter and pushed up on the glass.
No problems. The window slid up noiselessly. She pressed a finger to her lips and climbed inside. Price joined her.
If she was going to glide unnoticed through the house, she needed to become ghost-like. She let go of Price’s hand and sat on the bed. He stood next to her, twiddling his thumbs and glancing around the austere corners of the room.
The house was silent. No humming, no singing. Not even the TV buzzed in the background. Every once in a while a floorboard creaked, the only evidence her mother was in the house.
The screen door squealed a moment before the front door banged shut. Kylee hopped off the bed. “Give me a second to look around.”
“Kylee,” Price warned. “You can’t go too far from me.”
“Thirty seconds,” she amended. Without waiting for his response, she went to the door. She pressed her hand to it. Though she’d been expecting it, it still startled her when she passed through. Exhaling, she moved her whole body through. It took no more effort than walking.
The house was empty. The darkness sprouted in her chest, icy fingers creeping toward her shoulders. She returned to the room, reaching for Price as if she were drowning and he were oxygen. “She’s hanging up the laundry. She’ll be out twenty minutes, maybe thirty.”
“All right.” Price nodded. “Where do we start?”
She tried to think where Bill might hide drugs. “I don’t know. Their room, I guess.”
Price gestured. “Lead the way.”
Kylee pushed open the door to her mom and Bill’s room. “You check under the bed. I’ll look in the closet.”
Price poked his head under the full-size bed frame. “What about the bathroom?”
She opened the folding doors that blocked the closet space. She shoved aside clothing, pressing her hands into the walls around the hanger racks. Everything felt solid. “Yeah, that’s a good idea. There’s only one in the whole house, and it’s in the hall. Check the window, would you? My mom still out there?”
The floor thumped as Price got up. “Still there. Hanging up clothes. Why didn’t you guys get a dryer like everyone else in America?”
Kylee grunted. She climbed up into the closet and pushed on the bumpy asbestos ceiling. Nothing budged. “We’re too cheap.”
“I don’t see anything odd under the bed. Mattress seems stitched together still. Heading for the bathroom.”
“Okay,” Kylee responded.
Price’s footsteps padded from the room. She knelt on the closet floor and tugged on the carpets, looking for spots where it might not be quite nailed down.
“Hey!” Price’s voice echoed from the bathroom. “I think I might have found something.”
She jumped up, abandoning the closet, and joined him in the yellow-washed room.
“Here.” He tugged at the stained medicine cabinet. “Feels loose. I saw a movie once where a guy hid something behind it.”
“Let me help.” Kylee went on the other side and tugged.
“What are you doing?”
Price and Kylee both whirled away from the mirror at the sound of her mother’s voice.
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