Cloudy with a Chance of Ghosts (Destiny Bay Cozy Mysteries Book 4) by J.D. Winters Page B

of journalism. But the Caesar Salad at the Bay Club was divine.” She waved with only fingers and started off down the hall, pulling her cart behind her.  
    “Thanks so much,” I called after her, then looked at Jill, but before I could say a word, yelling was heard from outside the building.
    We went out onto the terrace and looked down at the parking area. There was Marilee, half running to her car. Debbie was coming after her. I couldn’t understand what she was screaming at her, but it was definitely emotional. Marilee didn’t linger, hopping in and roaring off down the driveway. By the time I looked back, Debbie was out of sight beneath the overhang.  
    “Wow. What do you suppose that was all about?”
    “I’ve got no clue.”  
    We walked back in. Jill was frowning again.  
    “I think I’ll go ahead and take the smaller ones out,” she said, flashing me a look. “Then maybe I can see what Debbie is up to down there.” She shrugged. “I’ll be right back.”
    She left and I began packing up the largest of Jagger’s paintings. It had won a prize and still held it’s gold ribbon. I had to admit, I really did like it. The colors he’d used, the line and shadows, were evocative of a yearning that seemed to hit me in my secret space—right between my heart and soul.  
    I was smiling to myself about that when I heard a meow. Turning quickly, I caught sight of my little Siamese dashing around the corner. Where was she going this time?  
    “Hey,” I told her as I quickly followed. “Did you know that people say you don’t belong here? What’s the deal little cutie?”
    “Meow.”
    Her cry had that deep vibrato some Siamese achieve and it made me laugh. I looked around, wishing there was someone nearby who could confirm that she was real. She came over and rubbed against my legs, then dashed off again and I had to follow.  
    Turning a corner, I realized she was heading up the stairs again.  
    “Oh no, sweetie. I can’t go up there.”
    I stopped at the foot of the stairs and watched her reach the top, then turn back and call to me. Something inside was pushing me, pulling me, trying to make me follow her again. As happy as she made me, there was something as little scary in it all.  
    “No!” I told her.
    She called again, even more urgently. It was obvious cities would fall and the dam would break if I didn’t do what she wanted me to, right away.  
    I looked around. There was no one to see me. I had to go.  
    “Oh, alright,” I said, and ran up the stairs behind her. She was going into the same bedroom and I went in, too, my heart beating like a drum.  
    There was someone in the room.  
    “Oh!” I started to back out again, apologizing, until I took another look.  
    A young girl of about eleven sat on the bed. She had long blond hair and big blue eyes and was dressed in a long, filmy blue dress that made her look like a princess. She smiled, very serene.  
    “Hello,” she said.  
    I gulped. I knew she wasn’t real. Or maybe, a better way to say it was that she wasn’t a real, live girl. She was something else.  
    “Who are you?” I asked hoarsely.  
    “My name is Julia Geiger. This is my bedroom.”
    “You…you live here?”
    “Of course. I lived here long before Carlton Hart and his daughter moved in.”
    “I see.” And I thought I really did. It was getting so that I couldn’t go anywhere without bumping into ghosts of one kind or another. At least she seemed somewhat benign. Some didn’t.  
    “Well…” I turned, ready to leave. I really didn’t want to get involved in ghost problems.  
    “She took them,” she said softly.  
    “What?” I turned back.
    “She took them.”  
    She gestured toward the wall and I looked over to see that a space behind the wainscoting had been pulled open, looking like a small mail box in the wall, right at the point where I had felt the buzzing before. It was open and it was empty.  
    I turned back to Julia. “Who took