I would never forget the sad look on her face. The whole experience had scared the hell out of me, but I somehow knew I was meant to help her. I just needed to find out how.
I was so deep in my thoughts that I almost didn’t notice Elizabeth’s mom’s car in front of me. She rolled down the window, and said, “Well, you gonna get in or what?”
I stood up from the curb and made my way toward the car and opened the door.
“Thanks for coming to get me.”
“You looked like you were zoned out and in another world. Zombified.”
“Close,” I said. “Very close.”
Chapter Ten
My Mimosa and Bud Light headache finally began to go away.
I took Trenton and Missy along with me to the library. The children’s section was right across from the computer that I needed to use to look up past newspaper articles. I had a perfect view of the kids from where the computer was. I walked them to the children’s section and showed them where I would be if they needed anything.
They both nodded and made their way to a large table that had puzzles on top of it. I waved to them from across the room and they waved back.
The computer was very outdated. In fact, I wasn’t even sure if it was going to work. The computer was only used to look up old newspaper archives and nothing else. I clicked on the Beaufort Times icon and a search engine for the paper came up on top of the current cover page of the latest edition of the paper. I typed in very carefully, “213 Bruce Street.” I expected nothing to come up, but to my surprise, two articles came up. I clicked on the article dated the furthest back and the headlines were, “Family murdered on stormy night.”
A chill ran down my spine as I began to read the story—I was shocked at what I discovered.
* * *
“Cliff and Debbie Carpenter, along with their young son, Bryce, were murdered late Friday night. Police haven’t released any names of suspects yet. The gun has yet to be found.”
* * *
The article went on to reveal how the family was found dead in the son’s bedroom. All three of them had suffered gunshot wounds. At the bottom of the page was a family photo, and that was when I knew that the lady and the boy from my dream were definitely Debbie and Bryce Carpenter.
I gulped. This made it real, not my imagination. I really was seeing their ghosts in my cottage. Ghosts lived in my haunted cottage.
I closed that article and clicked on the next dated one. It read, “Brother suspected in Carpenter family murder.”
“Twenty-seven year old Ray Carpenter is a suspect in the killing of his older brother, Cliff, and his wife and son. He is cooperating in the investigation.” My jaw dropped when I read this. Ray had been a suspect in the killing of his brother and his family? I got a sick feeling. My landlord had been pretty good to me, but this new information put a whole different spin on things.
I looked toward the children’s area to check on the kids. They were quiet and putting together a puzzle near the children’s librarian’s desk.
I read more of the article: “Ray Carpenter was spotted at the Cliff Carpenter household around the time that the shootings occurred. He is being questioned. He has not been charged with any crime. The murder weapon has not been located.”
I scrolled around the site to see if there were any other articles that I’d missed. I didn’t find anything. Ray had been a suspect in the murder of his brother and his family.
I began to get chills down my spine. Did he do it? If Ray could kill his own family, what was stopping him from killing Trenton and me? The article said they never found any evidence, and that he was never charged, but the whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth.
I searched my memory of the dream. Was the man in my dream Ray? I could not see the man very clearly. I knew that he had a large stature, which Ray had. But I could see from the photo that his brother had had a similar
I was so deep in my thoughts that I almost didn’t notice Elizabeth’s mom’s car in front of me. She rolled down the window, and said, “Well, you gonna get in or what?”
I stood up from the curb and made my way toward the car and opened the door.
“Thanks for coming to get me.”
“You looked like you were zoned out and in another world. Zombified.”
“Close,” I said. “Very close.”
Chapter Ten
My Mimosa and Bud Light headache finally began to go away.
I took Trenton and Missy along with me to the library. The children’s section was right across from the computer that I needed to use to look up past newspaper articles. I had a perfect view of the kids from where the computer was. I walked them to the children’s section and showed them where I would be if they needed anything.
They both nodded and made their way to a large table that had puzzles on top of it. I waved to them from across the room and they waved back.
The computer was very outdated. In fact, I wasn’t even sure if it was going to work. The computer was only used to look up old newspaper archives and nothing else. I clicked on the Beaufort Times icon and a search engine for the paper came up on top of the current cover page of the latest edition of the paper. I typed in very carefully, “213 Bruce Street.” I expected nothing to come up, but to my surprise, two articles came up. I clicked on the article dated the furthest back and the headlines were, “Family murdered on stormy night.”
A chill ran down my spine as I began to read the story—I was shocked at what I discovered.
* * *
“Cliff and Debbie Carpenter, along with their young son, Bryce, were murdered late Friday night. Police haven’t released any names of suspects yet. The gun has yet to be found.”
* * *
The article went on to reveal how the family was found dead in the son’s bedroom. All three of them had suffered gunshot wounds. At the bottom of the page was a family photo, and that was when I knew that the lady and the boy from my dream were definitely Debbie and Bryce Carpenter.
I gulped. This made it real, not my imagination. I really was seeing their ghosts in my cottage. Ghosts lived in my haunted cottage.
I closed that article and clicked on the next dated one. It read, “Brother suspected in Carpenter family murder.”
“Twenty-seven year old Ray Carpenter is a suspect in the killing of his older brother, Cliff, and his wife and son. He is cooperating in the investigation.” My jaw dropped when I read this. Ray had been a suspect in the killing of his brother and his family? I got a sick feeling. My landlord had been pretty good to me, but this new information put a whole different spin on things.
I looked toward the children’s area to check on the kids. They were quiet and putting together a puzzle near the children’s librarian’s desk.
I read more of the article: “Ray Carpenter was spotted at the Cliff Carpenter household around the time that the shootings occurred. He is being questioned. He has not been charged with any crime. The murder weapon has not been located.”
I scrolled around the site to see if there were any other articles that I’d missed. I didn’t find anything. Ray had been a suspect in the murder of his brother and his family.
I began to get chills down my spine. Did he do it? If Ray could kill his own family, what was stopping him from killing Trenton and me? The article said they never found any evidence, and that he was never charged, but the whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth.
I searched my memory of the dream. Was the man in my dream Ray? I could not see the man very clearly. I knew that he had a large stature, which Ray had. But I could see from the photo that his brother had had a similar
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