The Ghost Who Wanted Revenge (Haunting Danielle Book 4) by Bobbi Holmes

answering the phone. One thing leads to another, and I end up driving her home to pick up her extra set of car keys.”
    “And you found Stoddard?” Joe asked.
    “Technically, Darlene found him first. I was waiting in the car while she ran up to the house to get her extra set of keys. The minute she went in the door, she started screaming bloody murder. When I got up to the house, he was barely hanging on, been shot twice—once in the gut and once in the knee cap.”
    “I can’t believe Danielle would do something like that.” Joe shook his head in denial.
    “While waiting for the paramedics to arrive, I asked Stoddard who had shot him. He said Danielle Boatman. I admit, at first I thought he was confused. According to Stoddard, he saw her—heard her. In fact, she threatened to kill Darlene too, for what they’d done to Lily and for trying to convince us she had murdered Isabella.”
    “I find this impossible to believe.” Joe felt ill.
    “I’m having a hard time believing it too,” the chief said. “Danielle says someone is trying to frame her.”
    “Right,” Brian scoffed. “Pretty good frame up when you get the victim to play along.”
    “Wait a minute…you said this happened yesterday morning?” Joe frowned.
    “Yes. Stoddard was shot sometime between 7:15 and 8:30 yesterday morning,” the chief explained.
    “I got there a little after 8:30 and Chuck Christiansen—Stoddard’s right hand man—claims to have talked to Stoddard on the telephone at seven that morning—the call lasted about fifteen minutes, when Stoddard said he had to go because someone was there. The phone records check out.”
    “But that is impossible. Danielle couldn’t have killed Stoddard!” Joe said excitedly.
    “Why is that?” Brian frowned.
    “Because I saw Danielle yesterday morning!” Joe jumped to his feet and started pacing the small room. “Chief, she’s right, someone is trying to frame her!”
    “What are you talking about?” Brian asked.
    “I’ve been staying at a beach house on the south side of town. Yesterday morning I heard someone pounding on the neighbor’s door, I looked out the window. It was Danielle. It was 7:00 a.m. I know, because I looked at the clock.”
    “Was the rental on Sea Cliff Drive?” the chief asked.
    “Yeah, how did you know that?” Joe asked.
    “Because Danielle claims to have been on Sea Cliff Drive the time of the murder. Said she was there to look at a piano someone was selling.”
    “She was there for about an hour. I got the feeling she was waiting for someone. She made a couple calls and finally went to the back of the house and sat on the porch swing. I thought the whole thing was a little odd.”
    “Danielle didn’t mention seeing you,” Brian said.
    “No, she wouldn’t have. I stayed in the house.”
    “How can you be sure it was her?” Brian asked.
    “Well…I…” Joe shuffled his feet in embarrassment. “I was watching her through the binoculars.”
    The chief raised his brows. “Binoculars?”
    “But what about the guy who works for the disposal company saying they saw someone matching Danielle’s description leaving the house—in the same model car she drives?” Brian asked.
    “The car!” Joe combed his fingers through his hair. “There was a red car that went down the street when Danielle was sitting on the back swing. She wouldn’t have seen it. It looked like hers, in fact I wondered for a moment if someone had taken off in her new car. It stopped a moment by hers, before taking off again.”
    “Did you see who was driving the other car?” the chief asked.
    “No.” Joe shook his head.
    “Did you see them put anything in Boatman’s car?” Brian asked.
    “You mean like the murder weapon? No. But they could have.”
    The chief stood up, “Are you positive this was yesterday?”
    “Of course. Just because I decided to spend a few days alone doesn’t mean I’m drinking alone and getting my days confused!”
    “Joe, I think we