The Ghost Who Wasn't (Haunting Danielle Book 3) by Bobbi Holmes Read Free Book Online

what?” the woman asked.
    “No. Hunter has a wife and kid back home,” Justina explained.
    “So they aren’t a couple?” The woman glanced at the motel window and frowned.
    “Yeah, sure they’re a thing. Claire is crazy about Hunter. And it’s hard for him to resist her adoration.”
    “So he just left his wife and kid?”
    “Pretty much. Of course, he’s done this before. Taken off with his newest one. Always lasts a few months before he goes back to his wife and kid.”
    “Does the wife just take him back?”
    “Yeah. Tina isn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer.”
    “So where do you fit in?”
    “Nowhere anymore,” Justina mumbled.
    “You were traveling with them, weren’t you?”
    “Hunter’s my cousin. He’s really the only family I have left. He can be out there sometimes, but he’s always been there for me—until now.”
    “You two are close?”
    “We were. Of course, he’s a control freak. Has to get his own way. He’s been like that since he was a kid, which is why they’ll be going to Oregon, if that’s where he wants to go.”
    “I know lots of people who have to have their way.”
    “It’s the other thing that drives me nuts sometimes,” Justina said.
    “Other thing?”
    “He tries to get people to believe he has certain…well, powers.”
    “Powers?” the woman frowned.
    “He likes to come off all mystical. Claims he hears voices—sees spirits and stuff. I tell him he’s full of it, but people like Claire eat it up.”
    “You mean like seeing ghosts? Talking to the dead?”
    “Yeah, pretty much.”
    “And you don’t think he can?”
    Justina began to laugh. “No. Absolutely not. It’s Hunter’s con. Works for him. He’s made a few bucks from it over the years. Funny thing, I think he’s starting to believe the con.”
    “I suppose if you tell a lie often enough, you begin to believe it’s true.”
    “Exactly.” Justina nodded.
    “Now what?”
    Justina stood up and faced the motel room. “Sounds like those two have calmed down. I suppose it’s time I go in there and say my peace. See what happens.”
    “So you might go with them to Oregon?”
    “I don’t think so. But I suppose I need to give Hunter a chance.”
    “I’ll be going too.” The woman stood up.
    “Yeah, probably best if you don’t stick around. Hunter’s not too crazy about strangers.”
    The woman nodded, then turned from Justina and began to walk away. She paused briefly, turned, and watched Justina go into the motel room.
----
    H unter had just gotten out of the shower and stood between the two beds drying off, when someone knocked on the motel room door. Wrapping the towel around his waist, he grabbed some money off the nightstand.
    Claire, who had been napping on one of the beds, woke up and rolled over, rubbing her eyes as she watched Hunter answer the door.
    He handed the pizza delivery boy a handful of crumpled one dollar bills before snatching the pizza box from the teenager’s left hand and slamming the door shut. He’d given the delivery boy just enough to pay for the pizza with nothing extra to cover a tip.
    “It took them long enough!” Claire sat up in the middle of the bed. She had taken a shower before Hunter and now wore an over-sized white T-shirt. It fell to her mid-thigh. “I’m starved.”
    Hunter tossed the pizza box on the bed where Claire had been napping. She grabbed it and quickly opened the box. Hunter sat on the edge of the bed and helped himself to a slice of pizza.
    “You promised me steak,” Claire said as she took a bite.
    “When we get to Oregon. I promise. I’ll buy you a big steak.” Hunter shoved half the slice into his mouth and bit down.
    “I still can’t believe you let Justina leave.” Claire scooted backwards on the bed and leaned against the headboard, stretching her legs out in front of her as she ate pizza.
    “I wasn’t thrilled at first, but now that I think about it, it works out better this way. We’ll catch up with her in