Family Secrets (A Darcy Sweet Cozy Mystery #8) by K.J. Emrick Read Free Book Online Page B

lips.  Her anger was a force that Darcy could feel as a pressure against her skin.  Brianna walked them past her and they started down the stairs.  "Cold in here, isn't it?" she asked Darcy.
    "Houses get like that after someone is killed in them," she said without thinking, seeing the odd look that Brianna gave her.
    Darcy didn't talk to people about how she could see ghosts.  Jon knew, and Grace did too, and several other people in town knew she was "odd" and could do things that normal people shouldn't be able to do.  But she had found that opening up to people with a "Hi, my name is Darcy Sweet and I can contact your dead grandmother," usually led to uncertain smiles and whispered comments behind her back.
    Some people avoided her altogether.  That was all right.  Darcy knew who her friends were.
    Vivica floated down through the ceiling, feet first, and paced next to them as Darcy and Brianna continued down the stairs.  "So who does own this place now?" Brianna asked, a hunger in her voice for any tidbit of information she could glean from Darcy.
    "Well, I suppose Vivica's son Richard does," Darcy answered.  She couldn't see any harm in telling things that were public knowledge.
    Vivica tried to slam a hand down on the stairway railing.  It passed right through, and the ghost looked down at herself, a puzzled look on her shadowy features.  Then Vivica noticed her feet weren't on anything but air and she began to sink down, down, down, until she disappeared through the floor.
    Darcy suppressed a smile.  Some ghosts had a lot of t rouble with the transition from living, solid flesh to a state of incorporeal being.
    Vi vica's head poked up above the floor just high enough for her eyes to follow Darcy with a glare.
    The bloodstain on the kitchen floor was just as vivid as Darcy remembered it.  Brianna stopped there, taking her hands back from Darcy 's arm and putting them in the pockets of her trench coat.  She shivered.  "I've reported on dozens of murders and accidental deaths.  You never get used to it, you know?"
    "I know," Darcy had to agree.
    Brianna nudged her shoulder against Darcy's.  "I think I like you, Darcy Sweet.  So what can you tell me about all this that wasn't in the official reports?"
    "Nothing," she said quickly.
    "Oh, come on."  Brianna took one last shuddering glance at the blood stain and then stepped around it, going to the door.  "There must be something."
    The fresh air outside felt good on Darcy's face.   Her stomach growled, reminding her that she hadn't eaten breakfast because she'd been in such a hurry to get out here and find the evidence she needed to clear Aimee.  She'd confirmed that Aimee had been staying here, and she had the bank statements Vivica had pointed out to her in her pocket to go over later.  She had to wonder, though, if Brianna here might have found out something else that was worth knowing.
    "Tell you what," Darcy said.  "I'll answer one of your questions if you answer one of mine.  Deal?"
    Brianna's eyes lit up.  "Deal.  First question.  Is it true the suspect is related to one of the police officers here in town?"
    Darcy immed iately regretted making this bargain.  She hadn't expected this to get Jon's name involved.  Still, even that was public information.  She wasn't giving out any real secrets, she told herself.  So she tried to make it sound like it wasn't any big deal.  "Yes, she is.  A sister he hasn't seen for years."
    "Is that why she was in town?" Brianna asked.
    "Wait, I haven't asked my question yet."
    The reporter snorted, a very unlady-like sound.  "True.  Fine.  Ask away."
    "Did you find anything else in the house besides that wallet?"
    Brianna chewed on her lip.  "You get right to it, don't you?  Yes.  I found a letter that the Widow Chartrand had started writing.  In her bedroom.  It isn't addressed to anyone but whoever it's for, it says she can't give them any more money.  I'm guessing it was written to this Aimee