Ghosts Beneath Us: A Third Spookie Town Murder Mystery (Spookie Town Murder Mysteries Book 3) by Kathryn Meyer Griffith Read Free Book Online Page A

frightening to her if she knows the ghost. But someone is tricking her.”
    “So you think the haunting is part of the game that’s being played on her?”
    “It could be.” The truck had come to a full stop in her driveway and Abigail had her hand on the door handle ready to get out. She sent a smile Frank’s way. “If you don’t have anything else scheduled for the evening, would you want to come in and have supper with me? I defrosted a container of homemade chili earlier and we’re having it tonight. The kids will eat later when they get home.”
    “Sure. I’ll take you up on that. I can’t pass up your chili. But let me go have that talk with the sheriff first and I’ll be back here as soon as I get done.”
    “I’ll wait for you. I might even make corn muffins to go with the chili.”
    “Yum. I love corn muffins, too. See you in a bit then.” He drove away and Abigail went inside.
    As she baked in the kitchen, put supper on the table, and Frank returned from seeing the sheriff, darkness fell over the town.
    And she couldn’t help but wonder what that darkness would be hiding.
     

Chapter 2
    Abigail
     
    Abigail didn’t see or hear from Frank for days after that because they were both busy. He was working on his new novel; she with the kids and searching for more freelance jobs. She’d had a lead from Samantha her reporter friend at The Weekly Journal that a new bakery had been asking around for an artist or a painter to do some work. All she had to do was go talk to the proprietor and Samantha gave her the address.
    So that morning she was headed towards the address for a meeting with its owner, Kate Greenway. Now Spookie would have not one bakery, but two, and she was delighted. Variety was good, especially since she was as addicted to bakery goods as she was.
    The operating bakery in town, called appropriately The Bakery, had the best cakes and pies in the county, but she’d grown tired of their donut selection, which hadn’t changed in years. And it’d be great to have another job so soon after she’d ended the last one. With two children in the house she needed to keep a steady income coming in. As a foster mother, she did get a state stipend every month but it wasn’t near enough to give the kids all she wanted them to have. She had to make money to do that.
    The location the new bakery was going to occupy was where a previous mom and pop barbeque place had once been. It’d been closed before she had come to Spookie and the building had been empty a long time. In the heart of town, it was squeezed in between the ice cream shop and the Tattered Corners bookstore and not far from Stella’s Diner. It was close to everything, which made it a perfect location.
    As she parked and strolled up to the storefront she could see someone behind the dirty windows working inside. Abigail knocked on the door and waited until the person noticed her and came over to open it. It was a woman.
    “Hello. Are you Kate?”
    “That’s me. Kate Greenway.” The woman smiled and laid the broom she’d been using against the wall. “You must be Abigail Sutton. Come on in.” She was a little thing with long dark hair, a delicate face and green eyes, wearing a T shirt and faded jeans. She could have been in her late-forties, maybe fifty. She must have been working hard because her clothes were grimy and her face was sweaty. There was a yellow bandana tied over and covering her hair. She put her hand out and Abigail shook it. “I know it’s a mess in here but you should have seen it before I started clearing and cleaning it out. It was an absolute disaster.”
    Kate led her into the shop and she looked around at the dirty walls, remnants of left behind tables and chairs, and filthy floors. Everything was covered with a thick layer of grime. “Uh, it looks like you’re just starting the renovations. I was under the impression you wanted to commission some artwork from me?”
    “I do.” Kate sat down in a chair