The Scariest Tail (A Wonder Cats Mystery Book 4) by Harper Lin Read Free Book Online Page A

signs. The gate was bound shut by what looked like yards and yards of rusted chain and a padlock the size of a baseball mitt.
    As I made a three-point turn that would have made any driver’s ed teacher proud, I saw a sad and weather-worn For Sale sign. I wondered what was at the end of such an elaborate driveway and gate.
    I made my way back down to the street and continued my search for the Roy residence. As I went back the way I had come, it was only pure chance that I came upon a house that had several cars parked in the driveway and along the street in front of the house.
    Had it been me, I would have called my immediate family and closest friends for support during such a horrible tragedy. I wouldn’t have wanted to be alone, and I assumed Mrs. Roy was no different. Slowly, I inched up to the mailbox and saw what I was looking for. R-O-Y. I was right.
    As quietly as I could get my car to go, I passed the house completely and turned left down the nearest side street. After a quick U-turn, I was in a position to observe but not be observed. It was early, and when I shut off the car engine, I could hear the songs of the birds waking up in all the colorful trees. I looked around, hoping no one would notice me. My car stood out like a sore thumb. The cheapest ride in the Prestwick neighborhood was probably last year’s BMW.
    Still, I didn’t want to just give up. Not yet. So I turned the heat up a bit and cracked the window, smelling the cool autumn air and the smoky smell of wood burning in a fireplace.
    When I looked toward the Roys’ house, I couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary right off the bat. I tried to see if they had any pets in the house like a dog or a bird. But I didn’t get any reply to my telepathic inquiries except from a nosy pug dog across the street that seemed to know the German Shepherd on the next block was in heat.
    The window from which John Roy had jumped was boarded up with plywood. It looked like a scab on an otherwise perfect face.
    I was about to get out of the car and take a walk past the house to get a better look and try to see if there was any kind of mystical residue left when an all-too-familiar car came around the corner.

Stale Coffee
    “ Y ou’ve got to be kidding me,” I mumbled.
    Blake Samberg’s car was slowly pulling down the street I had just come from. Oh, my gosh. What if he had been behind me the whole time, and he knew I was snooping around?
    As soon as the driver’s head turned in my direction, I ducked down in my seat. This was mortifying. I held my breath as if that might help him not see me. Had I been thinking on my feet, I might have used a camouflage spell. But that required a huge output of energy, especially if I were going to conceal my car, which I would have to do. And a spell would have tipped off any thug spirits that someone was investigating. I wasn’t all that keen on putting such a big target on my back so early in the game. I was just trying to collect intel. I wasn’t looking for a fight.
    So as I sat all scrunched down in the driver’s seat, I studied the fabric of my car seats and realized they were very stained. A Jujyfruits candy box peeked out from underneath the passenger seat, and for the life of me, I couldn’t remember having eaten them. I wasn’t even sure I liked them.
    I had a layer of dust on my console, and the leaves on the floor could have very well been there since last fall. How could I have been riding in such filth?
    I leaned over and sniffed the fabric of the seat, fearing I might be accosted by some foul odor I had long since grown immune to. That was when I realized I didn’t hear a car driving by. Maybe Blake was too busy looking at the Roy house to have seen me.
    After I scooted up in my seat, I looked around and didn’t see him. I let out a big sigh and stretched my neck to look up in the rearview mirror. Blake’s car was right behind mine.
    “Son of a b…”
    Knock. Knock.
    I looked at my passenger window