How to Kill a Ghost Read Online Free PDF Page B

Here was another enigma. I was pretty sure Isabelle couldn’t see me, but she definitely sensed when I was nearby.
    I watched as she strode to the passenger side of her car and leaned on it. I floated closer. “Libby, I sense you,” she said, her gaze off focus. I was about to appear, but she held up a hand. “Don’t show yourself.”
    “Why?” I whispered, looking around.
    She turned and leaned in the car window to pull her purse out. Then she searched the contents, head bowed. “There are things going on I don’t like.”
    “What things?”
    “I wanted to meet you out here because I don’t want anyone knowing about…you know.”
    “Your secret?”
    “Yes.”
    I was starting to feel the clandestine movements were a bit too dramatic for me, but I held my peace.
    “Libby, did you feel like someone was following you when you came out here?”
    I gaped at her, although she couldn’t see it. “Why? Am I?”
    She chewed a thumbnail. “No. I don’t know. There’s no one nearby right now.”
    I wondered if she meant there was someone near me earlier. All of these gifts and abilities nonhumans and special people like Isabelle had baffled me. I knew Ian had heightened senses. His hearing went beyond that of a human’s and his sense of smell was better than a bloodhound’s. I doubted Isabelle’s senses were heightened, but she might have other ways of knowing more than the average person.
    “What to do about the vampire,” Isabelle mused.
    I frowned and let her see my face. “Ian didn’t kill Vanessa. I don’t care what anyone says.” I didn’t mean to make such an assertion when I hadn’t spoken to him and had no proof. Yet, I realized the words echoed my heart.
    “Libby, he is a vampire.”
    “And that makes him guilty? People assume a lot of things about your kind too.”
    Isabelle gasped, and I wished I could take back the petty words.
    “Touché.” She smiled, to my surprise. “Liberty Grace, you fight tooth and nail for those you love, don’t you?”
    I opened my mouth to deny I loved Ian but then snapped it closed. There had been no judgment in her words, only acceptance.
    “Can I get you to help me think this thing through, Libby?” Her reasonable request calmed me a little.
    “What did you have in mind?”
    “It took me a while, but I ran across Nessa, and I knew right away.”
    “Knew what?”
    “She’s a witch… was a witch.”
    I gaped. “Are you sure?”
    “Yes. I’m very inexperienced, but I can tell when there’s a person with power that goes beyond a mere human’s ability. It’s the same with vampires. I knew as soon as Ian came to town what he was, but I wasn’t in a position to confront him, so I stayed out of his way. I never said this to you, but I think he would have killed me if it wasn’t for you. I would have tried to kill him if it wasn’t for you as well.”
    My mouth fell open. “He didn’t—”
    “No, but it would have happened.”
    Her assertion broke my heart. In the short time I had been spending time with Isabelle and getting to know the real her, I liked her a lot. We could be very close friends. In fact, I felt we were heading that way. However, I wouldn’t let go of Ian for this new friendship. The good part was neither of them was asking me to. Then depression settled on my shoulders. Ian might be leaving my life either way.
    I tried to dismiss the man from my thoughts and focus on the conversation. “Did you talk to her?”
    “I tried. She was very hostile. Told me she didn’t understand how I could live peacefully in the same town as a vampire. When I didn’t look surprised at her naming Ian, it made her madder. Such hatred in those eyes. It about broke my heart. Well, if it wasn’t for vampires... I totally agree on that score.”
    I pressed my lips together.
    “What caught me off guard was that she said ‘at least I have my reasons.’”
    I materialized in front of Isabelle, and she gave me a reproving look that I ignored. “Does