Rocks & Gravel (Peri Jean Mace Ghost Thrillers Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page A

heirlooms.”
    “Nice way of saying I saw a ghost steal them.” I glanced at the roll of gut soother, considered it, and slipped them back into my pocket without taking another one.
    “Hannah also said you don’t want to help find the journals or the book of folk medicine.” Eddie glared at me the same way Hooty had glared at his own daughter. Though Eddie and I weren’t related by blood, he was the only father I remembered having.
    “Hannah knows everything I know,” I said.
    “There’s no chance you could do more?” Eddie set aside his notebook. “I see you got your black opal necklace back on. Don’t it make your powers stronger?”
    I retrieved my antacids from my pocket and ate three.
    “Peri Jean used the black opal to enhance what she could see.” Hannah gave me an apologetic glance, looking away when I bared my teeth at her. “But she couldn’t identify the ghost.”
    “Even if I could,” I said, “I have no idea who’s controlling it.” The tortured voice and the shadowed figure in the backseat of my car popped back into my mind, almost like it had never been gone. How did such spooky shit slip away from me? Am I so stressed out I can’t remember stuff from an hour ago? I rubbed my aching shoulders.
    “Do you think you could contact the ghost itself?” Leave it to Rainey Bruce to cut to the heart of the matter. A barracuda in the courtroom and in life, she didn’t care who she offended. She set her course and never stopped.
    “Maybe, but I don’t want to.” I played it Rainey’s way, subtle as a jackhammer at dawn.
    Eddie pressed his lips together and narrowed his eyes at me.
    “If somebody were dead over this, I’d try, but contacting ghosts ain’t my business. Matter of fact, it’s gotten me thrown in the loony bin before. I don’t think it’s a fun way to pass the time.”
    “This isn’t for fun.” Hannah’s voice tightened. “This is justice. Someone stole from the museum, which is the same as stealing from this town.”
    I thought back to the curious stares in Amanda’s Hair Flairs and assessed my give-a-shit level. It wasn’t too high. Rainey rolled her eyes.
    “Forget about the people in this mud hole who can’t stand you because they’re afraid. What about your friends?” She gestured around the room, silver bracelets jangling on her dark arm to punctuate her point.
    I lowered my head, face flaming. “Dean’s on it.”
    “Oh come on. Don’t play stupid,” Hannah said. “He’s doing all he knows to do—contacting pawn shops, encouraging us to make the theft as public as possible so people will know to be on the lookout, but he can’t do what you can. And you know it.”
    “Listen.” Rainey pointed one sharp, red fingernail at me. “I will not let my family’s heirlooms disappear and not fight to get them back. Just because you don’t care about your family, doesn’t mean I don’t care about mine. I’m proud of my family’s heritage in this county.”
    “Would you be so proud of it if people treated you like an attraction at a carnival?” My voice raised. All the fatigue and hurt of the last few months bubbled, its steam becoming anger.
    “Enough. Both of you.” Hooty stood behind his desk. “I know you like to stay away from the Mace Treasure. I respect your reasoning, though I don’t necessarily agree with it. I’ll ask you to try to understand the reason we want our heirlooms back so badly. It isn’t so much the connection to the Mace Treasure but their historical value we care about.”
    “Hooty, I brought the video from last night’s Museum board meeting.” Hannah dug in her bag and came up with a DVD in a plastic jewel case. “Maybe we could let Peri Jean see the part where you read from the journal.”
    “I’m willing if she’s willing.” Hooty stared at my face, waiting for my answer.
    I wanted to say no so badly it hurt. Getting embroiled in the Mace Treasure nonsense and communicating with the spirit world did not appeal