Rose and Helena Save Christmas: a novella Read Online Free PDF Page B

she’s not in Henryetta.”  
    “We can talk about it later,” Rose said, then looked at Taylor. “How long do you think she’ll be gone?”
    Taylor shrugged. “It depends on how long it takes her to find the file, then how long it takes for her to open it. Helena is very inconsistent with things like touch. Sometimes it doesn’t work the way she’d like.”
    The words had barely left Taylor’s mouth when Helena ran through the wall of the police building, clutching a folder in her right hand. “Oh no,” Taylor said as the ghost ran toward them.
    Rose whirled around and her eyes widened, probably because all she saw was a floating folder racing toward them. Helena slid to a stop in the loose dirt under the trees and handed the folder to Taylor, before bending over and clutching her chest.
    “I didn’t tell you to steal it,” Taylor said.
    Helena looked up. “What did you expect? It’s not like I can shoot Xerox copies out of my butt,” she wheezed.
    “I expected you to read it and tell me what it said.”
    Helena rose up, her face flushed red. “Oh, I didn’t think of that.”
    Taylor stuffed the folder under her shirt. “Let’s get the hell out of here.” She took off through the building behind them and rounded the corner into a small park area behind a stone wall. She checked to make sure the area was clear before sitting on a park bench and pulling out the folder. As she read the report, her pulse ticked up a notch.
    “What’s wrong?” Rose asked.
    Taylor struggled to find a nice way to convey the information, but couldn’t latch onto one. “She was tortured.”
    Rose sucked in a breath. “Oh my word! Who would do such an awful thing?”
    “Someone with a personal ax to grind,” Taylor said. “Someone trying to get information out of her. Maybe just someone crazy.”
    “What was stolen?” Neely Kate asked.
    Taylor scanned the report and shook her head. “The report says the store was tossed, but the clerk couldn’t identify anything missing.”
    “But Rose said she’d be robbed,” Neely Kate said.
    “The shop was full of merchandise,” Taylor said, “and since the clerk was cracked pretty good on the head and it was probably a mess from whoever was there to rob them, she may not realize yet what was removed.”
    “I guess you’re right,” Neely Kate said. “So what do we do now?”
    Taylor blew out a breath. “You two go back to your hotel. I start making calls to see if there’s any word on the street.”
    “But we wanna help,” Neely Kate argued.
    Taylor shook her head. “The kind of people I need to talk to don’t like crowds.”
    “Oh.” Neely Kate’s hopeful expression turned to one of disappointment, but she didn’t argue. “So how do we find you?”
    Taylor pulled her wallet out and handed her a business card. “That’s my cell number. Text me your contact information. I’ll let you know as soon as I hear something.”
    “What are you gonna do about that?” Neely Kate pointed at the folder.
    Taylor stuffed it under her shirt again. “It’s going to take a dip in the Mississippi. We better get going. If one of those cops comes across us all here together, it’s not going to look good. You guys head out first.”
    They jumped up from their bench and headed around the stone wall. Taylor waited a couple of minutes before looking at Helena. “This is not good.”
    Even Helena managed to grasp the severity of the situation. “Why didn’t you warn her about me?”
    “Because if paranormal gifts really run in her family, it could be nothing. I don’t want to scare the hell out of a pregnant woman. According to Rose, she’s already worried about her baby. The last thing I want to do is cause more stress when I’m not certain it’s necessary.”
    “That makes sense. So what now?”
    “Now I step under rocks and talk to some people who don’t like talking. You stick behind and see if the conversations go anywhere else after I leave.”
    Helena nodded.