The Haunted_Edit Copy 4-7-17 no reviews

Chapter Fourteen
The next few times I saw Tucker, he acted almost completely
normal. He quoted movies, read thick books incomprehensible to
most human beings, and didn’t have the confidence to flirt with
random waitresses. The only thing that was a little unnerving was
his sudden habit of smoking at least a pack of cigarettes a day. When
I kissed him, it left an ashy taste in my mouth, shadows of the weird
night we’d had. But since there were only shadows and no more
actual displays of assholery, I pushed it to the back of my mind.
It took three weeks before Daisy and Richard decided to ask
him to come to another investigation. I wondered if they’d been
contemplating kicking him out of the group, but I wasn’t about to
go and ask something like that behind his back. Most likely they
were just giving him time to recover before he stomped back into
another place riddled with spirits.
I happened to be free that night, too, so at eight o’clock,
Tucker was at my house. When I opened the door to let him inside,
I saw that his car was still running in the driveway, and Susannah
was checking her makeup in the side mirror. Trouble, on the other
hand, was only interested in his favorite visitor. He immediately
pressed himself against my boyfriend’s leg, demanding attention.
“You look adorable,” Tucker said, reaching out to touch one
of my braids with his free hand.
“This is business attire, Mr. Hamilton. There’s nothing
adorable about it.” I swatted his hand away and grinned. “Just let me
grab my bag.” I turned and hurried down the hallway to my room.
As I was checking to make sure I had all my equipment in
the black messenger bag, Trouble’s barking echoed through the
halls. I started to roll my eyes before I realized this wasn’t his usual
playful “love me” type of bark. This was the kind of bark he used
on strangers we passed when we took him for walks. Did Susannah
come inside? He hadn’t ever had a chance to meet her.
The barking continued, and I heard Tucker’s voice mixed
into the raucous chorus, although I couldn’t make out his words. I
152