Madness in Brewster Square Read online

  Okay, honestly, this was so not what I expected to hear.

  “C’mon you guys, let’s get this thing started,” Giuseppe called from the porch. “I’ve got your assignments ready.”

  My brother always did have good timing.

  I shuddered, wondering what my assignment would be. Hopefully I wouldn’t be stuck watching the computer monitors, as that particular job usually put me to sleep. I couldn’t help it; watching empty rooms was totally boring. Nothing ever happened during these ghost hunts besides the usual petty arguments and disappointment at not seeing anything.

  “Ava, you’ve got to come in here,” Charlie called from the front door. “You were right, it is totally gorgeous inside. The outside is still all yucky, but they did an amazing job in here.” I cringed, hoping the new owners weren’t within earshot of that statement.

  Stanley and I walked to the front porch. We weren’t holding hands, but we were shoulder to shoulder. I liked being near him. “I’ll tell you about it later, but I wanted you to know,” he said. I nodded, wondering what sprained ankles had to do with being mayor.

  As we climbed the steps, everyone started streaming through the front door into the house. A soft glow came from the overhead chandelier, a whimsical piece of lighting that sparkled with the many drops of glass that were suspended around the bulbs. The hardwood floors had a sheen that suggested a new coat of varnish, and oriental throw rugs were scattered about. The foyer was huge, comfortably holding the twenty or so people that gathered there, and it looked like the hallway in front of us led to a kitchen at the back of the house. To the right was a tastefully furnished sitting room with a fire in the fireplace, and to the left was an enormous dining room that looked like it could seat about forty people. A grand staircase that rivaled the one in Gone with the Wind invited us upstairs.

  “This place is huge,” I said to no one in particular. I looked around carefully, trying to orient myself before Giuseppe turned all the lights off. At least there was a fire burning, adding a little light near the computer monitors.

  “I love what they’ve done with the walls,” Charlie said, looking around with wide eyes.

  “I think they restored what was already here,” Giuseppe offered. The walls were elaborate panels of mahogany, with intricate patterns detailed onto some of them. The effect was luxurious, and all I could imagine was how much money people were going to pay for an overnight stay here. The new owners were going to make a fortune, which was good, because it looked like they’d already spent a fortune.

  “As you can see, we’ve set up the monitors in the room to your right,” Giuseppe said. “It made the most sense to be in there because they’ve already lit a fire. Rather than put it out, I decided it would be nice to be in there.”

  Okay, my brother had a point. At least if I was going to be bored tonight, I’d be bored in a nice setting.

  “I want Sarah, John and Rebecca to be on the monitors tonight,” Giuseppe said.

  Hmmm. Maybe it won’t be so boring, but hopefully he won’t stick me with one of those people I saw walking in earlier.

  “Remember, this is an old house, and it’s a big house, so I’m sure there’s something here. We want to be very thorough and get readings in all the rooms, cover as much as we possibly can.” When my brother talked about getting readings, he was referring to the equipment they carried around, like digital recorders and energy sensitive reading-thingies. I wasn’t entirely sure how it all worked, but since nothing ever happened on these ghost hunts, I wasn’t too worried about it. I’ve never once had any type of reading on anything he made me carry around. At least, I didn’t think I had any readings. I wasn’t always so good about paying attention to that stuff.

  As Giuseppe kept talking I started to get worried. His assignments so far had not mentioned me, and he had covered the front and back of the house, the first, second and third floors. The thought occurred to me that maybe I could just sneak into the computer room and sink into one of those comfy looking chairs.

  “Ava, don’t worry, I didn’t forget about you,” Giuseppe smiled at me. “I know how bored you tend to get on these evenings, so I’ve given you the best room in the house tonight.” I did my best to look as innocent as possible, shaking my head a little at the suggestion that I’d get bored. Who, me? Never. I’m sure nobody was fooled by my attempts at disguising my true feelings.

  With a broad sweep of his arm, Giuseppe gestured to the hallway behind him. “Back there is the door where you’ll go.”

  Now I was confused. “Where am I going, the cupboard under the stairs?” Sometimes my brother had a twisted sense of humor.

  “No, you’re going in the basement.”

  Chapter Eight

  “Not going to happen.” I was shaking my head before the words were even out of my mouth. “I’m not sitting with all kinds of rats and bats and snakes and spiders down there. Nope, I’m going in the computer room.” I’d rather be bored than bitten.

  The woman I’d seen earlier with the big gray hair looked at me like I was crazy. “Bats don’t live in basements, they live in attics. Everyone knows that.” And everyone knows there’s no such thing as ghosts, but I wisely kept my mouth shut.

  Another voice piped up from the back of the crowd. “There’s definitely going to be spiders down there, though.” People nodded in agreement. Were they on my side, or were they just making observations? I had no idea what to expect from these people, even though I’d known some of them for years.

  “Don’t know about snakes, might be too cold in the basement for them,” an older voice drawled. Who said that? He sounded familiar. My head swiveled around as I tried to locate the speaker. It sounded like an older person, but it could have been anyone.

  “Probably mice, I doubt there are rats,” Big Gray Hair added. Who was this woman, some sort of wildlife expert?

  “I don’t care about the specifics of what’s down there, I am not going,” I said as succinctly as possible. It was time for everyone to stop speculating about wildlife and find me a new spot to investigate.

  “I’ll go with you,” Stanley offered. I smiled at him. What a sweetheart he is to offer. I was fairly certain he didn’t like creepy crawlies any more than I did, but he was willing to put up with them for me. After all, who really wants to cozy up to a hairy-ass spider as big as a bike, which was probably what was down there?

  “Here, take this with you,” Giuseppe said, shoving something into my hands. I looked down at it, not remembering the name of this piece of equipment I was sure I’d used before. It was a handheld plastic thing with a series of different colored lights across the top, from green to yellow to red. “It’s the EMF meter,” he added.

  “I knew that,” I said. He didn’t need to know I couldn’t remember what it was called. “EMF. Stands for electro magnetic frequency.”

  Giuseppe looked impressed. “I’m surprised you remembered. Do you know what it does?”

  This part was easy. Everything sort of did the same thing in one way or another. “Of course. It detects the electro magnetic frequency of ghosts.” Every time Giuseppe asked me if I knew what a piece of equipment was used for, I answered the same way: Insert-name-of-equipment detects the frequency of ghosts. Easy to remember and usually correct.

  “Good. Now take this with you, and Stanley can take this notebook, and you can work as a team to record any unusual readings you get.” He looked at me closely, probably trying to decide if he could trust me with this job. “Remember, it’s the basement, so I’m expecting some sort of energy fluctuations down there. Basements are prime locations for activity.”

  The basement was also going to be a prime location for me to hang out with Stanley and get to know him better, despite the spiders and ghosts. This might work out okay after all.

  “I’m on it, don’t worry about a thing,” I reassured my brother. With the EMF thingy in one hand and Stanley walking behind me, we headed toward the area Giuseppe had indicated. It took a minute to make
my way through the crowd, as it seemed like everyone there was just standing around watching me. I was definitely feeling paranoid. Stanley and I reached the middle of the hallway and stopped.

  “Keep walking,” my brother called out. “The doorway is on your right.”

  “It looks like a closet door,” I mumbled.

  “It looks like a regular closet door,” Giuseppe called out. “You can go on down as soon as we turn all the lights out.”

  I’m not usually afraid of things—okay, maybe once in a while I am—but I didn’t think it was a good idea to go down basement steps in the dark. People started moving around us, some of them going to the back of the house while I assumed others went upstairs or into the much desired computer room. Lights were being turned off throughout the house.

  Stanley stepped closer to me and leaned in. “How are we going to be able to see if the lights are out?”

  “I usually bring a small flashlight, but I forgot this time. It comes in handy so I don’t bump my head or trip and fall. Do you have anything?” I asked, hopeful that his job as mayor made him as prepared as a boy scout.

  “I’ve got one in my car in case of emergencies,” he said. “I’ll be right back.”

  He turned and walked away, moving with purpose. I stood there for a moment, feeling like an idiot. Sure, I wasn’t crazy about the idea of going into the basement, but I also hated standing around looking like I was slacking.

  That’s when I remembered I had my cell phone in my pocket. I have a flashlight on the phone, which the salesman had used as a selling point as to why I needed that model. Looked like he was right.

  Assuming Stanley would catch up with me, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and turned on the flashlight. The LED light was brighter than I expected, which Giuseppe wouldn’t like, but I wouldn’t have to use it for long because Stanley would be right back.

  The door opened without a sound, and I started down the steps, determined not to think of things that could jump or land on me, like spiders, mice, rats or mutant ninja turtles. Weird things can happen at a time like this.

  I walked carefully down the steps, a little bit worried about tripping and falling. I probably should have worn sneakers, but my cute red heels looked so much better with jeans, and I hated wearing sneakers.

  When I got to the bottom of the stairs, I realized two things: first, it was a darn good thing I had a flashlight. Second, none of my previous fears mattered. Snakes, spiders and flying ninja bats would be preferable to what I was looking at.

  A person was lying on the cellar floor, twisted at a weird angle and lying in a pool of dark liquid.

  I was all alone in the basement with a dead body.

  Chapter Nine

  I couldn’t breathe. This was a major problem, because I needed to scream. But I couldn’t get any air into my body, so I couldn’t scream. The light from my cell phone illuminated enough of the corpse for me to know this was real, not some leftover mannequin from Halloween past.

  From what I could see of the clothing and shape of the body, it looked like a woman. Poor thing, she must have fallen down the steps. I inched closer, wondering if it was possible for her to be alive.

  A thumping noise upstairs startled me, dragging my gaze to the darkness that hovered over me. I heard it again, only this time it sounded like it was in the corner of the basement. The dark corner.

  Maybe whoever this was didn’t fall. Maybe she was pushed. My thoughts were scattered and rapid, like my breathing. That’s a lot of blood I think I see. Is it possible that whoever did this is still here?

  That’s when I screamed. The thought of being in the basement with a murderer scared the bejeesus out of me. I stood there screaming and shivering, scared and cold. It seemed like I was standing there forever, but it was probably only around five seconds.

  Someone must have turned the light on right before the crowd swarmed around me. I pointed to the body on the basement floor, and the crowd grew quiet.

  “What the heck is going on down here?” my brother demanded. “Can’t I trust you for one—oh.” He cut his sentence short when he reached the bottom of the stairs and saw why I was screaming. “Are you okay?” I was touched by my brother’s concern, but at that very moment I couldn’t tell how I was. All I knew was that I was way better than the person on the floor.

  “It must have just happened,” Big Gray Hair said. “I can see the spirit hovering near the body.”

  “Shut up,” I said. Honestly, I was all done with her and her lunatic ideas of seeing ghosts. We had a real problem here, and we needed help, not some crackpot spouting spirit nonsense. “We’ve got to call the police,” I said. I looked down at my phone, and of course, there was no cell phone signal. Good thing I didn’t have to use it to call someone for help.

  “Everybody out now,” Giuseppe ordered. “I want you all upstairs, and make sure you call 911. We need emergency personnel ASAP.” I was impressed at his authoritative tone.

  A commotion at the top of the stairs made me finally tear my gaze away from the body. Stanley was pushing his way through the people, trying to get by. “Ava, are you okay?” he asked.

  I nodded, feeling kind of weird that it made me happy that Stanley was concerned about my welfare. Shouldn’t I be more worried about what had happened to the person on the floor than whether some guy cared about me?

  “Does she need help?” Stanley asked.

  “Who?” I said.

  “The woman on the floor, is she dead or injured?” Stanley said.

  Based on the amount of blood around her, I was fairly certain we were too late, but Stanley had a point. She might have just been unconscious. I stepped carefully toward the body, not wanting to ruin my shoes in a pool of blood. Leaning over, I touched the side of her neck to see if I could find a pulse. Her skin was warm, not cold as I’d expected. I poked around her neck, trying to find some sign of life. After almost a full minute, I stood and shook my head. “Nothing. I’m pretty sure she’s dead.”

  “Is she cold?” a voice from the stairs asked.

  Giuseppe whirled around to face the crowd. “Has anyone called the police yet? I told you all to go upstairs. We have to be careful not to contaminate the scene here.”

  “What are you saying?” Stanley asked.

  “I’m saying that I’m in charge of this group, and I want you all out,” Giuseppe said. I had to agree with my brother. If this was anything other than an accident, all these people needed to leave right now. At least with the lights on I felt better about being able to see if anyone was trying to sneak up on me.

  “G, I’m going to stay down here with her,” I said.

  “Don’t call me G,” my brother said.

  “I don’t want to leave her alone, whoever she is,” I said, ignoring his comment. It felt disrespectful to leave this person all alone, and with the lights on I was fairly certain nobody was hiding down there. Plus, I couldn’t help but note the position of the body and the massive wound on the side of her head.

  Maybe I’d been watching too much television, but it didn’t seem normal to have the side of your head bashed in after a fall down the stairs. Then again, I was no forensic expert, so maybe it had been an accident. My brother was right. Everyone needed to leave this area and wait upstairs.

  There was a shuffling sound as people filed up the stairs, and I could hear some people talking about the spirit of the body. What the heck is wrong with those people? Thankfully I only had to deal with most of them for these ghost hunting nights.

  I crouched down to examine the woman in front of me. She had short, graying hair and was dressed in a conservative plaid skirt and matching jacket, with her face turned away from me. I tried not to look too hard at her hair, since that was the part that was a real mess. Judging from her clothes and sensible shoes, I guessed she was older, although I suppose there might be someone my age that would wear that sort of outfit. I looked at the floor around her, wondering if there was anything down here that could tell me i
f this was an accident or not, although I wasn’t sure why it mattered to me.

  This wasn’t the first dead body I’d seen. Coming from a large extended family, I’d been to my share of wakes and funerals. I’d never, however, seen a dead body that was dead from an accident. Or whatever she was dead from.

  I hope I never see this again.

  A chill ran through me, permeating my core. I was shivering. I stepped away from the body and sat on the bottom stair. Tilting my head, I squinted a little. Something about her looked familiar. Then it clicked. I knew who she was.

  Voices at the top of the stairs told me the police had arrived. I stood and turned, relieved to see the uniformed man walking down the steps. He smiled at me as he wiped his hands with one of those wet wipe things.

  “Ava Maria Sophia Cecilia, how’s it goin’?” he said.

  I smiled. “Rob, I’m glad you’re here.” I’d gone to high school with Rob Genova, and although we never really hung out with the same people, he was always nice to me. It came as no surprise to me that he was now a police officer, since it had been his goal to be in law enforcement since the seventh grade. He was average height but built like a football player, not overweight but with a stocky build that would be hard to knock down. His dark hair glistened with the gel he put in to hold up the short spikes, exactly as it had for so many years.

  He stood one stair above me, looking down at the body. “What happened?”

  I held back a shudder, not wanting to appear weak. “I don’t know. I came here tonight to do a ghost hunt thing with my brother, and he assigned me to the basement. She was here when I got here.”

  There was a commotion at the top of the stairs, and I saw Rob put his hands in his pockets and look at the ceiling. I looked up to see a man storming down the stairs at me, a thunderous look on his face. He was handsome in a Tom Selleck kind of way, with that dark, brooding look that works well on the movie screen. His jeans fit nicely, and he wore a pink, button-down dress shirt. Must be one of those guys that doesn’t care what anyone else thinks. His eyes were blazing, and I could tell he was upset. I wondered who the heck he was, as I didn’t recognize him. With Brewster Square being such a small town, I was surprised I didn’t know him. Maybe he was related to the person on the floor.