No Ghouls Allowed by Victoria Laurie

her.
    “He . . . he . . .” Christine was starting to breathe too fast, and she didn’t seem
     to be able to form words.
    “Shhhh,” I tried again as I spun in a circle, looking for a shirt, and located one
     on the top of my suitcase. “Don’t worry about it, Christine. I’ll find him. You stay
     put until you hear from us, okay?”
    “D-d-d-d-d-don’t go over there, Mary Jane!”
    I paused with my shirt half on and said, “We won’t go inside. We’ll just figure out
     what’s happening and call you. We’ll be okay. I promise. You just stay put. I’ll be
     in touch as soon as I know something.”
    I then hung up because I knew my insistence to head over there was only going to stress
     her out more. The second I pocketed my phone, Heath said, “Tell me.”
    “That was Christine. Before I had a chance to talk to her, she hired another crew
     to go work on the house this morning.”
    “Shit,” Heath swore, his forehead creased with worry.
    “It gets worse.”
    “How much worse?”
    “I think someone might be dead.”
    Gil stared at me as if he couldn’t believe what words had just come out of my mouth.
     “Come again?” he said. “Someone
died
?”
    “Maybe. Christine was pretty hysterical, and I can’t be sure of any details. That’s
     why we need to go.”
    I turned to head out of the room but was stopped in the doorway by Mrs. G. She was
     toting our vests and she handed me mine, then Gilley his, and finally offered the
     largest vest to Heath. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I’ll want a full report
     the second you get back, and don’t even think about taking these off for the rest
     of the day.”
    I kissed Mrs. G. on the cheek and put my vest on in haste. We had to get going. “Thank
     you so much! You’re a lifesaver!”
    With that, we were finally out the door.
    Gilley drove us over to Porter Manor and the moment we turned down the long drive,
     he gave a whistle. “Lots of first responders,” he said.
    I could feel myself tense when I saw the scene that had been almost exactly captured
     by my mind’s eye just fifteen minutes earlier. Then I counted three sheriff’s patrol
     cars, a fire truck, and a paramedic truck all on scene with their lights flashing.
     As we passed the patrol cars, I was a little surprised there was no deputy standing
     in the road, ready to turn us away. “Everybody must be inside,” Heath said from the
     backseat.
    “Look, M.J.!” Gil exclaimed suddenly. “Your daddy’s car.”
    Sure enough, parked right in front of the steps was Daddy’s dark blue Lincoln. A jolt
     of alarm added itself to the anxiety brewing in my stomach. “Why is he here?”
    Gil parked and we all hopped out, but while Heath and I headed toward the front door,
     Gil hung back by the rental car. “I’ll stay here, if y’all don’t mind,” he said, the
     Southern creeping into his speech again.
    “I’ll text you from inside,” I told him. Assuming my phone would work this time, of
     course.
    Heath and I hurried up the steps and through the front door, where I very nearly ran
     right into Daddy. “Mary Jane,” he said, quickly taking hold of my shoulders and gracing
     me with a disapproving frown. “Why are you here?”
    I thought I could ask him the same thing. I craned my neck, trying to peek around
     him, but Daddy’s a big man, and I get my petite stature from my mother. “Christine
     called us,” I said, trying to shrug out of his grasp, but Daddy is also quite strong
     for a man his age. “Daddy, please, let me go. I’m here to help.”
    His disapproving frown intensified. “There’s nothing to be done, honey. You’d best
     get back in your car and go on now before you get in somebody’s way.”
    “Montgomery,” said a familiar voice behind Daddy. I leaned out to see Sheriff Kogan,
     who’d been the Valdosta sheriff for as long as I could remember. “We’re ready to bring
     out the stretcher. Mind stepping aside?”
    I felt my breath