Page 66 of Death at a Scottish Halloween

They dragged me to the other end of the maze; where three of the ghosts waved goodbye to those who had gone through what most people thought was a fun experience. They were all laughing when they came out.

Not me.

Jasper asked the men and women the same question. They were shocked.

“I haven’t seen anyone like that, and I have a good memory,” one of the women said. “It’s me, Meg, Doc. I can’t believe that happened to you. Do you think he’s harassing other guests? Maybe we should send a team in to check?”

Meg worked at the new bookstore in town. We’d become book mates, as we liked a lot of the same kind of mysteries and thrillers. She always made sure I had first dibs.

“Great makeup, Meg. It’s fine. Really. He’s probably gone. I’m fairly certain he followed me in and then made sure I was separated from my friends.”

“That’s terrible,” she said. “You must have been scared to death.”

“Just keep an eye out, though. You never know,” Jasper said. “And if you see him, call the police.”

“We will,” Meg said. “Joe, take Luther in and check if you can find that guy. I don’t remember seeing him come out.”

“Could have crawled under,” one of the men said.

“Just double check,” Meg said. “You wait here with me,” she said to us.

We did. She went on with her job, waving to the people leaving. A few minutes later, the men returned.

“We didn’t see a Dracula,” one of the men said. “Got a text, though, from the boss to be on the lookout.”

“Thank you, all. I’m sure he’s gone by now.”

I shivered again as we left.

“You’re still shaking,” Mara said. “Let’s get you home. And before you argue, I’m spending the night.”

“I won’t argue, though Ewan has been coming most nights.”

She and Jasper chuckled.

“And you keep saying there’s nothing between you,” she said, then she walked ahead a bit.

“He’s only looking after the bodies. Even now, one of his team is down there at my place. We’re almost done with the tests. I’ll be very glad to send them both to the funeral home.”

“I don’t blame you,” Jasper said. “Let me text Abigail to see where she and Tommy are.”

Never in my life, had I been more grateful for my friends. They were fierce when anyone messed with us.

“I’ve got Ewan on the line, tell him what happened,” Mara said.

I sighed and then gave her a look. I took her phone. Then repeated my experience for what seemed like the twentieth time.

There was a long pause.

“Before you yell about me going off on my own, I was with my friends. But it was crowded, and we were separated. I’m sure he followed me. He may have even ensured that we were not together.”

“From now on, you don’t leave unless one of the team is with you.”

“You can’t do that, Ewan. Your team is stretched thin with the fête and all the events. You loaded up my place with security so we could avoid this sort of thing. I’ll be fine. Mara is staying with me.”

There was another long pause.

“I’ll be there at midnight. Tell Mara to take the guest room. No argument. I’ll let myself in.”