Butchered After Bark

and we’ll take it from there,” she’s quick to close the deal. “I have a feeling you’ll enjoy exactly where you end up at the end of the night.”
“All right,” I say. “Dinner and you for dessert. We get it.” I make a face at the man before us. “Freddie, these dolls aren’t really haunted, are they?”
He gives a quick look around, the smile quickly dissipating from his lips.
“Let’s just say they have a certain history. I’m not sure about most of them, but I know for a fact one is very, very haunted.” He offers Georgie a hard stare. “My love, where is Annabeth? I swept the room twice, and I’ve yet to see her.”
Georgie gasps as she clutches at her chest. “I set her right in that glass box last night before I went to bed. Just the way you told me to.”
Juni tips her head to the side. “And I swear on my life, she was just there. Or at least she was when I got here earlier.”
Freddie scowls as he looks toward a table to his left, and I note the empty glass box sitting there with the door sealed shut.
“She’s gone now,” he says. “Georgie, I gave you explicit instructions. You must keep Annabeth locked in that glass case the entire duration that the exhibit is here. It’s pertinent no one must touch her, lest the darkness within her unleashes on that poor unsuspecting soul.”
“I touched her!” Georgie howls. “Oh, help me, Juni!” she cries. “I need to see a woman about some sage.” She hauls her daughter off so fast, they nearly knock over six displays in the process.
“I don’t really believe any of that,” I’m quick to tell him. “I touched her, too.”
His eyes ride up and down my body. “I’d be careful if I were you. She prefers pretty girls, and you seem to fit the bill.”
“She prefers pretty girls for what?” I shake my head at the nonsense.
Freddie frowns. “Don’t mock what you know nothing about. The doll is wicked. And I promise, you don’t want to find out any more than that.”
“Well, I call malarkey.” I don’t mind one bit calling him out for trying to scare any of us. “And when that toy does show up, I’ll be sure to put her right back where she belongs. There’s not a thing she or any trumped-up wickedness can do to me.”
The lights flicker in the room as the sound of roaring thunder cuts through the walls.
“It’s too late.” Macy moans as she clutches onto my arm with a death grip. “She’s already coming for you, Bizzy, and she’s going to eat the rest of us, too.”
“She is not going to eat anybody,” I say, although with not as much conviction I had a moment ago.
And just like that, the lights go out in the ballroom, leaving us in a den of darkness. A few gasps and screams go off, and I can hear Jordy shouting that he’ll turn on the generator.
My phone goes off, and the light of the screen momentarily blinds me.
It’s a text from Emmie.
Electrical storm knocked out power all over Cider Cove. And FYI, just talked to Leo a few minutes ago. Camila hasn’t been arrested yet. She’s already back at work, trying to flirt her way into his heart. Why do I get the feeling she has the entire Seaview Sheriff’s Department wrapped around her finger? Let’s just hope they don’t let her get away with murder.
I quickly text back. She won’t. How about you and I deliver some hand pies down to the station and say hello to our men just to make it clear to her they’re taken?
My phone blinks back to life as Emmie texts right back. I’m already packing up a box.
The lights come back on, and a weak applause circles the room. I glance to that empty glass case where Annabeth should be sitting and frown.
There’s no way that doll had anything to do with the fact the lights went out. Just like Camilla didn’t have anything to do with Blair Bates’ murder.
I’m sorry, Annabelle, but you don’t frighten me one bit.
The lights flicker again, and this time they can’t seem to stop.
A chill runs up my spine, and it makes me wonder about Annabeth, about Camila.
What if I’m wrong on both counts?
What if I’m about to help someone get away with murder?

Chapter 5
The Seaview Sheriff’s Department sits like a dull gray cube under an equally dull gray sky. A few pumpkins are set out front, and inside there are pictures of ghosts holding cauldrons full of Halloween candy with the words, Don’t get tricked. Bring your treats in to be inspected!
For a kid, I’m pretty sure there would be nothing more terrifying on Halloween than heading down to the sheriff’s station to have your candy x-rayed for razors. Talk about a hair-raising way to end a hair-raising night. Although I’m not sure it would hamper my appetite for the sweet stuff either.
Emmie and I mobilized quickly. She not only boxed up one platter of jack-o’-lantern hand pies, she boxed up three. One for Leo, one for Jasper, and one for Camila in hopes to get her to talk. Camila might be roaming the streets as a free woman again, but that doesn’t mean that good time will last for long.
I brought Sprinkles along for the ride. I figured if the hand pies weren’t enough to get Camila to cough up a few details about her twisted friends, maybe looking into the eyes of this adorable little Yorkie would do the trick.
Truth be told, this little cutie could get me to do just about anything. But then again, I have a heart, and whether that functioning organ exists inside of Camila’s body is still up for debate. And once Sherlock Bones saw me leashing Sprinkles up, he promised to behave if I took him to see Jasper at work—and well, it turns out, I can’t deny Sherlock Bones anything