Read Online 1 Broken Hearted Ghoul by Joyce Lavene; Jim Lavene - Free Book Online Page A

like it.”
    Abe nodded. “I have, unfortunately. Skye, walk with me. Brandon, see to Mr. Welk.”
    “There was actually one other thing that I thought was a little strange,” I mentioned. “He was lying on top of a gold wedding band. We put it on him, but I’m not sure it was his. It may have belonged to his killer.”
    “Show me,” Abe said.
    I put on a pair of gloves, and lifted Mr. Welk’s hand. The light caught on the wedding band.
    “Take it off.” Abe cocked his head as he observed the ring.
    I tried to do as he asked, but the ring wouldn’t budge. “Sorry. I don’t think it will come off that easy.”
    “I can get it.” Brandon picked up a scalpel, and sliced the finger from Mr. Welk’s hand, before he cut off the ring and handed it to Abe.
    I couldn’t believe he did it without a second thought. No hesitation at all.
    “What? He’s dead already,” he defended.
    “Don’t squabble, children.” Abe turned the ring around in his fingers. “Thank you, Brandon. We’ll talk later.”
    Abe and I walked out together. I watched him pocket the ring. I wondered if the ring had made him understand the situation better. It looked like every other plain, gold wedding band to me. I had one in my drawer back home that Jacob had put on my finger.
    “I’m afraid we find ourselves in an unusual situation, Skye. You’ll have to be more careful. Report to me immediately if anything seems odd or unusual.”
    “With all respect, Abe, calling someone’s heart being removed from their body odd or unusual, is an understatement—even for a zombie. Can you give me more information on what I should be looking for?”
    “You have what you need.” He stared up at the sky. “Go home. Pick up your daughter. I’ll call when I have another assignment.”
    I wondered for a brief moment if I should tell him about Lucas and my unexpected brush with the bus that morning. On the scale of getting your heart snatched from your chest, it didn’t seem worth it. I couldn’t see any connection between the incidents, so I kept my mouth shut.
    “Sure. I’ll do that.” I turned to go back to the van, feeling dismissed. Why wouldn’t Abe tell me more? Were Debbie and I in danger?
    “And Skye—” Abe turned back to face me. “Keep that gun you carry close by. You may need it. Convince Debbie to find a weapon of her own.”
    That was it. His words answered the question of whether or not Debbie and I could suffer the same fate as Mr. Welk. I watched him walk toward Deadly Ink. Two hulking, zombie bodyguards fell in line behind him.
    I got in the van, consumed with questions. Abe certainly didn’t plan to answer them. Debbie and I were going to have to be on our guard, but we didn’t know what we were up against.
    It was that kind of day, I decided on the way home. Nothing made much sense. I wasn’t sure what was going on. All I could do was wait for bits and pieces to add themselves to the information I had. I considered talking to Martin about it, but that would have to wait until later. It was time to get Kate from school.
    “You came!” Kate was happy to see me in the long car line stretching out from her school. She jumped in the front seat.
    “I told you I would if I got off early. How was your day?”
    All of the details of second grade life came tumbling out. I saw Debbie picking up Raina too. There was no time to stop and chat. Parents with deadlines were pushing through the car line trying to get to ballet and piano lessons.
    “They said it might snow tonight.” Kate grinned. “That would mean no school tomorrow. How sweet would that be?”
    “I thought you liked school?” I smiled. Her close resemblance to Jacob sometimes astounded me. Seeing her meant he would always be close to me.
    “It’s okay. But I like when it snows, and I get to hang around the house all day. I’m always finding something new.”
    “Something new like what?” I pulled the van back out on the street. The sky was deeply