The Follower by Kate Doughty (ebook reader with built in dictionary TXT) 📕

“Rudy,” Cecily whispers. “What is that?”

Rudy doesn’t know how to answer. He can only say what he suspects it is. “I think . . . I think it might have been Alex Grable.”

Bella reaches for the bottle. “She sounds insane,” she says. She takes a drink and passes. “Do you think—it sounds like she just killed her mom.”

It takes a long moment for Rudy to answer. “Yeah,” he finally says, taking a pull himself. “That’s what I thought, too.”

“Can you turn up the volume any?” Bella asks. She nudges Amber. “Hey, you’re good with recording software, right? Maybe you can, I dunno, do something.”

Amber presses her lips together. The bottle comes around and she takes it. “Uh, I don’t know,” she says. The hesitation in her voice makes it crystal clear how much she doesn’t want to touch the murder tape. “It seems like, well, shouldn’t we take this to the police? If it is her?”

Rudy had been wondering the same thing. Is it evidence? Can they even prove that it was Alex Grable? But even if they can . . . the tape feels important, like a critical part of the house’s mystery. He doesn’t want to give it up just yet. “I mean, we can’t prove it’s her, can we?” Rudy says. “Besides, it’s an open-and-shut case. I don’t think we’re exactly with holding evidence or anything.”

“I don’t think it would look super good if we started finding evidence for a murder case in our renovation,” Amber whispers. Her voice is so quiet, almost inaudible. “Mom wouldn’t like it.” Rudy nods. Amber is right. Their mom might totally lose it if she were to find out about this. “Besides, there’s no real evidence, is there? Just a creepy song thing.”

Jada nods in agreement with Amber and scoots a little closer to her. Rudy watches his sister lean on Jada with a look that can only be relief. “The cops here are real sticklers,” Jada adds. “Won’t even let you off with a warning for going, like, three over. It’d probably go over the wrong way if you turned up with a murder tape. Jailbird doesn’t seem to go with your triplet image.”

“You okay, Cece?” Rudy asks, glancing at other sister, realizing she’s been quiet for a while. “You know what?” He answers his own question by handing her the bottle. “Take a pull. This will help.”

Cecily hesitates, then does just that. “Let’s talk about something else,” she says when she’s finished. “Anything else.”

There’s a moment of silence before Bella pipes up. “I saw your live-stream! And the paint room, Rudy. I just think it’s so brave, what you guys did. Directly calling out that creepy dude like that. Weren’t you scared?”

Rudy gives her a shaky smile, grateful that she jumped on the topic change. “Nah,” he says. “And it’s not like they were bothering us. It’s more like . . . I dunno, rude of them to impersonate a dead girl, you know? And it was a great excuse to redecorate the master bedroom,” he jokes.

“Do you do a lot of painting?” she asks.

He shakes his head. “Nah, but I’d like to do more. When I have time.”

“I’d think you’d have a lot of time—I know you’re homeschooled, but don’t you get summer break?” Jada asks.

“Yeah, we do,” Cecily cuts in. “But don’t even start him on—”

“Working out, mostly,” Rudy says, grinning. “Gotta look good for the ’gram.” It’s what he would have said online, but it doesn’t feel right here. Is that really all he does? Look good for the internet? Well, that and spend way too long googling old ghost stories. He massages his temples. After realizing that the Alex Grable murders had left her father as the sole survivor of the family, Rudy had spent hours trying to find him online with no luck. But he’s not about to tell Bella and Jada that.

“And music,” Amber chirps up. “Rudy has a—”

Rudy passes her the bottle. “Round two, Ambs?” Sure, he’d talked jamming with the guys at the bonfire, but this is different. Bella seems nice, but the last thing he needs is some fangirl telling their online fan base that he’s into music—then his mom would make him post pop covers for sure.

“What do you mean, music?”

“Do you hear that?” Jada’s voice is a whisper. Rudy is thankful for the distraction. “Are you sure your parents are asleep? I thought I heard someone.”

“Yeah, they’re always out cold by eleven,” Amber says.

“I’m probably paranoid because I would get in so much trouble if my parents knew I was drinking . . . ,” Jada admits. “But I thought I heard someone walking around, or something.”

“Or maybe,” Bella says, “you’re hearing the ghost.” It shouldn’t be funny, but the alcohol makes Rudy laugh.

“Shut up!” Cecily says, but even she can’t keep her voice steady.

“It’s okay,” Bella says. “We have Rudy here to keep us safe. Right, Rudy?”

Rudy laughs and flexes, even though this business with the tapes has rattled him more than he cares to admit. Listening to them all alone had been anxiety-inducing, and even now he still finds himself hyperaware of all the house’s strange noises. “You know it—” He cuts himself off. Was that footsteps, below? Or is he just being paranoid?

“Man,” Jada says, “the acoustics in this house sure are great.” She laughs, but she seems nervous. She leans into Amber.

Rudy gets an idea. This is the perfect opportunity to learn more about Norton. “All right, so,” Rudy starts. “Those first pulls were free. The rest of the liquor I will share with the class if—and only if—you girls give me all the creepy hometown legends.”

“He’s thinking of starting a ghost-chasing channel,” Amber says, rolling her eyes. But Bella is game.

“Fine,” Bella says. “We’ll spill the town lore as long as we get something in return—the inside scoop about the Coles. And I mean the real Coles.”

Rudy picks up the bottle and hands it across the circle to Amber. “All right. We’re all game? Then you kids know