Boo! Kylie and Jillian Talk Ghosts . . . and Bras

CONTEST!  CONTEST!  Giving away six books today . . . stay tuned for details!

Since Halloween is right around the corner, I thought I’d introduce you to Susan Muller, her heroine Jillian Whitmeyer, and Jillian’s dead sister, Heather.  Yeah, I said dead.  Actually, we’ve written up a short piece that involves Susan’s characters and a few of my Shadow Falls characters, both live and dead.

Another day . . . another dead body.

When Detective Adam Campbell learns that a WWII gun is connected to several murders he’s investigating, he hopes that tracking down the killer will be as easy as tracing the gun’s history. When he meets Jillian Whitmeyer, the last known owner of the weapon, the case becomes anything but simple.

Just because you can’t see it, doesn’t mean it isn’t real.

Adam soon learns that people who get close to Jillian have a bad habit of turning up dead. Jillian claims that the spirit of her sister, accidentally killed with that same gun, is responsible for the deaths. She warns Adam that he is likely to become the next victim. Adam’s been a lousy judge of women in the past and this one’s obviously a nut case. Or is she? How does a just-the-facts detective deal with a ghostly serial killer and the sexy-as-hell sister she won’t set free?

Shadow Falls Camp is back in session with the most explosive installment yet.  A shocking new threat will rock Shadow Falls—changing it forever and altering Kylie’s journey in ways she never imagined.

Even at a camp for supernatural teens, Kylie Galen has never been normal. Not only can she see ghosts, but she doesn’t seem to belong to any one species—she exhibits traits from them all. As Kylie struggles to unlock the secrets of her identity, she begins to worry that Lucas will never be able to accept her for what she is, and what she isn’t…a werewolf.  With his pack standing in their way, Kylie finds herself turning more and more to Derek, the only person in her life who’s willing to accept the impossible.

As if life isn’t hard enough, she starts getting visits from the ghost of Holiday, her closest confidante.  Trouble is, Holiday isn’t dead…not yet anyway.  Now Kylie must race to save one of her own from an unseen danger before it’s too late—all while trying to stop her relationship with Lucas from slipping away forever.   In a world of constant confusion, there’s only one thing Kylie knows for sure.  Change is inevitable and all things must come to an end…maybe even her time at Shadow Falls.

Kylie Galen bumps into Jillian Whitmeyer for a discussion of all things dead.  Well, not all things, just people - ghosts.   

Kylie Galen stared down at the size C bra she held, studied the silky lacy pattern, eyed the hook on the front.  Stared really hard.   Ever since her boobs miraculously grew—from a B to a C cup, overnight mind you, Kylie hadn’t replenished her underwear collection.    

However, to be completely honest, her fascination with the bra wasn’t about the bra.  She stared at the undergarment so she wouldn’t have to stare at the woman standing in front of her waving a gun around and pointing it at the heads of the other women in the store line.

Kylie would simply prefer to fake interest in the bra rather than let the woman, the dead woman, that is, know that she could see her.  Normally, she didn’t ignore ghosts.  Being a ghost whisperer pretty much meant it was her job to take care of them.  However, this ghost wasn’t here for Kylie.  She appeared to be with the woman standing in front of her in line. Through her eyelashes, Kylie studied the tall, spiky-haired brunette with the hint of a tattoo peeking out from her tank top.  The fact that the woman did an in depth inspection of the bra she held in her hand as well told Kylie that the brunette could see the ghost, too.  

Suddenly, the spirit turned and pointed the gun, which looked like something from an old WWII movie, right at Kylie’s forehead. All her faked interest in the bra stopped and she looked up.  There was just something about having a gun pointed at you that couldn’t be ignored.  

“Stop it,” the spiked hair woman hissed and glared at the ghost. 

 The spirit shot a smile full of malice at the woman then gaped at Kylie.  “Shit…you can see me, can’t you?”  She glanced back at the woman again.  “Hey…she can see me.  How cool is that?”

Kylie didn’t wait for her answer.  “Not so cool.” She walked away and re-shelved the bra.  She’d buy underwear later.  Obviously her presence was aggravating the ghost.  She got about ten feet from the store when she heard footsteps chasing after her.  She turned to find the spiked-haired woman running toward her.   Kylie automatically did what all supernaturals did.  She tightened her eyes and studied the woman’s brain pattern to see what she was.  There were all sorts of species living on earth, from vampires to witches.  To whatever the hell Kylie was.  Yup, she was a mystery to even the supernatural world.  Much to Kylie’s surprise the woman’s pattern showed her to be human.   Very few normals could see ghosts.  What was up with that?

“Can I talk to you?” the spiked-haired woman asked.

Kylie frowned.  It wasn’t that she didn’t want to talk to this woman, but face it, the conversation was gonna be one of those weird ones.  Weird as in – ‘Hey, did you see that ghost?’

It wasn’t a conversation Kylie looked forward to having. 

“Just a few minutes.  I’ll buy you a soda.”  The woman pointed to a diner across the street.  “I’m desperate.”

Crap!  Desperate people always got to Kylie.

*  *  *

Jillian Whitmeyer walked inside the diner that smelled like apple pie and studied the young girl.  She didn’t know her from Adam, didn’t have a clue what to say, but the fact that she could see Heather freaked her out.

“How about a piece of that pie that smells so good?” Jillian still didn’t know how to start this conversation, but teenagers were always hungry, weren’t they?

“A soda will be fine. I really need to get back.” The girl kept her head down, avoiding eye contact with Heather, who had grabbed a chair and joined them.

A waitress took their order and returned with two diet sodas before Jillian had time to plan the best way to approach the girl. She looked about sixteen, but her eyes said that she’d seen more than she should have.

“I’m Jillian and this is Heather.” Heather had changed from the low-cut, sequined cocktail dress and Jimmy Choo’s she wore in the lingerie shop into capris and jeweled sandals. Her idea of appropriate diner duds?

“Kylie,” the girl mumbled. “You know your ghost’s name?”

“Well, sure. She’s my sister. When you see ghosts, you don’t know who they are?”  Jillian took a chance with that question. If Kylie saw Heather, she probably saw other ghosts, too.

“No. They usually don’t remember their names. That makes it tough to solve their problems for them. Take the one over there,” Kylie nodded toward the back of the diner. “She’s really a pain in the ass.”

Jillian spun around and caught sight of a woman in a bloody dress, dragging a sword. No wonder the girl looked frightened. Jillian was pretty darn frightened herself. Could that sword actually harm someone? Someone living?

Kylie’s ghost swung the sword in a figure eight and drops of blood flew across the room, landing on Heather’s capris.

Heather jumped up, knocking her chair back. “That’s it. I was willing to overlook your obvious bad fashion sense, but now you’ve ruined my outfit and I have no intention of letting that slide.”

“What are you going to do?” Jillian whispered to Heather.

“Take her outside and teach her some manners.” Heather grabbed the other ghost’s arm and pulled her through the diner as if to take her to the back alley.

“Oh, good,” said Kylie’s ghost.  “I’ve been dying to use my sword on someone again.”

Jillian looked at Kylie.  “Should we do something?”

Kylie shrugged.  “What are they going to do?  Kill each other?  They’re already dead.”  Kylie sighed. “Is your sister always that mad? She had a gun in the store. What was that all about?”

“A lady walked through her and cut in line ahead of us. She doesn’t like to be disrespected.”  Jillian paused and then jumped right in. “You said ghosts ask you to solve their problems.  What does this one want you to do?” The more she could learn about handling ghosts, the better. And Kylie seemed to have experience.

“For me to kill someone.”

Jillian nearly choked on her soda.  “You’re not going to do it, are you?”

“I hope not.”  Kylie finished her soda and swirled the ice cubes. “But sometimes ghosts have a way of getting what they want.” 

“I know what you mean,” Jillian said.

Kylie frowned.  “What does Heather want?”

“Just my body. She wants to live my life for me because she doesn’t think I’m doing that great a job with it.” Jillian realized that Heather might be on the right track with that one.  She really wasn’t doing so hot these days.

“That sounds like a bummer. What would happen to you?”

“I have no idea, but I don’t intend to find out. I mean, would you trust her?” Her sister had made her life miserable for years, but now she was trying to hurt a cop.  More specifically, the really hot homicide detective Jillian really liked.

Kylie glanced at the back door. “Probably not. They’re not all nice, you know. Ghosts, I mean. I don’t know about your sister.” She looked back at Jillian.  “What do you plan to do?”

“I plan to get rid of her, just as soon as I figure out how,” she whispered, hoping Heather was too busy fighting in the alley to be listening.

“That’s sort of my plan, too,” Kylie said. “But while they’re busy, why don’t we run back across the street and buy those bras?”

 ***

Want to learn how Kylie and Jillian get rid of their pesky spirits and discover why both of them were buying sexy bras?   Read The Secrets on Forest Bend by Susan Muller and Whispers at Moonrise by C.C. Hunter, AKA Christie Craig

And to celebrate Halloween, three people will receive copies of both Whispers at Moonrise and The Secrets on Forest today.  So leave me a comment telling me about your plans on Halloween or, tell me if you believe in ghosts – if you dare!

Happy Halloween!