Ghost in the Guacamole by Jaffarian Sue Ann

Author:Jaffarian, Sue Ann [Jaffarian, Sue Ann]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Retail, Mystery & Detective, General, Fiction
ISBN: 0425262499
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 2015-01-06T08:00:00+00:00

• CHAPTER SEVENTEEN •

FEAR and anxiety coursed through Emma’s veins, replacing her blood with a high-voltage current. Alhambra was less than ten miles from downtown Los Angeles and Olvera Street, but with the weekday traffic on the 10 Freeway, it seemed like hundreds of miles in bad weather. On the way, Emma kept up contact with her mother. They were fine, Elizabeth’s texts confirmed. The police were taking statements and contact information from all of the customers at Roble for questioning later. They were still waiting their turn. Her mother didn’t know who had been shot, only that it was a man. They didn’t see it happen.

Phil circled the area around Olvera Street and the Plaza trying to find parking. The police had blocked off the section of Main Street that fed into the parking lot they’d used the day before. Other street closures, including a section of Cesar Chavez, only made the usual traffic snarl ghastlier.

“Get out here,” Phil said to Emma. “I’ll find parking somewhere and meet up with you.”

She didn’t argue and had her seat belt off and the door of the Lexus open before he’d come to a full stop. Once on the street, Emma looked around to get her bearings. She was on Los Angeles Street, close to the Chinese American Museum she and Phil had visited just twenty-four hours earlier. She turned around, spotted the Plaza, and took off at a run. Olvera Street, she knew, was just on the other side of it.

The entrance to the small touristy street was packed with lookie-loos, barely restrained by the temporary barricades set up by the police. There was no gnashing of teeth or hysteria but rather the low rumble of people asking what was going on followed by people passing along information, true or not—the hum of a shocked and angry hive of bees. Roble was down the other end, closer to Cesar Chavez, but Emma knew it would be impossible to slip in that way since most of the police cars were congregated there. Even though her parents assured her they were fine, it didn’t stem her urge to reach them as soon as possible.

“They’re okay, Emma.” Emma turned to see Granny begin to materialize next to her. “I told Elizabeth that you and Phil were on your way.” The ghost looked concerned, but not upset. “She and Paul are shaken up a bit but doing good.” Granny looked around. “Where’s Phil?”

“Thanks for the update, Granny,” Emma said with relief. “Phil’s trying to find parking. He’ll catch up. Jeremiah’s on his way, too.” She kept her voice low but didn’t take her usual precaution. At the moment she didn’t care if anyone overheard her talking to thin air.

“Jeremiah just arrived on a motorcycle,” Granny told her. “He’s talking to some cop friends of his.”

“I’m going to try to work my way down there somehow.” Emma paused, then asked, “Who was shot?”

The ghost shrugged. “I don’t know, but I don’t think it was fatal, because when I got here, an ambulance was racing off with its siren blaring.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.