I Am an Invisible Stalker (Guardians #2)

Chapter 7

Eliza's POV

I blink three times, sure that I'm seeing wrong. But when I open my eyes after the third blink he is still there. Standing beside the tall priest is Basile LeRoux, or more accurately the ghost of the deceased old man.

Like every ghost, he is dressed in the same clothes he died in. For Basile, this consists of matching top and bottom gray silk pajamas and a pair of white socks. In his right hand, he is holding a tacky fluorescent lighter—the same lighter he had been clasping when I found him inside the hospital. This means that he must have been holding the item at the time of his death.

"Everyone stop!" the old man's ghost booms with such an authoritative edge that not a single ghost dares to move. "I demand that you respect my funeral."

For a moment nothing happens. Then one by one the surrounding ghosts lower their heads and drift away from the gathered group of humans. Among the last to leave is the female ghost who is lingering beside Denise. But eventually, even she lowers her hand and with her dropped shoulders ambles away.

So close.

While Basile's ghost continues to hover over his funeral, I shoulder my way between the humans until I reach the other side of the crowd. Tim and I reach Xenia's side at the same time, and together the three of us turn back toward the ghost's imposing figure. While most ghosts lose their edge after their deaths, this does not apply to Basile. He still looks like the same stern old man, who spends his days locked inside his house.

"Why is he back?" I ask.

"I'm not sure," Xenia says. "I didn't know he had any unfinished business."

"Hasn't he been retired for almost a decade?" Tim asks. "What could he possibly have left unfinished?"

"What if he didn't die of a natural cause?" I glance from the ghost to Denise, who is now shifting her weight from one foot onto the other.

"What?" Tim snaps his head toward me.

"The Princess was alone with him when he died." I shrug. "Maybe she had snapped and—"

"Enough," Xenia cuts me short. "I know you never really liked her, but that's going too far even for you. Denise is a fifteen-year-old girl and Basile is, or was, her grandfather. She didn't kill him. I can attest to that."

My only response is another shrug. Let Xenia say what she wants, while I keep hanging on to my theory.

"Enough about that." Tim steps in between Xenia and me. "What we should focus on is where the humans are headed after the funeral."

"I believe they're planning to visit Basile's house," Xenia says.

"Really?" My eyes round in surprise. Throughout the two years I've been with Denise, she and her family had never once set foot inside Basile's home. It made me wonder what kind of secrets the old man was hiding there.

"Why?" Tim asks.

"I suspect they're thinking of moving as the house is now legally Grégory's. They—"

"Quiet!" Basile's shut booms across the graveyard.

The three of us snap our heads back to him and find the ghost pinning us with a glare. But while Xenia and Tim observe him with nothing but suspicion, my thoughts run in another direction. I need to figure out if the ghost is going to get in my way, or if he's actually going to be of use.

Maybe he's just the ghost to help me finish what I have started.

*

The Sierra-LeRoux trio snap the doors of their white Honda Civic with three loud bangs. They head down the light brown stone driveway, while Xenia, Tim, and I remain planted beside the car.