Return to Autumn House Halloween Serial Chapter Five by Danica Favorite

Kane tried to ignore the ringing in his ears. Or were those warning bells in his mind? The last thing he needed was for Crispin to start throwing his weight around on a case where he didn’t belong. Kane didn’t believe for a minute that he followed up on Mary Ann’s concern out of his civic duty, or even the goodness of his own heart. 

The police cruiser skidded to a halt with a little more force than necessary. Kane held his head at the sudden jolt. 

He looked up and glared at the other man, knowing he’d slammed on the brakes on purpose. But as he opened his mouth to say something, he caught the look on Hallie’s face. She still thought that the rivalry between the two men was mere petty boy stuff. 

He’d tried to warn her back in high school that Crispin Apple was not who he seemed to be, and even now, as Apple was cautioning the pretty girl about strange things happening in Marshmallow, the stars in her eyes said that there was no way she’d listen to anything Kane had to say otherwise.

“So what were you doing up here, anyway?” Crispin said as he let Kane out of the back of the car. “I’m pretty sure you were told to stay away.”

Kane grunted. “Not by anyone with the authority to do so.”

He could feel Hallie’s questioning gaze on his face, but before he could answer, Crispin did so himself. “Betcha lawyer-boy here hadn’t told you about the offer.”

“What offer?” Those beautiful brown eyes turned on him, searing his heart and branding it with all the accusations she had back in high school. Betrayed. That’s what they said. But he hadn’t betrayed her then, and he wasn’t betraying her now.

If only he could convince her to listen to the truth. For once.

As he searched for the words to explain the terms of the will, and more importantly, how the offer that Crispin was throwing in Hallie’s face wasn’t what it seemed, his vision blurred. Kane started to speak, but the ringing in his ears grew louder. Until all he heard was Crispin triumphantly telling Hallie about the conglomerate that wanted to purchase the property for ten million dollars with the intention of turning it into a Halloween-themed amusement park. 

Hallie gasped, then everything went black.