A/N: Thanks for the favorites & follows, folks! I'm open to all comments, too, even if you just leave a review to say "hi". ;)

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"You really think we'll see him?" Sharon said.

Kris double-checked the tripod, made sure it was steady — everything looked like Mar had shown her, and it didn't wobble — then carefully fastened the Nikon onto the slots. "We'll see something. I just want to get a picture of it so we can prove it to everyone."

"Maybe we can get it published!" Sharon said. "National Geographic did that thing on Loch Ness and printed all the weird photos and they even caught some big fin on an underwater camera. They'd probably go nuts over a real ghost."

"Or they'd think you're nuts," Joe said, grinning, coming around the corner of the bookshelves. "They probably get tons of fake photos every day."

"But we're not fake!" Sharon said. "Ours'd be real! They'd have to believe it!"

Behind Sharon, Kris shook her head frantically at Joe. Getting Sharon upset wasn't a good idea.

Joe shut his mouth on whatever else he'd been about to tease Sharon with. "Um…I told Charlie what you said about the wiring, Tag, so he's gonna check the kids' room. Me and Frank are going to go around the place real carefully and check for secret stuff, so don't think we're ghosts if you hear us up here."

"You don't sound nothing like a ghost," Kris said.

"OOOooooOOOOoooo!" Stretching his hands out like a zombie, Joe made what he probably thought was a scary face, and Kris rolled her eyes.

"They don't sound like that," Sharon informed him. "They're kinda whispery and faint. And the ghost here wears fatigues."

Joe looked at her, finally said, "Um. Fatigues?"

"Mr. Bell was killed in Korea," Kris said. "That's what Mrs. Bell says. There's a picture of him with his unit, behind the counter."

"Joe?" Frank poked around the corner.

"Coming," Joe said, then grinned at Kris and Sharon. "I'll tell Charlie about that. Maybe he'll know how to lure the ghost out for you."

"They're going to play tricks on us," Sharon said, after Joe ran to catch up with Frank. She sounded on the point of tears. "They don't think ghosts are real and they think it's just funny and they'll ruin it!"

Kris shook her head. "No, they won't. Frank and Joe don't do that kind of stuff. Um…not to me, I mean," she added, to be accurate. "They'd never mess up a real investigation, even if it is about ghosts."

Something thumped overhead, as if a heavy book had hit the floor.

Both girls jumped, Sharon gasped, and they stared at the ceiling beams for a long, long moment.

"Everyone's gone, right?" Sharon squeaked out.

Kris nodded. Mrs. Bell had called out "Good night!" and let them know she was locking up, just before she'd gone out the front door; Kris had watched all the other employees leave before that, right after Martha had ushered Kris and Joe down from the attic.

"Frank and Joe?"

"It can't be," Kris whispered back. "We would've seen 'em go up the stairs back here and they couldn't have run all the way to the front stairs and all the way back without us hearing them."

Sharon glanced towards the rear stairwell, another set of narrow, steep stairs that led up to the third floor garret. Bell Book and Candle had three sets of stairs: the staircase from the first floor up to second, and two on the second floor leading up to third, one here at the back, and the one she and Joe had used, towards the front. Both sets of second floor stairs were loud and creaky; Kris had her own private game of trying to go up them without making a noise, and had yet to do it.

Another loud thump echoed, followed by a low, hollow moan, and Sharon gasped again, staring at the ceiling.

"Wait a minute," Kris whispered. "Mr. Bell doesn't make noises. No one's ever said they heard stuff. It's always that they've seen someone."

"But…if it's not Frank and Joe…and…and Joe said Charlie's downstairs…"

Inspiration hit. "Try to read up there!"

Sharon stared at her. "What?"

"Read," Kris whispered, tapping her head. "Like that."

"But you can —"

"I can only do it with folks close by. And you read me about Joe liking magic stuff, and you weren't anywhere around when he said that so you've gotta be better'n me. Go on, try!"

For a long moment, Sharon just looked from Kris to the ceiling and back. Then, slowly, Sharon nodded and sat down on the nearby armchair, staring up at the ceiling. It took a minute or two, but then… "Angie," Sharon breathed. "And…Iola." Sharon's face changed, outraged. "Angie wants to scare us and make us look stupid."

"They must've hid from Mrs. Bell." Kris stared up at the ceiling, thinking.

"Let's get 'em!" Sharon pushed up from the chair. "Go up there and ram their stupid cheerleader faces into the floor!"

That would get them in trouble, and Kris in even deeper trouble than she already was in for punching Angie. Not to mention that she'd gotten lucky with the punch; Angie was bigger than she was. Kris looked at Sharon…and, slowly, an idea sunk in. "No…let's scare 'em back!"

Sharon sucked in a breath, then started grinning. "We'll out-ghost the ghosts!"

"Go get Frank and Joe," Kris whispered. "If we leave Joe out of this, he'll never forgive us. I'll stay here in case they come downstairs."

"You go," Sharon whispered back. "I'll…um…listen. I can sort of tell where they are so I can track 'em. I'll stay right here, promise." She went quiet again, eyes closed, then, "Um…I can hear Joe. He's downstairs, that way." She pointed.

Kris nodded, then kicked her sneakers off so she wouldn't thump too loud on the wood floors and took off. Frank and Joe were in the middle section of first floor, checking one of the thicker bookshelves and wall that had an odd angle, and both looked up in surprise when she skidded around the corner, slipping on the waxed wood.

"Tag?" Frank said. "What's wrong?"

"Angie's upstairs," Kris whispered. "Her and Iola. They're making noises to try to scare us." Frank and Joe looked at each other, then Frank looked back at her, and Kris hurried on. "I…um…we heard some thumps and someone moaning and Sharon heard Angie whispering —"

"— and we saw her and Iola together," Joe finished for her; his expression was positively gleeful. "Let's bust 'em! They'll get in real trouble!"

But Frank was still looking at Kris, and slowly, Frank started grinning. "I think Tag has a better idea, or she wouldn't have come running down here. Scare 'em back?"

Kris nodded.

Joe's face lit up."We can sneak upstairs and get behind them," he whispered, glancing up. "Where's Sharon?"

"With the boring books," Kris whispered back. "She's listening in case they move…they were right above us." Which was the truth — she just wouldn't say how Sharon was listening. "But the stairs creak real bad — they'll hear us."

"I can get up the front ones," Joe said. "I'll show you how, Tag. No sweat."

"I'll sneak up the back with Sharon," Frank said, and grinned at Kris. "We'll be quiet and spooky, just like you say real ghosts are."

Frank went after Sharon. Joe kicked his own shoes off and led Kris upstairs, showing her how to get up the front stairs without a creak — well, with only a couple small creaks, anyway, and Kris had to stretch really far to skip the two worst steps. They both slipped through the maze of bookshelves and narrow corridors; Kris tugged Joe's arm when they got close to the back garrett, which held all the construction and remodeling books, and they ducked behind another wall of shelves.

Joe halted just as they crossed the intersection with Greeting Cards, Blank Books, and Calendars and suddenly pulled back. Kris looked at him, and he jabbed his finger towards the left. Angie, he mouthed.

Kris peeped up over a blank spot in the shelves, then ducked. Both Angie and Iola were right on the other side, giggling a little.

Joe held up his hand — hold still — and Kris froze, not daring to move.

"I can't hear them anymore," Iola whispered.

"They probably went to go get Jooo-eey," Angie whispered, sing-songing. "Get the tape recorder."

"Don't call him that!"

"Shhh!" There was a pause, then footsteps moved on past.

"I really, really hate that name," Joe growled, in a low voice. "That's it. No more Mr. Nice Guy, stupid cheerleader." But then footsteps shuffled against the wood-floor again, coming back towards them, and Kris and Joe froze.

"Iola, will you come on?" Angie stage-whispered.

"I heard something!"

"Probably your lover-boy wants to kiss you," Angie whispered. "Come on!"

"But…" Another pause, then the footsteps went on back, faded back towards the back garrett.

Kris just looked at Joe and waggled her finger at him. Joe rolled his eyes, but leaned in closer, a bare breath of a whisper. "Okay, Miss Spooky Stuff Expert, what kind of noises do ghosts make?"

Kris blinked; Joe was grinning, but he nodded at her. "Um…whispering," she whispered back. "Hissing. Stuff that sounds like talking, but you can't really make out what it is."

Joe's face lit up. "Like The Thing That Wouldn't Die. Gotcha. Go that way — I'll duck around near the fake fireplace."

She had no clue what he meant by the reference, but that was Joe. Kris waited until he'd gone around the corner, then she slipped back towards the other side, crouching behind a cluster of potted ficus and a beat-up sofa. Across from the sofa on the far side stood the fiberglass "brick" fireplace complete with a glowing electric fire, the bricks strung with a plastic mistletoe chain and red furry stockings glitter-glued with the staff's names.

Carefully, Kris edged around the corner of sofa and peeked out. Angie and Iola were standing just there, in the middle of the throw rug, a tape recorder at their feet. Angie held an empty paper-towel tube and was making "ooooo" noises through it, giving the sounds a weird hollow echo. Iola went over and peered down the staircase.

"I can't hear them," Iola whispered to Angie, but then something thumped downstairs. Kris clearly heard Sharon say something that sounded like a bad word, and Angie snickered.

Kris nodded to herself. Frank must've talked Sharon into acting like she and Kris were both still downstairs.

Then…something hissed.

Angie and Iola looked around. "What was that?" Iola whispered.

"Just that fake fireplace," Angie bent over the tape recorder. "Those things make weird noises. Daddy prefers the real thing over poor people's fakes."

Kris grit her teeth. Bell Book and Candle had a real fireplace on first floor, with shelves arranged carefully at a distance; the fake one up here was to help warm the third floor without risking an untended fire.

Then Kris heard a whisper — something that sounded like words, but was too faint to make out. Both Angie and Iola straightened up and looked towards the Home Decor shelves.

"It came from over there," Angie whispered, and Iola went over towards the shelves to peek around them.

"Nothing." Iola frowned, then stage-whispered, "We know you're there! Stop it!"

Another whisper, but from nearer the fireplace, and this time, both Iola and Angie went towards the sound to check around the book shelves; Kris barely ducked back in time as they turned around. Kris couldn't tell the whispering voices apart, but Frank must have gotten the hint. Problem, though: if she tried it, that'd give her place away. There was no place to move to without getting spotted.

Wait…

Kris could see the built-in wall-shelf from that angle, and some of the books there were nothing more than folded-up packets of floor-plans. Maybe…it should be light enough… She stared hard at the edge of one, and mentally tugged —

It tumbled off the shelf, making a papery thump as it landed on the floor.

Angie gasped.

"Angie…" Iola whispered, and her voice shook.

"A draft blew it off," Angie said, but her voice quavered. She went over to the shelf, barely within Kris's line of sight "The windows are old —" She choked off as Kris reached out mentally again and yanked the paper-towel tube from Angie's hand, sending it flying towards Iola.

Angie shrieked, but then Iola gasped.

"An-angie!"

Kris peeked around the couch in time to see a faint shadow rearing up against the far wall — and this time, Kris grabbed the lightest-looking paperback and pulled it off the shelf, right in front of Angie's face, as a couple more books tumbled off the shelf behind Iola.

That did it. Screaming at the top of their lungs, Iola and Angie scrambled down the stairs. There were two quick flashes of light from the stairwell, but the screaming went on, fading in the direction of the front door.

Then, unmistakably…the sound of Joe and Frank cracking up, hysterical and breathless.

No need to be quiet now. "What did you guys do?" Kris demanded; her head was now hurting from the last throw…but it was worth it, oh, it was so worth it!

Frank stumbled out from around the far set of shelves, bent double from laughing and trying to catch his breath; from the sound of things, Joe was laughing too hard to walk. "The…the lights…right angle…made a shadow…" Frank gasped out, and held his hands up, contorted into some weird shape. "Joe…Joe shoved the books off…"

Then Kris heard Charlie's voice booming something out, followed by more hysterical shrieks.

Sharon poked her head up the stairs. "You guys — Charlie caught them! Get down here, quick!"

Kris and Frank took off down the stairs as fast as they could and not slip on the waxed floor in stocking feet. Giggling, Sharon led the way, holding up the camera. "I got 'em right as they came down the stairs! They were screaming so hard they didn't even stop!"

They skidded to a halt at the open landing and the bannisters. Charlie had Angie's and Iola's arms in firm grips, and shoved them both down into one of the sofas near the fireplace and roared at the top of his lungs, "You. Will. Both. SHUT. UP."

From that angle, Kris couldn't see Angie's or Iola's faces, but one look at Frank and Sharon was all she really needed — and she covered her mouth with her hands to smother her own giggles.

Charlie looked up, saw them, then scowled back at the caught cheerleaders. "We've caught the thieves, gang."

"We're not!" Iola gasped. "It was just a joke!"

"There's something up there!" Angie sputtered, at the same time. "There really is! We saw it!"

"I said," Charlie said, glaring down, "be quiet. You're both in a huge pile of trouble right now. Your best bet is to sit there and don't say a word. Frank, would you come down here and call the police, please?"

"No!" Iola choked out. "Frank — please! It was just a joke!"

Frank had somehow muffled his grin and looked properly serious — though he glanced back at Kris and Sharon with a quick grin, just as quickly smoothed over again. "Sure, Charlie."

But Charlie was now looking past Frank, past Kris and Sharon, and Kris halted mid-step. Charlie's expression…

"Where's Joe?" Charlie said.