Halloween Hearsay – Kathleen Suzette

“I was told they were seeing each other on the sly. And if Sharon found out her husband was stepping out on her, well, it might not be Candace’s death we’d be talking about. It might be his.” I stared at him, trying to make sense of what I had just heard. My thoughts were racing. Candace and Casey? It didn’t fit. At least, not with the version of Candace I thought I knew.

She was ambitious, confident, maybe even a little arrogant at times, but she had her whole life ahead of her. What would she want with a man like Casey? Someone so much older than she, and married. “I don’t believe it,” I said quietly, almost to myself. “Why would a young girl like Candace get involved with someone like Casey Todd?”

The question hung between us, unanswered. And unsettling. “Well, that’s not a question I can answer,” Mr. Winters finally said, lifting his cup and taking a thoughtful sip of his coffee. Before I could press him further, a familiar voice interrupted. “Oh, hi, Allie.” I turned to see Brandon King standing beside our table, his ever- present notebook sticking out of his coat pocket and his camera bag slung across his shoulder.

His cheeks were pink from the chilly morning air, and his brown hair was wind-tousled beneath the brim of a ball cap with the local college’s logo on it. “Did you get yourself a coffee?” he asked, nodding toward the cup in front of me. I was still trying to process what Mr. Winters had just shared. The thought was so jarring, it had knocked my brain slightly off its hinges. I stared at Brandon, then glanced down at my cup as if seeing it for the first time.

The warmth of the pumpkin spice latte radiated through the paper and into my palms. “Yeah,” I said slowly. “I did.” Brandon shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his worn tweed coat and rocked back on his heels. “Well, that’s good. That’s actually why I stopped in. Just wanted a coffee.” His tone was casual, but I couldn’t help but wonder what he was really doing.

Brandon King rarely just happened by.

Copyright © 2025 by Kathleen Suzette. All rights reserved. This book is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination, or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronically or mechanical, without permission in writing from the author or publisher.

Created with Vellum OceanofPDF.com CONTENTS Follow Me Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 OceanofPDF.com FOLLOW ME Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Kathleen-Suzette-Kate-Bell-authors- 759206390932120 Follow me on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Kathleen- Suzette/author/B07B7D2S4W OceanofPDF.com F CHAPTER 1 all is the best time of year. The crisp mornings, the gorgeous trees with their ethereal changing leaves, and that happy holiday, Halloween.

Who can resist dressing up as your favorite character and going door to door asking for treats? Not me. I’d do it now; except I might get some looks from the neighbors. “It’s going to rain.” I glanced at my best friend, Lucy Gray, as we jogged side by side along the walking path at the edge of town. She was trying to grow out her blond hair, and the tiny ponytail she wore bounced with every step, her cheeks flushed from exertion.

She tilted her face toward the sky, waiting for the first drop to fall. She was right. Low, steel-gray clouds had crept in while we weren’t paying attention, blanketing the sky like a thick wool throw. Still, the air was cool and comfortable; just crisp enough to wake you up, but not so cold that your nose turned red. The scent of wood smoke and earthy leaves drifted faintly on the breeze.

Perfect running weather. “Yes,” I huffed, brushing a loose wisp of my red hair away from my cheek, “but not before we finish our run. Isn’t the weather gorgeous? Doesn’t the world look magical this time of year?” The trail curved gently through a corridor of trees, their branches forming a colorful canopy overhead.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: 0c9dfcff90be8469
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 2,365,016 bytes (2.255 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• Pages: 113
• Language: English (en)

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• Estimated Reading Time: 182.09 minutes
• Total Words: 36,417
• Total Characters: 200,362
• Average Words per Page: 322.27
• Average Characters per Page: 1773.12

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