Case of the Fort Concho Ghost

By Kailin Gow and Rachel Angel

Priscilla Pinkerton Prickly is called to help a celebrity paranormal investigator with his investigation of the local historic fort, Fort Concho, of a ghost, for his show. She agrees to help, but when she and her client ends up almost killed during the investigation, she wonders if the killer is real or a ghost? The Priscilla Prickly P.I. Series is a mystery series with romance.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sparklesoup Inc.
• Release date: Dec 5, 2023
• ISBN: 9781597483438

Kailin Gow

It's official! Read about Kailin and her books being adapted into films and tv series here: https://filmdaily.co/obsessions/kailin-gow-loving-summer/ FIND OUT MORE ABOUT KAILIN GOW AT: https://linktr.ee/KailinGow including how to get a free book from her! Kailin Gow is a million-selling international and USA Today Bestselling author of over 680 published books! She writes in many genres under her name and other pen names. She has been an invited speaker on Book Expo America, appeared on CBS News about writing books with social issues, and the Top 15 National radio regularly on women's issues, women in film and Hollywood, and leadership. She holds a Masters in Management from USC and degrees in Social Ecology, Criminology, and Filmmaking. She is an author influencer on Instagram, owns a podcast network with multiple channels, is a multi-award-winning filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, actress, and host. Her books have been made into games, animated short films, and series. Currently, a number of her book series have been optioned, are in development, or pre-production, including her YA Fantasy Sci Fi Thriller FADE (which has been optioned) and Red Genesis (also optioned) by Netflix producers. Kailin Gow is a regular guest in radio and television on women in Hollywood and filmmaking, naming the top Women Execs to Watch. She is a judge in film festivals, writing contests, and is also a voting member in the Academy Awards. AWARD-WINNING INTERNATIONAL MILLION-SELLING AUTHOR, PRODUCER, AND TV PERSONALITY Kailin Gow is an internationally-recognized multi-award-winning multi-genres USA bestselling Asian American author and woman director/filmmaker who has written and published over 400 books under Kailin Gow and her pen names. She is both traditionally-published as well as indie. Considered a digital publishing pioneer, her books have been downloaded over 10 Million times around the world. She is known as one of the most prolific authors internationally who not only writes novels but screenplays fast, but of world-class quality they win prestigious awards like the ALA YALSA Awards and Los Angeles Film Awards. Besides having gone to law school, she holds a Masters Degree in Communications Management from USC and Drama/Film and Social Ecology Degrees from UC Irvine. She has also been a longtime member of TED Talks. She is the first Asian American author to have sold over 1 million books and to be featured on Amazon.com's homepage as an indie Author Success Story. Her success as an Indie Author and advocate for Indie authors during the early Kindle days has inspired many to take a plunge to become authors. The first Asian American woman who is independently published to appear on Amazon's homepage as an Author Success Story, she also represented Amazon as an author spokesperson during Amazon's Kindle Family Launch press conference in Santa Monica and at Book Expo America where she was an invited speaker. A digital publishing pioneer, she was one of the first authors and publisher to publish digitally back in 2001. Prior to becoming a full-time author and filmmaker, she worked as an Exec in Legal and Production at Walt Disney Company, a writer/producer for Cable Television, an Exec at high tech start ups, and Exec at Fortune 100 Hotel and Travel Corporations where she has managed and trained hundreds of employees on world-class service and operations. She has also been a professional model, a tour director, journalist, re-organization consultant, a secret mystery shopper/consultant for top brands, and professional speaker who has been an invited speaker at Book Expo America, Girl Scouts, Asian America Heritage Week, and more! FUTURIST AND SOCIAL INFLUENCER A social influencer, she has over millions of views on her YouTube channel and her Vimeo channel with over 1.5 million views on her Bitter Frost trailer and award-winning animated short film alone. She is a judge on writing contests for writing incubator social sites, has been a member of TED Talks, and is one of the most quoted modern living authors today. She has also been regularly published as a contributor on Fast Company magazine on articles about publishing, leadership, business, and social issues. https://www.fastcompany.com/1800256/social-media-and-future-publishing-industry

Book preview

AUTHORS’ NOTE

HI READERS,

Priscilla Prickly is back in her second case when her first case goes wrong. Case of the Fort Concho Ghost is set in the historic Fort Concho in San Angelo, Texas, a real location that I've had the pleasure of visiting, and the ghost stories are actual ones told by many. I hope you enjoy learning a bit of San Angelo history while having fun with Priscilla and her pals as she solves a few mysteries in this one.

It is recommended that you first read Case of the Concho River Convict (Priscilla Prickly P.I. #1) before you read this book as this is a continuation of this first case, but does introduce a new one as well.

Prologue

Rhonda

1 Week Earlier

Brrrng! Brrrng! Brrrrng!  My phone blasted me awake from a deep sleep dream where I was dancing the night away at a malt shop with my sweetheart. It was the 1950s, and I was dressed in a poodle skirt, bobby socks, a pink sweater, and saddle shoes. My hair was swept back into a ponytail.

Clearly, I wasn’t quite awake yet. The song from Frankie Avalon’s Dream Angel rang in my head as I finally opened one eye and then the next.

Hello? I said into the phone next to me. I looked at the time on my phone and shouted in surprise, It’s 2 o’clock in the morning! What is it? It better be important because I was in the middle of some weird version of Grease, but somehow, I had morphed into a blonde, thin, beauty like Olivia Newton-John, instead of the gorgeous brunette that I am.

Rhonda, Mary Brandy, my part-time clerk at my retro-themed boutique hotel, said, I can’t come in for my shift tonight.

Why? I asked skeptically. As much as Mary seemed to have good intentions, she was also one of the biggest flakes. Plus, she was always taking up part-time jobs all over the place. One week it was as a waitress at The Burger Joint. Last week, she was working in a hardware store stocking supplies.

This week...

You know I have a new job working as a part-time security person at the old Fort Concho, Mary said.

Yes, I said.

Well, you wouldn’t believe what I saw tonight.

What did you see? I asked, trying to blink my eyes open, but having a hard time since it was 2 in the morning. I need some coffee, I said, walking over to the kitchen to see if there was any coffee still brewing.

The alarm went off for the second night consecutively this week at the old Fort Concho, Mary said. I went to the Visitor’s Center to turn off the alarm before I went checking around the property. When I got back to the Visitor’s Center, all the brochures, trinkets, and things around the front desk was thrown on the floor.

Could it have been an intruder, a burglar who got in while you were away checking on other buildings on the Fort? I asked.

That’s the thing, Mary said. I had checked the front office, made sure no one was inside after I turned off the alarm. Then I locked the door, making sure no one could get in while I looked around the other buildings for intruders. No one could get in. It was locked.

Perhaps there was a draft, an opened window, I said.

Couldn’t be. There are no windows around that area, Mary said.

Maybe something fell and knocked the table with the brochures and trinkets, I said.

Nothing like that could have happened. I didn’t see anything large enough to cause that, Mary said. But there was something that was pretty disturbing. I’m shaking still thinking about it.

Don’t leave me in suspense, I said dryly. Do tell.

When I took a photo of the mess on the ground, Mary paused dramatically.

What? What? I asked, eager for her to get to the point of her story. I still needed someone to take Mary’s shift.

It spelled ‘Murder’ on the ground. All the brochures and trinkets oddly formed the word ‘Murder’ on the ground.

What? I shouted into the phone.

My skin suddenly felt a chill as goosebumps formed on my arms.

I’ll send you the photo," Mary said.

In a matter of seconds, I had the photo in front of me.

Mary was right, The brochures and trinkets on the ground do spell that word, I said.

The eerie part is...I think whoever wrote that, Mary said, was not human.

Chapter 1

Priscilla

AFTER THE SHOCK OF finding out we may have released the wrong person from jail and sent another one (although not so innocent) into jail instead, Preston and I entered the hotel feeling rather sheepish.

Some private investigator I turned out to be, I said.

It was my doing, Preston said. But it’s not over yet. We’ll get the right person behind bars.

I should’ve known, I said. If I had paid really close attention to everything, I could have figured out that nothing was as it seemed.

Preston kissed my forehead and pulled me closer for a tight hug. His large muscular frame enveloped me in a warm cocoon. I felt cozy and safe in his arms. Baby, you must have had honeymoon brain. My fault, I kept distracting you when you wanted to work on the case. I’m the one who blew the case.

But it was my case no matter what happened, I said. I should have managed things better, even if you were trying to help. I couldn’t believe how I missed all the signs.

Of what? Preston asked.

Of a pathological liar, I said. My questioning skills were off. I asked the questions, but I wasn’t listening. If I did, I would have picked up on how everyone from the suspect, Harry, and Cindy were all lying.

I bought the lies, too, Preston said.

I shook my head. But then again, who was the real Joseph Ortega? He seemed like such a philanthropist and kind gentleman, community leader, but from everything those three said about him, you’d think he was quite a sleaze.

And the guy isn’t around to defend himself, Preston said. His murderer is still out there.

So, a familiar friendly upbeat voice said. Rhonda came out of her office in the manager’s room