I could see the tension drop from her shoulders as her head lifted, expression clearing. “Really? Is he that accurate?”
I snorted. “You can’t get anything past his eyes. Well, almost. But yes, he’s scary accurate.”
“I just realized, watching how you and Mack worked today, that he really depends on you. And if cases sometimes get this bad, I need a dependable partner.”
“That you do. And I’m glad you’re smart enough to put those pieces together. But we’ll make sure you have a good partner, Gwyn. Don’t stress about it. You’ve got years yet before we even need to start thinking about this.”
“Bet.” She handed me another potato. “One more question.”
“Hit me.”
“What am I going to do about school? Am I still attending school here?”
Fuuuuck me. It was Sunday, meaning she’d need an answer tonight because she had to know what she was doing tomorrow. Now, I knew for a fact she had nothing of her school stuff with her, as it was all still at her parents’ house. Gwyn hadn’t thought to pack it, and frankly, neither had I. Not sure which way to leap here, I asked, “Do you want to go to school? Here, I mean.”
Gwyn hesitated strongly. “I’m afraid my parents will find me at school.”
That alone was a very good reason to pull her out. I did not need that fight on my hands. “I think it’s not really safe for you to be at school anyway. Let’s pull you out for now and figure out school later. Really, you working this case will stand you in better stead in life, as you’re truly learning the skills you need.”
She looked at me with so much gratitude, I almost blushed. “I really didn’t want to go.”
“I bet.” Not considering how much she’d been hurt by ghosts at school. Which was another reason I’d rather keep her close.
Booker came in, phone in hand, although he put it in his pocket as he leaned against the other side of the island. “Oh, you’re cooking already. ETA?”
“Should be done in about thirty minutes. It cooks fast.”
“Great, I’m starved. Also, just got off the phone with the mayor. I explained, best I could, what the situation is with Miner’s Creek. Horrified about covers her reaction. She asked if we wanted to start with Black Rock first, and I said yes, because what else are we supposed to do? I think operating in daylight should be our go-to on this case. The ghosts are too strong as it is. Doing anything at night is a recipe for disaster.”
“Agreed, wholeheartedly.”
Gwyn asked, “Why do ghosts have more power at night?”
Booker took the question with glee because he loved this kinda nerdy shit. He launched into an explanation of the different theories, his soft voice growing stronger as he really got into it. I let him explain as I finished putting everything into one pan, then popped the rolls in to bake. Gwyn didn’t just absorb the information, but thought about what Booker said, then came back with more questions. A sign of true intelligence, in my book. She was a smart cookie, this kid.
They continued their discussion as they helped set the table and dish up food for everyone. People gathered all around to eat, and I was happy to see Davina. Even if she did get very little of the food, she felt okay enough to try eating, which was half the battle with food poisoning, in my experience.
I knew this much—she’d never look at a taco truck the same again.
Once everyone was around the table and eating, Booker said, “I think we should switch tactics. We’re no closer to figuring out where that almost-demon is, and that needs to be a priority.”
I agreed but had to wonder, “How do we even begin tracking it down, though? It’s not like we can look up its social media account to get an idea of where it is.”
Quinn made a resigned noise. “Wouldn’t that be nice?”
Booker, though, wasn’t done. “I suspect we’ll find more information about him if we linger in Black Rock for a while and spread out. I want to at least figure out this ghost’s name. I suggest we do people’s homes, as there’s some gnarly reports, and it’s all around better to give people safety. With the number of Mediums we have, it’ll be easy to divide up the work while we wait on our chaos magician. It must be done anyway, but hopefully we can get some intel, maybe some recent sightings, to work from.”
Eli swallowed what was in her mouth before saying, “I think that works. Maybe do some of the smaller locations, too.”
“I’m fine with that,” Mack said. “Spreading out and searching is really our only option. What’s the next location on the agenda?”
“A family bakery with haunted upstairs apartments.” Booker rattled this off easily. “The building was one of the original ones to the town and used to be a mercantile store. It’s three stories but only about four thousand square feet.”
I snorted. “Not a very big building, then. Easy peasy. Mack, we need to pull Gwyn out of school. I don’t want her in a school in this area.”
Mack made a face, nose wrinkled up with aggravation. “No, I don’t either. We’ll take care of it tomorrow. Booker, give us a list of house addresses near the school, and Gwyn and I will handle those.”
“Okay.”
