Morgaine raised her fist to knock and hesitated.
“Come on, my witchy friend. You can do this.”
She heaved a sigh, but before she could bring her knuckles down on the door, it opened. Dottie stood there as if she had been looking out the peephole the minute they arrived. She probably had.
“Morgaine! What brings you downstairs?”
She fidgeted and looked uncomfortable. “I… um. I need to get in touch with Jason.”
“What do you need Jason for?”
“Tell her to mind her own business. Tell her to go jump in the river. Tell her to—”
“I need to ask him about the investigation.”
Dottie’s eyes lit up. “Oh, yes. The private detective… Wemustget that ghost out of our building.”
Morgaine waited, but Dottie didn’t appear to want to share any more information. Either that or she didn’t have any.
“Would you help me speak to Jason about it, please?”
“Oh, you don’t need to do that. I know Jason found someone very good and hired him.”
Morgaine sighed again. “Look, Chad is badgering me to give him some kind of news or an update about what’s going on.”
“Badgering you? Since when have I badgered?”
Morgaine looked to her left side and said, “Yes, you’ve badgered me, Chad. You’ve been a royal pain in the ass about it, so don’t sound so surprised.”
Dottie stared at her and raised one eyebrow. “You’re arguing with the ghost right now? He’s here with you?”
“Yeah, sorry about that. He’s driving me nuts.”
“Oh, well we can’t have that, can we? Come in, dear. Jason’s not home.”
“I wondered why I hadn’t seen him. So, why didn’t she say that in the first place? And what does she expect to gain by inviting you in if she doesn’t know anything, and—”
Morgaine looked at the ceiling and said, “Shut up, Chad.” Then she accepted Dottie’s invitation, followed her inside, and sat on the flowered slip-covered couch.
Dottie glanced at the ceiling nervously. “I don’t think I want him in my home. You have to invite them in, don’t you?”
“That’s vampires. Ghosts can go wherever they damn well please. What a moron.”
Morgaine shook her head. “If I could keep him out, I would, believe me. Unfortunately, he’ll just pull some nasty stunt to get my attention if I try to ignore him.”
“Oh, dear,” Dottie muttered. “Well, maybe I can call Jason and find out the private detective’s name and number. I’m sure we can get you some kind of information if we try.”
She looked at the ceiling and raised her voice. “I’m just going for the phone book, Chad.” She inched over to the roll-top desk as if the unseen presence had a gun trained on her.
“This could be fun, but as long as she’s cooperating, I’ll leave her alone and let her do her thing. I’d almost rather she’d stop and be her rude self again. Then I could blow a cool breeze down her neck and frighten her out of her wits. Now that would be enjoyable.”
She flipped through a few pages of a private phone book with a black leather cover. “Okay, this is his mother’s number. I’m sure he’s staying with her while his father is in the hospital.”
“Oh? What happened to his father?” Morgaine asked.
“Heart attack.” She looked at the ceiling again. “So, you be nice to him when he gets home. Obviously, it’s been quite an ordeal.”
“Yeah, yeah. Get on with it, pokey.”
