Page 50 of Ghost in the Night

I exhale, grateful.  “Good. And are we ready for tomorrow?”

“Almost.”

He swivels his chair around and grabs a tank-looking robot off his desk.

“It’s a Yahboom Raspberry Pi tank with a 4B board, camera, and high-power 370 motor.”

I blink. “Uhhh … okay.”

“It has treads instead of wheels so it could go over rough terrain, like debris in the house. I still need to fasten a bracket to hold the thermal meter and program it.”

I nod. “Okay. Let’s do it, then.”

“Really? You want to help?”

“Of course. Youuuuu … just gotta tell me what to do. ‘Cause I didn’t understand one word you just said.”

SIXTEEN

Isluggishly roll out of bed around noon. Robby and I stayed up until one in the morning finishing the robot. I’ve never been a night owl. Grandma always said I was the queen of naps and decent bedtimes. I could use about three more hours of sleep, but there’s too much to do today. I have to meet Maverick to pick up the equipment, bring it back to the house for Robby to attach the thermo-thingy to the robot, pack the gear, and then head to Calhoun Square to meet Myah.

We have our stories set: Myah is going to say she’sspending the night at our house. I’ll claim I’m going on a ghost tour. Tonight is the historical society gala, so Lena will be too busy to notice Robby is gone. As long as we’re all home before midnight, everything will be fine. It doesn’t leave a lot of time to catch a ghost, but we have to work with what we got.

At the breakfast table, Dad is slurping a coffee, watching the local news. He perks up at the sight of me.

“Good morning, Mony.”

“Morning,” I say, sipping some orange juice.

Dad smiles. He’s taking my reply as a sign I’m talking to him, which I’m definitely not.

On the TV, I hear:

“Coming up next, updates on the search for Rebecca Hutton …”

Still no mention of the search for Jabari or even about the investigation into Mr. Truman’s death. It’s like it never happened, like that part of the city doesn’t matter.

Dad clears his throat. “So. Remember we got the gala tonight. You still want to come?”

“No,” I snap.

“But … it’s in a museum. And the mayor’s gonna be there. I even pulled out the suit. Sure you don’t want to get fly and join us?”

“Not interested. In fact, I don’t think I can make any of your shows ever again. I’ll be too busy getting ready for this new school I’m supposed to go to.”

Dad puts down his mug. “Mony. Please … I—”

“I need money,” I say without looking at him.

He blinks. “Huh? What for now?”

I start to make up some excuse, but feeling bold after his betrayal, I puff out my chest.

“Ghost-hunting equipment. I found a haunted house.”

Dad groans, rubbing his face. “Harmony, didn’t we talk about this.”

“Yeah. But I guess there’s a lot we should’ve been talking about instead.”