Page 51 of Ghost in the Night

He leans back as if I slapped him. “Harmony, I’m worried about what you up to.”

I whip around to face him. “I’ve been on ten ghost tours in ten different cities. And I always go alone. You never ask me about them. You never even look at my photos ornothing. You haven’t taken anything I’ve said about them seriously. Now you’re worried about what I’m up to?”

“What you talking about? I’m always worried about you. Everything I do is for you!”

I shake my head. “You always do what you want to do, no matter what. All my life you’d leave me for weeks with Grandma while you toured. And even after she died, you were ready to go on tour and leave me alone with her ghost. We went everywhere you wanted to go. Stayed where you wanted to stay, even here with some lady I never even heard you talk about but considers us family! You never want to do anything that I want to do, so why you caring now? If you did care, you would’ve known that all I wanted to do was get in that program at the Studio Museum. That all I wanted to do was go back home, and now I don’t have a home to go back to ’cause you got rid of our place because you wanted to. It’s always about you. When is it going to be about me?”

Dad is speechless, his mouth stuck open, his eyes wide.

“So, let’s just go back to what we know. Can I have some money now? Please?”

Dad rubs his face with a sigh. He pulls out his wallet and hands me a wad of cash. It looks like the entire amount he’s made on tips this week.

“We’re not finished talking about this,” he warns, his voice a little scratchy.

“When do we ever talk about anything?” I shoot back.

Dad gets up and heads to the guesthouse, shutting the door hard behind him. My heart aches at the sight of him so hurt. We’ve never fought like this. The whole interaction makes my skin itch.

I take a deep breath and shake it off, making a quick bowl of cereal. A few minutes later, Robby emerges from his bedroom in dinosaur pj’s, rubbing his eyes. I hold in a laugh at the sight of him. Sometimes I forget that he’s really just a kid.

“Where are you going?” Robby asks, taking in my appearance.

“Meeting Maverick, remember?”

He nods, yawns, and walks around the table to grab a bowl for cereal.

“Do you have the money? ’Cause we could—” He cuts off for a moment, eyes widening at the TV. “Isn’t that Asher?”

I turn around and read the caption on the screen:CITY COUNCIL MEETING DISCUSSING DEMOLITION OF CALHOUN SQUARE PROPERTY.

“What?!” I yelp.

Robby runs to the remote and turns up the sound.

“Local residents and leaders took to the City Council meeting to raise issues over the demolition of an abandoned property that is scheduled for tomorrow. Residents have concerns about the implosion method selected …”

“Whoa! They’re going to blow it up!” Robby shouts, seeming both excited and a little shocked by this.

I push up my glasses and squint. In the very back of the council meeting, there’s Asher, leaning against a wall, his hat tipped low, scanning the crowd.

“I thought he didn’t know anything about that house?” Robby asks with a frown.

He could be there for other reasons. Or maybe he does know more than he’s letting on. Maybe that’s why he was warning us to stay away from it. Maybe he’s on the side of the city that’s trying to tear it down because whatever is in there is too evil for people to be around.

I’ve got to find Asher. I need to know what he knows before we walk into the house tonight.

“Right on time,” Maverick says, sitting with a black duffel bag on a bench in City Market.

“I have some of the money,” I blurt out.

He pauses. “Then you’ll get SOME of the gear.”

“That’s fine,” I agree, too tired to try to negotiate.

I pick three things: the dowsing rods, a thermal meter, and an EMF reader. As Maverick counts his money and I repack the items, I check my phone again, hoping I’d get a missed call from Asher. I tried contacting him every way I could on the bus ride over.

“Um, do you know other ghost tour guides? Like, personally?” I ask.