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ay? I just want to see if you can get a read off of anything.”
Cassie raked a hand through her hair and stood up. “Okay. Deal. I’ll shoot you a text when I’m on my way. But I’ll have an hour, tops. I don’t want Laura to get mixed up in any of this.”
“You got it.”
Cassie hung up the phone and took one more look at herself in the mirror. She had bags under her eyes and her hair was frizzy. She didn’t want to think about what she’d look like by the time she swung by to see David.
Cassie tossed on a bit of makeup and ran a brush through her hair. It wasn’t the sweeping makeover she had hoped it’d be, but it would have to do. She left the bathroom and pulled open her bedroom door, only to find Laura on the other side.
She was standing too close to have been doing anything other than eavesdropping.
Cassie put a hand to her chest. “Jesus, you scared me.”
“Sorry. I was just about to knock and see if you were ready.”
“Yeah, sorry. I was trying to figure out what to do with my hair.”
“And opted for frizzy and disheveled?” Laura’s mischievous grin was the same as it had always been.
“You’re hilarious.” Cassie pulled her door shut behind her, hoping that if Laura had heard anything she’d said, she would forget about it by noon. “Let’s go.”
6
The Pirates’ House in Savannah was over 250 years old. A historic building from its age, but the ghost stories made the restaurant more intriguing for locals and tourists alike. Most of the stories weren’t true. Simple explanations could explain away creaking floorboards, cold gusts of wind, and a strange feeling of being watched.
But some legends were based in fact. And some ghosts were very real.
Laura had suggested the venue for lunch, and Cassie said yes to please her. But she had never felt comfortable inside the walls of the restaurant. The owners had kept up the tradition of painting the shutters and doors faint blue, but it didn’t work to keep the spirits away as much as Cassie would’ve liked.
As soon as the host seated them, a chill passed down Cassie’s spine. She kept her eyes forward, hoping that if she ignored the restaurant’s supernatural guests, they would repay her in kind. All she wanted to do was eat and get out of there.
“Are you okay?” Laura asked.
Cassie flinched. So much for not being obvious. “Yeah, why?”
Laura shrugged. “You look worried about something.”
“I’m always worried.” Cassie laughed because it was the truth. “Just hoping I don’t run into anyone I know, that’s all.”
“Don’t want to be seen with your kid sister?”
“I have a reputation to uphold, you know.”
“Oh, yeah, your sister’s a psychologist. What horror. What embarrassment.”
“Ew, science.” Cassie crinkled her nose. “Art is the superior field, obviously.”
Before Laura could respond, their waitress seemed to materialize out of thin air. “Good afternoon, ladies. My name is Cara. What can I get for you today?”
Cassie opened her mouth to relay her order, but when she looked up at the server, her jaw went slack. The woman herself looked normal—mid-twenties, short hair, heavy eyeliner, and a piercing in both her nose and one of her eyebrows—but the shadow that hovered over her shoulder was out of place.
Cassie had only seen this once before and had never dealt with one directly. She wasn’t sure what it was. A ghost of some sort? A darkness that twisted and curled like it was alive? The woman must’ve gone through something truly horrific to have attracted it.
“I can come back,” the woman said. “If you need a few more minutes?”
“No, we’re ready.” Laura shot Cassie a look and then pointed to her menu. “We’re going to share the fried calamari. And then I’m going to get the tropical chili glazed shrimp as my entrée.”
“Sounds great.” The waitress made a note and then turned back to Cassie. “What about you?”
