The Fix Is In (Torus Intercession 4)

I got a conciliatory nod.

“Okay,” I said, studying the guy in the picture. “I think we need to find out who this guy is, and that starts with a visit to Deputy Gage to see if anyone has reported him missing.”

“He won’t give you the time of day,” Benji promised me.

“He will,” I replied with a smirk.

“After breakfast,” Rais directed. “Eat your food.”

“Yeah, we have to hurry because we have a consultation with two women who are certain their home is haunted.”

“You have to cancel,” I told Sian. “Until we figure out what––”

“I’m sorry, did you think we were independently wealthy?” she asked me. “Because unless you plan to pay my rent, and Benji’s, and put money into Delly’s college fund, then we need to keep our business on track.”

“It’s fine,” Rais said between bites. “I’ll go see the deputy, then Skype with Owen. I’ll find out who this guy is.”

“And what happens when you find out he’s a ghost?” Benji asked. “Then what?”

Rais grinned at him. “Listen, I know real ghosts who live in the shadows and step out only to kill. This man was alive and well when you took that picture of him, and we’re gonna figure this out.”

“I don’t think there’s anything to figure out,” Benji apprised him. “And that stuff about black ops people is scarier than a ghost story.”

“Because it’s people,” Rais said with a shrug. “Regular people are always the scariest thing around.”

I couldn’t argue.

9

Tara Meade and Saffron Esposito lived in what was originally a motel but had been converted into apartments. How they could say they were hearing weird noises when there were people on both sides of them, a wooded area behind, and a parking lot out front, I had no idea. They were hearing weird noises? Seriously?

Delly walked from room to room asking if there was anyone there, and if they would like to speak to her. She was carrying the binary response device—the one that lit up green for yes and red for no—and she stood still and closed her eyes to listen.

Sian had a lit sage bundle and was carrying it with her, holding an abalone shell beneath it to catch any falling ashes or embers. She was walking from room to room saying love and light, light and love, which was nice. She was also listening.

Benji was moving slowly through the apartment with the EMF detector, but it wasn’t making any noise or lighting up, and he looked concerned.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, catching his arm to stop him before he passed me on the way to the kitchen.

He sighed and looked up at my face. “I hate it when we visit places and can’t find anything. Not being able to offer an explanation or help makes me feel so useless.”

“Did you consider there might not be anything to find?”

“That’s the skeptic in you.”

“That’s the realist in me,” I corrected him. “I’m not saying it’s never a paranormal event, but I’m also saying that perhaps you could expand your team and include someone like me who looks at the problem from a traditional standpoint first, before you jump to the EMF detector.”

He was quiet a moment and then nodded. “I was thinking about that myself, but we need to find someone who’s committed to helping. I mean, could you imagine if we had someone along who was like, ‘The radiators need to be bled, and I can do that for the low, low price of sixty-nine ninety-nine per unit?’”

“Plus tax,” I teased him.

“Yes! You see the problem.”

“I do see the problem,” I agreed, reaching out to cup his cheek and rub over the soft skin with my thumb. I dropped my hand away. “You’re very kind.”

He made a noise in the back of his throat and stepped in close to me. “It is not at all professional to be thinking about kissing you while I’m on a job. You’re a terrible distraction.”

I grinned at him. “How can we fix that?”

“You know exactly how we can fix that,” he assured me.

“And we will.”

He held out his pinky.

“Are you serious?”

He nodded adamantly.

So we pinky swore that I’d ravish him because, as it turned out, we were both ridiculous.

Leaving me then, he went to check on the kitchen and make sure it was spirit free.

After everyone convened in the living room, Benji had the two young women, Tara and Saffron, explain again what some of the issues were. They both told him that the cold spot in the bathroom was particularly hard on them.

“We’re naked in there,” Saffron said with a nervous laugh, “and it’s the coldest room in the apartment? What the hell?”

“It totally sucks,” Tara chimed in. “Worst place for an arctic blast ever.”

“And the dust and occasional pieces of broken plaster,” Saffron continued, “where is it coming from?”

“Let’s sage in there again,” Sian offered, but suddenly covered her mouth with her hand.