No Humans Involved (Otherworld 7)

"Some necros can get a little touchy, especially at social events--"

"Ten years later, I see another, I try again and she walks away. Doesn't even have the courtesy to answer me."

"Well, I can't promise anything, but if you'd like me to get in touch with your sister--"

"She's fifty years old! Do you think she wants to hear from me now?"

"I'm sorry you had a bad experience--"

"Fuck you." She wheeled and stalked away.

As I walked back toward the building, I concentrated on the questions I'd ask Paige and Lucas, and tried to forget the young woman. Another day, another ghost. One of hundreds. Hundreds of hopeful, disappointed--

I cut off the thought and picked my way past a ripped-open garbage bag to the front doors. They were full-length dark glass--one-way glass, I presumed, so they could see out and I couldn't peek in.

I pulled on the handle. Locked. To my left was a small speaker marked "Deliveries and Visitors." I buzzed.

"Hey, Jaime!" It was Savannah, Eve and Kristof's seventeen-year-old daughter. Not a ghost, thankfully, but very much alive and the ward of Paige and Lucas.

Savannah's voice was so clear, I looked around to see where she was. When she laughed, I spotted a tiny camera lens.

"High-tech, huh?" she said. "We get all the bells and whistles. Very cool...and complicated as hell. I need a damned instruction book for this--Oh, there it is." The door buzzed. "Come on in. We're on the second floor. You'll need to take the stairs. The elevator's card-activated."

In the background, Paige yelled for Savannah--something about boxes--and a male voice cursed. Obviously not Lucas--if he used profanity, I'd never heard it.

As I entered, it was like stepping into an upscale corporate office under construction, the gleaming floors dusty with footprints, the richly painted walls awaiting artwork, cardboard boxes stacked by the gleaming elevator doors. I should have remembered that this was originally supposed to be a Cortez Cabal satellite office. I'd been in one once, and it had been just like this--a grungy exterior hiding plush offices.

As for how Benicio Cortez's anti-Cabal youngest son ended up with an office that was built for a Cabal, I only knew that Lucas's father had been building it in Portland and somehow Lucas and Paige ended up buying the unfinished offices instead. That had been over a year ago, and they were just moving in now. A big leap for a young couple, but I guess it was better than having Daddy and his mob move into town.

The stairwell was as silent as the foyer, but the moment I opened the second-floor door, it was like someone had hit "play," the air filling with noise: the whine of a drill, a woman's laugh, the bang of a dropped box, a man's shout. Top-notch soundproofing between floors--another bonus from the Cabal construction crews.

The drilling came from one direction, the voices from the other.

"Don't touch the books. I have a system."

"What system?" Savannah answered. "Dump them all in a pile?"

It took me a moment to recognize the first speaker. Adam Vasic, one of my fellow council members, who was joining his friends in their new venture.

"Just leave the books." Paige's voice, a deep contralto. "Adam, keep bringing up those boxes. Savannah, make sure all the books get into Adam's office, but don't unpack them. They'll need to be arranged in a recognizable system, so we can all find what we need when our librarian isn't here."

"Librarian?" Adam said. "The title is head of research."

"And security guard," Savannah added.

"Head of security."

"Right. In charge of all those other librarians and security guards we've hired."

"It's a growth position. Just like yours. Someday, I'm sure you'll be in charge of the entire secretarial pool."

"These boxes aren't moving on their own," Paige cut in as I approached the open door. "I need them all upstairs and sorted into the proper rooms. Then I need Adam assembling the bookcase while Savannah helps Lucas with that alarm system. And when that's done there's--"

"A shitload more," Savannah said. "You know what you really need? Zombie slaves."

"I've got you two. Close enough."

"You don't want zombies," I said as I walked in. "You'll spend a fortune on air fresheners."