I nodded. “Yeah. We saw. And I don’t have a good explanation for you.”
Kell met my gaze. “Cassidy, this is Charleston. Ghosts galore. What happens if the rest of them turn dangerous?”
I didn’t know what to say. He was absolutely right about the danger. And that meant that Teag and Sorren and I needed to figure out answers before more people got hurt.
“EVERY TIME THERE’S a lull, I go out and look up more about Tarleton House,” Teag said. The store was busy, but tourists seem to come in bunches with times in-between when the store was empty. Maggie was off, so that left Teag and me to rehash what we had seen the night before.
“And?” I asked.
Teag shrugged. “Kell’s recap gels with what I found, even on the Darke Web,” he said. “Nothing supernatural about the owners, no dark magic at work.” He made a face. “If you make bad enough choices, you can get screwed over just fine without the need for dark magic.”
True enough, I thought. I hadn’t slept well, even with Baxter cuddled next to me and the lights on. Last night had been like being in a horror movie. Only when you’re watching a movie and it gets too intense, you can go out for popcorn, or just shut your eyes. Those aren’t options when the big bad wolf is real.
“I did find something else,” Teag said. “I was poking around the records on Jonathan, the guy who disappeared next door. Maggie was right – he had been acquitted of some serious charges. When I looked up the other people who’ve vanished on stairways, it turns out every single one of them was charged with a serious crime and then acquitted.”
I frowned. “That’s weird.”
Teag nodded. “Yeah, it is. So I dug a little deeper. In each case, it turns out that the person who disappeared really did do something wrong, but circumstances factored into the verdict. So for example, Jonathan really did hit and kill a man with his car, but he was acquitted because the pedestrian was drunk and the jury determined that he couldn’t have avoided hitting the man.”
I could feel a headache coming on, and I rubbed my temples. I was glad that, at least for a few moments, all the tourists had left the store. “Interesting – but I’ve got no idea how that could possibly have anything to do with the disappearances.”
“Neither do I,” Teag admitted. “But I thought it was worth mentioning.”
“I’ve tried to reach Daniel Hunter, but he’s not answering his cell phone,” I said. “Since Sorren isn’t here, I want some answers about Watchers and Reapers.” I sighed. “Guess Daniel just plans to come and go on his own schedule. That’s not helpful.” I had left several messages, with no reply. If we can’t count on him and don’t know when he’ll bother to drop by, he’s not much use to us.
“Don’t forget dinner at our place tonight – it’s Anthony’s treat.” Teag chuckled.
“You had me at hello,” I said, trying to sound light-hearted. It took a real effort to shake off what had happened on the ghost tour and at Tarleton House. Really bad things were happening and I was worried that I hadn’t heard from Sorren.
The bell on the shop door rang, and we both looked up, expecting a customer. To my surprise, Father Anne walked in, with a large leather-bound book under one arm. “Hey there,” she greeted us, and glanced around to see if there were any customers. “Are you busy? Can I talk to you?”
“Sure,” I said. “If someone comes in, you and I can go in the back.”
“I heard about your accident at the cemetery,” she said. “Are you all right?”
I shrugged. “It could have been a lot worse. I’m a little banged up, but nothing that won’t heal. Insurance will cover the car, although I’m not sure ‘monster damage’ is on my policy.” Hard to believe that was just a couple of days ago.
“What have you got there?” Teag asked, coming around to stand next to me.
Father Anne set a large ledger-sized book on the counter. It had an old, worn leather binding, and even without getting close to it, I could feel a tingle of power. “I’m glad you called me. I got in touch with some of my people at the St. Expeditus Society. Thought you might want to see this.”
She flipped open the book. Two full-page colored prints of paintings stared out at