“How?”
“Well, I asked the ghosts in William’s house if they knew anything, and the FBI hadn’t said a word about the cameras or surveillance inside the property. Like theyknewthe ghosts would tattle on them to me or something. It’s so weird. I’m close to contacting Rino about it.” Rino was our boss, and no one could say no to him. Well, they could, but no one dared. He was scary as fuck, and the most powerful medium in the country. There were rumors amongst the mediums that he got his power from banishing ghosts. All lies, of course, since that wasn’t possible, but to have rumors made about him showed just how powerful he was. I’d never actually met the man, so all I knew was from the other mediums.
“Do you think he’d want to help us?”
“It never hurts to ask.”
“True. Promise to keep me updated?”
“Promise. Enjoy the rest of your week of rest.”
“I will.” I hung up and felt the relief of William’s death take over. I had faith that he would get his punishment. I was a little nervous about involving Rino, especially after taking a week off, not that it was unusual in our line of work. We needed mental breaks more often and had double the vacation time than regular jobs offered. It was partly because we were never off the clock since ghosts could come to us at any time and we would have to help them. The other part was that it drained us, and therefore we got tired more easily. I’d never known anything else, so a nap mid-day those days I needed it was my normal. But maybe I should start drinking coffee so Jackson wouldn’t worry.
Speaking of Jackson… “Everything okay at work?” he asked, having just opened the bedroom door.
“Yeah.” How should I tell him the guy that strangled me was dead? “He’s dead.” That was all the brain power I had apparently. I sighed mentally.
He frowned. “Who’s dead?”
“The guy that strangled me. Daisy just told me he’d been murdered.”
“Fuck, what is up with this week? Are you okay with that? I mean, I know you wanted him behind bars from what you’ve told me, but is this okay for you?”
I smiled. He was just so understanding. “I guess. If he went to jail, I would always fear his release. Now, I know I’ll never see him again.”
“I guess that’s a good way of seeing things. And to have been killed must’ve been an unpleasant punishment for him. I can’t imagine it being a peaceful way to die.”
I snorted. “No, hardly peaceful. What did the landlord say about the electricity?”
He sat down next to me on his bed. “An electrician is coming later today to check on it. Five other people in the building already called and complained.”
“That’s good. Then we don’t have to worry about electrical fires anymore.” It suddenly felt awkward between us, like the reality of what had happened in the shower hit me. Jackson on his knees for me. But then William’s death and the weird behavior from the FBI took over my thoughts. Now my brain was back on Jackson. And I much preferred that.
He smiled at that. “No more worries. But one other thing happened too.” I sat up straighter. Another thing I had to worry about? I almost whined. “Ida is coming.”
Oh. “Why do you sound worried about that?”
He sighed, then leaned back on his bed. “She wasn’t at our father’s funeral. Neither was her mother. I inherited everything and she was left with nothing.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.Oh. I want her to take half, but I have no idea how she’ll take it. I don’t want her to feel like it’s charity. She deserves half of his money, in my opinion, but she’s only sixteen, so I’ve made it clear she won’t get the money until she’s twenty-one. I had our family lawyer, or my father’s lawyer, write a contract, transferring half the money to a bank account for her. I just need her signature.”
“What about her mom?”
He waved it off. “Her signature isn’t needed since Ida won’t get the money until she’s an adult anyway. As long as Ida trusts me, we won’t need to involve her mother in this. Plus, I don’t know if Ida even wants her mom to know about the money. That’s up to her to tell her. Not me.”
I held my hand up. “Hold on… So Ida isn’t coming here to sign the papers? She’s just visiting?”
“Yeah. She had a fight with her mother over the fact that Ida didn’t inherit any money. Her mother wanted to take legal action, however, she can’t do that if Ida doesn’t want to, since it’s Ida’s inheritance. Her mom doesn’t have enough money to pay for an attorney. So yeah, she’s coming here to stay for a few days.”
I blinked. I couldn’t stay here when his little sister was coming. It didn’t seem right to ruin their sibling time. Mom knew about my neck now, so technically I could ask Jackson to drive me home. Not that I wanted to leave, but he needed this time with his sister.
“I’ll pack my things. Do you mind giving me a ride home? I don’t want to explain to a random Uber driver why my neck is bruised.” I located my clothes from yesterday and stuffed them into my bag,along with the book I’d started reading yesterday. I didn’t have much so I was done packing before Jackson seemed to realize I was serious.
“You can’t leave.”
“Um. You’ll find that I can.”
