“What words?”
“When the moon is in the seventh house and Jupiter aligns with Mars…”
“Then peace will guide the planets and love will stir the stars,” Andi ended. “Adding up the clothing, the weed and the music, I’d say the ghosts are from the ’70s. And?—”
“Oh wow, they’re flickering again. You must be right.”
“Are they upset?”
“No. Just agitated. Not in a bad way. The woman is smiling.”
“They want us to keep going?”
“Yes. Yes, I think so.”
“I’d say they were hippies.” Since they were now doing detective work, George wasn’t shy about throwing in his two cents.
“Uh, they lost their form for a moment. I could see yellow jeans with huge legs, much bigger than the ones he was wearing before, these plateau shoes I once saw on TV, and the man had the wildest afro.”
“Still no wounds?”
“No—wait. Something’s happening. The woman is bleeding between her legs, and the man has a hole in his forehead. There are tears on her face, and I can hear a baby crying. No! Don’t go! I can’t help if you go!”
“Tyler? Tyler, what’s happening?” George was worried by the frantic begging he could hear through the speaker.
For a moment, there was silence, then Tyler was back. “They’re gone. Just gone again.” He sounded dejected.
“It’s okay, Tyler. This was apparently a major breakthrough and they were skittish before. You can count this as a win.” Andi was pragmatic, soothing.
“Doesn’t feel like one.” Tyler sounded petulant, which was a good sign. He wouldn’t have a meltdown.
“Baby steps, bud. I told you all about it.”
“I hate baby steps.”
“Well, this could be an opportunity. Remember how your dad told you he wished he could help you more? And how you said you wanted that but didn’t know how to make him part of it? You can ask him to draw the ghosts for you. Then your mom or we can give the drawings to Shireen, and she can try to find them.”
“Oh. You’re a genius, Andi! Thank you!” Tyler ended the call.
George started stroking Andi’s nape. “You should charge the Norris family for the excellent therapy you’re providing.”
Andi leaned into his touch with a soft chuckle. “I’ll think about it.”
CHAPTER 12
THE JOYS OF COUNSELING
After the talk with Tyler, they decided to take a shower and spend the rest of the day on the sofa. Andi was still processing what had happened during the meditation and needed the close contact with his man while George was only too happy to catch up on his beloved college sports. They had agreed to call Luke in the late afternoon to announce their return to Spartanburg the next day, which was a Monday. If they wanted to find out what was going on, they needed to be there, talk to people themselves instead of letting others do the work or relying on reports that had already proven inadequate. It meant setting some firm limits for DeCapristo and Savalle, the exact thing Luke had wanted them to avoid. There was no helping it though. If the office wanted to stay involved, they needed to be on top of everything, and Andi couldn’t care less about the pride and sensitivities of DeCapristo and Savalle. If they couldn’t care for the victims for their sake, they chose the wrong job.
Luke seemed to be questioning his own job decisions as well when George finally called him.
“I’m so disappointed in you right now, George. Which part of you being the diplomatic one on this team was unclear?”
George winked at Andi. “You made that crystal clear, Luke. It’s just not how this is going to work, and deep down, you know it.”
“Hmph. I’m sorely tempted to call the whole thing off and send Agent DeCapristo packing. To hell with good relations with the FBI. Who needs them anyway?”
“Not us, that’s for sure.” Andi couldn’t keep that comment in.
