George kept on massaging. “Perhaps it’s time to invite Randy for coffee. We’re going to need him a lot more than we anticipated.”
“Coffee with a stranger. Now I know what the massage is for.” Andi chuckled.
“I’m sure you’re going to live through it, dear.” George gave his shoulders one last squeeze before he released him. “Let’s go back to the hotel, line everything up, and decide if we’re going to have that coffee today or tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow.”
“You’re just procrastinating.”
“I’m being mindful of Kaustrowitz’s time. He may not be available on such short notice.” Andi went for a haughty tone, which had George snorting in amusement.
“You’re rather cute when you try to be polite.”
“You wound me.”
“I’m just teasing you. Come on. In the car you go.” George pressed his key to unlock the Escalade and then proceeded to open the passenger door for Andi, waving him in with a grand gesture. Andi smiled and slid onto the seat, leaning his head back. “Do you need some Tylenol?”
“I’d rather try to go without. I’m using it too often as it is.” Another harsh truth. Andi knew he should be grateful that he could counter his headaches mostly with Tylenol, at least for now. The more often he took it, the more likely it was that he’d need something stronger and even less healthy in the future. It was a delicate rope he was walking, gauging how long he could wait before the headaches turned into full-blown migraines, which would knock him out for days.
“I can give your neck a real massage once we’re at the hotel.”
“That would be great.” Andi smiled at George, who put one hand on his thigh, letting his warmth seep into Andi’s cold skin. His man gave great massages and usually found the worst knots.
They arrived at the Best Western about thirty minutes later. Luckily for them, it wasn’t fully booked, and the lady at the reception had told them, albeit with a scorching look, that she could reserve the same room for the coming weeks. Andi flopped down on one of the queen-size beds with a groan, as George texted Kaustrowitz, asking for a meeting and to contact Tucker Monahan for an interview. Then he took care of Andi’s neck, loosening the hard muscles with sure movements of his big, warm hands. Andi was close to falling asleep when his cell started ringing. George kept him on the bed by pressing his left hand between Andi’s shoulder blades. With his right hand, he fumbled the cell out of the back pocket of Andi’s jeans, a great feat of coordination since his partner was straddling him.
“It’s Tyler.”
“Take it.” Andi would have preferred to have some peace, and anyone else would have had to wait until he was feeling better, but Tyler was the exception. He reminded Andi so much of himself at that age, he just couldn’t bring himself to ignore the boy—or young man, rather.
“Hi, Tyler. It’s me, George. Andi is here as well. How are you?”
“Hi, George, Andi, I’m fine. Mostly. The ghosts are here.” Tyler’s tone suggested this wasn’t necessarily a good thing.
“Are they back or were they with you all the time?” George held the cell closer to the bed so Andi could hear Tyler more clearly.
“They’re back. After our last call, they were gone for a bit, and I thought maybe that was it.”
“What do they want?” Andi’s voice sounded a bit muffled because he was still on his belly. Above him, George shifted to let him up.
“I’m not sure. I told Dad about them, and he drew them. Then we gave the pictures to Shireen, but so far, she hasn’t found anything. I get a feeling of urgency as if they want this to come to an end.”
“Are they threatening you?” This was always Andi’s core concern. He didn’t know anything about ghosts and interacting with them, didn’t know if they could be a danger to Tyler aside from making him an outcast and perhaps driving him mad. On closer inspection, Andi couldn’t say which was worse, physical or psychic wounds. Both carried their own horrors, though he felt he was better equipped to help Tyler with the latter.
“No. They swamp me with a sense of urgency. I don’t think they could harm me.”
“And they’re still not talking to you?”
“No, I?—”
“What, Tyler?” Andi gentled his tone, feeling instinctively that this was an important moment, a step forward for Tyler.
“They don’t talk, but I think I can feel their emotions. It’s totally different from Izzy and the others.”
“Do you want to feel their emotions? Do you think it would help?”
“I…I don’t think this is about what I want. It’s about what they need.” The despair in Tyler’s voice was obvious. Of course, a teenager wouldn’t want to experience other people’s emotions. He had enough on his plate with his own tumultuous feelings caused by rampaging hormones. Andi remembered that time, the burning wish to just be like everybody else, to not be burdened with the geschenk, which made everything a hundred times worse. He could imagine that it wouldn’t be any different with seeing ghosts.
“Tyler, I know this sucks big time. So, let’s try something. Put your feelers out, very carefully, like we talked about. Can you do that?”
