White light. The behind-the-eye headache throbbed and a sheen of sweat dotted my upper lip.
Still nothing.
“I’m not picking up a damn thing. Are you positive it’s with you all the time?”
“Well, obviously,” he said, affronted. “Because I’m clearly being haunted by myself.”
CHAPTER THIRTY
I WONDERED IF the office would notice if I tipped the guy off a bridge. It would be so easy. I’d just tell him it was the perfect spot to dump his pee….
“That’s a very interesting theory,” Evelyn said. She must’ve sensed my anger. “But until we can prove it—”
Boswell talked over her. “It’s the only thing that makes sense! What else could fly under the radar and slip away at a moment’s notice? What else could conveniently show up no matter how I hid my tracks? it makes total sense—it’s an inside job. Literally.”
Of all conversations for him to spy on, lucky me, the one he hears is the one where we find the repeater of a living person. “You’re not haunted by yourself.”
“You only say that because my ghost is outsmarting you.”
“No, I say that because it’s not how this works.”
“You just want to string me along. First comes the diagnosis. Then comes an offer I can’t refuse. Next thing you know, I’m strapped down to a lab table with electrodes coming out of my head.”
Why was it that this line of reasoning seemed perfectly logical in my own mind…and completely batshit coming fromBoswell? The only real difference was that I never said any of it aloud.
He was still carrying on. “You can get rid of ghosts—you did it right in front of me in the van. So don’t go claiming that you can’t!”
“I could—if the situation wasn’t entirely different. I’m trying to help, here.”
“You want to help? Do me!”
“Look, the type of ghost I can get rid of is your freaking consciousness. Even if I could pull it out of you and send it packing, you’d be worse off than when you started. Nothing but a shell.” An oblivious shell that went around doing whatever the hell it pleased…and the more I thought about it, the more I wondered exactly how many mental problems could be chalked up to missing pieces. “Besides, I spent what was left of my kit getting rid of the accident guy in the van.”
Boswell blinked. “Oh. Why didn’t you say so?” He closed the kitchen window. “Let’s go get more supplies.”
Finally. I couldn’t feel Sarah’s repeater, not like Evelyn could. But I’d be glad enough to put some distance between me and it, regardless. It’s a sorry day when I’m eager to get back to F-Pimp HQ. We headed out to the sound of daytime TV in the hallway…and a raised voice that carried through the stairwell. One I recognized as the old man downstairs, Haskel.
“You need to leave right this second or—”
I cleared the stairwell door just in time to catch a certain mailman with his foot wedged in Haskel’s apartment door. The security chain was on. But Sledge was pumped up enough to flex it open.
“Is there a problem?” I asked in my threateningly bored cop-voice.
“He threatened to twist off Agatha’s head! Animal cruelty—that’s got to be a felony.”
Unfortunately, unless Sledge actually did anything, it was only harassment. Still, I flashed my federal ID—and maybe a glimpse of my shoulder holster in the process. “Is that correct, you’ve made a threat?”
With a lazy smirk, Sledge took a step back and raised his hands in mock surrender. “I was just kidding around.” Right. Like when you put Sarah through the closet door. “People can be so…sensitive.”
I said, “You don’t live here anymore, Sledge. Your presence could be construed as trespassing.”
He held up a coupon for a local sub shop with a smeared address. “I was making sure Mr. Haskel gets his mail.” Sure. “I guess no good deed goes unpunished.”
I gave him my blandest stare—this drives people nuts—but now that Evelyn had named his emotions for me, it was clear he was enjoying our little standoff. When it was finally broken by the chime of a cuckoo clock somewhere in Haskel’s apartment, he said, “I’m late for the gym. So, can I leave, or am I under arrest?”
“You’re free to go. I suggest you do.”
He sauntered past with a smirk, which I met with a blank stare. The thought of snapping some cuffs on him made me nostalgic for my old job. Once he was gone, Evelyn let out a shudder and Haskel unchained his door. “He’ll be back,” he said. “He thinks I told you something…he knows it!”
