“I won’t arrest you. Scout’s honor.”
“Cool, thanks. A friend and I went there at night last summer and some freaky shit went down.” He smiles thinking about it. “Weird sounds and this blue fog that came out of nowhere. And then we saw a gray shadow run past. Freaked us out but was so awesome.”
“Sounds pretty awesome. And the second ghost?”
“Still promise you won’t arrest me?”
I raise my eyebrows. “I’ll try my best.”
He grins. “Eastern State Penitentiary.”
“You broke in?” If he did, I’d actually be impressed.
“No. We were on a tour. That place is crazy haunted.”
“So I’ve heard.” We get to the barn and I tug open the large door. A cloud of dust rains down on us, and I turn my head and wave it away.
“What about you, Mrs…Ms…uh, what do I call you?”
“Ace is fine.”
“Ace? What kind of name is that anyway?”
“It’s a nickname. My full name is Acelina.”
“You should go by Lina. It’s more feminine.”
“Darn, where were you twenty years ago when I started going by a nickname? You could have warned me about the dangers of having a masculine-sounding nickname.”
“Okay, okay, it’s kinda cool, actually.” He squints, trying to get his eyes to adjust to the dark. “That thing looks fairly new. Get it some fresh gas and it might start.”
“That’s good to know.” We step out of the barn and I shove the door closed again.
“You know, a job like this is going to take a long time. You’re paying hourly, right?”
I press a smile. “I already worked out how much to pay you with your mom.”
“Really? She’s so cheap. She low-balled me, didn’t she?”
“A little. Do a good job and don’t annoy me and I’ll throw in a bonus on top of another answer.”
Jared looks up at me, smiling. “I think I’m going to like this job, Ace.”
“Good, because you’re right about it taking a long time.” I look at the mess of the yard and sigh. “Just clean it up so the neighborhood association the people on this street pretend they have won’t give me the stink-eye when they drive by. It doesn’t have to be perfect.”
“I’ll try. And speaking of ghosts…please tell me you have inside police details about that guy who got attacked by one.”
I give him a quizzical look. “A guy got attacked by a ghost?”
“That’s what he’s claiming. Said a crying woman in a pink dress came out of nowhere and scratched the shit out of him. The air got all cold and everything, like a classic textbook haunting. Then she walked through the wall and vanished.”
A crying woman in a pink dress…who’s also a ghost.
Motherfucking shit balls. This can’t be a coincidence.
