“I’m gone for a while and when I return, no ‘I missed you, Susan’? Instead you want me to make sure that the hot-bodded guy downstairs isn’t around so you can sneak out?”
I tugged on a pair of jeans. “That’s exactly right.”
She clicked her tongue, grabbed a bottle of hair spray that had somehow made it into my suitcase and sprayed her ghost hair.
“You know you’re dead, right?”
“So you keep telling me.” She paused. “Like, I totally know that, but I can’t help my instincts.”
I cocked a brow. “Your instincts say you haven’t teased enough?”
“Right.” She smiled.
I gave her a nudge.
“Okay, okay, I’ll make sure he’s gone.”
She disappeared through the door. She returned a few minutes later. Well, her head did. Then the rest of her slid through the door. “Coast is clear.”
I shrugged on my jacket and slipped from the room. I still had to get my wallet before Roan kicked me out. I’m surprised he hadn’t yet.
That told you how powerful animal attraction could be.
I sneaked downstairs, out the door and into my old Land Cruiser. I fired up the engine and rumbled down the road toward Ruth and Alice’s store.
“So what’s on the agenda for tonight?” Susan said, popping into the passenger seat.
“Breaking and entering.”
“Sounds exciting.”
I didn’t like the idea of breaking into Truck’s house. If there was an alarm, I would need Susan to help me. But I also needed to make sure the entire town was occupied at Xavier’s wake. Slowly an idea formed that would do exactly what I needed.
“Why are you smiling?” Susan said.
I turned to her. “Listen, can you do me a favor?”
By the timeI reached Ghost Catchers, Susan had disappeared. Perfect, everything in my plan was going great.
I opened the door to the shop and found Alice and Ruth dressed in black. Utility belts were slung around their waists. Orbs dangled from cords on the belts.
“What are those?” I said, pointing to them.
“Water balloons,” Alice said proudly.
“Why? We going to a kid’s party?”
Ruth shook her head. “Alice has the idea that you can trap spirits in water balloons.”
I almost laughed. “That’s not how it works. Where’s that rope you had last night?”
Alice grumbled something that wasn’t pleasant enough to repeat and headed over to the counter. She opened a drawer and dropped the rope on the counter.
My fingers brushed the fiber-optic cord. “Now this, this is the sort of thing that will hold a ghost. Do you have any batteries? Some electrical wire?”
Alice rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Sure. I guess. But the cable already has batteries going to it.”
I yanked the cord from the case. “I need to change the way the power’s flowing. You’ve got the right idea, but you want a negative energy field to capture a ghost.”
