I groaned. Loudly.
Brandon kissed the top of my head. “Remember, I’ll be right there with you.”
“Mon cher, if you were not, I’d not go in at all,” I said on a long sigh.
The thought of battling my way through so many ghosts without my anchor at my side gave me the willies. So yes, Brandon factored in majorly to me doing this at all. Also, itwould be mean to leave my friends in the lurch to handle this without me. Even thinking of running home by myself felt mean. Though it was damn tempting.
“So which are we tackling first?” I mused.
“I think we should do ghost town first. I know this sounds backward, but I think it’ll be easier than Black Rock. For one, we won’t have to get permission to enter any of the buildings, as no one’s living there or doing business.”
A fair point, all in itself.
“Secondly, the only people up there will be the experts, so we won’t have to worry about people tripping over things and causing issues. We can go all out.”
Also a very good point. “And once it’s done, we don’t have to watch our backs, waiting for the next wave of ghosts?”
“You see?”
“I’m inclined to agree.” Hopefully everyone else did, but it really was common sense.
We had to pack everything away, the plane now descending. We landed without fanfare or issues, off-loaded, and headed for the Sky Train.
I’d never flown into Phoenix before, and it was an experience. The car rental service wasn’t attached to the airport itself. Instead, you had to go up a level of the airport to the Sky Train, hop on it, which took several stops, and then at the journey’s end, it brought you to a huge building with all of the car rental places available. Sylvia had already booked our hotel and car, so we stepped in, got our SUV, then immediately went to a store to pick up essentials. Just leaving the airport had shown me what desert heat was like, and I had to say, not a fan. It felt like the moisture was being sucked out of me. I would need to drink constantly to combat dehydration.
Flashlights, lamps, salt, snacks, water bottles, all of the batteries. I also picked up some specialty foods for myself,including my safe butter, so I wasn’t without any options. After our quick shopping trip, we were back on the road.
Now, I’d seen pictures of deserts. It didn’t compare to being in one, and boy howdy, people chose to live out here? But there was nothing here? Except rocks and sand. We literally passed a sign quoting scripture about healing the land if people repented. Which was a pretty accurate summary.
I looked about me, puzzled. “I know the mining brought a lot of people out this way, but people chose to stay? In an area with little water and these high temperatures?”
Brandon shrugged. “Takes all types, I guess. You and I would never be happy in a desert because we love trees.”
“Preach. We got four hours to go?”
“That we do. Well, a little under four. We’re not staying in Black Rock because”—Brandon rolled his eyes expressively—“if you can believe it, it doesn’t have a hotel.”
I just stared at him. “It’s too small to have a hotel?”
“Apparently. Nearest town is Clifton, which is five minutes away by car.”
“Oh, so it’s close-close.”
“From the map, three mining towns are all in a sort of rough triangle with each other. Morenci, Clifton, and Black Rock. All about the same size, too, although looks like the local high school is in Morenci. It’s a bit bigger in scale.”
I grunted, nodding. “Okay. Gives me an idea of what’s around us. I actually do like that our hotel isn’t in the same town we’re working in. Means we’ll be able to sleep well. Hopefully.”
“Don’t jinx us, please.” Brandon blew out a breath as he set the cruise control. “Also, I only got to about page nine in the report. Can you pick up from there and read aloud?”
“Oh, sure.” That was a good thought. I could catch us both up to speed.
I read, and read, and took a break now and again for water and because I wasn’t used to talking nonstop. But we got through the report before we got to the end of the road. It was a near thing, though. Only fifteen minutes left, according to the GPS.
I pointed at the screen. “Mon cher, Clifton is barely big enough to have a hotel, and at this hour, most restaurants will be closing soon. Shouldn’t we stop in Morenci and get a bite of something?”
It was nearly seven o’clock, and not feeding Brandon was not an option. He became very, very hangry. A well-fed Brandon was a happy creature.
“A good idea. Oh, text people, see if anyone’s arrived yet and wants to join us. Or wants us to pick up something.”
