Chapter 5
“Why, Delaney? Why?” Dane said as he stepped between us. “Ignore her. She’s off her meds.”
My eyes widened. We were going to talk about that when we made it back to our condos. It seemed like Dane needed to sit in on the next company-wide sensitivity training.
“I’m just trying to find the truth, Jeremy,” I said as Dane pushed me away from our group leader. We’d better get a refund if he kicked us out.
Jeremy held up his hands and clapped them twice. “Okay, then let’s get a move on to our next destination.”
What?
That’s it? He planned to ignore us? I didn’t like that at all.
“The truth is that William threw himself over that boat after speaking with the ghosts on the ship,” Jeremy said to me as he walked past us, leading the group further down the street. A man in a black hoodie knocked elbows with me as he passed.
“What was that?” I asked Dane as we ended up at the back of the group.
He looked like he wanted to kill me. “That was you being reckless again. What if he had a gun?”
“D-Bear,” I said with an eye roll. “He’s a walking tour guide. Not a criminal mastermind with a gun fetish.”
He really had to get a grip on his anxiety and get past his overly suspicious personality. Not everyone walked around with a Glock in his or her pants pocket.
Also, D-Bear was not an acceptable nickname. Back to the drawing board.
“Fine,” Dane said as we followed the group toward the next location. “Let’s go before you give Jeremy something to really complain about.”
“No way. We have to finish the tour.” It was pretty interesting and gave me a lot of good information about the city. Plus, it had the added benefit of giving us a view into William’s head since he wrote the stories. That was gold.
Even better because I’d been recording the entire thing from my perfectly held phone, so we had footage to work into the podcast.
He kept us two paces behind everyone else to scold me. “If you’re still hell-bent on solving this case.”
“I am.” That was a simple answer.
Dane glared at me. “Then will you at least go about this smartly?”
“Why? Elenore said she just ran with it when she solved her case in Savannah.” That seemed to be the best way to go about solving cases when ghosts were involved.
Of course, her case didn’t end up being a ghost, but that was a minor detail. The important part was that she solved the case.
I’d definitely get internet clout, a raise, and possibly even a promotion if I solved this one.
“Delaney, I’m serious,” he said, and he actually sounded serious. And also perturbed. I had no idea why. “Elenore almost died. You need to be smarter.”
“Aww, would you be sad if I died?” I asked as our group stopped at another building on the tour.
An older woman gave a gasp at something Jeremy said, but I missed it, too busy staring into Dane’s gaze wondering what he was thinking.
He blinked. “Yeah, because if you die on my watch, I’ll probably get a write-up.”
Magical moment gone.
“That’s sweet,” I deadpanned. “Pay attention to the tour, D-bag.”
Now, that nickname had potential.
* * *
I finished the last piece of my breakfast bagel. If Dane was going to continue breaking into my room, at least he brought food and coffee with him. It wasn’t a horrible compromise.
Plus, he was nice to look at.
Until he opened his mouth, anyway.
“Did you finish that already?” Dane asked as I threw away the bagel’s wrapping.
I glared at him. Did he just call me fat? “You can leave.”
“No thanks. I think your television is bigger.” He propped his feet on the wooden coffee table in the middle of my seating area, and the television flickered to life.
How annoying.
Not wanting to sit by him, because he smelled ridiculously good this morning, I took up a spot at the small table with my phone in front of me.
The tour lasted more than two hours, so I’d had to cover it in three different videos. I stuck in headphones to listen to the replay so I didn’t bother Dane’s TV watching. I started the first one and settled in to watch.
Ten minutes in, something in the video struck me as odd, but I couldn’t put my finger on what. Dane laughed on the couch, and I smiled right as our guide explained how the British had walked through the streets of Charleston with their guns.
There!
Something happened again on the video. A flash of pitch black entered the screen and left.
Was it a ghost?
I sped up the video, trying to see where the black spots in the footage appeared the most. Was it every stop on the tour or only the first?
The blackness fluttered in from the right of the video, and I held my breath as it left again. This time was different. Light from the streetlamps offered a better view.
It wasn’t a ghost.
“Dane, look at this,” I called, and I started the video again to write down the spots to show him.
He stood up from the couch. “What’s up, princess?”
“Watch this on the video.” I held the screen out so we could both see. “There! Did you see it?”
He waited as I sped it up to the second spot. “Where did you get this video?”
“I took it last night.” It was clearly from our tour. How did he call himself a specialty-trained operative if he didn’t notice that?
Dane huffed. “Obviously, princess. But how did you get the video?”
“Oh.” I turned off the video and held my phone like I had last night. “It looks like I’m taking pictures of the sights, but it’s a video. You’d think a government spy would have figured out that trick.”
“What do you think the black spots are?” he asked as the third abnormality came into view while ignoring my insult. That meant he was focused.
I went back to speeding up the video to see if there were others. “They aren’t ghosts.”
“That’s a relief. You and the ghost theory were scaring me. I considered recommending an evaluation.”
“You’re so annoying. I have an idea what it is, but I need a better angle.”
He took a spot across the table from me, giving up whatever he had on the television. “Why do you record everything?”
“A-B-R. Always be recording. It’s rule number one.” The first video ended without another incident.
The second video started as he said, “Are you recording now?”
“Why?” I paused the video and popped my head up. “Are you planning on doing something interesting?”
I didn’t have dreams of being TikTok famous, but I wouldn’t turn down the opportunity to try.
“No,” he said as an absolute bore.
“Then no.” The video started again. “Let me know if you change your mind.”
It took me a second as I processed our interaction before I paused the video and stared at him. His attention was on my phone, which gave me time to stare at his perfect jawline. It had to be criminal for it to be this chiseled. He’d beat John Hamm in a chin-off.
“What?” he asked when he caught me staring.
I waved my phone at him. “How would I be recording while I’m holding my phone to show you a video?”
Seriously, this was my super-trained spy? I wanted a refund.
“I’m just always suspicious of you.” He waved his hand at me. “Keep watching.”
It took less than three minutes for the next incident. “There!”
I paused, pushed the video line back, and watched it again.
“What is that?” Dane asked, leaning in super close to my screen.
“You don’t remember him?” I asked.
Dane shook his head, but then his eyes widened. “Wait, that’s the guy in the black hoodie.”
“Yeah!” I set my phone on the table. “He bumped into me at least once too. This had to be intentional.”
“Now who’s being suspicious?” Dane tilted his head to the side. “Who would know you’re here researching William’s death and that we’d be on this tour?”
Okay, he had a few decent points.
“At least before you told Jeremey and the entire tour group, but he was already on the tour then,” he continued. “You could also be making a mountain out of a molehill. We were in a group all night. He was bound to be near you a few times.”
“Yeah, but.” I held the phone out to him. “I never got his face on camera. That’s weird.”
He did that thing where he ran his thumb over his jaw again. “Who knows with you? Either way, it’s best I don’t let you out of my sight for the next few days. You make enemies everywhere.”
“We need more investigation pieces. And I have to review the boat footage.” I turned back to my phone as someone knocked on my condo door. “Can you get that?”
“Sure, sure. Now I can add butler to my résumé,” he said. He walked to the door, spoke to someone, and then dropped a plain white envelope on the table beside me. “You’ve got a letter.”
A letter? “That’s weird.”
“Yeah, so be fucking careful as you open it.”