Chapter 3 #3
“A good day’s work,” he replied with a grin, although he didn’t reach for the envelope. It was far too warm now for a jacket, so he didn’t have a convenient pocket he could slide it into.
“Well, it took a bit more than a day,” she returned, and her mouth lifted a little at the corners. Not a complete smile, but the shift in expression made her appear a little less tired.
“True. But it’s done now, so we can look forward to the next thing.” He leaned forward slightly as he added, “I really wish you’d think again about going down to Laughlin. The whole thing is giving me a hinky feeling.”
Her posture grew a little more tense, but her expression remained pleasant enough. “So, you’re getting psychic abilities now, too?”
“No,” he replied at once, refusing to take the bait. “This is more of a gut feeling.”
“I don’t go back on my promises,” she said, her tone flat.
Good to know, although Caleb was forced to admit that he didn’t like the idea of her making promises to Aaron Sanchez. Maybe she was right and he was completely innocent, his memory of his dealings with Aegis Holdings wiped right out of his memory banks, but he still didn’t trust the guy.
“Then let me come with you,” Caleb said, surprising himself. He’d thought of several ways he might dissuade Delia from going to Laughlin, but none of those scenarios had included him tagging along.
She chuckled. “It’s just a plain old haunted house, Caleb. No demons. There’s no reason for you to be there.”
“That you know of.”
Her shoulders lifted slightly, and she reached for the mug that sat on the desktop near her. It was the white one that he knew she used for water and nothing else, since it was late in the day to be drinking coffee.
“Nothing Aaron described sounded like anything more than evidence of your regular, garden-variety haunting. It’s probably going to take me longer to drive down there and back than it will for me to convince his grandmother’s ghost to move on.”
“It could be a demon masquerading as a ghost,” Caleb suggested, even as he realized he was starting to sound a little desperate with all these excuses.
Maybe he should have backed off, but some niggling sixth sense kept telling him the house in Laughlin was no bueno.
“That sort of thing has happened before, you know.”
“I didn’t know,” she said, her tone a little too even. “I’ve never run across anything like that in all the hauntings I’ve worked on. Then again, I didn’t know demons were real, either, until a few months ago.”
“Then trust me on this one,” he said. “Besides, wouldn’t it be more fun if I tagged along? We could pick up a bunch of junk food, make it into a real road trip.”
A reluctant smile tugged at her mouth. “Maybe it would be more fun. But that’s not why I’m going. I’m trying to help someone out.”
Yes, he knew that, and maybe he was being an utter jerk for trying to insert himself into a situation where he really had no business being there. As she’d said, this sounded like an ordinary enough haunting. At best, he’d provide some company she probably didn’t need.
At worst, he might prove to be more of a distraction than anything else.
“Besides,” she went on, “I noticed that some more of the Aegie properties went up on the auction sites this afternoon. You’d be much better served to go take a look at them while I’m out of town in case the bidding gets too hot on the one we’re interested in.
Then, when I get back, we can walk the most promising ones together and decide which ones we want to bid on, since the next auction won’t be happening until Thursday afternoon. ”
Under normal circumstances, this would have sounded like a good plan. However, Caleb couldn’t prevent himself from believing that it would be much better for him to stay by Delia’s side and offer whatever support he could.
“I suppose so,” he said, as noncommittally as he could.
“But if the next auction isn’t until Thursday, then there’s no reason why we couldn’t view the properties together sometime on Wednesday afternoon after you get back to Las Vegas.
By then, we’ll know whether we got the first one or whether we have to keep looking. ”
Her full lips compressed slightly, and he got the distinct impression that she was getting a little tired of his bullheadedness. She took a sip of water from her mug and then set it back down on the desk before giving him a very direct look.
“I understand that you’re worried,” she said. “But I’ve got this. Or have you forgotten that I’ve been cleansing houses for almost ten years and did just fine before you came along?”
If it had been anyone else, he might have let his temper flare at her stubbornness. Something about Delia made him want to be better than he used to be, so he did what he could to tamp down the flare of irritation that raised its ugly head.
“No, I haven’t forgotten,” he said evenly. “On the other hand, you have to admit that the landscape has changed a little since you first got in the ghost-whispering business.”
There was no way for her to contradict him on that front, not when she’d seen Robert Hendricks transform into the demon Calach back in January…
not when she’d watched the demonic goons from Aegis Holdings nearly raise enough black energy during the poker tournament at the Desert Paradise casino to level a city block.
“It has,” she said, her tone almost too calm. “And I’ve changed, too.” Incongruously, she smiled. “Also, you know I don’t go anywhere without holy water in my purse. It’ll be fine.”
He’d seen her wield the stuff, too, fearlessly splashing the blessed liquid right in Calach’s face without blinking an eye.
No, Delia Dunne could definitely take care of herself.
Most of the time.
“I don’t want anything to happen to you,” he said.
Her smile faded, and those clear, blue-gray eyes met his without fear.
“It won’t,” she replied.