Chapter 3 #2
“But if it’s not, we’ll be farther behind him because I took us down a garden path.
” Maybe Mercy had been wrong. But even Mom had said she thought there might be a connection.
I needed to get Annamae to talk to me about Mom.
That would be the next step. “Anyway, we’re here and we need to see if we can find Catherine. Where is this building?”
A ghost floated by and I didn’t make eye contact. Then a man with a large wound on his chest looked at me.
I felt Rory shutter next to me. Then she said, “They’re noticing us.”
“I see that,” I grabbed her arm and we hurried across the street, avoiding traffic but not waiting for the light to change. “Maybe now that we’re out of the square, they’ll leave us alone.”
Rory made the mistake of looking behind us. “Or maybe not, we have a following now.”
I met Bubba’s gaze. The problem was the reading.
Tasha had drawn on our power to make sure the cards would reveal the answer we needed.
But the amount of power used had woken some of the ghosts and fed them as well.
“I don’t see another option. We can’t just go home and come back another day. I think we need to go forward.”
“Drink more of your potion. Rory, spray yourself. I’m not losing either of you today.” He paused at the doorway of Café Du Monde. “We can go through the restaurant and out the back door to the street. The building we’re heading to is just on the other street.”
“The restaurant will slow the ghosts,” I said. Then I watched him as I took a drink from my potion bottle. Today it was Lilac’s Hello Kitty bottle. “How did you know that?”
“Your brother has me on a reading plan. I’m supposed to take these fairy tales seriously so I can protect you.
” He pulled out his phone and texted our driver.
“I’ve got Fred meeting us in front of the building we’ve targeted.
Your brother is working on an invite to tour the building now.
Otherwise, we walk in like we know what we’re doing.
City inspectors maybe, checking the prints we got versus the building? What do you think?”
“I think you’re surprising, Beauregard King.” I smiled at him and nodded to Rory. “Ready to make a run for it?”
“Sure.” She followed me into the restaurant. The hostess led us to a table, but I asked to be moved to the back, near the kitchen and the back door. When we’d been moved, I nodded to the hallway that had bathrooms.
“This way,” I said, not bothering to even sit down. The other two followed. I saw the ghosts milling around the front door, but so far, no one had come inside. Sometimes, they were a little slow. Which gave us the room to ditch them. So to speak.
Going through the kitchen, I thought someone might stop us, but instead, it was a quick pathway with just a few people looking up and watching us leave. I’m sure they thought we were skipping out on paying our bill. Out in the alley, I glanced at Bubba. “Which way?”
“Left,” he said, not breaking stride.
We hurried down the brick pavement, and I was glad I’d worn my sneakers today. When we reached the street, I saw the car and driver from Andronic’s fleet parked in front of the building we were headed toward.
Bubba waved at Fred who nodded. Unspoken communications made me wonder if they were trained in non-verbal communications. One nod, everything’s fine. Two, get the car started.
I glanced up at the street and saw the wave of ghosts hovering by the restaurant’s entrance. People with a shade of talent might feel a cold breeze as they walked through. Others wouldn’t notice anything. And a few would cross the street to avoid the feeling of dread.
Hopefully, they’d dissipate before we left. Spirits only had so much energy to spend before they had to recharge.
“The entrance is right here. Nic got us permission to enter and a code to use. I guess the company’s looking for some new perk apartments?” Bubba was reading texts on his phone as we walked over to the door. He keyed a code into the electronic lock. The door swung open, inviting us inside.
“If the place is locked up, how would someone get in to hide Catherine here?” Rory asked as we stood in the entryway, looking for a stairwell.
“Maybe through the leasing agency? I know Nic has some pull around here, but if someone claimed they had some potential buyers? He can’t be the first one they just gave out the code to.” I pointed toward a door to the right. “There. A stairwell.”
We hurried over, the chill of the building making me wish I’d brought a sweater.
I had a feeling it wasn’t just the air conditioning we were feeling.
There had been some ceremonies here. Maybe locals use the empty space because it was available.
More likely, the access to the power of the river nearby made the building a prime casting spot.
I tried reaching out mentally to Catherine. I heard a weak moan in response. I opened the stairwell door that went downstairs. “We need to hurry.”
When we got to the basement, there was another coded door.
We’d gone past an exit door just a few steps down from where we’d come into the lobby.
The access faced the river, not the street.
Bubba keyed in the coded again and the door didn’t open.
He tried again, slower this time. When it popped open, he turned to smile at me. “Sorry, operator error.”
I swatted at him, “You scared me.”
He held the door open and I went inside to find another set of stairs.
These ones were utilitarian and metal with holes in the stair tread to let any water drip through.
The walls were painted white, but other than that, there were no decorative items. Once we were at the bottom, we found a long hallway.
Doors had either an empty place card or a sign stating the room’s purpose or owner.
It looked like storage for the tenants. “I’ll take the left side.
You take the right with Rory. Call out if you see or hear anything unusual. ”
“We’re searching an empty building for a missing fortune teller. Define unusual.” Rory asked but she followed Bubba to the first door on her side.
I swung my door open and found basically a broom closet with cleaning supplies. Rory stepped over, then went inside and looked around, making sure it didn’t have a hiding spot. She shook her head, and I knew she’d reached out with her senses.
We cleared all the rooms until we stood in front of the last door on the end wall. Bubba took in a deep breath, then held open the door. It was a large room, and I saw a figure sitting in a chair. I moved, but Bubba held me back.
“Your reader said there were traps. Let’s go slow here.” He turned on the lights and the figure in the chair blinked.
“Eddie? Is that you? How did you find me?” Catherine asked, then she leaned back and passed out.