Chapter 42
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
“And Robin?” Montague asked.
Nigel was patched up, and he and the rest of the team remained outside while Oscar filled everyone in the trailer in on what had just happened with Gloria.
He’d left out the part about the storage room, though.
If Ethan was acting on Montague’s behalf, he’d lied on her behalf too.
If not…well, he could tell Montague privately once they were on the boat heading back home.
“She was very faint,” he answered truthfully. Then, less truthfully: “I had just sensed her when the PolterPal went off.”
“When you let yourself be distracted, you mean.” Montague’s words were a cold lash.
“What the hell, Patricia?” Lawson asked. “They were all attacked, and Taylor is injured!”
“None of which would have happened if they had done as they were told!”
Oscar shifted back onto his heels. Ms. Montague was angry, frustrated, and that he understood. But her lack of empathy was off-putting, to say the least.
Though maybe it shouldn’t have been. She’d installed the Van de Graaf generator at the asylum, giving the spirits energy to feast on, even though the stronger they were, the more dangerous they could become.
To test OtP and Zeeking the Unknown, she’d said, and apologized later.
But the truth was her actions could have gotten them killed.
He’d assumed she hadn’t realized, that she was truly sorry. The fact that Dr. Lawson chose to renew their relationship had helped convince him, since he trusted Lawson’s judgment.
Maybe he shouldn’t have.
Lawson’s mouth compressed into an angry line. “We aren’t your servants.”
“No, but they are my employees,” Montague shot back.
Then she caught herself and took a deep breath.
“I’m sorry. But Robin has been haunting my dreams for a while now.
And with good reason—we abandoned her. If we were to leave a second time, and I had to see her every night in my dreams, knowing that… it would break me, Ruthie.”
Lawson’s expression immediately softened. “I understand. We’re all trying our best, though.”
“Dawn is near, and from what Mr. Fox said, Robin isn’t powerful enough to manifest during the day.” Montague looked at Oscar for confirmation, and he nodded. “That means we only have tonight to save her, before we have to evacuate for the storm.”
Ethan cleared his throat. “Possibly less than the whole night,” he said apologetically.
“The latest weather report said the tropical storm was moving faster than originally predicted. We may wish to evacuate before dawn, given the rough seas predicted. I can load our things onto the catamaran this afternoon, but even so, we should probably leave before two in the morning at the latest.”
Montague’s face sagged for a moment. Then she recovered. “Thank you, Ethan.” She turned to Oscar. “I’m sorry Gloria has proved to be so dangerous, but I did warn you. Tonight, you will remove Robin as soon as the sun sets, and then we’ll be off.”
“Understood,” Oscar said, though the whole thing sat uneasily with him. “Dr. Lawson, can you suggest anything to help protect us from Gloria, since salt doesn’t work?”
Lawson scrubbed at her face, pushing her glasses up onto her forehead.
“I’ll try to come up with something. Some people believe that salt only works on negative spirits, but that doesn’t make sense, and doubly so in this case.
Perhaps the PolterPal protected her from its effects, if she was inside its body?
Just as throwing salt at a possessed medium wouldn’t have an effect. ”
Relief washed over Oscar. “That makes sense. Even so, I think we’ll sleep out on the porch, maybe with some Faraday cloth set up around us and attached to something to ground it.”
“There’s a small tent in storage, including stakes,” Ethan said. “If we set up the tent out of the wind, you can drape the cloth over it and pin it to the ground with the stakes.”
“Great idea. Thanks.”
“I’ll unpack the tent and bring it out, then.”
“Once the tent is up, we should all get some sleep,” Lawson declared. “Though we might take shifts, just in case I’m wrong about Gloria. After her display, she hopefully won’t have the strength to try anything, but better safe than sorry.”
“I’ll send Tina in once we have the tent up,” Oscar said. Meeting Montague’s eyes, he added, “We’ll do everything we can for Robin tonight, I promise.”
Her eyes were like steel when they met his. “See that you do, Mr. Fox. See that you do.”