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Say what you like about my father, he is not a liar. He’d picked up a newspaper in the lobby and was firmly camped against my door, blocking any viable exits. I supposed I could try to jump out the window, but there was a little too much room between the 8th floor and the ground for my liking.
Time to whip out my arsenal of vague excuses.
George waited in silence as I changed in the bathroom. He frowned as I came out, realizing a hoody and jeans were not my usual nightwear.
‘You don’t look like you’re about to nap,’ he commented, as I retied my laces.
‘That’s probably because I’m not,’ I said quietly.
‘Your dad’s not at risk for a stroke, is he?’
I rolled my eyes and ignored him. I switched on my laptop one last time, conscious of the fact that there might be a key logger on it. Regardless, I searched Angela and Ronnie’s names in the hope that everything had worked out in the past five minutes. No such luck. Ronnie was still missing, in body and soul, and there was nothing on Angela. It was down to me. Perfect.
‘Let’s go,’ I sighed.
George made no move to follow me to the door.
‘What are you doing?’ he asked.
‘Ronnie’s out there, struggling to come to terms with his death. He’s run away. He doesn’t know what he’s doing. We have to help him.’
He stared at me.
‘If this doesn’t end now, he’s going to follow me forever and I am not having that.’
‘Ah, now I get it,’ he said.
‘Does a good deed stop being a good deed if it’s done for selfish reasons?’
He chewed it over.
‘Yeah. Hundred percent yes.’
‘Last time I ever ask your opinion,’ I muttered. ‘Come on. We have to find him.’
‘Great. Excellent, even. What’s the plan? Do you have some amazing new intel you haven’t shared with the group? Because last time I checked, we knew zilch.’
Still unfortunately true, but I’d guessed we’d come across him somewhere. Besides, I hadn’t seen any other lucies around so he’d probably find us eventually.
‘Knowing nothing hasn’t stopped me in the past,’ I told him brightly.
‘Yeah, that sounds like you.’
‘Thanks. Ready to go?’
‘Sure! Let me grab a jacket,’ he said, swiping a hand at the coat rack. ‘Oh, wait.’
‘Nice. Come on.’
I knocked gently on the door so my dad had time to stand up. I put on my sheepish face to counter his wary one.
‘Going somewhere?’
‘I need to get some air. I feel like my throat is closing and I’m sweating and can’t breathe and the room is closing in-’
‘Okay, okay! Bree, chill. It’s okay. Have you opened a window?’
Where would I be without you, Daddy?
‘Yeah. All of them. And I turned the AC on but it made it worse.’
He nodded as though that made a single shred of sense.
‘Well, maybe we could sit in the lobby. The door’s open, there’s a breeze coming in...’
‘I really need to clear my head. Look, I’m sorry. I got involved in something I shouldn’t, and I am not doing it again. I’m going to walk on the beach for an hour or so, and then I’ll be back. I promise.’
He wrestled with himself, but gave in like I knew he would. I knew him. I knew the magic words to use, and none of those included the word “ghost.”
‘Okay. Maybe the fresh air will do you good,’ he said, as though it was his idea in the first place.
‘Right. See you later, Dad.’
‘You got your cell?’ he called after me.
‘Yeah, of course.’ Probably.
I was relieved to see no cops in the lobby or around the hotel. They really trusted my father. What a shame that was going to be.
‘I can’t believe you lied to your dad again,’ George hissed from behind as we headed to a beach.
‘What? Every kid in history has lied to their parents.’
‘Yeah, but not that obviously. There was always some semblance of truth in there somewhere.’
‘Well, I’m a better liar than you,’ I shrugged.
‘That’s not a good thing, Bree,’ he sighed.
‘Ann. And it is in my world.’
‘Don’t you get tired of it?’ he rambled on, switching on his ethics mode.
‘It’s survival. I don’t really think about it anymore.’
I’d annoyingly left my sunglasses in the hotel room, and the sun was blazing down. Right in my eyes. Now I was blind. I tried squinting in all directions to catch sight of a stray ghost, but no such luck. I doubted the strip bar would be open now, otherwise that’d be my first port of call.
‘Maybe you should. It’s kinda psychopathic that it comes that naturally to you.’
‘Oh, great. I’m a psychopath, am I?’ I shouted.
A poor unsuspecting skater veered off into a lamppost at my announcement. Whoops, maybe George was right. Hastily, I took out my cell, readying my arm for holding it up to my ear for a stupid amount of time.
‘I didn’t say that, exactly,’ George sighed, stifling a laugh.
We took a walk and headed to a quieter beach, with nobody in earshot. Then, we stood there, since we had no plan whatsoever.
‘Tell me about the cop,’ he said.
‘The dead one?’
‘What? No, not that guy. Not this case. I’m talking about the one who believed you.’
‘Tommy?’ I asked, even more baffled. ‘Where did that come from?’
‘I’m guessing he’s the only one you never lied to. I’m curious, is all.’
‘What do you want to know?’ I asked, feeling a little dizzy. I should’ve drank water.
‘Everything?’
‘Well, that narrowed it down.’
He rolled his eyes.
‘How did you meet?’
‘How else? I was helping a dead guy.’
He looked oddly fascinated by that amazing opening to a story, so I knuckled down and gave him the bare bones.
It was about a year ago, or twelve months or- wait, they’re the same thing. Wow, I really should’ve had a drink today. Anyway, I forget the lucy’s name now, but I was poking about somewhere I shouldn’t be. A house, I think it was. I’d broken in, natch. Tommy was walking his beat when he heard me breaking stuff. Accidentally, of course. It was pitch black and I couldn’t find a light switch. The lucy had been no help at all in that respect. I think his name was Bob or something dull like that. So, Tommy came in with a flashlight, asked what I was doing. And I told him that a dead man was giving me directions to Pandora’s Box or whatever I was looking for.
And he believed me. Straight off the bat.
Not like Ally. He was sane. He knew I was rich, so I wasn’t stealing. And we ended up finding the McGuffin, so clearly I was telling the truth. After that, I kept him up-to-date on the latest goings-on in Lucy Land, and a lot of arrests were made. Things were good.
Were.
‘He was a good friend,’ I said softly. ‘Not only for believing me, but he listened. He talked to me about a lot of things. I told him about my mom. I know it sounds weird, since he was old enough to be my dad, but it wasn’t like that. Not Tommy. He was a good man.’
‘Uh-oh.’
‘What?’
‘You said “was.”’
‘Yeah.’
‘Is he-?’
‘A goner? Yeah, he is. I got him killed,’ I said, by way of explanation.
I could see his curiosity eating him up, but he was still human enough not to ask how. I was glad for that. Tommy’s death hit me pretty hard. As terrible as it sounded, his friendship had been the high point of my life thus far. Wow, that did sound truly pathetic. With him gone, I felt like I was the girl who saw ghosts again, instead of just Anna. Ann. Dang, even I forgot my own name sometimes.
‘Uh-oh,’ George said again.
I nodded.
‘Yeah, it was pretty bad.’
‘Nope, not that,’ he cringed.
I looked him up and down.
‘Did you pee yourself?’
‘What? No! No! Can that happen?’
‘Hasn’t happened yet,’ I assured him. He crossed his legs to be on the safe side.
‘Well, anyway, it’s not that,’ he hissed.
‘Then, what is it?’
‘I found Angela,’ he said in a bright, “I-swear-I’m-putting-a-positive-spin-on-this” tone.
‘Where? Oh no. Oh no,’ I emphasized, wishing I’d chosen a slightly more occupied patch of land.
‘Yeah, how fast can you run?’
‘I could outrun a Ferrari.’
‘Really?’ he asked, surprised.
‘Sure, if it was parked.’
‘Okay, that’s not going to help here.’
‘How much time do I have?’ I asked, afraid to turn around. He didn’t answer. He didn’t have to. I heard the distinct sound of a gun cocking right behind my ear.
‘None,’ Angela whispered.