My father’s chair gave me the best and most comfortable view of the living room, not that I stayed conscious for long. One plate of fried rice, vegetables, and chicken did me in.
I missed Dr. Cordeno’s visit, and when I woke up sometime the next morning, Adrianna sat beside my father’s chair. I smiled at the woman. “I’m implementing a ban on spas for a month.”
She smiled but she didn’t laugh. “Thank you.”
After years of working with the woman, I understood what she wouldn’t say. She’d never understand why I’d taken so many risks for her. She’d never understand why I would put my life on the line.
Fortunately for both of us, she could accept what she couldn’t understand.
I reached over and flicked her hair, which drove her to the brink of insanity. “I’d do it again.”
“I know. Still. You did what we couldn’t.”
“What do you remember?”
“Not much. I fell asleep and ended up in that hellish sphere. Its hold on me wasn’t as strong as it was for others, but I could feel myself slowly dying. Then you came and drove it away with your ice. I could feel your anger. There was a ghost with you.”
“She moved on.”
“I couldn’t feel her life. I could feel yours.”
“She was dead. Her name was Elizabeth. She guided me to you.”
“They said you had gotten possessed.”
“That’s how I got to you. I let her in, and she guided me to you.”
Then I’d let her go—or she’d let me go. I wasn’t really sure which. In either case, she rested beyond Hypnos’s reach.
“Without reservation.”
Haunters could force possessions, but a willing host suffered fewer complications afterwards. “She needed help, too. You’re on guard duty this morning?”
Adrianna pointed towards the kitchen. “The others are having breakfast, and they’re pretty out of it. They took turns guarding you last night—and nudging you awake every two hours.”
They’d woken me up every two hours? “I don’t remember that.”
“It was only enough to confirm you were responsive. Commissioner Abrams was concerned.”
Dad took the concerned, loving father job to extremes sometimes. I’d ignore his antics as usual, and if he needed attention from me, he’d hover until I indulged him with hugs or extra bickering. Until he came calling, I’d ignore his behavior. “How are you doing?”
“I’m fine. They released me from the clinic this morning. Eddy drove me over.” She grinned. “Don’t tell her I said this, but you’re more of a dragon than she is.”
“I won’t tell her, but definitely don’t let her hear you say that. She’ll get cranky.” I smiled at the thought of tweaking Eddy’s draconic pride. “When are you cleared to return to work?”
“Technically, I’m working now. Eddy gave me a danger pay check and told me I have to check in daily, once in the morning and once at night. My quad is on call as a backup for now.”
“Good. I’ll find low-key work for you on the roster later today.” Low-key work would count as a good reward at the end of her tour as a quad member. After her brush with Hypnos, I saw no need to send her out on the front lines again unless absolutely necessary.
I worried unless I figured out what the culprit’s goal was, I’d need her help sooner than later.
“Training camps?”
Without fail, every quad wanted an assignment to the training camps, where they taught the new quads how to survive their tour of duty. I usually reserved training camp assignments as rewards, but if Adrianna wanted to get in some time helping new draftees learn, I’d listen. “All right. It’s a good way for you to unwind and help future quads. I’ll file a request.” I considered my options and decided to pitch the farthest camp location to get her and her team completely out of the line of fire. “Any interest in going to the Virginia camp?”
“New waters would be welcome.”
I searched for my phone, and when I found it, I discovered its battery had died. “Let me borrow yours.”
Once armed with Adrianna’s phone, I called my boss.
“Adrianna?” he answered, his tone concerned.
“Olivia. I need to charge mine, so I’m using hers.”
“Ah. Good morning, Sleeping Beauty. How can I help you?”
“Don’t call me that. Can you file for a transfer for me? I’d like to send Adrianna and her quad to the Virginia training camp until their draft period is concluded. Authorize an opportunity for permanent employment with open availability on placement. Let them decide their post as much as possible should they stay on.”
“Why?”
“They want to. It’ll be a month of evals on Adrianna before I’ll allow her to go back to street work. Their latest scrape will motivate them to help train new quads. Training camp is better for them than working as a backup.”
“You’ll be short a quad,” my boss warned.
“I know. I’ll request a replacement quad from the next batch. We’ll manage in the meantime.”
“All right. How soon?”
I stared into Adrianna’s eyes. “How soon?”
“We could be packed up and ready by tonight if FBI movers help.”
Poor Adrianna. For her to want to leave in such a rush, Hypnos must have rattled her even more than I’d suspected. It had rattled me, too.
I didn’t have the luxury of leaving.
“Immediately, sir. You could probably load them onto a plane tonight without complaint.”
“I’ll fast track their application. How are you doing?”
“Good. About to pick a fight with my old man and my pet cop.”
“Olivia, must you?”
“Pick a fight with my old man? Definitely.”
“I meant torment Detective Davis.”
Tormenting the cop would be one of my favorite joys in life. “I definitely need to, sir.”
My boss sighed. “Why?”
I held the phone to Adrianna. “Describe Detective Davis to my boss, please.”
With a bright smile, she took her phone and said, in a false whisper, “He needs to be put into a protection program because I’d consider committing crimes to get cuffed to him. While naked.”
I snatched the phone out of her hand. “What sort of theft do I have to commit to have him assigned to my case?”
“Well, at least you’re not openly stating you’d commit crimes in the nude. That’s something.”
“I have a great deal of suffering to inflict. I am not a damsel in distress.”
My boss groaned. “Olivia, you were seriously drained and then possessed. You were most definitely in distress. You’re not invincible.”
“While I know that, I feel betrayed right now.”
“You’ll probably survive. I’m not one to tell you that you can’t enjoy admiring the local law enforcement, but should you wish to pursue a cop, perhaps you should wait until after the case is a wrap.”
I narrowed my eyes, as I could think of at least ten reasons why my boss would want me in a permanent relationship with a cop. All of them directly benefited the FBI. “You want him, too, don’t you?”
Adrianna snickered.
“For his investigative skills, yes. I’ll even forgive you for fraternizing with your co-lead if you can convince him to consult with us on a few cases we haven’t been able to crack.”
I laughed. “Nice try. Since he’s not in the FBI, FBI rules on fraternization don’t apply.”
“Should I be concerned you know this?”
“I didn’t brush up after he barged into my office, but it seemed like a safe assumption to me.”
“That’s something. Since I have you on the phone anyway, I thought you’d appreciate knowing there haven’t been any new victims.”
The unspoken yet hung between us.
“I’ll hit the road with the scanner after breakfast and see what I can find.” Once the case was a wrap, I’d have time to get some rest and truly recover—maybe.
“Good. Take Luke’s quad, your detective, and whomever your father cons into tailing you. Everyone’ll be safer in a group, and your quads are already jumpy without adding an incognito cop babysitter to the mix.”
“Just call my old man and tell him he’s not allowed to do anything covertly. Flag it as a safety risk, and he’ll cooperate. He can, despite appearances, be reasonable.”
“I’ll talk to him after you hit the road. Be careful.”
“I will. I was careful yesterday, too. I didn’t have any other realistic choice.”
My morality often created trouble and extra work for me, but when I did sleep, I did so knowing I’d done my best for the people I served.
“I know. Ethan briefed me. I don’t know what you did exactly, but you did it right.”
I relaxed, breathing a faint sigh of relief my boss wasn’t going to grill me for allowing a haunter to possess me. I considered the matter done unless he brought it back up later, and I shifted gears to more critical matters. “Can you get me a researcher?”
“For what?”
“Anything regarding the word hypnos, be it history, mythology, or whatever. It’s important.”
“The Greek god of sleep and dreams?”
I blinked. “Come again?”
“Hypnos is the Greek god of sleep and dreams. His Roman equivalent is Somnus. I only know this because a doctor gave me a lecture on hypnosis regarding the victims involved in your case.”
“I need a full briefing and a credited researcher on Greek mythology, then. I also want intel on astrology and the Chinese zodiac.”
“You’re going to need several researchers if you want all that intel. Why?”
“The haunter, Elizabeth, was adopted by a Chinese man with a long ancestry. The statuette is one part Greek and one part Chinese. The koi represents Pisces. The base depicts a dragon to symbolize the Chinese zodiac.”
“She told you this?”
“Yes, sir, she did.”
“I’ll get you your experts on one condition. Tell me how you put her to rest, Olivia. The complete truth.”
Shit. I sighed. “I can perform, on rare occasion with willing haunters, a memento mori—of sorts. She was a linker. She crossed to the other side through me. I’ve only done it one other time.”
“New York.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And thus an old mystery is laid to rest. New York has its ghosts, but it doesn’t have as many ghosts as it should. I won’t make any notes in your file, but you take care around haunters in the future.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Have Eddy drive Adrianna and her quad around. I’ll get them out ASAP. Try to get what you can on this fish with your scanner in the meantime.”
“I’ll let her know.”
“Be careful today. It’s been too quiet.” My boss hung up.
I gave Adrianna her phone. “Take Eddy and get your affairs in order. He’s going to try to get you out on the first reasonable flight.”
“Thank you, Olivia. You do understand, don’t you?’
I did. She’d walked—or drifted—in death’s shadow for too long. “I understand.”
She smiled, a somber enough expression I worried about her state of mind. “Your secret is safe with me.”
New York. One day, I hoped the city’s death would stop haunting me. “I appreciate that. Thank you.”
“No, thank you. You gave me more than my life back. I can never repay that.”
I couldn’t imagine what it had been like trapped with Hypnos in an endless sea without hope of escape. “I would do it again.”
“I know. I’m so glad you survived.”
“Right back at you, Adrianna. Take Eddy, go home, and get your bags packed. I expect you’ll be on your way sometime tonight.”
The FBI was many things, but it wasn’t cruel.
Not always.
I sent Adrianna on her way, and I wondered if I’d ever see her again. I doubted it. Most quad members avoided anything to do with the FBI once they finished serving their draft. In a way, I’d sent the four out to honorable pasture.
Maybe I’d gone soft and needed to head out to pasture, too. Or maybe I was just tired.
Too many memories haunted me, and the past few days had brought them all back to the surface. I expected New York and its demise would infest my nightmares again.
For a long time, I sat in my father’s chair and retraced my steps, reliving everything I wished I could forget.
In the moments after the nuclear bomb had detonated, all of New York’s ghosts had sought me out. Even as their bodies blasted away to ghostly afterimages scorched into the few surviving walls, they’d come to me. My friends had been first, the cruelest blow of all. They’d left me alone in the falling ash with nothing to remember them by save for Jezebel’s battered camera.
I still had it, but I believed it could only take pictures of the dead. Perhaps I was a dragon, one with a single treasure. I had developed the roll of film still in the camera, and the pictures she’d taken remained in a photo album hidden beneath my bed. The second roll, still in the camera, held more of New York’s secrets, all its pictures taken in the aftermath of the bombing.
Fear of what I would find on the film, if anything, kept me from taking the last picture and hiring someone to develop the roll.
I had my doubts the pictures would develop, but even if they did, I couldn’t yet bear to see the past I so often tried to escape. It would always be too soon.
Why had I survived?
Why hadn’t they?
Some days, I questioned who—and what—I’d become.
My father strolled into the living room and offered me a cup of coffee. “Your mother wanted to give you tea, but I thought you’d need a bigger punch to start the day.”
I accepted the mug and took a tentative sip. “Thanks, Dad.”
“You want to talk about it?’
“Can it be in overly loud voices most call yelling?”
My father chuckled and sat on the arm of his chair. “You weren’t exactly quiet when you blabbed to your boss that a ghost had passed through you to get to the other side. Your quad is horrified, and my cop is trying to figure out how to apologize for poking you with a stick.”
“It didn’t hurt or anything like that.”
“They heard the New York line, too.”
Well, shit. “I’ll go in there and bang their heads together until they relax if needed.”
“That’s a little better. Tell me about Elizabeth.”
Most days, my father and I bickered, but he always knew when something was important. I sighed, sipped my coffee, and told him everything, careful to keep my voice quiet. “She called me a sea full of stars.”
“It seems to me that you were her light in the darkness. When you go over the ancestry, your mother will help as much as she can. You’ll need to ask an expert if there’s any importance in her giving it to you. For a line as old as your mother thinks it likely is, it’s a treasure beyond measure.”
“I’ll find someone,” I promised. “But it’s sad.”
“What is?”
“I guess we’re like sisters. We were born on the same day.”
“And year?”
I nodded.
“Call her whatever makes you feel better. Come have breakfast, go bang heads together, and get back on your feet. I have to go to work in an hour, and your mother’s working on a property today. I’ve told her she needs to sell it yesterday because it’s going to eat a hole right through her wallet otherwise. Maybe you should ask your mother about some of her properties. She has too many of them.”
“There’s nothing wrong with my apartment.”
“Everything is wrong with it. It’s cramped, and you could use more space. A lot more space.”
I scowled. “I like living minimally.”
“Bullshit. You’re just a cheapskate who won’t invest in a proper home because you work too much.”
While I could trust my father to recognize what was truly important, I could also trust him to do his best to piss me off first thing in the morning. “Now you’re just being an ass, Dad.”
“That’s part of my job description. If I were being a real ass, I wouldn’t tell you that your mother got her hands on a Tudor style manor house. It may be a wattle and daub. Your mother will bleed our wallets dry if she keeps the damned thing, so I thought you might like to know you could play the real estate market for it if you really wanted. The property was a foreclosure, and knowing your mother, she’ll dump tens of thousands into the place if I don’t get it out of her hands. I told her she needed to sell it without fixing it up. I don’t think she’s going to listen to me. Anyway, your mother charmed the banker and got a good deal on the property.”
There was one way my parents could con me into moving out of my apartment, and it was presenting my dream house on a silver platter. “Tan daub and dark timber?”
“Yep.”
Damn it. In California, one cropped up every blue moon, and the price tag told one story: I’d never be able to afford it. “Too expensive.”
“It’s in Oakland.”
I’d looked for a house in Oakland once, and the multi-million dollar price tag had convinced me a house was beyond my reach. “Definitely too expensive.”
“It’s on a nice stony perch safe from mudslides with a nice valley view.”
My brows rose. “There are places like that for sale in Oakland?”
“Crocker Highlands.”
Shit. I doubled the estimated sales price to a five million minimum. “Definitely too expensive, Dad. I make decent money, but I don’t make that much money.”
“I’m sure your mother could give you a good deal on it.”
“Mom, tell Dad to stop trying to sell me your flip that I can’t afford.”
“Wattle and daub,” she shouted from kitchen. “I paid half a mil for it.”
“Who did you sleep with to get that deal?”
“Olivia!” my parents scolded.
“That’s a steal for Crocker Highlands. That’s slept with the entire bank sort of steal!”
My mother stomped into the living room carrying a plate of eggs, bacon, and sausage links, which she gave to me. “I’ll let you rent it if you’re nice to me.”
As my mother had taught my father a thing or two about trickery, I considered the ways she might take advantage of the situation. If she wanted me to have the house, she’d trick me into paying the mortgage and force the deed on me using the rent I’d paid as the payment amount. “You’re going to hoard the rent money and use it to make me buy the property.”
She smiled. “Yes, I will.”
“I demand to see the cleared title and full proof you have this wattle and daub house. I also require proof you didn’t sleep with any bankers to get that property for half a million.” To make my parents happy, I focused my attention on my breakfast, targeting the bacon first.
“I’ll email you with pictures and a copy of the paperwork. I paid the remaining mortgage value minus interest to the bank for the sale. I confirmed the legalities three times over, and I made certain all owed taxes were paid off.”
My mother would coerce me into doing what she wanted unless I provided a challenge she couldn’t easily conquer. The challenge I had in mind crossed a few professional lines, but I decided I didn’t care. “Con Detective Hunk into moving in as my food preparer. Only then will I consider it.”
“That’s going to be interesting.” With a smirk, my mother turned towards the kitchen. “Ray, dear? Could you come here for a moment?”
The detective walked into the living room wearing a worn t-shirt and jeans. Within five minutes, I’d need a cold shower. If I had to stare at him looking like he’d just tumbled out of bed, I’d be reduced to a drooling, single-celled organism.
“What can I do for you, Mrs. Abrams?”
“I see my mother has hooked her claws into you already. You poor, foolish man. You’re doomed.”
They ignored me, although I caught Detective Hunk glancing my way before giving my mother his full attention.
“If I told you that you could live rent free in Oakland, would you?”
“What’s the catch?”
“You’d have to live with Olivia and feed her at appropriate intervals. She’s helpless in the kitchen.”
He raised a brow. “Tough call on that one. Which neighborhood?”
While deserved, I glared at the man and made a mental note to plan my revenge later.
“Crocker Highlands.”
“When is the move-in date, and can I have a dog?”
The hunky cop was obviously a few cans short of a six pack. I needed to put some serious thought into deciding if his insanity was a problem. “You should be saying no, Raymond.”
“I pay three thousand a month in rent and live alone. No dogs allowed in my complex.”
Ouch. “I take that back. I’d consider moving in with me to save that much a month, too.”
“Exactly. Cooking for a psychopathic FBI agent in exchange for rent seems equivalent to me. Not really a bargain, but it’s doable.”
“Good to know,” I muttered. “For the record, I don’t like small dogs.”
“I’d want a retiring police dog if I get one. I didn’t qualify to be a handler.”
I could make a few guesses, but one seemed more likely than the others. “Didn’t qualify to work in the narcotics unit?”
“I lack the required ability rating.”
That seemed like an idiotic reason to keep a good cop from working, especially when most law enforcement incidents didn’t require an ability to handle at all. “Dad, get the damned man a work dog. He doesn’t have a partner.”
My father sighed. “If I don’t agree, you’re going to start telling me how to do my job, aren’t you?”
“How’d you guess, old man?”
“You were born a brat. I’ll talk to Oakland about it.”
If I took my eyes off him for a second, he’d push the task off, as it would require him to challenge the status quo. I cleared my throat and tapped my foot.
“I’ll talk to Chief Kirkland soon.”
I picked up my last piece of bacon, stuck it in my mouth, and chewed while watching my father’s every move. Only when he broke eye contact with me did I swallow and ask, “Soon as in today?”
“He doesn’t need a dog today.”
“He doesn’t have a partner,” I repeated. “If you won’t secure a dog for him, I’ll ask Eddy to transform and pretend she’s a dog until he’s given an animal and the training needed to handle it.”
“You woke up in a pissy mood. Does he even want a dog?”
“He obviously tried to get one. Since he’s defective and doesn’t work well with a human partner, give him a canine.”
“You shouldn’t even be worrying about this. You’re not a cop.”
“I’m so much better than a mere cop, Dad. But he’s probably not partnered because he’s a pure with a waiver to serve in law enforcement. It’s a safety issue. A good police dog will help protect him on his shifts.”
The detective chuckled. “I should be more offended over this conversation than I am, but if Special Agent Abrams wants to wage war on my behalf, I’m certainly not going to argue. That said, there’s always a shortage of dogs for the force, so it makes a great deal of sense my application was denied. I have a relatively low-risk job, and I join a pair for the more dangerous investigations.”
“Or you get saddled with my daughter.”
“It’s been an interesting experience so far, sir.”
My father snorted. “I bet. With luck, you won’t be stuck seeing her all that often. She works so much you might see her two or three times a week.”
If Dad wanted a fight, I’d give him a fight. “I go home more often than two or three times a week. And don’t you start. Mom raided the station how many times to make you come home? I learned my work ethic from you.”
“I should protest on principle alone,” my mother announced, “but I rather enjoy only working four days a week.”
I pointed at her. “I’ve heard stories about when you first came to America. You lived to work.”
“Having you for a child made it clear I deserve a good retirement with satisfying yet casual work.”
Why couldn’t I ever win against my parents? “It sounds like you’re trying to convince Detective Davis to retire and serve as my house sitter.”
“That wattle and daub deserves a dedicated house sitter, but I’ll settle with charging a dollar per month in rent with a five percent cap yearly for rent increases. All utilities included.”
I considered it a miracle she wasn’t trying to convince him to marry me, a first for my mother. “You’re going to make me pay for the utilities, aren’t you?”
“Of course.”
My father grinned at me. “She can’t help it, baby. Just like you can’t help being a workaholic. With her genetics and my example? It was inevitable.”
When I planned my revenge, I would target both of my parents and ensure they remembered they’d raised me to be clever, ruthless, and willing to torment them until they died of old age. “Why are you supporting this scheme, Dad?”
“He’s a good cop, but on his payroll? He’ll never experience life outside of an apartment without help. That house is too large for just you. It’s a good deal. Sharing space with someone won’t kill you—probably.”
Whatever. I lost—and won—no matter what I said. “Theoretically, what would my rent be?”
“$1667 over twenty-five years,” my mother announced.
I did the math in my head and rolled my eyes at what the numbers informed me. “That’s the no-interest mortgage payment, Mom.”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
I set my plate on the side table and glared at my mother. “I asked for the rent, not how much my mortgage payment would be.”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“I said rent, Mom. Rent.”
“It’s $2850.59 otherwise.”
“And that would be the mortgage rate with interest over twenty-five years.”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
My mother was the incarnation of pure evil. As she was going the buy it or be nagged route, I asked, “How much is my upfront payment?”
“One agreement to marry a suitable police officer and ten dollars. I’ll even be generous and view your agreement to date police officers until you find one agreeable satisfactory for this transaction.”
And there was the matchmaking scheme. “How about my upfront payment in a purely monetary deal?”
“No good,” she replied, shaking her head. “One marriage to a suitable police officer and fifteen dollars. The five dollar charge is for complaining over such a good deal.”
In the kitchen, Luke’s quad sounded like they were about to die of laughter.
Raymond chuckled, raising a brow. “Do I still have to pay rent if you trick her into such an arrangement?”
“She would be the homeowner and the one responsible for the utility bill, but I hear a suitable police officer would only contribute as he desires.”
As usual, I lost. “All right, all right. Laugh it up, Davis. Get it out of your system.”
“Free rent and paid utilities is very serious business, Abrams.”
“If you give her an inch, she will marry you off. That’s what Chinese mothers do, Raymond. Entering any agreement with a Chinese mother with a single, older daughter is a recipe for marriage.”
The detective smirked, took a step closer, and leaned down to whisper in my ear, “Your legs alone are worth the risk.”
While I blinked, astonished he actually admitted he liked my legs, he strutted towards the kitchen.
Yep, I needed a cold shower.
“I don’t know what he just said to you, but I feel a need to go beat him,” my father grumbled.
As always, my father’s intuition was spot on. “Don’t worry, Dad. I can handle one hot-blooded American cop without help.”
“And just how do you plan on handling him?”
Damn, my father’s daughter-supervising game was strong. “Not in bed with cuffs.”
“How disappointing,” my mother muttered in such a way as to leave zero doubt she intended to continue her quest to marry me off.
“Is that only because you left your cuffs at your apartment?” Dad asked.
Damn, he was on the ball. “If I say yes, will you leave me alone?”
“Yes,” my mother replied with a bright smile. “I’ll loan you a pair of your father’s.”
Dad planted his hands on his hips. “No, you won’t.”
“Yes, I most certainly will.”
“Absolutely not.”
“We might finally marry her off and you say no?”
“Cuffs in bed doesn’t lead to marriage!”
“Well, it should.”
I took my breakfast to the kitchen, and to my relief, neither of my parents noticed my departure. “Luke, can you figure out who to call to warn them Dad will be late? World War IV is about to break out in the living room. I’m going to eat this to make you happy, change, and get out of here while we still can.”
“Would you believe I have the number in my contacts?”
I bowed my head and sighed. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be, Olivia. They’re crazy, but they love you.”
That they did.