By the time she got home, Honor barely had a moment to kick off her shoes before placing her computer call to Josh and Cody. They had been waiting for her, and were happy to see her face appear on their monitor.
Honor set her laptop on her dresser and aimed the camera directly at her face, so she could wiggle out of her work clothes and into her sweats, while listening to Cody tell her all about his visit to the local Primate Sanctuary.
“Bobo could throw kisses and Mongo smokes cigarettes, even though he shouldn’t. And we had to stand way back from George and Gracie, because they’re old and grouchy and they like to throw their poop and other gross stuff.”
Honor wrinkled her nose.
In the background, Josh coached, “Show her how the apes talk to one another, Cody.”
Honor laughed out loud as Cody made monkey faces and ape sounds.
“And you know what, Honor? Monkeys can swing on branches like Spiderman, but they don’t use spider webs.”
Honor teased, “Is there any topic of conversation that doesn’t remind you of Spiderman?”
When it was finally Josh’s turn to talk, he moved close to the microphone and lowered his voice. “Okay, I know I couldn’t see anything, but just knowing you were changing your clothes was all it took to turn me on. You really need to get back here.”
Honor chuckled. “Down, boy. Now, what have you been up to besides watching apes throw crap at people?”
“Actually, I helped my brother John work on some architectural designs for one of his vintage restoration projects. In return for my free labor, he’s going to take a look at the sketches for your mom’s house this weekend. How about you? How are you sleeping without spirits invading your dreams?”
She smiled. “Not as well as you would think. Guess I don’t like sleeping alone.”
“Me neither. Good thing I didn’t have to.”
Honor raised her eyebrows, giving him a you-better-explain-quickly look.
Josh laughed. “Cody got into bed with me last night. He said it was quieter in our bed. Apparently, some of the ‘invisible people’ were having a conversation at the parlor table by his bed and he couldn’t sleep.”
“Is Cody okay? He wasn’t frightened, was he?”
“No, he was fine… more annoyed by the noise than anything. When Cody told them you were in Chicago, they said to remind you to build your social circle. Any idea what that means?”
“I’m not sure. I’ll think about it and let you know if I figure it out.”
As soon as they said goodnight, Honor shut down her computer and got busy reviewing the financial reports she and Julie had discussed earlier that evening. She hoped it would be easy to spot evidence of William’s wrongdoing, but it wasn’t. She finally gave up, hoping Sarah Jacobs would have better luck deciphering the columns of numbers. She turned her attention to the task she did understand; updating project close-out reports. She worked her way through the entire stack before falling asleep, exhausted.