Page 24 of Mack's Horribly Hellacious Ghost Town
“Uh, honey?”
Mack casually shrugged, which usually preceded insanity coming out of his mouth. “There’s ghost trails everywhere you look. I’ve seen at least three.”
Eli grunted affirmation. “Three at least, though I suspect four.”
Mayor Hernandez looked faint for a minute. Maybe she’d thought her workplace was mostly safe, despite the lights? Or she’d hoped that and her hopes were now dashed.
Sheriff Parker handed us a thumb drive. “I’ve got footage we’ve collected, pictures, witness statements, plus a log of events for the key places in town all on this flash drive. I hoped it would help you.”
Booker made gimme gimme hands with a delighted smile. But then, he was a data geek.
The thumb drive was relayed down to him and he plugged it into his laptop, ready to transfer the information over.
“Mayor”—Mack kept an eye on Gwyn as spoke—“if you don’t mind, I’d like to do a little easy work. Let’s clear the ghosts from this building. I’ll show you how to salt, and where, to keep this building ghost free. I do this not only for your sake, but also because I’d like to have an easier project for my new apprentice. This is a controlled environment, and I’d rather teach her some basics here.”
“I’d take it as a favor if you did so.” She smiled at Gwyn. “Gwyn, how long have you been learning?”
“Two hours,” Gwyn said a little timidly.
The mayor’s eyes widened with incredulity. “I’m sorry, two hours?”
“We found her two hours ago,” I explained, amused by the mayor’s reaction. “I literally stumbled right over her. We’ve been given temporary custody of her until she’s properly trained and released as an FBI agent.”
Mouth dangling, the mayor still managed to croak, “Then are you from here?”
“No, Clifton,” Gwyn corrected. “They’re staying at Hotel Reardon.”
“Oh god no, don’t stay there,” Sheriff Parker said. “It’s, um, just no. There’s better places to stay.”
“We’re not actually comfortable staying there with Gwyn being so close to her parents. Let’s just say they…are not believers in ghosts.”
“Oh.” Fortunately, Sheriff Parker didn’t need to hear more to understand. “Let me introduce you to two other possibilities. There’s a retreat on a cattle ranch not far from here, about another ten minutes up the road, and they host a lot of large gatherings. They might have space for all of you. There’s also a larger, nicer hotel in Morenci.”
Booker blinked up at her. “What’s the name of the retreat?”
“Two J’s Cattle Ranch.”
“I’ll pass the information along to our supervisor. She’s looking for a new place to put us all.”
“Let’s meet again when we have a better lay of the land and our full team here,” Quinn suggested. “I think that’ll be more productive. Today, I want to walk around and get my bearings.”
“I want to check out the park.” Eli was already standing. “Mack, you meet us there after you’re done here.”
“Sure thing.”
The meeting broke up, Sheriff Parker leaving with the trio to show them around town. Mayor Hernandez stayed with us. Notjust out of curiosity, we had to give her instructions, but her unease showed in her expression.
Gwyn kept her messenger bag slung over one shoulder, and she stuck very, very close to me. She had to be unnerved in a place with multiple ghosts, but she wasn’t backing down. Kid had guts. I liked her for it.
Mack stepped into the foyer, taking a good look around and, probably, reading the energy trails.
“Gwyn,” he called, still looking, “come stand next to me. Now, you see the colors? The white means these are friendly ghosts.”
She relaxed a little, standing shoulder to shoulder with him, now reading the energy instead of hiding next to me. “You’re sure?”
“Oh, dead sure. The colors are a giveaway. Yellow means something bad trying to become badder. There are ghosts aiming to become demons, as they’re twisted even in death. Grey means they’re on the verge of becoming demons; their energy is metamorphizing into it. If you see black trails, back out immediately and call for an Exorcist.”
She shifted in place, visibly unnerved. “Black is demons?”
