“Why?”
“I was the kid everyone made fun of in school. She was the cool cheerleader. She wasn’t kind. I’m lucky I met Ted when I did because it turned my world around and answered so many questions.”
“Was he your first?” Sally asked.
“My first what?” Cid asked, pulling into the lot of the Best Buy.
“Friend,” Sally said quickly, knowing there wasn’t time for a more personal question.
~
“I’m looking at my chart, and it says I’m with Cid on this project. How did I end up with you?” Jesse asked.
“I sent Cid on an errand with Sally.”
“Are you matchmaking?” Jesse asked.
“No,” Kiki said. “I just needed a responsible foodie with muscles who can move a refrigerator into my truck and then wheel a cart safely around Whole Foods. How far did you get?” Kiki asked as they entered the house.
“The central building, with the exception of the cellar, is complete. I thought, since the plumbers and electricians were going to tear the place up anyway, I would complete the aboveground assessment with the two wings first. I hope you’re in shape because we’re going up a lot of stairs.”
“Don’t worry about me,” Kiki said. “I’m fit and eager to get this project started and over with.”
“Why did you take it in the first place?”
“It was a favor for Calvin Franks. We renovated High Court for him. And I need the money.”
“Did moving to Chicago break the bank?”
“No, I’m thinking of buying a block of apartments that were carved out of a row of luxury homes and renovating them into large upscale apartments with greenspaces. There was a lot of damage when they were cutting them up into one and two-bedroom flats, but the places have good bones. The neighborhood is up and coming, and because of the new regulations, there still is a view of the lake from the upper floors. Normally, you have to purchase airspace, but the buildings between my block and the lake are historic. If I secure this bonus, I’ll have the money to employ a few of you full time.”
“Just as I was thinking of moving to Big Bear Lake, how convenient.”
“Why?” Kiki asked.
“Mia Martin is selling her peninsula house. It’s in a beautiful quiet spot on the lake. It has a large garage, and the property is secured by the lake on three sides and iron fencing on the other. I’ve spent some time in the town when we were building Woodlands. I can see me settling down there.”
“You settle down?”
“It could happen.”
“I thought you’d be building your own place.”
“Maybe later. Right now, I’m more into banking money and having a place to return home to that is also secure when I have to be on the road.”
“Cid being there wouldn’t be a factor, would it?”
“Yes, it would be nice to be near friends. The Martins are good people, and I have met a few others through them who I wouldn’t mind associating with. I can see why Cid would rather give up on love than move away.”
“Has he ever poured concrete in that driveway?” Kiki asked. “Last time we were out there, he was parking in the PEEPs lot.”
“Cid won’t start a project until he has the funds to pay for the whole thing outright. Plus, he’s got that unnatural umbilical cord that’s connected to Ted Martin.”
“Do you think Cid’s bisexual?” Kiki asked.
“No. He just has a best friend who he likes being around. I think the feeling is mutual, and Ted’s wife is fine with it. If they were brothers, no one would bat an eye. Cid lives in his own house and enjoys the company of the whole family, including the ghost.”
“Ah, Murphy, aka Mr. Wonderful.”
“I wonder if our Faye isn’t a little sweet on the farmer?” Jesse mused.
“I don’t think so. I’m not sure which way our Faye swings,” Kiki admitted.
Faye sat on the old steamer trunk while Carl and Wayne scoped the main drain. She insisted that, since they would be confined to a definite area for a while, they salt themselves in. Wayne didn’t hesitate.
She watched the ghostly critters crawling around the place. She was puzzled why these dead men would continue to hang around a cellar of all places. Faye slid off the truck and approached one of the solitary men who seemed disgusted by the activity of the crawlers. “Did you die here?”
“Do you think I would have journeyed here on a whim? Tell my mam that I’m going to skip Heaven and go and spend eternity in the cellar of an arsehole?”
“You make a valid point. I’m here because I’ve been hired to watch over these living contractors.”
“You’ve got a job ahead of you then. Me and Blue Daniel have a bet going on who’s going to join us in our hell.”
“Blue Daniel?”
“You’ll meet him soon enough. The air was sucked out of him so he’s blue, hence the moniker Blue Daniel.”
“You’re a poet, sir. I’m Faye, and you are?”
“Jon, no haitch, O’Connor.”
“How did you die?”
Jon opened up his shirt and there was a hole in his chest. “I was sleeping, and someone ripped my heart out.”
Faye paled.
“Sorry to disturb a sensitive creature as yourself, but you asked.”
Faye waved away the apology.
“Although, it does disprove somethin’.”
“What is that?” Faye asked.
“Me mam told me that my soul resided in my heart. No heart, yet here I am, a soul stuck in the cellar of a feckin’ rich man’s house.”
“I can’t promise anything, but if I could get you out of here…”
“I would be grateful.”
“I’ll do my best,” Faye said. “It will have to be a secret because the owner doesn’t want us messing around with the likes of you.”
“I bet he doesn’t. His great-grandfather was a fecker, his granduncle a gobeen, and he
