Cid was about to say that seemed harsh, but Sally’s experience of working for Kiki only had been a short time. In that short time, Kiki had not shown her softer side, the side that cared for her employees. All Kiki had shown was paranoia and a penchant to treat the contractors like tools and not the capable humans they were.
“Fine, suit yourself. One week, Cid. Don’t bother your priest. I’m going to be too busy finding replacements for the whole lot of you,” Kiki said and walked back upstairs.
“And so it begins,” Jesse said.
Cid stopped the recording.
“I’ll have a quiet word with Carl,” Sally said. “Cid, I’d like to take you up on your offer to visit the veterans rehab facility. Jesse, is it still okay if I bunk with you guys until she leaves?”
“Just as long as you don’t crawl in with me. I have my standards.”
Sally laughed. “I’ll bring down some ice for that shoulder.”
When Cid heard the door upstairs close, he said, “I’m going to send this video to Alan and to Father Santos. Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t think Kiki is quite right in the head. She flits from being the boss we tolerate and this overly aggressive mean person.”
“Will I regret not calling the cops?” Jesse asked.
“That’s up to you. Call it the inherent tinfoil-hat-wearing nerd in me, but I suspect Atwater may have the local police - if not in his pocket - certainly under his influence.”
“I can see you in a tinfoil hat,” Jesse said. “You’d have it setting at a jaunty angle.”
“Stop flirting with me, people will talk,” Cid countered. “And put your shirt back on. How am I going to be able to compete with that?”
“Don’t worry, Cid, she’s not into me,” Jesse said.
Faye looked over Kiki’s shoulder. She expected to see her working on a schedule. Instead she was drawing. It was a tiny scaffold she’d seen a few people use when playing a word game called Hangman. Except there were no empty blanks. They were all filled. Hanging there was a completed stick figure. Under it was the name Cid Garrett.
Faye tried to see if there was a ghost inside of Kiki. She couldn’t see an overlay. Faye pushed inwards and retreated. There was something inside of Kiki, and it was vile.
~
Alan stared in horror at the video clip he received from Cid. He had been expecting a call from Kiki, but he had yet to communicate with her. Did she find out he had hired Audrey? Kiki’s behavior on the job was inconsistent with the woman he was in love with. Sure, she was driven and treated her contractors with too firm a hand at times. But he knew she liked each one of them. In the past few days since she had been on the job, she had flitted between being a tough managing contractor in charge of six professionals to a paranoid despot who not only wanted to fire her best employee but ruin his career.
Seeing her attack Jesse was too much. He called Audrey.
“Hello, Alan,” she greeted him.
Alan appreciated that even late in the evening the researcher for PEEPs was upbeat. He had met Audrey when he was handling the Gruber Mansion, which turned out to be haunted. He was immediately drawn to her easygoing ways and upbeat personality. He really liked her, but she was knocked off her feet by Burt Hicks, one of the originating partners of PEEPs, who were called in to help clear the house of the ghosts. That relationship fizzled. Audrey moved on to a doctor before Alan could make a move. In the end, she married Mia Martin’s grandfather who didn’t look a day over fifty. They already had two children. Audrey took on Marla Kitteridge as a partner and was able to not only balance her home life and her consulting business, but also enjoy doing research for the ghost-hunting group.
“Audrey, I need to meet with Father Santos, but I don’t want to sidestep Father Simon.”
“So you want me to smooth the way?” Audrey said.
“Please. I’m in a difficult position. It’s escalating at the Atwater renovation.”
“Have the ghosts hurt anyone?”
“Not yet. It’s Kiki. She just threw a claw hammer at Jesse Holden. It caught him in the shoulder. It didn’t appear to break the skin…”
“Appear?”
“Cid sent me a video.”
“Send the video to me, and I’ll talk to both priests as soon as they are available. Father Simon is with his homeless flock at the shelter, but I believe Father Santos will be available after taking confessions. I’ll talk to his secretary and let him know that this is important.”
“Thank you, Audrey.”
~
Sally used the bathroom in the carriage house, collecting some of her personal items as she finished. She pulled on her boots and drew her coat around her shoulders before she walked through the common room. Pete was on the phone with his wife and waved at Sally as she walked by him. The stairs were dark. Sally put on the light before descending. She thought she heard something in the workroom as she passed but knew better than to venture into the dark cavernous space alone. She walked out into the night air.
The air was crisp, and snow had fallen while she was attending to her ablutions. It had turned to sleet, and tiny ice pellets settled on her unprotected head. Her curls tightened as it melted. Cid was clearing a path to the trailer and met her halfway.
“Ms. Wright,” he
