I have a holy father who can call for the light. As soon as we finish our renovations and repairs, I can work full time on this problem.”

“What can we do?”

Cid thought about telling the man that he had this, but instead he said, “Be a helpful hand if we need it. If we work together, we can do this.”

Chapter Twenty

Cid excused himself to get ready for his conference call. He left Jesse in charge of making sure the contractors left before the ghosts lost their calm.

He had his notes arranged on the tabletop of the banquette table in the trailer. He was using his laptop to see the other participants of the call. He previously arranged for Alan’s secretary, Ms. Wells, to set up the call because he wasn’t sure of his wireless connection. Ms. Wells would also act as moderator. Soon Alan and Kiki, Father Santos and Father Simon, and Audrey were looking at him in the segmented screen.

“Hello,” Ms. Wells started. “I think we should hear an update from Mr. Garrett concerning Walnut Grove House.”

“Today, the contractors and I conversed with the Italian artisans who are buried under the floor in the basement directly under the new media room. I have a list of their names that I just sent moments ago to Ms. Wells and Audrey. Please forgive me if there are spelling mistakes. I can converse in Italian; my writing skills are not as good.”

“I’m surprised you could get more than a guttural grunt out of them,” Kiki said.

“I think when we took away the fear that they would be devoured by the negative elemental, they became calmer. Their leader Salvatore Piccirilli warned me that they were still dangerous, and he admitted to only being able to hold on to his sanity for short periods.”

“What did you learn from them?” Father Santos asked.

“I learned that they died from carbon monoxide poisoning. It was accidental. The coverup wasn’t. They buried them without words said over them. I don’t know what their families were told.”

“I’ve got their names,” Audrey said. “I’ll see if I can find anything out. Do I have your permission to involve an asset we have in the Italian alps?”

“Yes,” Cid said and grinned. Audrey was protecting her and his nest by not mentioning Angelo by name. He was sure he caught a glint of approval from Father Santos as well. Cid continued, “I hope that we would be able to continue working during the day.”

“Why did you have to stop?” Father Simon asked.

“Previously, the negative entity fed on the ghosts which kept them not docile but with not enough power to connect on this side of the veil. When we trapped and contained the elemental, they were able to recharge and stay very strong because of their remains being so close. Originally, they were contained by salt, but the water seepage from the west foundation wall dissolved the salt. One more thing. They never were able to exist beyond the first floor. Now, they can move without obstruction everywhere except the attic containing the four boxes. Whatever power is generated by those boxes still keeps them out of the attic.”

“I’ve looked up the boxes,” Father Santos said. “They are very similar to a security system that highborn demons use to keep ghosts out of their house.”

“But…” Kiki started.

“I said similar. They could have dual purpose.”

“We know that two of them contain human organs,” Cid said. “The lungs of Daniel Sullivan and the heart of Jon O’Connor. Daniel mentioned in his memoir that two acolytes disappeared, and Atwater was blood soaked when he returned without them.”

“Bones would have been taken from one,” Father Simon said. “And the blood from the other. The incantation, basically, would have gone something like this: Take his bone so he can’t stand, take his blood so he’ll stay dead, take his lungs so he can never breath, and take his heart so his soul will never leave. One would assume this is just for the negative elemental, but the practitioner could have adjusted it to include the souls of the dead already in the house.”

“Who is Miss Gee?” Cid asked.

“We found a woman’s image in countless pictures when we were researching the Atwater collection at the library,” Alan said. He held up an enhanced photo. “She is wearing this costume in every picture. The fuzziness you see around her is singular to her.”

“It could be a glamour,” Father Santos said. “Or that she is invisible to all but the camera. The creature could be unaware that she or it can be photographed.”

“What do you mean by it?” Audrey asked.

“May I speak for you, Father?” Father Simon asked.

“Please.”

“We are almost certain the woman you see is the heritage demon Gadus. Gadus is female, which is very rare, but there are several writings that support the theory. One of them is from a journal. Lucrezia Borgia wrote a few times that she appeared to be helpful, but she was a parasite. We use it when referring to demons,” Father Simon said.

“So the Miss Gee in Daniel’s story could be Gadus.”

“It’s our working theory,” Father Simon supplied. “But we’re conflicted because Daniel Sullivan’s story contradicts that the demon is being held hostage.”

“She’s in love,” Audrey blurted out. “I’ve been wracking my brain trying to figure out what would stop a demon from collecting the gold he’s due. Or what kind of power could bind a demon to a man without compensation. When you told us you suspected it was a she, then it all made sense. Gadus is in love with Atwater. Love is so powerful that gold matters not. Also, it would explain the purge of any information that

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