GHOST GAL: The Wild Hunt (12 page)

Spirits had a habit of being messy, especially when they were unhappy. After the first slimy one all but destroyed his car’s interior, he had found a used van at an affordable rate and with Alex in tow they put down a deposit. The van ran well, but aside from two front seats, the rear was open and empty, which made it easy to hose out after a job if need be.

Gathering up his assorted papers and notepads filled with details on the case to be followed up on after he got back home later that night, Joshua shuffled everything inside his briefcase and with a little extra muscle, managed to get it closed.

“I’m going to need a bigger briefcase if this keeps up,” he groused. This particular case was huge and everyone at the firm had a hand in it, which kept him busy gathering data for whoever shouted the loudest that day.

He looked at the clock again and grimaced. He was late and growing more so by the minute. He was already on the move when he tugged on his coat and scarf. He had mittens in his inner pocket, but chose to forego them until he was on the train. Slipping them on and off would only slow him down.

As usual, the train was late and he bounced uncomfortably on the platform as he waited. The frigid air blew daggers against his face, a sure sign that more wicked weather was on the way. By the time he boarded and found an empty seat, he was already a good half hour late for meeting Alexandra and Samuel.

He wasn’t overly concerned. It wasn’t like Alex and Samuel couldn’t talk for hours and hours about their respective work. More than once he had listened to them talk about things that made no logical sense to him. He was a learned man, but they had been talking about the supernatural for years, so much so that the two of them developed shorthand that made anyone not familiar with the ins and outs of the creepies and the crawlies they dealt with feel left out. Joshua tried not to be jealous of the bond between them. In the early days of his relationship with Alex, Joshua had not been as understanding, especially once she shared the darker side of the family business. He wasn’t ashamed to admit that it scared him at first; sometimes it still
did, but not enough to chase him away. He loved Alexandra and if that meant dealing with ghosts and goblins or angels and demons, then that was just what he would have to deal with. The alternative, not having her at his side, was not an option.

There were still days, however, when he wished they led more normal lives.

Granted, there were fewer of those days than there used to be.

The discovery they had made in the tower had occupied her thoughts since she discovered the secret they held. Both she and his soon to be father-in-law had talked of little else. She was like a kid with a new Christmas toy.

With luck, they would be so deep into discussion that they wouldn’t even notice he was running behind.

Although he was no stranger to the Office of Angel Guides, Joshua still found it odd how nondescript the place truly looked to the outside world. Before he met Alexandra Holzer, he must have walked past this place dozens, if not hundreds, of times and never once gave it so much as a first glance, much less a second one. Now, he couldn’t set eyes on the place without wondering why everyone else on the street did not stare as they passed.

It wasn’t the building itself that stood out. Like every other building in the area, it was of older design, broken down in places and then refurbished with each new owner. The outside of the building was red brick, but over the years the colors had dulled and faded to form a sort of patchwork look that Joshua felt suited the place.

There were only four floors. A deli took over most of the ground floor while the OAGI filled the second. As far as he knew, the other floors were either vacant or were also in use by Samuel and his people.

With buildings of that vintage, there were no elevators so getting to the office on the second floor meant a trek up the stairs, which he didn’t mind, especially after spending the day cooped up in the law library with his nose in one book after another. He took the stairs in a trot and made good time.

The stairwell opened into a hallway that led to the door leading into Samuel’s office. There were other doors and they all fed into the
same suite of offices, but he knew they would all be locked from the inside. There was only one way into the OAGI, straight through the front door.

The sound of a bell jingling over the door greeted Joshua when he arrived at the Office of Angel Guides.

“Anybody here?” he called as he stepped inside.

The place looked empty, which wasn’t as odd to him as he had once found it. If not for the fact that he had met one or two others here on prior visits, Joshua sometimes wondered if Samuel was the only one who worked there on a regular basis. The unkempt liaison between the Holzers and his superiors was the only consistency at the OAGI. No matter what time he and Alexandra showed up, Samuel was always there.

Not for the first time, he suspected that the man lived there.

“Ah, Mister Demerest,” a smiling Samuel said as he stepped out from the rear office. “Welcome.”

“Thanks.” He forced a smile. “And, please, call me Joshua. Mr. Demerest sounds so formal. Every time I hear it I want to turn around and see if my father is standing behind me.

“Of course, Joshua,” the disheveled Samuel said with a hint of jovial chuckle in his voice. “I was the same way with my father when he was alive. He was a stern man, my father, but surprisingly light on his feet. He could sneak into a room without anyone knowing he was there.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear he’s no longer with us.” Joshua made a mental note that Samuel seemed to have inherited that same quality of being light on his feet from his father.

“Thank you,” Samuel said, motioning Joshua to take a seat in his wall-less office. “It was a long time ago, although in our line of work, you never know when he might pop by for a visit, right?”

“Is that something that’s likely to happen?” Joshua asked, freezing in a half-standing, half-sitting position. He looked back and forth from one side of the room to the other.

The look on Joshua’s face must have been an odd one because Samuel laughed.

“What?”

“Forgive me,” Samuel said. “I don’t mean to laugh, but the look on your face was priceless. I would have figured after spending so
much time with your betrothed, you would have gotten used to the unusual.”

“Well, I’ve seen more than my fair share of some strange things,” Joshua said, as he got comfortable in the chair, crossing his legs. “I try to keep an open mind, but there’s a part of me that can’t help but look for a logical solution. No offense, but angels, demons, ghosts, and the rest of it is a lot to take on face value.”

“No offense taken,” Samuel said. “This life we lead is not for everyone. You might be skeptical, but I see that as an asset. A healthy dose of skepticism is not a bad thing.”

“Sometimes I wish Alex was a bit more like that. Sometimes she leaps in without looking.”

“She wasn’t always that way, you know?”

“Oh?”

Samuel leaned forward, elbows on the desk as if about to impart a great secret. “When she was younger, maybe nine or ten, she questioned everything. That girl took nothing as written. She wasn’t satisfied with anything unless she could prove it herself.”

“She’s tenacious, I’ll give you that,” Joshua said proudly. He looked left then right. “Speaking of which, where is she?”

“I figured she would have been with you.”

Joshua sat up straight, suddenly concerned. “You mean she’s not here?”

“No. I haven’t seen her today.”

Joshua was on his feet and heading toward the door.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to look for her.”

“She could be anywhere, Joshua,” Samuel said as he fell into step behind him. “Where will you start?”

“I don’t know. I––”

Joshua opened the door and there stood Alexandra, her hand only half an inch from the door handle.

“Oh! You startled me!”

“Oh, thank God!” Joshua said. “Where have you been? I was worried.”

“I ran into some trouble,” she said.

“I was just about to go looking for you.” He noticed her expression. “Wait! What’s the matter? What trouble?”

“We’ve got problems,” Alexandra added as she stepped inside.

“What kind of problem?” Samuel asked.

Once she cleared the door, Alexandra motioned toward the hallway.

Jacob Black stepped into view.

He smiled when he saw them.

“Hello, Samuel. It’s been awhile.”

S
amuel Essau was not a man prone to outrage.

In all the time she had known him, Alexandra had only seen him approach angry once, maybe twice. However, the look on his face when Jacob Black walked through the front door of his office scared her. She had never seen her friend skate the edge of rage.

“What are you doing here?” Samuel said, his voice deep and husky.

“Good to see you too,” Jacob said around a predatory smile. “Nice place you’ve got here.” He took a step forward.

Samuel moved to block the door. “You’re not welcome here.”

“Now, is that any way to greet a guest?” Jacob said. “I thought you white hats were supposed be all sweetness and light, the poster children for civility. Or do I have that wrong?”

Samuel ignored the jab. He had no desire to engage Jacob in a challenge of wit. “A guest? You, sir, are no guest here.”

“Samuel, wait,” Alexandra said, positioning herself between them. “This is important. Please, let me explain.”

But Samuel wasn’t listening. “State your business, Black, then be gone.”

“Why all the hostility, Samuel? This isn’t a social call, after all. This is business, plain and simple.”

“There’s no business you have that concerns me.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t be too sure of that,” Jacob said. “After all, I brought you a couple of gifts.”

“Gifts?” Samuel asked with more than a hint of skepticism. “What gifts?”

“Well, the more pleasant of the two is the lovely Miss Holzer here.” He motioned toward her. “It was my honor to escort her here from my office.”

“Your office…” Joshua was by her side in a shot. “What happened?”

“Ah, Mr. Demerest,” Jacob said. “I had all but forgotten you were here.”

Joshua shot him a look.

In response, Jacob smirked. “Oh, by the way, congratulations on
your engagement. Alexandra has told me nothing but good things about you. Perhaps I just haven’t been around at the right time to see those amazing qualities she seems to think you possess.”

“That’s enough, Jacob!” Alexandra chimed in. “You’re not helping.”

“I’m also not the one being a bad host.”

Alexandra blew out an exasperated breath. It’s like dealing with children, she thought. Aloud, she said, “There is no need to make a tense situation any worse. Everyone just needs to calm down. Okay?”

“What happened?” Joshua asked again.

“Someone followed me from my apartment. Jacob helped me deal with it.”

“You went to this guy for help?” Joshua’s cheeks flushed an angry hue.

“Yes,” she said. “Jacob’s office was nearby and I knew he would help me. He’s a friend.”

“And I did I might add,” Jacob said, staring daggers at Joshua. “Help her, that is. You’re welcome, by the way.”

“Who was following you?”

“I was just getting to that part,” she told Joshua. “But, instead of telling you, it might be easier to show you.”

“What do you mean?” Samuel spoke up.

“There’s someone outside you need to meet,” Alexandra told him.

“Who the hell is this guy?” Joshua asked once the van door slid open.

“This is the guy who followed me from my apartment earlier,” Alexandra said. “He has been… reluctant to share his name with us.”

Samuel cast a sideways glance at Jacob. “I can’t imagine why.”

The Slaugh was bound and gagged in the back of a black windowless van that was parked in the alley next to the loading dock. Also inside the van were two of Jacob’s men. They were big and imposing, but neither one said a word.

Samuel took one look at the bound creature and shook his head. “How is this possible?” he asked.

“How is what possible?” Joshua pointed at the tied up youth in the van. He couldn’t see what Samuel and Jacob could. “He’s just a punk kid.”

“That is no kid, Joshua,” Samuel said.

“Look at him!”

“They are, Josh,” Alexandra said. “They can see things in a way you and I can’t.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means this may have once been a ‘young punk’ as you called him, Mr. Demerest,” Jacob said. “Now, he’s little more than a receptacle for the creature living inside of him.”

“What kind of creature?” Joshua asked.

“It’s called a Slaugh,” Samuel said.

“I’m not familiar with those,” Joshua said.

“Neither am I,” Alexandra added.

“I’d be surprised if you were,” Samuel said. “They’ve been all but extinct for a long time. In fact, there hadn’t been a Slaugh sighting in a couple hundred years until a little over twenty years ago when your father ran across one trapped within a castle in… oh, where was it?”

“Portsmouth,” Jacob said. “New Hampshire,” he added when they all turned to look at him. Jacob shrugged. “My office keeps excellent records.”