Should I wait here for you? Chess interrupted, waving her hand at one of the benches lining the hall. Yeah, she knew. Knew that she was already sick of the cloying hints about how he really seemed to like herwhere Jillian got that from she had no idea; sure, he was nice enough, but he wasnt flirting or asking her outand how she could do a lot worse than him, and that was after only twenty minutes in the car.
Jillian sighed and looked at her watch. Why dont you head on back to your room, and Ill call you when were done? I dont know how long itll take. We dont want to be at Glorias until at least six, so you might as well go relax or something.
Relax? Relax, when they were so close to maybe finding something? Relax when that closeness might be due to her own work, to the clue that shed actually found all by herself?
Relax, when that stuffy blood-covered apartment had stirred so many memories and they were starting to clang and rattle in her head louder and louder, when the only way she could possibly hope to drown them outthe only responsible way, the only way she should do itwas by working?
But Jillians expression didnt brook argument; she clearly wanted Chess gone, so Chess would have to make herself gone. Great, she managed. Okay, sure. Just call me when youre ready.
I will.
As soon as Jillians back disappeared into the open doorway of Elder Griffins office, though, Chess turned away and headed for the stairs. Yeah, she could go back to her room or she could visit the library and see if she could learn anything more. No, she didnt know the Church login Jillian had usedand wasnt quite daring enough to use it unauthorized even if she hadbut she could access the Internet if she wanted to, and she could check the shelves and the Restricted Room for any books about transporting ghosts.
Or wait. Three ghosts had been Summoned from the City, and no, the Liaisers hadnt noticed any specific connection between them, but that didnt mean there wasnt still something that could be learned about them.
Not to mention that Marks parents had died in a fire when he was ten. Chess was very interested in learning more about that. The files on him shed managed to look at earlier hadnt contained details, and details were what she wanted, some indication of what had actually happened.
What had Jillian said about the file cabinets? Green was for buildings that had confirmed hauntings, red for people whod died before Haunted Week, right?
Yes. There were several files under Pollert, but it wasnt hard to find the ones she wanted. Not only because the dates were on them, but because when she flipped them open she saw pictures of charred rubble, charred bodies.
And a big stamp that said ARSON.
Holy shit. Not just a tragic house fire. A deliberate house fire. What exactly hadOkay. Hmm. According to the reports from the BTpre-Churchpolice force and some laminated newspaper clippings, Marks father had been involved in some kind of shady business. Organized crime. Everyone had suspected the arson was revenge, and that was that.
She set the file on top of the cabinets so she could start flipping over the pages. There. A picture of Mark, looking well, shit, looking like a smug little psycho. Tears had cut whitish tracks through the soot on his face, and the skin around his eyes looked shadowed, his brow furrowed. But something in the eyes themselves, something about the set of his jaw Chess looked at that picture and didnt see what she thought she should have seen, didnt see someone horrified and upset over losing his parents.
She saw emptiness. The kind of emptiness shed seen so many times in her life that she couldnt help but recognize it, the kind that still made her wake up sweating in the middle of the night.
She wasnt the only one whod seen it, either. The original detective had made a few notes about Marks attitude, his lack of affect, his coldness.
But they hadnt been able to prove anything, or at least so she assumed, given that hed gone into foster care and not a hospital or mental facility or whatever it was theyd had back then.
Okay, then. Next shed have to
Hi, Chessie. What are you doing?
She spun around, her hands already scrambling to shut the file before anyone saw. It wasnt necessary, really, since any Church employee or student was allowed access to those filesthey werent confidentialbut still. It was none of anybodys business.
It was none of Agnew Doyles business.
He stood a little too close, the way he always did. And just the way it always did, her body reacted; not a lot, but enough that she noticed it. Enough that she knew he probably noticed it, because she noticed the way his did, too, the way his blue eyes widened when he looked at her.
Not that it mattered. They were in the same year, in the same classes; theyd work together after they graduated, and that meant he was off-limits. The last thing she wanted was to be forced to see one of herWell, she didnt want to see them again after, so she definitely didnt want to have to work with one of them and deal with him on a regular basis.
She reminded herself of that as she pressed herself against the filing cabinet in a mostly vain attempt to put a little more space between Doyle and herself. Oh, hey. Um, Im doing some research
Elder Martin said youre on your training week. I didnt know you wanted to work with the Squad.
No one seemed to be paying any attention to them, but she lowered her voice anyway. Its just a training week. To see what its like.
And how is it?
She shrugged.
He reached past her to lift the file and read the tab. What are you investigating? Thats kind of an old file, isnt it?
Quit being nosy. You know I cant tell you. She tugged the file away and tucked it under her arm.
Oh, come on. Murders? Conspiracies? What? I havent done my week yet, I want to know what they have us do. How involved we get to be.
Are you doing yours with the Squad?
Nope. He grinned at her and leaned against the cabinet, tucking his shaggy black hair behind his ear as he did so. Debunking. Ive already talked to Elder Griffin, you know, about how thats what I want to do. He said hed get me scheduled.
How No. No, she wasnt going to ask how hed managed to do that, because it would make her look stupid. Naive. She changed it to How do you like Elder Griffin? He seems okay.
Yeah, he is. Hes pretty straitlaced, but they all are, huh? And you know he started with the Church before Haunted Week and everything, he fought during it. They put him into Elder training right after that, apparently, so I guess he did some serious shit.
Chess thought about that for a second. He doesnt really seem like the type.
You never know. He leaned closer, lowered his voice so it felt like a caress on her skin. Some of us have hidden depths.
She raised her eyebrows. Some of us are full of shit.
Now, was that really necessary? You wound me.
Oh, did I hurt your widdle feelings?
You can make it up to me. He was closer now, not close enough to be entirely inappropriate but close enough that she started both panicking and wishing hed get closer; close enough that she wanted him to touch her and was afraid he would. How about having dinner with me on Friday? And Randys having a party in his room, we can
I cant. She slid away. Too much studying to catch up on.
Come on, Chessie, everyone will be there. One night wont
Sorry.
His head tilted. Another time?
Maybe. She shifted the file in her arms. Ordinarily she wouldnt mind talking to Doyle, but Jillian could call her any minute and she wanted to try to at least learn something before that happened. So it wouldnt look like shed been wasting her time. So it wouldnt look like she didnt deserve to be there.
Well. He raised his hand like he was about to touch her, but stopped. If you change your mind
Sure.
Have fun with your week, anyway.
She watched his back as he strolled down the row of cabinets and turned, disappearing past the next aisle of books. How much of that interest was in her, and how much was just curiosity about her training?
They were probably about equal, really. Yeah, hed asked her out before, but yeah, he was also ambitious and arrogant, which meant hed do anything to get some kind of inside or advance information.
They were probably about equal, really. Yeah, hed asked her out before, but yeah, he was also ambitious and arrogant, which meant hed do anything to get some kind of inside or advance information.
Whatever. She had far more important things to focus on just then. Like Mark pollert. Like the names of the ghosts Summoned from the City, and who they might be to him. All but one of them had also died before Haunted Week, so she grabbed their files and carried them and the pollerts to a table by the wall, where no one could come up behind her.
Jason McBrides was the first file she opened. Jason had been forty-three when he died, a sudden heart attack while at his job as oh. Oh. Well, damn. Jason McBride had been a social worker for Child Protective Services, the BT version of the Churchs Department of Minor Care. Chess could only imagine how lousy things must have been for kids BT, given that they had to have improved under the Church and they hadnt exactly been great for her.
But then, as she kept reminding herself, she must be an anomaly or something. Because contrary to what shed grown up believing, the Church actually did care about her; theyd found her, theyd rescued her, and look at her now. Actually working for them, working with the Black Squad, getting ready to have an actual life beyond anything shed ever dreamed of. They deserved her loyalty for that, her gratitude, and shed give it to them.
But whoever had done the job of protecting children before the Church they deserved nothing, and she scanned the photo of Jason McBride with little curiosity. He had that wispy, ineffectual look shed seen so many times, the kind of guy born to be stepped all over.
Not that it mattered what hed been in life. In death he was a killing machine like 99.9 percent of all ghosts, an ethereal shark endlessly searching for human chum.