Perception (Apparition Investigations #1)

Case #2: Hell's Gate: Part 5

"All I'm saying," I said as we left the burger joint we'd stopped in for a late lunch, "is that maybe we shouldn't have promised to find Esperanza off the bat like that. I mean, cops get in trouble on Law and Order for promising absolutes to people. You're supposed to dance around it. Vague promises."

She shot me another dark look. "What was I supposed to say?" she snapped.

"'We'll do the best that we can'," I suggested. "Or, 'we'll do everything in our power to find her,' but just promising we will find her might not have been the smartest move. Now they'll expect us to."

She slid into the passenger's seat and slammed the door before I reached the driver's side. Great. Day One and I was already her least favorite employee.

At least she had the decency to wait for me to click in my seat belt before she started in on me. "We are going to find her though. I'm sure of it. I've got you and Noah in my corner. Not to mention we've got Cyril and Oliver to help us out if we need it. That's two psychics and two ghosts here. We've got this."

"There you go again," I mumbled under my breath.

She must have heard me. Or heard the sarcasm in my tone. "Just drive."

And drive I did.

Up until I parked beside Noah's massive black pickup in the high school's parking lot.

It was my turn to scowl as I watched through my window as he opened his door and stepped out. I turned my glare back on Rose.

She shrugged. "He teaches kids. He might know how to talk to these."

"He teaches fourth grade."

"Seriously, how much mental development occurs between fourth grade and sophomores?"

She hopped out of the car, her mood visibly brightening with each step she took toward him. Similarly, he smiled when she came around the car and into view. Like an actual, genuine, almost sweet-looking smile.

God, I hated him. But at least they made each other happy.

The three of us headed inside.

We'd called the school office and asked if it would be alright for us to speak with Esperanza Gomez's friends after school ended for the day. We'd figured they'd all be together—that was our best chance to speak with them at once.

The underpaid, overworked secretary had heard we were involved in the case. And had incorrectly assumed we were related to the police in some manner. I mean, that made more sense than her mind automatically jumping to the ghost-based case her mother had actually hired us for.

She'd even offered to get them all together after the last bell for us after we'd given her their names. To make it easier on us.

When we walked into the main office, the secretary looked up from the computer and frowned. "You're the ones that called?"

"Yes ma'am."

Her frown deepened. "You look so young."

"Think of it as relatable," I interrupted, gesturing down at my clothes. "Uniforms are a turn off, don't you think?"

Technically, none of that had been a lie.

Her frown lessened somewhat. Then her phone rang and it was back. Only, not directed toward us. She waved us back out through the front doors. "They're in the library across the hall. The one with the double doors—you can see the library through the windows on either side of the door." Then she snatched up the phone before it rang for a fourth time. "Front office?"