"It's scary, isn't it?"

"This kind of thing just doesn't happen in Sunbury."

"I know." She paused. "And there's nothing we can do?"

"I'm just waiting to see if anything develops. The FBI knows what they're doing."

"So we just hold tight?

"What else can we do?"

She laid her head back on the arm of the couch. "I guess all we can do is wait." She knew there was more going on inside him, but for the sake of harmony, she left it in his court and sat quietly beside him, allowing him time to process his thoughts, and giving him ample opportunity to voice those thoughts.

But there was only one thing on his mind: the little ghost-girl outside their apartment door-and he had no intention of talking to Jenna about that! He was going to have to wait until she went to bed to work out any solutions to that problem.

Chapter 24.

It was late when Jenna finally went to bed.

He pulled his phone out and gave Dan a quick call to check up on Holly.

"Heylo," said Dan. He sounded groggy.

"Hey, it's Jake."

"Hey, bud, what's going on?"

"Not much, how was Holly when you left her place? Is she stable?"

"Yeah," he said elongating the sound of the word. "Here's the thing. I'm kinda still at Holly's place."

"Really? She's letting you stay all night? I never would have called that one."

"Me either, man. I thought for sure I was getting the boot earlier, but then the next thing I know she's making a bed for me on the couch."

"She's probably scared to be alone."

"Yeah. She's battling with something, but there's no way she's telling me what it is. She's like Fort Knox."

"Have you seen her taking any pills?"

"No. She's definitely not taking anything, well, except Tylenol. She's about as strung out as I've ever seen anyone."

"She's gotta be hurting for them-and it wouldn't be hard for her to convince herself that half a pill would just take the edge off. I saw my mother do it a hundred times. It was always just one little one, then I'd find her lying half comatose on the living room couch."

"Well, at the moment, she is anything but comatose. I think she's been to the bathroom ten times."

"I appreciate you being there, Dan."

"What are friends that are being hooked up with other friend's sisters for? Right?"

He had to laugh at the unexpectedness of Dan's humor. "Just keep an eye on her. I'm not looking to marry you off."

"On a creepy note," Dan spoke low into the phone, "did you find any ghost-kids?"

Jake knew the question would come, but he still wasn't prepared for it. "Yes," he said, "but not the one I was looking for."

"Really? Another one?"

"Yeah. She's right outside my door. Well, at least she was. I checked a little while ago, but she was gone."

"Were you able to get any info?"

"I learned some things, but not what I was hoping for. She doesn't know anything about Gabe."

"Sorry to hear that, man. You must be b.u.mmed."

"Yeah. I'm back to square one."

"So, what did she say? Did you figure out what these apparitions are?"

What could he share with Dan? Could he tell him the truth, that these ghost-children might only be in his head? No. Not yet. He needed Dan to trust him. He couldn't afford to alienate him now.

"It was hard to get anything out of her. She seems to have some kind of selective amnesia, but I wasn't able to find out how selective because we were interrupted."

"Do you believe her?"

"I don't know what to believe. She seemed truthful."

"And what are you going to do now?"

"I don't know what to do, except look for her tomorrow and try to get some answers."

"But she said she doesn't know about Gabe?"

"She may not know about Gabe, but she knows something. It can't just be a coincidence that my nephew is taken by a serial killer and I start seeing ghosts the same day."

"Good point."

"Are you going to stay with Holly through tomorrow?"

"Well, I'm not working, so I'll stay-until she throws me out on my ear, which might be sooner than later if I have to get between her and her pills."

"She may get to a point where she thinks she has nothing to offer. I'm almost there myself. But don't let her dive into those pills because then she'll really have nothing to offer."

"I'll do what I can."

"Good. Thanks again, Dan. I'll let you get back to sleep."

Dan was quiet a moment. "What? Are you still talking? I must have dozed off."

"Night, Dan."

Chapter 25.

Jake awoke to the sound of multiple car doors slamming, and he rolled over to see Jenna standing by the window in her nightgown.

He rubbed his eyes. "What's going on?"

"I don't know, but it's something big. The street's filled with police."

Jake bolted out of bed and joined her at the window. Sure enough, four unmarked cars and three cruisers sat in the middle of the street with lights flashing. "What are they doing?"

"I don't know. Maybe it has something to do with the kidnapping?"

"Nah. Why would they be here?"

"I hope they're not coming for you."

He glared. "That's not even funny."

"Look," she pointed. "They're heading around to the east side."

Jake pulled on his shorts. "I'm gonna go check it out."

"Are you crazy? You could get shot."

"I'll be careful."

"Jake, don't be stupid. They'll have it on the news later."

"If this is about Gabe, I want to know what's going on." He pulled a tee-shirt over his head and slid his feet into his sneakers.

"What can you do that the police can't?"

"I don't know," he called, weaving through the living room.

"Jake!"

But it was too late. He was out the door.

Aiyana was there. She got to her feet when he came flying out of the apartment. "What's happening?"

Jake nearly jumped out of his skin. "You scared me!"

"What's happening? Is someone in trouble?"

He started down the hall. "I don't have time to talk about it."

"Can I come?"

"No! It's too danger..." He stopped himself. "What am I talking about, you're not even real."

"I'm real," she said indignantly.

"Look," he said, turning and walking backwards toward the elevator. "I don't think I can handle having any-hallucinations around while I'm talking to the police. Could you just stay here? Please?"

"I won't say anything. I'll be very quiet."

"You'd just be a distraction. Just stay here. Okay?" He turned the corner and ran toward the door to the east side-with Aiyana in hot pursuit.

"Please, Aiyana! Go back."

"I won't say anything. You won't even know I'm here."

He opened the stairwell door and closed it, but she pa.s.sed through as though it wasn't there.

"Please! You're freaking me out! If this has anything to do with Gabe, I need to find out about it, I can't be distracted."

"But maybe I can help," she said brightly.

"Help? By making me look like a spastic nut job? I won't be able to put two sentences together with you around."

"I'll hang back. You won't even know I'm here," she repeated.

"I find that hard to believe." He turned and leaped down the stairs three at a time. Reaching the bottom he looked out the thin rectangular window in the door. Four FBI officers lined the wall, and some had already broken into an apartment down the hallway.

Jake creaked the door open-and came face to face with an FBI agent in a flak vest. The intensity of his gesture to stay back made Jake leap backwards.

Aiyana watched from five stairs up-staying back as she'd promised. Jake peeked through the window again. Two more agents entered the apartment, leaving two in the hall. The agent who had motioned him back now stood in the center of the hall between him and the doorway.

Jake pushed against the wall in frustration. What am I doing? There was no way these officers were going to let him onto a crime scene. Had he lost his mind? Did he have any mind left to lose? He wanted desperately to feel like he was contributing something to the rescue of his nephew. He wanted to do something, anything. Waiting around would eat him alive. He pushed the door open a crack.

The agent shot him a severe look.

His hands went up and he let the door close. Then he started pacing, as Aiyana observed him from a crouched position on the stairs. "This is hopeless! How can I find out if this is even about Gabe?! They won't even let me..." His head snapped up to look at Aiyana. His eyes lit up. "Aiyana! You can pa.s.s through walls, right?"