26

Not sure where to go, we ended up in a hotel nearby. Gonzalez got us three hotel rooms on the off chance we ended up staying here tonight, and Donovan and I ran out and got us all takeout for dinner, even though it was a bit early.

It was quite the sight, seeing Grant lying on a bed, dipping in and out of his dream plane while clutching a cheap child’s toy. Marc sat on the other bed, toy in hand. I could see his lines flex with pure white as he tried every few minutes to get a lock. We’d have to go take their toys away at this rate or neither man would sleep tonight. They’d already been at this for several hours, only pausing for snacks or bathroom breaks, and showed no signs of giving up soon. I should stop them at the five-hour mark; otherwise, they really would go all night.

Donovan’s phone rang and he leaned away from me in order to answer. “It’s your mom,” he said as he looked at the screen. “Hi, Lauren.”

Mom sounded like she was laughing, a wicked tone of enjoyment in the sound.

“ Donovan. Tell me Jon’s nearby .”

“He sure is. In fact, you’re on speaker with him, Grant, Alan, Marc, and Gonzalez.”

“ Oh good. The more of a crowd, the better. Phew ! Y’all. Karma is a bitch and I love her to pieces. ”

I sat up abruptly. This promised to be gold altogether. “What’s happened?”

“ Let me fill them in first. Did you all hear how I lost my house during the divorce despite the fact my ex didn’t own it with me the first ten years I had it ?”

“Uh, no?” Marc responded. “But that’s shitty.”

“ In the extreme. I had to split half my 401(k) with him, too, dirty bastard. Anyway, all the finances and such finally hit an end recently in court. I was disheartened but also willing to pay out that much just to get rid of Rodger. BUT ! Something beautiful just happened. Jon, you know how bad Rodger is with paperwork .”

I snorted. “Yeah, everyone knows that. He can’t even pay his bills on time.”

“ Well, guess what paperwork he didn’t think was important enough to do ?”

A slow smile took over my face because I could tell from my mother’s glee, Rodger had just pulled a Rodger-ism that would go in her favor. “Tell me.”

“ The house insurance. It was still in my name only. He’d paid the bill but hadn’t thought to update the company on our divorce. ”

Stupid bastard. Sounded about right, though.

“ Annnnnd ,” Mom intoned with the sound of a drumroll somehow mixed in, “ the house burned to the ground last night .”

We all just kind of stared at the phone for a second before people busted out with either exclamations or questions. I couldn’t believe what I’d just heard. The house burned?! I wasn’t super attached to my childhood home, as it was the source of a lot of bad memories for me, but still…it’d been a perfectly nice house. I kind of felt bad for it.

“Was it on purpose, stupidity, or…?”

“ Stupidity, I think. Official report said the dryer vent was too plugged. He’d set the laundry to go before stepping out to get dinner. By the time a neighbor called the fire in, there wasn’t much to save. If he’d been home, he’d likely have been able to stop it, but... ” Mom cackled again. “ It gets better. Because the house is a total loss, including everything inside, I get the full insurance check. The insurance company doesn’t care if the house is technically in his name only. I’m the one with the policy, I’ve had that policy in place for years, so they’re paying me. Jon. They’re writing me a check for six hundred thousand dollars .”

Excuse me a second, I had to pick myself up off the floor. “Oh. My. God.”

Mom cackled again. “ Everything I lost out of my 401(k) I can replace, PLUS I can pay off my car in one shot. Ohhh, karma. I do love you, you sassy bitch. ”

It didn’t make up for everything Rodger had done to Mom over the years, but I admit, the karma was beautiful. “Welp. Guess he’s going to have to find a new place to live.”

“ It won’t be anywhere near Nashville ,” Mom stated plainly. “ Rodger never made enough to afford a house here. Frankly, if he’s careful, he might be able to find a room to rent somewhere. Or an RV. But even an apartment is out of the question .”

The full beauty of karma’s actions was becoming clearer now. Evil delight spread through me. I was, after all, my mother’s child.

“Mom. That’s beautiful.”

She laughed again. There would be no living with her after this, I could see it now.

Alan shifted out of his chair to come in closer. “Lauren. He’ll likely sue you for the insurance payout.”

“ Oh, I’m sure. He’s already threatening to do so if I don’t hand it over. ”

“Just to err on the side of caution, why don’t you contact Craig? If he can’t help you, he can at least help you get a good lawyer. The last one you had was a piece of shit.”

“ I can’t argue there. The man didn’t get nearly anything I wanted in the divorce. That’s good advice, Alan. I’ll take it. All right, I’ll let everyone go. I just wanted to share my fun news .”

“And we thank you for it,” Donovan said, also grinning. “Any time Rodger gets a smack from the universe, we prefer having a ringside seat.”

“ Me too ! Okay, night, everyone. ”

“Karma really is a bitch,” I observed as Donovan put the phone back in the case. “And I hope it visits Rodger more often.”

“Absolutely agreed—” Donovan cut himself off as the phone rang in his hand. “Well, we’re hopping tonight. This time it’s Sho. Hey, Sho, tell me something good.”

“ I’ve got two updates for you. ”

I went from gleeful to completely focused on Sho’s voice in a second flat. “Do tell.”

“ I had a hunch and showed Chad’s picture to Dwayne. Dwayne recognized him and not in a good way. Said the guy was pushy about dating Tye, didn’t want to take a no, and Dwayne had to step in and shut the guy completely down. Chad didn’t take it well and kept signing up for classes Tylesia was in. ”

“Motive,” Gonzalez purred, a happy man. “I do love motive, and rejected males are dangerous, dangerous creatures.”

Speaking as someone who dealt with insecure, rejected males, I knew very well how the type was. “Sounds like we definitely have our guy. What’s the second piece of news, Sho?”

“ Got another hit via my web crawlers. I narrowed the search to the greater Atlanta area, and not ten minutes ago, some amateur ghostbusters were going through the Atlanta Prison Farm. It’s very, very abandoned and only birds and weeds live in it. Great hunting grounds for ghosts, I guess, as there was a group of four kids that went in. But they were quickly chased out by a guy claiming to be a groundskeeper. They’re calling bullshit and posting the whole story online. In this case, they’re right—it’s our guy .”

We all just looked at each other.

I personally didn’t quite know how to feel about this, but excitement raced to the fore and claimed first place. “Let’s go check this out.”

“I’m all for it.” Marc rolled off the bed smoothly, feet hitting at the same time on the carpet. “Not like I’m getting through. Sho, you sure?”

“ He wasn’t good at hiding his face from the camera. Too mad. I got a full-on clear shot. I’ll shoot you guys the address. It is rather hidden behind a lot of trees, so if it gives you murdery vibes, you’re likely in the right place .”

“Works for me.” I went looking for shoes.

“Grant and I are going to stay here,” Alan said. “Just in case Chad’s already moved on, we can give you an update on location.”

“Okay.” Might as well not put all our eggs in one basket. Made sense to me. Plus, it wasn’t like Grant or Alan were really used to confrontation. Better to let the other heavy hitters (not me) handle this.

We all pretty much scrambled out the door, with me driving, just because it was easier all around. Of course, the second we were out the door, we hit Atlanta traffic.

Let me explain. Atlanta. This city did not sleep, ever; it was just as crazy at three a.m. as it could be at ten in the morning. It didn’t matter that we were past rush hour at this point. Traffic was still on the crazy side. Plus, we had to drive toward the Constitution area, which meant going through downtown Atlanta. Really glad I wasn’t in the Power Wagon, as the stop and go with a stick shift would have made this even less fun.

It took us an insane forty-five minutes to get over there, and the entire time I drove, I prayed. Please still be there. Please. Do not wander off, or get spooked by the kids seeing you, or whatever. Just for once stay put so Gonzalez can slap some cuffs on you.

“Turn right here,” Donovan instructed.

I turned, but…wow. Talk about some dense forest and brush all around here. We didn’t get very far before we hit a chain cordoning off the road. It said in bold letters RESTRICTED ACCESS, and there was a more permanent sign off to the right declaring anyone trespassing would be fined and possibly jailed. Clearly the signs stopped no one if kids were ghostbusting here.

“I can see why Sho warned us,” Gonzalez muttered, his head craned to look between the front seats. “It does have murdery vibes, doesn’t it?”

“Straight out of a horror film,” Donovan agreed.

The mistrust was bright in his lines. So bright, in fact, that I had a pretty good guess what he’d say next.

“Babe. Please tell me this place isn’t really haunted?”

“Can’t see anything from here.” Which was the truth and also the best answer I could give. I wasn’t Mack, after all. I couldn’t see ghosts easily. “Either way, looks like our perp might be here. I see car tracks leading farther in.”

Marc hissed out a victorious sound. “Oh, he’s here. I got a lock on him for a split second, and he’s dead ahead somewhere.”

I already had a hand on the door handle, but at those words, I quickly pushed it open. “In that case, let’s go.”