Page 108 of Ghostly

“Maybe you’ll want to chase this one.” She nodded in goodbye and turned.

“Why?”

“Because,” she said over her shoulder, “I saw how you were in Buttons.”

“Down in the dumps, defeated?”

“No. That’s not what I meant.” The heels of her shoes echoed across the empty concrete plain as she walked away.

Chapter 26

Despite being determined he wouldn’t bother with Natalie’s games, the conversation chased Gabriel through the night. He progressed through his morning routine, tossing theories around instead of properly counting his increments. When he got so lost in his thoughts he overboiled the coffee for seventeen seconds, he knew he had to do something.

Not just make a new coffee. He had to do something about the hint Natalie had given him.

So before he went to work, he called Perry.

“Gabe, my man! What’s up? You found something?”

He didn’t have the time to figure out what Perry was talking about, as the boy already continued, “You know, about bringing Ida back to life. You promised you’d call if you had something.”

Gabriel’s chest squeezed.Dammit.How could he tell Perry that not only he’d discarded that promise, but Ida as well? “Uh, nothing new, yet. I’m calling because I need some help. With a case.”

“Okay…” Perry sounded uncertain.

“You know your video games and computer stuff. Do you think you could”—he wasn’t seriously asking this—“hack someone?”

“Hey, man, that’s prejudice, you know? Not all gamers are hackers,” Perry said, with a light enough voice Gabriel didn’t feel like a complete idiot. “But… I have a friend who knows some of that stuff.”

“That wouldn’t happen to be one of the friends who babbled on my secret?”

“Maybe,” Perry squeaked.

Now we’re talking.

“Then he owes me a favor. Don’t worry, nothing that would get him in trouble. It’s a small fish and, well,Iwon’t talk.”

“Dude, it’s cool. Marcus won’t mind. At least he’ll be doing it to help someone, not just because he’s bored.” Perry laughed, then sobered. “You’re okay, right? You’re not doing any weird shit?”

That depended on how one rated Gabriel’s current life. “I’m fine. So, this man. He’s a private detective…” Gabriel gave Perry all the info and checked he got it right. “Anything you can get concerning his clients. The jobs he’s done, payment details, any discrepancies…”

“Got it. And for how long back? Just, like, forever?”

Natalie had said a few months. “Let’s try the past twelve months.”

“You know you can say ‘a year.’” Perry snorted. “A lawyer you are, man.”

Right. He was a lawyer, and this was his life, and he wanted it. “Thanks for everything, Perry.”

“Nah, thank you! You know the BechTech interview? Got it next week. They said I got recommended… of course that means now they’ve got higher expectations for me, and man, now I’m starting to sweat…”

Gabriel laughed, glad for the momentary distraction. “You’ll do just fine. I have to go.”

“I’ll see if I can get something to you by this evening. Oh, and say hi to Ida from me! Tell her not to be too mopey, it’s all gonna work out.”

The pain in Gabriel’s chest spread, engraving itself onto his ribs. “Yeah. I will.” He put the phone down and stared at the bland, pristine white wall of his apartment for god knows how many minutes—definitely not exactly an increment or two—before he forced himself to go to work and continue his life.

Wynona had asked him to swing by her studio later in the day, so once Gabriel couldn’t reasonably delay his work any longer, he made his way to an upper-class shopping venue. Wynona’s place, all glass walls, white floors, and bright lights, melded in perfectly with dozens of similar shops surrounding it. A mix of working space and showroom, it was only the tip of the iceberg: rolls of fabric, mannequins, sketches, and a myriad of other accessories were tastefully spread around clean wide shelves and tables to create an impression of work. Another set of shelves hosted the latest collections of outfits, displaying them for clients much too fine to try them on here.