Misha
"We all saw that, right?"
I don’t have to ask. I know we all saw that, but I’m just trying to make sure that these guys are on the same page as I am as we consider what to do next. We left the restaurant about twenty minutes ago and have spent the subsequent time stuck in traffic on I-4, my fingers drumming on the steering wheel.
"I thought we weren’t here for her," Woods says from the backseat. "Don’t we still have to investigate this person we came here for?"
"We do, but we can’t let this slide," Salinas replies. He’s twisting his body so he can look behind himself as he speaks. Woods has barely raised his voice so it’s hard to hear him, and I-4 is loud. "She knew what was coming."
"She might’ve just seen that the lamp was coming down and warned the girl," Woods replies. "It could’ve been a reflex."
"Right, except she turned sheet white before the lamp fell," Salinas replies. "It’s not a stretch to think that it was precognition."
"It absolutely is a stretch to think that," Woods replies. "She could’ve seen the lamp and simply filled in the blanks."
"Maybe you’re right, Rei," Salinas says, closing his eyes. "But we need to make absolutely certain that it was that and nothing else before we leave this city."
"Do we at least get to go to a theme park?" I say.
I hear Woods snicker. I can see Salinas roll his eyes, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
"I don’t think we can just ask her to meet us somewhere again," Woods says as I get on the exit ramp. "We clearly spooked her when she realized we were serious."
"So why do you think she was there? If she wasn’t curious?" I ask, glancing at him through the rearview mirror.
"I didn’t say that. I’m sure she was curious," Woods says. "But I think her fear is going to overshadow that soon, especially if the three of us ask to meet her again."
"So what do you suggest?" I ask, driving up to the valet line.
"I think one of us needs to speak to her one-on-one," he says. "I don’t think she’ll open up if we’re sitting across the table from her, clearly picking apart everything she says."
"But you’re biased," Salinas says. The cars in front of us are barely moving. "You believe there’s no precognition."
"And you’re biased, too, since you believe there is," Woods replies.
"I’m not handling this," I say. "I don’t think there’s any point in seeing her again. We ended up having to write this one off, and we don’t take clients pro bono."
"She wasn’t a client, she was a lost soul," Salinas says. "And she was possessed, remember?"
"What I remember was being told we’d be handsomely compensated for helping her, and then, when we called to collect payment, the phone line had been cut," I reply. "We can’t take back an exorcism, but I’m not willing to stick around for a charity case."
"You’ve changed," Salinas says, a smile in his voice.
I elbow-check him softly, and he laughs under his breath. "I have to make payroll," I say, then sigh. "Fine. Woods, you take this, okay? Go to her show tomorrow and see if you can speak to her, so you can get an idea of what she actually saw. We’ll stay in and take a look at the debrief. We might have missed something with the case. It could be connected to why we’re here."
"I doubt it," Woods says. "I mean, this is a huge city. I don’t think the two cases will be connected to each other. Things are rarely that tidy."
"You’re right, but we should do our due diligence," Salinas says. "Just in case. We don’t want to come back to a bigger mess on our hands. I mean, consider the financial consequences, if nothing else."
I roll my eyes. "Okay, okay, I get it," I say. "We should do this because it’s the right thing to do, and it’ll probably save us money in the long run. And, I mean, maybe the band is good. You can buy some merch or something. Maybe you’ll finally be cool."
"If it hasn’t happened by now, it never will," Woods says, a smile in his voice.
He’s about to say something else when a valet approaches us. I throw him my keys and we get out of the car, right into the searing hot Florida sun. Fuck, I hate this place so much. I wish I could go back to Boston. At least it’s not hot as fuck there. It’s almost nine o’clock at night and the sun is still blazing in the sky, hot as hell. I really wish we didn’t have to stay. I know it’s not possible, but standing out on the sidewalk, no shade on me, makes me feel like my tattoos are about to melt off my skin.
The lobby of the hotel is huge, but there are a ton of people in here, speaking a huge variety of languages I don’t really understand. Two blonde girls talk to each other near the Starbucks next to the check-in desk, and a bellhop zips past the crowd of people with a fully packed luggage cart.
"I need a shower. I hate this heat," Salinas says. "See you guys tomorrow."