Stacey brightened considerably.
Leaving the others to argue over insurance, Evie gestured for Loretta to follow her back to the bedroom. “All right, what are you seeing? In simple words, please.”
Loretta bounced on the bed. Granny Marlene popped up, observing from the dresser—although floating a few inches above.
“Mrs. Murkowski has a weird bubble. It’s a healthy color, but it keeps twisting up.”
“Maybe when she lies?” Evie suggested. Teaching an Indigo child who sees things no one else can was a challenge. She could only go by her own experience.
“Maybe. It’s not a big bubble, but I think she means well.” Loretta kicked her legs so she could admire the new high-tops she’d worn out of the shoe store. “Stacey’s bubble is sorta small. Does that mean she’s not generous?”
“Or has lived a confined life?”
Granny snorted inside Evie’s head. “My son and his wife made damned sure the poor kid led a narrow life. That’s why I left everything to her. Maybe she can stretch her wings now.”
Wow, a whole coherent sentence out of the ghost. Apparently it was easier to remember family. “Mrs. Gump agrees with your assessment,” Evie told her. “Stacey has led a narrow life. You’re learning!”
“You’re talking to a ghost, like, right now?” Loretta’s eyes widened in excitement.
“She’s currently on the dresser. Do you see anything?”
Loretta studied the air above the tall dresser and shook her head. “The air is sorta wavery there, but I don’t see any bubble.”
“But now you know to keep an eye out for wavy air!” Evie watched Granny flicker in and out a bit. Then the ball of energy jumped down and apparently attempted pacing. She wasn’t too steady. Apparently pulling together spiritual energy didn’t allow much room for coordination.
Evie checked her cell phone to see if the battery was fading. The last live-wire ghost she’d encountered had seemed to pull energy from batteries and electricity. The cell was low but not drained, for the moment.
“Did she just move?” Loretta whispered, following the ghost’s drunken, irritated path.
“Yup. Mrs. Gump, can you tell us anything about what you were doing with all those computers?”
“Catching con artists,” Granny grumbled. “About as easy as seeing ghosts. What are you two anyway?”
Definitely more coherent but not useful. “Genetic anomalies?” Evie suggested.
If she was interpreting Granny’s aura correctly, she was shooting her a glare. FBI agents probably didn’t believe in things like spirit energy and psychics. She and Loretta must really be blowing whatever passed for a ghost’s mind.
“Good for the soul,” Evie countered the glare with just a hint of glee. “Broadens your perspective.”
“Loretta, Evie,” Reuben shouted from the front room. “Ready to go now?”
No, she wasn’t ready. She’d never met a ghost who could carry on actual conversation. “Have you looked at the security footage yet?” she called back.
“Cameras, yes!” Granny shot through the wall again.
“Mrs. Gump was just the sweetest thing,” the director was telling anyone who would listen. “I don’t understand why she had all this security. I can’t believe she was doing anything illegal!”
The room had started filling up. The policeman and some old guy in a blue security uniform were consulting over a laptop—probably the reason Reuben was getting antsy. He and Roark didn’t handle authority well—which was why they got busted from the military.
Mrs. Murkowski was allowing a couple of old ladies to feed her cookies and sympathy. A slender, balding old guy looking like a professor in a tweed jacket—in August!—wandered about, examining the walls, as if he’d find real bugs or technical ones.
Reuben looked relieved at their appearance, but Evie wasn’t ready to go. She tugged him into a quiet corner. “Have you looked at the security footage? Can you put back the cameras and set them to go to one of your computers?”
“After they all leave.” He gestured in disgust. “I ain’t got no authority here.”
“Not when you talk like a gangster. Try talking like the PhD you are.” Evie thought about that. “Well, no, that would probably just spook idiots. Okay, go wait in the van and plot what you can. Loretta and I need more time to do our thing, and we need people.”
“Jax is on his way.” He held up his phone screen showing the text. “He can legal them into order. I’ll hack the wi-fi from the van.”