My ears felt hot, and I worried my smile looked silly.
“Benji said you value your privacy, and I respected that.I still do.I’m sorry if I overstepped, but I’m really happy to have met you, Midnight.”
“You can call me Silas. Midnight is the name I use to find bad guys.”
Toby reached out and squeezed my arm. “Thank you,Silas,for finding the bad guy that took me.”
“You’re welcome.”
It wasn’t all that difficult. The man who took Toby was as much of a moron as Hugh Laughton was. Audacity made people stupid, and that man had too much of it.
“So, are you here to meet with Benji?”
“Yes, but I think I’m in the wrong place.” I gazed around again, noting the emptiness. Toby was the only who even walked down that hallway since I—oh.“Is thisyouroffice?”
That didn’t seem right.
I couldn’t imagine any space belonging to Toby would be so colorless. He was a freelance artist and practically an art piece himself. Green glitter was dusted along his eyelids and across his temples. The yellow sweater he was wearing should’ve looked strange with his bright red hair but somehow, it just worked.
“No, this place is all Benji. He told me I could paint a mural on one of these walls, but I’m not sure what I’m going to paint yet. It has to be perfect.”
“You could just paint yourself.” I suggested. “I think you’re the only thing Mr. Thomas actually likes.”
His face flushed, and soon, his skin was as red as his hair. A small laugh left him but it quickly turned into a warm smile. It was the same kind of smile Daddy always gave me when he woke up to find me watching him.
“I’m not so sure I would be comfortable with my face being front and center at all his business meetings, though if he hears your idea, he might demand I do it, anyway.” His smile grew, and I think Toby liked knowing he was Mr. Thomas’ sole obsession. “So, did you want me to call Benji for you? He might be in the conference room. That’s where he was headed when I left for ballet. I only came back because I forgot my rehearsal bag.”
Toby moved past me, weaving around Mr. Thomas’ desk and the potato sculpture. He made a beeline toward the seating area and stopped beside a blue suede couch. An overstuffed backpack was laying haphazardly across it, and I watched him wrap his fingers around one of the straps and throw it over his shoulder with a grunt.
“Benji rarely brings the scary men up here but you aren’t very scary. Plus, Ivan and Kingston have been in and out of this place the past few—”
Kingston?
“That’s my Daddy!”
Toby flinched as though my words hit him too hard. I opened my mouth to apologize but slammed it shut when I saw his freckles rising slowly up his cheeks. “Kingston is your boyfriend?”
I nodded. “Mr. Thomas made Daddy and I partners on the ghost mission, and now we’re in love.”
Toby laughed. “He’s here tonight, I think.”
“He is?”
I slipped my hand in my pocket, capturing my phone between the tip of my fingers. My palm tightened around the smooth edges when I brought the screen to life and tapped the GPS app. Daddy’s red dot was blinking directly over mine.
That was… strange.
Daddy told me Mr. Thomas wanted him to search Hugh Laughton’s brownstone. They’d already searched his car and the rundown cabin he’d taken to living in but they never found anything that led to the ghost's true identity. Mr. Thomas was getting impatient… andmean.
Maybe Daddy was here because they found something.
Maybe that’s why they called me.
“I can show you the conference room on my way out. I’m sure if Benji’s not in here, then he’s still in there.” Toby took a step forward and nudged me with his elbow. “Come on.”
Holding tightly to the straps of his backpack, Toby started forward, bouncing a little as he walked through the room. I followed him closely. I even remembered to say thank you when he held the door a second longer than he normally would so I could slip through.
Toby hummed as he walked, leading us down the dark hallway. It felt a lot less empty than it did the first time I moved through it. His sneakers squeaked when he stopped, pivoting quickly. With the flick of his wrist, he gestured for me to follow him through the lobby. We moved past the elevator bay, and just when I thought there were no more hallways, Toby pivoted again.