Page 118 of Hot Ghost Summer

His eyes fixed firmly on me, Gerald nods at Theo. “Yes, yes. About that.” He pokes out the tip of his pale tongue to wet his thin lips. “I had a call yesterday from Mister Clawson—one of the clients—and well, he informed me that a very unfortunate thing happened over the weekend. Very unfortunate. The bodies of two men were discovered at the site. Murdered. So, I’m glad you came, because I have to ask: after I called you on Friday evening, did you go there? To the site?”

The light in the hallway flickers, drawing Gerald’s focus, and I take a step closer. He backs up until he bumps into the wall behind him, then he holds his palms out in surrender as if that will ward me off. I give him a cold smile.

“Um, yeah,” Theo admits. “Because you said t’ close the case by Monday. But those men were already there when I arrived.”

Gerald nods, sliding away from me along the narrow hallway toward his office. Exactly like he did a week ago when he told me I had no choice but to take the case or risk my visa.

“Right. Good. Yes,” he babbles. “But the thing is, Teddy, that the client asked for discretion with this job. And, well, two dead bodies and a police presence isn’t that. So, as you can imagine, Mister Clawson isn’t very happy with our service. And it was me who took that call—as the owner.”

“It’s Theo… my name. Only four letters, but all of them are mine. T-H-E-O.”

“What?” Finally, Gerald’s attention lands where it should have been all along. On Theo.

“Theo,” he repeats. “I need t’ make sure you get it right so you can pay me for the job I did.”

Gerald nods. Then shakes his head. “About that,” he begins.

The hallway light above his head explodes in a shower of glass, and Gerald drops into a low squat with his hands braced protectively over his balding head.

“Jesus Christ!” he blurts. “I can’t pay you, kid. Theo. Theo. I can’t pay you, because they’re not paying me! Mister Stoker, he… the police called him about the bodies in the early hours of yesterday morning, and he suffered a heart attack from the stress of it all. That’s why Mister Clawson called. And that’s why they won’t be paying us.”

“So…” Theo’s voice is unusually quiet. Flat. “Hollis’s life means nothing? Not even minimum wage for one job?”

Oh, Baby. Ignoring Gerald, I give all my attention to Theo. His eyes find mine.

From behind us, in an equally quiet voice, Gerald unfolds from his foetal position and clarifies, “You don’t want the…? You’re asking only for the hourly rate? For the days you worked? For two days, not including the leave of absence?”

“That’s all I’m owed, right?” Theo asks, but I shake my head at him. You’re owed so much more than that, but don’t worry, I still have one more gift for you.

Gerald makes his way to standing—inelegantly—and dusts the shards of glass from his shoulders. “Right. Yes, of course. But Theo, I will say that I don’t think you’re a good fit for ExorSquad, and so I’ll pay you for the two days, but I can’t risk having more dead bodies turning up at job sites, and I definitely can’t risk having the police come knocking. So, this’ll be where we part ways.”

My form glitches as my anger builds. The only reason this Vollkoffer isn’t receiving the Stoker treatment is that he’s too closely tied to Theo, and I won’t risk anything blowing back on him. But it doesn’t make me any less pissed off. How dare he fire Theo after everything that’s happened. Theo’s the best employee they never had, and Gerald’s loss is my gain.

I wrap an arm around Theo’s shoulder and kiss his temple. “Did you get everything you needed from coming here?”

Theo looks me right in the eye with an unwavering gaze when he answers, “Yeah. Let’s go home.”

I let Theo’s body reabsorb me, so he can lead us out of the shithole that is ExorSquad for the last time, and onto the street.

He’s still clutching my canister of tea as he cuts back onto the main road and walks us north toward the River Thames. He retrieves his phone from his pocket with his free hand.

“Are you okay, Baby?” I ask inside his mind.

“Yeah, I was always going t’ quit—I couldn’t continue working there. Not after…” He waves his arm in a vague circle. “But I haven’t started looking for a new job yet, so I thought I’d see what’s out there while we walk home.”

I smile a secret smile. “Click on the App store.”

Theo doesn’t even think about it and loads it instantly.

“Type B-R-A-T…”

His thumb moves deftly over the screen as he hits the keys.

“That top one, with the cartoon logo of a winking devil face. Download that,” I instruct.

He does as I say, but chuckles. “I’ve got a tattoo that looks just like that.”

“I know…” I say through a smile.