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“Girls, if you feel scared or need help, come get me,” Ronan said, as he helped Everly and Aurora out of the back.
“We will,” Everly agreed.
“I can’t believe I’m leading the investigation,” Aurora said, sounding excited. “Do you think we’ll get a badge or a medal when we solve the case?”
“I hope so. We definitely deserve a little bling for all our hard work.” Everly giggled.
Ronan made a mental note to look into honorary detective badges for the girls.
“Oh, good, you’re here,” Cisco said, when Ronan and the others reached Omen. “Our victim is getting a bit uneasy and wants to get the hell out of Salem.”
“We’ll talk to him first,” Ronan said. “Everly, I want you and Aurora with me. Fitz and Jude can interview the witnesses and get copies of their video footage.”
“Remind me again who died and made him boss,” Fitz muttered.
“Our guy is over here.” Cisco pointed up ahead, where a tall, skinny man dressed in a Confederate soldier uniform stood smoking. “He’s gone through an entire pack since I’ve been here.”
“Fantastic,” Ronan muttered, approaching the man, who reeked like a room full of ashtrays. “I’m Detective O’Mara, and you are?”
“Jesus fucking Christ,” the man shouted, throwing his arms into the air. “How many times do I have to tell the damn story?”
“You shouldn’t say the middle finger word, Mr. Brown,” Everly said, narrowing her eyes at him.
“What the hell is this? The munchkin brigade?” Brown pointed between Everly and Aurora. “Bring your daughters to work night?”
Everly smiled darkly at the man, causing him to shiver. “Your full name is George Brown and you’re from Columbia, South Carolina. The reason you’re in Salem is to start religious protests against our Halloween celebrations, which is ridiculous because a few seconds ago you used the middle finger word while you took Jesus’s name in vain. Your mother’s name is Sue Ellen and she disowned you because you’re a racist piece of crap who attacked her Puerto Rican boyfriend. Would you like me to continue?”
Brown shook his head and backed up a few steps and bumped into the brick wall behind him.
Everly braced her hands on her hips. “Tell us what happened tonight. Don’t spare any details. Got it? Go!”
“You’re right, my friends and I are here to be assholes. Uh, jerks. Sorry.” Brown muttered several more apologies.
“My father is an Irish cop, I hear those words every morning over the breakfast table. Keep talking. We have a vocab quiz in the morning.” Everly pointed between herself and Aurora.
“We had dinner downtown and came over to Essex Street to check out what was going on with the crowds and street performers so we’d know who to target tomorrow night. All of us wore costumes to hide our identities. We came to the witch shop, Omen, and decided to go in for a psychic reading, so that we could debunk their so-called gifts. The asshole, uhh, guy, told me that I was going to end up in jail if I didn’t straighten up and fly right. Which is pure and utter bull-, ah, crap. I accused him of being a false prophet and started shouting out Bible verses and a couple of big guys grabbed me and roughly escorted me out here.”
“Justis was right, you know,” Everly said. “You are going to end up in jail. Your friend Cooter is planning to boost cars, whatever that means, and chop them up for parts. You’ll be sentenced to ten years for grand theft auto and your cellmate’s name is Benny. He likes to beat up little pricks like you when they don’t do what he asks, and trust me when I say you don’t want to know what he’s gonna ask you to do.” Everly offered a grin that looked like she was daring Brown to try her. “Finish the story. What happened when you got thrown out of the shop?”
Brown edged a few more steps away from Everly. “Uhh, well, something hit me in the back of the head. I turned around to see who it was and no one was there. No one laughed either, so I knew it wasn’t a joke. Then something hit me in the ribs. Hard. Two or three times.” Brown pointed to his left side and hitched up his uniform coat. Dark bruises mottled his skin. After that, I got hit in the face with what felt like a brick. I have a black eye and I think my nose is broken. All of a sudden everything stopped. That’s when I noticed a ton of people were filming me. Someone said it looked like I was fighting off an invisible swarm of bugs. But it wasn’t bugs or anything else. It was a ghost.”
“You’re right,” Everly agreed. “It was a ghost. A very angry one who was murdered during the Civil War by a man dressed like you are tonight.” Everly looked Brown up and down, as if she was judging him, which Ronan assumed she was. “Look, it’s none of my business, but you should burn that uniform and cut the racist crap. How stupid are you for hating people because of the color of their skin? It would be like hating you because of your weak-ass mustache that looks like a hamster’s butt. Stop being a jerk and get out of our city. We don’t need people like you here.” Everly turned and walked away from Brown.
Ronan snorted as she and Aurora walked toward Omen’s front door. “I need to take some pictures of your injuries.”
“Fine.” Brown hiked his jacket up again and took several shots of the rib bruising, then took images of Brown’s black eye and bloody face. “The medics are waiting for you over there. You should let them check you out.”
“That’s it? Aren’t you going to do something?” Brown asked, looking incredulous.
“Like what, Mr. Brown? Handcuff the spirit of the woman who assaulted you?” Ronan shook his head.
“You people are all fucking nuts with your freaky psychic kids, and cops who actually believe I was assaulted by a ghost.”
Ronan grinned. “Salem isn’t like anywhere you’ve ever been. Things really do go bump in the night here. Things you wouldn’t want to encounter while you’re out alone.”
Brown’s eyes widened.
“Let me offer you some free advice. Listen to what my daughter said. Her gift is never wrong. If she says you’re headed for wedded bliss with Benny, your cellmate, she’s telling you the truth.” Ronan pulled out his wallet and handed the man his business card. “Make sure to write and let me know where you and Benny register for wedding gifts.”
