“Is Gregor that good-looking older man I met?” Jenn asked as she opened her files.
“Same one.”
Mia and I looked at each other and smiled. When all this was behind us, I was determined to enlist Mia’s help getting those two together.
“What are you working on?” Maxine asked Jenn.
She pushed her open file toward her.
“Haunted Gunnison?”
“I was talking with Mrs. Thomas the other day and she said her son was driving past the old graveyard outside of town and saw a ghost. I was intrigued, so I did a google search and found there are quite a few places in Gunnison reputed to be haunted. I thought it might be fun to investigate and run a series. With the boys in school in the fall, I’ll have more time on my hands to do in-depth investigative pieces.”
“How do you plan to investigate haunted houses?”
She looked over her shoulder toward the bedrooms then leaned in and whispered. “I plan to stake them out at night and see if any ghosts appear.”
“Really?” Maxine whispered back, “Sounds like fun. I’m in.”
“Why are we whispering?” Mia whispered.
“I’m avoiding a jail cell.”
“Why would he lock you up for investigating ghosts?” I asked, whispering like the others.
“He’s Jack. He doesn’t need a reason.”
Oddly, that made complete sense.
“When were you planning to start?” Mia asked.
“I’m glad you asked,” Jenn grinned. “I was planning to start this week while Jack has the evening shift. He doesn’t get home ‘til after midnight, so I figured I could poke around while he was at work. But with Max and Shane here, I can’t. They would rat me out. Do you think you could keep them busy so Jack doesn’t know I’m gone?”
“What about the boys?”
“Susie, Jack’s mother, agreed to take the boys for the next week while you’re here. That’s why I was going to start this week, but I forgot about Max and Shane. The bro code is strong with these Neanderthals and they’d step in even if Jack was gone.”
“How many of these places are empty?” Maxine asked.
“Just the graveyard. The rest are occupied.”
“Then hold off on those until we leave and focus on the graveyard while we’re here to watch your back. I can tell the boys I’m taking you to meet my old friend Helen and we can go to the graveyard instead.”
“What if they want to come along?” I asked.
“Those boys aren’t gonna want to tag along on a hen night.”
“Shane might. He doesn’t want me out of his sight until Heller is caught.”
Maxine thought for a moment, then a slow grin pulled across her mouth.
“Piece of cake,” Maxine smiled, looking back over her shoulder. “I know exactly how to get Max and Shane to stay home.”
“What about Heller, though? Shouldn’t we be concerned about being out unprotected?” I asked.
“I already talked to Jack about this; there’s no need to worry yet. If he could figure out where you are, which I doubt he can, it would take him at least two and a half days to drive here from Alaska if he didn’t sleep, closer to four if he slept for any amount of time. He can’t fly without showin’ ID, and Chester already alerted the airlines. They have his picture so they’ll be on the lookout for him. And he can’t cross the border into Canada without a passport. Jack knows this, so do Shane and Max. That’s why we’re here instead of back home. We’re all as safe as we can possibly be,” Maxine explained.
“I agree,” Mia replied. “If Max thought for a second I was in danger, he would take me with him to the police station, but he’s not.”
“Jack said with the FBI involved and the fact you used fake names traveling here, the chances of Heller finding you were next to nil,” Jenn added.
“Okay, I’m in then,” I smiled, relieved that we didn’t have to stay locked behind closed doors. “So how do you plan on keeping Max and Shane from insisting they go with us?” I asked Maxine.
She stood and headed for her bag resting on the sofa. She dug through it for a minute, then turned and held up a rainbow-colored dildo.
“We tell the boys we’re having a Passion Princess party at Helen’s house.”
“That might work except for one thing,” I stated. “I don’t think Shane would buy the fact you came prepared to host a toy party while on the run from a madman.”
“Pish posh. Never underestimate what a man is willing to believe if the topic is uncomfortable.”
We heard Max talking as he headed down the hall. Maxine looked in his direction, then winked, pulled out her phone, and put it to her ear.