Page 3 of Ghostmaker

Everly posed with Aurora by the bus, while Ten snapped pictures of them flashing peace symbols.

When the bus door shut and the kids were making their way to empty seats, Jude pulled out his phone and cued up “Celebrate” by Kool & the Gang.

Ronan handed out noisemakers that appeared to be left over from New Year’s Eve. He tooted on his horn and danced to the music as the kids looked back with mutinous looks on their faces.

Jude laughed when Everly flashed Ronan the finger. At least Jude thought it was aimed at Ronan. “We’re free!” Jude blew his own noisemaker.

Cope shot Jude a dirty look. “If we were free, we’d be on our way to Hawaii, instead of going into the office. I hope you guys have one hell of a plan for dinner because I can bet you the kids won’t be in the mood to take any of your shit after that sendoff.”

“To be honest,” Ten began, “I’m not in the mood to take any of their shit now.”

Ten headed for the front steps while Cope crossed the street.

“Fine, we’ll bring home dinner from Lobster Charlie’s. Will that help smooth over relations?” Jude called to Cope.

“Only if you get some baklava from that new bakery near the shop.” Cope blew Jude a kiss.

“Any special requests, Ten?” Ronan asked.

“You mean aside from you helping with the laundry, the dishes, and mowing the back yard like you promised?”

“Oh, snap!” Fitz snorted and high-fived Jude.

Ronan’s party mood seemed to evaporate. He dashed up the steps and whispered something to Ten, which instantly made the psychic brighten.

“Double baklava for me!” Ten called as the detectives opened the door to Fitz’s SUV.

“What the hell did you say to him?” Jude asked, when they were in the car and on their way down the street.

“I promised him an unforgettable night of unbridled passion.” Ronan wore a Cheshire Cat grin.

Fitz gagged. “Oh, please.”

“Okay, fine,” Ronan sighed. “I also promised I’d do all of those other things he mentioned along with a few other chores of a more personal variety.”

“For the love of Jesus, Ronan, I don’t want to hear about you lubing Ten’s drive shaft.” Fitz shivered.

“For your information, I told Ten I would pick up some new books for him at that occult book shop over on Essex. You know, the one with the giant cauldron in the window?”

“Cope loves it there too. The guy who owns it is from NOLA, so they’ve struck up a friendship. Cope won’t admit it very often, but I know he misses the Big Easy.”

“Cope married the Big Easy!” Ronan burst out laughing.

“Maybe we could take a trip down there during February or April vacation?” Fitz suggested. “The last time we were there, we were working. I’m sure Everly and Ten would love it.”

Jude nodded. “Good plan. I’ll talk to Cope about it. Now that the kids are back in school, I’m gonna miss all the traveling we did over the summer.”

“Labor Day weekend is coming up, maybe we could do something for that?” Ronan tapped on his phone. “I know it’s late in the game but, Hampton Beach has a big seafood festival. We could get the kids one of those big kites and eat our body weight in clam chowder.”

“Not to mention the fried dough.” Jude’s mouth watered at the thought of the flaky pastry heaped with a metric ton of powdered sugar and cinnamon.

“Enough about food,” Fitz said. “I haven’t had breakfast yet. Let me do the talking when we meet with Cisco. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

“What kind of a bad feeling?” Jude asked, eyeing Ronan in the backseat.

“I don’t know. I can feel something is off in the pit of my stomach.”

“Are you sure that’s not the sausage and pepper sub you nearly swallowed whole last night?” Ronan snickered.