"Oh, no!" Mara interjected. "I don't like to imagine what he might do with it.”
I nodded. "Exactly why I'm here and not at his place. But I have no idea how long this thing may last.”
Brian growled behind the chair. Albert flitted away from studying the thing in the jar to conspire with his playmate. Giggles bubbled up from behind the chair over a scrabbling sound.
My knee throbbed a little. I sat down on the sofa farthest from the child-infested chair. I didn't have the energy to withstand even a hug if it came at leg level.
Ben, still looking at Celia's temporary prison, said, "It should fall apart on its own, eventually. But as you say, we don't know when. The sooner the group stops giving it any energy or thought, the sooner that will happen.”
"I've already put pressure on Tuckman to break the group's interest in it," I said. "I think two or three may have already cut themselves off from it, for their own reasons. It seemed smaller than the last time I saw it—though it was big enough to hurt.”
"Hmm. The sooner they all do the same, the better.”
"Perhaps we can speed it on the way," Mara suggested. "You might help the situation by removing that loop it's got on you.”
I shook my head. "I'd rather do that last—even if it's a risk. If it does get loose, I'll have a way to find it again. Its master will snatch it back and use it if he can and I can't let that happen. He's threatened to kill two more people and he's serious.”
"Oh," Mara said, raising her eyebrows in surprise. "Yes. But what else can we be at?" she continued, thinking aloud. "We can't exorcise it, but we might be able to break it down faster, I suppose.”
"Maybe the group could unmake it. .," Ben started.
I shook my head and slumped deeper into the sofa. "They've already broken up and since two of them are on the hit list, getting them all together again is out of the question. Can we do anything to break it ourselves?”
Ben perked up. "It's not a regular ghost, but energy dissipation is energy dissipation no matter why you do it. Let me see what I have…”
He darted out of the room and we heard him rocketing up the attic stairs.
I blew out a long breath. Mara looked me over.
"You look all in.”
"It's been a long day. And I don't think it's over yet.”
"Most likely not.”
Brian emerged from behind the chair, crouched over in a strange, brachiating posture.
"Oh, what are you up to now, little boy?" Mara asked.
"Is a rhino-bat!”
"So I hear. What do rhino-bats do?”
"Fly, fly, fly!" Brian yelled, jumping up and flapping his arms; then he ran off around the room with his «wings» spread wide, unusually quiet as he soared around the furniture without a single "graah.”
As Brian was running in and out of the living room, Ben came back with a thick book.
"OK. I found it. There's kind of a standard for dissipating energy entities—which is what this is. It's not specific and it might not do the job completely so long as anyone's feeding it, but it should break the thing down a lot.”
I sat up straighten "What's the routine?”
Ben flipped the tome open as Albert swooped by him with Brian charging after. Boy and phantom dove back into the bat cave behind the Morris chair as Ben started to paraphrase.
"According to this—and this is the third reference to this process—you can disperse a ghost of this type by scattering its property and destroying its image. It draws strength from those reminders of its existence and once they are no longer there, or moved far apart from one another, the ghost has no center to cling to. It can't hold itself together without a core and it will dissipate.”
"There's a power line feeding this thing," I reminded them.
"True," Mara replied, her face pinched in thought. "But it was pulled from its proper place. It will want to move back to its original alignment. If you break down as much of the 'home' environment as you can, the power line should start to move back.”
"OK, maybe it will work. What's the process, exactly?" I knew things like this were never as simple as they sounded.
Ben looked back into his book. "Oh." He paused. "It doesn't say. Just 'disperse the property and burn the image with proper ceremony' But no word on the ceremony. Mara. .?”
She shook her head. "Not the slightest idea.”
They both looked at me. My stomach dropped. "Not Carlos," I sighed.
"Afraid so. He's the expert," Mara said.
"I think he's running out of charity for me. And he may want to take the entity himself.”
"I'll go with you," Mara offered.
Brian flapped past again.
"Oh, no, you won't. Not this time," I said. "If he's willing it won't be because you came and held my hand and called in favors. And I don't want to hear the argument between you and Ben over it, either.”
I stood up. "I'll leave the ghost-bottle with you while I talk to Carlos. That way he can't get it from me. And I'll see what I can do about dismantling the séance room. That's the closest thing there is to Celia's 'home and possessions. I'll call you when I'm done with Carlos and we can go on from there. OK?”
Mara nodded, a satisfied smile on her face.
Ben closed his book on his finger. "All right. We'll be up.”
I nodded and headed back out, poking my cell phone.
Tuckman was not interested in helping me. He refused flat out to dismantle the séance room or to help me do it, in spite of the best arguments I could muster.
When the boss stonewalls, go for the secretary. I sat in the Rover by the side of the road and dialed.
Denise Francisco sounded like she had a cold when she answered her cell phone.
"What?”
"Hi, Frankie, it's Harper Blaine.”
"Oh. You were at the funeral, weren't you?”
"Yeah.”
"Were you, like, close enough to hear it?”
"Hear what?”
She snuffled before answering. "Mr. Gorgeous—you know, Ian, the looker? — he threatened his girlfriend, the Chinese girl, Ana. She dumped him for the Indian guy.”
I sighed. Some people regress under stress. Frankie had bounced back to fifteen. "I don't know anything about it," I said. "But I do know you're the one to call to get anything important done and that's why I'm calling.”
"Oh?" She made a noise like a goose stuck in a mangle—blowing her nose, I guessed. When she spoke again, her voice was clearer. "What needs doing?”
"We have to break up the séance room.”
She paused. "Does Tuck know this?”
"He knows, but he won't do it. The project's shut down, right?”
"Yup. So. . you want to break up the room so they won't get back together again?”
"That's it.”
"Why?”
"Do you want the truth or a plausible lie?”
"I love it when they lie to me—but tell me the truth, 'cause you're not my type.”
"Celia needs to go away. Tuck agrees, but the way to make Celia go is to break up her things and Tuck doesn't want to do it. So, since Tuck won't do the right thing, I'm asking you to help me do it. Before someone else gets hurt.”
"You mean 'hurt' like that thing with Ice Queen Stahlqvist, or 'hurt' like. . dead?”
"They're both bad.”
I could hear her draw her next breath. "OK. When do you want to do it?”
"Tomorrow. Can you do that? Can you get the key?”
"I'm entirely sweatless. How 'bout ten o'clock? It's a Christian school, so chapel service is from ten to ten forty-five every Sunday and no one will be in the other buildings. Good?”