“What do you mean?”
“I mean, ghosts usually have unresolved issues, unfinished business keeping them from moving into the light,” I said.
He stared at me blankly.
“You've never seen the light.” Of course not. If he could only see one ghost, and she was still here, he'd have had no opportunity to do so. “Well, look, it's there. It works, trust me. There's a system. All you have to do is figure out what she wants, what issues are holding her here and—”
He shook his head with a harsh laugh. “You're not getting it. Her unresolved business? She wants to be alive again. Isn't that what they all want?”
I didn't know what to say. If that was the case, there wasn't much hope for Erin. She must have been holding on to her in-between state with sheer strength.
“As long as she's with me, someone can hear and see her,” Edmund said wearily. “She can have indirect contact with the living world. I've tried to leave, but she always finds me.”
Erin was using her brother as a lifeline. I was beginning to see why he was stuck and why my dad hadn't called the Order down on him. She was wrong to be taking advantage the way she was, but how could you ask him to turn on his sister?
“And from what your dad told me about his gift — and yours, too, I guess — with someone like you, she'd have the ability to touch stuff again, pick things up.” He sighed. “That's one step closer.”
“That doesn't happen with you?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Your dad didn't understand it either.”
I was beginning to wonder if he was even a ghost-talker at all. The ability didn't develop overnight, at least not that I'd ever heard of. He could see and hear only one ghost, and he didn't have to deal with the added effect of giving her physicality, probably the most common (and dangerous) effect of our gift. It sounded more like he was being haunted by someone he was specially connected to. The twin thing, operating even postlife, perhaps? Like he'd pulled her spirit to him, and the bond between them allowed them to communicate still.
“Don't worry. Now that she's tried it with you once, and it didn't work, she probably won't try again,” he said, trying to be reassuring. “Besides, we need to be moving on anyway. We've stayed in one place for too long as it is.” He stood up and shoved his chair back in place at the table.
I shook my head. “If you stay, maybe we can find a way to—”
“Someone's going to run the numbers soon, like the Order did when they sent your dad to investigate. Too many hauntings, too close together. It raises a red flag with the statistics they track, I guess. He covered for us last time, but it'll happen again, and I'm betting we won't be as lucky with whoever they send to investigate.”
Actually, given what I knew about the Order and the dwindling number of those qualified enough to be considered full members, he and Erin might be safer than they thought just from the Order's sheer lack of manpower to investigate things like wonky statistics. But that wasn't what caught my attention. “Too many hauntings? Why would you have any control over that?”
He looked uncomfortable. “I thought you understood. She's the only one I can see.”
I still wasn't getting it.
“I can't go out and find business on my own,” he said with exaggerated patience. “She passes messages along from those she finds, but sometimes making a connection between a ghost and someone who lives locally and is willing to come in… It's a bit iffy.”
In other words, Erin didn't feel like doing the work, and without her eyes and ears, he couldn't do it for himself.
“So, sometimes we have to help things along,” he said, studying the carpet with more intensity than it deserved.
“Only when we need the money,” he said defensively. “And it keeps her busy.”
“Depends on what the newspaper says,” he mumbled.
And Misty had probably been featured prominently in the articles about Alona's tragic, untimely death, as her distraught best friend.
“What, like, if they have money?” Misty didn't have money, but it wouldn't take much research to figure out her parents were probably doing okay.
He didn't respond, just shifted his weight awkwardly.
“And then once you've scared them, you send them that stupid letter and coupon, bringing them right to your door.” It was brilliant. And utterly creepy.
“Do you think this is fun for me?” he demanded. “I'd have a regular job if I could, but she won't let me! Besides, it's not your problem anymore,” he said pointedly. “As soon as Erin gets back, we're leaving, remember?”
