Novah was breathing hard and sweating and cursing by the time she got all the boxes inside her place.
Samantha popped into the living room. “I was wondering what all that noise was. I could barely hear my show. I’m glad you like subtitles or I would’ve missed the big reveal.”
Novah smirked. “I’m so sorry my struggle was bothering you.”
“What is all this?” Samantha asked.
“It’s what Rachel left for me. She hid information in a couple of the books.”
“Then why didn’t she just leave you those specific books instead of all of them?”
“I’m assuming so it wasn’t as obvious that any of the books are special.”
“Oh, I get it. Smart.”
Novah sighed. “Yeah. But it’s going to take forever. I know the title of one of the books that has information for me, but to find the others, I’ll have to search through each one unless Rachel reappears and tells me which ones I should be looking for.”
“That’s going to take forever.”
Novah groaned. “I know. I think I’ll look into her brother first before I go through all this. From what I understand, everything she sent me is about psychics, so there’s not a rush on it.”
“I’d help you if I could.”
“I know, kiddo. And believe me, I’d appreciate it. But go back to your show. I’ll come join you in a bit when I’m ready for a break.”
“I can keep you company if you want.”
“That’s okay. I know you’ve been excited about that show for a while.”
“It’s so good.”
“I can’t wait to check it out.”
Samantha smiled before she bounded away back to Novah’s bedroom. Maybe it was time to set up a better space for Samantha. Novah knew she couldn’t keep her ghost kid forever, but she wasn’t sure how to help her move on and Samantha should have a special place to hang out in while she was still here.
Or would it give her even more ties to this sort of purgatory and make it even more difficult for her to move on?
Maybe Rachel had some advice about the idea.
For now, it was time to deep dive into Rogelio Diaz and figure out what he’d been up to around the time of Rachel’s death.
Chapter Sixteen
An hour later, Samantha came back into the living room, and her eyes widened in shock. “What happened in here?”
Novah looked around and her jaw dropped. “Uh, I guess I got carried away with research.”
“The floor is covered in printouts and post-its.”
“It is.”
“What are you doing?” Samantha asked.
“Looking into Rachel’s brother.” Novah winced at the mess she had to clean up.
“What did you find?”
“That he was in Roswell the day she died.” Something he’d lied about.
He’d claimed he hadn’t been back in Roswell in over a year.
“How do you know that?”
“Social media.” Novah was grateful Rogelio didn’t seem to understand how much information he was putting out there.
He hadn’t turned off the location sharing on any of his accounts.
“I should’ve started with his social media instead of looking into his history first. I’m getting way better information on his accounts.”
“So? Is he guilty?”
Novah shrugged. “I don’t know yet. I just discovered he was here in town the day she died. Now I need to find out where he was at the time she died.”
“What if that’s not on there?”
“I have no idea.”
Probably contact Dorothy and see what she could dig up.
Novah was starting to think she should’ve done that from the beginning based on the condition of her living room floors and the empty ink cartridges in her printer.
“I look a little obsessive, don’t I?”
“A little. But at least you showered recently and your hair hasn’t gotten too bad yet. You don’t have mustard stains all over your clothes.”
“We really need to get your back on the audiobooks and off TV for a while.”
Samantha shook her head. “Nope. Well, have fun. My commercial break is probably over. Man, I really wish I had hands so I could fast forward.”
Novah shook her head with a smile before it fell off her face as she stared at Rogelio’s smug looking face on a photo he posted, timestamped for the time of Rachel’s death. He went to that McDonalds that looked like a spaceship and someone took a photo of him in front of it.
He couldn’t have killed Rachel.
For Galileo’s sake. All this research for nothing? She still had no answers for Rachel.
A knock on the door interrupted her spiral into frustration.
Samantha popped back into the living room. “Are you expecting someone?”
“No. Can you check and see who it is?”
Samantha nodded before approaching the door and sticking her head through it. She jerked back inside with wide eyes. “It’s that agent.”
“Shatner! He can’t catch me looking into Rogelio.” Novah scrambled to gather all the papers scattered across her floor, shoving them into her storage ottoman.
Hopefully he wasn’t here with a warrant.
Once she had all the mess cleaned up and the websites closed out on her computer, she hurried to the door and opened it.
“Agent Smith. What are you doing here?”
How many times had she asked him this question in the last week?
“I came to talk to Rogelio Diaz and something he mentioned made me think I’d find what I was looking for up here.”
“And what’s that?”
“The cipher.”
“What?”
Sweet merciful Diana Prince, this could not be happening.
“I got to thinking about the location of the files. How it was under her bookshelf. Where else did it makes sense to hide the cipher but in one of the books on the same shelf?”
“Right. And Rogelio told you I got all her books in the will?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have a subpoena?” Novah asked.
Smith shook his head. “No. But I hoped you’d let me have a look anyway. I won’t mess up anything or take anything but the cipher with me.”
If she said no, she worried it would make him more suspicious.
His timing could not have been worse.
How was he able to keep doing this? Right as she was about to get her hands on Rachel’s information, he kept swooping in a ripping it out of her grasp.
“Now’s not the best time. How about I keep my eye out for it and I’ll give you a call if I find anything?”
That way she could make copies of the cipher before turning it over.
He was really starting to irritate her, constantly turning up like a bad penny.
“I guess that’ll work. When do you plan on going through all of them? Are you sure you don’t need help?”
“Positive. Leave me your card, and I’ll call you as soon as I find something. I’m planning to go through them today. I can’t live with these boxes all over the place.”
Agent Smith reached for his wallet and knocked his badge off his belt. It flopped open on the floor and Novah swooped down to scoop it up, ignoring his protest.
Her brow furrowed at how light it was and when she took a closer look, she gasped, stumbling back away from him.
“FB1? One? You aren’t FBI. Do you even work for the government?”
Chapter Seventeen
She was such an idiot. She should’ve guessed he was a fraud based on his weird approach to investigating, his sunglasses, getting help from a civilian.
“I can explain.” He held his hands up after shoving the badge back in his pocket.
Novah backed up, her heart racing, fear zipping up and down her spine. “I think you should leave before I call the real cops.”
He followed her into her apartment. “You’re going to want to hear what I h
ave to say.”
She kept backing up. “What? You’re CIA? MI6? NSA? MIB?”
“None of the above. I’m from FB1.”
She shook her head. “That’s not a real thing.”
“It is. It’s just not strictly affiliated with the government. Or with anything, really.”
“What in outer space does that mean?” Novah threw her hands into the air.
“It means I know you can see ghosts. I know you’re a psychic.”
Terror made her ice cold. “What are you talking about? Are you crazy? Just because I’m fascinated with the paranormal doesn’t mean I’m going to engage with whatever nonsense you’re selling. Is this some kind of con?”
“I can see ghosts too. I know Rachel is still hanging around and I know you have a ghost child living with you. She just stuck her head through the door.”
“What? I don’t understand.”
“I’m a psychic too. I can see auras which is why I wear the sunglasses. It helps block out all the colors.”
She wasn’t ready to admit anything about herself, so she changed the subject. “What’s FB1?”
“It’s an organization founded by psychics to help keep the masses or any governments from discovering us. We help ghosts cross over, we investigate deaths that appear supernatural in nature. I was actually here for the sheep and when I heard about Rachel, I hurried over to take charge.”
“So you pretend to be FBI on cases like that and take over from local police?”
“Pretty much. I’m based in Santa Fe, but the sheep brought me here.”
“I see.”
“I get it’s hard to trust me. And I will say, I’m pretty certain Rachel’s death had nothing to do with what she was, but since she was one of us, I’m still going to find out who did this. And to do that, I need your help. You don’t have to tell me anything about yourself or what you can do. You don’t have to admit anything. But please help me find Rachel’s killer.”
“Fine.” Novah opened her ottoman and pulled all the papers from it.
He had information she needed and he definitely wasn’t going to arrest her for investigating behind his back.
“What’s all this?”
“Research into Rogelio. And the other suspects.”
“Any hits?” Smith asked.
“Nope. Rogelio has an alibi. Whatever killed the sheep had completely different marks and besides, the autopsy said BBQ fork. Though I suppose that could’ve just been their best guess.”
“No. They found metal particles in the wound. It was definitely a bbq fork. How did you get the autopsy report?”
“Doesn’t matter. If you’re not a government agent, could there be an actual one in town who was sent to silence her?”
“No. They wouldn’t have taken her out. She dabbled in a little hacking and posting on conspiracy sites, but nothing they would’ve killed her for. The government doesn’t tend to silence conspiracy theories because it turns them into a martyr for the cause. It just causes more theories to spread.”
“Right. What about Martha?”
“Who’s Martha?”
“Rachel’s old friend? I’m not really sure yet. She was at the will reading. Rachel left her a letter that upset her a lot. I have no idea what it said, but she read it in front of Rogelio and I.”
“Odd. Rachel has no ideas?”
Novah snorted, still mad at the dang ghost. “Not that she’s shared with me. But she hasn’t been super helpful or clear with what she knows.”
“Let’s go over what we both have and see what we can come up with. Then we can look into this Martha lady.”
“Uh ok.”
Samantha finally felt it was safe enough to come into the living room. “Who are you?”
Smith smiled at her. “I’m Deacon. Who are you?”
“Samantha. What do you want with Novah?”
“Her help in figuring out what happened to Rachel.”
Samantha gave him her best threatening glare. “I may not be able to physically mess with you, but I can be really annoying. You better not hurt her.”
“I would never. I always protect psychics if I can.”
“Good. Do you like Doctor Who?”
A smile twitched on his lips. “I do, actually.”
“Who’s your favorite Doctor? And don’t say Thirteen just because you think that’s what I want to hear because I’m a girl. I want the real answer.”
“Nine is my favorite. His jacket was awesome.”
Samantha’s nose wrinkled. “That’s the wrong answer.”
“So, I should’ve said Thirteen?”
“No. You should’ve said Twelve. He was hilarious.”
“Eh.” Smith...or Deacon shrugged.
“I’m going back to my show. I can’t handle this and him with his horrible opinions.” Samantha turned on her heel and disappeared back into Novah’s room.
Agent Smith raised his brows with an amused smirk on his lips. “Should I ask?”
Novah shrugged. “She’s really into TV. Mainly because that’s about all she can do.”
“Who’s your favorite?”
“Thirteen. Definitely.”
“She was pretty awesome.”
“Anyway, enough chitchat. Did you bring the files with you?”
“I did.”
“Good. Because I know the title of the book the cipher is in.”
“Great. Let’s get these boxes sorted.”
Hours later, they’d made little progress.
Novah groaned. “Great galaxies. Martha has an alibi too. She checked in at the same McDonalds as Rogelio. They were there together.”
“You think there’s something going on between them?” Deacon asked.
“Possibly. Strangely though, they didn’t act like they knew each other very well at the lawyer’s office.”
“Too bad you couldn’t get a look at the letter.”
Her brows rose. “Can you take your fake badge and get a look?”
“Wasn’t he going to destroy the letter?”
“Yeah.”
Deacon shook his head. “And even if he didn’t, attorney-client privilege would keep me from getting a peek. I’d need a warrant or subpoena which a judge wouldn’t give me anyway even if I was a real agent.”
“Maybe Rachel will tell us what she wrote. If she ever shows back up again. How’s it coming on the cipher?”
“My program is only at forty percent. It’s going to be a little longer.”
“Shooting stars, this is torture.”
“Doing it by hand would take a lot longer.”
“True. Which I guess is that I would’ve been doing if you hadn’t shown up.”
“Let’s take a break. Maybe it’ll give us fresh eyes.”
Novah nodded. “Yeah. Sounds good. Mine are burning. I could use some air.”
“Want to go on a walk?” Deacon asked.
“I have a better idea. Come on.”
“Okay.”
“Samantha, we’re going up to the roof. Want to come?” Novah yelled down the hall.
“Nope. The new episode just started,” Samantha yelled back.
“All right. If you need me, just pop up there.”
“Okay.”
“The roof?”
“Yeah. Sam and I hang out up there pretty often.”
“Lead the way.”
Novah led Deacon out into the hallway and up to the roof where her usual set up sat untouched. The blankets and solar lights and telescope.
“This is pretty great.”
“We come out here most nights. I’ve been teaching Sam about astronomy. It’s pretty relaxing.”
“So you’re really into space stuff?”
Novah nodded. “Yeah. And fantasy. And actual science. I’m just a giant nerd.”
“I noticed based on some of the weird type of cursing you do.”
It was a weird thing she started when she used to get in trouble with her parents for common slang. So she created
her own.
“Right. So I have at least a million questions. I just found out yesterday what I was even called. I’ve been searching for people like me for my whole life and suddenly, I’ve met two. Granted, one of you died, but you’re still alive for now.”
“And hopefully for a while. I’ll answer whatever questions you have, but there’s no rush. I know it’s a lot.”
“I might need to type out a list. My brain is racing in circles too much for me to gather my thoughts.”
“Right. We’re out here for a break.”
“Right. It can wait. I guess.”
Chapter Eighteen
THE NEXT DAY, NOVAH went back to work like normal, trying to put everything out of her mind except donuts. She and Deacon hadn’t found anything else that helped them discover the killer.
And Rachel still hadn’t returned to help.
Every time they found a suspect, they almost immediately ruled them out. It was frustrating. They were missing something, but whatever it was, Rachel’s files didn’t help.
Not with solving her murder anyway.
But there was a lot of information about psychics all across the world. Different types and abilities. Where they were located. The only thing Rachel didn’t record were their real names. She gave them all codenames and until they could talk to Rachel, they wound’t know who was who.
Deacon was really excited about it.
Novah wasn’t able to muster up quite as much enthusiasm. It seemed dangerous to have that information recorded, encoded or not.
Samantha appeared, making Novah almost drop a platter of freshly made donuts.
Thankfully, she was alone in the shop since it was just past the before work crowd and too early for the lunch crowd. Talia wasn’t even there yet.
“What’s wrong? Everything okay?”
“Someone’s in our apartment.”
“What?”
“I don’t know who they are, they have a ski mask thing on, but they broke in and started going through your stuff so I came right here.”
“Okay. I’m going.” Novah grabbed her phone and dialed Deacon as she flipped the sign to closed and locked up, leaving everything in the shop to deal with later.
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