Page 78 of Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad World

Noah didn’t reply. Instead, he went straight to the small office Rodrigo used for a bedroom. He didn’t bother knocking, just threw the door open to find his teammate sitting at a small desk near his bed. He was still fully clothed and, from a glance at the screen, was working the case.

“Why aren’t you in bed with Annabelle?” he asked as he swiveled his chair to face Noah.

“How did you…? Never mind. You were on the surveillance feed, weren’t you?”

Rodrigo grinned. “Better me than one of the triplets. Next time, head for the panic room. There aren’t any cameras in there.”

“Yes!”Therese glared at him.“The panic room, where you should be now.”

“I need help.” Noah sat on the edge of Rodrigo’s bed.

Rodrigo’s eyes almost popped out of his head. “And you came to me for advice? Has it been that long for you,amigo?”

“What?” Noah let out an exasperated sigh. “Not sex advice.” He pointed at nothing because only he could see his wife. “Ghost advice.”

“Ah.” Rodrigo visibly relaxed, obviously far more comfortable with this topic of conversation. “What’s the problem?” He reached for his mug and took a drink of coffee.

“Therese feels the need to coach me on my physical relationship with Annabelle.”

Rodrigo spat his coffee all over the desk beside him. “What?”

“See?” Noah glared at his wife. “It isn’t normal.”

“Hell no, it isn’t normal. Nothing about this is normal. Is she here now?”

“She’s standing beside me.”

“I can’t believe you’ve come to him for advice. He doesn’t know you as well as I do. He’s practically a stranger.”

“And the only person on the planet who won’t have me committed for talking to you,” Noah pointed out. A thought occurred to him. “Is yourabuelahere?”

“No, dude.” Rodrigo looked offended. “She haunts my parents. She doesn’t follow me around like…”

“Like Therese does me.” He folded his arms and glared at his wife. “See? Other ghosts don’t do this.”

“We believe him?”Therese was annoyed now.“How do we know his ghost is real, not just in his head?”

Noah hung his head. “Rodrigo, please, I’m dying here. She’s arguing about whether or not yourabuelais a figment of your imagination. In other words, my delusion is questioning yours. I need serious help.”

“No.” Rodrigo sat forward, staring at the space where Therese stood. “You don’t. I told you—this is common in my culture. Therese, you need to leave our boy alone so he can work out what he’s doing with Annabelle.”

“But he’ll screw it up!”

Noah sighed. “She says I’ll screw it up.”

Rodrigo ran a hand through his hair. “We’re gonna need a priest. As far as I can see, the only way out of this is to exorcise her.”

“I’m not a demonic possession.”Therese stamped her foot.“I’m a ghost.”She threw up her hands.“Your friend is a moron.”

“Not going to work,” Noah said.

“Okay.” Rodrigo nodded. “Therese, look around you. Can you see a light? A bright pathway that you need to follow?”

“I’m embarrassed for him,”Therese said.

“No light,” Noah said.

“Well, the only other option I can think of is that she stays here with me while you go do your thing.” Rodrigo sat back in his chair.