Page 62 of Shake Your Boo Thang

I smile back. “He is.”

Callum moves behind me and pulls me into his arms.

“Well done, beautiful,” he whispers in my ear.

And I hold on to him. Grateful for this moment, for this man, and for this life.

CHAPTER

EIGHTEEN

RULE #94: DO NOT WATCH HORROR MOVIES IN A HAUNTED BUILDING

You might be wondering why this rule exists. We wish we knew how to explain this without making you feel embarrassed for even asking.

There are many clear-to-us reasons not to watch horror movies in a haunted building. Firstly, you need to keep your wits about you. You’re hunting ghosts for goodness’ sake. The last thing we need is for you to get distracted as that increases your chances of dying.

Secondly, horror movies give ghosts bad ideas. This may sound ludicrous. We assure you, it is not. Please do not provide spirits with deadly inspiration.

Unless you’re actively looking to die, we suggest you save horror movies for places that aren’t haunted—and that are preferably well lit!

—ExorSquad Employee Safety Manual and Operational Guidelines (Revised Edition)

Callum

After our powerful experience with Edna, Beau and I head back to mine so I can do some sleuthing on my laptop to try and track down some of the people from the initial arson investigation.

The entire way there, Beau is more subdued than usual, and his eyes and nose are still red from crying earlier.

I must admit, even I was deeply moved by what happened. Since the accident, I’ve cursed my ability to see ghosts left, right, and center, but Beau has shown me another side to all of this. We have the ability to help confused and lonely spirits move on and, in some cases, to give their loved ones messages from beyond the grave.

I know Beau was incredibly nervous about telling Edna that her son’s spirit was still lingering around the B&B, but I’m so glad she accepted him and everything he told her. My heart hurts when I think about him as a young lad trying to help his classmate but having the poor boy’s parents react so badly.

I don’t think I could have done what he did at that age. Honestly, I’m starting to think that Beau Montgomery might be one of the bravest and kindest men I’ve ever met. He takes being different in stride and makes the most of his ability to selflessly help others. Hell, he makes a grumpy bastard like me want to do better.

It’s fair to say that I’ve been in a nasty funk since the accident. I retreated inward and pushed a lot of people away. For the first two years, I was just coping with my new reality and dealing with the difficult and painful rehabilitation process. But since then, I’ve struggled to find purpose and meaning in my life again.

When I discovered that ExorSquad advert, a new path opened right before my eyes. If this supernatural business I found myself thrust into was real, then I could turn my knowledge and experience toward investigating such phenomena. Not quite your typical criminal investigation, but better than nothing.

When I unlock the door to my flat, Poirot comes scurrying out, yowling at me for his breakfast.

“Aye, aye, aye. You’ve made yourself loud and clear,” I tell him as I go to the kitchen and treat him to his favorite wet food. In his defense, I am a couple of hours past his usual mealtime, and he’s making his displeasure known.

The savory wet food, however, appeases him. He chows down like I’ve been starving him for days. What a lovable wee furry brat.

“Sorry we kept you from your breakfast, Monsieur Poirot,” Beau says, smiling at him.

“Make yourself comfortable,” I tell him as I put on the kettle to make some tea.

Once that’s started, I bring my laptop to the breakfast bar countertop. Beau sits beside me on a stool as I start scouring the internet for signs of the people from the list. Nearly fifty years later, this proves to be a rather daunting task.

We hunt through social media profiles, LinkedIn accounts, and news articles drawing up a long list of potential matches in the appropriate age ranges, and then Google-stalking them to narrow down the results. It’s time-consuming and tedious, but we keep at it.

We take a break at lunchtime, and I order us some pizza.

Once our bellies are full, we hit the internet search with renewed energy. At around four o’clock, we manage to narrow down to a likely candidate for Ken Armstrong, the bouncer in the interviews who’d clocked out before the fire began.

Seventy or so now, the Ken Armstrong we found keeps an active social media account where he posts videos and pictures giving people tips for how to stay fit by weightlifting in their senior years.