Damon frowned.
She looked at him in surprise. “Detective, do you ever do anything but frown?”
He glared at her.
“Okay, okay. I shouldn’t tease you. I’m sorry,” she said. “But really, I’m fine. I keep telling you that.”
“And then you tell me things like you’ve been superhungry all day, and you can’t get full,” he said.
“What difference does that make?” Both Wendy and Gabby turned to look at him.
“Nothing, I guess. It’s just, maybe it’s an odd thing.”
“Maybe,” she said. “But hopefully it’s not a bad thing.”
He shook his head. “Just an odd something I heard once.”
“Well, don’t keep us in suspense,” Gabby said lightly. “What did you hear?”
But he didn’t dare tell her. “Oh, nothing,” he said, as he stood. “I’ve disturbed you ladies enough. Please have a good evening.” And, with that, he turned and walked out. He hoped he was wrong, but he remembered hearing something at a psychologists’ forum on some of the more oddball cases that they had seen. One of them, a Dr. Maddy something, had mentioned that detail about, in the presence of psychic ghosts, people have experienced an incredible insatiable hunger. He couldn’t remember exactly what else she had said, but he would find out.
When he returned to his office, he immediately searched for Dr. Maddy. Found the right one obviously, with all the psychic-related mentions about her, including confirmation of the connection between insatiable hunger and ghosts. Damon checked her website for her contact info, but she was booked a year out for consultations. However, she recommended Stefan Kronos, if anybody needed urgent help sooner.
Damon shook his head. Stefan Kronos? His captain would hate this angle.
Chapter Three
“What was that all about?” Wendy asked Gabby, who was busy stuffing raw carrots in her mouth, to which Wendy just shook her head.
When Gabby had finally swallowed, she said, “I have no idea. Something about my appetite bothered him but then, whatever.”
“Are you sure you’re feeling okay?” Wendy asked slowly.
She looked at her friend and frowned. “Don’t you start,” she said. “I’m fine.”
“But you’re even more high energy than usual,” she said.
“Yeah, but I feel like my old self.”
At that, Wendy went silent, lowered her head.
Gabby looked at her friend, worried. “What about that bothers you?” she asked, placing her hands on the counter and glaring at her friend.
“I don’t know,” she said. “You just haven’t been like this in quite a while.”
“In how long?”
“At least since your adoptive father died.”
“Ah,” she said. “Well, maybe I’m finally coming to terms with the fact that I have no father, birth or adoptive or foster or whatever.”
“Maybe,” Wendy said, but her tone was doubtful.
At that, Gabby raised both hands. “If I’m down and depressed, you worry about me,” she said. “Then, if I’m up and happy, you worry about me. Where’s the happy medium here?”
“I know it sounds funny,” Wendy said, “but it’s just … you’re not acting like yourself.”
At that, Gabby stopped and fully faced her. “What does that mean?”
“I don’t know,” Wendy said, frowning. “It’s just that you’re different.”
“Is different bad?”
At that, Wendy didn’t appear to have any answers either. “I wish we hadn’t gone up that stupid mountain,” Wendy said.
“Hey, I’m starting to feel the same way,” Gabby snapped back.
“I don’t know what happened up there, but something did.”
“Well, whatever it was,” she said, “it’s over with. And I’m fine. I don’t know why I’m fine, but I am, and I’m grateful.”
“Me too,” Wendy said with a rush. She got up, hugged her friend again, and said, “Come on. Let me get the cheese out and help you make the nachos.” Together, the atmosphere was restored once again, the two of them laughing and joking, as they made nachos and sat down to eat.
“Where are the others?”
“Well, Liz is working,” Wendy said, “and I have no idea about the other three.”
As it was, nobody else showed up. Not even before they went to bed, which was unusual but not that unusual. Liz had a boyfriend, and she was working late shifts, so she might not even come back tonight. Besides, her boyfriend had a room to himself. There wasn’t much in it, but he had his own bathroom and a hot pot. More important, it was private, so she often stayed over there.
“I’m beginning to wonder if Liz will move out,” Wendy said, as she got ready for bed.
“Maybe, and, if she does, we’ll have to find somebody else in a hurry,” Gabby said. “You know the rent here is outrageous.”
“I know. I can’t imagine trying to pay her share as well. Have you thought about what you want to do after this?”
“No, because this has been our dream since forever. Remember?”
“Oh, I remember,” Wendy said, “and I was willing to go the distance, but I don’t know for how much longer.”
“Ugh,” Gabby said, turning to look at her. “You want to leave?”
“I just feel like we could do so much more with our lives if we weren’t here.”
“I know, and that’s why we said one winter. Remember?”
“I remember,” she said. “It’s almost April. Remember that?”
Gabby frowned. “Meaning?”
“Meaning, when is winter over here? It’s not like we set any guidelines for that.”
“I know,” Gabby whispered. “Let’s not talk about it tonight though, okay?”
“Okay,” she said, “but it’s not something we can keep pushing off.”
“Maybe we can, though.”
“And maybe we can’t.”
With that in mind, the two friends split to their separate bedrooms. As she curled up in bed, Gabby realized that Wendy was right, of course. They had made the decision to come for a winter but had never discussed at what point winter was to be considered over. She hated to think that her best friend would move away because this wasn’t where Wendy wanted to be. But, at the same time, it was exactly where Gabby wanted to be, so she had some decisions to make herself. One of the realities of living here was that it was very expensive, particularly when they had low-end paying jobs.
She groaned on that note, determined to get through the night with some rest and to wake up nice and happy again tomorrow. Soon she drifted off to sleep. The next thing she knew, she heard all kinds of odd sounds in the apartment. She sat up in bed, wondering if one of the windows had been left open. She walked over and opened her door just a hair, only to hear an odd wail coming from the living room. Wendy’s door beside Gabby’s door opened up, and the two of them stared at each other, terrified.
“What the hell is that?” Gabby whispered.