Soul Insurance Page 20

  "Holy crap," she said. "There are souls laying down in the air up there."

  He looked up at the balls of light in the night sky. He was certainly glad he was alive, but would love to experience a baseball game from an angle only a spirit could achieve.

  Their seats were in right field, which were relatively empty. Connor had no doubt as the game went on the few people around them would move to the closer sections. The usher checked his ticket and led Connor down the steps.

  "Thanks. This is a weird question, I know, but is there a way to make the seat next to me stay down?"

  The usher narrowed his eyes in confusion. "Why?"

  "For my friend."

  The usher looked at Brooke, noticing her for the first time. He spoke slowly and sarcastically. "You want me to fix the seat so the soul here can sit next to you?"

  "Yeah, if that's possible."

  "Uh, no, I'm not gonna do that. I can't, anyway. That could be someone else's seat."

  "It's okay, Connor. I don't need to sit down."

  "Actually, that's my seat," Connor said, holding up a second ticket.

  An amused smile crossed the usher's face. "You…bought a ticket for a soul?"

  "Yeah, now if you could help me—"

  Connor couldn't finish his sentence. The usher laughed in his face before turning around and walking away.

  "Asshole," Connor said.

  It took him nearly a minute to wedge his keys in such a way to keep the seat down. Brooke hovered over him, not saying a word. Satisfied with his work, he leaned back and looked up at his friend.

  "What?"

  "You actually bought me a ticket?" She settled in next to him.

  "Yeah. I knew we'd have some empty seats over here, but didn't want to take the chance of someone sitting next to me."

  He clasped his hands together as the game started. He pointed out things to her she didn't normally see on TV, like the bullpen. She seemed excited, but he wished he could see the look on her face.

  "So, is this actually a date?" Brooke asked in between innings.

  "I wouldn't want to call it a date. That might make the whole thing weird."

  She laughed, a sound he never tired of hearing. "Connor, I'm a soul who happens to have a living person as a friend. I think we've already passed weird."

  "I know, but a date adds pressure. I have to try to impress you and stuff like that."

  "You're cute, funny, have a great smile, sweet, thoughtful, and you can hear spirits. It doesn't get much more impressive than that."

  "Well—"

  "Connor, what if I want to call it a date?"

  Normally he would have been nervous. He wasn't smooth with women, whether they were alive or not. But he felt like himself around Brooke. She accepted him for who he was, strangeness and all.

  "Then a date it is."

  They had a great time. A home run landed not far from them, and Brooke shouted and laughed. Connor bought a shirt for a souvenir, and he even had some pictures taken of them with his camera. They didn't stay for the entire game, leaving in the eighth inning to get a head start on the trip home.

  Connor stood outside his car in the Light Rail parking lot as others left around him. Brooke floated above the hood, presumably lounging.

  "I had a great time."

  "Me, too. Normally, I'd take you home and walk you to your door."

  "That's it? No goodnight kiss or anything?"

  "If I could figure out that was okay, but I'm a little dumb."

  "For the record, it would be okay. You could kiss me."

  The thought of them kissing was a strong one, and Connor had to concentrate to push the image away. He wasn't sure of what to do next.

  "Are you staying at my place tonight?"

  She laughed. "Now that's how you end a date. I will, but I have a stop to make first. I'm gonna swing by Soul-Ful for a few minutes."

  "Soul-Ful? Really?"

  "Yeah, just to poke around. I know I'm probably thinking about it more than I should, but I want to know how a blind woman ended up in a body she didn't buy."

  He nodded. "Okay. You want a ride?"

  "No, thank you. It's a beautiful night to fly."

  He opened the car door. "Cool. I had fun. I'm really glad you came with me."

  "Me, too. Thanks for taking me. Give me a hug before you go."

  "A hug? Uh, I don't really know how we'd do that."

  "Let's figure it out. Don't move."

  He stood near the car as Brooke moved from the hood up to the roof and inched closer.

  "Close your eyes."

  He did so, and could sense her moving closer. The light in front of his closed eyelids grew brighter, and stayed there for a several seconds before moving away.

  "I'll let you guess if that was a hug or not," she said, humor in her voice. "I'll see you later."

  Connor rubbed his lips as Brooke floated into the sky and flew away. He watched her as she went, and his eyes fell on the moon as she disappeared out of sight.

  He stood alone in the parking lot as the last people stepped off the train in the distance. It was crazy to have feelings for a woman he couldn't see, couldn't touch. They couldn't possibly have a future of any kind. But it was too late. Brooke was the woman he wanted.

  The drive home was fast. His apartment comforted him as he stepped into the living room. He should have went to sleep. The next day was a work day. But he was too awake, too full of energy. He poured a glass of tea and turned on the evening news.

  The very nature of the late news made him drowsy. No good news, only robberies and murders in the city. His eyes were half shut when a few words caught his attention.

  Missing blind woman.

  Connor leaned forward and stared at the TV. A local woman who taught at a school for the blind had recently gone missing, disappearing on her way home from work. Her name was Lisa Starkley.

  They showed a photo of Lisa, smiling with what he guessed were students. She was somewhere in her forties, attractive, wearing a dark pair of sunglasses. A number flashed on the screen to contact.

  Lisa Starkley was officially a missing person.

  A sinking feeling settled in Connor's stomach. He didn't know why or how Lisa had gone from a blind teacher to a young woman on a trip to London, but he didn't care. He knew nothing about the process of soul insurance, and could only trust Brooke when she said something strange was going on.

  He grabbed his keys and locked the apartment door behind him.

  *****

  Brooke sighed loudly as she wandered the offices of Soul-Ful. She'd had many bad ideas in her lifetime. Spending a night alone with her ex-boyfriend Troy at her apartment wasn't a smart decision, and there was the time she put a sandwich wrapped in aluminum foil in the microwave, but she'd never felt more foolish as she glanced at screen-saver after screen-saver.

  Many employees at Soul-Ful left their computers on, but she couldn't touch any of them. She couldn't move the mouse, or look through any desks or file cabinets. She could barely even see. The only light came from the soft glow of the occasional animated screen-saver, an office window, or her own light she radiated herself. She didn't even know what she was looking for.

  She was going off of a feeling more than anything else. There was a strict process to soul insurance and resurrection, and what she saw earlier in the day with Lisa wasn't possible. Even the president's dying son wouldn't just get a tossed-away body. There were procedures to follow.

  She'd probably find nothing, but it was a great way to forget about Connor.

  She had no hands or lips, no body at all. Her hair, the glasses she felt on her face, her clothes, the sandals, none of it was real, only visible to other souls. But the kiss she shared with Connor was very real to her.

  The look on the usher's face when Connor held up her ticket said it all. The world thought he was crazy. She thought she might be falling for him.

  Brooke shook Connor from her thoughts as she stood in the main office, a
few desks from where she once worked. She still had the lab and storage room to check for anything out of place. The storage room wasn't easy to navigate. It was full of cryo-tubes and catwalks, but she could simply float through the floor and fly around.

  She was halfway through the lobby when a pair of headlights hit her through the front windows. Out of habit she reached up to shield her eyes, even though the light didn't blind her. As the car turned into the side lot she thought she recognized the beat-up Volkswagen.

  She shook her head as she moved through the locked front door and went to the side lot. Connor walked toward her.

  "You just can't stay away from me, can you?" She could flirt with Connor all the time without missing a beat. "What are you doing here?"

  "I just got done watching the news. That woman Lisa from the airport, she's a missing person."

  "In the body she has now?"

  "No. I guess I can't be sure it was the same woman, but a blind teacher named Lisa? Probably not a coincidence."

  "A missing person, like the police are looking for her?"

  "I guess. Something really weird is going on."

  "I know, and I want to find out what it is."

  They both looked up in surprise as another car entered the lot. It didn't pull around to the side where they were, but parked up front near the entrance. Brooke met Connor's confused eyes as they carefully worked their way up the side of the building.

  The car's headlights went out, and it took a moment for Brooke's vision to adjust to the change in light. She thought she saw a head of long blond hair as the figure unlocked the front door and punched in a security code.

  "Is that…Amber?"

  "I think so."

  She laughed. "She hasn't worked late in years. We used to come back to work late all the time when we first started. We'd put on a movie and catch up on paperwork. Wesley came in one morning and found us sleeping at our desks."

  "I don't think she's working late."

  "Well, what else would she be doing?"

  "Let's go find out."

  "You want to follow her?"

  "Yeah. Stay back a little. It's like having a spotlight on my back."

  "Aren't you so funny? You've never met a sexier spotlight."

  "This is true. Come on."

  Brooke rolled her eyes as she followed Conner, keeping a few paces back. He half crouched as he moved slowly through the grass and kept under the windows, looking ridiculous as he went. In fact, he was the one who would look suspicious, sneaking around like he was. Whatever was going on, Brooke was certain Amber had nothing to do with it. They would look through the front window into the lobby and see her going into the main office.

  She was wrong.

  She didn't see Amber, but saw the door leading to the lab slowly close shut. Connor didn't notice, and carefully peered into the lobby through the corner of the glass.

  "Do you see where she went?"

  "Yeah, she's going to the lab. Why is she going there?"

  He opened the front door slowly.

  "Connor!"

  "Keep your voice down."

  "Why? Only you can hear me."

  "Ah, I forgot. Still, it's freaking me out."

  "Are you really going into my work?"

  "Yeah. You coming with me?"

  She sighed and followed him once again. He held the door open for her, a gesture which brought a smile to her face. He stopped in the middle of the lobby and shrugged.

  "Where's this lab?"

  "This way. You follow me this time."

  The hallway to the lab was quiet and dark. The only sound was Connor's shoes echoing around them. He tried to walk slow and steady to keep the noise down. If Brooke weren't with him he wouldn't be able to see at all.

  The lights came on all around them. Connor froze and put his hand on the wall, looking for an office to hide in.

  "Relax," Brooke said. "She's just turning on the lights. All the switches are around the corner up there."

  "What if she comes back this way?"

  "Then just tell her you couldn't resist her and you had to see her."

  "Funny."

  Connor steadied himself in an office doorway as the floor began to vibrate. A motivational poster on the wall started to shake.

  "What the hell? Is it an earthquake?"

  "No. The storage room is active, shifting cryo-tubes around." Brooke didn't know what was going on, but had one sure conclusion. "Amber's in the control room. Just take a right at the end of the hall here and you're there."

  Connor made it to corner first. He peeked around the corner, Brooke's head directly behind his. Amber was leaving the control room, and Brooke and Connor pulled back to avoid being seen. She went into the next room.

  Brooke's stomach felt like it collapsed in her stomach. There was only one thing Amber could be doing, but Brooke still had trouble bringing herself to believe it.

  "That's the main lab," she said. "Let's go."

  Brooke led Connor down the hall to the control room. He didn't make a sound, finally getting the hang of sneaking on his toes. Connor quickly went into the lab, Brooke squeezing in after him. Her arm passed through the door as it closed.

  "It's like NASA in here," Connor said.

  "I know. Duck down before she looks up and sees you."

  He disappeared under a desk, hidden from the main lab. She joined him, and waited a moment before pushing her head through the top of the desk, looking out at the lab. A male body was on the table, prepped for a resurrection. The view brought back memories of Brooke's old life, seemingly so long ago. The only difference was Amber. She was holding her cell phone to her ear as she circled the table and unhooked the wires with her other hand.

  Brooke once again ducked under the desk to join Connor. He didn't risk taking a look, and kept his eyes on Brooke.

  "What's happening?" he whispered.

  She said nothing, merely closed her eyes. She didn't know the details, but one thing was certainly clear. Amber was not performing a soul resurrection.

  The glass separating the control room and lab muffled her voice, but Brooke could still hear her friend.

  "It's me. Same door as always. Everything's ready, just hurry up."

  Brooke was too stunned to move. She sat still and silent as Connor studied the room. He finally risked taking a quick peek over the desk, and quickly ducked down.

  "This is where they do soul resurrections," she said, answering his question before he asked it. "Bodies are pulled up from storage, the souls touch them, and technology does the rest."

  "I've seen it on TV. She unhooked all the wires. Does that mean—?"

  "Yes."

  Connor jumped slightly when he heard the lab door open. Brooke looked over the desk to see Amber facing two large men. One had bright red hair while the other was bald. They both looked physically imposing, almost angry, until the bald one smiled.

  "Amber. It's been a while."

  "Screw you. Let's get this over with."

  The redhead took a menacing step forward, but his partner stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

  "Don't. The boss wouldn't like it if he found out you were beating women."

  Brooke hid once again, but kept her ears open. Connor also listened intently.

  "Is this it?"

  "No. This body is just asleep, waiting for a kiss from a prince. You want to give it a shot?"

  There was a laugh. "Wow, you sure love your sarcasm, don't you? You don't like us very much?"

  "There's your body. Take it and go."

  "Listen, about last month. That was nothing personal."

  "You killed my best friend!"

  Brooke and Connor looked at each other at the same time. Like before, it somehow seemed he stared right into her eyes. She imagined the look of horror on her face mirrored his own expression.

  "No, we didn't. We set your apartment building on fire, and your friend happened to die."

  There was a slap, followed by a sarcast
ic chuckle. Brooke looked up to see Amber rearing back to slap again, only to have her hand caught and flung away.

  "You tried to back out of the deal, and the boss said to give you a message. I'm guessing you got it, because here we all are, happy as hell. Now, did you pick out a nice body this time, and not someone who's right on their deathbed?"

  "And how the hell would I know that? I don't know who's gonna live and die. Every body in this place is here because the clients are elderly."

  "You might want to watch your tone."

  "You might want to take a shower."

  "Come on, baby. One night with me, you'd change your mind completely."

  "You've got what you want. I'm done. Get out of here."

  The two men shared a laugh.

  "You get the feet this time. Let's get moving."

  "Why couldn't it have been a hot bitch, like before?"

  "They can't all be hot bitches. Men die, too."

  "I know, I know."

  Their voices trailed off, and the lights went out. Brooke and Connor were quiet for a moment until he looked at her, empathy in his eyes.

  "Brooke…."

  Emotions poured through her she couldn't completely process. She shoved them deep down, trying to focus on the next single thing she had to do.

  "There's a side exit, down the hall to the left. You follow Amber, and I'll follow those two guys. There's a green sign over the door, so you'll have light. Hurry. Amber's gonna set the alarm any minute."

  "Okay."

  Connor rose to his feet, and Brooke looked to the ceiling above them. She jumped and soared straight up, passing through metal and brick. The first thing she saw when clearing the building was the moon, hidden behind the clouds. The wind moved through her, and she pushed a little higher, more than she normally would have been comfortable with. She fought the sickness in her stomach, and looked down to see a full view of Soul-Ful.

  Amber's car was still parked in front. If she had parked even five rows down from where she was she might have seen Connor's car on the side. On the opposite side of the building near the only loading dock was a van, still running. A door flew open, and the two men emerged, carrying the body. Amber was right behind them. Brooke heard them talking, but not clearly. She flew straight toward them and stopped twenty feet above, not caring if they saw her. The redhead looked up and shielded his eyes, smiling at her.