He was climbing the spiral, stone stairwell at a run, taking the steps two at a time, when he saw Angus and Cassandra descending.
“We lost them,” Cassandra informed him, sounding disgusted.
Jack planted himself on the stairs and glowered up at the witch and the Scot.
Then he demanded to know, enunciating his words perfectly clearly, “What. The. Fuck!”
“We’ll talk downstairs, lad,” Angus said in a soft boom.
“What the f**k?” Jack repeated.
“Downstairs.”
“Here,” Jack clipped, “now.”
Angus and Cassandra shared a glance then they looked back at Jack.
“We figured something like this would happen. Belle and you coming back, the children would make an appearance to be sure you were okay,” Cassandra explained, “We gave ourselves a glamour so they wouldn’t sense us and hung out. We both felt her when she arrived in your room.”
Jack ignored the absurd notion that they’d given themselves “a glamour”, whatever the f**k that was, and bit out, “Who?”
“Myrtle,” Cassandra answered.
“We wanted to catch her before she could disappear again so we could ask her some questions,” Angus added.
“So you came charging into our room, likely scaring the hell out of her, and her brother by the sounds of it, which means they’ll disappear again,” Jack snapped.
“We didn’t think she’d get away,” Angus replied.
“Well she f**king well did,” Jack returned.
“That was unexpected,” Cassandra muttered.
Jack’s eyes sliced to the witch, “Unexpected? You’re supposed to be clairvoyant, for f**k’s sake.”
She pressed her lips together and had the grace to look embarrassed.
“After this debacle, I’m supposed to trust that you two can keep my family safe, Belle safe, while ridding this castle of ghosts?” Jack asked and his voice was dangerous.
“So you believe in them now.” Angus grinned his demented grin.
Jack felt his jaw grow hard before he said, “I didn’t see them but I heard the boy and you didn’t answer my question.”
“Well, that’s something, it’ll be better if you believe,” Cassandra put in.
Jack’s angry gaze swung to her, he ignored her comment and commanded, “Perhaps one of you will answer my f**king question.”
“Calm down, mate. It isn’t like this gig is easy. It’s not like it’s a love potion. Ghosts can be unpredictable,” Cassandra told him.
“Especially child ghosts. They’re always the toughest to deal with,” Angus grumbled.
“One of you, I don’t care who,” Jack cut in, “have two seconds to give me one good reason not to toss you out on your asses right f**king now.”
“Cassandra leaves, half of her protection goes with her,” Angus replied swiftly. “It’s connected to her essence. There will be some protection but we’re guessing, considering the unusualness of this job, that you need all you can get, lad.”
Jack glared at the Scot.
“And, regardless of this, Angus is the best in the business. You couldn’t get better,” Cassandra put in.
“Thanks, Cass.” Angus grinned at her.
“Well, it’s the truth,” Cassandra said to Angus.
“I know that. Still, nice to hear,” Angus returned.
“Fucking hell,” Jack muttered.
Angus looked at Jack and his face grew serious. “I promised you, I’d no’ let you down. This is a setback but, Bennett, that promise holds true. I’ll no’ let you down.”
“You need to be patient,” Cassandra added.
“And you need to understand that Belle and my room is off-limits,” Jack returned.
“We can’t –”Cassandra started.
“Off-limits,” Jack repeated firmly.
Cassandra opened her mouth to speak but Angus got there first.
“Cass, let it go,” Angus muttered out the side of his mouth. “If he’s declaring limits, that means he’s no’ kicking us out on our arses.”
“Oh yeah,” Cassandra muttered back.
“Fucking hell,” Jack muttered in return.
Cassandra’s face grew soft and she murmured, “Patience, mate, seriously, you have to trust us.”
Jack was unaffected by her soft look. “I’ll trust you when you give me reason to do so. Until then, you need to know, another stunt like this, you’re gone.”
“Understood,” Cassandra said immediately.
Jack scowled at them both trying to ascertain if they did, indeed, understand. When he could tell by their faces they did, he turned his back on them, stalked down the stairs and to Lila’s room.
The minute he entered, Belle flew to him.
His arms closed around her as her hands settled on his chest and her head tipped back.
“The children?” she asked.
Jack’s gaze slid to Lila then back to Belle. “They’ve disappeared again.”
“Damn it to hell,” Lila muttered.
“Gram’s been telling me that Cassandra and Angus can’t find them,” Belle told him.
Jack put his arm around her shoulders and moved her to the door. “We’ll have a full briefing tomorrow.”
“Do you think they’re okay?” Belle asked as Jack whistled for the dogs and nodded his goodnight to Lila.
He had no idea how to answer her.
Firstly, he now did, indeed, believe there were ghosts, as outrageous as that concept was. He couldn’t believe his ears but he also couldn’t deny he’d heard, distinctly, a young, disembodied voice shouting the name Myrtle.
Secondly, given the fact that they were ghosts, he doubted they were okay.
Lastly, they were being pursued by the Laurel and Hardy of ghost hunters and therefore felt the need to flee then disappear which meant they were seriously not okay.
“I’m sure they’re fine, love,” Jack murmured his lie.
“I hope so,” Belle whispered and before he closed the door behind them, Jack locked eyes with Lila who was biting her lip.
“It’ll be fine,” Jack assured Belle but his words were also meant for her grandmother.
As he closed the door, he saw Lila pull herself up and nod.
Then Jack waited for Belle to say her goodnights to her grandmother before he guided her and their dogs to their bedroom.
And, approximately fifteen minutes later, dogs settled, Belle’s weight heavy in his arms, Jack looked at the clock and saw that it was twelve oh three.