GHOST TEAM LEADER: Smart-ass.
I climbed into the SUV, glancing into the back at my parents. Mom looked frustrated, and Dad looked like he’d been pacifying her—both familiar actions and reactions. Ones that went back decades and had nothing to do with the fact that I’d just made them wait fifteen minutes, although I was pretty sure it was what had started the conversation.
I did the one thing I didn’t want to do. I smiled and asked them how classes were going. It was worth it when Mom’s face changed from an almost scowl to pleasure. She dove into a discussion about the prestigious college in Ireland they were guest professors at for the year. They talked about the differences between the students and the faculty there versus the one at Wilson-Jacobs College here in the States, where they’d taught my entire life.
It was never a surprise to me that my parents were well-liked by their students. They were dynamic, attractive, and impassioned. Mom energized the undergraduates with various Gaelic and Celtic stories and legends, while Dad bestowed the gift of languages and cultures to them.
While they’d been hip-deep in the world of academia, I’d been traveling the world, wrapping up the tour. We’d coordinated our arrival back in the States so we could drive home together.
“How was Japan?” Dad asked.
“It was Paris.” Dad seemed embarrassed by my correction, and I softened it with a smile, adding on, “It was good.”
It had been good—until the critics had started tearing at me.
“When do you leave again?” Mom asked.
“I have to be in New York for the New Year’s Eve show. Then, I’ll be in L.A. for a few weeks, wrapping up the live episodes ofFighting for the Starsand attending a couple of award shows. After that, I’ll have a break.”
“I wish you’d been able to come home more over the last few months,”Mom said, her worry for Cassidy showing as it always did.
When they’d first told Cass and me about the guest professor positions in Ireland, I’d promised to come home more often. I’d promised because Cass had made me. She hadn’t wanted to be the reason they passed up a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and it had felt like a fair compromise at the time. A lie to my parents to give my sister what she craved: time to be an adult.
In my mother’s book, I’d smashed all my promises to hell when I’d extended the international tour for five more stops. It wasn’t anything new to our relationship. Mom expected me to drop the ball when it came to Cassidy. The trust she gave me was always tissue-paper thin and easily punctured.
My only solace was that Cassidy had insisted she was doing fine. As if she could hear my thoughts, my phone buzzed with a text from her.
CASS: Where are you?
ME: Just leaving the terminal. We should be home in about an hour. Miss me that much?
CASS: I’m freaking out.
Cassidy wasn’t really a freak-out kind of person. She was a buckle-down-and-get-things-done kind of person. She’d gone from graduating at the top of her class at college to spearheading a campaign on nutrition for the local clinic, all at twenty-three.
ME: Why? What’s up?
CASS: Promise you won’t take their side.
ME: Cass, now you’re freakingmeout. What the hell?
CASS: I shouldn’t have said anything. Forget it.
ME: Not likely. Did you destroy the house?
CASS: God no, nothing like that.
ME: What could angelic you possibly have done that would upset them?
CASS: I’m hardly an angel, big brother.
Like it or not, our mother would always see her that way.
ME: Tell me what’s going on.
CASS: I’m just nervous. It’ll be fine. I’ll see you soon.
Cass was never nervous. Calm. Driven. But not the anxious type. So, for her to be jittery meant something big was up. But even after multiple prompts, she stayed silent. I stared out the window, wondering what the heck was going on with her. Mom and Dad were chatting in the background, oblivious to my inner turmoil, but Marco looked over at me a couple of times with a raised eyebrow.
