Dead Air by Michelle Schusterman (best books under 200 pages txt) 📕

were going to walk down the boardwalk and look for a pizza place Hailey swears she saw yesterday.” Jamie glanced at my bare arms. “Do you want to get a jacket?”

“Nah, I’m good.”

We set off down the boardwalk, the cold, salty wind whipping my face and arms. The ponytail and barrettes were a good call, I decided.

“Are you sure you’re not cold?” Jamie asked again. I shook my head vigorously, spreading my arms out wide. My T-shirt billowed around me like ship sails, and Hailey giggled. We talked about Crimptown for the rest of the walk, and by the time Hailey spotted the pizza place, I’d gone over the entire story about Lidia and Sonja in excruciating detail.

While we worked our way through an enormous pizza with ham and extra cheese, I outlined my theory about Roland for Hailey—that he’d fired Emily just because he was jealous that she was in love with Sam, but when the ratings spiked, he realized it was a great way to get publicity. So he set Carlos up by publishing that fake exposé in his name, then found some way to scare off Bernice.

“And now he’s going to try to get rid of my dad and bring Emily back,” I finished, dragging my crust across my plate to soak up the cheese grease. “He’s delusional.”

“Should we tell someone?” Hailey asked. “Our dad?”

“No,” I said quickly. “Not yet, anyway. If your dad finds out what Roland’s been doing, it might just make him want to cancel the show even more.”

“What about Lidia?” Jamie suggested, and I frowned.

“Maybe . . .” I popped the last piece of crust into my mouth. “Let’s ask Oscar first. Where is he, anyway?”

Jamie shrugged. “We played video games for a little while after you left, but he said he wasn’t feeling good, so he went back to his room. Hopefully he didn’t catch Lidia’s cold.”

“Oh.” I chewed slowly, thinking. Lidia had definitely been looking ill since Crimptown. I pictured her crumpling to the ground, the ghost of Sonja stepping out of her body, helped by another ghost . . . a boy . . .

“Who do you guys think the third ghost was?” I blurted out. “The boy ghost in the photo?”

Hailey’s eyes brightened and she sat up a little straighter. “I have a theory,” she said seriously. “Sonja and Red Leer weren’t the only ones who died during the fight, right? Other women died, and some of the prisoners, and some of Red Leer’s men. I was thinking maybe . . .” Casting a glance around the near-empty pizza place, she lowered her voice. “I was thinking maybe it was her brother.”

“Whose brother?”

“Sonja’s!” she said eagerly. “Bastian Hillebrandt. Red Leer kidnapped him, right? He was one of the prisoners, and he was really young!”

“But I don’t think he died in the tunnels,” Jamie pointed out.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure when Dad interviewed the tour guide he said Bastian survived thanks to his sister,” I added.

“Aw.” Hailey’s face fell, and Jamie and I snickered. “Well, I mean I’m glad he wasn’t killed,” she added hastily. “I just really thought he was the ghost.”

“The ghost reached out to catch her when she stumbled,” I mused. “I don’t think he was one of Red Leer’s men. Maybe he was just one of the other prisoners who died.”

“Hang on!” Hailey exclaimed. “Do you still have the paper I wrote all the Ouija messages on?”

“Yeah, I think so.” I dug the paper out of my pocket, pushed the empty pizza tray to the side, and spread it out in the center of the table.

KEEP HER AWAY FROM THE MEDIUM

13 Xs

H E L L O

Is this Sonja?—YES

How many spirits?—3

G A T H E R T H E W O M E N

F R E E T H E M—NO

Is Sonja here?—NO

Who is this?—L E E R

Third ghost here?—YES/NO

F R E E T H—(Leer & ghost #3 fighting?)

K E E P H E R A W A Y F R O M T H E M E D I U M

“Look,” Hailey breathed, tapping the bottom of the page. “After Sonja left and Red Leer was moving the planchette, the third ghost tried to take over. Keep her away from the medium.” She stared at me. “Whoever the third ghost is, he was with you in the theater. He gave you the same message there, too.”

“So . . .” I chewed my lip. “You think maybe he’s not a Crimptown ghost?”

Jamie shrugged. “He could be—the theater’s got one of the entrances to Crimptown. Or he could be the show’s ghost.” He grinned at me. “Or maybe he’s haunting you.”

“What?” I said, startled. The Thing leaned closer, and I shifted uncomfortably.

Hailey bounced a little in her seat. “Aw, maybe he’s your ghost.” She sighed dreamily. “Lucky you.”

I stared at her, then burst out laughing. “You guys are both totally insane.”

“Wait a minute,” Jamie said. “The camera—remember? You were with the crew when the camera started acting weird. Thirteen Xs. And that was on the boardwalk, far from the theater and way above Crimptown.”

“He followed you!” Hailey placed her hand on her heart. “How romantic.”

“Yeah, a ghost stalker,” I said, trying and failing to keep a straight face. “That’d be very romantic and not at all creepy. So what do you think his thirteen Xs meant?”

Jamie opened his mouth, but Hailey cut him off, flapping her hands wildly. “Ohmigod, thirteen kisses! Thirteen kisses!”

I half-laughed, half-groaned. Jamie shook his head, his expression solemn. “It’s the kiss of death, Kat.”

“Thirteen of them.” Hailey gave me a wicked grin, ducking when I threw my napkin at her.

“We should head back soon,” Jamie said, glancing at the clock on the wall. “I told Dad we’d check in at eight.”

Hailey snorted. “Yeah, like he’d notice if we didn’t.” I glanced at her in surprise as she slid out of the booth. “I’m gonna use the restroom first, okay?”

“Sure.” Jamie watched her go, his brow slightly furrowed.

“What was that about?” I asked.

He blinked a few times. “What?”

“Hailey seems kind of . . .” I paused, unsure of how to say it. “Well, upset