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    I caught David in the mirror staring at me, a strange expression on his face.
    “Sorry again about the Paloma thing,” he said.
    “It would be nice to be able to talk to you about this sort of stuff. I wish I had a friend I could trust that way. I don’t really even talk to Ty about it.”
    “I promise to do better,” he said, sounding sincere. “I will. I want you to tell me everything about the ghosts you see. I think it’s fascinating. That’s why I blab. But no more. I will zip it.”
    When I looked at him, I was surprised to see that he wasn’t smiling. It was one of the few times I had ever seen him so serious.
    “Well, good,” I said.
    He came a little closer.
    “Okay, I’m just going to come clean,” he said. “I told my mom about you, this was a long time ago, promise. Like back when you were dealing with that Kaboom High School thing. Anyway, she wanted me to ask. We were wondering if you see any of my dead relatives around me. You know, like their ghosts.”
    I paused for a moment, looking at him.
    “You told your mom about me?”
    “Well, it just sort of came out,” he said, smiling. “She read about you in her newspaper and I was all like, I work with that girl. I was proud, Abby Craig. That’s all.”
    I scrunched the paper towel into a ball and threw it at his head, but it bounced off his shoulder when he ducked.
    “What?” he said, laughing. “She watches a lot of those ghost shows and she was so excited when I told her. She’s hoping you can see my Aunt Jenny or my grandma or somebody else. So, do you see anyone?”
    He closed his eyes as if summoning spirits.
    “All right,” I said. “Let’s see.”
    I had never seen any ghosts around David, but I looked at him quietly now anyway. His white and gray energy moved in faster waves around him, telling me that he was both excited and nervous about what I might find. Just to make sure he thought I was being thorough, I took my time.
    “No,” I said. “Sorry, but nobody’s there.”
    He looked a little disappointed when he opened his eyes.
    “Really, David,” I said. “It’s a good thing. Some of the ghosts I see are pretty scary.”
    He smiled.
    “Oh, okay. If you say so. I guess I was just hoping. I mean, I really miss my grandma. So just let me know if you see something.”
    “I will,” I said. “Promise. But only if you can keep it a secret. Things have finally gotten back to normal and I like it that way.”
    “Deal,” he said. “Sorry again. And I’m glad those brutal newspaper people are leaving you alone.”
    “Me too,” I said, sighing. “I better enjoy it while it lasts.”
    David gave me a quick look, trying to figure out what I meant. I was thinking about the trial scheduled for December and all the publicity that would be involved. David still didn’t know anything about Nathaniel Mortimer or the other scientists who had tried to kill me.
    “You cooking up some other ghost story for the press or something?” he asked.
    “No, nothing like that,” I said. “But Kate always says once in the public eye, always in the public eye.”
    “Hmmm,” he said. “Okay then. Well, I guess we better get back out there before Mike throws a fit.”
    We walked up to the front and he groaned as we stared at the line wrapped around the tables and over to the bathrooms in the back of the store.
     

 
    CHAPTER 10
     
    It was just after the first small set of rapids when they started in.
    “Don’t worry, sweetheart,” the gray-haired man sitting closest to me said. “If we capsize I’ll save you.”
    “Don’t trust him, hon,” another one said. “Alone with him in the water? It would be a disaster!”
    They all broke out in laughter.
    There were seven of them in my raft, middle-aged, all wearing the same hats and shirts, some with the price tag still hanging off the back.
    “Hey, sugar, let’s pick it up a little and make this a real ride,” yelled the guy up front, turning completely around so that I