Risen (Haunted Series Book 22)

you down for 1865.  I like to keep track of my men.  Harley’s from 1965.  He’s a great navigator.  Picked him up off an ice floe.  I think he’s from an icebreaker that was mired in the ice.  He drowned when they tried to blast the boat free.  Anyway, he’s the odd duck with the colorful pants and these little yellow glasses.  Says things like groovy and far out.  For a navigator, he should know how far out we are,” Crocker said, laughing at his own joke.
“I’d like to go home, Captain,” Murphy requested.  “They’ll be worried.”
“First, tell me how you got here, and I’ll tell you if you can get back and, more importantly, whether you’ll be allowed to go back at all.  There are rules here.”
Murphy told his story to Crocker.
“What made you think that hitting the stuff was going to set it off?” Crocker asked about the C4.
“I didn’t think. I acted,” Murphy admitted.
“We asked around, and it seems that your story checks out.  Lucifer’s Lip has changed in topography.  It’s still there, but it has a big hole in it according to the landing crew of the Peacock.  They thought it was the storm that caused it, but it would have to be a hell of a hurricane to do that kind of damage.”
“When I was blown out of my veil in the woods, I could move back on my own, but the seawater is messing with me,” Murphy admitted.
“Tell you what, since you’re not a sea death, I’ll take you back after I trade with The Risen.  These are prime hunting times, and I have a few of those birdmen in the hold.  But I’d like to hang around and see if I can make it an even four before I make the journey.”
Murphy swallowed hard.  “You hunt birdmen?”
“They use this dimension as a speedy way to cross the Caribbean.  Too many flying machines otherwise.”
“I think they call it the between.”
“Ah, it’s the between over land.  It’s GSD when it’s over water.”
“That’s good to know, Captain.”
“You seem like a smart fellow, Murphy.  You give me honest labor, and I’ll reward you with your freedom.  You have the word of Captain Daniel Crocker.”
“Thank you, Captain.”
“Go and see the boatswain.  He’ll put you to work.  Soon, you’ll have your sea legs.”
Murphy got to his feet.
“One more question.  You’re from so far away, why did you come down here?”
“My friend asked me to come and have her back.”
“Is that why you hit the C4?”
“No, she had already left.”
“She left without you?”
“Yes.  Captain, I’d like to go back and find her.  She thinks she left to save us.”
“Did she?”
“I’m not sure, but I’d like to find out.”
“I too would be interested in the answer,” the Captain said and watched the farmer walk out the door.  “She would be someone who would fetch quite a price with The Risen.”
~
Mia almost didn’t land on the island.  If it weren’t for the familiar rock formations that supported the waterfalls and the reef that still surrounded the island, she would not have thought this was the same place.  Gone was the golden sand.  It was replaced with black, ground volcanic rock and ash.  The sea was dark here.  The center of the island water was oily and green.
“What the hell happened here?  Ted, where are you?” she asked, worried.  “Murph, ollie ollie in come free!” she called out.  There was no answer, not that she expected one considering all that had happened here.
She looked around and was ready to leave when she spotted the Ross Bell approaching.  “They’re coming back for the dead agent, I expect.”
Mia retracted her wings, positioned the satchel on her back, and pulled on Abigor’s jacket to hide it from the long-range telescopes.  She waved her arms wildly and received a chirp of the siren in response.  Mia decided to continue her search of the island under the protection of the approaching ship, which would be soon lowering a Zodiac, sending a team to “rescue” her.
Mia thought about the dead agent.  “I may as well help them out,” she said.  “He’s the only one who didn’t have his brains sucked out.  He died on land so…  Hello, I don’t think we’ve met,” she said to the ghost tripping over the uneven surface.
“Where am I?” the confused young man asked.
“Lucifer’s Lip or what is left of her.  Are you Coast Guard or FBI?” she asked.
“FBI.  I work for the paranormal research group,” he said proudly.
“Are you aware that you’re dead?” she asked.
“Damn.  Did I drown when the monster got me?”
“I’m not sure.  I did see your body in the cavern, when there was a cavern,” Mia said.  “I really wish I knew where it was now.”
“My name is Ren Patel.”
“Ren, I’m Mia.  I can see you because I’m a sensitive. The men that are approaching will not be able to see or hear you.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Sit beside me a moment.  Let me have your hands.”
“I’m a ghost, do I have hands?  Oh, there they are,” he said, amused.  “You feel like wood.”
“I know I should moisturize, but with young children, who has the time?”  Mia took her time.  Reading a recently dead soul was very difficult.  “Sit still,” she instructed.  “There…”
Agent Patel watched her eyes cloud over and shut for a moment.  Her pupils continued to move under her lids.
Mia’s eyes popped open.  “I know, I know…” she said, getting up.  “Come on, Ren.  OMG.  The Coast Guardsmen put your body in a Pelican case when they emptied it of automatic rifles.  They left it in the cavern.  Everything in there was either incinerated or was washed towards the lake and pulled down into that slime.”  She pointed.  “Except you, my dear, floated.