Risen (Haunted Series Book 22)

about you.  You’re our first farmer.”
“Riff, can I ask, why are you dressed so darkly?”
“I only work at night. The black doesn’t absorb the heat, and it’s hard to see me.  An intruder won’t see me before I have him.”
“You’re a smart man.”
“It’s a skill I learned from the last night watch.”
“What happened to him?”
“The Peacock stole him and five others.”
“What’s the Peacock?”
“It’s a slaver.  It steals sailors and sells them to the other ships.  Ships that will work a man to his death.”
“It seems I’m fortunate to be picked up by the Devil’s Pride.”
“It depends…”
“Depends on what?”
“If Crocker can make a good profit on you.  Crocker isn’t a sentimental man.  He’d sell his mother to a whorehouse if his asking price was met.”
Murphy took this in.  “So, your best advice is to be valuable to the captain, but not too valuable.”
“Yes.  I wish you well, Murphy.”
“And you too, Riff.”
Riff disappeared into the darkness, leaving Murphy to his thoughts and the beautiful star-filled sky.

Chapter Twenty-one
Mia ran her hand along the Sea Witch, a fourteen-meter Hatteras 46 power boat, and smiled.  “She’s a good boat, and I trust her to take care of us, but what about the crew?”
“Douglas and Brothers reporting for duty,” Seaman Douglas said, popping up from where he’d been checking out the engine.
Seeing the two Coast Guardsmen again brought joy to Mia’s heart.  “I’m so glad to see you.  But doesn’t the Guard need you?”
“We’ve been put on indefinite leave.  Something we said bothered our commander.  He ordered us to take two weeks sick leave and comeback with a better story that didn’t include sea beasts,” Brothers said.
“Ted found us wandering the docks, looking for work,” Sanders said.  “He told me you were going to hunt down a ghost ship.  After I smelled his breath and found it free of alcohol, I agreed to help you find it.  What are you wearing?”
Mia smoothed the front of Abigor’s page’s uniform and smiled.  It’s a uniform of a sort.  I’m hoping to fool the captain of the Devil’s Pride that I’ve been sent by this fella,” Mia said, tapping the emblem of a man riding a flying black horse, “to purchase Murphy.  Murphy’s the guy who liberated the world of the kraken and most of Lucifer’s Lip.  You need to get me close enough to cross over into the GSD, wait around for a few days, and hopefully pick me up.”
“The weather is supposed to be good,” Brothers said.  “How will we find the entrance to this place?”
“My husband has already downloaded three possible places to cross.  I will caution you, if I can cross into this dimension, the tall ships can certainly cross into ours.  The one flying a peacock flag is a slaver, and they aren’t too particular who they take or how.”
Mason arrived carrying supplies.  “I hope this gets us through a few days.  Not having Gerald’s favor mill in operation, things get expensive.”
“I hope that’s not on your credit card.”
“Nah, Ted said, as long as we film this, then we can charge it to PEEPs.”
Mia turned to look at her husband.  “Way to go, partner.”
Ted saluted his wife.  He liked pleasing her, and he knew when he exerted himself as one of the partners, it made her happy.
“Puttin’ the screws to PEEPs,” Mia sang.  “Come on, Mason, sing along.”
“Puttin’ the screws to PEEPs,” Mason echoed.
The two riffed on the theme as they put away the supplies.
“Is that where we saw you before?” Sanders asked.  “Are you guys part of PEEPs?”
“Behind the scenes PEEPs.  Mia’s been out in front of the camera some, but she doesn’t like it,” Mason said.  “Although, if you ever caught any of the Bodacious Beach Bod contests on YouTube, you may have seen her.”
Mia groaned.
“Are you the Ice Queen?” Sanders asked.
Mia turned to Mason and glared.
“No one was more surprised than me when I saw your poster online,” Mason said.
“I’ve not seen that poster,” Brothers said.  But I swear, Mia, you’re the spitting image of the girl in the Dark World videogame.”
“K.”
“Guys, leave Mia alone,” Ted warned.  “She can’t help being overexposed.”
“Oh, now that’s helping,” Mia scolded.  “They’re really going to take me seriously now.”
“Don’t worry, Mia.  Any girl that can speak kraken has my respect,” Sanders vowed.
“You know that Anders guy swore he said you lured the demon out of him and took him to Hell,” Brothers said, positioning the skiff at the back of the boat.
“That’s pretty much what I did.”
“The Feds didn’t believe him.”
“The lead Fed should know better,” Mia said, casting off.
“Ted, can I tell them?” Mason pleaded.
“Mason, if you do, I’ll geld you,” Mia threatened.
“You heard her.  If she doesn’t want the guys to know she used to date the freak then…”
“You sonofabitch!” Mia said, her face incredulous.  Mia threw up her hands and went down below.
“Someone’s in trouble,” Mason said.  “And it’s not me.”
Ted knew that Mia wasn’t as mortified as she acted, but he didn’t give her away.
Brothers and Sanders were professional seamen, but still, Ted wanted them to know just how precious their cargo was.
~
Sabine yawned as she got out of bed.  The farmhouse was quiet during the night.  After the meal, Cid took Maggie with him when he left to stay in his apartment over the PEEPs office.  Nicholai was convinced to stay in the aerie instead of flying home after dinner.
Sabine missed her girls, yet she was enjoying just being a woman instead of a parent.  She caught herself cutting Nicholai’s meat at one point.  She blushed cherry red.  He took it good-naturedly, but Cid couldn’t help teasing both of them.
Sabine liked Cid a lot.  He was so smart and