Chapter Four: Moriarty's Bookstore

"Professor Moriarty is not a man who lets the grass grow under his feet." - Arthur Conan Doyle

It was not a part of town Danny would usually find himself in. The brick townhouses lined the street like trees. White crystals stuck to the brick like mold, sunting the growth of ivy. It was a much richer part of town and not like his usual hang out spot at the Nasty Burger. But, he had been invited and Gabriel didn't seem bad. Yet.

The location sent him to a stone building with a ricky new sign, aged with paint, reading Moriarty's Bookstore. A large front window revealed the modern industrial interior, stacks of books, and coffee stand in the back. Workers rushed to and from the counter, creating several cups of coffee. Some topped with colorful cream, and others released a faint trail of steam from the caps. Several black booths lined the opposite wall, disappearing into the bookshelves. Gabreil sat in the middle, with laptops and textbooks around the table.

Danny: I made it in one piece.

Sam: What's the scope?

Danny: Expensive bookstore/coffee shop. He's in one of the booths. I think he's doing homework?

Tucker: Well, he did ask you for homework help. I still can't believe you said yes.

Sam: and he's also Vlad's kid! This could be a trap!

Danny: I don't see anything and I don't sense any ghosts. And like I said before, this is a good chance to get more information.

Tucker: What's the temp inside? Maybe they turned it down to hide your sense.

Danny: I haven't gone in yet.

Sam: I didn't even know this existed.

Tucker: According to Facebook they opened three months ago.

Sam: I wish I found this first. It would've been a cool hangout pot. Now it's a lair for his kid.

Danny: The coffee is $8 a cup. Way too much for Tuck and I.

Tucker: Unless Sam paid.

Sam: No.

Tucker: :(

Danny: I feel weird standing outside. I'm going in.

Sam: Keep us updated.

Tucker: Good luck!

The smell of old books hit him before the smell of coffee did. It must have been a used book store, as nothing on the shelves looked to be published before the year 2000. Gabriel waved him over.

"Hey Danny, I was starting to get worried you weren't going to come," he said.

"Sorry about that. I got a little lost," Danny said.

"Don't worry about it. I only go here because it's near the mansion. It's become my little hideaway place."

"Hide? What do you have to hide from? I mean there must be a lot to do at the mansion?" Danny said.

"There isn't a lot to do actually. I mean there is the Packer's room and the theater if I want to watch Packer's games from ten years ago. And there are a lot of books and random offices. But, there isn't a lot to do besides that. Vlad- I mean dad has to work a lot and sometimes I can't even find him around the mansion. It's like he disappears."

"How weird…"

"Yeah, and after school I have to do these boring business and money classes. So, I like to run here and use the time to be around people."

"Business classes?"

"Oh yeah, since I will be heir to all of his money and business, I have to take these classes to learn budgeting, law, cheese making, and so much boring stuff."

"That sounds boring. I would dig my own eyes out after the first class."

"I wish.'' Gabriel laughed. "Sorry I have been rambling, and you agreed to help me catch up on school work."

"You're fine. I was uh, curious about you being Vlad's son," Danny said.

"I'm not surprised. Everyone is curious about that."

"So, how did you know? If you don't mind me asking, you don't have to say anything of course."

"Might as well. Better now than later, right? Well, I didn't for a long time. My mom died when I was born and at the time no one knew who the father was, so they put me in the foster care system. One day I saw him on TV and one of the other foster kids pointed out that we kind of look alike. I thought it was a joke and ignored them. But, once I had enough money from my McDonalds Job to get one of those family history DNA kits, and it turned out we were related. My social worker was so excited that she wrote to his lawyers every week for like three months. Then one of them showed up with a DNA kit, and the rest is history," Gabriel said.

"That must have been crazy," Danny said.

"It was. I only had a trash bag of old, donated, second hand clothes with me, and I think he thought that was gross or something. He made me throw it all away and bought me a whole lot of stuff. I kind of feel guilty about it."

"Don't feel guilty. You should try to waste as much of his money as possible," Danny said sarcastically.

"Do you know him?"

"Oh, uh this is a bit awkward but my parents are college friends of Vlad."

"Really? I didn't know. Well to tell you the truth I don't know a lot. We don't really talk much."

"That's surprising, he usually can't shut up."

"I think I would like that more. Usually, he asks for a report on what I've done. Throw me some money and lock himself somewhere in the mansion. Can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Is Mr. Masters normally kind of creepy?" Danny burst out laughing at Gabriel's question.

"Yeaaahhh, he usually is. He thinks he's some sort of charismatic Tony Stark, but well you've seen him." Danny said.

"Y-yeah. He is very different from how the TV frames him."

Rain hit the front glass window like Hokusai's great wave. Creating a white nose that drifted through the shop, soothing the patrons. Danny relaxed his shoulders, and eased into his seat.

"He is. Anyways, we should get to the homework. where were you at your last place?" Danny asked.

"We were just starting algebra two. My teacher was re-going algebra one for the students who forgot over the summer," Gabriel said. He pulled out his textbook from the pile of papers.

"Good, that means you are not too far behind. We are on chapter two of the text books. Which is about complex numbers, so we will begin to go over the first chapter, which was all about Polynomial arithmetic's. Don't worry it's easier than it sounds," Danny pulled out his own notes.

"Thank God, but wait, what about you?" Gabriel asked. "We've talked a lot about me, and it would be rude to not ask about you after I told you everything."

"Sorry to say, there's not much to see. I'm just your normal high school kid."

"What about your family?"

"My sister is going to college to become a therapist. Right now, she is taking a gap year to travel. Her and her friends will be backpacking through Europe next month. My parents are ghost scientists or hunters, and I have an aunt who lives in a cabin in the woods."

"Danny, not every kid has ghost hunter parents."

"I guess, but they've never actually caught a ghost and everyone here is kind of used to their weirdness so it feels normal."

"Is it common here to have ghost hunter parents?"

"No, well there are so many ghost hunting groups here now that maybe. We get so many ghost attacks that everyone here knows a little about ghost hunting or ghost prevention."

"I feel left out, no one told me what to do when a ghost attacks," Gabriel joked.

"It's not complicated. You just have to remember that ghosts can fly, turn invisible, and go through walls. So, when you are running away stay close to the ground and keep an eye out for cold spots for flashes of light. The cold spot means there is an intangible ghost trying to creep up on you. And they passed a law last year requiring all buildings to have emergency ghost boxes. Each one has a small ghost shield inside that will protect a few people from an attack. Ghost can go through special barriers. Finally, not all ghost re evil or want to hurt you. But most tend to be that way."

"Thanks, I think I feel a bit safer now."

"You're welcome." Danny said. The two fumbled with their words, not knowing what to lead with next. "Uh, we should get to the homework, shouldn't we?"

"I guess, we can't put it off forever," He sighed with a smile on his face.