After another pause, Mikey turned to face us.
“Perhaps Sam was aware of the evil that had been leeching off of his family’s greed and hatred for the past several generations; I’m not sure. But somehow he knew what they were capable of and had even planned for just such an outcome. Georgie Senior had a personal net-worth in the hundreds of millions, which Sam stood to inherit half of upon his father’s death. And about six months before Sam was murdered, he had seen a lawyer and drafted a will that made me the primary beneficiary of Sam’s estate, which essentially made his inheritance mine. That money was the reason I got to travel the world, searching for answers to all of the questions I had after that night. Sam’s money allowed me to make the contacts I needed to become the Dead Things Mikey you two now know and love so much that you’ll stalk him to a town in the middle of bumfuck nowhere just to hear his sob story.”
Grace opened her mouth to reply but then hesitated as if considering not to before finally asking, “Did you ever see your father again?”
Mikey looked at her as he jabbed a thumb back over his shoulder and said, “Who do you think I was peeing on?”
We heard a rustling sound coming from the far corner of the room and then a weathered voice said, “What smells like fresh piss?”
Mikey turned to face the corner and shouted, “That’d be you, you dirty fucking hobo!”
An old man with a beard and long stringy hair leaned out of the darkness and said, “Michael?”
“Hey, dad. You hungry?”
Mikey took the three of us out to eat at a greasy roadside diner and, needless to say, it was pretty awkward until his father asked where Mikey’s “little caramel man” was and we all started laughing. Mikey and his dad had an interesting dynamic, to say the least, and listening to their back-and-forth was downright adorable.
Grace had unconsciously placed her hand on mine as we were laughing at yet another one of Mikey’s dad’s quaintly insensitive comments. Then, realizing what she had just done, Grace quickly retracted her hand. She looked at me and something seemed to dawn on her. Grace turned to Mikey and said, “You told Mauricio to call me, didn’t you?”
With a guilty smile, Mikey looked at Grace and replied, “Maybe…”
Grace scoffed as she slowly shook her head. “How did you know I’d bring Joel?”
Mikey shrugged. “Lucky guess… Plus, I told Lynn to turn off her cell and Mauricio to subtly suggest that you not try to tail me here alone.”
Grace let out a frustrated groan as she turned to me and said, “We work for a conniving motherfucker. I hope you know that.”
I was well aware. 
