My reaction to the names hadn't gone unnoticed, and while I'd hoped that it could be brushed off as a bug or something, our new friends were too perceptive. It didn't help that Willow and Lexie had also reacted. It was like a wild west standoff, with nobody wanting to say anything to start the shooting, until Bella said something that she just realized.

"Was that the Albany stop?"

Elise and Talia whirled to stare at her, and Bella shrunk back into the far corner of the hot tub.

"I didn't think your last names were Austin or Henson?" I said quickly to get the attention off Bella. It made no sense either. After seeing their parents during the street party earlier, you could easily see the family resemblance, so how they could be related to the assholes in Albany made no sense to me.

But now they were the ones uncomfortable, as were Mira and Hana, who were obviously party to whatever secret they were hiding. They all traded a lot of looks, and it didn't seem as though this was an easy secret to share. I couldn't have it drag out though, these neighbors were just the kind of people that we needed in our lives, and it wasn't like we didn't have big secrets too, so maybe If we all came clean then it could be a little cathartic?

"What does the article say?" I finally prompted, hoping to ease into it.

Elise hesitated, and then cleared her throat. "It says that the Austins and Hensons were killed along with their two oldest sons and several family friends in a murder suicide. The family friends were ones Fred and Henry Smithson. The Austins and Hensons are survived by their youngest sons, Karl and Gilbert." Mia and Hana's hands both went to their mouths at that, and I was almost itching to hear the story now.

"No mention of..." Mira started, then stopped when Talia and Elis shook their heads.

Talia pulled Elise into a hug, and cried, but it seemed like a mixture of happy tears and low giggles. These deaths seemed to be good news, which I was thankful to hear. I breathed a sigh of relief, feeling Willow and Lexie grab my hands in reassurance.

"Are you okay, can we get you anything?" Lexie finally asked, when they'd calmed down.

They both shook their heads. "No," Elise finally spoke up. "It was just a little emotional. But we're really good, thank you."

"There is obviously a lot more to this, right?" Willow said cautiously.

"I think on your end too," Mira pointed out, while reaching over to hold Elise's hand.

"We really have a dilemma here, huh?" I asked with a smile. "I really love this neighborhood, and we as a little family couldn't be happier to have you as neighbors. You've all been exceedingly helpful and friendly, and no matter what happens here tonight I'd like to keep that going. We've all been through a lot, and I'm betting you have too. But maybe if we share a little, then we can let it all out. Just trust each other. Could that work?"

There was another round of the other 4 all looking at each other, but then they finally nodded. "Yeah, maybe that will work," Talia agreed with a smile.

"Fine." I took a moment to gather my thoughts. "That wasn't a murder suicide, the article is a complete fabrication," I stated clearly.

"What?" yelped Elise, as the rest of their jaws dropped in shock. "Are you serious?"

I nodded slowly, trying to analyze their expressions. They still didn't seem upset, so that was a good thing. "The Austins and Hensons, and those friends with them, were part of a human trafficking operation. They kept woman, almost all lesbians, drugged and forced to have sex with men. In many cases the girls were sold by parents or other family members to the group to make them disappear."

"Like the one in Indiana that was all over the news?" Hana asked.

"Yes, exactly the same. They were a part of that same organization."

There was a lot of silence again, and I thought I might have gone too far, too fast. Talia finally spoke up after taking a deep breath. "5 years before Elise and I moved into our house, another couple moved in there, Paige and Amy Henson. Amy's maiden name was Austin. They died their first night there."

I frowned, trying to see how that made them care about their relatives in Albany, or how they would even know about them.

"How did you learn about their families?" Lexie asked. I assumed we had the same confused look on our faces.

"They didn't leave the house. Their spirits stayed." Elise said softly.

"You live in a haunted house? That is so cool!" Bella spoke up from the hot tub, then sunk back down in embarrassment.

"Not anymore!" Mira snorted, then held her hands up in defense. "You might as well tell them, I have a feeling I know where her story is gonna go, and they're both big and juicy secrets and won't make us love you any less."

"Fine!" Talia reached over and gripped Elise's hand tightly. "We found a way to communicate with the ghosts."

"Ghost sex!" piped up Hana, making Mira giggle and nod.

"That doesn't matter!" Elise cried out while turning as red as a tomato. "We fell in love with them. And then we wanted to help them."

"And have more ghost sex!" Mira teased again.

"You're really not helping!" Talia said while starting to laugh as well. "But fine, yes, we invited them to join us, and then we found a way to have them share our bodies."

"Like they possessed you?" Willow gasped out.

"No, they're here within us," Elis said. "I am both me and share my body with Amy. She can, and has many times, taken control of my body. It's really an amazing experience. Like sharing a mind with my best friend."

"It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen," Mira told us. "I wish we videotaped it!"

"Oh, I get it now!" I spoke up, my eyes wide. "You never even batted an eye at the three of us together, because there's 4 of you in there" The whole thing seemed crazy, but Mira and Hana obviously were vouching for them, and I wasn't going to doubt it. I'd seen enough other crazy stuff, why not ghosts?

They both nodded happily, with broad smiles on their faces. "Yeah," Talia hung her head "It's a pretty awesome experience. I don't think I can even explain it."

"Wait, in the article they didn't mention Amy and Paige. Normally they would have listed all the family members!" Lexie said in a rush.

"Our parents hated us," Talia explained. "Sorry, this is Paige now, it might be easier this way since you're talking about our parents. The other two family friends that were killed, the Smithson brothers, were supposed to marry us. Our parents hated that we were together and disowned us when we were still in college. Our older brothers, they hated us as well, though the younger ones were good to us. They actually helped us get our babies. Believe me, there will be a celebration in our house tonight that they're all gone. If they were doing what you said, then they got exactly what they deserved."

"They did, I made sure of it," I assured them, saying all I needed to.

"I knew it!" Mira said, sitting back and putting her hand on Hana's thigh, giving it a squeeze, and making Hana jump before leaning over for a kiss.

"You killed them?" Talia asked. No, Paige. Shit. I'd never keep that straight!

"I did. We followed 4 kidnapped girls from their other base to your parents' house. We rescued 42 girls in Indiana, and then another 4 at your parents' house."

"She rescued all of us too," Bella said softly from behind the others. "We had all been taken."

I didn't bring up Lessa, it was a long time ago and didn't matter, nor did I need to bring up Joe and Susan. As much as I liked our neighbors, I couldn't risk the others.

"That was all you?" Talia asked with wide eyes.

"That's why she was a mess when we first got here. She'd been shot!" Bella piped up again. I was going to have to deal with her quick mouth forever, I guess!

"Okay, okay!" I settled everyone down. "Does anyone else have a secret to share? Did we get everything out into the open?"

Hana raised her hand tentatively. "Mira likes to lick soy sauce off my – "

"Not that kind of secret dumpling!" Mira covered her wife's mouth while we all laughed aloud. Yeah, I think it might have been scary, but it did bring us together. 

***

A/N - So, a lot of the recap from Talia and Elise is just an overview of some things from the book Ghosted, where Mira and Hana also have a cameo. But Mira and Hana are actually from their own book, Jungle Love and Lost. Both of those are gxg books, also on my profile. Sorry for the confusion!