“Yes,” I reply tiredly.
“The power is off on Pines Street.”
“Do we have someone to send there?”
“No, because you haven’t hired anyone,”comes her snarky reply.“The power company is on the way, and I’ll drive over to check on it.”
“Thanks, Jennica. You can leave after.”
“I can’t leave you like that,”she says, clearly not happy the words are coming out of her mouth.“I’ll keep the fort down here while you run the town. But you’ll look into candidates. Deal?”
“Deal,” I agree with sincere gratitude. “Thank you, Jennica.”
“Sure. Let me know if you need help there.”And the radio goes dead.
I swear I’m hiring the first eligible candidate in the resume pile.
I drive to the abandoned building the locals call ‘the Ghost House.’ It’s been abandoned for many years and makes weird, swishing noises whenever the wind hits it. It’s pretty far back into the woods, but locals who live close enough hear the echo through the forest on quiet nights.
I wonder for the thousandth time why Leila and Archie bought it. I thought I knew them pretty well, and they both love the wonders of the twenty-first century, but when Archie heard about the house from Leila, he was set on seeing the local wonder.
The damn thing is pretty much a pyramid, it’s so mysterious.
But Archie wants to be a local very badly.
We tracked down the owner so he’d give them permission to see the place. Even though there were no locks on the doors, I wasn’t planning on letting anyone trespass. Even my own sister and soon-to-be brother-in-law.
When they saw the place, they both came back with stars in their eyes and the crazy idea of restoring this disaster. They didn’t tell me how, and I wasn’t asking. It’s their business, after all. Even though I’m a bit curious to see who will be doing the renovations. We have two local contractors, and this job is way above their pay grade. Maybe they’ll hire some construction company from Springfield? Or maybe Archie will bring someone fancy from Boston. That might work. They’ll need a lot of manpower if they plan on finishing renovations in this century.
The farther down the road I drive, the muddier it becomes. Even my cruiser drifts a couple of times. If Leila wants to live here eventually, Archie’d better fix this damn road because my sister won’t be driving through this death path even once.
Soon, in the opening right around the corner, I see an already familiar car stuck on the way toward the Ghost House. A very weird-looking red tin that fits maybe one person and a ton of crap. I remember that person.
I slow down to a stop when I reach the car and slowly climb outside. Carefully walking toward it, I peek inside. The same woman with shiny, black hair sits in the driver’s seat, clutching the wheel with white knuckles and murmuring something under her breath. She looks shaken.
“Ma’am, are you okay?” I ask carefully.
She doesn’t respond, so I ask louder, “Ma’am?”
Her head whips toward me with a startled cry. “Where the fuck did you come from?” She looks around with wide eyes, her pupils blown.
“My cruiser is parked behind you.” I point in the direction of where I left it. “Are you okay?”
“Yes.” She releases the wheel. “Why are you here?”
“Hmm.” I clear my throat. “You called us.”
“I didn’t call the cops.” She snorts. “None of you can be trusted,” she adds under her breath, but I still hear. It wasn’t meant as a personal jab, but it feels like one anyway. Especially after our last encounter. Yes, I was a dick, but she was the one who was speeding on a dangerous road, and I had helped with a car accident just an hour before. I didn’t need to witness another one.
“Who did you call?”
“A mechanic.”
Justin, my brother’s friend, owns the only mechanic shop in town, and he’s currently out of town with Kayla, his fiancé, for some tattoo competition. So that leaves Paul at the garage, Justin’s right hand, who’s probably shagging up with Marina, the local diner owner, and Kayla’s pretty much adoptive mother. That’s a small town for ya.
I’m sure this lady called him, and he dumped it on Jennica, who dumped it on me. Just my life. I sigh into the sky.
“The mechanic is out of town, so they called us,” I explain patiently.
