Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 106839 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 534(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106839 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 534(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
“Well, truth be told, I would actually feel safer with you on that couch between me and that door, so thank you very much.”
I stand up and offer her my hand. “Come on, I’ll show you the room.”
She takes my hand and we go downstairs. She likes the room—which carries on the same color scheme, but in a more muted way. Light gray instead of black and a swimming-pool blue color instead of turquoise.
Rosie smiles when we enter. “Lowyn did this room, didn’t she?”
“Lowyn did all the rooms, but she took a particular interest in this one because I said she could do it any way she wanted.”
Rosie smiles and starts talking about Lowyn and their friendship. But my mind is wandering to what I meant to do tonight, and didn’t.
Which is tell her that Erol is dead.
But I can’t. Not tonight. Erol, at least, is someone she knows. He’s the father of her son. He has a reason to stalk her.
A stranger using Erol’s name and sending her puzzles that allude to her boy?
That’s something else altogether.
Cross is outside sitting on Collin’s porch petting Mercy as he and Lowyn discuss the finer points of oldies music when Rosie and I join them. When Rosie ushers Cross back over to my house and Lowyn goes inside, I corner Collin so we can have a word.
He raises an eyebrow at me. “What’s up?”
I check one last time, just to make sure no one is listening, then lean in. “Remember that forensics thing I told you about?”
“The one you sent Penny?”
“The very one. Well, I got it back and it’s not Rosie’s ex.”
“It’s not? Is she sure?”
“Oh, she’s sure. He’s dead, Collin.”
“Well, that’s definitely a certainty. It also elevates this little mystery to a new level.”
“Especially after finding a puzzle in her bedroom tonight. Whoever this stalker is, he’s serious.”
“And scary.” Collin looks off in the distance like he’s thinking, and I can only imagine that once again he’s picturing that night twelve years ago. He looks at me again. “What should we do?”
“First of all”—I point at him—“I like that ‘we’ tag you just put on this problem. And second, I dunno. I think we have to start with a more thorough background check.”
“On who though?”
“Erol Cross, of course.”
“But if the man’s dead—”
“Is the man dead?”
“If Penny says he is, then I can’t see a way around it, Amon. She’s in a class of her own when it comes to this kind of thing.”
“She ran the ink, fingerprints, and paper through all the databases and came up with nothing. But there’s something not right about it.”
Collin’s eyes narrow. “Not right about what? Penny?”
“No. Just…” But I can’t explain what I’m feeling. “About this whole stalker thing. I feel like I’m missing something.”
Collin blows out a breath. “Yeah. I hate that feeling.”
“It’s not that I don’t trust Penny,” I add. “It’s just… well, these days anything can be faked, ya know?”
This makes Collin chuckle. “If people only knew how easy it was to create somethin’ from nothin’ in this day and age, they’d never trust a single thing they read or see again. All the world’s a stage, after all.”
“Yeah. That’s the thing. This whole stalking thing, with the worksheets and whatnot, it all feels very… staged.”
“You think it’s fake?” Collin asks.
“I’m not sure. It just feels off.”
“Well, if it makes you feel any better, I think Rosie’s about as safe as one can be. You’ve done all the right things. She’s staying here on the compound now and she never leaves Trinity County. If anyone tried to mess with Rosie someone would be there, even if you weren’t. Everyone knows Rosie. But if you’re worried, then…” He shrugs. “Hell, just keep her with you. It’s a hard job, monopolizing a woman’s time. But someone’s gotta do it.”
I chuckle. “Yeah, all right.”
Collin nudges me. “We’ll figure it out, Amon. And she’ll be OK. Just… keep her close.”
The next morning when Cross and I wake up, Amon is already gone. I figure he’s outside doing work stuff, so I dress in my Friday costume, pack a change of clothes for after the Revival, and serve Cross a bowl of cereal.
Neary all my weekends from Easter to Christmas Eve are monopolized by the Revival. Once the fall rolls around, it dies down to a monthly thing instead of a weekly. So that’s nice. But in the summer, there is almost no chance of gettin’ away from the Revival. There’s no tent action on Fridays, but there’s always a crowd going through the shops on the grounds or just hanging around in town, so Friday’s are a costume day.
I don’t have any serious parts to play today—or any other day this weekend, since I’m generally a ‘filler’ character—but MacyLynn and I have to sit in the tea party tent and entertain guests with gossip. On the weekends she mostly runs the funnel cake tent but her granny does it on Fridays, so nearly every week we’re partners in crime.