Rancor: Sinister Attachments, Book 1 (Haunted)

ELEVEN

After driving for an hour, Jess pulled into the driveway of Maggie's two-story colonial home just outside the Breedsville city limits. She turned the ignition off and they sat there, staring at the house.

Jess looked over at Maggie. "Are you ready to go in?" 

Maggie was surprised her hands were trembling as she took the house keys from her purse. "No, I'm not ready. I'm totally dreading this."

"Do you know where all the paperwork is that you need?"

"It should be in Cory's office in the file cabinet or in the safe."

Jess's hand rested on top of the whiskey's brown paper sack. "Do you remember how to get into the safe?"

"Yeah." Maggie nodded. "I haven't been in it for a while but unless the combination was changed, I should be able to get into it."

Jess pulled the whiskey out of the sack and held it up. "Do you want a swig of this before we go inside?"

"Nah," Maggie said, opening the car door. "Let's get this over with."

Jess held the bottle as they walked up the brick steps to the front door. Maggie unlocked the door but was afraid to open it.

"Are you going inside?" Jess asked.

Maggie put her hand on the brass knob, turned it, and pushed the door open. Jess walked past her and into the foyer.

"It's okay, Maggie. You can come in."

Maggie stepped onto the rug and stopped. She looked into the living room, then toward the stairway, and finally into the dining room. The oak table had it chairs pushed neatly into place. A vase with artificial daffodils sat on a doily in the center of the tabletop. Then she looked at the floor. It was clean. Actually, the house looked like it was ready to be shown by a Realtor during an open house. Nevertheless, images of Cory's dead, crumpled body flashed through her mind. She could still see the red blood on the slate tile floor. The handgun that was at his side was the one that they kept locked inside the safe. At least it looked like their gun. The police had the gun now.

"Are you okay?" Jess asked, noticing she was looking at the suicide scene.

Maggie looked at Jess and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. You guys did a nice job cleaning the house."

"Anything to help," Jess said, walking past the dining room table and into the kitchen as if nothing had ever happened. She retrieved two tumblers from the cupboard and put ice cubes into each. "Does ice get stale?" she asked, walking back to the foyer.

"Probably," Maggie said, taking the glass that Jess handed her.

"What the hell." Jess smiled and poured the bourbon over the ice. She raised her glass to propose a toast. "To our dear Cory: May you be in Heaven fifteen minutes before the devil knows you are dead."