Mystery Noir

Down Below Part 3

"Well this is a fucking ghost town..." Penny muttered as we rolled down main street, passing by the tourist shop that served as probably every main building and service in the area.

"Yeah...." I had known that it was going to be pretty abandoned, it was an old mining town or something that only existed because of local farmers and the proximity to the State park not far off. "So, I reserved us a couple rooms at a bed and breakfast ranch thing a bit out of town, includes meals and shit. We'll drive around town to get an idea what we're looking at, check in, then call the contact. Mr. Broadick."

Penny smirked and side glanced at me, pulling her sunglasses down low on her nose. "Broad...."

I rolled my eyes as I fought the urge to grin back. "Broad-ick. Mind out of the gutter. He's probably inbred and old and balding or something, you'll have nightmares if you let your insinuations get the best of your imagination."

"Deep." Penny laughed and pushed her glasses back up, leaning back in her seat and glancing around town.

It wasn't very big, and by the time we had circled it, the four people who were out and about were watching us. With a sigh I turned toward the country road that would take us to our B&B for the next couple days. As we drove both of us frowned when we saw a couple uncharacteristically new and shiny JEEPs and pickups drive by in a fashion that reminded me of a military convoy.

"That seemed out of place." Penny offered as I watched the vehicles disappear in my rearview, heading toward town. "Citizen's militia?"

"Cartel runners?" I shrugged and glanced at her curiously. "Look, even if it isn't monsters, this could get dangerous, and I don't know how much we can trust local law enforcement. They might be as dirty as the mob bosses."

Penny shrugged, and we fell into silence as we pulled up to the quaint farmhouse that boasted a sign declaring it a Bed and Breakfast. The brick home was ringed with tall trees that provided shade, with a couple out buildings and barns, complete with farm animals and tractors. But other than all that, only pasture and farmland stretched for miles in all directions.

By the time we had climbed out of the car an older woman with dark skin and her grey hair pulled back in a ponytail, was walking out to meet us, grinning widely. "Ah, you made good time! Nina and Penny?"

I know some people in my profession didn't use first names, or real names, rather. But to me, it didn't make much of a difference. I wasn't investigating this place, and at the end of the day, I wasn't trained to be a covert operative. I'd mess up a cover story faster than I could drink my morning coffee, and the warm welcome we got as we were led to our bunk cabin and shown our rooms, then toured around the farm, made me feel glad I had not tried to lie to the woman.

Miranda was a former doctor who had retired with her husband who had been a lawyer. They had purchased the land and started a farm because it was something they had always wanted to do, and this area was warm and cheap. Miranda loved cooking and baking, and with their kids off being doctors and lawyers and engineers all over the country, she used the B&B to fill her home.

"Just... don't go walking out in the fields in the night." Miranda offered as we wandered back to the cute little cabin bunk house that our rooms were in. "People get... lost out there... Just a week ago, a lady and her daughter did. They've been trying to track her down. Her husband, Mr. Broadick, he's been spending his days and nights searching for miles and miles... not a trace."

I paused, frowning softly and watching the woman for a long moment. "You think she just... wandered off and got lost? No chance of foul play? So close to the border and all?"