Impervious (City of Eldrich Book 1) Read Free

her to her cell phone.
    “What?” she growled.
    “Enjoying our drive, are we?” Now that he had Meaghan trapped and knew help was on the way, he was far more jovial.
    “Bite me.”
    Russ laughed. “Where are you?”
    “The heavily forested ass end of nowhere.”
    “You off the interstate yet?” He could barely conceal his glee, the bastard.
    “Um . . .” She squinted at the odometer. “About eight miles up Witch Hollow Road. Who comes up with these names?”
    Ignoring her crack about the road name, Russ said, “Great. Stay on the phone and I’ll guide you in. If the call drops, pull the car over and I’ll find you.”
    He was making her nuts with this. “Russ, give me some damn directions already. I just drove across America. I don’t need an escort.”
    “Do it my way for once, please?” Tension crept into his voice. “If you get lost out there, we’ll never find you.”
    “I’ll toss bread crumbs out the car window, Hansel.”
    “Ha. Ha.” Russ’s voice dripped sarcasm, but with a hint of worry. “I’m serious. People disappear out in those woods. You make a wrong turn, run out of gas, and all we find is the empty car. Humor me, all right?”
    Meaghan sighed in disgust. “Fine. Okay, I’m passing the closed gas station. Now what?”
    He talked her in by phone, like an air traffic controller. She would never admit it, but she was glad he had insisted on it. The thick woods obscured all landmarks and her sense of direction abandoned her. She now believed that people could be swallowed up by all those trees and simply vanish. Driving after dark must be a nightmare out here, she thought.
    Just as she felt something close to claustrophobia coming on, she came around a blind curve, and the forest ended. The road wound into a lovely green valley. Eldrich lay below, tiny and perfect. A green square, surrounded by ornate buildings, anchored the town. Grand Victorian mansions lined the streets north of the square. To the south and west sat tidy bungalows and cottages. On the east side of town, a river flowed like a ribbon. Rolling farmland surrounded it all.
    The sun finally made an appearance. A single beam shone through the thick clouds. The river sparkled for a moment, and then the clouds closed again. But it raised Meaghan’s spirits a bit. In spite of her homesickness, she was dazzled. A charming little town, Eldrich shone like a bright jewel after the miles of dark forest.
    Despite Russ’s concern, the call didn’t drop and he still spoke to her from the dashboard. “So?” he asked. “What do you think?”
    “Damn. It’s stupid pretty. You didn’t lie.”
    “Wait until you see Dad’s house, Gretel. You’ll want to eat it up.” Now that she was out of the woods, he gave her directions to the house on Holly Lane and hung up.
    Meaghan drove through the quiet streets. In the warm Sunday twilight, a restful calm presided over the town. She’d expected things to be a bit shabbier up close, but no. It was even more charming when she saw the details. Her mood lifted. This might be okay after all.
     

Chapter 3
    R uss hadn’t lied about the house, a Victorian gingerbread fantasy meticulously restored and maintained, surrounded by the shiny holly bushes that gave the small dead-end street its name.
    And he hadn’t lied about their father’s condition.
    Meaghan remembered Matthew Keele as a tall man, imposing, with a head of thick, unruly white hair and dark brown eyes set deep in a hawkish brow. He could generate a blistering glare, a skill she had inherited, along with a natural dexterity with words and the tendency to let tenacity degenerate into pig-headedness.
    All her life she’d been told that her problems with her father were because she and Matthew were so much alike. Her father had always intimidated her. Her natural inclination to hopscotch over fear right into anger made that intimidation play out as sullen defiance.
    Over the last four days, she’d steeled herself to face