Rancor: Sinister Attachments, Book 1 Read Free Page A

home most of the time? You writers do spend your days typing away in seclusion, don't you?”
    Maggie could tell Debbie had something on her mind by the questions she was asking. “Yeah, I suppose.”
    Debbie looked down at Susie, still holding her hand. “I work nights at the hospital and it is so hard finding someone who can watch Susie overnight. Would you mind helping out? My last babysitter just quit, and I need someone immediately,” she looked at Maggie's bland expression. Maybe it was an expression of shock. “It would only be temporary . . . and I'll pay you, don't you worry about that.”
    Maggie was totally regretting having come out into the hallway to introduce herself. It was not that she did not want to help, but she did not even know this woman. If she said no, everyone at Sandpiper Bluff would probably shun her. If she said yes, then who knows how long Debbie would have her babysitting. Maybe Susie will sleep most of the night, she was not a toddler, but it would still put a damper on her writing and the upcoming deadline for book four. “I can help a little while, but I do have a lot of work to do.”
    Debbie hugged Maggie. Her blue eyeshadow and dark eyeliner made her look like a Barbie doll. “You don't know how much this means to me. Bruce isn't good with kids, so I haven't asked him, besides, Susie doesn't want him to babysit her. Someone like you, Maggie, can play with her and keep her company.”
    What am I getting myself into? Maggie was so angry with herself for accepting the babysitting job. She should have thought of a white lie, but her mind did not work that way. Too late now, she was stuck. Maggie smiled.
    “I work Friday night, can you begin then?” Debbie asked, pressing her pale pink lips together in anticipation.
    Friday was two days away. Maggie had wanted to explore the area and meet her friend, Jessica, for a few drinks. Those plans would now have to be postponed. Besides, this Debbie did not even know Maggie; she could be a serial killer or child molester for all Debbie knew. Maggie was never good at saying no. “Sure, that would be fine, but you don't even know me.”
    “You look like the trustworthy type,” Debbie said, pulling little Susie toward the stairway. “I feel like I've known you forever.”
    Maggie stood there, shocked at what had just occurred. Crazy people surrounded the home of her dreams.
    As Maggie turned to walk back toward her apartment, the door to apartment 20A opened; a man slightly older than she stood in the doorway. His dark hair was combed into a high mound over his forehead, similar to the pompadour haircut of Elvis Presley and James Dean. “Hi, I heard you and Debbie talking, and I just wanted to introduce myself; I'm Bruce,” he said, opening his door wider. “Would you like to come in?”
    Bruce was certainly pleasing to the eye, but she thought she had better get back inside her apartment before she committed to some other duty. “Hi, I’m Maggie, your new neighbor. And sorry, but I have lots of work I have to get started on . . . Deadlines and things.”
    He smiled. “Well if you need anything, anything at all, I'm just next door.”
    “Thank you, Bruce,” Maggie said, watching him close the door.
    She walked back inside her apartment and locked the door. The people here seemed friendly, but a little odd. A fortuneteller in the building? Why would I have expected anything less? she thought.
     
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
    FOUR
     
     
    The door buzzer sounded like a bumblebee trapped inside the wall, jolting Maggie from the imaginary world of her story. She had been up early that Thursday morning, working to beat her book’s deadline. She rubbed her eyes, quickly saved her document, and rushed to the intercom.
    “Hey, Maggie, it's Jess, let me in.” 
    Jessica Pinter has been Maggie's best friend since third grade. They know each other better than anyone else does, including their families. Maggie knows that Jess backed her car into