Shadow Silence Read Free Page A

face. “I’ve got to move in less than thirty days.”
    It was my turn to frown. “What’s this? Why? I thought you loved your place?”
    She shrugged. “I do, but the landlord called me last night. She’s going to move back into the house. I have until the end of the month to find a new place to live.”
    â€œAren’t you on a lease?”
    â€œNo,” she said. “Once the initial lease was up, the arrangement fell into a month-to-month agreement and I just forgot about it. My landlord is seventy-two, and up until this week, she seemed to be very happy living with her daughter. But apparently the two had a major tiff—which I heard all about—and that sealed that. No warning, nothing. Just a big bomb dropping.” She made a whistling sound, then,
“Poooooophhh . . .”
    â€œWhat are you going to do?” I knew how hard it could be to find real estate in Whisper Hollow, and I knew Peggin didn’t have enough money saved up to buy a house. Her job was secure but she didn’t make very much.
    She cleared her throat, staring at me over the top of her glasses. “I think I’ve found a place. I went out looking today and stumbled on a house that would be perfect. I haven’t been inside, but I’m going to check it out tomorrow. It’s a fixer-upper, but I’m not afraid of a little work.”
    Deb returned. “Ready to order, folks?”
    I handed her my menu. “Double cheeseburger, fries, and a chocolate shake. Also—coffee. Lots of it.”
    Peggin laughed. “It’s almost midnight. But coffee for me, too, and I’ll have the grilled cheese with bacon. Chips, pickles, and cherry pie.”
    â€œHow you two can consume so much caffeine and still sleep at night confounds me,” Bryan said. “I’ll have chicken strips, fries, and no coffee. A Sprite, please.”
    Dr. Divine asked for loaded potato skins and a plate of calamari, and Ellia ordered a bowl of chowder and extra rolls.
    After the waitress left, I turned back to Peggin. “So, where is this house? I hope you have room for a garden. I know how much you love hydrangeas.”
    She gave me a long look. “Promise you won’t argue?”
    That rang an alarm. Peggin wouldn’t say something like that unless she knew I wasn’t going to approve. “All right, let’s hear it. Where is it?”
    Peggin glanced at Dr. Divine. He just stared at her silently. “On Fogwhistle Way, across from the pub. It’s oneof those abandoned houses near the Pier in the Foggy Downs subdivision.”
    Fucking hell.
“You have to be kidding. Are you
insane
? You can’t move there.” I leaned across the table, staring at her.
    Ellia chimed in. “That’s prime territory for the Lady. What on earth prompted you to think of moving there? The subdivision’s been abandoned for decades.”
    Ellia was right. The Foggy Downs subdivision was all but abandoned. Too many people had met with accidents, been lured into the lake by the Lady, or had otherwise fallen into general misfortune of one sort or another. There were about ten houses in the neighborhood—all from around the turn of the twentieth century—and they were right next to the Fogwhistle Pier, which had been abandoned as well, given how many deaths the Lady had engineered from there.
    Peggin stared at us. “If you two are done scolding me? Listen, you know as well as I do that there aren’t many houses for rent in Whisper Hollow. I can’t live in an apartment—I can’t stand the idea of being cooped up. And the houses in safer neighborhoods are far too expensive. This house is rent-to-own, and if I fixed it up, I think it would be pretty.”
    Peggin could be a little bullheaded when she thought she was being ganged up on, and if we continued to argue with her, it would only make her more determined.
    I wanted to reach