Page 110 of Play With Me

Griff took a sip of beer, his eyes on the man he was protecting across the room. “Real estate isn’t exactly bopping in that area. Especially not for a property twenty miles out of town, and with this kind of profile. Way up a rocky mountain. No service. Far from any useful amenities. The closest neighbors are a swear-to-God functioning convent a couple of miles away.” Griff had paused. “Shit, it sounds like my kind of place. Too bad I’ve got this business to take care of, or I’d join you.”

I had the feeling this was Griffin’s version of excited.

“So you’re saying it’s safe to do a B&E?” Jude asked, grasping my hand, which was holding a forkful of torte and halfway to my mouth, and guiding it to his instead.

“Hey!” I exclaimed, laughing. Classic Jude. Luckily, he was as generous with his food as he was sneaky with mine.

But Jude had just licked chocolate from his lip and winked. Suddenly I didn’t care about my torte anymore.

“I never advise anyone to break the law,” Griff said in answer to Jude’s question. He threw back the last of his beer, then paused, looking in the empty glass. “I implied that the place is effectively abandoned, the company holding on to it for land value only. Of which there isn’t much.” He shrugs. “But who am I to stop my reckless little brother from doing anything he damn well pleases?”

So here we are, about to do a B&E on a cottage that we hope might shine more light on Eleanor and JEQ. It’s beyond far-fetched to think we’ll find anything, I know, but it would be foolish not to try now that we’re here.

Besides, Griffin dropped another zinger on us, answering the question we never thought we’d have to ask—what were we going to do if we found strong evidence George killed his wife?

“I’ve got connections with a detective back at home,” Griff told us as he pulled on his coat to go. “If you find evidence you think is compelling enough to get them to reopen the case, I’ll make sure they do.”

Now, our investigation wasn’t just for fun. We could actually see justice served for Eleanor.

And JEQ, if George had killed him too.

Up ahead now, through the trees, I see a line too straight for nature. Then another. “There!” I exclaim, my spirits suddenly leaping again. I train my camera through the windshield.

It was a long drive out here—four hours instead of the two we’d planned on because a minor rockslide had traffic blocked on the highway we set out on. Not to mention Jude needed more than one “stretch break” and I had to find somewhere suitable to pee. I was a little nervous we wouldn’t have enough time to get back to the resort before dark, but there were already crews on scene at the rockslide cleaning it up.

But now, all that flies from my mind. Because emerging from the trees before us is the very same cottage pictured in the photo in my hand.

“The love shack,” Jude says, grinning wildly. He didn’t seem as enthusiastic about going out here as I was, but I think that’s because he was having too much fun back in the hotel room.

I mean, I was too. More than him. But this is the whole reason we’re in Switzerland.

“It’s definitely abandoned,” I say as I zoom in on the house. The stone walls are barely visible—they’re snaked over completely with bare brown vines, several of which still have brown leaves still twirling in the wind. The windows are boarded over, but it looks like it was done years ago—the wood is weathered and gray, warped and chipped. And all of it’s covered in a thick layer of snow.

I should be creeped out—the place looks like the definition of a haunted house. But for some reason, all I feel is an ache in my heart. For Eleanor and JEQ…and yes, for me and Jude too. Is this the last adventure we’ll ever go on together?

When we get out of the car I can see my breath, and there’s the scent of more snow in the air. The forecast said there’d be no more falling until tonight, but I can’t help wondering if that estimate should be bumped up.

It doesn’t matter. It’s only early afternoon, and we won’t be here more than an hour.

Unless we find anything. JEQ had a penchant for hiding items of great interest everywhere he went.

I hear Jude trying the front door, which is ridiculous, because it’s covered over with vines. But it would be ridiculous not to try it either, I guess.

“I don’t even know if it’s locked so much as jammed,” he says.

There’s a split in one of the boards at the front window—the very same one we saw the shadow of Eleanor’s lover in—and I cup my hands over the wood. But it’s too dark to see anything.

There’s a crack behind me and I whirl, my stomach jumping.

“Easy,” Jude says, laughing and holding up his hands. “You scared, Nor?”

“A little,” I admit. “You?”

“Shit yeah,” he says. Then I rise up and kiss him. A warm glow spreads over me.

“Better?” I ask when he pulls away.

“A little,” he says, grinning dopily. “Remind me why we left the hotel again?”

---