Page 48 of In Her Sights
Giving a dramatic gasp, he held his fist to his chest. “That’s so not true. A ham hitting the door would make a wet, fleshy sound.” His dimple flashed.
She threw up her hands, even as she made sure to keep her voice low. “Sonny probably took off through a back window when he heard that cop knock of yours.”
“Back window?” Dropping his melodramatic posture, he cocked his head with true interest. “Why not the back door?”
“There is no back door.”
“How do you know that?” There was no doubt in his tone, just curiosity, and it gave Molly a warm, mushy feeling inside to know that he trusted that she was right.
“Norah found the house floor plan online. The landlord posted them when he was advertising the place before Mother Tick rented it.”
“Huh. When did you talk to Norah?”
“I texted her while you were in the shower.” The door cracked open, and Molly prepared to chase if it was Sonny and he decided to run, but the person standing on the other side of the small opening was a woman in her fifties who, from what Molly could tell, did not look inclined toward sprinting. “Hello!”
“Can I help you?” The woman seemed a little suspicious, but not immediately hostile. Molly could work with that.
She widened her smile and gave her words a breathy, bubbly quality. “I’m so sorry to bother you, but I’m Molly, and this is my husband, John. We’re from Denver, but we’re thinking about buying that church, and I wanted to get the opinion of someone who was really part of the neighborhood, you know?”
The woman—Mother Tick, Molly assumed—blinked several times, even as she opened the door a little wider.
“We just have a few questions about the area and the people… Would you mind?” Molly took a step closer, and Mother Tick fell back a step, swinging the door wider.
“Why would you buy that mess?” the woman asked, waving toward the dilapidated, vacant church.
“My husband’s a pastor, you see, and we both love projects.” Molly felt John’s fingers twitch when she assigned him his new career. “The building is actually wonderful, and so full of history. The structure is solid; it just needs a coat of paint or two.”
All three of them looked at the boarded-up church, which appeared to be leaning to the side.
“Anyway!” Molly said quickly in a bright voice. “What do you say? Could we ask you a few questions? It won’t take long at all, and it’ll help us so much with our decision.”
From the way Mother Tick’s mouth drew down at the corners as she studied them dubiously, Molly was sure that plan two was a bust. They were about to get the door slammed in their faces, and she knew that John would insist on trying half-assed plan four and a half next.
“Fine.” To Molly’s quickly hidden shock, Mother Tick swung the door open and waved them in. “I can’t take too much time, though. My son’ll be home soon, and he’ll need his lunch.”
“You have a son?” Molly hurried into the house before the offer could be rescinded. “How old is he?”
“Oh, he’s grown.” Mother Tick led them into a dimly lit living room. “He still loves his mom’s cooking, though.”
“I’m sure he does.” Taking in the heavy, closed drapes that cut off almost all natural light, Molly couldn’t keep herself from sending John a quick, bug-eyed look. The single floor lamp struggled to illuminate the space, providing just enough light to show an orange shag carpet and a floral couch. Squinting into the shadows coating the walls, Molly nearly recoiled when she caught a glimpse of glassy eyes staring at her. As her vision adjusted from the sunny outdoors to the dim interior, she realized that the walls were covered with taxidermy animal heads. “Oh…my. Do you hunt?”
John gave a slight cough into his fist to hide an obvious laugh. Smiling at Mother Tick, Molly resisted the urge to kick him on the ankle. If he kept that up, he was going to set her off, too. She sat down on the floral couch and was immediately swallowed up. Using John’s grip on her hand as leverage, she pulled herself out of the enveloping sofa cushion and perched on the edge, where she was in less danger of being eaten by the furniture.
“No. That was my ex-husband.” To Molly’s relief, Mother Tick seemed oblivious to John’s amusement, even though his dimple was in full appearance. He settled next to Molly, without giving up his grip on her hand. She didn’t mind. It was oddly reassuring to hang on to him, especially in this strange, dark house where Sonny was likely lurking. “I only kept those after the divorce because he loved those nasty things so much, and I wanted to piss him off.”
“Oh. Okay.” Molly blinked. “Do you live here alone, then?”
When Mother Tick’s expression closed, showing the suspicion Molly had thought they’d put aside once they’d been invited in, she hurried to smooth things over.
“It’s such a beautiful, big house.” Molly looked around, acting as if she could see much of anything in the low light. “But I’m sure the upkeep takes up a great deal of your time. That’s one reason we’re hesitating on buying the church; we’re worried that it’ll be a money pit.”
Mother Tick’s sour expression eased, and Molly gave a silent sigh of relief.
“If we do become neighbors,” John chimed in, “we’ll be happy to help you with the lawn and other things like that.”
“Thank you. Sky is supposed to do all of that for me, but he gets busy and things slip his mind.”
“Sky?” Molly echoed, confused.
