Page 19 of Out to Get Her
Erin paced the cement patio behind Zach’s house while he drank a Coors Lite on the porch swing.
Movement helped with the shaking. Her hands had been shaking ever since the reality set in that there had been a real freakingdead manin the bathroom with her.
After the short drive down the road in Zach’s truck, Erin hadn’t been sure if she would pass out or puke. One of those had seemed inevitable. But once Zach supplied a cold, wet rag for the back of her neck and settled her into a folding chair, both sensations subsided fairly quickly.
Too bad the shaking and the reality of her situation replaced the nausea and lightheadedness.
So she’d moved on to pacing.
Movement also helped her think. And she really needed to think of a way out of this.
“I don’t see why this is such a big deal.”
Erin shot Zach a glare, but continued her pacing.
“I mean, Paul, yeah. That’s a big deal. Sure,” he said. “But I don’t get why it’s such a big deal if you can’t sell the house right away. It’s not like it ain’t paid off and costing you nothing.”
“I need to get back to work.”
“Then go,” he said. “Can’t you come take care of stuff when you need to?”
She could. On her days off. It was only an hour away from her apartment in New Orleans. But that back and forth would cost time and gas money. She wasn’t exactly flush with either.
“I’m already taking time off to be here now. I don’t have some fancy job with weeks of paid leave.”
“I thought you were making jewelry or whatever. Can’t you do that from anywhere?”
Technically, yes. In fact, she’d brought some inventory and supplies with her so she could fill orders while she was here. But that didn’t pay all the bills. Not yet. “I also work part time at a store downtown.”
Selling other people’s jewelry and wishing it was hers. Her employer sold a few of her pieces on consignment, and she sold to a few other shops and set up tables at various festivals and events. But she couldn’t do any of that around here. And she relied on that steady hourly pay. At least for now.
If she could only sell this house, she’d have a lot more options.
“I can’t keep coming back to take care of this place,” she continued. “Plus, there’s Marty.”
“I can look after the house,” he said. “Hell, I already was.”
“I appreciate it, but I can’t ask you to do that indefinitely.”
“It’s no trouble, really,” he insisted. “Your grandpa… well, you know how I felt about him. If I don’t have your back, he’ll probably come haunt me. And Marty likes me.”
Erin wasn’t sure Marty ever liked anyone but Grandpa, but Marty wasn’t the point.
What was the point?
“I just want to get this all over with.” Her voice cracked a little with that, and he looked at her with his big, sympathetic eyes.
She didn’t want sympathy. From anyone.
He took a long, last drain of his beer, then nodded. “I get it.”
Something in his eyes told her he really did understand. That maybe they shared more than a pair of deceased parents. That maybe they shared a similar desire to be free of this place. Someday. Somehow.
“But what can you do? You can’t sell the place. I’ll help however I can, but I can’t make an open investigation go away.”
Erin snapped her head up.
Zach just might be a freaking genius.
