The Guest House Hauntings Boxset by Hazel Holmes (novel books to read txt) 📕

be nice to know what the cops knew about the situation, assuming that Sarah could pry the information out of Faye over at the station. Judging from the conversation she’d overheard between her and Dell, she didn’t expect for the girl to put up too much of a fight. And Dell had told her that if anything happened to him, then she should talk to Faye. That fact alone was enough.

Still keeping an eye out for the authorities, Sarah made her way to the Redford police station, snickering to herself over the fact that she was about to do the one thing that she’d been avoiding for the past week: talk to the cops.

The Redford police building stood alone near the front of the town, and as Sarah approached, the timer on the lights in the parking lot finally shut off, which was empty save for one car. It was a purple Nissan, the tires void of any hubcaps, and Sarah passed the windows of the car slowly.

The steering wheel was concealed beneath a leopard print cover, and a pair of pink fuzzy dice hung from the rearview mirror. The floors were littered with trash, mostly Starbucks Coffee cups, and the back seat had stacks of clothes in it.

A blast of warm air greeted Sarah upon stepping inside, and she closed her eyes, glad she was able to feel the heat again.

The entrance to the inside of the building was cramped, and Sarah found herself in a narrow hallway, with a coat rack to her right and a beige wall to her left. Ahead she could see a cut out, and even before Faye came into view, Sarah could hear the smacking of gum from Faye’s mouth.

The woman Sarah saw was much like the one she’d expected. Faye was dolled up with too much make-up on her face that included blue eyeshadow, rouge, and red lipstick that would have given Iris Bell a heart attack.

But while Sarah stood silent and dumbstruck in the hallway, Faye continued to peruse the magazine clutched in her hands, which Sarah noticed was Glamour.

With Sarah gawking at Faye’s long, acrylic nails that looked more like knives than actual nails, she didn’t even notice that Faye had peeled her eyes off the page of the latest ‘how to get a good man’ article and stared her down.

“Can I help you?” Faye asked, her arched eyebrows matching the same accusing tone of her voice, and Sarah suddenly regretted coming here. It was stupid, foolish. She didn’t even have an idea of what she was supposed to ask. And what would the woman tell her anyway? It wasn’t like— “Miss?”

Sarah snapped out of her daze and found that Faye had dropped her magazine, all of her attention focused on Sarah. She chewed on her lower lip, and Faye gave her a look up and down.

“Do you need help?” Faye asked.

“My name is Sarah Pembrooke.”

The gum smacking ended when Faye’s jaw hung loose. “Oh my god.” Faye placed her palm over her chest and she breathed heavily, her cheeks growing even brighter from the combination of her flush and the rouge. “You’re the girl Dell told me about.” She looked toward the door. “Is he with you? I haven’t been able to reach him on the radio and—"

“Faye.” Sarah slowly approached the counter, making sure she kept both hands up so Faye could see. Sarah wasn’t sure what the receptionist might be packing behind the counter, and Sarah wasn’t in the mood to have her day end with a chest full of lead. “I don’t know what people told you. I don’t know how I’m even alive, but I need to know what Dell knew, and I need to figure out what’s happening at the Bell mansion. Dell told me that I could trust you.”

Faye was quiet for a while and then nodded. “You can.” She shuffled around a pile of notes on her desk, and then picked one up. “Uh, the state troopers arrived on scene a few hours ago, but I haven’t gotten an update from them.” She looked at Sarah, her face concerned. “Dell’s desk is over there if you want to sit down. I’ll be just a minute.”

Sarah sat down in Dell’s cracked leather chair. The bottom was well worn, and she thought she would fall straight through after she sat down.

From Dell’s desk, Sarah could see Faye’s back as she sat hunched over the desk, phone to her ear. She spoke quietly, but quickly. Sarah drifted her eyes from Faye’s back to the rest of Dell’s desk.

Aside from the monitor, keyboard, and mouse, there wasn’t much decoration. Not that she expected to find much personality. Dell never struck her as someone who had tons of flair. And while after her first encounter with Dell, she didn’t want to know anything about him, Sarah found her curiosity piqued about the man who had sacrificed himself so Sarah could live.

“Hey,” Faye said, walking over to the desk. “The troopers finished their scan at the house. They didn’t find anything.”

“What?” Sarah asked, standing. “That’s impossible.”

“Dell had called in a report that Pat was shot,” Faye replied. “But when the troopers showed up, they said that Pat was there and completely fine. Do you know anything about that?”

Sarah shut her eyes, turning away from Faye. “Son of a bitch.” The witch was clever. She must have returned to Pat’s form, which meant that any evidence of wrongdoing on Brent’s part had been erased. She spun back around at that thought. “Brent.”

“The detective?” Faye glanced down at her notes. “Dell told me that he was in the back of his squad car, but the troopers said he wasn’t in there either.” She lifted her eyes. “And, um, the troopers are considering you a suspect.”

“What?” Sarah asked.

“They think something is going on between you and Dell, and after Dell reported all of those things with Pat being shot, and bodies at the house, and nothing being true, it’s not painting