A Place So Wicked by Patrick Reuman (life books to read txt) 📕

in the lot. Richard pulled up right next to it, throwing the car into park. He got out, slamming the door behind him, hoping the rat bastard heard him coming, hoping he was afraid. He could shit his pants for all Richard cared.

He pushed open the metal door, feeling a cool, air-conditioned breeze blow back at him. There was a secretary sitting behind the front desk who looked up upon Richard’s entry, but he walked right past her without a word, despite her feeble protest. He knew where his office was. If he didn’t already know he was coming, he didn’t need this lady giving the realtor a heads up, a chance to come up with an excuse and escape Richard’s wrath.

He entered a short hall and then pushed open the door to his office. David Masterson looked up in surprise, definitely wondering how Richard had made it past the secretary, as if the small woman out front was some sort of heavily armed guard. He stood, seeing the fury in Richard’s eyes.

“Mr. Harrington, what can I help you with?”

Richard stormed up to the desk. David’s phone sat face-up next to a stack of papers, easily in David’s view. The screen was lit as well, an obvious sign that someone had just been using it. At the top of the screen, Richard could see a little voicemail symbol. The man hadn’t even bothered to listen to Richard’s voicemail. No wonder he looked so surprised to see him standing there.

Richard spoke slow and with venom, the words seething from his mouth. “Where the hell is the key to that room in the basement?”

David looked at Richard, a look of confusion on his face that only pissed off Richard even further.

“The key to the room in the basement. The one you told me a couple days ago you would be looking for. The one I’ve been trying to call you about!”

Recognition dawned, but Richard wasn’t buying it. This guy was a snake, a liar that could compete with the best of them.

“That one!” David said. “Yes, I remember now.”

“And?” Richard said, so near the edge of his patience.

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” Richard snapped. He wished he had fangs, so he could show his teeth, so he could inject into this guy’s head exactly how angry he was.

“I don’t know. I wasn’t able to find it. I’m not sure where it is.”

Richard’s face actively turned a shade of red. Everything that had happened to his family since arriving at the house, Richard believed, at least potentially, stemmed from whatever the hell was rotting away in that basement, and this guy, the one person who should know where the key was, had no god damned idea. Richard placed his fists on the table and tried to calm himself. Hitting this guy and getting himself thrown in jail would do absolutely nothing to better the situation. But boy would it feel good.

“Honestly,” the realtor started, “I’m just as surprised about all this as you. The last people to live in that house never mentioned a locked room in the basement or a stinky smell.”

Richard’s eyebrow rose. “They never asked about the key? How long did they live there for?”

“Oh, not all that long.”

Richard found it hard to believe that people lived there and never wondered at any point why they couldn’t get into the room in the basement. Had there not been a terrible smell stemming from the room, he still would have been curious and would have wanted to get inside. It was a locked room in his house. Just as if it were any other room in the house, he would have wanted to see inside. It was his right.

“Why did they leave?” Richard asked, suddenly curious with an idea.

David considered the question, for too long, Richard thought.

“I’m not sure,” David said. “Financial issues, I think. They left in such a hurry. They hardly said goodbye.”

Or, Richard thought, there was something in the basement, and maybe it did stink to high heavens, and that was what drove the former family away. Maybe the house had some chronic problem this rat had neglected to tell Richard of.

He didn’t doubt, even for a moment, that this guy would lie to him. He doubted, even further, the man’s story, that the former family had never asked about the room and had been struck by sudden financial issues. Richard remembered now how anxious the realtor had seemed to get them into the house, like he was on some sort of deadline. He was all too willing to ignore any downside to them buying. Like when Richard had mentioned that he was only just starting his new job. That would have been a red flag to any other house dealer, the fact that long-term employment was not guaranteed, and thus, payments were not guaranteed. Things like that could stop you from getting a small loan or even a credit card, yet it seemed to be just fine when it came to buying this house.

He recalled trying to buy his first new car, when the salesmen told him he may not get a loan because, despite his advanced degree and new job, his time at the new job was not long enough to impress the banks. Why had that not been an issue here? And any problem with the house that Richard presented, like property taxes and potential heating problems due to the house being old, the realtor was so quick to dismiss, telling Richard everything would be perfectly fine, that he was used to working with new homeowners, and that all these fears were perfectly normal.

When Richard didn’t respond to his financial issues excuse, David continued. “But I’ll get someone in to take care of the problem as soon as possible. I understand your frustration.”

“Okay…” Richard said, not moving from where