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

his own glass. “The coldest witch this mountainside has ever known.” He tapped his glass against Dell’s and then drained the rest of the whiskey.

Dell took a more modest drink and then set his beer down while Kegan reached behind the bar and grabbed the bottle of whiskey to refill his glass. “Might want to take it easy there.”

“Relax, I’m not driving.” The glass overflowed, spilling liquor onto the bar. “I’ll leave Pat a good tip. He won’t mind.” He tossed the double shot back and then slapped the glass down hard on the counter. “Well, I better get back.” He reached into his pocket and then tossed a wad of bills next to the empty glass. “Don’t want to keep Grandma waiting for her nightly pills.” He slapped Dell on the shoulder and leaned in awkwardly close. “Always good to see you, buddy.” Two more pats and he walked away.

“Yeah, you too.” Dell watched Kegan leave and then returned to his beer. By the time he finished it, Pat stepped out from the back and wiped down the mess that Kegan had made. Pat peeled apart the wad of cash, and Dell noticed a fifty amongst the tens and fives. “He never had a problem flaunting his money.”

“It was the only thing he had,” Pat said. “You bragged about your mom a lot, but you don’t hear anyone else complaining about it.”

“That’s because my mother was a saint.” Dell aimed his thumb at the door. “He’s a clown with a trust fund.”

Pat was quiet for a minute and then looked at Dell. “You know Iris is sick.”

“He told me.” Dell pushed the glass toward Pat, which was their signal for a refill. “Think he’ll sell the place?”

Pat shrugged. “I don’t know. He grew up here, just like you and me, and that’s not something any amount of money or distance can get rid of.”

Dell knew it was true. Anyone who grew up in Bell and lived to tell the tale did so with a certain level of pride. It wasn’t easy growing up in a decaying little town in the most northern, coldest part of the country.

Still, having Kegan back in town made Dell uneasy. Iris was hard enough to deal with on her own, but having two Bells back in town put the rest of them on their heels. But if the old woman was on her way out, Dell realized it could mean the same thing for the town.

62

Sarah tried sneaking in through the side door on the east wing when she arrived back from Pat’s Tavern, but found that it was locked. She grunted in frustration and then headed around toward the front entrance.

Unlike the side doors, the front doors were unlocked. Sarah chuckled as she shook her head, unable to comprehend the old woman’s logic of security. She shut the doors behind her and then made her way up the grand staircase.

Sarah kept to the left side of the staircase, avoiding the red carpet and tracking boot prints over it. She didn’t want to add more work for herself tomorrow.

The house was quiet on her ascent, and Sarah glanced around, realizing just how many rooms this place had. She suspected that people could go weeks without seeing each other so long as their schedules were skewed.

But when she passed the second floor, she heard muffled voices. She tilted her head toward the noise but was unable to make sense of the conversation. She crept down the hall and saw light through a crack in a door with shadows moving inside.

The closer Sarah moved, the clearer the conversation became.

“Keep them hidden, Dennis. Do you understand?” It was Iris.

“Yes, I understand.”

“It’s more valuable than anything in the house.”

Sarah arched her eyebrows, her interest piqued. She might not have to stick around as long as she thought.

“But don’t tell anyone. Not even Kegan.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Good.”

Footsteps shuffled toward the door, and Sarah darted soundlessly back toward the staircase before Iris could spy her. She meandered back up the steps, wondering what they were talking about. Money? Jewels? Old crows like her always kept cash stashed nearby for emergencies. She just needed to narrow down where it might be.

Once Sarah reached the third floor, she turned from the staircase and toward her room. Her eyelids had grown heavy, and her thoughts turned to bed as she desperately hoped for a full night’s rest.

“Hi.”

Sarah spun around, too tired and slow to be startled, but her heart jumped. It was the girl she’d seen from her first night. She was dressed in the same maid uniform, but this time she faced her, though she had positioned her hair to cover most of her face.

“What is with people sneaking up on me?” Sarah asked. “Do I have a sign on my back or something?”

“I need to show you something,” she said. “Something that can help.”

Sarah exhaled and then looked back toward her room.

“It won’t take long,” she said.

“All right.” Sarah reluctantly trudged along, following the woman toward the west-end staircase.

The air grew colder the higher she ascended, and she was shivering by the time she reached the fifth floor. “I didn’t think we’re allowed to be up here.”

“It’s okay if you’re with me,” she said.

At the top, Sarah peered out the small window in the stairwell. Below, she saw the woods that stretched to the horizon beyond the mansion’s perfectly landscaped property. She pressed her hand against the window, the glass freezing, and quickly pulled it away, leaving behind a handprint.

“This way,” the woman said.

Sarah wiped her print clean with her left sleeve, erasing any sign of her presence, and then faced the fifth-floor door, finding the woman gone. “Hello?” She glanced down the stairs, finding them empty. Had the woman already gone through?

Cobwebs dangled from the ceiling and covered the cracks of the door frame. The door itself was weathered, the wood grayed and cracked. The brass of the knob and the hinges had lost their shine and had rusted to