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

the card to him, keeping an arm’s length between them, and forced Dell to step out of the car to grab it.

When he took the ID, flashing a light on top of it to get a better look, Sarah saw the name on his uniform: Deputy Dell Parker. “Where did you find this?”

“In a box buried in the shed on the back edge of the property. There were a lot of other cards in the box too.” She hesitated to tell him about the body, knowing that it would only prompt him to follow her, or even take her into the station. But if he found the box, then she figured that would be enough.

Dell flipped the license over and then finally looked up at her. “What kind of cards?”

“Driver’s licenses, like that one.” Sarah took a step back. “Some of them were pretty old.”

“And did you see this girl up at the house?”

Sarah hesitated. “I saw someone. Or something.” She frowned, the commitment in her statement waning.

“What do you mean ‘something’?” Dell asked.

“Listen, I just wanted to give you that.” Sarah retreated. “I have to go.”

“If you just want to come over to the station in Redford and make a statement, I can—”

“I can’t. I’m sorry. Good luck.”

“Hey, wait!”

Sarah broke out into a jog. She knew that she wouldn’t have many options if the deputy decided to chase her. But she didn’t think he would. After all, she hadn’t done anything wrong, at least not that he knew of.

Deputy Dell Parker retreated into the warmth of his car when the girl disappeared. He tapped the card against the steering wheel, wondering if she was just pulling his chain.

The Bells had employed quite a few interesting characters over the years, and growing up in the small town had afforded Dell an up-close-and-personal look at the family itself.

Personally, he had never liked them. They were cold people, distant and unforgiving in their disdain for the collapse of the town named after their ancestor who had founded it all those years ago.

Using the laptop in his passenger seat, Dell accessed the Bangor Police Department database. Maine was filled with so many tiny little towns that local police used a lot of the capital’s resources.

Bell was so small that Dell’s office wasn’t even in town. It was just part of his daily route, and he happened to enjoy Pat’s company at the bar. Pat was practically the only person in Bell who smiled, and he had been kind to Dell and his mother when he was growing up.

Like most small towns, Bell thrived on gossip. And when Dell’s dad walked out on him and his mother when he was five, it was all people could talk about until Patsy Stevens found out her husband was having an affair with her sister.

Waiting for the search field to populate on his computer, Dell saw Pat walk up, bundled in a coat with a scarf covering his neck and chin. He waved quickly at Dell, who reciprocated the gesture, then unlocked the bar and went inside to get ready for the evening rush.

It was always the same people every night, and Dell was always surprised that Pat had been able to stay in business for all of these years when things in Bell got really bad. Even Dell’s mother had moved away once he’d saved up enough to find her a little spot outside of Bangor when he established himself on the force. She kept trying to get him to transfer, but as dead as this stretch of Maine seemed to be, he couldn’t work up the courage to leave.

A force he couldn’t explain kept him tethered to this patch of northern wilderness. Maybe it was the hope that the town would find its footing again. Or it could have been the fact that he had made good friends with the three other deputies that were assigned to this territory. But past all of those thoughts, as Dell grabbed hold of the root of his reasoning, he knew the truth. He hadn’t seen his dad since he was nine. And maybe he came here to this tavern because it gave him a good view of anyone coming into town. And maybe he’d be sitting here one night and a rusted green Ford pickup with only one working headlight would pull off the highway and find its way back to Bell, its driver searching for the son he’d left behind. For the son he’d never even said goodbye to.

The computer dinged, and Dell examined the search results. He’d found a match in the system, which confirmed the license’s authenticity. He glanced to the north, spotting the hulking Bell mansion high up on the hill.

He thought about heading up there to have a chat with Iris, but he knew that with Kegan back in town he wouldn’t get any answers.

The two men had a history that stretched back to when they were kids. He had been poor, Kegan rich; his dad left, Kegan’s dad died. When boys were ten years old, that was all the ammunition they needed to tear each other down.

If this Maggie Swillford was working at the house, then there might be a paper trail that he could trace back to employee filings, which he could access at the station in Redford.

Dell put the cruiser in reverse and then headed back toward the highway, keeping his eyes peeled for the girl who’d handed him the ID, but she was nowhere to be seen.

The drive from Bell to Redford was less than ten miles south. Dell had an apartment there, and it was about as big a city as he wanted to live in.

Traffic was surprisingly busy as he wove his way around shoppers getting ready for the winter season. He wasn’t sure how the folks down south handled winter, but up here, everyone turned into squirrels after fall ended. Folks packed as much food and supplies into their homes as they could afford