Nerds on Fire

by Grady, D. R.

  “Excellent. I’ll go check on supper.”

  “I’ll be out to help you soon.”

  “When was the last time you cooked?” Trixi wondered.

  “It’s been years, but it’s high time I relearned the skill.”

  A car horn honked nearby. Recognizing it, Trixi hurried to the back door. Katy breezed in with a loaf of bread, and a box that probably contained some sort of dessert. She had made a Wintermyer run for some items Gran forgot. She handed the bread and box to Trixi.

  “These are from Bernadette. Am I too late to help Gran?”

  “Yes, so was I.”

  “She’s got everything put away already?”

  “You girls already put away most of my hanging clothes, so I didn’t have much to do. Now it’s all finished.” Gran entered the kitchen and took possession of the items Katy picked up for her. She left the room again.

  Katy found a cutting board and knife and set to slicing the bread.

  “Dad just left with the last of his things.”

  “I missed him, too?” Katy’s eyes clouded.

  “We’re going there for dinner the Thursday after next.”

  “Oh good.” Katy expertly sliced the bread. Gran returned, her hands empty.

  “I never thought being a professional cutter was a good career for a woman, but you look like you know what you’re doing there, girly.” Gran watched the enviable ease with which Katy performed her task.

  “Katy’s good, Gran,” Trixi said loyally.

  “I enjoy my job.” Katy piled the sliced bread in a basket. “I’d like to work with Leo some day.”

  Trixi sent her a knowing look. “You’re not enjoying your stint with Mark?”

  “Mark is a little scary isn’t he?” Katy helped Gran set the table while Trixi checked the vegetables.

  “A little?” Trixi repeated.

  Katy pursed her lips. “Leo said Mark made up some techniques before he even left residency. Or was that during his fellowship? I can’t remember now.”

  “I’m not surprised.” Trixi tapped the spoon she used to stir the veggies. “Still, he’s a little too smart for his own good.”

  “Yes.” Katy bit her lip.

  “Of course, so is Leo.”

  “Leo is smart,” Katy agreed. “But he’s not scary.”

  “Not like Mark, no. But Leo is every bit as confident at his job. Leo is just more approachable than Mark.”

  Katy nodded. “Yes, I can see that. I think both of them would be dangerous if cornered.”

  “If you think about it, Leo more so because he doesn’t seem like a threat.”

  “I hadn’t thought of that.”

  Trixi tossed the spoon into the sink then leaned against the island. “I wouldn’t rile up either de Vosse.”

  Katy’s lips curled into a mischievous grin. “I rile Leo whenever I can.”

  “It’s been nice knowing you, Greene.”

  “I’m not in the least bit afraid of Leo. He’s amazing and he would never hurt me.”

  With a silent sigh, Trixi wondered how long it would take Katy to realize she was in love with Leo.

  “No, he never would.”

  “And Mark wouldn’t either.” Katy rushed on with less vehemence, but with the same level of confidence.

  “No.” Trixi didn’t allow herself to even think about him. “Let’s eat,” she said, a little dispirited because her life stretched out in front of her in a long, endless cycle she didn’t have the faintest clue how to break.

  She and Gran waved Katy off later that evening. Her spirits had revived in the presence of her best friend. It was hard to be lonely with Katy around. Besides, she had Gran and her grandparent was also uplifting.

  For the first time ever, Trixi was solely responsible for the safety of the house. Usually her father performed the security check on all doors and windows. Since he didn’t live here now, the task fell to her.

  There was no one else to see to her and Gran’s safety. It was scary.

  She entered each room and checked all entry points. In the conservatory, she would have missed a nearly circle shaped crack in the far window if she hadn’t set out to check every single window. These windows were double paned with a coating to keep the glass together if broken from the outside.

  Her heart stalled in her chest before she made a note in her phone to have the window repaired. Then she checked every single window more thoroughly, but there were no other odd cracks. So she reset the alarm, making certain nothing else appeared suspicious. Her trash can hadn’t taken to roaming in two days, so that was a plus. Once satisfied all was well, she finally took herself off to bed.

  This house was her heritage and it was solely hers now. She had a duty to make certain when it passed on to the next generation that it passed in good condition.

  It was the next generation part worrying her. Wasn’t it her responsibility to make certain there was a next generation?

  An awful moaning woke her.

  When Trixi finally sprang to full awareness, it was to find herself upright in bed, staring into the surrounding murky darkness. Her heart raced and sweat coated her t-shirt to her chilled back.

  She strained to determine what was happening.

  A long, low moan echoed again. There were no clanking chains, and no white sheeted specter passed through her bedroom, but the freaky noise was daunting nonetheless.

  Trixi tripped out of bed, but managed to catch herself before she found her slippers and a robe. Then she padded to the staircase. She wound her way downstairs through the darkness because she knew the house so well.

  Her goal was to check on Gran. The moaning didn’t sound human, but one never knew.

  Trixi’s slippers made no noise on the kitchen floor as she passed through it and into the mudroom. Gran’s door opened on to the mudroom. She heard nothing, but the door was cracked.

  “Granny?” she whispered.

  “I’m here, Trixi.”

  Widening the opening, Trixi slipped inside. “What is that noise?” As though on cue, the wailing came again, long, low, and hair-raising.

  “I don’t know. I haven’t ever heard anything like it before. Since you’re here, I’m guessing you haven’t either.”

  “No, definitely not.” Trixi was certain of this much, anyway.

  “Interesting.” Gran’s covers rustled as she shifted beneath them.

  “How is this interesting?”

  “Because it’s never happened before and I’m here now.”

  Trixi didn’t even want to imagine what she’d be feeling if she was in this house all alone.

  “What should we do?”

  “Pop in some earplugs and go back to sleep.” Gran offered up a sensible solution, as usual.

  “Great advice, Gran.”

  “Of course.” Gran slid lower on the bed and repositioned her pillow.

  Trixi tumbled off the bed to search out her grandmother’s supply of earplugs. She found them and dumped a few in the bedside table after handing a pair to her grandparent.

  “Do you have some?” Gran asked.

  “Yes, they’re upstairs.”

  “Good. If you’re worried, you come back down here and we’ll call the police. This is just someone up to mischief. If we don’t react they’ll go away.”

  Since Trixi was inclined to agree, she kissed her grandmother goodnight again before performing a thorough recheck of all the doors and windows. She trailed upstairs then to locate her own earplugs. Instead of reacting, she slid the earplugs in and then settled down for the rest of the night.

  This would all look different in the morning.

  Chapter 13

  The nighttime happenings appeared completely innocuous in the light of day, so Trixi brushed these newest incidents off. Work went as usual the next day and into the following week.

  The moaning continued, and now there was some sort of odd howling added to the acoustic offerings. She expected rattling chains and a ghostly voice beckoning her t
o follow some apparition.

  Earplugs and Gran’s pragmatism kept her from worrying too much. Her conservatory window was repaired and her outside trash can remained where they usually stored it. Trixi started to sleep a little better.

  The following Monday morning, a week after Gran moved in, she hurried into the garage. Except her car looked lower than normal. Upon closer inspection, she finally noticed the two car tires on the passenger side were flat. Nape hair rising, Trixi dashed to the other side. These were also flat. Her stomach sank as the hairs on her arms lifted. She raced to the door leading outside and tested the knob. It turned easily in her hand. Chills crept up her spine because she had locked this door Saturday morning, and checked it after they arrived home yesterday...

  Her stomach gave a queasy roll.

  She didn’t have time to speculate though, so she returned to her flat tire problem. It would take too long to fill them up again, so she drove the big SUV in her garage to work. Normally this was used for hauling stuff and people around and only came out on the weekends and during bad weather.

  A quick call to a handy man helped alleviate some of her stress after he promised to install a deadbolt on that door. It wouldn’t solve the problem, mostly because she wasn’t certain what the problem was.

  Katy jumped her the minute she arrived. “Why did you bring that?”

  “My tires were flat this morning.”

  “Flat? How?” Katy blinked as she worked to process Trixi’s statement.

  “I don’t know. When I went to leave for work, my car tires were flat.”

  Katy frowned. “All four of them?”

  “Yes.” Trixi noticed the time and hurried off, more than a little rattled by the morning’s incident.

  When they all finally gathered for lunch, Trixi was still a little strung out from her flat tires and learning her way in neonatal as a nurse practitioner.

  As soon as they settled at a table, Katy eyed her. “All four tires were flat?”

  “Yes.”

  Leo and Mark ended their discussion to pin her with identical focused interest.

  “What’s going on?” Leo asked.

  Mark, just back from an overseas conference, also watched her, waiting for her answer. She had mentioned to him one day right before he left about the odd noises, but hoped he forgot all about them. Clearly, the man had forgotten nothing.

  “Since my dad and Gran switched places, there have been some adjustments for me. None of them surprising until this morning when I went out to the garage and found four flat car tires.”

  His eyes narrowed. “All four?”

  “Yes.” She opened her lunch, not because she was hungry, but more so she wouldn’t need to meet his probing gaze.

  “Was your garage unlocked?” Mark’s tone didn’t change, but it was evident she was his sole focus at the moment.

  “Yes.” She didn’t mention that it had been locked. “I locked it, of course.”

  He nodded. “When you get home tonight, make certain it’s still locked. Also check all the windows—verify they’re all intact and locked.”

  Her lips pulled down. “I’m not a complete idiot,” she muttered into the sandwich she didn’t particularly want.

  “Trix, has anything else been happening?” Katy stopped unwrapping her own sandwich.

  “Some strange sounds at night.” This lot wasn’t going to let her off the hook. And Mark knew about them, so he’d call her on it if she didn’t mention this.

  Katy actually set her sandwich down. “What strange noises?” She darted a quick look at Leo who must have interpreted the look. His hand slid over hers in a calming gesture.

  Trixi’s shoulder jerked as she tried to shrug. “Just some moaning and howling.” She didn’t mention her trash can’s new ability to move itself or the oddly cracked conservatory window.

  “What?” Leo barked.

  Mark’s mouth formed the same grim line as when she had mentioned this in passing last week. He’d mumbled about missing the conference then, but had gone. Although she guessed he had cut it short.

  She repeated herself, as her palms turned clammy.

  “Why didn’t you say something?” Leo demanded only seconds before Katy.

  “Because it’s not important.”

  “So you haven’t been sleeping?” Katy asked.

  “No, we have. Gran suggested we wear earplugs that first night, so we’ve been doing so ever since.”

  Mark leaned in so suddenly, he startled her. “Here’s the same tip I gave you last week, that you obviously didn’t heed. Call the police.” The man didn’t need to raise his voice to be scary.

  She stared calmly back at him. “Call them about what?”

  His eyes narrowed. “Your four flat tires this morning.”

  “This is the first sign of actual trouble we’ve had. You can’t call the police because of odd noises.” Technically, you could, but theirs weren’t serious enough to contact the authorities.

  Katy shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “Trix, I don’t like this.”

  “Neither do I,” Leo stated. His jaw was hard and his blue-green eyes steely.

  Mark’s were identical. The brothers looked almost like twins right now.

  “There hasn’t been anything we could do. Now that someone has actually trespassed or whatever it is, maybe we can contact the police. I don’t know.”

  “If you get uncomfortable at all tonight, I want you to call us,” Mark stated.

  Beside him, Leo nodded. He gazed at her with the same hard eyes and determined jaw.

  Katy’s chair squeaked as she leaned forward. “You know what? I’m moving back in for a little while.”

  “No, Katy, you just moved into your own house.”

  “I know. But you and Gran are far more important.”

  “I think Katy moving in with you is a good idea,” Leo said. “At least for now.” His gaze turned to his brother whose phone rang.

  Mark stepped away to take the call while Leo lectured her on safety. As soon as he returned, Mark joined Leo’s safety spiel.

  Although not necessary, it was nice having men other than her family express concern over her well-being.

  It somehow made her happy on an anxiety-ridden day.

  Katy moved in that evening, with the help of Leo. Mark ended up staying late with two emergencies. He did excuse Katy from duty so she could move in with Trixi but wasn’t free to help with the move. She, Katy, and Leo managed just fine. After they finished, Trixi gave Leo a tour of her house.

  “This is a big place, Trix.” He admired it, but he sounded leery of her and Katy living here. It was a big house.

  “Gran is here, and now Katy.” Trixi pointed out and anyway, it was the only house she had.

  “I’ve lived here before with Trixi and Dad,” Katy said behind them as she hoisted a bag onto the bed. She glanced around the room. “This is just like coming home.”

  “You will always have a home here.”

  “Thanks, Trix.”

  “Trixi tells me this as well.” Gran had ensconced herself in the cozy chair by the window. It was a well-loved chair, as Katy curled up in it often. The mate to it was Trixi’s favorite perch in the room. Other than the bed where she and Katy had giggled and talked hours away. Now Gran rocked in the easy chair and happily watched the proceedings as Katy unpacked.

  Trixi could tell Leo took an instant liking to Gran and her to him. It was odd to see her work friends mingle with her family. She wondered if Gran and Mark would take to each other.

  Where that crazy thought came from, she didn’t know so she shoved it away. It was highly unlikely Mark and Gran would ever meet, so this was a ridiculous thought.

  To keep herself from any other stupid musings, Trixi unzipped another bag on Katy’s bed and helped her unpack.

  “You know where her stuff goes?” Leo asked while Katy disappeared into her bathroom.

  “Of course.”

  “Trix knows where most of my stuff is at i
n my place too.” Katy breezed out of the bathroom and tackled the next bag on the bed. Between them, it didn’t take long to stow Katy’s belongings.

  “I have supper in the oven, so it should about be ready.” Trixi led the way downstairs.

  “When did you have time to put a meal in?” Katy trailed her into the kitchen.

  “This morning.”

  “Oh yeah, right. You have the best range in the world. I want one,” Katy decided as she followed her over to check on supper.

  Leo asked a few questions Trixi was happy to answer as she removed an impressive amount of dishes from the various ovens.

  “You can fit all those dishes inside?”

  “Yes, this is the beauty of these ranges. They’re really nice.” Trixi hoped this gorgeous cooker wasn’t the only thing she had to look forward to for the rest of her life.

  Shoving the disturbing thought away was easier with so many people in her kitchen. Gran and Leo set the table while she and Katy finished the last minute preparations.

  “It’s really nice to be back here, Trix.”

  “I’m glad. Gran and I are happy you’re here.” Trixi wondered, in the back of her mind, how three women in her home were any better than two.

  Still, Katy was a smart woman. She could and would offer practical suggestions. Plus, it never hurt to have a third person available to call for help if needed.

  The knot in her stomach eased.

  “Neither of you slept last night,” Leo accused when he encountered them a couple mornings later. They stepped into an alcove nearby to avoid the heavy foot traffic.

  “Someone threw three different bricks through three different windows last night.” Trixi numbly sank onto a convenient bench.

  “You did call the police?”

  “Yes. It was bad.” Trixi brushed a hand over her face. “We were up most of the night talking to them.”

  Mark soon joined them.

  She explained about the continued odd noises, and then last night’s bricks. Since her trash can hadn’t budged in days and there were no additional cracked windows, she refrained from mentioning those. She also had a shiny new deadbolt on her garage door.