She'd trusted handsome men before, and look where she was now. Maybe it was his easy manner. Or the way he shared half his sandwich. He ate the other half while he drove.
Casper chewed and swallowed. “So what brings you to our boring little hamlet?” His amber eyes darted to her, giving Trina a little shiver.
“I’m working on a new show. Going solo this time. The last show didn’t end so well.”
“A show?”
“Yeah, a paranormal investigation show.”
He shot her a strange glance. But as a professional paranormal investigative celebrity, she was used to that. “Why here?”
“I heard that there was a lot of strange stuff going on here.”
Casper kept his eyes on the road. “I haven’t heard anything like that. You’re talking about ghosts and stuff, right?”
“That’s right. Specifically, I wanted to do an investigation of the Oregon State Tuberculosis Sanatorium. It hasn’t been featured on any other show, so I thought it would be great for my pilot episode. A lot of people died there, so there’s a good chance to capture some activity.”
“Okay. Might be kinda tough to do.”
“Why is that?”
“The place fell down not too long ago.”
Trina’s heart dipped. “That’s what I keep hearing.”
“I haven’t taken a look myself. The highway it’s on has been closed for a long time, so it’s kinda out of the way.”
Tears prickled her eyes, but Trina held them back. There was the creepy clearing that might work. If it didn’t, something else would pop up. Like her mother always said, she only had to wait for the good. A technician had already answered her ad. He’d be here tomorrow. What was she going to tell the network? Well, obviously nothing, right now. Her phone was missing.
“You okay?” Casper cast his eyes on her.
“Just disappointed, I guess.”
“Here we are.”
The driveway was beside a sprawling two story. Behind it, a charming cottage with floor-to ceiling windows and an asymmetrical roofline stood in front of an above-ground pool. Wow. Though, what was she expecting, a dump? Even if she were, would she rather sleep in a car with a broken window?
Casper dragged two of her bags from the truck bed and headed toward the in-law. The door wasn’t locked. Trina hauled the remaining bag inside. “You don’t lock your doors around here?”
He placed the bags near a couch in the living room. “This is a pretty safe town.”
“I have evidence to the contrary.”
Casper frowned, but didn’t elaborate on his thoughts.
“This is cute,” she said, looking around.
He gave her the tour. It had an on-suite, the living room, and a full kitchen. The back deck acted as the deck of the pool. It was covered, unused. “Linens in the closet, but the laundry room is in the house,” he said.
“That’s a lot of house for a single guy.”
“Well, we have a tradition of big families.” He pointed. “My brother Sheridan’s family lives next door. Next door to him is my brother Cheyenne and his brood. Laramie lives up the hill a ways on the other side of the street.”
“Sheridan, Casper, Laramie and Cheyenne? From the way you talk, I would’ve thought you were from New Jersey. But it sounds more like you’re from Wyoming.”
Casper averted his eyes. “Long story there, but yeah, we grew up in Wyoming.”
“Near Yellowstone?”
Now, he stared at her. “Yeah, why?”
She tilted her head and thrust out her lower lip. “I can’t think of anything else in Wyoming.”
“Okay, I gotta go meet with the bros. The house is unlocked. I still need to go grocery shopping, but there’s probably something to eat in there somewhere.” Casper rummaged through a drawer in a side table. He came up with a set of keys. “Here you go.”
“Thanks. I guess I’ll get unpacked.” She thought about it. “Well, not everything. Just a few things. I won’t be here long.”
“Suit yourself. Not much to do around here, but the TV’s hooked up to cable. I’ll see you later.”
She side-eyed him. “Is there wifi?”
“We may be rustic in Ripple, but we’re not animals.” He took out a business card and wrote the password on the back.
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Chapter Four
“You’re late.” Cheyenne’s head popped up from the table where the three brothers huddled. The Squirrels Nuts bar was an old building with uneven floors that creaked, a jukebox stood on the short wall perpendicular to the rest rooms. Sally, the owner, was working the bar. Tourists were in the majority, either on their way to or from the wilderness. In the corner adjacent to the restrooms, a lumberjack of a man drank beer from a pitcher and eyed the crowd. His eyes said he was looking for a fight. But Thorn was always looking for a fight. At six-eight, nearly three hundred muscular pounds, you’d have to be drunk to try it. Some of the clientele were getting there.
Casper pulled out a chair. Laramie and Sheridan sat upright for a moment, eyes scanning the room. They dropped their elbows to the table again. The four of them shared the same hair, the same eyes, making them obvious brothers. Only size really delineated them, with Casper being the biggest, Sheridan the runt.
The boys of summer played on the big screen TVs. Elton John sang on about fighting on Saturday, a song that would probably play ten more times tonight. Voices losing inhibition to alcohol rose. It was tough to keep his voice low over the din.
“We’re still running in the black,” Casper said. “Felicity’s apartment build is making us bank. It’s what I’ve been telling youse all along—we need the big projects. We got that kinda organization now.”
Cheyenne held his palms out. “That fire really pushed the profit margin on that job.”
They all smiled at each other. A few months ago, an arsonist was running around Ripple, setting fires. Laramie’s oldest, Isabela, got pinched for it, but she alibied out. None of the authorities knew that the culprit was not running around, but rather flying. Word was that the city-bus sized dragon had settled down. Still, the number of cases made it easy to over-report the loss of materials on the site.
“Maybe it pushed our numbers, but the fact is, big jobs net us big paydays.”
Sheridan pursed his lips. “You’re the alpha, Casper. I’m behind you all the way on this. But since you ain’t in charge, how do you propose we move forward?”
“Wendy won’t like it. You know the girls always play it safe. And until you’re mated, brother, the alpha bitches run this company,” Laramie said. Wendy was his wife. Along with Cheyenne’s wife Carolyn and Sheridan’s wife Marsha, the three of them ruled the Marino Pack. They didn’t know the construction business, other than by association. It chapped Casper’s ass to get voted down on all his proposals. Even if his brothers were behind him, they were all betas. They did what their mates told them. That’s just the way the pack worked.
“Maybe when we finish the build and they all get new cars, they’ll change their minds,” Casper said. “Look, Felicity Malkin told me she’s in negotiations with a café chain and a grocery store. We could build these things. She likes working with us.”
Cheyenne pursed his lips. “Maybe because she’s a shifter, too.”
“Who cares why, Chy? Café, grocery store, some open retail and offices. It’s the big time, and it’s the future.” Casper wondered why he bothered arguing the point. He was an alpha male. They would go along with whatever he said. Then, when their wives voted no, they would go along with whatever they said. Such was his life.
“Well, we never tackled a big project like that. The alphas will be skittish,” Cheyenne said.
Casper rubbed his eyes. “We never built an apartment building before either. It’ll be the biggest build ever in Ripple. We need to get in on it.”
Laramie sipped his beer. “Whatever happens, happens.”
One of Sally’
s girls brought Casper a glass and a fresh pitcher of beer. Casper needed a drink. Until Sheridan spoke. Then he needed several.
“We got bigger problems, Cass. Someone’s snooping around town, asking people questions about the paranormal. People are freaking. This skirt wants to do interviews on camera. What the hell?”
Casper drained his beer in several long swallows and poured a second.
Cheyenne chimed in. “Last time someone like this showed up, we had to pull up stakes and move outta state. I don’t like it.”
“You think she’s got something to do with the strange animal behavior people?” Laramie asked.
Billboards, TV and radio ads were asking the public to report animals behaving weirdly. The campaign had been going on for a while, but recently, it increased in intensity. As shifters, their animal sides were guided by human intelligence, which often made for strange behaviors. Supposedly, rabies was spreading through the wild animal population. As werewolves, the Marinos were reading between the lines.
“Is she asking about animals?” Casper asked.
Cheyenne shook his head. “Nah. It was all about bigfoot, UFOs and ghosts—had I seen any of this, did I know anyone who did.”
“So, is she dangerous or just nuts?” Laramie asked.
“We turn into wolves,” Cheyenne said. “Others in this town turn into bears, big cats, pigs, coyotes, hell, even a dragon. They’re gonna feel threatened. Maybe this ain’t what the girl means by paranormal, but in human society, it sure ain’t normal.”
Casper was fairly certain who they were talking about. And then his heart dropped.
“She asked everyone the same stuff,” Sheridan said. “Chubby redhead, little gap in her front teeth.”
“Chubby?” Cheyenne asked. “You’d say Marilyn Monroe was chubby.”
Sheridan shrugged. “Well, yeah, what was she, size twelve?”
“Okay, for all our sakes, here’s how it goes down. Nobody shifts until we get this girl out of our town, capiche? That goes for all your pups, too. I know it’s almost full moon, but we know what happens when we get caught out.” Casper looked at each brother in turn.
“The Incident,” Cheyenne whispered.
Casper frowned. “We built up a good business here, got our pups in good schools, make a decent living. That’s a lot at stake. Let’s keep the shifting on the down low for now. I doubt the alphas will disagree.”
They all drank to it. But Casper’s thoughts turned inward. The woman he had invited to stay in his in-law endangered their livelihoods and possibly their lives. He suddenly understood why she was upset. No one in Ripple wanted their secret out. It was more than possible that he had doomed the pack he was obligated to protect.
CREATED BY JUTOH - PLEASE REGISTER TO REMOVE THIS LINE
Chapter Five
Trina set up her laptop on the kitchen table thankful that the thieves hadn’t taken it. At this point, it was her only way to communicate with the outside world. She cancelled her debit and credit cards on her bank app, and applied for new ones. On her cell phone’s provider site, she reported the phone stolen and requested a new one to be sent—what was the address here?
Casper said the house was unlocked, but she felt weird as she walked up the stairs to the back patio and opened the French doors into the kitchen. She prowled through the empty house. It was very neat and clean, save for a downstairs bedroom that served as an office. That room was a mess. A mess was what she was looking for.
There were a stack of bills, most of them for Marino Bros. Construction, Inc., but she found an electric bill addressed to Casper. She reached for her phone to take a picture of the envelope before remembering someone had ripped her off. Digging around, she found a pen and a post-it note.
In the living room, a gigantic flat screen dwarfed the fireplace below. Family photos hung on the walls. Holy Moses, there were a lot of Marinos. She gazed at smiling faces, children with missing teeth, pretty women and nice-looking men. From their faces, she could see the males were related to Casper, three of them—the threesome she’d already tried to interview.
She snooped her way back to the kitchen. Trina couldn’t help it—it was in her blood. Deciding she was more hungry than curious, she looked in the fridge. It was well stocked with beer, but little else. Soup was in the cupboard, and she nuked herself a bowl. While she waited, she looked around. A pile of newspapers sat next to a can full of recyclables. The top one caught her eye. UFO Spotted Over Little Crater Lake. Interesting. She grabbed it up as the microwave beeped.
While she hadn’t heard of the sighting, it had taken place not long ago. Campers spotted a fiery ball in the sky, descending near the campgrounds. She read while she ate. At least it was something to look into. After eating, she washed the bowl and returned to the apartment.
The few UFO sites she relied on verified the newspaper report. She even found a short video clip. It might make for good TV, so she bookmarked it. Then she surfed until she found a recent story about the sanatorium falling down. Engineers said they believed a stream nearby had changed course, undermining the foundations. The entire place had collapsed like dominoes. Damn it, she wanted to be the first person to investigate the place. Now, it was as dead as the tuberculosis patients who passed away long ago.
She brought up her e-mail, sending a message to the network. From her bookmark, she included the UFO footage link, so they could negotiate a release for her new show. Trina also reported the bad news about her target site no longer existing.
Her laptop made a noise—a new e-mail. Ben Sartin, a man she had hired as the show’s technician, would be in Ripple tomorrow. Shit. She had nothing to shoot. Well, other than a creepy clearing. The idea made her sigh. From her post it note, she e-mailed him back the address of Casper’s house. She hoped it would be okay with Casper.
Trina tapped her fingers on the newspaper. She re-read the story, taking note of witnesses who were quoted. It was a slim lead. Slim was better than none, she thought to herself. Maybe she could finally get an actual witness to agree to talk on camera.
There was only one place open in town, save the gas station. Trina walked the two miles through the silent woods. Other than the distant swish of traffic on the highway, she heard nothing. Not even a barking dog. Finally, lights appeared through the trees. She turned the corner and walked to the Squirrels Nuts, wondering why there wasn’t an apostrophe. She found the parking lot full, with many license plates from out of state. No one wanted to be filmed inside a bar, she knew, but at least she could get someone to comment on the UFO.
After hours of silence, she was blasted by noise as she opened the door. A juke box blasted, people talked loud, laughing and shouting, some at the game on TV, some for drinks. Yet as she stepped inside, the conversation dropped to a sudden hush. Some eyes moved her way, and then immediately somewhere else. Damn.
Puffing up her courage, she walked toward the bar. A couple of men sitting there saw her and vacated. Well, she wasn’t popular in Ripple, but at least she had a seat. The bartender was a busty woman with awful glasses and an impressive mop of curly black hair. “What can I get you?”
“Whatever’s on tap.”
“Coming up.” The woman expertly drew a pint and slid it over. “You look so familiar to me. Are you on TV or something?”
Trina sat up straighter. “Yes, I am. I’m Trina Adams. Have you seen the show Eerie County?”
“I’m Sally, and nope, sorry.” The bartender angled her head. “Were you in any Lifetime movies?”
“No. I’m a paranormal investigator. I’m here to shoot a new show.”
Sally’s mouth fell open for a second.
Trina pressed on. “Have you ever had a paranormal encounter around here?”
Sally blinked a few times. “Nope.”
“Did you see the UFO a month or so back? It flew right over the town.”
“Nope.” Sally glanced wildly around. “Uh, I have orders. Nice to meet you.”
So much for that, T
rina thought. She turned to the man sitting next to her, who immediately turned away. Trina could see him studying her out of the corner of his eye in the mirror behind the bar.
The woman on her other side suddenly got up with a glance over her shoulder at Trina. She headed for the ladies’ room. It was like Trina was a freaking pariah. In her experience, everyone wanted to be on television. What was up with this town?
Frustrated, she turned on her barstool, gazing around at the people seated at tables. Most of them pointedly avoided her eyes. Was it because she was a stranger here? Paranoia bubbled up. Or was it the questions she was asking?
A man and woman took over the open seats. Trina introduced herself. She saw the glimmer of faint recognition in their eyes. “I’m a paranormal investigator. Have you ever seen Eerie County?”
They shook their heads. “No, sorry,” the woman said.
“I’m here looking for anyone with paranormal stories. Have you had any experiences?”
The man spoke. “We don’t live here. We’re from California, just doing some camping.”
“Oh, okay. Thanks, anyway.”
“You sure do look familiar, though,” the woman said. “I’m just not sure where I remember you from.”
Trina had a pretty good idea, but didn’t want to press it. This was going nowhere. Shooting a TV pilot here seemed like it might be impossible. But for the time being, she was stuck. There was no use freaking out about it. She just had to bide her time. Something would happen for her.
Studying the crowd again, she saw a vaguely familiar face. After a second, she realized it was from one of Casper’s family portraits, the short guy who ducked out on an interview. Four men hunkered down at a table, speaking in hushed tones. Or maybe they had to get that close to be heard over the noise in the bar.
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