Mid-Century Monster, page 5
part #3 of Solstice Properties Mystery Series
About halfway down the block, Chad stood at a shiny new dumpster. “It’s in here.”
“What is it?” Cin hurried down the alley, thankful the city had recently had a crew make a pass down it, cutting down the weeds that often filled the middle of her own alley and often made it hard to get down the back passages across town.
Chad heaved the lid open. “Don’t know yet.” He peered in and frowned as he backed up. “I think we just found Juan.”
“What?” Cin glanced into the dumpster and covered her mouth. There, partially covered with a couple of garbage bags, lay their missing crewmember. His face was set in a mask of terror. Had he been right? Had they scared a demon from its nest under the house? Had it returned and killed him? But why would a demon leave a body in a dumpster? It didn’t make sense. She backed away from the grisly scene.
“Hi, Helen. Yeah, it’s Chad Kilkari. We need a car out to the new house we’re working on, actually in the alley half a block to the south of the house.” He gave her the address. “Send the coroner too. We’ve got a body.”
Something moved in the vacant lot behind the dumpster. Cin stared toward the noise, grateful for the excuse to look away from the metal box that had become Juan’s temporary tomb. Nothing in the weeds gave away the passage of any animals. There were no birds or anything wild moving in the lot. It added a desperate, creepy feeling to the place. Cin shivered even as she started to sweat from dashing after Chad down the alley.
Back toward the house, Marzie stuck her head out of the gate. “You guys find something?”
Only too happy to head away from the scene, and wanting to keep her friend from seeing inside the trash, Cin loped back toward her. “Yeah. Chad’s called the police. They should be here soon.”
Realization crossed Marzie’s face. “Oh.” She bit her lip and turned away.
Cin put a hand on her shoulder. “Yeah. I guess I need to go tell Phillip.”
Standing against one of the neighbor’s fences, Cin watched the crowd of people form along the alley. The police had shown up right after she’d returned from telling Phillip what they’d found. Since Juan was just a friend, he was limited in what the police would tell him, but he made sure they knew everything he had on Juan and where to find his family in Albuquerque.
“I thought I heard something out here last night,” said one old man from the house next to the flipper. He looked over his shorter fence with a dark scowl. A pair of large, dark, dangerous-looking dogs of some breed Cin wasn’t familiar with padded around him a couple of times before lying at his feet.
“What kind of something?” Cin asked.
He stared at her for a moment. “Oh, you’re the one fixing up that house.” He pointed over her shoulder.
“Yeah.” She nodded. “If there’s something odd around here, I’d like to know.”
The old man huffed. “Odd. That’s one way to put it. Warn the new owners that if they want to keep their pets, they’ll keep them inside. Ain’t safe for small animals in this neighborhood. Ain’t never been safe.”
“Really?” Cin glanced down where Chad was talking with Chief Zack. “Does everyone know about that?” She remembered the woman who’d shown up the first day they’d been working on the house asking if they’d seen her cat.
“Most everyone, although some people don’t listen, even when it happens all the time.” He shook his head and glanced back over his shoulder toward the house across the street. “I can’t tell you the number of cats Mrs. Ramfort has gone through over the years. Poor things. They’d have been better off left at the pound. Cat’s ain’t big enough to survive around here.”
“So you think whatever’s making the noise is what’s killing the animals and maybe Juan?”
“It ain’t never bothered people before. Keeps away from larger dogs too.” The man huffed again and glanced at the canines at his feet. “But then this is the first time the house has been renovated. Families have come and gone, normally pretty quick too, but they ain’t never torn into the place like you’re doing. You might’ve stirred something up. It might not like Mexicans either.”
That was exactly what Cin was worried about, but if the old man thought it had been there for a long time, it couldn’t be just a raccoon or something similar. Maybe Juan had seen some kind of demon. “Do you remember Sheriff Jackson? Were you here when he lived here?”
The old man rubbed his scruffy gray chin. “Yeah. We’d only been here a few years at that point. Not sure how he ever got elected Sheriff. At least around here, he was really unfriendly. Can count the number of times he stopped by and had a beer with me on one hand, and normally he only did it when he was running for election. You’d think he’d want to make a bigger effort.”
Down the alley, the coroner shouted for someone to hold the gurney while he and one of the newer officers whom Cin couldn’t name, lifted Juan’s remains out of the dumpster.
“Was he one of yours?” The old man turned away from the scene and looked at Cin. “He ain’t from around here. I know all the neighbors, even if we ain’t always friendly.”
Cin nodded, wishing she could look away so easily. “Yeah, he’s part of our crew.”
“Well, tell his family I’m sorry for their loss.” There didn’t seem to be a lot of sincerity in his tone.
“I will.” Cin straightened as Chad trudged toward them.
The two dogs bristled at his approach, and growled low and dangerously without actually lunging toward Chad.
“Zack says he thinks it’s an animal attack of some sort. Looks like it was all done in the dumpster.” He shook he head and closed his eyes. “All the blood’s in there. No sign of a second scene in the alley anywhere.”
“Gonna be a while before I take the garbage out at night.” The old man turned from the fence. “If you could do me a favor and keep the noise down after six in evening that would be nice.” He trudged away with his dogs following close at his heels.
Cin watched him go and frowned slightly as she kept her voice low, but knew Chad could hear her easily. “Well he’s downright charming.”
“Careful, Hon, that sarcasm’s going to make a puddle at your feet, it’s dripping so much.” Chad tucked his arm in hers and headed toward the house.
“He says there’s always been lots of weird noises around here, and animals are always disappearing.” She patted his arm, enjoying the simple comfort his touch brought to her as she relayed her conversation.
By the time she was finished, they’d reached the back door where RJ was awkwardly carrying a cabinet out the door, with Marzie trying to help.
“Here.” Chad let go of her and hurried the last few steps to get to RJ. “Let me help you with that. I take it you let the rest of the crew go.”
RJ nodded. “Yeah. They all knew Juan and are more than a bit freaked out by this. Might be a few days before they make it back. Phillip said he’d let me know.”
“Hope they don’t stay scared off too long.” Cin glanced around the backyard, suddenly wondering if there was something that had killed Juan out there watching them from the tall weeds. “I wonder if having the lawn mowed will help.”
“Can’t hurt.” Chad set his side of the cabinet down.
“Are all crews this superstitious?” Marzie asked from where she’d stopped in the threshold.
“Around here they are.” Cin pulled out her phone. “Comes from most of them being Hispanic.”
Marzie nodded. “Totally understand that. If my mother thought she’d seen a demon, she’d been heading to the church to have a priest come bless the place before she went back.”
Cin tapped the phone to call the landscaper. “You know, at least for the sake of the workers that might not be a bad idea.” Although she didn’t like the idea of a priest poking around something she was working on, if it made the workers feel better, she’d be open to it. She still didn’t think they had a demon infestation, but it might get the work done faster.
“If you need me to, I can call a friend in Denver to make some introductions.” RJ dusted off his hands as he followed Chad across the yard.
Marzie shook her head. “No need. I can get someone local pretty quick. As long as they don’t think I’m totally crazy for telling them I’ve got a demon in a house. I might be in for a few more confessions after this.”
Turning away as the landscaper answered, Cin grinned, just imagining what would happen if the priest found out Marzie regularly associated with a witch and a werewolf. It might be a can of worms none of them wanted to open.
9
Cin could never really decide if the improvements in her body were worth the ache and fatigue she felt after an hour of intense yoga. Sure, she was in better shape than she’d been in years, and over all had more energy, but most days, she just wanted to lie on her mat and sleep for a while when she got done. It didn’t help that Chad was always perky after a session. He’d barely broken a sweat, and Cin felt like she wasn’t going to stop dripping until she made it home and got a good shower.
“Can you two hold up a minute?” Shelby asked as Cin finally managed to stand so Chad could roll up her blue foam mat.
“Sure.” Cin smiled and put on a good face, hoping Shelby didn’t realize how much she just wanted to go stand under a cool spray of water to relax and get ready for another day. She’d finally given into Chad’s urging to hire a receptionist at the office and had folks to interview.
Shelby put her hands on her hips and cocked her head. “So what’s up at the new house? Sounds like you’re getting people killed.” There was something harsh in her voice.
“Not us.” Cin shook her head. “Things like this have started following us around. I wish they weren’t.”
“I do too.” Shelby pouted slightly. “I mean…oh, I don’t know what I mean. Something just hit me wrong when Zack said you guys had found that worker dead in that dumpster. It didn’t feel good to me. I’m worried about Zack. I mean, Sheriff Jackson died while you were investigating those skeletons. I don’t want anything to happen to Zack.”
Chad set down the mats and gave her a big smile. “Shelby, we’re not going to let anything happen to Chief Zack. He’s my friend, not just your fiancé. We try to not let things, like death, happen to our friends.”
Cin couldn’t help but smile, Chad’s phrasing was incredibly awkward. “He’s right, Shelby.” She gave her friend a quick hug. “Nothing going to happen to Zack if I can help it.” She wasn’t going to try to explain the real situation with Sheriff Jackson and his power-hungry wife, Lucille.
With a heavy, worried sigh, Shelby returned Cin’s hug. “I know. At least in my heart I know, but I’m new to this whole police relationship.”
“If it’s any help, he’s more apt to be killed in a traffic stop than mauled by some unknown animal.” Chad patted Shelby’s shoulder.
Shelby closed her eyes. “Not helping there, Chad.”
“Sometimes, he’s just a guy.” Cin tilted her head and tried to give Chad a slight glare. “I thought you were handling him being a cop just fine.”
Stepping out of Cin’s hug, Shelby sighed again. “I thought I was too, but then you guys found that body, and I started thinking about Jackson, and the apartment building burning down, and Gloria Taylor disappearing, and everything else that happens when dead bodies, mummies, and skeletons start showing up around you. I don’t want anything to happen to Zack.” Her lower lip quivered. “I love him.”
Cin gave her another hug. “I hope so, you’re going to marry him. This fear for him is perfectly normal. Don’t worry. Chad and I will do what we can to make sure he’s not put into any danger because of something going on around us.” If she had to use some magic to do it, she would.
Shelby nodded into Cin’s shoulder. “Thanks, Cin. I really appreciate you guys; you know that. Sorry for coming across as a basket case. I’m just new to this.”
“We know that.” Cin patted her back. She understood the fear Shelby felt. She’d gone through it herself many times when Chad had been on the force. She wished she could tell her it would get easier, but it never did.
Chad’s phone rang with RJ’s tone. “I need to see what’s up.”
“Okay.” Cin stepped away from Shelby, as her friend turned toward the small desk in the corner. She pulled a tissue out and blew her nose.
After a moment, Chad frowned. “Okay. I’ll be there in a few minutes.” He ended the call and returned the phone to his pocket.
A stab of concern hit Cin. “What’s wrong?”
“Phillip showed up without the rest of the crew this morning. They’re not wanting to work this job due to finding Juan’s body so close after he saw the demon in the backyard. I need to go talk with him and see what we can do. Marzie’s already there.”
Cin glanced at her watch. Everyone was running earlier than normal. She and Chad were still right on time. “Okay. You drop me off at the house, and I’ll take my car to the office. We’ve got interviews today.”
Chad closed his eyes for a moment. “That’s right. Receptionists.”
“You guys go ahead and get.” Shelby returned from her desk, still clutching a tissue. “I understand, we all have busy lives. Thanks for listening to my insecurities.”
“I totally understand.” Cin flashed a soft smile. “I’ve been there.” She still went there sometimes when Chad went up to Denver for his monthly furry time with the pack up there. In some ways, she’d traded one set of worries for another. “I’m always here for you if you need to talk again.”
Shelby nodded, then blew her nose again. “I really appreciate that.”
“No worries.” Chad glanced at Cin. “We need to get moving.”
“See you tomorrow.” Cin gave Shelby another smile, then grabbed her yoga mat and followed Chad out to the car. She really wished their day was off to a smoother start.
Cin’s hair was still damp as she pulled into her space in the parking lot. There wasn’t another car there. As she got out of the car, she glanced at her phone. She still had five minutes. Although her first interview also had that time, she wasn’t sure how she felt about someone who wasn’t early.
Once she made it into the office, booted up her computer, and opened her email she found a message for the first interviewee that they’d found another job and wouldn’t be there. Cin sighed and leaned back in her chair. If she’d known that, she’d have taken a few more minutes at the house instead of rushing to get to the office on time.
As she settled into checking other messages, the chime on the front door rang out.
She got up and headed for the waiting room. A tall blond man stood there with a messenger bag over his narrow shoulder. “Hi, can I help you?”
He smiled. It was bright and nearly as disarming as Chad’s could be. “Hi, I’m Michael Cantor. I’m a little early for my interview.”
Cin smiled back and closed the distance between them with her hand out. “Hi, I’m Cin Kilkari. Thanks for being early. Come on in and we can get started.”
His handshake was firm without being overpowering. “Thanks. I was just trying to be a little early, it’s better than being late.”
“Yes it is.” Cin turned back to her office and headed in. It was nice that he wanted to be early. Combined with his buttoned shirt and pressed slacks, it made a good first impression. Although Chad had been pressing for the receptionist, she was going to be the one dealing with them on a regular basis, so she had the last word in hiring. They had several people lined up for the job, but Mr. Cantor was the first, and she liked him.
“I like him.” Cin’s mother appeared behind her desk as they entered the office. “Very handsome, in a pretty sort of way.”
Being used to the ghost’s frequent, unannounced visits, Cin didn’t react. Being quiet and not responding was a good way to keep from scaring people. In some ways, having her mother there might make the interview easier. Her mom could do a bit of magical digging without drawing attention, unless Mr. Cantor was sensitive and could either see her, or sense her magic.
After waving Cantor toward the chair across the desk, Cin settled into her own and pulled up the emailed application he’d submitted. She’d already made a few notes on it. “So, I looked over your application and it appears that you’ve just moved to Cottonwood, what brings you here?”
“My mom’s sick and didn’t want to move to Utah, so I came to her.” Cantor shrugged. “Cottonwood’s a nice enough town. I might be able to make a life for myself here.”
Cin nodded. “We’ve always liked it here.” Although she’d gone to school away from the quaint little town, she’d come back as soon as she could. Cottonwood would forever be home.
“Yeah.” Cantor nodded. “And it’s growing, which is good. A lot of larger cities are getting stagnant as people leave for better spots like this.”
“I hope we don’t get overrun then.” Cin chuckled before turning the interview back to Cantor and what he could bring to Solstice Properties. “You’ve got some hotel experience, but I don’t see any property management jobs.”
Cantor shrugged. “Can’t say as I have, but I’m a quick learner.”
Something told Cin he wasn’t making things up.
Her mother hovered near him and nodded.
“Well it looks like you’ve done pretty good staying employed.” Cin glanced at her computer screen. “Some of your jobs overlapped.”
“That’s right. Part-time things. You don’t have to worry about that here. With Mom sick, I won’t have extra time for a side hustle.”
“And will your mother be an impediment to you doing your time here?” Cin knew from experience what an ill family member could do to personal time.
“To be perfectly honest, I’m hoping not.” Cantor fidgeted slightly, uneasy for the first time since he walked into the office. “Most of her doctors’ appointments are scheduled a month or so in advance, so if I’m going to be late, I should be able to warn you.”
“And with warning I can plan appropriately.” Cin wouldn’t have a problem, most of the time, accommodating an employee who gave her warnings of absences.
