were murdered here in this house.”
Five, he silently corrected. There’d been five kids, though not all of them had been home that night.
He saw she was waiting for his reaction. He simply nodded. “I know.”
She started. “You know?”
“A guy at the truck stop told me when I picked up the flyer.” It was the truth, not that he’d needed the story.
She sighed deeply, shaking her head. “Of course. I forgot to ask how you knew where to come. I should have known someone had told you, though I would have thought he’d warn you off. I’m a little surprised he gave you directions.”
He hadn’t. Not that she needed to know that. “Maybe he thought I needed to see the place myself to be scared off.”
She eyed him closely. “And the history of the place didn’t make you think twice about asking for the job?”
“A lot of places have had bad things happen in them. Doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with the place itself.”
He had the feeling he’d said exactly the right thing. Both her expression and her posture eased, leaving her looking far more relaxed toward him than he’d seen her in the brief time he’d known her.
“That’s what I think, too,” she said. “Unfortunately, it’s very much the minority opinion around here. Most people just want to see it torn down. That’s what that guy was doing here. He’s a local builder, Dalton Sterling. He’s been offering to buy the property from the moment I came back to town. He wants to tear down the house and build a new one in its place.”
Dalton Sterling. The name was familiar, though he hadn’t immediately recognized the face. “You didn’t like the price he offered?”
“I wouldn’t like any price he offered. There’s nothing wrong with this house. It doesn’t deserve to be thrown away for no reason.”
Interesting choice of words. Thrown away. The fierceness, the anger in her words made him eye her closely again.
She’d turned away from him, not looking directly at him. Her jaw was clenched, her face tight with that same anger in her voice.
There’s a story there.
None of your business, he reminded himself. Stick to the reason you came here.
She glanced up at him. “I guess it’s not even worth asking if you already knew all of this before you even came, but do you still want the job?”
“I do.”
She nodded. “Then it’s settled. Let me show you the rest of the house.”
He braced himself for her to move toward the kitchen, somewhere he still wasn’t entirely prepared to go. Instead, she moved back to the entryway, to the stairs. His tension eased slightly, allowing a hint of relief to creep in, along with determination.
It was done. He was in. The first step in his hastily formed plan was complete.
Now it was time to get started on the rest.
Chapter Three
“I hear you hired someone to help you with the house.”
A few weeks ago, Maggie might have been surprised that her friend Annie had already heard about something that had happened only hours earlier. After several weeks in town, she’d gotten used to just how fast news traveled around here, especially since so much of that news seemed to have involved her.
The someone in question had left for lunch ten minutes earlier. She’d given him twenty bucks to pay for both his lunch and get something for her, as well. Comfortable there was no chance of the conversation being overheard, Maggie put her cell phone on speaker and set it on the kitchen counter so she could focus on scrubbing thirty years’ worth of grime from between the counter tiles.
“Dalton didn’t waste any time getting the word out.”
“From what I hear, he came storming into the diner and threw a fit.”
And from there, the news had spread like a virus. At the very least, she had no doubt it had made some people sick.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there to see it. I think I would have enjoyed that.” Just remembering how red the man’s face had gotten when she’d announced John was her new employee made her lips twitch.
“So who is this guy?” Annie asked.
“He’s new in town. Was just passing through when he saw my flyer at the truck stop and decided to check it out.”
“You hired a complete stranger? What else do you even know about him?”
“I know that after two weeks he was the only applicant for the job.”
“He could be dangerous. He could be a killer, for all you know.”
“He gave me a reference. And we worked together all morning and he managed to avoid chopping me up into little pieces so far. That seems like a good sign.”
“Talk to me when you get through the afternoon alive.”
“And then you’ll just worry about tomorrow.”
“You better believe it.”
Maggie smiled. She had to admit it felt nice to have someone care about her, no matter how unwarranted the concern. She’d been on guard most of the morning, but John had been nothing less than a model employee. He’d followed her instructions, done whatever she’d asked and proven he’d known exactly what he was doing. Whatever else she didn’t know about him, he hadn’t lied about his experience. She’d watched him closely for even the slightest hint of him looking at her funny. He never had. In fact, he’d barely given her a second glance. Under different circumstances, it would have been quite the blow to her ego. Hell, she wasn’t sure it still wasn’t.
In the background, she could hear one of Annie’s kids—most likely Casey, the youngest—babbling. “Annie, you already have three kids to mother. You don’t need to worry about me.”
“I can’t help it. It would be easier if you’d give up this restoration idea so I didn’t have anything to worry about.”
“Look, I know you don’t approve, even if you are nicer about it than anyone else in this town—”
“It’s not that I don’t approve.” Annie sighed. “I just hate the idea of you wasting all that time and money for no reason.”
“It’s not for no reason. When I’m done, the house is going to look like a brand-new place.”
“Where no one will want to live.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Mags, I’ve lived here my entire life. It’s the Murder House. Believe me, nobody’s going to want to live there.”
“Don’t
