Page 36 of Property of Anchor

I wasn’t sure if I was comforted or unnerved by how at home she looked in my cabin.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” she said casually.

“Close enough,” I muttered.

She didn’t ask.Didn’t press.Just sipped her coffee and looked at me over the rim like she already knew more than she was letting on.

“Bad dreams?”she asked.

I shook my head.“Nope.Real life.”

Bernice hummed.“Real life’ll do that to you.”

There was a pause where I could’ve said something.Where I could’ve told her the whole damn story.The body.The blood.The way Anchor held me and told me not to scream like I might be next if I made a sound.But instead, I took a long drink of coffee and looked down into the mug like it had answers in the bottom.

“I didn’t expect to see you this morning,” I said instead.

“Didn’t expect to be up this early, but old bones and a creaky mattress don’t mix.”

We sat in silence for a moment.The normal kind.Not the kind full of bodies and questions and secrets.

“Your dad’s already here,” she added.“He’s over by the haunted house talking to that skull-faced one.”

“Skull,” I said automatically, the image of him from last night flashing in my mind.“His name’s Skull.”

“Of course it is,” she snorted.

“You don’t like them, do you?”I asked, watching her carefully.

“I don’t like people who ride motorcycles and wear secrets like armor.”

“You’ve said the same thing about men in suits when we were working on the office building in Munster.”

“Still do.”

I smiled despite myself.“You’re not scared of them, though.”

“I didn’t say that.”She set her mug down on the coffee table and leaned forward, elbows on knees.“I said you can’t trust ‘em.There’s a difference.”

I narrowed my eyes at her.“Then why are you here?”

“Because you’re here.”She pointed a wrinkled finger at me.“And I told your daddy I’d keep an eye on you.You might think you’ve got everything under control, but I’ve been alive a long time, sweetheart.Seen more than you know.”

My chest tightened.“And what do you think you’re seeing now?”

She tilted her head.“I think there’s more going on here than a few coats of paint.”

That… wasn’t a lie.

“I also think that biker with the tattoos and brooding eyes is interested in you.”

My eyes widened.“Anchor?”

She nodded.“He watches you like a man trying not to starve.”

My face burned hot.“He’s just in charge.He’s making sure I don’t screw up his haunted house.”

Bernice gave me a look that saidsure, Jan.