6
Yvette knew she’d been a bit of a hot mess as they’d left Keating Hollow. The crushing reality that her beloved town was a mere shell of itself had pained her all the way to her soul. And the very idea that she was the one responsible for the trouble had been tearing her apart.
But then Jacob had been right there to put her back together. To remind her that sometimes awful things happened, but that didn’t mean she was the problem. He’d flipped the script to show her that she was privileged enough to be part of the solution, and that was just one of the reasons why she loved him so much. His faith in her and their family was unwavering.
It was the exact message she needed to hear to get her head on straight.
They had a job to do, and dammit, she was going to do it. One way or another, she’d find a way to fix it.
“I think we’re getting close,” she said as they passed a summit sign. “I’m pretty sure the tiny post office is just around the bend.”
“Got it,” Jacob said. “I saw a couple houses back there, tucked behind the river, so that makes sense.”
Yvette had noticed the houses, too. Both looked like summer cabins, though neither had shown any signs of life yet. “There!” Yvette pointed to the right. “Turn here.”
Jacob made a quick right turn and then slowed as they followed the road underneath the highway away from the river and into what must have been the town of Moonstone Ridge.
“Town” had been overstating things. Moonstone Ridge had a gas station with one fuel pump and a small convenience store attached. Yvette was willing to guess that if one was hungry, their options were stale chips, soda, and candy bars. The only other building in downtown Moonstone Ridge was a small white storefront that had the US Flag flying out front.
“That must be the post office,” Yvette said, pointing at it.
Jacob pulled the SUV into the deserted parking lot and killed the engine.
Yvette hopped out and waited impatiently for Jacob to join her. When he hit the button to lock the doors of their Sequoia, she smirked at him. “Who do you think is going to steal it? A random deer who happens to walk by?”
He snorted and then shrugged. “Habit.” He held his hand out to her, and when she took it, he said, “Let’s go find out where Marylin Woodsenhoff lives.”
“I thought you’d never ask,” she muttered.
“I heard that,” he shot back, but Yvette ignored him as she stepped through the door to the post office.
The building smelled of musky dampness, and the floor looked like it hadn’t been swept in forever. A florescent light flickered above, making her eye twitch. “Hello?” she called out.
The word echoed through the place.
“Looks deserted,” Jacob said.
“If that were true, the light wouldn’t even be on,” Yvette said, leaning forward at the front counter and trying to see if she could peer into the back room. There was grime around the edges of everything, but the counter and the floor directly behind it seemed to have been cleaned recently as neither were covered in dust. Then she spotted a full mail bag just behind the counter. “Someone is here. We just need to find them.”
“Maybe they’re in the restroom,” he said as he walked away from the counter and moved toward the wall of post office boxes.
“Who are you?” a raspy voice asked from behind Yvette.
She straightened and spun to find a wrinkled older woman with white hair and watery blue eyes staring at her. “I’m Yvette Townsend-Burton, and that’s my husband, Jacob.”
“Good for you,” the woman said, looking disinterested as she slipped behind the counter.
What did that mean? Good for you? Hadn’t she just asked Yvette who she was?
Yvette cleared her throat. “We’re looking for someone named Marylin Woodsenhoff. Can you?—”
The woman straightened, adding nearly two inches to her overall height. She stared Yvette down when she said, “If you know what’s good for you, forget about that name. Get in that fancy vehicle out there and drive out of this town right now. And don’t ever look back.”
“But—”
“Don’t ever look back!” she cried as she disappeared into the back room.
Yvette turned to find Jacob standing right behind her. “Now what?”
Jacob eyed the doorway she’d disappeared through, and then after what appeared to be some sort of internal debate, he shrugged and slipped behind the counter. A second later, he followed the strange woman into the back room.
Unable to stand the suspense, Yvette hurried after him. But as soon as she crossed the threshold into the room, she came to a complete stop. Jacob was completely alone in a small space that couldn’t have been more than eight feet square, and there didn’t appear to be any other doors or windows. “Where did she go?”
He shook his head. “Unless there’s a trap door, she must have figured out how to teleport, because I don’t see another exit.”
“She didn’t teleport,” Yvette said, frustrated. “I’m sure there’s a secret door here somewhere.” She started to run her hands around the chipped molding but stopped the moment she came into contact with a spider. She let out a cry that sounded more like a scream before taking a step back and deciding that she just didn’t care about a secret passage anymore.
“Come on,” Jacob said, leading her back up front. “We’re not going to find anything here. Maybe someone at the gas station will have some information.”
“Wait,” Yvette said as she eyed the bag of mail that was still sitting behind the counter. “I think we have everything we need already.”
“What—” Jacob started.
Yvette grinned up at him as she grabbed a handful of letters from the bag and started to scan the names. The mail bag was mostly full of advertisements, but there were a few personal letters and utility bills as well.
“You know that tampering with mail is against the law, right?” Jacob asked.
“I’m not tampering,” she said. “I’m browsing.”
“If you say so.”
“Come on, Jacob. Help me. The sooner we find her address, the sooner we can get out of this mold-infested building.”
“When you put it that way,” he said and reached into the bag to grab some mail.
They spent the next ten minutes going through an impressive amount of junk mail that was mostly addressed to Current Resident . Yvette was ready to throw in the towel and try the gas station across the street when Jacob finally let out a whoop of excitement.
“Got it!” He held out an envelope that was addressed to Marylin Woodsenhoff.
“Oh my gosh! You’re my knight in shining armor.” Yvette threw her arms around him, giving him a giant hug. Then she took out her phone, snapped a picture of the address, and dropped the letter back into the mailbag. “See? No tampering whatsoever.”
“You’re the very picture of a model citizen,” he teased.
“Let’s get out of here,” she said and grabbed his hand, tugging him behind her. Just as they exited the building, Yvette heard the voice of the unfriendly woman from earlier.
“Turn around and never come back!” The woman’s raspy voice grated on Yvette’s nerves.
“Did you hear that?” she asked Jacob as she glanced around, looking for the older lady.
“Hear what?”
“The old mail lady. The one who went into the back room but never came out,” Yvette said. “She told us to turn around and never come back.”
“Nope,” Jacob said. “Doesn’t matter now anyway. We have to find Ms. Marylin, and now we have an address. We’re not leaving now.”
Yvette grinned at him. “This is why you’re my ride or die person. You know that, right?”
“I’m your ride or die for other, dirtier reasons, but I’ll take that for now.” He opened the SUV’s passenger door for her and flashed a lascivious wink.
Yvette stared at him for a beat and then smirked before climbing in. She quickly mapped the address and was ready to go when Jacob looked at her expectantly. “Get back on the highway going east. In ten miles, we exit and head up the mountain.”
“Leave it to a witch to live in the middle of nowhere,” he said and then put the vehicle in gear.