Page 24 of Obscurity (Pros and Cons Mysteries #5)

A n hour later, event staff was still working to appease angry concert goers.

Not only was all the food gone, but people had also discovered the toilets were already stinky. Restlessness amongst concertgoers continued to grow.

Finally, as the sun began to set behind the mountains, casting long shadows across the crumbling town of Grayfall, the stage lights flickered on.

The crowd gathered in front of the wooden platform, their earlier frustration simmering into resigned disappointment.

“Ladies and gentlemen.” Brad’s voice crackled through the pathetic sound system. “Please welcome . . . the Mountain Boys!”

Three men in their fifties shuffled onto the stage carrying well-used instruments. The banjo player’s shirt was stained, the fiddle player kept adjusting his baseball cap nervously, and the guitarist couldn’t seem to find a comfortable way to hold his beat-up acoustic.

They launched into what might generously be called bluegrass. In reality, it sounded more like three people who’d learned different songs and decided to play them simultaneously. The banjo was out of tune, the fiddle screeched on the high notes, and the guitarist’s timing was so off it was painful.

Olive forced herself to smile and nod along, playing the part of a supportive festivalgoer while internally cringing at every off-key note.

Around her, other attendees were checking their phones, shifting uncomfortably, or staring at the decrepit buildings surrounding them with expressions that suggested they were questioning every life choice that had brought them here.

She used the performance as cover to study the crowd. First, her gaze found Tevin. He was on the other side of the group, near Becca. The two of them laughed together about something.

Perfect. He was usually a behind the scenes guy, but there was no way he’d be able to do his normal duties in this place. Still, she wanted to keep an eye on him. He was like a brother to her and one of her closest friends. She wouldn’t be able to live with herself if something happened to him.

Three more groups had arrived throughout the afternoon, bringing their numbers close to four hundred. At least one more group should still be hiking in.

She prayed that group didn’t encounter any problems.

What if the Grayfall Guardian and his crew had threatened them also—and then carried through with it?

With generators humming in the background, her gaze swept across the faces illuminated by the stage lights. Something cold settled in her stomach.

High in the mountains, she was nearly certain there were people watching this festival unfold. Not concertgoers.

Dark Watchers? Or was Maya getting into her head too much?

She didn’t know, but she didn’t like the feeling in her gut.

As the banjo player hit a particularly sour note, several people in the crowd visibly winced.

That was when she saw movement in the woods.

She wasn’t imagining things.

Someone was out there.

“Something’s wrong.” Olive leaned toward Jason so her words wouldn’t carry.

“The music? Yeah, it’s terrible.”

“Not the music. Someone is watching us from the woods.”

Jason’s eyes swept the area, and she saw the moment he spotted what she’d noticed. His jaw tightened.

“You’re right,” he murmured. “I see at least two people.”

The Mountain Boys launched into their version of “Foggy Mountain Breakdown,” though it sounded more like “Broken Mountain Disaster.” Olive tried to focus on the performance, but her skin crawled.

Connor stood near the front of the crowd, his camera capturing the trainwreck performance from multiple angles. As the festival’s videographer, he might have additional footage from the promotional shoots, she realized.

Since Chloe had been involved in the promotional video, Connor might have hours of behind-the-scenes content that could provide clues about what was going on here.

But approaching him would have to wait. Too many eyes were on the crowd right now.

The song—if it could be called that—finally wheezed to a conclusion, and scattered applause rippled through the audience. Most people looked like they were clapping out of politeness rather than appreciation.

“Thank y’all, thank y’all!” the banjo player called, his grin revealing several missing teeth. “Y’all are a wonderful audience! We got a few more songs for ya before we take a little break.”

A collective groan rose from several festivalgoers.

Olive settled in for what was clearly going to be a long, painful evening. But her mind was racing. Whatever Chloe had discovered in this creepy ghost town, it had been enough to make her send that final, cryptic text.

There’s more to Grayfall than you think. The trees are watching.

Now Olive was beginning to understand what Chloe meant.

It wasn’t just the trees that were watching—it was everyone.

And time was running out to figure out why before she and Jason became the next people to disappear in these mountains.