Page 77 of The Haunting of Paynes Hollow

“Failed lawyers?”

“Started the degree but couldn’t finish. Or finished, but couldn’t pass the bar. Or passed the bar but couldn’t hack the job. Dime a dozen. Like I said, I’ve taken a few courses. Saw plenty of them,sometimes as teachers. Talk like they’re a fucking lawyer, but say shit that proves they aren’t.”

We continue on, me tramping after Ben, nearly jogging to keep up.

“You want to sue him?” he says. “Charge him?”

“No.”

“Figured that. Just thought I should ask instead of being a total dick who ignores the fact you got knocked down.”

“I’m fine.”

“And you’d say that even if you weren’t, so I didn’t bother asking earlier.”

I roll my eyes and hop-step over a fallen branch. “About cameras. That’d be a good idea. A really good one.”

“Yep.”

I chew the inside of my cheek. “I, uh, really am a bit short on funds.”

“Dead broke from what I hear.”

I tense. “What?”

“Sorry. I misstated. Dead broke means you have no money. You’re in debt. That’s worse.”

My eyes narrow as my hackles rise. “My financial situation is none of your business.”

“Well, the person who told me thought it was. They figured if I knew how bad off you are, I’d stop being an asshole to you. Their mistake. I’m an equal-opportunity asshole.”

I shake my head. “My point is that I don’t have a ton of spare cash for cameras, but some cash was left in the cottage. I used most of it to pay my mom’s bills, but I have a few hundred left. Would that be enough?”

“Not for a decent system. Doesn’t matter anyway. It won’t work.”

“We could try,” I say, trying not to grind my teeth.

“Already did.” He takes another step, and then sighs, as if realizing I’m not going to drop this, which means he needs to say more than a line or two to shut me up.

“Seven years ago,” he says, “I was out here, on my rounds, cleaning up trash from picnickers, checking the cottage for damage, and I thought, what the hell am I doing? Cameras could handle this. So Icontacted your grandfather. It was one of the rare times he bothered to reply. He said they wouldn’t work out here. I was young, naive, felt a little sorry for the old guy who didn’t understand modern technology, so I explained how theywouldwork. He sent back one line: Why the hell would I be paying you if I could monitor the property that way?”

“Charming.”

“Always. Two more years pass, and an old school buddy of mine goes into home security. I ask him to demo a system for me. A cheap one. Not that I’m trying to avoid doing my rounds, but because I’d rather avoid cleaning up shit from campers and vandals. He comes out. Sets it up. Doesn’t work. Can’t get a remote signal. There’s cell service, obviously, but it’s not connecting, no matter what he does. Some technical shit about the cell signal here. Long story short, I can set up game cameras and download the photos, but the only thing that’s good for is blurry pictures of deer.”

“Okay.”

He glances back at me for the first time since we left the camper. “You are free to try yourself. Don’t take my word for it.”

“No, I figured there was a reason we don’t have security cameras.”

“Yep.” He resumes walking. “And it’s not my incompetence.”

“I never said it was, Ben.” I take a few more steps. “How much are trail cams?”

He sighs.

“I’ll look it up,” I say. “I don’t know whether I can get deliveries out here, but I’m sure Josie would let me send them to her.”