Page 78 of The Sister's Curse

“A whole lot of destroyed cars.” He gestured to a line of caution tape.

He moved aside, and I sucked in my breath.

The parking lot had disappeared. A black pit had opened below it, swallowing dozens of cars and a corner of the building.

I wondered if the symbols spray-painted on those cars might have been a harbinger of what was to come, or if they had somehow summoned this disaster.

“What happened?” I whispered.

“Sinkhole,” the firefighter said. “Freak accident.”

“Anyone get hurt?”

“Fortunately, no. Just an unimaginable amount of property damage.”

Honestly, I felt a sting of satisfaction that Lister had gotten some of what was coming to him. “Is Lister here?”

The firefighter pointed to the edge of an EMS wagon. Lister sat on the bumper, holding a cup of coffee, staring into space.

“Mr.Lister?” I said.

He didn’t look at me. “I’m ruined. Totally ruined.”

“What happened?” Monica asked.

He shook his head. “I heard this terrible, terrible sound…like the earth opened up…and all those cars just fell in, one after another. Fifty-two brand-new cars.”

“Did they say why?”

He lifted a shoulder. “Insurance guy says that sometimes underground pockets form, worn away by water, and they break open…Of course, my policy doesn’t cover this.”

“That’s rough,” Monica offered.

“I’m cursed,” he said.

“Cursed?” I echoed, hoping he’d elaborate, maybe confess to something.

He shook his head. It seemed like he’d say more, but he only looked past us, at a black sedan pulling up. I couldn’t say it was the car that had pulled up behind me on the freeway, not for sure, but my skin crawled.

Jeff Sumner emerged and pushed his way through the crowd. He ignored Monica and me and went to Lister.

“It’s gonna be okay, buddy. It’s all gonna be okay. I swear.” Sumner’s eyes were hard and glinting when his gaze crossed mine.

When Monica and I retreated, I peered into the yawning pit of the car lot. From the depths, metal shifted against rock, squealing, echoing, bits of silt raining down.

And I swore that something laughed musically from the bottom of that pit, beckoning to me.

Transfixed, I slipped beneath the caution tape, listening. Water rushed from broken pipes, swirling around the bumpers of ruined cars.

Something thrummed and cracked below me. The ground shifted, pavement fracturing beneath my feet. I stumbled, and the blacktop I was standing on sheared away.

I twisted, clawed the air, grasping for a ragged edge of pavement as my feet kicked into space.

A hand grabbed mine and hauled me back, away from the pit. I was dragged back to solid ground, retreating behind the caution tape, scrambling back to safety as the firemen squawked into their radios.

“Jesus, Anna.” Monica’s hand was so tight around my wrist that it bruised me. “If you had gone down there, there would’ve been no way to bring you back.”

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. Monica would risk herself to save me, even when I was being fucking stupid and didn’t deserve it. I couldn’t say that about very many people in my life.