Hacienda Moon (The Path Seekers) (10 page)

9

Later that evening, the contractor arrived. The same tall, dark-haired man she’d seen at the airport and the club strolled through the door as if he owned the place. Unlike Saul, he introduced himself and got right to work, concentrating on everything Tandie noted.

Paying attention to his advice and recommendations was difficult for Tandie. Eric Fontalvo was calm and ruggedly handsome, but he also had an underwear model’s appeal: high cheek bones, a gym-ripped physique, and a body decked out in jeans and a polo shirt. He examined the faucets, adjusted a few washers, and stopped the running water. Tandie watched him while he worked on each area, a quiet intensity surrounding him. 

“You have a lot of structural damage. Some of the pipes look ancient. Maybe around ten decades or so in age.” He rattled two rusted pipes underneath the kitchen sink.

“That’s almost a hundred years,” Tandie muttered, feeling stupid for repeating the obvious.

“Exactly. I’d recommend replacing them, along with that old disaster-in-waiting awning on the front porch. It looks good enough from a distance; but the fascia boards supporting it are rotten.” He flipped bangs out of his face and gave her a small crooked smile. His hazel-green eyes lit up with warmth. “No offense to you, ma’am.”

“Not a bit taken,” she said and went back to chewing the inside of her lip. If he was trying for a ticket to get a remodel job out of her, then his one-sided smile was well on the way to winning the spot.

“It needs a new paint job too. And the roof issue.” He pointed up to the brown stains splattered across Tandie’s ceiling, making her recall how she’d left him standing in the rain a couple nights ago. Heat spread over her cheeks, and she knew it showed from the way he smiled and looked away. He shuffled on his feet a couple of times and ran a hand through his hair. Why was he so nervous? Surely a man like that had women falling all over him. 

“About that door thing the other night; that was a Miss No-Personality winner. Sorry about that,” Tandie said.

“Not a big deal. It’s best to be cautious. Especially right now in case you haven’t heard about the murder.” He studied her with an intense gaze. Fine stubble outlined his mouth and his warm eyes turned sad as he glanced away. She wanted to know why, but didn’t dare ask.

“Very true. I heard about that poor man at the Aeneid,” Tandie said.

“His name was Virgil. Someone murdered him.” He said it with such passion in his voice that Tandie glanced back at him. His look softened as they stared at each other. “Have you been back to the Aeneid recently?” Was that a slight accusatory tone in his voice?

“Nope. I don’t care to be around crazy people who think I’m a demon,” Tandie stated.

“Then you haven’t been there since the night we unofficially met,” he said more to himself than as a question for her.

“Should I be asking you why I feel like I’m on trial?”

Sighing, he ran a hand through his thick wavy hair again before he said, “I didn’t want to say anything. Don’t get upset, all right?”

“Continue, please,” Tandie said.

“A couple of people claim they saw you talking to Virgil right before he disappeared.”

Tandie’s heart flipped. “What? You’re joking, I hope. Wait a minute. I can only guess that one of those people might be—your waitress friend, Abby.”

“Virgil’s wife claims that she saw you too.”

She held his gaze, controlling the heat rising in her chest. “Then maybe they need glasses; because I was here at this house fighting stupid plumbing issues and trying not to drown. Now, if we’re done with my interrogation, I believe you were hired to do a job.”

“I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable. I’m pretty sure they made a mistake in who they think they saw. But it’s not every day that my best friend gets killed. Forgive me, ma’am,” Eric said in a factual tone and turned back to his work.

Feeling like an ass, Tandie craved a way to ease the tension in the room. “Well, now that those tidbits have been covered, it’s like this. My new home-to-be has loads of issues. From what I can tell, you seem knowledgeable of the place. Are you in the market for a renovation?” Tandie shrugged, her painful shyness raging. She couldn’t ever recall feeling so insecure about talking to someone. All those years spent with Jack had dampened her personality more than she realized.

“I accepted Saul Chelby’s offer as his contractor, not as his renovator,” Eric said, the offensive look on his face softening into curiosity.

“But his soon-to-be new owner needs a complete makeover on her house. Surely, Saul would understand that.”

“He might think that I’m a moonlighter and fire me if I poach on his territory,” Eric said, moving just a bit closer, his handsome features still guarded, but more relaxed. “I know I would feel that way.”

“You don’t seem like a man who gets intimidated easily,” Tandie said, crossing her arms.
Now you’re flirting with the repair guy. What is wrong with you, woman?

“Good observation. You’ve got yourself a deal,” Eric said, holding her gaze a long moment before backing away.

Feeling the fluttery sensations about another man besides her ex for the first time in almost a decade made Tandie feel different, but strangely alive too. It was as if she stood outside herself and was watching her body move along in life.

Eric passed another card to Tandie, brushing his hand across hers, allowing it to linger a moment.
 
“Um, keep in mind you’ve got a lot of systematic elements that need to be replaced. Those might be somewhat expensive to repair.”

“Is there anything I can look forward to?” Tandie asked.

“The plumbing issues should only take a week or so. It’s the structural elements that’ll take time. I can begin the day after tomorrow,” he said.

“Great. Welcome to Chelby Rose.” Tandie reached out her hand. He took it in a firm handshake. His hands weren’t as rough as she imagined they would be; but they were strong hands, a good sign.

* * *

Tandie’s alarm clock blared through the room like death’s siren. She woke with a pinching ache in her neck where she’d fallen asleep on the sofa. She placed her daughter’s photo back on her desk and trudged up the stairway as if she walked in a fog.

She had only spent a few nights in her bedroom. The darkness and tree limbs tapping against the window at night freaked Tandie out, and she once considered herself the queen of creepy sensations.

Reaching out to turn the ancient brass knob, she realized she didn’t remember closing her bedroom door. Ever since she’d been a small child, she begged her parents to leave her bedroom door open at night. Her ex used to tease her about it, saying that once Breena was old enough they’d have to think of a new solution. He always thought she shouldn’t feel that way with him in the bed. But what he failed to realize was that her feelings of claustrophobia all tied back to the time she experienced her first glance at the future.

When her visions first started, Tandie was only six-years-old. She had been playing outside with her babysitter and foe alike, Chelsea Woodard, who had led Tandie into the thick woods behind a house her parents owned in Castle Hayne, the town located next to Bolivia.

She clearly recalled the memory of Chelsea’s thick black ponytails secured by white silk ribbons. With her attitude of a prima donna, the girl could talk her followers into doing anything.

One day Chelsea and her younger sister, a girl everybody called Silver Teeth Carina because of her braces, along with four of their friends decided to play hide and seek. It was the precursor to discovering all things lethal in an old forest. Never mind that Chelsea and her friends were all seven to ten years older than Tandie. Throw in a lake that seemed like a small ocean to the children, a rotting bridge, and you’ve got a game with a dangerous edge. It should have been exciting, but the adventure turned into a nightmare.

First, Chelsea’s groupies blindfolded Tandie that day. In her young mind, she couldn’t understand how such a pretty girl could be so mean. But Tandie had always believed that Chelsea had some other spirit in her body, dimming her beauty with a devilish haze. And that’s why things happened the way they did.

“Now you got to wait exactly one minute after you finish counting. You can’t come looking for us until then. Got it?” Chelsea’s dark, fourteen-year-old voice still haunted Tandie.

“I don’t like it. Where are you taking me?” a frightened Tandie asked. The two boys in the group snickered. Chelsea and the others continued leading her through the forest, snickering at Tandie’s ignorance of their plans.

“This will be the hide and seek of a lifetime for us,” Chelsea boasted.

“Yep. Other kids will want to play all the time,” another boy’s voice echoed.

Tears filled Tandie’s eyes, and she was glad the handkerchief hid her eyes. The older children would tease her into the next lifetime if they saw her crying. After a long moment, Tandie felt her body being lifted up to a set of stairs. She stumbled on the first step and her heart was racing.

“Please tell me where we are.” Tandie’s request earned a rough tug and then someone shoved her into what felt like an empty space. A door slammed behind her, and giggles echoed on the other side. She stood alone, fighting the fear tightening in her chest.

Behind the blindfold, shadows moved along the darkness. She snatched it away and found herself alone in a cottage. Rotten beams lay scattered everywhere, the ceiling was filled with holes, and the room had a large gap in the middle of the floor. The old place was one of the numerous slave cabins still sitting in a few cities situated near the Carolina coastline. Grandma Zee had showed her many pictures of them.

Something shuffled in the corners across from Tandie. She gasped, and her heart beat too fast. The dim light from outside made it hard for her to focus on anything. The darkness of the room swirled before her eyes, easing toward her, getting closer each second. She pulled on the old wooden door to no avail. It was locked, trapping Tandie inside the cabin. Glancing back, her eyes followed something that rose in the shadows, a form with a pair of round orbs for eyes.

Tandie turned back around, yanked on the old knob, and screamed. The door still didn’t budge an inch.

The shadow rose and hissed one word: “Tandie.” And then, “What happens to bad little girls who wander into dark forests all by themselves?”

Tandie’s mind shut down. She slumped to the floor in front of the door and stared as the thing glided closer to her. Her mind was racing, her heart about to explode; there was no way out. The monster was going to end her short life. That is what Tandie thought until she heard Grandma Zee’s voice speak inside her mind.

“Tell that old shadow to get behind you, girl. Tell it now!” Her grandmother’s presence, even though she was only there in spirit, made her feel brave.

“Go away, you ugly monster. Get behind me.” The shadow slithered back into the dark corners. Before it disappeared, Tandie heard the words that would stay with her forever. It was the very reason she decided to join the NYPD’s crime unit.

“Maybe I can’t have you, slippery little rabbit, but I will have your little friends hiding out there in the forest.” The shadow’s hiss echoed on those last few words and faded. The door released, creaking open as if someone on the other side had pushed it. Tandie bolted outside, grateful to feel the cool fall air on her skin, and happy that it was still somewhat light in the forest.

In the distance, someone was burning leaves. All she needed to do was make it to the place where the smoke came from. She glanced around the woods surrounding the cabin. Breathing heavily, she didn’t have a clue about where the older kids had taken her. She was lost.