The Dead and the Dark(3)

That was the thing with the Ortiz-Woodleys. Even after her dads made it big with ParaSpectors, even after they bought the LA house for “stability,” even after Logan settled in and went to a public school for the first time in her life, it was like one extended base camp. Even if Alejo and Brandon promised that Snakebite was only temporary, packing up and leaving LA was a reminder that this had never been home.

Logan knew better than to think any of this was permanent.

“When do you think you’ll head out?” Brandon’s muffled voice asked.

“I’d say we’re about ready,” Alejo said. He scanned the room for his phone, raising a brow at Logan when he spotted it on the bed.

“Is it too late to run?” Logan nudged her backpack with the side of her boot. “I’ve got granola bars and fizzy water in here. I think I could make it in the wilderness.”

“The wilderness of West Hollywood?” Alejo scooped his phone from the mattress and turned to face the TV. “God, I wish you wouldn’t watch these.”

BRANDON VOICEOVER: With Alejo down for the count, I’m forced to continue the investigation on my own. I use the SonusX to detect any ghostly voices in the basement.

BRANDON: Spirit, we’re not here to hurt you. Please don’t attack us. Don’t attack my husband. We’re here to help you move on.

GHOSTLY VOICE: Who are you that disturbs me?

BRANDON: Brandon Woodley.

[Brandon kneels beside Alejo, placing a hand on his shoulder.]

BRANDON: And my husband, Alejo Ortiz. We’re here to—



“Okay, off,” Logan said. She snatched the remote and turned off the TV.

In only a few trips, she and Alejo moved the last of the suitcases to the minivan in the driveway. Alejo tucked his phone into the back pocket of his jeans, Brandon’s hairline just visible on a sliver of the screen. In the summer sun, the lime-green ParaSpectors logo tattooed on the side of the van was almost blinding.

Alejo slammed the trunk closed and slapped the top of the van in classic dad style. “All packed. Logan, any last words for your dad before we rock ’n’ roll?”

He extended the phone to her and the screen lit up expectantly.

Logan leaned in close. “See you in nineteen hours.”

Alejo took the phone back and walked to the other side of the van. Quietly, he asked, “Have you found anything else?”

“Not yet,” Brandon sighed. “There’s, uh … People are getting nervous. I’m getting nervous. The timing isn’t ideal.”

Logan narrowed her eyes.

Outside the van, Alejo nodded. He whispered something unintelligible into the phone, then turned the screen to face Logan. “Well, as our extremely eloquent child said, see you in nineteen hours.”

“Love you,” Brandon said, though it wasn’t clear if he meant both of them or just Alejo.

“Love you, too,” Alejo said. With a half smile, he ended the call.

Logan shuffled through her phone and queued up nineteen hours of her favorite podcast before slumping into the passenger seat. Alejo pocketed his phone and climbed behind the wheel.

Once they were situated, he sighed. “So, before we take off, I feel like I need to clear the air. Snakebite isn’t like LA. They’re … insular is a good word for it. When we get there, we have to remember that family’s the most important thing.”

Logan blinked. “Okay? We’ve been to small towns before.”

“Yeah, but this is a little different. I know things aren’t always easy with you and your dad, but in Snakebite it’s really important that we all try to get along.”

Logan gave a dismissive hand-wave. “What’re they gonna do, send a mob after us?”

Alejo frowned. He turned the ignition and backed the van out of the driveway without offering an answer. The hazy morning sky opened up behind the house, blue-green and bright as freshwater. Logan thumped her head back against the seat.

“It’s gonna be tough, but it’s only a few months,” Alejo said. “Just … try to have fun.”

“I will try my very best.”

Logan stuck her earbuds in and turned the volume high enough to drown out the van’s stammering engine. Alejo was right—Snakebite would be just a few months. Just another spot on the map. Like LA, it would be just another base camp on the road.

But this time was different. In a few months, she’d be eighteen and she could go wherever she wanted. In a few months, she could pack up all her things and set out to find a place that was real. Somewhere that would last longer than just “a while.” A home. Snakebite was just another stop on the road, but for her, it would be the last one. Alejo pulled the van around the corner and the sharp angles of the LA house disappeared. Logan closed her eyes.

It was a few months, and then she’d find a place she could call home.





2


A Viking Send-Off


“I appreciate you putting this together, Ashley. It’s beautiful.” Mrs. Granger gripped her husband’s wrist and dabbed at her smudged eyeliner with a wadded Kleenex. “Tristan would have loved it.”

The sun was high over Snakebite Memorial, cutting jagged shadows across the yellow grass. The weird thing about the cemetery, Ashley thought, was that it actually had the best view in town. The hills around Snakebite were rugged and misshapen, shadowed by passing clouds and golden with clusters of dry dirt and rabbitbrush. At the base of the hill, blue-green Lake Owyhee met the gravelly shore and twisted on for as far as she could see. It didn’t seem fair that the only people with a view like this were the ones who couldn’t take it in.