The Spite House(90)

Even when he spoke of the house—of Eunice’s séance—he made it sound like a tourist attraction he was mildly curious about.

“Should be interesting to see how it all plays out,” he said.

“Yeah, nah, ‘interesting’ isn’t the word I’d pick,” she said. “It doesn’t worry you at all?”

“A little, just because it worries you. But I’ve been through the worst that place can do and I’m still here. What else is there to worry about?”

There wasn’t much she felt she could say to that. What was the point of trying to convince him to be more afraid? Maybe she would feel more secure if he were less secure, but was that what she wanted? No, of course not. He was right, he survived the worst of it. Maybe he hadn’t come out as well as he could have, and certainly not the same as before he went in, but he survived. She had to be happy with that and do her best to believe that the spite house couldn’t hurt them anymore.





CHAPTER 43



Eunice



There had been much to do in the six days since she last stood in the shadow of the Masson House. Eunice finished it all with time to spare.

She called the sheriff and directed him to be sure no trace of the Renners remained on the property. That included disposing of Max’s car. It wasn’t the first time he’d done something illegal at her request, although this was a little more extreme than the minor intimidations he was accustomed to. Still, he’d known the legacy of Degener sheriffs long before taking the job, and did as instructed. But he told Eunice afterward that he was never going into the spite house again, and wouldn’t subject his deputies to it either. She didn’t ask why. She just said it shouldn’t be necessary going forward.

She let Dana see to the particulars of the Rosses’ financial affairs and green-lit a larger payout than she originally planned for. Eric’s comment about her coming after his little girl stung. She hoped her extra generosity made him feel ashamed for accusing her of having designs on Stacy. Maybe she would seek some time alone with Stacy in the future, to see if she could get her to open up, to talk about how she made it back from the other side. Of course that was still possible, provided her initial plans fell through, or even if they didn’t. There was no sense in letting a potential resource go completely unevaluated. She hardly thought that made her predatory.

The morning after Max Renner’s stunt, Eunice started calling in her favors, holding people accountable to old promises. Her first call was to Neal, who she knew would raise no objection. Next, she called a few local news producers who she knew would make excuses. They had no one to spare to cover the story. It was too short notice. If she could just give them until next month.

A producer in San Antonio agreed after she reminded him of all she’d done to get his sons accepted at her alma mater. He sent a small crew, but didn’t agree to a live broadcast. He promised that if the footage was in any way usable, it would be televised and featured heavily on the station’s website. That was good enough. All she needed was independent, reputable videography. A local broadcast to generate early buzz would be a bonus. Neal would be the primary reason the story went international.

In the midst of this she also managed her health and caught up on sleep. Lafonda still would not let her engage in any vigorous exercise and insisted Eunice schedule a doctor’s appointment to confirm whether she’d had a heart attack or, as Eunice insisted, “just an anxiety attack.”

“After I’m done with this, I’ll get checked,” Eunice said. In truth, she worried that she would back out of her plan if she found out her heart was weaker and damaged. She might get too scared to go inside, to be sure that things went as planned. What then? Wait until she recovered? What if it took a year or more for her to feel healthy enough? The house might get quieter then, and she’d have to hire someone else to reawaken it. She had no qualms about that, or about withholding information again to be sure they weren’t scared off early. She wasn’t happy about doing that to all the people she’d done it to—Eric most of all—but she’d keep doing it as long as it was necessary.

The biggest issue with starting over was the unlikelihood of finding another Eric and Stacy Ross. It was a miracle that they landed in Degener, almost as if the spite house had reached out into the world and handpicked them. Not only were they on the run and desperate to take her offer, they were already in tune with the other side. Eunice knew how exceptional they were. They brought more out of the house in a few days than the Renners had in close to a month.

No, she couldn’t let this moment pass. And it was already in motion. Neal had arrived the day before. The reporter and cameraman from San Antonio agreed to arrive hours ahead of the event. Millie decided she wanted to be there, as did Dana. Lafonda asked if Eunice wanted her there. “It’s fine if you’d rather wait outside,” Eunice told her.

Dana did not say why she wanted to attend, but Eunice suspected it was for the same reason as Millie. “I can’t let you do this to Neal without being there myself,” Millie said. “And if Eric is going to be there, he should have someone there looking out for him.”

Not wanting to give her impetus to write another hit piece, Eunice agreed to let Millie come. Another renowned and reputable witness would prove beneficial, and it wasn’t as if Millie might catch her in the act of manipulating or misusing Eric in some horrid way.