What Have We Done (72)

Her thoughts are interrupted by the buzz of her burner phone.

“Hey,” she says.

“Hey,” Simon says back.

She’s glad to hear his voice again. To talk before she and Nico go into the house of horrors across the street.

“I got the information you needed.”

“That was fast.”

“I’ve taught the girls to play poker, read Congress’s thousand-page new tax bill, watched seven episodes of Backyardigans with Lulu, and witnessed Willow mope around about not seeing a kid named Billy.… So your research project was the best thing that’s happened all day.”

Jenna feels a fissure in her heart.

Simon continues, “Robot LLC.”

The company’s name written on the folded star at the library.

“It’s a shell corporation, part of a web of related entities. It may be impossible, even for me, to ever find the source. But I did find something.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s a single-purpose company, meaning it was created for only one purpose.”

“And what was that?”

“To buy a parcel of property.”

Jenna hears Lulu’s voice in the background asking him something.

“Can I talk to her?” she says. “Never mind. I’ll see her tomorrow.” Jenna’s superstitions are kicking in.

Simon continues, “The buyer was the corporation itself, but it does list the seller. His name is Park Jones.”

Jenna doesn’t recognize the name. “Never heard of him.”

“I ran a search. The guy’s dead but was a major creep. He used to work in Big Tech in the early years, was a pioneer. But he also had a thing for underage girls.”

The worst kind of monster.

“I’m sending you an article about his conviction. He apparently was fired, moved back to live with his parents, and inherited their house. It’s an unusual transaction for a shell company. Buying a low-value home in a blighted community.”

Jenna’s heart trips as she opens the newspaper story on the phone and recognizes the man’s face instantly. The man they called Ned Flanders.

“Let me guess, the house he sold is in Chestertown? On Carver Street.”

“Yes, how’d you know?”

Jenna’s interrupted by Nico.

“He’s here,” Nico whispers, staring through the crack in the board.

Jenna peers out and watches as the car pulls to the curb in front of Savior House. Derek Brood gets out of the sedan and looks around. He seems nervous, but that could simply be standing on this block after dark.

“I’ve got to go,” she says to Simon. “But I need to say something.”

He waits.

“You’re the love of my life,” she says, powering down the phone without waiting for his reply.

They watch as Brood goes to the front door, which is plastered with NO TRESPASSING signs.

There’s a Ring camera mounted above the door, but it appears to be covered with spray paint. Brood fumbles with some keys and unlocks a padlock and multiple dead bolts. He opens the door and stands in the entryway before going in, like he’s listening. He may be concerned about squatters, meth cookers, or vagrants or the other dangerous inhabitants of abandoned homes on this side of Chestertown.

An interior light goes on as he steps inside and shuts the door behind him.

“Why the hell did Arty ask him to meet here?” Nico asks.

“Because it’s secluded, I guess. He said Brood still owns the property.”

“Is Arty really gonna come?”

Jenna shrugs. She’s realizing how little she knows, and it’s making her nervous. And Nico’s question is a good one: Will Arty dare make an appearance? He was reluctant to show his face at the funeral for Ben. And he’s kept material details about Savior House from his own security team.

Would he come on his own without his body men and protection? If Jenna were on his detail, she’d advise against it. But even as a kid, Arty didn’t follow conventional thinking.

The thought is answered when a black town car pulls to the curb. A tall man in a black suit gets out of the driver’s side and opens a back passenger door. Jenna can’t see on the other side of the vehicle. She can hear voices but not what’s being said. The driver comes back around the vehicle, his gait reluctant, shaking his head.

The town car pulls away, leaving Artemis Templeton, who walks inside Savior House. Unlike Derek Brood, he isn’t timid about it. He opens the door like he owns the place and strides in.

“What now? Should we go in?” Nico says.

Jenna shakes her head. “Now, we wait.”

“For what?”

Jenna’s eyes fix on the figure appearing from nowhere in front of Savior House. Every time Jenna sees the woman, bolts of rage flow to her extremities.

“For her.”

CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONE

The pretty hit woman strolls into Savior House almost as casually as Arty did a few minutes before.

She’s not carrying a gun or the bizarre weapon. And she’s not dressed in tactical gear but a blouse and slacks, business-casual attire. Cool as a cucumber.

Jenna encountered some eccentrics in her time with The Corporation, but this woman is by far the most unique.

She and Nico watch as the woman disappears inside Savior House.