On The Edge (4 page)

“Me either,” he admitted. “Let's do it now.”

Joss ran her hands over the cracks and muttered, “Not exactly what I wanted to be doing.”

He agreed, silently noticing she was dressed again. “I hear you. It'll be nice when we figure this out, so we can concentrate on other things.”

“Keep looking,” she instructed firmly.

He chortled.
“Yes, ma'am.”

They ran their hands over every inch of the floor, but couldn't find even one nail out of place. After giving the next room the same treatment, and again finding nothing, Jake rose disgustedly, wiping his hands on his jeans. “I thought for sure we'd find a loose floor board.”

“It was a good idea.” She stood, dusting her hands off as he had. “I'm thirsty. Let's get something to drink.”

He followed her down the stairs. “Got any beer?”

“No. I think there's some wine, though. Want me to look?”

“
Nah,
thanks.” He washed his hands in the kitchen sink, and got a glass of water.

Joss poured the last glass of tea from the pitcher. She went to the cabinet and got what looked like a homemade tea bag, then put the kettle on to boil.

“Home brew,” he commented, drinking deeply of the cold tap water.

“Yep.
Special recipe, I keep telling you.”

“How much caffeine is in there?” He lifted the bag and sniffed it. There was an unusual fragrance he couldn't quite place.

“Same as in regular tea.
Mama added herbs and dried fruit,
then
I add the sugar.”

“I see.” He watched her prepare the tea, and yawned. “Sounds like a lot of work.”

“It's worth it.” She returned the pitcher to the fridge. Turning to him, she sighed. “You look beat.”

Jake yawned again. “It's been a long couple of days.”

“Come on.” Taking him by the hand, she led him to the living room sofa.
“One nice feature about this place.
The sofa is roomy.” Dragging a couple pillows to one end, she rolled on and patted the space next to her.

“Joss—”

“Shhh! Come on.” She patted the sofa again.

He lay next to her, and she snuggled into his chest, tossing a blanket over them both.

“I know you're tired. I am too. For some reason, I think I'll sleep better in your arms.”

He smiled, and kissed the top of her head. “Sounds good to me
. 'Night, beautiful.”

“Goodnight.” She patted his chest a few times.

When her breathing slowed and became regular, he knew she'd fallen asleep. Jake drew one hand through her hair. He'd been afraid that being this close would be uncomfortable—that all he'd think about was sex and never get to sleep. Having Joss sprawled next to him, one knee over his, her head on his
chest,
was, at that moment, the most restful thing he could imagine. He closed his eyes, and smiled.

When he opened his eyes again she was gone. Morning sun shone through the front windows. Jake sat up and rubbed his face. He couldn't believe he'd slept so soundly. He never even heard the chiming of the grandfather clock in the hall.
“Joss?”

There was no answer. He looked in the kitchen,
then
moved to the bottom of the stairs. The sound of running water upstairs confirmed she was there, so he went to clean up.

Even with a good night's rest, he still felt tired. The oppressiveness of the house was sucking the energy from him. He needed to get away, at least for awhile. Hopefully he'd convince Joss to go with him. If he felt this way, after just two nights, he couldn't imagine how she felt after two weeks in the creepy mansion.

She appeared cheerful when they met in the kitchen. “Good morning.” Joss stood on tiptoes to press a small kiss on his lips. “You were sleeping soundly. I hope I didn't wake you.”

“Not at all.
I can't believe how well I slept.”

She smiled.
“Told you.
Today we have toast. After that, I'll be forced to go to the grocery store.”

“Toast is fine, and coffee.
Must have coffee.”

“Help yourself.” She motioned to the counter.

He brewed a half-pot while she made toast, and they ate at the kitchen table. “I had another idea,” Jake said. “A house this size has to have an attic. Why haven't I noticed the door to one?”

She shrugged. “I've never seen it.”

“This morning, we're going to search for it. It's got to be here. Then, this afternoon, I hoped maybe we could get out. Autumn is beautiful in
Kansas
. We could take a drive down by the river.”

“A drive sounds nice.”

“Good.” He squeezed her hand, and they finished eating. Setting their plates and the knife in the sink, he said, “I'd like to walk around the exterior of the house.”

“Let's go.” Joss slipped into her shoes and led him out.

He made mental notes as they looked around. The house was old, but well kept. There wasn't much stuff sitting outside. He thought about everything that collected outside his own house. The curled up garden hose, a bottle of weed killer, muddy boots by the back door—all signs that his home was lived in, cared for. There were no signs of anything here.

There was a round window at the uppermost peak of the house, and he knew he'd never been in a room with a round window. It looked like there was an attic. “Let's go find it,” he told Joss, taking her by the hand, and heading back inside.

“I noticed that window, but never gave it a second thought.”

“That's how we'll figure this thing out—perseverance, second thoughts,
third thoughts—whatever
it takes. Now, how do we get into that attic?”

They searched the third floor of the house, inspecting ceilings this time. Finally, in the last bedroom's smallest closet, he found it. An inset tile pushed upward, leading to a black, yawning space. “This is it. We'll need something to stand on, and flashlights.”

She pointed to an ottoman. “You can climb on that. I left the flashlights in my room. Be right back.”

“Great, thanks.” Jake shoved the ottoman under the opening, climbed on it and poked his head in. There was a sliver of light from the round window, but the attic was mostly dark. Something scurried across the floor, and he decided to wait for the flashlight.

“Here you go.” She handed up the bigger of the two lights she held. “I'll use this one.”

“Are you sure you want to come up? It's dark and smells musty.”

Joss snorted. “I might have given you the impression that I'm delicate, but I'm really not. I can handle it.”

“Suit yourself.” He reached up to set the flashlight on the attic floor. Positioning his hands on either side of the opening above him, he pulled himself up into the dark room.

Picking up his flashlight, he switched it on, just in time to see a mouse disappearing under some old furniture. He blew out a breath. Glancing down at Joss, he said, “You sure about this? It's dirty and there are some little four-legged friends running around.”

“Lizards?”

“Nope, one mouse.
But where there's one…”

She waved her hand. “Mice are nothing. Scaly things that shed their skin bother me.”

“Okay then. Pull yourself up.”

She made a face at him. “I said I wasn't delicate. I never said I was a weightlifter. Could I have a hand, please?”

Jake bent down, grinning.
“Not much weight to lift, you little thing.”

She grabbed his arm and he pulled her up. When she was standing, facing him in the attic, she told him, “I have plenty of weight. You're just really strong.”

Looking her up and down, he couldn't resist adding, “You're weighted in all the right places,
I'll
grant you that.”

Joss laughed.
“Sweet talker.
Honestly, I'd love to hear more, but maybe later, down by the river or wherever?”

“You got it.” He rubbed his thumb over a smudge on her cheek. “Let's see what we can find up here.”

She shone her light in the corner.
“A bunch of dirty crap.”

His knee bumped into a stack of boxes, raising a cloud of dust. “Shit!”

Joss sneezed.

“Sorry.” He moved slower, trying to avoid stirring up more of the gray, smoky dust.

“Not your fault. There's about an inch of dirt on top of everything.”

“At least.”
Opening a box, he found it full of books. It was too dark to make out titles. “We'll either have to bring up more light, or carry this stuff down to go through it. It'd be almost impossible with flashlights.”

“Oh, God,” she muttered. “I've barely started on the den. This could take forever.”

He blazed a trail forward, toeing boxes and trying to get an idea of what was there. “If I were you, I'd hire some nice young men to empty the attic for you. Take the stuff downstairs, clean it off, the whole bit.”

“What a great idea. Can we go now, since we have a plan?”

He rolled his eyes. “One
more minute
. Let's look for a tape player or whatever's making the noise. It didn't sound like it was coming from up here, and we'd likely see prints in all this dust, but we should double check.”

“Right behind you.”
She touched his waist, and they moved deeper into the attic.

“Lots of boxes, some old furniture.
Might be some antiques.”

“Mama
loves
antiques,” Joss commented. She shone her light on a shape sitting under the window. “What's that?”

Aiming his light alongside hers, he made out the form of a woman in a wooden rocking chair. He took another step forward, Joss clinging to his belt loop, and froze. “What the fuck?”

It wasn't a woman, but a skeleton in a woman's dress, wearing a wig and a hat.

Joss screamed, turned and ran.

“Wait!” He spun around, just in time to see her disappear.

Chapter Four

“Joss!” he called, heading back toward the opening in the floor.

“I'm over here,” she replied, closer than he expected.

“Keep talking.
Where?”

“Right here.
I fell on a mattress, I think.”

Shining his light on her face, he was relieved to see she hadn't fallen out of the attic. “Are you hurt?”

“Just my pride.
Can you help me up?”

Jake smiled, offered his hand.
“Of course.”

She latched on and rose to meet him. “Damn it.”

He cupped her face. “You sure you're okay?”

“Yeah.”

He pulled her to his chest, hugging her. “I thought you fell through the opening. You could have broken your neck.”

“Nothing so dramatic.”

He kissed her forehead and released her. “Thank God.” They looked at each other for a moment. Moving back to the skeleton, he reached out to touch it. Someone had placed it here, recently.
But why?
“This skeleton is plastic. And clean, very clean.
Hardly dusty at all.”

“Plastic? But who would put it up here?
And what the hell for?”

“All part of the plan to scare you out, I'd say. I hope this convinces you, the house isn't haunted, merely meant to look that way.”

“It does.” She nodded. “Ghosts are one thing, way out of my control. But now I know this is someone messing with me, and that pisses me off.”

“Me too.
Let's get out of here, we need some fresh air.” He moved to the opening in the floor and clicked off his flashlight. Sitting on the edge, he dropped carefully to the ottoman and steadied himself. Glancing up, he said, “Slowly, now.”