In All Deep Places Read Online Free PDF Page B

hometown was home to three thou sand with another eight hundred or so on nearby acreages. The true heart and soul of the community—the family farms—were visible on any road leading out of town; they were marked by grain silos, solitary clusters of trees, and two-storied, shuttered houses that all faced south.
    Luke wove through the quiet streets, traveling past the lamp lit town square, the silent band shell in Memorial Park, and the darkened storefronts without a great deal of interest. He purposely eased up on his speed as he drove past the offices of the Halcyon Herald, though. He supposed it had been crazy in there earlier today as the staff pulled the paper together for the printers tomorrow morning. He was glad the office was dark and that Lucie and Cubby were not still inside trying to put the paper to bed. He would have felt compelled to stop and help them.
    Luke turned past the bank and the post office and cast a glance down the street that led to his old high school. It seemed odd to be driving these familiar streets in a strange vehicle without Téa and the girls. It seemed even more out of place to be headed toward his childhood home, knowing he’d be sleeping there tonight and would be alone.
    He turned down a side street and followed it for several blocks, slowing down by the house where his best friend, Matt, had lived. He had no idea who lived there now. He had long since lost track of Matt. He turned left onto Seventh Avenue.
    Luke’s parents’ house came into view, standing in a pearly-splash of moonlight but wrapped in its own darkness, with not even a light in a bedroom window showing. As he pulled into the driveway, he noticed that the Janvik place next door looked the same—dark and unwelcoming. It was obvious no one was inside either house. He wondered if Norah’s grandmother’s old house—still painted the same nauseating shade of green—was empty again. He wouldn’t be surprised if it was. That house was cursed. No one had ever truly been happy in it. Not before Nell Janvik had owned it and not after. And certainly not while she owned it.
    Luke stopped the car in the driveway and got out. He took his suitcase out of the trunk and walked up the dark pathway to the front door, noticing that a For Sale sign was indeed poking out of the front lawn next door. Dandelions had sprouted all around the sign’s legs, and even in the darkness, Luke could tell the sign had been there for a while. He pulled his mother’s key ring out of his pocket, slipped the key into the lock, and stepped inside.
    When he switched on a light in the living room he saw at once where his father had fallen. He saw the lamp on the floor, the small spot of blood on the carpet, the end table that was out of alignment with its twin on the other side of the sofa. His dad had no doubt fallen against the table, hitting his head on the corner. The lamp had crashed to the carpet with him. Three indentations in the carpet showed where the legs of the little table usually rested.
    Luke closed the door behind him, stepped farther inside, and put his suitcase down by the sofa. His mother’s overnight bag was there, too. He moved the end table back to its rightful spot and replaced the lamp. He’d tackle the little bloodstain tomorrow. What could one more day matter?
    He sank down onto the sofa and rested his head in his hands for a moment. It was after ten but he needed to talk to Téa. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket .
    “Hey.” Téa’s voice at once began to soothe him.
    “Hey, yourself,” he said wearily.
    “How’s it going?”
    “There wasn’t a whole lot of change today. He’s trying to talk but can hardly get one word out right. And it’s driving him crazy. They’re moving him to a regular room tomorrow. And he starts occupational and physical therapy tomorrow, too. The doctor said the first days of therapy are like hell. For everybody.”
    “I’m sorry, babe. I wish the girls and I could