a photo that no longer showed his image. Which was ridiculous. How could he have disappeared from a photo?
He couldn’t. Unless he hadn’t been there in the first place. And how sure was I that I’d seen him standing at the end of my driveway, looking straight at me? He was gone by the time I turned my head toward him.
So, what if he hadn’t really been there? What if the thing I’d seen outside was a trick of the light brought on by my longing to have my friends come home? And as for the picture from the news, obviously, there was nothing there but shadows now. What if everyone else had seen it simply because I’d put it into their heads?
What if Shadow Man wasn’t real?
And what about the gingerbread smell? Hayes would have needed more than a handful of gingerbread to make the kids smell like they’d been smothered in it. Why would anyone do that? Then again, why would Shadow Man smell like gingerbread?
As the days moved on, more evidence piled up against Hayes. In the end, four of the six children identified him—even though at the time of the rescue they’d said they couldn’t remember anything about him. I wondered about those two kids who didn’t identify Hayes, but it wasn’t as if a strange woman off the street could waltz up to the families and ask to question the children.
Still, everyone involved was more than happy with the outcome, and Hayes was sent off to prison to await his trial. Neat and tidy. A little
too
neat and tidy, as far as I was concerned.
But I had no proof.
A week went by, and nothing more happened. Another week, and Kam, Maurice and Sara started to get antsy. I’d called them home for an emergency, and nothing was going on.
“Look,” Sara said, leaning against the railing on the front porch. “It’s not that we don’t believe you. If you saw him, you saw him. Hell, we
all
saw him in that picture. Or we thought we did, anyway.”
I cringed at the implication that we’d all imagined the image in the photo. “But you’re bored and you want to travel some more. I understand.”
She scooted onto the railing and let her bare feet swing free, the golden skin on her legs sparkling in the sunlight. “It’s not that. I’ll stay as long as you need me. I just think it’s been a few weeks and nothing more has happened. Time to get on with things.”
I looked up from my intense scrutiny of the dirt under my fingernails, one eyebrow raised in suspicion. “What things, exactly?”
She grinned. “I thought you’d never ask.” She hopped down and paced across the porch, ticking items off on her fingers. “Since we haven’t been working, I’m running low on funds. I need you to put my house on the market for me. Sell my car.”
She did have a point. I’d been living in limbo for months, waiting for something to happen while my savings account bled to death. I’d been avoiding thinking too hard about it because somehow I’d figured everything would go back to normal soon.
Until that moment, I hadn’t realized how much I’d been in denial that Sara’s demon form was permanent. My throat tightened, and my voice came out a little higher than usual. “You can’t do that. Hell, I can’t do that. You’d have to sign all the paperwork. I can’t do it for you. That’s illegal.”
Sara’s expression softened. “Honey, this is going to happen. It has to. You’ll be my representative, and for any paperwork that needs to be signed, we know an elf who’s a notary, so everything will be legal.” She took my hand, her face serious. “I have to let my old life go. I’m constantly getting phone calls from friends who want to get together for lunch. My mother wants to come to town for a visit. My neighbors call to ask if I’m coming to the neighborhood watch meeting next week. I can’t keep putting them all off. I have to put it all behind me. I need a fresh start.”
I clutched her hand as if it was a string and she was a balloon that might float away. “What
He couldn’t. Unless he hadn’t been there in the first place. And how sure was I that I’d seen him standing at the end of my driveway, looking straight at me? He was gone by the time I turned my head toward him.
So, what if he hadn’t really been there? What if the thing I’d seen outside was a trick of the light brought on by my longing to have my friends come home? And as for the picture from the news, obviously, there was nothing there but shadows now. What if everyone else had seen it simply because I’d put it into their heads?
What if Shadow Man wasn’t real?
And what about the gingerbread smell? Hayes would have needed more than a handful of gingerbread to make the kids smell like they’d been smothered in it. Why would anyone do that? Then again, why would Shadow Man smell like gingerbread?
As the days moved on, more evidence piled up against Hayes. In the end, four of the six children identified him—even though at the time of the rescue they’d said they couldn’t remember anything about him. I wondered about those two kids who didn’t identify Hayes, but it wasn’t as if a strange woman off the street could waltz up to the families and ask to question the children.
Still, everyone involved was more than happy with the outcome, and Hayes was sent off to prison to await his trial. Neat and tidy. A little
too
neat and tidy, as far as I was concerned.
But I had no proof.
A week went by, and nothing more happened. Another week, and Kam, Maurice and Sara started to get antsy. I’d called them home for an emergency, and nothing was going on.
“Look,” Sara said, leaning against the railing on the front porch. “It’s not that we don’t believe you. If you saw him, you saw him. Hell, we
all
saw him in that picture. Or we thought we did, anyway.”
I cringed at the implication that we’d all imagined the image in the photo. “But you’re bored and you want to travel some more. I understand.”
She scooted onto the railing and let her bare feet swing free, the golden skin on her legs sparkling in the sunlight. “It’s not that. I’ll stay as long as you need me. I just think it’s been a few weeks and nothing more has happened. Time to get on with things.”
I looked up from my intense scrutiny of the dirt under my fingernails, one eyebrow raised in suspicion. “What things, exactly?”
She grinned. “I thought you’d never ask.” She hopped down and paced across the porch, ticking items off on her fingers. “Since we haven’t been working, I’m running low on funds. I need you to put my house on the market for me. Sell my car.”
She did have a point. I’d been living in limbo for months, waiting for something to happen while my savings account bled to death. I’d been avoiding thinking too hard about it because somehow I’d figured everything would go back to normal soon.
Until that moment, I hadn’t realized how much I’d been in denial that Sara’s demon form was permanent. My throat tightened, and my voice came out a little higher than usual. “You can’t do that. Hell, I can’t do that. You’d have to sign all the paperwork. I can’t do it for you. That’s illegal.”
Sara’s expression softened. “Honey, this is going to happen. It has to. You’ll be my representative, and for any paperwork that needs to be signed, we know an elf who’s a notary, so everything will be legal.” She took my hand, her face serious. “I have to let my old life go. I’m constantly getting phone calls from friends who want to get together for lunch. My mother wants to come to town for a visit. My neighbors call to ask if I’m coming to the neighborhood watch meeting next week. I can’t keep putting them all off. I have to put it all behind me. I need a fresh start.”
I clutched her hand as if it was a string and she was a balloon that might float away. “What
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