Total pages in book: 196
Estimated words: 186555 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 933(@200wpm)___ 746(@250wpm)___ 622(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 186555 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 933(@200wpm)___ 746(@250wpm)___ 622(@300wpm)
There was no way Rhodes would have let him cover it with padding or mattresses. I knew that. I spotted what I thought could be it and ran over, moving the lever down and shutting off the water into the garage apartment. At least I was pretty sure. One more peek at the bulging ceiling had me focusing.
“Let’s get your stuff out of here before something bad happens,” I told him, snapping my fingers when he focused back up. “Let’s do it, Am, before your stuff gets ruined. Then we can make sure it did get turned off.”
That did it.
Between the two of us, we carried the heavier equipment into the tiny bottom landing that flowed into the stairs that led to the second floor. We pushed the big cab up against the door to the outside to leave room and took turns taking the drum set apart and walking it up to my studio. It took us about six trips each to take all the equipment upstairs; we couldn’t put anything outside because of frost and the risk of snow. It was way too cold now.
By the time we finished moving the most valuable stuff out from the garage—even though it was all valuable to Am because it was his—we were both back downstairs and staring up at the awful-looking ceiling.
“What do you think happened?”
“I think it might be a burst pipe, but I don’t know,” I told him, eyeing the damage. “Have you called your dad?”
He shook his head, eyes still glued to the disaster. “I yelled for you as soon as I saw it.”
I whistled. “Call him. See what he wants to do. I think we should call a plumber, but I don’t know. We should call him first.”
Amos nodded, unable to do anything but stare in horror at the damage.
It hit me then that the water was turned off; I’d checked before coming back down. But the water was off, as in I wouldn’t get water to shower or even fill my water filter to drink. I’d figure it out.
The overhead light started flickering suddenly, a flash-flash-flash of light before it went off completely.
“The breaker box!” I yelled at him before sprinting for the gray frame on the wall. That I knew exactly where it was. I flipped it open and literally flipped every switch.
“Did that mess up the electricity?”
“I don’t know.” I turned to him with a wince. A wince for him. For the amount of money it would cost to get this fixed. Because even I knew that electricity and plumbing issues were going to be a nightmare. “All right. Okay. Let’s go call your dad and tell him.”
Amos nodded and led the way out through the main garage door, heading to his house. I patted him on the shoulder. “It’s okay. We moved all of your things in time, and nothing was plugged in. Don’t worry.”
The teenager let out a deep, deep sigh, like he’d been holding it in for hours. “Dad’s gonna be so pissed.”
“Yeah, but not at you,” I reassured him.
The look he sent me was one that told me he wasn’t totally convinced that was going to be the case, but I knew it would.
And I’d be nosey and eavesdrop.
We headed into the house. I went to the table in the kitchen, picking up a hunting and fishing magazine stacked neatly in the middle as Amos went for the house phone and punched in some numbers. His face was gloomy as hell. I pretended not to look at him as he held the receiver and let out a deep breath.
He winced right before saying, “Hey, Dad… uh, Ora and I think there’s a leak in the garage apartment… The ceiling has, like, pockets of water, and there’s drops—what? I don’t know how… I just went in there and saw it… Ora turned off the water. Then she turned off the power when the lights started flickering… Hold on.” The boy held the phone out. “He wants to talk to you.”
I took it. “Hi, Rhodes, how’s your day going? How many people have you busted for not having a permit?” I flashed a grimace-like smile at Amos, who suddenly didn’t look so sick.
Rhodes didn’t say anything for a heartbeat before coming on the line with “It’s going good now.” Excuse me? Was that flirting? “And only two hunters. How’s yours?”
He was really asking me about my day. Who was this man and how could I buy him? “Pretty good. A customer brought me a Bundt cake. I gave Clara half when she gave me the stink eye. I’ll give Am half of my half so you can try it. It’s good.”
Amos was giving me the funniest look, and I winked at him. We were in this together.
“Thanks, Buddy,” he said almost softly. “You mind telling me what happened over there?”