Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 84072 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84072 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
“I’m an adult,” I mumbled.
The sheriff raised an eyebrow.
“I’m almost nineteen.”
He grunted but didn’t amend the arrangements he’d made for me.
Tears threatened.
It was all wrong.
All of it.
The cop bowed his head and started to leave when I called out. “The man, the one who saved me, who was he?”
The sheriff froze and turned back to me, and I could have sworn a deep-rooted fear flashed across his face as he gulped and looked away. “His name’s Jasper. He works for—well, he works for the orphanage as well. Those folks like to keep to themselves.”
“I’d like to thank him,” I whispered, even as his words had me wanting to roll my eyes. Was I in a bad horror movie? “If that’s possible.”
He was out that night. Maybe he saw something. Maybe my mom ran through the woods. But why would she do that in the first place?
The sheriff scratched the back of his head and continued to look away from me. “Probably best to just go back to the inn once you’re discharged from the hospital. Folks don’t typically hang around the old mansion. Besides, they can be somewhat… superstitious. The library alone in that place rivals the one in DC. Never could understand people’s fascination with it.”
I froze.
Mom had talked about a magical library when I was little. Granted, I’d always assumed it was a fairy tale, but she’d always said it was her goal one day to unravel its secrets and find out why people always made such a big deal out of it when clearly the CIA wasn’t crawling all over it.
“Do you, um…” I cleared my throat. “…think he needs help filing things? Maybe even with the local library? Since I’m stuck here—”
“Go back to the bed and breakfast,” the sheriff said forcefully. “It’s the best option at this point. You’ll be given some food. The orphanage has the means to take care of you while we sort this all out. After all, it’s only temporary, right?”
Temporary, yet why did it feel so final? Without Mom. Friends. Any sort of living family.
But sure, yeah, temporary.
In a strange town people feared.
In a town that my mom had disappeared in
Hours later, I was discharged from the hospital and back at the inn researching my ass off, looking through my old laptop for clues, and wondering how this had all happened in the first place.
My mom had left me enough cash, it seemed, but other than that, all I had was the time between our cryptic conversation and her disappearing, then my trying to leave the town.
I frowned and looked up the address to the mansion.
Screw it. I was going.
And now I had no parent to stop me.
I had no one.
Why did it always feel like that was the case?
As if I was doomed to be alone when all I ever wanted was to be a part of something I was never invited to?
I had missed calls from the Portland Police and missed calls from lawyers, all of them saying that if she was pronounced deceased, everything would go to me.
Our house.
Our memories.
And yet I felt like I couldn’t leave.
She was here; she was still here. I could feel her in my soul. She had to be, and I wasn’t going to give up.
My sadness brought me to a looming mansion with a broken, grieving heart and a need for answers after I found out the entire town was built around the damn thing through my Google search and that the library held superstitious tales that would make even the most famous ghost hunters want to quit their jobs.
It was my last choice since the police weren’t any help.
And since I was stuck.
I went where I was told not to go.
And felt right for the first time since the accident.
I had a plan; it wasn’t the best plan, but I figured it would at least buy me some time. According to my search, Benjamin Wells, the owner, had a private library with collections of books people hadn’t seen in centuries.
My inner nerd was already giddy to get my hands on some of those books despite the weird circumstances I was in.
It was a known fact they weren’t cataloged in any way; ergo, my plan.
I could maybe work for him, research at the same time, attempt to locate my mom while cooperating with law enforcement and then get the hell out of Orca Cove.
I’d already stopped at the local bookstore and asked to fill the part-time position so I could research some more and try to gain an in with the locals, so they didn’t discover the crazy girl from Portland was out to get everyone and unravel all their secrets while trying to discover my mom’s secrets and solve her disappearance. Small towns were either really great with accepting city people or horribly shut-mouthed, and since this one had more rumors and gossip surrounding it than TMZ, I figured it couldn’t hurt to put down temporary roots—not that I had a choice.