“Why?”
Shrugging, I reach out and touch his arm. “She wants to own everything in town.”
“Is that all?”
His response catches me off guard. I laugh. “As far as I know. In any case, she’s driving me crazy. Complaining about everything I’m doing here. I’m not sure what her endgame is, but she’s chipping away at my ability to get the work done. I’ve got time limits on my use of power tools.” I point to her tenant’s place and several others around the house. “She owns everything around me.”
“You won the sealed bid, right?”
“Uh.” How’d he know that?
I guess he can read my face because he quickly says, “You’re right. People talk around here.”
“We all believe she’s attempting to achieve world domination, starting with Zodiac Hills, and since we’re pretty sure she’s a witch and she’s never going to die, we think she’ll get it done.”
Chase laughs but suddenly stops. “You know what she tried to do back there, right?” He was pointing back at the house. “She was going to fall.”
“And sue me?”
“Probably.” He nods. “Most likely.”
Shaking my head, I close my eyes. “Why does she want this place that badly? She probably could have bought it from the family long before they put it on the market. She knows people.”
“How did you end up bidding on this place?”
“I drive by this house all the time. One day there was a sign posted on the door that said sealed bids were going to be accepted on a certain date. The name and address of an attorney”—I point to him—“in California was listed as well. The bid had to be written and mailed along with all of our financials. They wouldn’t even accept emails.”
“Interesting. Do you have the sign?”
Shaking my head, I pull the phone out of my back pocket. “No. But, I took a picture.”
Scrolling through the images, I smile at a few of me and Bella. She’s such a dork. I’ve got to go back many months. When I find it, I click on it and hand over my device.
He reads through it. “Strange.”
“What is?”
“How they handled this.” I still don’t get what he means. I take my phone back and watch him click around on his own phone. “Look.” He turns his phone around until I see his screen. “I searched this address around the time this sign was dated; there’s no real estate listing of this house anywhere online.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means.” He stops speaking for a minute. “Most likely they only posted that sign. And that’s it.”
“Why would they do that and not list it with a realtor?”
Chase’s eyes move to his right like he’s thinking. “Perhaps they wanted the owner to be a local?” He shakes his head. “I have no idea.”
“That makes sense. Malcolm Little was a very popular guy here.” I read about him, you know, due to my fascination with the house and all. “Perhaps it was his final wishes?” I scratch my cheek and think. “I wonder if there was something in his will?”
Chase nods. “Could be.”
I’m not sure which part of this conversation is stranger, the fact that we had it at all or the fact that Chase is interested. I suppose Mona’s responsible for his sudden fascination. She’d pique anyone’s curiosity with her antics.
Locking the front door, Chase and I stare at one another until he finally asks, “What are you doing tonight?”
“Going to watch the second episode ofReturn to Zodiac Hillsat the school gymnasium.” Kitty moved it from the auditorium to the gym to accommodate more people.
“May I go with you?”
