Booth studied several canisters of tea before choosing one. They were lined up perfectly on the shelf.
“It’s much better, you know? Loose leaf tea,” he said.
Nic watched him, lost in her thoughts. And her fears about what he was now thinking.
He filled the strainer. The water boiled and he poured it into the cups.
Milk and sugar were on the table, but he brought saucers and spoons.
Nic sipped the coffee as she looked around the room. Booth was busy fixing his tea just so—one and a half spoons of sugar. A long pour of milk. A meticulous stir.
“Do you live here all the time?” she asked. There weren’t many personal effects. And hardly enough closet space for a few days of clothing.
“Yes,” he answered. Then he understood why she was asking.
“I have a second room next door. I keep most of my things there. I know it’s an odd arrangement, but I don’t see much point in renovating. I don’t mind it, and who knows? One day we might get busy again and I’ll need these rooms for guests.”
Nic looked at him carefully. Did he really believe that? After a decade-long spiral into an economic graveyard? How deep into this fantasy was he?
But none of this was why she was here.
“Remember when I went for that run?”
Booth smiled, causing his glasses to slide down his nose. He pushed them up with his middle finger.
“Of course. You escaped the bears and wolves.”
Nic smiled. “Yes. But I also found the fence my father saw.”
“Oh right. The fence.”
She heard Reyes now, in her head, telling her not to do this. Not to speak to Booth about his neighbors or Daisy Hollander or anything else from the past.
What had he said? That Booth waswound tight as a drum.
Then—just wait for me.The house on Abel Hill Lane had not been on the search log—and it was not a registered address. It hadno street number. He’d promised to run the utility searches first thing this morning, then take her back to Laguna to get her car. Then they would go to town hall. He said he would help her get through thered tape, whatever that meant. How much red tape could there be in Hastings? It was one parcel. Still, she’d promised to wait and go with him. They would find out who owned the place. Call them, ask about the night of the storm. They couldn’t search it without a warrant, but they could stop by. Knock on the door.
Still, Nic couldn’t sit around and do nothing all morning. Town hall was two miles down the road. She had no car. Roger Booth was here, right in front of her.
“It’s a tall, barbed wire fence,” she said, breaking her promise to Reyes. “And I think it belongs to the neighboring property—maybe one of the old plants.”
Booth’s face lit up then. He seemed happy to be entertaining someone in his apartment, and Nic felt a wave of pity.
“Oh—yes!” he said then. “I’m so silly! I remember now—my father speaking about this years ago. Not about the fence, exactly, but the investors who bought the land and old buildings from Ross Pharma—they were planning to make it some kind of mental facility for criminals, but they never got the permits they needed. The whole town fought it. I remember him saying he’d never let Hastings turn into a prison town. Their property must back right up to mine deep in the woods.”
“And you didn’t think of this when I asked you before?” It seemed very strange to Nic—how many fences could there be in this town? And how did he not know who owned the neighboring land?
Booth appeared to be embarrassed. “I… I’m not sure. You were going for a run in my woods and that made me nervous…”
He had looked nervous then. And now as well.
“Do they still own the property?”
Booth shrugged, set down his teacup. “I think they do. It’s never been for sale. They probably keep it for a tax write-off.”
“There’s a house on that property—with a driveway running down to Abel Hill Lane. But it’s not a registered address. Do you know anything about it?”
“The foreman who kept the grounds had a house. That must be it. Probably ran the separate driveway for some privacy. I heard it was kind of strange. A ranch but with a porch and false roof so it looks like a farmhouse from the front. I think they started a renovation but then didn’t finish after the permits for the facility were blocked.”
