“It’s smaller. Everything is: the buildings, the mountains, the streets, even the sky seems smaller than I remember. The prison is new, but I guess they had to put in something after the sawmills all went belly up. A few of the buildings have different names on them, but for the most part it’sthe same.” I shook my head, knowing I wasn’t being entirely truthful. “It feels different, though. Unreal. I have these memories, but they feel like they happened to someone else. Like it was in a movie I watched or some game I played.”
I cut the stroll down memory lane short and headed for the nursing home. We crossed over another new set of train tracks, parked, and went in where we were greetedby none other than Brandy Standke. Of course my old nemesis would be employed at the very place Addison and I needed to frequent while solving this damn case—because that’s how the universe works—but seeing Brandy didn’t bother me like I thought it would.
Her hips had gotten a little wider (probably from cracking people’s hopes and dreams with her bare thighs), and her boobs were much bigger(because why, universe, why?). I mean seriously, she already had flawless skin and silky brown hair, why did she have to dominate the boob game as well? Her bigger and better double-Ds were showcased in pink camouflage scrubs and accentuated by the condescending sneer I’d often fantasized about punching off her face. But my hand no longer ached to rearrange her cute little button nose.
Brandystood in the entryway with her hands on her hips like she’d been waiting for me, which she probably had. “Dylan James,” she spat. “Carol mentioned you’d be in this morning to interview a couple of my clients. What are you now, some kind of rent-a-cop?”
Addison tensed up beside me. I put a hand on her shoulder and beamed a smile at Brandy, surprised by how authentic it felt. “Addie, this is Brandy.Brandy...you became a nurse. That’s so great.” I honestly couldn’t reconcile the Brandy in my memories with the woman in front of me who went to school to help people, but maybe she’d changed? I sure had.
Brandy eyed me like she was waiting for the punchline, but I only smiled wider.
“Brandy?” Addison looked at me, and understanding ignited in her eyes. She turned to take in my old nemesisand her eyes narrowed.
Before Addison could unleash her rage and possibly ruin our chances of seeing the women we needed to interview in order to solve the case and go home, I stepped between them and pulled out my badge.
“Addison and I are private investigators and we’re here to interview Mrs. Rogers, Ms. Samuelson, Ms. Long, and Grandma about the thefts.”
Brandy eyed my badge before turningtoward Addison, who dutifully showed hers as well.
“We may need to interview some of the staff as well,” Addison said, still glaring. “If you could get us a list of who was on duty when the jewelry disappeared, that’d be most helpful.”
Brandy gave a curt nod before turning on her heel. “Right this way, please.”
The nursing home had been recently renovated, so the smell of fresh paint mingledwith old-people fragrance and hospital-grade cleaner. Brandy escorted us under an archway—which was new—through a common area with a piano, and then past several more rooms before stopping to knock on a door. A strained female voice bid us to come in, and Brandy opened the door and peeked her head in.
“Hello, Mrs. Rogers, you have guests. Are you decent?”
“Depends,” she responded. “Is it aman or a woman?”
“Ah, it’s two women,” Brandy said.
“Well, damn it! I’m gonna have to put on panties now.”
I glanced at Addison, who had her lips pressed together, trying not to laugh.
“Mrs. Rogers, why wouldn’t you have panties on to begin with?” Brandy asked, still peeking in the partially closed door.
“Not that it’s any of your business, young lady, but I was hopin’ to get lucky.”
Shakingher head, Brandy stepped into the room. She was inside for a few minutes before calling, “You can come in now.”
“If that old lady is naked, I’m going to hurl,” Addison whispered.
“You’re not interested in seeing how far your boobs will hang down when you’re her age?”
“Hello, Pot,” she said.
“I’m at least a cup size smaller than you.”
“And you’re a really bad liar,” Addison retorted.
Mrs.Rogers sat in a chair beside her bed reading a book and wearing a floral print moomoo. With her glasses perched on the tip of her nose, she was bent over the pages, her lips moving as she read.
“Have fun,” Brandy said as she walked past us and back into the hall.
Fun, right. Only Mrs. Rogers didn’t appear to be aware of our presence. I found this strange considering she’d just carried on aseemingly coherent conversation with Brandy seconds before.
I cleared my throat, but she didn’t look up. “Hello, Mrs. Rogers,” I said.
