The fuck? It looked like no one had lived in this house for years. White paint peeled from the warped wood. Most of the shingles were partially hanging off the roof, and the windows were boarded over.
He snapped a photo of the house and sent it to his team, along with a pin of his location.
Joel: Any clue where the hell Polly led me?
Ethan: That’s the old Connoway mansion. It’s been empty for almost thirty years.
Zac: Looks like it too.
Ryan: What tip did she get?
Joel: Don’t know yet. I’ll keep you guys in the loop when I find out.
He grabbed his Glock. Once he was out of the truck, he shoved it into his holster. “What are we doing here, Sunshine?”
Polly closed her door. “Jenna may have come here that morning after she left Bloom. Plus, there was a photo of this house on Eileen’s phone.”
“She was found near Traipse Trailhead, and her car was parked off Dandelion Road.”
“Doesn’t mean she didn’t come here first.” Polly jogged up the steps and tried the door. “Dammit. Locked. If she got inside, how?”
“Sunshine, I think we should leave.”
“You can do whatever you want.”
Yeah, there was no fucking way he was leaving her here by herself. Damn house was probably haunted.
She moved back down the steps and frowned, scanning the exterior before she mumbled to herself. “Back door.”
“Do you know anything about the family who used to live here?” Joel asked as he followed her around, his gaze sweeping over the rotting wood.
“Just that they left in a rush. They were British, and one night they were here, the next they were gone. As far as I know, the family still owns the house and land but has never been back.”
Yeah, because that wasn’t creepy. Why would a family abandon a house and never come back?
They reached the back door and Polly tried the handle. Again, it didn’t move.
She frowned. “Does the lock look newer than the one at the front?”
Joel stepped forward. The knobandthe lock looked new. And unlike the front door, there was no dust on this handle.
“And these back windows aren’t boarded.” She moved over to a window and tried to lift it, but it didn’t budge. “Help me.”
He laughed. “Absolutely not. I am not making it easy for you to break and enter.”
Her eyes narrowed as if he’d just given her a challenge. “Lucky for me,” she groaned as she pulled at the wood, “I do not need a man. I can do these things my…self.”
The window creaked open.
Shit.
“Polly, I don’t think this is a good idea?—”
“Then stay here. I’ll tell you what I find.” She lifted herself up and climbed through the window.
Goddammit!
When the soft thud of her feet hitting floorboards sounded, he groaned and followed her, leaping through the window, because what the hell kind of a man would he be to leave heralone inside this house? It even had a creepy fucking story to go with it.
