Wicked Deeds by Heather Graham

Author:Heather Graham
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: MIRA
Published: 2017-10-18T04:00:00+00:00

10

“Oh... Oh, my God!” Vickie breathed, staring.

Gary Frampton’s house in the outskirts-slash-woods of Maryland was—as he had said—old.

But it was more than just old.

It was both magnificent—and straight out of a Poe story.

It had an air of decaying grandeur; it spoke of elegant bygone days. Vickie quickly estimated that it had been begun before the first shots had been fired in the American Revolution. It had continued to grow; the outline of the original saltbox could just be seen by a slight discoloration in the sad gray-beige paint that covered the house. A grand porch with chipping columns had been added at some point, along with a third story and an attic.

Whoever had added on during the early Victorian days had seen to it that the extensions or wings on each side were the same in size. They’d added balconies to the second story, and someone, somewhere along the line, had given both wings bay windows in the front.

It was beautiful.

It was morose.

Vines trailed over the house and over the brick wall surrounding the overgrown lawn. A wrought-iron gate opened to the immediate surrounding woods. A groundskeeper had evidently not been about in years.

Unpruned bushes with a few withering blooms suggested the remains of a rose garden to the front, and awkward shapes to the left were an indication that sometime in recent history—perhaps as close in the past as Gary’s parents—someone had kept a topiary.

“It’s right out of ‘The Fall of the House of Usher!’” Griffin said.

“Exactly! I mean...it looks like it could fall down at any time. All the vines...the paint, the columns...” Vickie said.

The gate had been left open; Griffin drove on through. The front door to the house opened even as they were maneuvering the overgrown drive.

Alice came running out. She seemed overjoyed to see them.

Strange. Vickie hadn’t been certain that the girl had even really liked either of them.

“You’re here!” she cried, her voice bright with pleasure.

Alice was closest to Griffin as he stepped out of the driver’s seat. She threw her arms around his neck, hugging him.

She surely took him by surprise. He looked over her head at Vickie, a little bit helpless.

Vickie just smiled.

But she needn’t have felt neglected. Alice came racing around to the passenger side of the car, throwing her arms around Vickie as well.

“Hey!” Vickie said. “It’s nice to see you, too. What have we missed, a day?”

“A day is forever when the cracked-out virago is on the property!” Alice said.

“Cracked-out virago,” Griffin repeated. “You don’t mean—”

“She doesn’t mean drugs. She means crackpot. As in Liza?” Vickie asked.

Alice nodded dully. “She’s chasing my father. Oh, not romantically—my dad is no spring chicken, but she has him by more than a decade, I’m certain. No...she just has to be near him! She’s afraid for him. And if the dead are around and trying to get a message to him about who to watch out for, well, she’s the only one who can help him.”

“I see,” Griffin murmured. He looked up at the house.

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