Chapter 2

  Lenore drove home and got ready for bed, but her decision to give her brother’s calling card haunted her for the rest of the night. What made it worse was a call at eleven o’clock, and she saw the name on the phone was that of her older brother. She cringed, picked it up and answered it. “Hey, Stan. What’s up?”

  The voice on the other line wasn’t happy. “You know what’s up. Why’d you give my card to the guy who owns the Morley place?”

  “Um, I was forced against my will,” she put forward.

  Stan scoffed. “Nobody can make you do anything against your will, so why’d you do it?”

  Lenore shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe I saw it as your chance to face your fears, and earn a bucket-load of bucks. That place has to be half-eaten by termites,” she pointed out.

  He sighed, and she could just imagine him pinching the bridge of his nose with his worn fingers. “Probably, but if I’m going then you’re going, too.”

  “Me? Why do I need to go?” she squeaked.

  “Because if I’m facing my fears then so are you,” he shot back.

  “Oh no. You fix that place up and then I’ll face my fears,” she argued.

  “The guy wanted to see me at noon, so I’ll pick you up at eleven-thirty,” he told her. She opened her mouth to protest, but the line went dead.

  Lenore slid into the chair and sighed. “I’ll get you for this, big brother,” she muttered.