“Maybe.”
“Who is going to play me?”
“We’re talking to Nick Cage’s people.”
“Nicholas Cage? Really?
“No. But Jason Alexander is interested.”
“George from Seinfeld?”
“He’s got some serious drama chops.”
Tom shrugged and drained his beer. The sun felt glorious, except for on the scar on his chest, which still hurt like hell a month later. Burns sucked.
“Mind if I ask you something?” Joan said. “Something personal?”
“Shoot.”
“When you were being branded, did you ever want to give up?”
Tom turned to her. “Who? Me? Of course not.”
“What kept you going?”
“Thoughts of you, of course. I realized I couldn’t let him break me, because then I’d never see your face again.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
Joan leaned over and gave him a peck on the lips. “I call bullshit.”
“As soon as Torble left, I kicked out the IV to try and bleed to death.”
“That I believe.”
“But I did think of you.”
“I’m sure.”
“I did. I swear.”
Tom gave her a quick, but tender, peck on the cheek.
“So you really want to quit the force?” she asked.
“Yeah. Roy and I are thinking about opening up a fishing charter business.”
“In California?”
“I heard they have an ocean somewhere close.”
Joan ran a finger across his belly and grinned. “I think I could get used to having you around all the time.”
“I could, too.”
“And I remembered something. Something you asked me about. Last time I was at your place, I was watching you take a shower.”
“Pervert.”
“That was the night we drank all that wine. So I think it was me who wrote I’m watching you on your mirror.”
Tom laughed. That was the last thing that had nagged him about the whole Butler House experience, and now it had been resolved. Case closed. Time to get on with life.
“You know what?” he said.
“What?”
“I think I’d like to watch you take a shower.”
“Peeping Tom, huh?” She smiled and sat up. “Race you to our room. Loser washes the winner’s back.”
Joan won.
But Tom was the one who really did.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Frank
Dr. Frank Belgium was sitting in his easy chair, Jack on his lap. The boy was an absolute marvel. Cute. Smart. More fun than Frank ever could have imagined.
Even if he hadn’t married his mother, he would have still wanted Jack around.
“Ma ma ma,” Jack said.
“I think he wants you,” Frank said to Sara. “He said mama.”
Sara got up off the sofa and took Jack in her arms. “He didn’t say mama. He said ma ma ma. He repeated his word three times.”
“Hmm. Now where do you think he picked that up?”
“Where do you think?”
“Do I do do do that?”
“Yes you do do do.”
They exchanged a smile. The moment was interrupted by the doorbell.
Frank moved to get up, but Sara told him to stay put.
“I’m not an invalid, dear. The doctor said I need the exercise.”
He pulled himself out of the chair, wincing at the slight pain from his still-healing wound, and used his cane to make it to the front door.
Frank didn’t like what he saw in the peephole. Two men in black suits. One holding a Secret Service badge.
“Who is it?” Sara asked.
“It’s for me. I’ve got got got it.” Frank opened the door a crack. “Can I help you?”
“Dr. Frank Belgium? The President sent us. Your country needs you.”
“Tell the President I’m not interested.”
“Please, sir. Can we have just one moment of your time?”
Frank was thrown by how polite they were. Asking, not demanding. Reserved, not threatening.
“I’m done with all this,” he said. “I have a family now.”
“Believe me, Dr. Belgium, your country recognizes the sacrifices you’ve made, and they are appreciated. But we truly need your help. Even if it is only on an advisory basis.”
Frank sighed, then let them in. “Okay, but but but let’s keep it in the hallway. I don’t want you upsetting my wife or son.”
He let them in, and one of them handed Frank a manila folder. Frank didn’t want to take it. As if sensing his reluctance, the agent opened it and held a picture for Belgium to see.
It was of a cow. A very dead cow, almost stripped to the bone.
“I’m a very good scientist, gentlemen, but even I don’t think I can help help help you save that cow.”
“Here is a close-up of the lower right hand section of the picture, Dr. Belgium.”
He held up a second photo, grainier, zooming in to the cow’s ribcage.
Perched there, staring into the camera, was a tiny, red creature with bat wings and large horns.
“Do you recognize that, Dr. Belgium? We believe it is one of the demons that escaped from the facility you worked at. Project Samhain.”
The biologist made a face, and the first thought that popped into his mind escaped his lips before he could stop it.
“Uh oh.”
THE END
AUTHOR NOTE
For those interested in reading the backstories of the various characters in Haunted House, here is the chronological order of the works they appear in.
ORIGIN (Dr. Frank Belgium)
THE LIST (Tom Mankowski and Roy Lewis)
SERIAL KILLERS UNCUT (Moni Draper)
AFRAID (Josh, Fran, Duncan, Woof, and Mathias VanCamp)
TRAPPED (Sara Randhurst)
ENDURANCE (Mal and Deb Dieter)
Dr. Frank Belgium will return in SECOND COMING
Tom Mankowski, Roy Lewis, and Joan DeVillers will return in THE NINE
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Mal and Deb Dieter first appeared in the Jack Kilborn novel Endurance, which took place at the Rushmore Inn in West Virginia. Mal is a sports reporter. He’s missing his hand. Deb is an athlete who competes regularly in the Paralympics and triathlons. She has prosthetic legs.
Roy Lewis and Tom Mankowski first appeared in the J.A. Konrath novel The List, which ended in Springfield, Illinois. They have made cameos in several novels in the Jack Daniels series (Cherry Bomb, Shaken, Stirred). They are both Homicide Detectives that work in Chicago.
Dr. Frank Belgium first appeared in the J.A. Konrath novel Origin, working for Project Samhain in New Mexico. He’s a molecular biologist and has a speech dysfluency, where he sometimes repeats the same word three times.
Sara Randhurst first appeared in the Jack Kilborn novel Trapped, which took place on Rock Island in Lake Michigan. She’s a former guidance counselor.
Fran, Josh, and Duncan VanCamp first appeared in the Jack Kilborn novel Afraid, which took place in Safe Haven Wisconsin. They live in Hawaii with their pets, a basset hound named Woof and a capuchin monkey named Mathison. Josh and Fran live off a stipend. Duncan is fifteen years old, learning how to drive.
Moni Draper is a dancer and call girl who appeared in Serial Killers Uncut written by Jack Kilborn and Blake Crouch. She survived encounters with two serial killers, the Gingerbread Man (Whiskey Sour) and Luther Kite (Stirred).
About J.A. Konrath:
Joe Konrath has sold over two million books. He’s learned all he knows about writing from fellow scribes F. Paul Wilson, Blake Crouch, Scott Nicholson, and Iain Rob Wright. Joe has yet to read any of Jeff Strand’s self-described “thrillomedies”, but he’s pretty sure that some of them may be good, probably. You can read more about Joe’s work at www.jakonrath.com.
EBOOKS BY J.A. KONRATH
Jack Daniels Thrillers
Whiskey Sour
Bloody Mary