"If it doesn't work out for tonight, we will do it for another night. Just let me know."
"That's where you met Cedric," Kendra said. "I always thought that was so funny since you had been on a blind date at your sister's and brother-in-law's anniversary."
"Yeah, I was upset by the storms overhead, and he got into my head to reassure me I was going to be all right."
"Which made it worse." Kendra couldn't believe anyone could telepathically communicate with Amy, since no one had ever done so before. At the time, Amy didn't know he was the best man for her, given their psychic connection.
Though sometimes, when they were all together, they would privately communicate with each other, and Kendra wondered what was up.
"Okay, well, I've got to track down a cheating wife, so just let me know as soon as you can," Amy said.
"Thanks," Kendra said, thrilled with the prospect of having dinner with her good friends tonight if their schedules were free. She drove to the office after that and picked up Ivan. "Are you ready for this?"
"I sure am. How was your vacation?"
"It was a lot of fun. We saw a wild grizzly bear chase Blue up a tree while we were whitewater rafting."
Ivan laughed. "At least he could escape the grizzly bear."
"Yeah. I've never seen him run as quickly or climb as fast and high in a tree." As she drove to the fugitive's location, she called Grayson to ask about dinner. "Amy and Cedric invited us to dinner at Brannigans for the night if we don't have any cases to take care of."
"That sounds great. Marcus and I are about to take our fugitive into custody. I'll drive back to Kalispell after that. How are you doing?"
"Ivan and I are still trying to reach the location of our fugitive."
"If we have any more cases tonight, I can take care of them," Ivan said.
"Thanks, Ivan. I'll talk to you later, Grayson."
Then Kendra called Amy. "Dinner is on. What time do you want to go?"
"Six? I'll make reservations. I hope Grayson can dance."
"Oh, I have no idea. But that will definitely be fun."
Then they ended their call as Kendra and Ivan reached their destination. The small house was buried in clutter and vegetation. Trash was piled high in the front yard, and the grass was as tall as the rotting railings on the porch. Weed trees and vines covered the house and chain-link fence, making it appear like a jungle. Grass covered what appeared to be the walkway to the front door so that no one could even see the cement. The driveway was the same.
Vines covered most of the front windows of the one-story, wood-sided home. An old rusted pickup truck was half-covered in vines, trees, and shrubs.
If it weren't for a light being on in one of the rooms, it would look like no one was there. The sky grew dark as black storm clouds gathered overhead, threatening rain.
"Looks like a haunted house," Ivan said.
"My thought exactly. I imagine the inside looks as bad as the outside, unless yardwork just isn't their thing."
"I figure the inside is a disaster too," Ivan said.
"Do you want to knock on the door?"
"Watch it fall off its rusted hinges. But yeah, I'll do it," Ivan said and knocked on the door. The whole thing shook with his knock.
She figured if he pounded any harder, it would just break to pieces. If there was a doorbell, it was covered with vines, if it even worked.
She tried to peek into the windows, but they were all covered with plants, and she couldn't see anything.
Then she startled a garden snake, which startled her, but luckily, she didn't cry out. She didn't want Ivan to know that a good garden snake had scared the heck out of her.
He asked, "What do you want to do next?"
