AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“His pecs were a lot bigger then,” Cody said. “D-cups.”
“All right now,” Jugs said before crawling into the attic and out of sight.
“I don’t remember that,” Devin said, then looked at Cody. “Would I have known that?”
“Well, Jugs and I dated a lot of the same girls, so we got to know each other a bit off the field.”
“Come on, Bonker,” Jugs called from inside the attic. “We’re on the clock.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“You always were a chick magnet,” Devin said.
Cody chuckled as he put on his own equipment. “That was a long time ago.”
“So, did you marry one of the girls from high school?”
The knot in Cody’s stomach twisted even tighter. Before he could think how to respond, Jugs called from inside the attic.
“You should take a look at this.”
“I’m coming,” Cody said, then dropped to his hands and knees with a quiet groan. Looking up at Devin, he said simply, “No, I didn’t marry one of the girls from high school,” before crawling through the small door.
The heat hit him almost immediately, and he felt the prickle of sweat under his arms and across the top of his head. A few cobwebs hung from exposed beams, and dust motes floated through shafts of sunlight coming in the small round window, providing enough light to show plastic storage tubs stacked along the inner wall. Jugs was a little ways off, on his knees and sitting back on his heels as he turned his head back and forth, playing his headlamp slowly along the line of bins lined up against the wall.
“Thanks,” Cody said quietly.
“No problem,” Jugs said, just as quietly. “Just remember this day when it comes time for a holiday bonus.”
Cody frowned. “Have we given you a holiday bonus before?” Jugs gave him a dead-eyed stare. “Ah, got it. This day has been noted.” Cody crawled up beside him and faced the interior wall. “What’ve we got?”
“I can’t see the bottom of the wall,” Jugs said. “So I don’t know how big of a space there is between the floorboards and the downstairs walls.”
“Any tracks or scat?”
“No, but there’s a long path through the dust over there, like something was dragged through here.” Jugs shot Cody a look. “I’m getting a weird feeling about this job.”
“It’s not a haunted house,” Cody said. “I’ve tangled with a ghost, I know this stuff.”
“No, not haunted. Just feels different than usual.”
“Dude, you’re freaking me out, knock it off. Let’s scope out the access points to the spaces behind the walls. We both heard something moving.”
“That’s what worries me.”
They went in opposite directions, sliding bin away from the wall to check behind.
“You and this guy close back in high school?” Jugs asked, his voice pitched low.
“We played together, but we didn’t really hang out much unless it was a team thing.”
“I think he’s got a bit of a man crush on you.”
Cody sat back on his heels and turned to look at Jugs, his headlamp illuminating him. “What? You’re crazy.”
Jugs looked at him, both of them squinting in the beams of their headlamps. “I’m crazy, huh? Why don’t you ask your husband about it.”
“Shut up.” Cody turned back toward the storage tubs. “Where are we at here? Are we over his office yet?”
