Spliced

Indi’s house was up a hill with a beautiful view of the sea. Kass parked across the street. She almost paused as she was crossing the road. She had noticed Indi’s car wasn’t in it’s usual spot. She did have a garage though, perhaps she’d moved it inside? From memory the garage was usually pretty packed with a bunch of her husband, Falco’s, stuff.

Kass worried that maybe Indi had meant a different afternoon but she was sure it had been today that Indi had said. She climbed the stairs to the front door and knocked. She was relieved when Indi answered it almost immediately.

“Hi, come in.” Indi swung the door wide open with a big welcoming grin.

Kass stepped quietly through, kicking off her heels once inside.

“You don’t have to do that,” Indi said as she crossed the few metres to the kitchen. The entire space, entrance-way and kitchen included, was part of a larger open living area. At one end were floor to ceiling windows. Indi loved them. Kass wasn’t a fan of them herself. The view certainly was pretty but it made her feel so exposed, like being in a giant glass house. All she could think about was all the possible ways a sniper might set up position if they wanted to take someone in the house out. It probably wasn’t a problem for Indi, just something Kass thought about. Then again, someone had been trying to kill Indi when Kass had first met her, and Falco was military. Well it was less likely during the day. Sun would shine off a scope and you wouldn’t get as good a view of inside the house.

Kass walked around to one of the bar stools at the far side of the kitchen counter. She laid her laptop, papers, and case for her reading glasses down on the bench.

She noticed Indi’s desktop computer at the far left of the room seemed to have a bunch of papers strewn in front of it and the chair half pulled out as if Indi had left her work with the intent of returning to it soon.

In front of Kass, on the kitchen counter Indi had covered the bench in a bunch of bowls and various ingredients used for the baking of cookies. Even now Indi was pulling more stuff out of the cupboards.

“Were you working on something earlier?” Kass asked as she looked over at Indi’s desktop.

“Yeah but I’ve had enough of that for the day and it’s not urgent stuff. Stuck on a bug and my brain’s fried. That’s the beauty of working freelance though I can take a break when I want. Can take the whole afternoon off even.” Indi spread her arms wide and flashed another of her characteristic grins. “Might do some work later tonight though. What are you working on? You said you wanted some help with some research?”

Kass nodded as she booted up her laptop and put her reading glasses on. “I’ve been looking into the estate of the late Mrs Milton. Neither of her sons want anything to do with the place but there’s a realtor that’s trying to get it sold and the sons are fighting over the potential returns, along with some second cousin and a few other relatives that have just popped up out of nowhere in the last few days. According to this one lawyer back at the office who I swear has been around since the Great Splice, it was stipulated in the will that house can’t be sold unless the owner has lived in it for a certain time period. Problem is he’s just saying that from what he remembers from when he wrote up the will centuries ago. The house has a bunch of old records and apparently a copy of the will somewhere in it.” Kass rolled her eyes.

“I thought you mostly did courtroom work?” Indi asked. She had stopped pulling things out of the cupboards now and was patiently listening to Kass. She actually seemed more focused than usual for Indi.

Kass rolled her eyes again. “Yeah so did I, but we’re spread thin at the moment.”

“You should hire some more people.”

Kass gave a half-committed smile in reply to that. She agreed but she knew it wasn’t going to happen. This was a community law firm in a small town. The fact it existed at all was impressive. It did cater to most of the Greenstone Valley though, with the exception of the Emerald city which had its own firms, most of them private.

“So you don’t have a will on file?” Indi asked.

Kass shook her head. “Apparently it was lost. There’s a record of it existing, and it’s noted that there was an original as well as a copy. The copy is recorded as filed but no one can find it. There was a fire a few years ago so it’s possible it was lost in that.”

“So you’ve been searching the house for the original?”

“Well, that’s the intention, but it’s harder than it sounds, lots of bedrooms and corridors that go nowhere, it’s a big house and not much in the way of offices yet.”

“Wait, corridors that go nowhere? So it’s a haunted house?” Indi said that with a little too much enthusiasm.

Kass sighed. “It’s an old house, built by a crazy woman.”

Indi grinned, still far to excited. It made Kass hesitate a little before telling her the rest. She figured she might as well though. If Indi was excited about it then she’d be much more help. Maybe she’d even come through the house with Kass. Kass couldn’t explain it but there was something about that house that made her not want to enter it alone. It was silly though, wasn’t it?

“A few weeks ago, before our last adventure” Kass added, giving an internal sigh at that memory. “Another lawyer, Tony, and I were going through the house, back before this other ancient lawyer even mentioned that there was a will. I swear nobody communicates in this firm. Anyway we were just sussing the place out and getting some photos taken. I stepped outside when I got Amanda’s phone call, and when I stepped back in there was no sign of Tony. I thought he’d gone home but when I got outside his car was still there. I figured he’d find his own way out but when I went back today...”

“His car was still there?” Indi finished, eye’s wide, a serious expression on her face but with that hint of excitement and intrigue remaining in her violet eyes.

Kass nodded. At some point during her telling of the story she’d pulled one foot up onto the upper rim of the nearest bar stool and now had her elbow resting on it and her thumbnail between her teeth.

“What if he got stuck in one of the rooms?” Indi asked, eyes wide now more worried.

Kass took her thumbnail out of her mouth in horror. “Well I didn’t think of that.” She shook her head. “It’s been a whole week though...” she trailed off.

“Maybe you should call the police?” Indi suggested.

Kass pushed her lips together tightly.

“What?” Indi asked. “Are you worried you’ll get in trouble?”

Kass shook her head but didn’t answer. She wasn’t sure what made her hesitate. She couldn’t put her finger on it.

“You couldn’t have known before. And you only just saw that his car was still there today. We should phone them.”

Kass sighed. “My boss is going to be so pissed, but you’re right.” She pulled out her cellphone. She dialed the number then looked up at Indi hesitantly before hitting the call button.

Indi just gave her an expectant and encouraging look. So Kass hit the button. She put the phone to her ear and listened to the ring. Eventually a robotic voice spoke. “I’m sorry, all our lines are busy at the moment, please hold. If it is an emergency here are some other numbers you may try...”

Kass frowned. “They’re busy. I’ve never had that happen before. Since when is the police force busy?”

Indi didn’t look surprised. “Would you believe that’s not even the first time that’s happened to me. Cat says the police force in this town is the worst in the whole continent.”

“Cat would say that,” Kass mumbled. “She’s probably had the police called on her more times than she’s called them though. They’re not usually like this.” Kass shook her head.

“We could try one of the private options.” Indi suggested.

Kass rolled her eyes with the phone still to her ear. “We are the private options Indi.” and when Indi gave her a confused look Kass added, “Would it surprise you if one of the number’s listed was Coal’s?”

Indi gave it a moments thought and then shook her head “Coal’s too high class for that. Maybe one of them’s a number to someone who can get his number though.” Then her eyes lit up and Kass had the sinking feeling that Indi had just come up with one of her great ideas.

“Kass, what if we investigate it?” Indi suggested.

Kass was thankful that right at that moment someone in the police station had evidently just gotten back from their break in time to answer her call. “Hang on, I’ve got through,” she quickly shushed Indi.

Indi waited quietly and listened while Kass explained her problem to the man on the other end of the line. He gave enough ‘uh huhs’ in reply that Kass wondered if he was really listening at all. But once she’d stopped he answered coherently enough that she realised it was probably just the voice he put on for the public.

“I’m sorry mam but we’ve already looked into the disappearance of this Tony and we haven’t turned up anything. I don’t know if you’ve heard but some kids disappeared recently and their parents thought they’d gone exploring in some old house, sounds like it’s the same one you’re referring to. Anyway we checked out the house while we were looking for them, saw the car out front and followed up. There was no sign of any of them inside the house and we haven’t been able to find any leads elsewhere.”

“Then why’s his car still there? And nobody’s notified the office where he works?”

“Eh.” Kass could almost hear the guy shrug. “We’re quite busy at the moment. We’ll probably send someone out there next week to pick it up. It won’t do his car any harm sitting there for the time being, it’s behind gates anyway.”

“And the office?” Kass asked.

“Huh?”

“His work, nobody’s told them.”

“Oh, well I guess they might have forgot, no one’s actually reported him missing. Listen mam, we’re pretty crazy here right now, if it’s not an emergency I’m gonna have to ask that you try call back later. We’ll get to your issue as soon as we can, we know it’s very important to you.”

Kass gave an exasperated sigh and glance at Indi who was half way between sympathetic look and trying not to burst into laughter. “Fine, what are you all so busy with anyway?”

“Bloody rioters, excuse the pun. This crazy protest group’s taken over the town, they been causing hell for us all everywhere. Sorry, I gotta go mam. Thank you for your time.” As he hung up Kass could swear she heard a gunshot in the background.

She held the phone away from her ear in disbelief.

“Just another day in Little Rock.” Indi chirped.

“I swear the north was never this bad, even when we were in the midst of war.”

“I hear they are efficient up there.” Indi replied.

Kass nodded solemnly.

“Sooo,” Indi started. “Wanna investigate it ourselves?” she was trying to suppress her excitement, Kass could tell.

“You heard them. They’re not in the house, they searched.”

“Yeah, well maybe they missed them. Worst case I could help you find the will anyway.”

It was what Kass had wanted, but now she had it she wasn't sure.

“Come on,” Indi pushed.

Still she didn’t really want to go back inside that place by herself. “Okay,” Kass replied.

“Yass!” Indi exclaimed. “So what do we know about the house?”

It wasn’t difficult to stop Indi from going down a rabbit hole of research when a haunted house was concerned. She was soon digging up all sorts of information, although a lot of it Kass would have termed rumour. While Kass’s style was a more historical look, what Indi found was still useful. She even managed to did up some half completed blueprints, something that had thus far eluded Kass.

Eventually Indi did get bored. Kass kept hunting for awhile as Indi finally got started on baking the cookies, interrupting Kass with the occasional bowl of mixture to taste test.

“How many cookies are we baking?” Kass asked with a frown over the top of her reading glasses.

“It’s an experiment,” Indi replied. “I’m trying some different things and I want to see which tastes the best.”

Kass nodded, not convinced she could taste much of a difference between the uncooked batches, with the exception of one which seemed almost a little too bitter.

She was surprised when they finally came out of the oven how different they all looked though. Some had formed into pools of connected mess while others looked like almost perfect circles.

“What did we discover?” Kass asked leaning forward to rest her chin on one upturned palm, deciding she’d done enough work for now. She’d do a bit more later tonight.

“This one has too much baking soda,” Indi observed with a frown as she bit into one and made a face.

“Yeah I noticed,” Kass replied with a soft smile.

“I think the rest are okay, too much butter in that one though, and that one objectively has too much sugar, but I think it sort of works.”

Kass smiled again and reached for one of the perfect circles. “I like these ones.”

It was some 30 odd minutes later when the front door opened and in walked Indi’s husband Falco. He dumped a navy duffel bag near the door and held his arms out to Indi who ran at him and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. One which he promptly returned.

“How was your day?” he asked.

Indi faltered, remembering her earlier encounter outside the blood bank. Her expression fell for just long enough that Falco knew instantly that something had upset her. “That bad huh?” he asked lightly as he pulled her back into a hug, catching a confused expression from Kass over Indi’s shoulder.

Indi pulled herself together again and gave him a smile brushing all the bad away for now. “It’s been fine, and Kass has been helping me make cookies.” Indi turned to show him.

Kass gave a soft smile but her eyes still had a hint of confusion in them. “I’ve been helping with the eating more than anything.”

“Taste tester is an important job,” Indi replied with a smile that Kass now realised didn’t reach all the way to her eyes. Kass wondered briefly if she’d done something wrong.

“What about the rest of your day?” Falco pried.

Indi didn’t lose her smile completely but the edges dropped just enough to reassure Kass that whatever it was, it hadn’t been her. Kass wondered how she hadn’t seen it before.

Indi shook her head. “It was okay, just really boring.” Indi gave a mock frown. “Stuck on a bug.” She rolled her eyes.

Now that Kass was paying attention it almost looked like Indi was over-selling it. Kass was never one to pry though.

It looked like Falco had noticed that Indi wasn’t up for talking about it. That or her act had been good enough to fool him, and so he turned to Kass. “What about your day? Shouldn’t you be in the office or something?”

Kass smiled softly. “Indi was helping me with some research.”

“What sort of research?” Falco asked, as he grabbed a seat at the counter and reached for a cookie.

“About a haunted house,” Indi answered before Kass could, her genuine enthusiasm returning.

Falco paused with the cookie half raised to his mouth. “A haunted house?”

Kass shook her head. “It’s not really haunted.”

“It was built by a crazy old lady, a bunch of people have gone missing in it already, and there’s a secret will hidden somewhere inside,” Indi added.

Falco glanced at Kass for confirmation.

She opened her mouth trying to decide which to explain first. “No one’s gone missing in it, they just...”

“Happened to disappear after last being seen inside the house,” Indi interrupted.

Kass shook her head. “Those kids weren’t seen inside the house.”

“But their parents thought they had gone in, and what about all those older news stories?”

“None were ever confirmed.”

Falco watched them go back and forth with interest. Eventually he asked, “So why are you researching this old house?”

Kass sighed. “That’s the part about the missing will.”

“Secret hidden will,” Indi corrected.

“Well,” Kass continued. “The old lady who owned the place kicked the bucket and...”

“What did she die of?” Indi asked, as if she had just found the missing piece to the puzzle.

“Old age,” Kass replied.

“Oh.” Indi frowned. She sounded disappointed.

Falco laughed and nearly chocked on his cookie, enough that Indi had to hit him on the back.

“Are you alright?” Kass asked, as Indi fetched him a glass of water.

Falco nodded and murmured a ‘thanks’ between coughs.

“How was your day?” Indi asked once he’d regained his composure.

“Err, not bad, not bad,” he replied.

Kass picked up on his tone. There was something in it that was hesitant. She wasn’t sure Indi noticed but whether she did or not they both waited for him to continue.

“I’m shipping out Monday. There’s been some civilian riots in a few cities recently and they want armed forces, not to go in to the city, just be a bit of a presence on the outside.”

Kass didn’t miss the irony of that statement and was tempted to ask if he’d looked outside lately, given the conversation she’d just had with the local police officer over the phone.

“How long will you be gone?” Indi asked with a twinge of sadness. Falco was a sailor and soldier in the Marines, an organisation founded by those interested in keeping some form of law and order. Funding came from various sources, a mix of fundraising, strategic investments, and payments from both local and remote governments. The real value in the organisation however, was its reputation. They were one of the few organisations who ran themselves by a very strict code, involving themselves not in the small disputes of local towns but in larger unrest with the goal to always keep the peace and minimise casualties.

“A week, maybe two.”

Indi nodded but her expression was obviously downcast.

Falco gave her an apologetic grimace then looked at his watch. “Anyway I gotta go shower before we have that meeting tonight.”

“That’s hours away.” Indi rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, well...” Falco shrugged, gave a weak smile, and headed off toward the hallway.

Indi turned back to Kass. “Soo about that house...”