Page 105 of Eldritch

Doug followed them. “I’ll hang out in the office and monitor the security.”

Sybil wanted to hang with Doug, but she could leave Letisha to do all the work upstairs in the attic. “We’ll be down later.”

He smiled gently and saluted her.

* * *

Letisha and Sybil worked in the attic until later in the afternoon, taking time to eat snack bars for lunch. Neither of them seemed to have a big appetite. When they decided they’d finished for the day, they headed downstairs into the Great Hall. All afternoon Sybil had listened to the wind roaring against the house, the fury of the storm battering the structure relentlessly.

As they reached the Great Hall, Sybil glanced out the terrace windows. “Wow. I think the idea that this storm is stopping anytime soon is crap.”

Letisha planted her hands on her hips. “You got that right.” She didn’t sound worried and turned away to walk back to the stairs. “Everyone must still be sleeping. I’ll see if anyone wants dinner. I’ll check on Clarice, too.”

“Sounds good. I’ll check on Doug.”

Letisha gently elbowed her and lowered her voice. “You should check him out. I mean…really check him out.”

Sybil rolled her gaze to the ceiling for a moment before lowering her voice to a mere whisper. “Stop. He might hear you.”

Letisha laughed and headed upstairs again.

Sybil headed to the office and noted the light on. The storm had made the day darker at three in the afternoon than normal.

Sybil heard the click of computer keys as she entered the office.

Doug sat at the computer typing with an intense absorption. His look of concentration made her think of a scene from the movie The Shining.

“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,” she said.

He looked up. “What?”

“The Shining. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”

One corner of his mouth turned up, the gentle grin giving his already handsome face a boyishness that softened the harsher angles. “I’ve seen the movie. It’s one of my favorites.”

It came out of her mouth before she could squash it. “A man after my own heart.”

His soft smile wavered as he returned his attention to the computer screen for a moment. “We might have a problem here.”

Sybil’s heart sank a little as she walked to the desk where he sat. “What now?”

Doug stopped typing and looked up. “The Internet is out. The security system normally would operate on cellular but even that isn’t working. The system is shot for now.”

Concern crept up inside her. “The cameras are entirely out?”

He stood and stretched. “Yep. All of it. We don’t have a security system until something comes back online. At least nothing more than our wits and locked doors and windows.”

“Great,” she said softly.

He straightened and stepped a little closer to her. “Hey, I'm sorry.”

Her gaze tangled with his. “For what?”

“Not mentioning when I arrived here that Taggert might be nearby. And he might be.”

She rubbed her cold hands together. “I can't say I'd be sorry if we found him frozen like a popsicle in the morning.”

Old shame came to the forefront as she realized how bad that sounded.

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