Page 184 of Positively Pricked
"It was a tree."
"What?"
"A tree," he repeated. "It fell on the house."
I shook my head. "I don't think so. I mean, wouldn’t there be branches or something?"
"Yeah, but they're gone now."
"Then how do you know it was a tree?"
"Because part of it's still in the back yard."
Almost in a daze, I walked around the side of the house, barely noticing as Zane kept close to my side. Sure enough, the giant oak tree that had previously taken up most of the yard was gone, replaced by a jagged stump and not much else.
I turned away from the stump and looked toward the house, only to feel the color drain from my face. If anything, the back was more squashed than the front.
Thiswas where the bedrooms were. If I'd been asleep in my own bed, I would've been squashed, too.
I bit my lip. "Do you think anyone was hurt?"
I held my breath and waited. If anyone had been home, the answer tothatquestion was obvious.
Yes.
But next to me, Zane replied, "No."
Relief coursed through me. Still, I had to ask, "But how can you be sure?"
"I'm not," he said. "But the way it looks, it happened a few days ago. Seems to me, you would've heard if anyone was injured."
All I could do was scoff. "Yeah. You'd think." I made a useless gesture toward the house. "But no one called to tell methis."
I cringed.Oh, no.Unless the person whowould'vetold me was dead or in the hospital.
Already, I was pulling out my cell phone. I found Paisley's number and hit the call button.
No answer.
Shit.
With an effort, I reminded myself that it was still early in the morning. Probably, she was fine. She was a late sleeper. Even under the best of circumstances, she wouldn’t be up for hours yet.
I mean, just because she didn't answer, that didn't mean she was deadorin a coma or anything.
I kept telling myself this, even as I called my sister. Unfortunately,thatcall went straight to voicemail. With increasing desperation, I tried Paisley a second time, and then a third, and a fourth after that.
On my fifth attempt, she finally answered with a cranky, "What?"
I breathed a sigh of relief. Never had I been so happy to hear her voice. Breathlessly, I said, "I'm here at the house. What happened?"
"Gee," she said, "thanks for your concern."
I stiffened. "Iamconcerned. That's why I'm calling. Are you okay?"
"No," she said, "I’m not."
"Oh, my God. So you were hurt?"
