Moon Phased: The Triple Claim novel Chapter 177

Chapter 93-2

But as Chance and Cash make their way to the car, the front door to the house opens, and Mrs. Jacobs calls out, “Can I help you boys? If you are looking for Chase, he isn’t here.” Making them both turn around to face the house.

Just like Chance had said, he took the lead by walking towards the front door with Cash behind him as he said to her, “Mrs. Jacobs, we came to have a word with you, but I must ask you if everything is okay?”

Mrs. Jacobs remained silent for a moment, and I could have sworn I could see the look of worry on her face before she finally said, “Oh, you mean the car. It’s a rental. My car is going into the shop to get some work done. I know the smell is hideous coming from it. It makes

me wonder who rented it last.”

“So, you are alone, and have a moment to talk with us?” Chance asked her, and I watched her turn slightly around, staring over her shoulder into the house, before she finally stepped out onto the porch shutting the door behind her, as she says, “Sure, I have a moment.” Making me question whether she was alone, or if someone else was inside, and if she did, then that was her own personal business, as I am sure it had to be hard keeping her dating life out of the public’s eye being the principal of our school.

Cash at that moment turned back to the truck and motioned for Mazie and me to join them. My hand moved to the handle but hesitated for a second to get out of the truck, now second guessing whether I wanted to know the truth. A part of me at that moment almost feared what she knew, but I knew I needed to know, especially since my grandmother was no longer with us, and I knew that not only my life was in danger, but so was everyone around me that I loved and cared about.

Taking a deep breath, I got out of the truck and slowly moved to join Chance and Cash, who stood on the stoop of Mrs. Jacobs’s porch. When Mrs. Jacobs’s eyes fell upon me, they widened, and I had to wonder why she looked so shocked to see me, but then I wondered if she was worried that Chance and Cash were here to call her out about the offer she had given me.

Sure enough, with a shaky voice, she asks, “What is this about?”

“Raven tells us that your brother passed away around the same time that our uncle did. Is this true?” Chance asks her, pretty much getting straight to the point.

Mrs. Jacobs’s eyes remained on me as she said, “Yes, unfortunately that is true.”

“Do

you mind me asking what happened to him?” Chance then asks, and for the first time,

hapter 93 2

+25 Points

Mrs. Jacobs looks away from me towards Chance, before she says, “He was murdered, but unfortunately I am not reluctant to speak of that.”

“And why not?” Cash asks, unable to contain his curiosity about why this was such a big

secret that no one in this town would talk about it, not even those that lost loved ones back

then.

Mrs. Jacobs crossed her arms over her chest, and I knew that it was a sign she was trying to soothe herself, as she was clearly not trying to be defensive. She looked between Chance and Cash, and I could tell that she was hesitant to say something to them, but then she finally gave in and said, “Your grandfather and then your father gave the order.”

“Order?” I asked out loud, wondering what kind of authority they held to hush the whole town.

Chance stepped forward towards Mrs. Jacobs, and to my surprise she took a step back from him as if she was afraid of him. When she was pinned between him and the closed front door, Chance said to her in a low, deep tone, “I understand that you were given an order, but ! am now asking you nicely to lead us in the right direction to where we might find the answers we seek.”

I watched as Mrs. Jacobs swallowed hard, and it was clear that she was fighting an internal battle inside of her. By the look on her face, I could tell that she wanted to tell us, but the order she talked about somehow weighed heavily on her, refraining her from telling us what she knew.

Finally, she looks at Chance and says to him, “We are not to speak of our dead, but our dead are those that hold our secrets. Some of them were innocently murdered, while others were responsible for those that lost their lives. There is a reason why we aren’t allowed to speak of them, and although I am reluctant to tell you, I believe that you are smart enough to figure out why we have been silenced.”

We all just stood there staring at Mrs. Jacobs, as I know, I was wondering what the hell she was talking about, but I was the only one here that didn’t have a loved one buried in that cemetery. My mother had gotten out of here with her life, but unfortunately others weren’t so lucky. But as I stood there thinking about it, I realized that she had to be talking about Chance and Cash’s uncle, as it was their grandfather and father that had hushed everyone in this

town.

Had their uncle gone off the deep end when my mother rejected him? And was that the reason my mother had left all those years ago, because she carried the burden of all those deaths on her shoulders? But if that was the case, their uncle was dead, and it couldn’t be him that was responsible for what was going on right now, making me realize that this was another dead end.