Chapter 1
January 4th, 2011
JJ arrived back in Sierra Falls just as the sun was rising. Traffic seemed light for a Tuesday, until she remembered that winter break was probably still in effect. Driving through the streets brought back memories which were quickly stifled.
"I'm not here for a trip down memory lane. Just deal with the house, get rid of it, and get out. Nothing else." She muttered, waiting to turn left at a stop light.
While she waited she looked at the folder on the passenger seat. Inside it held a copy of the last will and testament of Mack Jameson. It held papers that legally placed her childhood home and its contents in her name, in her possession. Those papers made the old house a nightmare again, only this time JJ was determined to be done with it for good when she left town again. The papers had also given her access to a large sum of money, which would fund any renovations and fees required for selling the house.
As the light changed and she made her turn, JJ wondered again why Mack had sat on the money for so long. The majority of it had come from a life insurance policy that had been taken out by Mack on her mother, Emily. When she'd died Mack had been awarded the money but instead of using it, he'd stuck it in the bank and forgotten about it. The same thing had happened when Mack had died. Money from the life insurance policy had been placed in the bank and now belonged to JJ. Eight hundred thousand was more money than JJ ever thought she'd see in her lifetime.
It didn't take long for JJ to come to her final destination. She parked her truck at the sidewalk next to the mailbox and looked the house over. It looked terrible. Shingles were missing in large patches from the roof and the gutters were gone. The front windows were broken and dark, the decorative shutters hanging off or gone completely. It was obvious even from where JJ sat that the front door wasn't sitting properly and the steps to the old porch were missing. The porch itself didn't look very stable, but at least it was still there. The garage door was badly rusted and needed new windows. JJ would be surprised if it worked. The driveway and front yard were covered in a blanket of snow but JJ knew there would be a lot of landscaping needed. The ranch style fence was riddled with what looked like termite holes.
JJ pulled her keys from the ignition and left the warmth of the truck. Her boots crunched through the thin layer of snow as she trudged through the front yard to the side gate. The old gate swung unevenly, halted in its progress by a pile of snow and debris from years of neglect. JJ shoved through the gap, took one look at the amount of snow that had gathered and decided to try the front door.
Her old key still fit the lock and a well applied shoulder got the door moving. The smell instantly had JJ regretting the entire situation. The sound of insects scurrying away made her skin crawl as JJ shoved the door wide open. She couldn't see very far in, but what she could see wasn't encouraging. Piles and towers of garbage filled the living room. Newspapers, food containers, bottles and cans were what JJ could identify. The smell told her there was rotten food and possibly rodents mixed in too.
"I just hope he didn't have a pet," JJ muttered, covering her nose with her sweatshirt. She returned to the truck for a large flashlight and some fresh air. Steeling herself, JJ ventured into the house.
The heaps of garbage and junk were taller than JJ in places. She didn't go any further than the hall entrance, able to see that the entire house was in the same state as the living room. The kitchen was where the worst of the smell was coming from. JJ could only guess what was in the fridge and how long it had been sitting getting rotten. She wasn't about to open the sucker and find out.
JJ shone the light around the room again as she headed back to the front door. There was a lot of work to be done before she'd have any idea what condition the structure of the house was in. All that was clear at this point was the house needed to be gutted of garbage, furniture, appliances and the carpeting.
Locking the door on the stench didn't help clear her nose but JJ didn't think she'd ever forget it as long as she lived. She pulled her sweatshirt off on her way to the truck, the cold air a relief after the gross stagnant air of that house. JJ dug around in a duffel in the bed of the truck and found another hoodie and a plastic bag for the old one.
Next step was finding a place to stay for a while. She had one year to get the house fixed, up to code, and either sell it or keep it. JJ had set a goal of six months for herself, not wanting to be in town any longer than was absolutely necessary. JJ climbed back into her truck and brought its engine roaring to life. Step one, find a place to make home base. Step two, make home base. Step three, start calling exterminators and find someone to deal with the trash.
By evening JJ had a small motel room stocked with food, other homey comforts, and crammed with her few belongings. She'd set up the rental of an industrial dumpster and had a pick up schedule worked out with the company. No one was willing to deal with the garbage, so JJ would brave that mess herself.
Exterminators were only able to come out after some of the pests had been identified. The guy she'd spoken with on the phone had offered to send someone out to inspect the house and look for nests, which she'd gladly accepted. She had a week to clear out as much of the hoarded mess as she could.
JJ leaned back against the floppy pillows and opened her laptop. She was a little bored, but didn't want to roam the town just yet. She'd already been recognized at the grocery store and wasn't eager to stir up the gossip. Best to lay low for a while.
She checked her emails, responding to a couple new ones from friends back east. Everyone had been surprised when the lawyers had found her and dumped everything in her lap. Her friends had encouraged her to deal with it right away, then put it behind herself completely. Only Veronica, her ex, had been hesitant to see JJ off. Ronnie knew the full story of JJ's upbringing and realized the stress this situation could cause. JJ didn't see it as stressful per se, just inconvenient. JJ sent Ronnie a quick email reassuring her she was in town, safe, and would have her cell phone on her every day.
Signing off and shutting down, JJ closed the laptop and set it aside. She sighed and shrugged back into her jacket to step outside for a cigarette. She lit up and leaned against the walkway's railing to blow smoke into the night sky. Boredom sucked and JJ was already chaffing under its irritating finger. She nodded at another motel patron who walked past, bundled against the chilly air. A walk around the block couldn't hurt. She'd be wrapped up in her jacket and had a beanie she could wear. No one would recognize her that way. Flicking the butt away JJ exhaled the last of the smoke and stepped back inside to get dressed.
Walking turned out to be a good idea. No one paid her any attention, focused on their own lives and business. She found a book store and pharmacy store within walking distance of the motel, along with the old diner. Behind the diner was a club, new enough that JJ didn't remember it. JJ wasn't sure she was ready to venture that much, so she avoided the line and kept going. She smoked while she walked, happy to see that things had changed in Sierra Falls, if just on the outside.
The lady who'd rung her up at the grocery store had done a double take when JJ had paid, staring hard at JJ. That was the sort of attention JJ didn't want so she'd gathered her bags and left quickly. Time had changed her, but her physical appearance hadn't been affected much. She was still short with a delicate bone structure under the lean musculature she'd worked hard for. A haircut could only do so much and didn't change her creamy pale skin or hide the wide, dark brown eyes that were all she'd gotten from her father. Every other physical feature was a dead ringer for a mother she'd never met and had only seen in one photograph.
JJ was wrapped up in these thoughts and had her head down as she rounded a corner heading to the park. She didn't see the runner coming until the last moment when she raised her hand to take a drag off her dwindling cigarette. There wasn't time to do anything except brace for impact, which JJ did just as the jogger tried to slow but couldn't.
They smacked together and JJ stumbled back, a hand catching a trim waist, helping to steady them both.
"Oh shit, sorry. I didn't see you!" the woman panted, shaking a blonde braid over her shoulder, stepping back out of JJ's space.
"Same, sorry about that." JJ tucked her hand back into her pocket and let her lips curve into a half grin, a kind of awkward, polite gesture. She waited for the woman to move, but she didn't, which confused JJ and made her instantly wary. JJ tugged her beanie a little lower and took a step back, looking down at the sidewalk.
