Ghost Moon

At the cars, they waved good-night to Jonas.

Liam turned down Simonton rather than Duval, knowing that Duval would be filled with jaywalkers. It was seldom an easy street to traverse—except maybe at five in the morning.

But the backstreets could be quiet and pretty. There were so many fine Victorian houses, since the great age for Key West—when the city had boasted one of the highest per-capita incomes in the country during the age of wreckers—had occurred when building had been seen as artistry. There were bungalows, shotgun houses and many a grand dame in Old Town.

“Have you missed the place?” Liam asked her. He had apparently been watching her as she surveyed their surroundings.

“Of course, I’ve missed it. I mean, I think—unless a place were absolutely terrible—you’d miss it if you’d basically grown up there,” Kelsey told him.

“But you like where you live now,” he said.

“Yes.”

“And you’re in Hollywood,” he said.

“Yes, but it’s not as…All right, well it can be plastic, but my neighborhood is great. My dad worked at UCLA, and so I went to UCLA, and they have a great school of art and animation.”

“I’ve seen your column. But you do gaming, too?”

“I don’t. My partner, Avery, does.”

“Ah.”

When they pulled in front of a house, he turned off the car’s engine and sat staring up at it for several moments.

“My grandfather was not some kind of evil wizard who cursed the house and set a dozen demons loose in it,” she said, surprised that she sounded so resentful.

He flashed her a smile. “I wasn’t afraid of demons. I’m afraid of real people breaking in to steal things and not caring much if they take a human life in order to do so.”

“Liam, honestly, if there was some kind of really terrible thief who knew about the strange treasures that might be found here, they could have easily broken in while my grandfather was alive. He was an old man living alone.”