Page 16 of Her Ghostly Embrace
Gia might be paranoid, but her escape had been too easy. Her father’s men should have caught up to her.
Once they saw her leaving on the back alley camera, all they’d had to do was ask one of the businesses around the corner for their street footage, and they’d have found the car she’d escaped in. Yeah, Sam had driven like a possessed woman, but the Balzanos wouldn’t have had to stop in their pursuit. They could have swapped drivers.
Maybe the Balzanos hadn’t figured out where Sam had gone after getting on the highway. Maybe they thought Gia had gone south. Or fled to Canada. She had her passport with her, and her father had probably searched her room by now and realized it was missing.
The big question was: had Franco known where his wifeand her lover had been trying to take Gia all those years ago, and was he aware of Jeffrey’s surviving family?
Even if Franco hadn’t known about Susan before, he could figure out Jeffrey had a sister and track Gia down. But then, Franco had no idea Gia had discovered her true parentage. He didn’t know why she’d run. His mind wouldn’t immediately go to Jeffrey Lockwood.
But it wasn’t smart to stay here.
Gia needed to sell the condo and the theater and move somewhereshewanted to live. There was no reason to stay in the place she’d been brought by some random lawyer and his coven.
The beginnings of a plan motivated Gia to step away from the window and do something more productive than watch the street. She had to get moving if she wanted to turn this unexpected inheritance into a real future.
Gia divided her cash between a cereal box—the kitchen was stocked with a few basics—the cupboard housing the water heater, and the gap behind the washing machine. With a stack of twenties in her pocket, she left the condo.
Surprisingly, Gia felt refreshed. Her headache was gone, which was a win right there. Frankly, getting through the cross-country trip without an episode was a miracle, but she wouldn’t question her good luck.
She wandered the neighborhood until she found a corner store and bought a new phone and prepaid SIM. The old one went in the nearest trash can.
Gia didn’t bother to save Ramirez’s number, planning find her own lawyer to handle the sales of her newly acquired assets.
After stopping to eat a burrito at a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant, Gia returned the way she’d come.
She paused outside her building, attention on the dark theateracross the street. According to Ramirez, there weren’t any productions on at the moment, and the old movie screenings that usually happened on weekends ceased when Susan passed away.
The Spotlight Theater had a classic look, and the building could easily be as old as the others on the block, but the paint looked relatively fresh. The marquee was blank, and the posters on either side of the doors were half taken down, leaving ripped remnants advertising the last show, but otherwise the place seemed far from abandoned.
Gia sifted through her keys, trying each one until she unlocked the front door.
Night had fallen, and she fumbled around inside for the lights. Once she could see, she closed and locked the front door behind her before surveying her new business.
The vintage vibe extended into the building’s interior, with worn red carpet beneath her feet and grand embellishments along the walls and ceiling. Everything seemed well cared for, the building’s old features preserved rather than modernized. To one side sat a ticket counter and concession stand. Opposite, loomed a well-lit stairwell, and the center of the far wall housed closed double doors.
Gia pushed one of the doors open.
It was dark, and she could hardly make out the stage beyond the rows of seats. Gia didn’t feel like searching for the lights, so she closed the door and headed up the stairs.
A hall to one side led to balcony seating. In the other direction, she found a line of closed doors, which seemed more promising. Hopefully, Susan had an office around here since there had been nothing related to the theater at the condo.
Gia needed to go over the theater’s expenses and income and figure out its net worth. She’d studied business in college and wasn’t worried about doing a little analysis. Sure, she wasn’t very knowledgeable about theaters in particular, but she couldlearn, and if all else failed, she could scrap the business and sell the property on its own.
With the lights flicked on, Gia worked her way along the hall. She found restrooms and the projection control room. It was too bad the theater hadn’t stayed open after her aunt’s death and kept screening old movies. That way, it could have received some income.
Had all the employees lost their jobs?
Even if the business had been profitable, Gia didn’t know if she could revive it after the closure and get everything going again. At least not before she needed to move on from Shearwater Landing.
The last door in the hallway was locked, and Gia sifted through the keys, trying them one at a time until at last, the lock clicked.
A chill ran down Gia’s spine, but a look over her shoulder reassured her she was alone. Maybe that was the problem. A creepy sensation she hadn’t noticed before seemed to settle over everything.
But Gia had been raised better than to be afraid of the dark.
People were dangerous, not deserted old theaters, and no mention of covens or witches—or anything superstitious—would prevent Gia from taking this opportunity and turning it into freedom from the Balzanos.
Gia opened the door, finding the inside dark. No surprise there. She ran her hand along the wall, flipped the light switch, and walked into the room.
