Page 59 of Juliet's Echo

The sudden sound of Psalm’s voice made me jerk so hard my laptop slipped from my grasp and landed on the floor.

“Damn, my bad, cuz.” He stepped into the room quickly, bending to pick it up. “I ain’t mean to scare you.”

“You don’t know to announce yourself before entering a room?” I hissed.

“I called your name. Ain’t my fault you down here practicing some kind of monologue with your weird a—”

Psalm paused before finishing his statement.

He lifted the laptop, inspecting it.

“Screen still on. I’ll pay for any internal damage.”

I must have reached for my laptop too fast, giving myself away, because my disturbance of a cousin jolted it back and paid closer attention to what was displayed on the screen.

A slow grin appeared on his face.

“Old Man Echo. A real one, right?” he asked.

My expression must have warranted a continuation of praise because he kept going.

“He got a great instrumental ear, a smart business mind, and he funny as shit. Definitely see why the town praises him so much.”

Although annoyed, my cousin's rambling led me to believe he was more acquainted with Echo than a simple social media follower.

“You know him?” I asked.

Psalm glanced up.

“A little.”

“Personally?”

My excitement crawled too close to the surface.

“I mean... do you have access to him? Y’all friends? Could he come here?”

If my cousin could get Echo here, I could kill the second bird I missed with my stone. Maybe I’d stick around Havenbrook just a bit longer.

“Nah,” he responded slowly, handing me back my laptop.

The drag in his voice made me believe he was lying, and the strange look he gave me told me my questions had sparked his curiosity.

But like everyone else, he seemed willing to categorize me as strange and move on.

“Look man, I got a friend coming over, and it’s too hot to be outside. We’ll be on the lower level of the house working on a project. You might run into her in here, the kitchen, game room, wherever. I know you’re, like, allergic to people and shit, so if it’s a problem, stay upstairs until further notice or go by the pool.”

Disdain took over.

Who did his young ass think he was?

Yeah, he was closer to Echo than he admitted. He had thatI run shitdemeanor all over him.

This man ruins everything that’s mine.

But I was going to put a stop to it. There was no way I was leaving Havenbrook and allowing him to still be alive.

“I’m not worried about your little friend,” I responded just as the doorbell rang.