The Hometown Hazard

By Dawn Lanuza

Jules Coronado has been away from her hometown for almost a decade but when an intruder breaks in to her childhood home, she finds herself coming back. Changes evidently took place in her small town, including her childhood best friend’s younger brother, Kip – now tall, slightly scruffed, all grown up and caught climbing into their garden wall.

Kip Villamor has a mission and despite Jules’ doubts, they team up: going on fieldtrips, tackling unsuspecting men, and trespassing offices to dig up dirt. But Jules has secrets of her own, one that might be exposed – unless she keeps her walls up. But climbing walls are Kip’s forte, remember?

Will her secrets keep her on his side, or will it force her to disappear again?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dawn Lanuza
• Release date: Jan 29, 2016
• ISBN: 9781311783561

Book preview

O N E

Something is missing.

That was the first thing. There were no hellos.

It was six in the morning. I realized, as soon as I blinked a couple of times and recognized my surroundings, that I fell asleep on my couch while watching reruns of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

What? I croaked while grabbing the remote control that was sticking on my butt and turning the TV off. I sat up and cringed. Oh yeah. The one thing about living the bum life - early morning calls are not a good thing.

Somebody broke in the house last night, I heard the voice said. Wait, whom had I been talking to?

Juliana? The voice said, her tone rising.

I felt my throat dropped to the pit of my stomach. Now this beat a shot of espresso.

Mom, are you okay? I asked, jumping from my seat. My parents lived three hours away from me, and at this moment, I hated that fact that I couldn’t snap my fingers to be there for them right away.

We’re fine. No one was hurt, She assured me, but her voice was pure worry.

What did they try to take? I asked, and then wondered, how were they able to get through security? Our subdivision’s security was quite strict. We had guards manning the gates and patrolling at night.

We don’t know, honey, Mom said. We haven’t been checking your room that much since you left, so we really don’t know if something was taken.

I paused. My room? They went to my room?

The police think that they used your room as the entry and exit point. They must have climbed off the balcony. The sliding door was left open when we got to your room.

God, mom, I told her, You should get rid of the sliding glass door then.

Rosa may have forgotten to lock it when she watered the plants, She said. Oh, poor Rosa. She had been in our house since I was a child. She must have been too preoccupied to remember locking my door.

What did the security guards say? I asked.

We called the police, She said instead.

I clicked my tongue. Oh, the security guys wouldn’t like that. Also, was it so serious that my parents called the cops instead of our friendly neighborhood security personnel?

I tried to imagine what my room looked like before I left for university. Polly Pockets were displayed in a glass shelf. Posters of boy bands and Avril Lavigne. Pink floral sheets. A photo of Justin Timberlake in a frame on my bedside table. What could possibly be missing in my room?

Mom sighed. I can’t put my finger on it. I just know. Something is missing.

Are you sure nothing was taken from your stuff? I asked.

We really can’t be sure, but we’re checking, She replied.

I don’t think there’s anything important in my room anyway, And it was true. Sure, I would be upset if one of my Polly Pockets went missing. I was obsessed with that as a kid, but if that was the only thing the burglar took from our house, I could let that go.

Would you like to come home and check? Mom asked.

And there it was: coming home.

I had not been home since I moved to the city ten years ago. I attended a university, graduated with a Bachelor’s degree, worked for awhile, then decided to attend a law school. Frankly, my life in my childhood home felt a bit too distant for me now.

Just for a bit. You’re not doing anything important now, are you?

I tilted my head and looked over at the mess my apartment basically is. It had been months after the bar exam, aka freedom, and I had only managed to trash my apartment. Obviously, sitting around and watching TV were not as important, but I had been scheduling dates and trips with my friends now that I could actually go, and more importantly, be able to listen to them without reviewing notes in my head.

No, I answered truthfully.

But there was a reason I had not been home that long.

Just for a while, Juliana, Mom practically begged.

Just for a while, I repeated in my head. That didn’t sound so bad coming from her. I chewed on my lip and closed my eyes, deciding then and there.

Just for a while, sure.

***

I had not been home for a decade. That did not mean I had not been in touch with my parents. I just never stepped foot on my childhood home again since driving away that night.

It was not the first time I had ever been asked, Why haven’t you been coming home? by people I met from that small town, a place I did not really get to call home these days. Home for me now was my tiny studio apartment, currently surrounded by piles of junk and a stale smell coming from something that had definitely gone bad.

But this time it was different. This time, the house had been invaded, and the tug that I felt in my heart earlier claimed that a part of me still considered it as my home. So I packed a couple of clothes and headed to the bus terminal to travel back to San Juan. Our family driver, Tony, picked me up at the bus stop and greeted me with some knock-knock joke.

So far, so good. Our town had that familiar feel to it, but the changes were too obvious. The roads had been widened, several establishments had opened, and my phone had been picking up several Wi-Fi connections.

And maybe, just maybe, I thought, a decade would be long enough to bury a secret.

As I sat on the passenger’s seat while listening to a sappy soft rock hit played on the radio, I caught a glimpse of our home. It was still as I remembered it. The walls were stark white and coated in stucco. The roof, made of terracotta tiles, was dark brown. The balcony of my room peaked in sight, despite of the bougainvillea wrapped around our tall gates.

Our gates were opened by Rosa, and I opened the car window and greeted her with a smile.

Stepping out of the front door, my dad, a tall and burly man that he is, walked out and waved at the car. My dad is my favorite person in the world. As soon as the car stopped, I jumped off my seat and ran up to him.

Princess, He opened his arms and welcomed me with a hug. My dad is the only person who calls me that, even after all these years. I thought it would wear off soon as I left for the university, but it didn’t.

Why are you home? I asked. He was still supposed to be in the office if this was a normal day. But of course, someone broke in the house last night, and I supposed today wasn’t normal at all.

Just wanted to make sure I see you. You might bolt out of the place so fast.

I smiled, Not without seeing you.

My mother stepped out of the house as well, and I beamed at the recognition of her perfume. My mother was quite good at making an entrance. She always seemed to light up the room and fill it with this subtle yet sweet scent that reminded me of my childhood, sitting on her lap in our living room as she read me a book.

Juliana, She greeted me. How was your trip?

Good, I answered.

Mom lifted her hand to tuck my hair behind my ear. Are you finally growing your hair out?

Ah, I pressed my lips together. She had not been the biggest fan of my pixie cut. When I was a child, she was in charge of my haircut, and she kept my hair just below the shoulder with bangs falling on my forehead. A year later in the university, I decided to chop it all off and discovered what a convenience it was to not have to brush my hair until it looked the way I wanted it to. Now I pretty much just washed and dried my hair, put some texturizer, and go.

I shrugged, Just forgot to schedule my trip to the salon.

She nodded, There’s a couple of good ones in town.

They both grinned at me and I started laughing, You guys just saw me a month ago. Why are you looking at me like that?

Dad invited me inside and told me that Rosa had prepared a couple of my favorite dishes. I was starting to think that I didn’t come home because of an attempted burglary, and that it was all my parents’ ploy to make me come back.

But I let them have it. For the next few hours, no one mentioned the break-in, and we sat in the dining room to talk about what was new in town, who came home, who left.

When it already felt inevitable to mention it, I started, So, how’d you know that there was an intruder inside?

Dad spoke first, We heard something drop on the floor.

Nothing was broken? I asked.

No, Dad shook his head. It’s one of your books. He pointed to my room above the stairs. I mean, I suppose that was it. It was returned but it was placed upside down. You will never do that. You were always kind of a neat freak.

I bit my lip and thought of my studio apartment back in the city. Neat freak? I had a Cheeto stuck on my back that I only discovered when I finally took a shower.

So maybe he was trying to borrow one of my books, I joked. "Which one is it? Crime and Punishment?"

Dad laughed reservedly. Burglary, not a matter of jokes, got it. I jerked my thumb towards my room, Can I check the rest of my stuff?

Mom nodded. I dropped my bag and ran up the stairs. As I was nearing my room, my legs felt heavier and I reduced my speed to a stroll. There was a sudden rush in my heartbeat rate as I reached the door. The thought of having someone in my room – even if I had not been sleeping in it for years – scared me. And what if the intruder was still there? That was possible, right? I read about the thief who stayed in the ceiling.

I glanced back at our living room and comforted myself with the sound of mom and dad’s voices. I would scream my face off if someone was in my room. I took a beginner’s class in Krav Maga too. I’d be fine.

I opened my room slowly and the door made a creaking sound. I felt the wall for the switch to turn on the lights. A single fluorescent light brightened up my room, showing my queen sized bed covered with pink pillows and sheets. My wallpaper was sickeningly lavender, and that framed photo of Justin Timberlake circa Cry Me a River was still perched on my bedside table.

I leaned on my doorway and craned my neck to the other side of my room. My book shelf was in there, as well as my cabinet filled with childhood toys.

I kicked my door just to announce that I’m here, in case someone was still in my room. Slowly, I took a step and saw my compact CD player on my right, and I checked it if it was plugged in. It was. I turned it on and twisted the volume up.

I walked closer to my bed as the song started. If this didn’t get the intruder out, I didn’t know what will.

The song quickly got to its chorus - basically an emo rant – when I heard a knock on my door. I turned around.

Mom waved at me from the door and lowered the volume. We checked, and all’s clear. No one’s in your room.

I nodded, taking a deep breath. Back then, I always turned the volume up before coming in to my room to ‘disturb’ the silence. It didn’t make sense to a lot of people but it did for me.  Mom knew about this trick.

Do you have any idea why someone would try to break in? I asked her.

She shook her head. Security’s trying to find that out for us.

Don’t we have surveillance on the streets?

Mom smiled at me sheepishly, Small town, Juliana. Not really on par with that yet.

Well, I looked around my room. I don’t think anything valuable could have been taken from my room, but I’ll take a look around and let you know if something is missing.

Mom nodded. I’ll leave the door open.

I  preferred the door to be open, quite frankly. It made it easy for me to run in case something creepy happened – which, I thought, could still happen.

There was still a slight thudding in my chest as I watched Mom leave. I looked over at the sliding door and approached it. I studied the lock and it looked like it hadn’t been forced, so it was probably true that Rosa forgot to close it. As I opened my door, a familiar scent welcomed me. Gardenias. I stepped out to my balcony and saw the potted flowers blooming. I took a deep breath and looked up at the dark skyline.

Outside, the subdivision looked peaceful.

Next door, I saw our neighbor’s backyard. We were separated by a wall covered in thick green vines only. I leaned my elbow on the railing, and as my eye left the fence, my peripheral vision caught something else.

Hands. There were hands grabbing the top of the wall, and then a person - in a gray hooded jacket - scaling the wall from the neighbor’s to ours.

Ah, shit. Did I have to actually see this?

I wanted to shout but somehow couldn’t get myself to do it. I watched the person pull himself up, one leg reaching the top of the wall until…

Something inside me clicked. In that same moment,  something in that person had clicked as well. We stared at each other for a good second before he placed his leg back down, and I didn’t even wait for another second to run down the stairs.

Without so much of an explanation to my parents, I opened our front door, ran outside, and eyed our wall. Of course, there was nobody in there anymore. I headed towards our big gate and opened it, running faster than I have in years. I ended up alone on the street, the lights a block apart.

I looked around, careful not to miss anything. My feet carried me through the neighbor’s gate as I looked over our house. The wall wasn’t that high. It was climbable, but I didn’t know if anyone from our house to the Almarios thought of doing that.

I held my breath as I listened to the silence. In a couple of seconds, I felt the chill of the air crept up my skin. Turning around, I ran back inside and saw Dad waiting for me on the driveway.

You okay, Princess? He asked, worry all over his eyes.

I ran my hand over my arm, rubbing it slowly. I just…thought I saw someone.

Dad smiled, his concern evident. Without asking me another question, he circled his arms around me and walked me back inside the house.

I took one last look outside our gate and told myself that I wasn’t seeing things. He was there. I know that boy. Or maybe knew. But he was there for only a second before disappearing into the night.

T W O

It was always the same dream. It would start like I’d just woken up from a dream, my eyes opening slowly. I would feel disoriented. Then I’d see smoke, or smell it, I was not sure. As I tried to make out what was going on, that searing pain took over, and hot, thick blood fell on my lap.

But now, there was a rooster crowing in the distance. That made me look at the window, and the moment I blinked, I was out of it.

I was staring now at the ceiling, and I was here in my room at my parent’s home. And the rooster was real. The crowing was real.

I stirred and found the time. It was four in the morning. Unbelievable. I grabbed one of my pillows and covered my ear. It will stop in a minute, I told myself.

It didn’t. It went silent for a minute, and then woke up the whole neighborhood. I grudgingly got up and went downstairs, only to find my father at the foot of the stairs. He lit up when he saw me.

Princess, He called.

Dad, I replied. Your rooster is driving me nuts.

Which one?

Suffice to say, my father had a fondness for roosters and cockfighting. Our backyard had a couple of roosters in it, and it had been that way since I could remember. I pouted, All of them.

He stretched his arms and pulled me in, Right for them to wake you up. Your mother tells me you’re only here for a day?

I nodded, That’s the plan.

That’s a shame. She planned to host dinner with the tourism club.

I narrowed my eyes to study him. He simply gave me a smile. My dad was a tall man, his face was jovial and welcoming, and I thought of the world of him. But this thing he was telling me was not going to fly. Are you asking me to save you from mom’s monthly dinner?

Dad laughed, Well, honey, I have been around for years. Maybe it’s time you get to experience the horror of listening to small town gossip.

I found myself laughing too. Well, I guess I could leave tomorrow instead. My hands reached out to his, But you’re okay here, right? No one’s getting sick? Aside from the break-in, nothing bad happened that I didn’t know of?

Dad shook