Drama Dolls: A Novel: [Dark, Suspenseful, Fast-paced, Exhilarating] by Jason Tanamor Page A

is—”
    Coming down from the attic, interrupting the milieu, the assistant smiled while nodding her head.
    All turning toward the assistant simultaneously, Jane said, “Yes, well…” Changing the subject, she said, “Would you like to see the attic?”
    Jaunting up yet another staircase, the group members found themselves inside a finished studio room. Wooden bookshelves along the perimeter enclosed the large area. Filing cabinets and computer equipment filled one corner. There was a futon in another. In the middle of the room was a leather sectional in front of a television stand.
    There were dormer windows on each side. A single closet in the corner. A small walk-in was used for random pieces of clothing. Some were forgotten, some a size too large. Other clothes bought at a rummage sale.
    “This attic was used as a lounge,” the assistant said.
    William sighed, his gaze finding Lena’s. He checked his watch and then looked around the open quarter.
    Listening to only fragments of the realtor’s pitch, each item was inventoried in Jeffrey’s mind for future reference.
    In the dining room, aside from the crystal, the china hutch held decorative silverware and chrome-plated platters. Antique tea cups with matching kettles. Butter dishes, steins, pitchers, a corresponding set of dinnerware.
    “Don’t forget the packed boxes,” the voice of anxious reason said.
    Period furniture throughout the house was inventoried. Jeffrey noticed there were casters on each dresser and vanity. Certain pieces featured designs on the front drawers, some with carved faces and others with lions.
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    Outside the burglaries, the only other time Jeffrey had inventoried his possessions was when She was still alive. When they had first married, the couple had shared a charming one bedroom apartment across town. Both of them finishing school, working a pair of part-time jobs outside of studying, Jeffrey and the Missus had envisioned buying a historical house.
    The beginning years of their marriage, planning for a home similar to the kinds the Drama Dolls burgled, Jeffrey and his wife would venture out to estate sales and antique stores in the surrounding areas and acquire old paintings and used furniture they could restore.
    Dropping them into spaces in the apartment did not leave room for traditional pieces, so the newlyweds’ furniture, end tables, and the like looked as if they were zapped in from the past.
    An alternate universe consuming their residence. Their lives.
    The insurance agent laughing when Jeffrey and his wife came in for renter’s insurance, he said, “I don’t know what this stuff is actually worth, but I’m glad you thought about insuring your possessions.”
    Inventorying the antique furniture was an exercise of fruition. An exercise Jeffrey was finally getting to use.
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    Standing in the center of the attic, the house’s highest peak, Jane said, “This home offers a lot of room for storage and living.” Finishing up her spiel, she said, “It really is a beautiful house.” Lingering around for any last questions or requests, the realtor checked the time.
    The group had been touring the house for nearly two hours. William, standing off to the side, looked out the dormer. Their position in the house was high above the ground. Looking straight out ahead, off into the distance of reality, William could see a small wooded area. The tops of the trees reminded him of his pom-poms’ feathers.
    Grabbing ahold of Jeffrey’s hand, cupping it into her palm, Lena said, “Honey, what do you think of the house?”
    Pirouetting to see the attic as a whole, Jeffrey said, “I love it. It’s definitely something I could see myself in.”
     
    Exiting the house, Jeffrey walked down the front steps to the curb. Just short of the boulevard, he turned around to capture the mammoth sized structure in one mental photograph. The curtain in the master bedroom window was partially open. The outline of old-fashioned