Get off Victor Clark’s porch, leave his yard, stay off his property and stop snooping. Do I make myself clear?

The man put a hand on Aaron’s shoulder. “Are you sure you want to be doing that, son?”

The phone to his ear, Aaron pulled away and started walking toward the door. “Yes,” he replied. “And I’m not your son.”

“This is Aaron Mund,” he said into the phone. “I’m at The First People’s Bank, and I found Victor Clark.” There was a pause. “Yes.” Pause. “I’m here right now. With my friend Nick Decker.”

“Bad move,” Mr. Worthington said quietly. Presumably, he was talking to Aaron, but he was looking directly at Nick, and the coldness in those eyes made Nick want to immediately run outside and get as far away from the bank as possible.

Aaron still had the phone to his ear, and he looked through the teller window. “The sheriff’s on his way,” he told Victor. “Yes,” he said into the phone. “I’m still here.”

Victor—V.J.—backed up. The area behind him seemed darker than it had been, darker than it should be. Another bank employee, an older woman, passed in front of him, as did another man holding a sheaf of papers, and suddenly their friend was nowhere to be seen. Nick squinted into the gloom—well aware that there should not have been any gloom—but Victor was gone.

So was Mr. Worthington. He was no longer behind Aaron, and looking around the bank, Nick saw no sign of him anywhere. Other employees were staring at them—a middle-aged man behind a desk, a young woman coming out of the vault, an older man by the water cooler—and none of them seemed friendly. Gary, his dad’s old coworker and friend, stepped up to the teller window that had been occupied by Victor and looked out expressionlessly. “May I help you?” he asked in a peculiar British accent. There was no indication that Gary even recognized who he was.

“Let’s get out of here,” Nick said under his breath.

“I just called the sheriff.”

“We’ll wait for them outside.”

The atmosphere was tense, but no one stopped them as they made their way back toward the front door. Once on the sidewalk, Nick led his friend next door to the book shop, where his dad was just opening up. They went inside, and he explained to his father what had happened.

“You went in there by yourself?” he could hear the anger in his dad’s voice. “Why didn’t you come and get me?”

“We thought we could handle it.”

Aaron nodded. “That place is freaky, Mr. Decker. It’s why I called the law.”